As Filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on December 8, 2021

1933 Act File No. 333-221045

1940 Act File No. 811-23305

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. 68	☒
and/or
REGISTRATION STATEMENT UNDER THE INVESTMENT COMPANY ACT OF 1940	☒
Amendment No. 70	☒
(Check appropriate box or boxes.)
__________________
American Century ETF Trust
__________________
4500 MAIN STREET, KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI 64111   (Address of Principal Executive Offices)                  (Zip Code)
REGISTRANT’S TELEPHONE NUMBER, INCLUDING AREA CODE: (816) 531-5575
JOHN PAK 4500 MAIN STREET, KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI 64111 (Name and Address of Agent for Service)
Approximate Date of Proposed Public Offering: As soon as reasonably practicable after effectiveness.
It is proposed that this filing will become effective (check appropriate box)

☐	immediately upon filing pursuant to paragraph (b)
☐	on (date), at 8:30 AM (Central) pursuant to paragraph (b)
☐	60 days after filing pursuant to paragraph (a)(1)
☐	on (date) pursuant to paragraph (a)(1)
☐	75 days after filing pursuant to paragraph (a)(2)
☒	on March 8, 2022 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.

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

[date], 2022

Avantis Investors®

By American Century Investments®

Prospectus

	Ticker:	Exchange:
Avantis® Responsible Emerging Markets Equity ETF	AVSE	NYSE Arca, Inc.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has
not approved or disapproved these securities or
passed upon the adequacy of this prospectus. Any
representation to the contrary is a criminal offense.

Table of Contents

Fund Summary	2
Investment Objective	2
Fees and Expenses	2
Principal Investment Strategies	2
Principal Risks	3
Fund Performance	4
Portfolio Management	4
Purchase and Sale of Fund Shares	4
Tax Information	5
Payments to Broker-Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries	5
Objectives, Strategies and Risks	6
Management	8
Investing in the Fund	10
Share Price and Distributions	11
Taxes	12
Additional Information	14
Financial Highlights	15

©2022 American Century Proprietary Holdings, Inc. All rights reserved.

Fund Summary

Investment Objective

The fund seeks long-term capital appreciation.

Fees and Expenses

The following table describes the fees and expenses you may pay if you buy, hold, and sell shares of the fund. You may pay other fees, such as brokerage commissions and other fees to financial intermediaries, which are not reflected in the tables and examples below.

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

Example

The example below is intended to help you compare the costs of investing in the fund with the costs of investing in other funds. The example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the fund for the time periods indicated and then redeem all of your shares at the end of those periods, that you earn a 5% return each year, and that the fund’s operating expenses remain the same. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:

1 year 3 years

Portfolio Turnover

The fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes when 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. Because the fund is new, the fund’s portfolio turnover rate is not available.

Principal Investment Strategies

The fund invests primarily in a diverse group of companies related to emerging markets across market sectors, industry groups and countries. The fund may invest in companies of all market capitalizations.

The portfolio management team limits its investable universe of companies by screening out those that raise concerns based on the team’s evaluation of multiple ESG metrics. The portfolio managers utilize third party commercial data sources and scoring systems, as well as proprietary evaluations, to decide what securities should be excluded due to ESG concerns. Though the factors considered in the proprietary screening model may change from time to time, currently the fund excludes the following issuers from its investable universe:

•companies with significant revenue (e.g., 5% thresholds and up depending on the category) from any of the following: oil and gas production or distribution; manufacture or sale of civilian firearms and ammunition; manufacture of chemical, biological, or nuclear weapons and related systems or components; factory farming; palm oil production; production or sale of tobacco or cannabis; gambling; or adult entertainment;

•companies with more than de minimis revenue from thermal coal;

•companies ranking in the bottom 5% in terms of carbon emissions intensity;

•companies with low corporate governance scores; and

•companies involved in environmental, social, or governance controversies that, in the portfolio management team’s judgment, merit exclusion.

When information used in the fund’s ESG screening model is not publicly available with respect to an issuer, the issuer will be eligible for purchase by the fund if the portfolio managers are not aware of any other ESG concerns related to the issuer that in their judgment would warrant exclusion. The eligibility of a security for inclusion in the fund’s portfolio will be determined at the time of purchase. In the event of a subsequent change in the ESG characteristics of (or the availability of ESG information about) an issuer, the fund will not be obligated to dispose of that security and may continue to hold the security if otherwise deemed appropriate by the portfolio managers.

Within the fund’s investable universe of issuers that have been screened for ESG characteristics, the fund seeks securities of companies that it expects to have higher returns by placing an enhanced emphasis on securities of companies with smaller market capitalizations and securities of companies it defines as high profitability or value companies. Conversely, the fund seeks to underweight or exclude securities it expects to have lower returns, such as securities of large companies with lower levels of

profitability and higher prices relative to their book values or other financial metrics. To identify small capitalization, high profitability, or value companies, the portfolio managers may use reported and estimated company financials and market data including, but not limited to, shares outstanding, book value and its components, cash flows, revenue, expenses, accruals and income. Value companies may be defined as those with lower price relative to book value ratio or other fundamental value. High profitability companies may be defined as those with higher cash based operating profitability. The portfolio managers may also consider other factors when selecting a security including, industry classification, the past performance of the security relative to other securities, its liquidity, its float, and tax, governance or cost considerations, among others.

Under normal market conditions, the fund will invest at least 80% of its assets in equity securities of companies related to emerging market countries. The fund considers an emerging market country to be any country other than a developed country. However, the fund generally intends to focus its investments in a subset of the emerging markets countries that comprise the MSCI Emerging Markets IMI Index. The countries comprising the index will change from time to time, but as of September 30, 2021 include: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, China, Colombia, Czech Republic, Egypt, Greece, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Korea, Kuwait, Malaysia, Mexico, Pakistan, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey and United Arab Emirates. To determine whether a company is related to an emerging market country, the portfolio managers will consider various factors, including where the company is headquartered, where the company’s principal operations are located, where a majority of the company’s revenues are derived, where the principal trading market is located, the country in which the company was legally organized, and whether the company is in the fund’s benchmark—the MSCI Emerging Markets IMI. The weight given to each of these factors will vary depending on the circumstances in a given case. The fund may invest in securities that are denominated in foreign currencies and may also invest in foreign securities that are represented in the U.S. and other securities markets by American Depositary Receipts (ADRs), Global Depositary Receipts (GDRs), and other similar depositary arrangements.

The fund may also engage in securities lending and invest its collateral in eligible securities, such as a government money market fund.

The fund is an actively managed exchange-traded fund (ETF) that does not seek to replicate the performance of a specified index. The portfolio managers continually analyze market and financial data to make buy, sell, and hold decisions. When buying or selling a security, the portfolio managers may consider the trade-off between expected returns of the security and implementation or tax costs of the trade in an attempt to gain trading efficiencies, avoid unnecessary risk, and enhance fund performance.

Principal Risks

•Equity Securities Risk - The value of equity securities, may fluctuate due to changes in investor perception of a specific issuer, changes in the general condition of the stock market, or occurrences of political or economic events that affect equity issuers and the market. Common stock prices may be particularly sensitive to rising interest rates, as the cost of capital rises and borrowing costs increase.

•ESG Risk - Because the portfolio managers screen securities based on ESG characteristics, the fund may exclude the securities of certain issuers or industry sectors for other than financial reasons and, as a result, the fund may perform differently or maintain a different risk profile than the market generally or compared to funds that do not use similar ESG-based screens.Investing based on ESG considerations may also prioritize long term rather than short term returns. Furthermore, when analyzing ESG criteria for issuers, the portfolio management team relies on proprietary evaluations and information, ratings and scoring models published by third party sources (collectively, “ESG Data”).Due to the lack of regulation and uniform reporting standards with respect to ESG characteristics of issuers, ESG Data may be inconsistent across sources and, in certain cases, incorrect. In addition, ESG Data is not currently available for many issuers and, when available, frequently only includes some but not all of the ESG characteristics considered by the team when applying their ESG screens.

•Small-Cap Stock Risk - Smaller companies may have limited financial resources, product lines, markets and have less publicly available information. These securities may trade less frequently and in more limited volumes than larger companies’ securities, leading to higher transaction costs. Smaller companies also may be more sensitive to changing economic conditions, and investments in smaller foreign companies may experience more price volatility.

•Currency Risk - The fund could experience gains or losses solely on changes in the exchange rate between foreign currencies and the U.S. dollar.

•Emerging Markets Risk - Investing in emerging market countries generally is riskier than investing in foreign developed countries due to lower liquidity, market manipulation concerns, limited reliable access to capital, and differing company organizational structures. Emerging market countries may have unstable governments, economies that are subject to sudden change, and significant volatility in their financial markets. These countries also may lack the legal, business and social framework to support securities markets. Additionally, certain jurisdictions do not provide the PCAOB with sufficient access to inspect audit work papers and practices, or otherwise do not cooperate with U.S. regulators, potentially exposing investors in U.S. capital markets to significant risks. As a result of the foregoing risks, the fund is intended for aggressive investors seeking significant gains through investments in foreign securities. Those investors must be willing and able to accept the significantly greater risks associated with the investment strategy that the fund will pursue. An investment in the fund is not appropriate for individuals with limited investment resources or who are unable to tolerate fluctuations in the value of their investment.

•Foreign Risk - Foreign securities are generally riskier than U.S. securities. Political events (such as civil unrest, national elections and imposition of exchange controls), social and economic events (such as labor strikes and rising inflation), natural disasters and public health emergencies occurring in a country where the fund invests could cause the fund’s investments in that country to experience gains or losses. Securities of foreign issuers may be less liquid, more volatile and harder to value than U.S. securities.

•Greater China Risk - Investing in Chinese securities is riskier than investing in U.S. securities. Investing in China involves risk of loss due to nationalization, expropriation, and confiscation of assets and property. Losses may also occur due to new or expanded restrictions on foreign investments or repatriation of capital. The Chinese market is subject to less regulation and oversight than the U.S market. U.S. regulators have limited ability to inspect international auditing standards of U.S. companies operating in China, thus there is substantially greater risk that disclosures will be incomplete or misleading and, in the event of investor harm, substantially less access to recourse.

•Depositary Receipts Risk - Investment in depositary receipts does not eliminate all the risks inherent in investing in securities of non-U.S. issuers. The market value of depositary receipts is dependent upon the market value of the underlying securities and fluctuations in the relative value of the currencies in which the depositary receipts and the underlying securities are quoted.

•Investment Process Risk - Stocks selected by the portfolio managers may perform differently than expected due to the portfolio managers’ judgments regarding the factors used, the weight placed on each factor, changes from the factors’ historical trends, and technical issues with the construction and implementation of the investment process (including, for example, data problems and/or software or other implementation issues). There is no guarantee that the investment process will result in effective investment decisions for the fund.

•Cash Transactions Risk - The fund may effect its creations and redemptions for cash, rather than for in-kind securities. Therefore, it may be required to sell portfolio securities and subsequently recognize gains on such sales that the fund might not have recognized if it were to distribute portfolio securities in-kind. As such, investments in fund shares may be less tax-efficient than an investment in an ETF that distributes portfolio securities entirely in-kind. Cash transactions may have to be carried out over several days if the securities market is relatively illiquid and may involve considerable brokerage fees and taxes. Brokerage fees and taxes will be higher than if the fund sold and redeemed shares in-kind.

•Style Risk - If at any time the market is not favoring the fund’s investment style, the fund’s gains may not be as big as, or its losses may be bigger than, those of other equity funds using different investment styles.

•Market Trading Risk - The fund faces numerous market trading risks, including the potential lack of an active market for fund shares, losses from trading in secondary markets, periods of high volatility and disruption in the creation and/or redemption process of the fund. Any of these factors, among others, may lead to the fund’s shares trading at a premium or discount to NAV. Thus, you may pay more (or less) than NAV when you buy shares of the fund in the secondary market, and you may receive less (or more) than NAV when you sell those shares in the secondary market. The portfolio managers cannot predict whether shares will trade above (premium), below (discount) or at NAV.

•Market Risk - The value of the fund’s shares will go up and down based on the performance of the companies whose securities it owns and other factors generally affecting the securities market. Market risks, including political, regulatory, economic and social developments, can affect the value of the fund’s investments. Natural disasters, public health emergencies, terrorism and other unforeseeable events may lead to increased market volatility and may have adverse long-term effects on world economies and markets generally.

•Public Health Emergency Risk - A pandemic, caused by the infectious respiratory illness COVID-19, is causing market disruption and other economic impacts. Markets have experienced volatility, reduced liquidity, and increased trading costs. These events may continue to impact the fund and its underlying investments and could cause increased premiums or discounts to the fund’s NAV.

•Securities Lending Risk - Securities lending involves the risk of loss of rights in, or delay in recovery of, the loaned securities if the borrower fails to return the security loaned or becomes insolvent.

•Authorized Participant Concentration Risk - Only an authorized participant may engage in creation or redemption transactions directly with the fund. The fund may have a limited number of institutions that act as authorized participants. To the extent that these institutions exit the business or are unable to proceed with creation and/or redemption orders with respect to the fund and no other authorized participant is able to step forward to process creation and/or redemption orders, fund shares may trade at a discount to net asset value (NAV) and possibly face trading halts and/or delisting. This risk may be more pronounced in volatile markets, potentially where there are significant redemptions in ETFs generally.

•Price Volatility Risk - The value of the fund’s shares may fluctuate significantly in the short term.

•Redemption Risk - The fund may need to sell securities at times it would not otherwise do so to meet shareholder redemption requests. Selling securities to meet such redemptions may cause the fund to experience a loss, increase the fund’s transaction costs or have tax consequences. To the extent that a large shareholder (including a fund of funds or 529 college savings plan) invests in the fund, the fund may experience relatively large redemptions as such shareholder reallocates its assets.

•Principal Loss Risk - At any given time your shares may be worth less than the price you paid for them. In other words, it is possible to lose money by investing in the fund.

An investment in the fund is not a bank deposit, and it is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) or any other government agency.

Fund Performance

The fund’s performance history is not available as of the date of this prospectus. When the fund has investment results for a full calendar year, this section will feature charts that show annual total returns, highest and lowest quarterly returns and average annual total returns for the fund. This information indicates the volatility of the fund’s historical returns from year to year. For current performance information, please visit avantisinvestors.com.

Performance information is designed to help you see how fund returns can vary. Keep in mind that past performance (before and after taxes) does not predict how the fund will perform in the future.

Portfolio Management

Investment Advisor

American Century Investment Management, Inc.

Portfolio Managers

Eduardo Repetto, Chief Investment Officer of Avantis Investors, has been a member of the team that manages the fund since 2022.

Mitchell Firestein, Senior Portfolio Manager, has been a member of the team that manages the fund since 2022.

Daniel Ong, Senior Portfolio Manager, has been a member of the team that manages the fund since 2022.

Ted Randall, Senior Portfolio Manager, has been a member of the team that manages the fund since 2022.

Purchase and Sale of Fund Shares

The fund is an ETF. Fund shares may only be bought and sold in a secondary market through a broker-dealer at a market price. Because ETF shares trade at market prices rather than NAV, shares may trade at a price greater than NAV (a premium) or less than NAV (a discount). An investor may incur costs attributable to the difference between the highest price a buyer is willing to pay to purchase shares of the fund (bid) and the lowest price a seller is willing to accept for shares of the fund (ask) when buying or selling shares in the secondary market (bid-ask spread). Investors can find information on the fund’s NAV, market price, premiums and discounts, and bid-ask spread at avantisinvestors.com.

Tax Information

Fund distributions are generally taxable as ordinary income or capital gains, unless you are investing through a tax-deferred account such as a 401(k) or individual retirement account (in which case you may be taxed upon withdrawal of your investment 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 advisor and its related companies 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.

Objectives, Strategies and Risks

What is the fund’s investment objective?

The fund seeks long-term capital appreciation.

The fund’s investment objective is a nonfundamental investment policy and may be changed by the Board of Trustees without approval by shareholders.

What are the fund’s principal investment strategies?

The fund invests primarily in a diverse group of companies related to emerging markets across market sectors, industry groups and countries. The fund may invest in companies of all market capitalizations.

The portfolio management team limits its investable universe of companies by screening out those that raise concerns based on the team’s evaluation of multiple ESG metrics. The portfolio managers utilize third party commercial data sources and scoring systems, as well as proprietary evaluations, to decide what securities should be excluded due to ESG concerns. Though the factors considered in the proprietary screening model may change from time to time, currently the fund excludes the following issuers from its investable universe:

•companies with significant revenue (e.g., 5% thresholds and up depending on the category) from any of the following: oil and gas production or distribution; manufacture or sale of civilian firearms and ammunition; manufacture of chemical, biological, or nuclear weapons and related systems or components; factory farming; palm oil production; production or sale of tobacco or cannabis; gambling; or adult entertainment;

•companies with more than de minimis revenue from thermal coal;

•companies ranking in the bottom 5% in terms of carbon emissions intensity;

•companies with low corporate governance scores; and

•companies involved in environmental, social, or governance controversies that, in the portfolio management team’s judgment, merit exclusion.

When information used in the fund’s ESG screening model is not publicly available with respect to an issuer, the issuer will be eligible for purchase by the fund if the portfolio managers are not aware of any other ESG concerns related to the issuer that in their judgment would warrant exclusion. The eligibility of a security for inclusion in the fund’s portfolio will be determined at the time of purchase. In the event of a subsequent change in the ESG characteristics of (or the availability of ESG information about) an issuer, the fund will not be obligated to dispose of that security and may continue to hold the security if otherwise deemed appropriate by the portfolio managers.

Within the fund’s investable universe of issuers that have been screened for ESG characteristics, the fund seeks securities of companies that it expects to have higher returns by placing an enhanced emphasis on securities of companies with smaller market capitalizations and securities of companies it defines as high profitability or value companies. Conversely, the fund seeks to underweight or exclude securities it expects to have lower returns, such as securities of large companies with lower levels of profitability and higher prices relative to their book values or other financial metrics. To identify small capitalization, high profitability, or value companies, the portfolio managers may use reported and estimated company financials and market data including, but not limited to, shares outstanding, book value and its components, cash flows, revenue, expenses, accruals and income. Value companies may be defined as those with lower price relative to book value ratio or other fundamental value. High profitability companies may be defined as those with higher cash based operating profitability. The portfolio managers may also consider other factors when selecting a security including, industry classification, the past performance of the security relative to other securities, its liquidity, its float, and tax, governance or cost considerations, among others.

Under normal market conditions, the fund will invest at least 80% of its assets in equity securities of companies related to emerging market countries. The fund considers an emerging market country to be any country other than a developed country. However, the fund generally intends to focus its investments in a subset of the emerging markets countries that comprise the MSCI Emerging Markets IMI Index. The countries comprising the index will change from time to time, but as of September 30, 2021 include: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, China, Colombia, Czech Republic, Egypt, Greece, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Korea, Kuwait, Malaysia, Mexico, Pakistan, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey and United Arab Emirates. To determine whether a company is related to an emerging market country, the portfolio managers will consider various factors, including where the company is headquartered, where the company’s principal operations are located, where a majority of the company’s revenues are derived, where the principal trading market is located, the country in which the company was legally organized, and whether the company is in the fund’s benchmark—the MSCI Emerging Markets IMI. The weight given to each of these factors will vary depending on the circumstances in a given case. The fund may invest in securities that are denominated in foreign currencies and may also invest in foreign securities that are represented in the U.S. and other securities markets by American Depositary Receipts (ADRs), Global Depositary Receipts (GDRs), and other similar depositary arrangements.

Equity securities in which the fund may invest include common stock, preferred stock, and equity-equivalent securities, such as convertible securities.

The fund may also engage in securities lending. Collateral received by the fund in connection with loaning its securities may consist of cash and U.S. government securities. Cash collateral may be invested in eligible securities, such as a government money market fund.

The fund is an actively managed exchange-traded fund (ETF) that does not seek to replicate the performance of a specified index. The portfolio managers continually analyze market and financial data to make buy, sell, and hold decisions. When buying or selling a security, the portfolio managers may consider the trade-off between expected returns of the security and implementation or tax costs of the trade in an attempt to gain trading efficiencies, avoid unnecessary risk, and enhance fund performance.

In the event of exceptional market or economic conditions, the fund may take temporary defensive positions that are inconsistent with the fund’s principal investment strategies. To the extent the fund assumes a defensive position, it may not achieve its investment objective.

A description of the policies and procedures with respect to the disclosure of the fund’s portfolio securities is available in the statement of additional information. Portfolio holdings can be viewed online on the fund’s website.

What are the principal risks of investing in the fund?

•Equity Securities Risk - The value of equity securities, may fluctuate due to changes in investor perception of a specific issuer, changes in the general condition of the stock market, or occurrences of political or economic events that affect equity issuers and the market. Common stock prices may be particularly sensitive to rising interest rates, as the cost of capital rises and borrowing costs increase.

•ESG Risk - Because the portfolio managers screen securities based on ESG characteristics, the fund may exclude the securities of certain issuers or industry sectors for other than financial reasons and, as a result, the fund may perform differently or maintain a different risk profile than the market generally or compared to funds that do not use similar ESG-based screens.Investing based on ESG considerations may also prioritize long term rather than short term returns. Furthermore, when analyzing ESG criteria for issuers, the portfolio management team relies on proprietary evaluations and information, ratings and scoring models published by third party sources (collectively, “ESG Data”).Due to the lack of regulation and uniform reporting standards with respect to ESG characteristics of issuers, ESG Data may be inconsistent across sources and, in certain cases, incorrect. In addition, ESG Data is not currently available for many issuers and, when available, frequently only includes some but not all of the ESG characteristics considered by the team when applying their ESG screens.

•Small-Cap Stock Risk - Smaller companies may have limited financial resources, product lines, markets and have less publicly available information. These securities may trade less frequently and in more limited volumes than larger companies’ securities, leading to higher transaction costs. Smaller companies also may be more sensitive to changing economic conditions, and investments in smaller foreign companies may experience more price volatility.

•Currency Risk - The fund could experience gains or losses solely on changes in the exchange rate between foreign currencies and the U.S. dollar.

•Emerging Markets Risk - Investing in emerging market countries generally is riskier than investing in foreign developed countries due to lower liquidity, market manipulation concerns, limited reliable access to capital, and differing company organizational structures. Emerging market countries may have unstable governments, economies that are subject to sudden change, and significant volatility in their financial markets. These countries also may lack the legal, business and social framework to support securities markets. Additionally, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 requires that PCAOB registered accounting firms, which prepare or issue audit opinions for U.S.-listed issuers, submit to PCAOB inspections and produce audit work papers. This requirement applies to audit opinions for all U.S.-listed issuers, regardless of the domicile of the issuer. Certain jurisdictions do not provide the PCAOB with sufficient access to inspect audit work papers and practices, or otherwise do not cooperate with U.S. regulators. This lack of access and cooperation potentially exposes investors in U.S. capital markets to significant risks of capital loss and limits the rights and remedies available to funds and shareholders. As a result of the foregoing risks, the fund is intended for aggressive investors seeking significant gains through investments in foreign securities. Those investors must be willing and able to accept the significantly greater risks associated with the investment strategy that the fund will pursue. An investment in the fund is not appropriate for individuals with limited investment resources or who are unable to tolerate fluctuations in the value of their investment.

•Foreign Risk - Foreign securities are generally riskier than U.S. securities. Political events (such as civil unrest, national elections and imposition of exchange controls), social and economic events (such as labor strikes and rising inflation), natural disasters and public health emergencies occurring in a country where the fund invests could cause the fund’s investments in that country to experience gains or losses. Securities of foreign issuers may be less liquid, more volatile and harder to value than U.S. securities.

•Greater China Risk - Investing in Chinese securities is riskier than investing in U.S. securities. Investing in China involves risk of loss due to nationalization, expropriation, and confiscation of assets and property. Losses may also occur due to new or expanded restrictions on foreign investments or repatriation of capital. The Chinese market is subject to less regulation and oversight than the U.S market. U.S. regulators have limited ability to inspect international auditing standards of U.S. companies operating in China, thus there is substantially greater risk that disclosures will be incomplete or misleading and, in the event of investor harm, substantially less access to recourse.

•Depositary Receipts Risk - Investment in depositary receipts does not eliminate all the risks inherent in investing in securities of non-U.S. issuers. The market value of depositary receipts is dependent upon the market value of the underlying securities and fluctuations in the relative value of the currencies in which the depositary receipts and the underlying securities are quoted.

•Investment Process Risk - Stocks selected by the portfolio managers may perform differently than expected due to the portfolio managers’ judgments regarding the factors used, the weight placed on each factor, changes from the factors’ historical trends, and technical issues with the construction and implementation of the investment process (including, for example, data problems and/or software or other implementation issues). There is no guarantee that the investment process will result in effective investment decisions for the fund.

•Cash Transactions Risk - ETFs generally are able to make in-kind redemptions to avoid some costs, including being taxed on gains on the distributed portfolio securities at the fund level. However, because the fund may effect purchases or redemptions fully or partially in cash, rather than in-kind, it may be required to sell portfolio securities in order to obtain the cash needed to distribute redemption proceeds. If the fund recognizes gain on these sales, this generally will cause the fund to recognize gain it might not otherwise have recognized, or to recognize such gain sooner than would otherwise be required if it were to distribute portfolio securities in-kind. The fund generally intends to distribute these gains to shareholders to avoid being taxed on this gain at the fund level and otherwise comply with the special tax rules that apply to it. This strategy may cause shareholders to be subject to tax on gains they would not otherwise be subject to, or at an earlier date than, if they had made an investment in a different ETF. Moreover, cash transactions may have to be carried out over several days if the securities market is relatively illiquid and may involve considerable brokerage fees and taxes. These brokerage fees and taxes, which may be higher than if the fund sold and redeemed its shares in-kind, will be passed on to purchasers and redeemers of Creation Units in the form of creation and redemption transaction fees. To the extent that these costs are not offset by a transaction fee, the fund may bear the expense.

•Style Risk - If at any time the market is not favoring the fund’s investment style, the fund’s gains may not be as big as, or its losses may be bigger than, those of other equity funds using different investment styles.

•Market Trading Risk - Although shares of the fund are listed for trading on one or more stock exchanges, there can be no assurance that an active trading market for such shares will develop or be maintained. There are no obligations of market makers to make a market in the fund’s shares or of an authorized participant 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 value of the fund’s portfolio securities and the fund’s market price. This reduced effectiveness could result in fund shares trading at a premium or discount to its NAV and also greater than normal intraday bid/ask spreads.

Shares of the fund may trade in the secondary market at times when the fund does not accept orders to purchase or redeem shares. At such times, shares may trade in the secondary market with more significant premiums or discounts than might be experienced at times when the fund accepts purchase and redemption orders. Secondary market trading in fund shares may be halted by a stock exchange because of market conditions or other reasons, and may be subject to trading halts caused by extraordinary market volatility pursuant to “circuit breaker” rules on the stock exchange or market. There can be no assurance that the requirements necessary to maintain the listing or trading of fund shares will continue to be met or will remain unchanged. In addition, during a “flash crash,” the market prices of the fund’s shares may decline suddenly and significantly. Such a decline may not reflect the performance of the portfolio securities held by the fund. Flash crashes may cause authorized participants and other market makers to limit or cease trading in the fund’s shares for temporary or longer periods. Shareholders could suffer significant losses to the extent that they sell fund shares at these temporarily low market prices.

Shares of the fund may trade at prices other than NAV. Thus, you may pay more (or less) than NAV when you buy shares of the fund in the secondary market, and you may receive less (or more) than NAV when you sell those shares in the secondary market. While the creation/redemption feature is designed to make it likely that the fund’s shares normally will trade on stock exchanges at prices close to the fund’s next calculated NAV, market prices are not expected to correlate exactly with the fund’s NAV due to timing reasons as well as market supply and demand factors. In addition, disruptions to creations and redemptions or extreme market volatility may result in trading prices for shares of the fund that differ significantly from its NAV. The portfolio managers cannot predict whether shares will trade above (premium), below (discount) or at NAV.

When buying or selling shares of the fund through a broker, you will likely incur a brokerage commission or other charges determined by your broker. In addition, you may incur the cost of the “spread,” that is, any difference between the bid price and the ask price. The spread varies over time for shares of the fund based on the fund’s trading volume and market liquidity, and is generally lower if the fund has a lot of trading volume and market liquidity, and higher if the fund has little trading volume and market liquidity. During times of market stress, spreads may widen causing investors to pay more.

•Market Risk - The value of the fund’s shares will go up and down based on the performance of the companies whose securities it owns and other factors generally affecting the securities market. Market risks, including political, regulatory, economic and social developments, can affect the value of the fund’s investments. Natural disasters, public health emergencies, terrorism and other unforeseeable events may lead to increased market volatility and may have adverse long-term effects on world economies and markets generally.

•Public Health Emergency Risk - A pandemic, caused by the infectious respiratory illness COVID-19, is causing travel restrictions, disruption of healthcare systems, prolonged quarantines, cancellations, supply chain interruptions, lower consumer demand, layoffs, credit downgrades, and defaults among other economic impacts. Certain markets have experienced temporary closures, extreme volatility, losses, reduced liquidity and increased trading costs. These events may continue to impact the fund and its underlying investments and could cause increased premiums or discounts to the fund’s NAV.

•Securities Lending Risk - Securities lending involves the risk of loss of rights in, or delay in recovery of, the loaned securities if the borrower fails to return the security loaned or becomes insolvent. Any decline in the value of a security while the security is loaned will adversely affect performance. These events could also result in adverse tax consequences.

•Authorized Participant Concentration Risk - Only an authorized participant may engage in creation or redemption transactions directly with the fund. The fund may have a limited number of institutions that act as authorized participants, none of which are obligated to engage in creation or redemption transactions. To the extent that these institutions exit the business or are unable to proceed with creation and/or redemption orders with respect to the fund and no other authorized participant is able to step forward to process creation and/or redemption orders, fund shares may trade at a discount to NAV and possibly face trading halts and/or delisting. This risk may be more pronounced in volatile markets, potentially where there are significant redemptions in ETFs generally. Authorized participant concentration risks may be heightened in scenarios where authorized participants have limited or diminished access to the capital required to post collateral.

•Price Volatility Risk - The value of the fund’s shares may fluctuate significantly in the short term.

•Redemption Risk - The fund may need to sell securities at times it would not otherwise do so to meet shareholder redemption requests. Selling securities to meet such redemptions may cause the fund to experience a loss, increase the fund’s transaction costs or have tax consequences. To the extent that a large shareholder (including a fund of funds or 529 college savings plan) invests in the fund, the fund may experience relatively large redemptions as such shareholder reallocates its assets.

•Principal Loss Risk - At any given time your shares may be worth less than the price you paid for them. In other words, it is possible to lose money by investing in the fund.

An investment in the fund is not a bank deposit, and it is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) or any other government agency.

Management

Who manages the fund?

The Board of Trustees, investment advisor and fund management team play key roles in the management of the fund.

The Board of Trustees

The Board of Trustees is responsible for overseeing the advisor’s management and operations of the fund pursuant to the management agreement. In performing their duties, Board members receive detailed information about the fund and its advisor regularly throughout the year, and meet at least quarterly with management of the advisor to review reports about fund operations. The trustees’ role is to provide oversight and not to provide day-to-day management. The majority of the trustees are independent of the fund’s advisor. They are not employees, directors or officers of, and have no financial interest in, the advisor or any of its affiliated companies (other than as shareholders of American Century Investments funds), and they do not have any other affiliations, positions or relationships that would cause them to be considered “interested persons” under the Investment Company Act of 1940 (Investment Company Act).

The Investment Advisor

The fund’s investment advisor is American Century Investment Management, Inc. (the advisor). The advisor has been managing investment companies since 1958 and is headquartered at 4500 Main Street, Kansas City, Missouri 64111. Avantis Investors is a division of American Century Investment Management, Inc.

The advisor is responsible for managing the investment portfolio of the fund and directing the purchase and sale of its investment securities. The advisor also arranges for transfer agency, custody and all other services necessary for the fund to operate.

For the services it provides to the fund, the advisor receives a unified management fee based on a percentage of the daily net assets of the fund at the annual rate of [__]%. The amount of the fee is calculated daily and paid monthly in arrears. The advisor pays all expenses of managing and operating the fund, other than the management fee payable to the advisor, brokerage and other transaction fees and expenses relating to the acquisition and disposition of portfolio securities, acquired fund fees and expenses, interest (including without limitation borrowing costs and overdraft charges), taxes (including without limitation income, excise, transfer, and withholding taxes), litigation expenses (including without limitation litigation counsel fees and expenses), extraordinary expenses, and expenses incurred in connection with the provision of shareholder and distribution services under a plan adopted pursuant to Rule 12b-1 under the 1940 Act. The advisor may pay unaffiliated third parties who provide recordkeeping and administrative services that would otherwise be performed by an affiliate of the advisor.

A discussion regarding the basis for the Board of Trustees’ approval of the fund’s investment advisory agreement with the advisor will be available in the fund’s annual report to shareholders dated August 31, 2022.

The Fund Management Team

Portfolio managers work as a team to manage funds. Portfolio managers regularly review portfolio holdings and potential purchase and sale activity. Team members buy and sell securities for a fund as they see fit, guided by the fund’s investment objective and strategy.

The portfolio managers on the investment team who are jointly and primarily responsible for the day-to-day management of the fund are identified below.

Eduardo Repetto

Mr. Repetto, Chief Investment Officer of Avantis Investors, joined Avantis Investors in 2019. Prior to joining Avantis Investors, he served in investment management roles at Dimensional Fund Advisors (DFA) from 2000 to 2017, including as co-chief executive officer from 2010 to 2017, co-chief investment officer from 2014 to 2017 and chief investment officer from 2007 to 2014. He has a Diploma de Honor in civil engineering from the Universidad de Buenos Aires, a master’s degree in engineering from Brown University and a Ph.D. in aeronautics from the California Institute of Technology.

Mitchell Firestein

Mr. Firestein, Senior Portfolio Manager, joined Avantis Investors in 2019. Prior to joining Avantis Investors, he served in investment management roles at Dimensional Fund Advisors (DFA) from 2005 to 2019, including as a senior portfolio manager and vice president in 2019 and as a portfolio manager from 2014 to 2018. He has a bachelor’s degree in finance and management from Tulane University.

Daniel Ong

Mr. Ong, Senior Portfolio Manager, joined Avantis Investors in 2019. Prior to joining Avantis Investors, he served as a senior portfolio manager and vice president at Dimensional Fund Advisors (DFA) from 2005 to 2019. He has a bachelor’s degree in economics from the University of California, Irvine and an MBA in finance and accounting from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. He is a CFA charterholder.

Ted Randall

Mr. Randall, Senior Portfolio Manager, joined Avantis Investors in 2019. Prior to joining Avantis Investors, he was president and founder of Pro-Value Construction Services, Inc. from 2016 to 2018. From 2001 to 2015, he served in investment management roles at Dimensional Fund Advisors (DFA), including as a portfolio manager and vice president from 2008 to 2015. He has a bachelor’s degree in business administration with a concentration in finance from the University of Southern California and a master’s degree in business administration from the Anderson School of Management at the University of California, Los Angeles.

The statement of additional information provides additional information about the accounts managed by the portfolio managers, the structure of their compensation, and their ownership of fund securities.

Fundamental Investment Policies

Shareholders must approve any change to the fundamental investment policies contained in the statement of additional information. The Board of Trustees and/or the advisor may change any other policies, including the fund’s investment objective, or investment strategies described in this prospectus or otherwise used in the operation of the fund at any time, subject to applicable notice provisions.

Investing in the Fund

Buying and Selling Shares

Shares of the fund may be acquired or redeemed directly from the fund only in Creation Units or multiples thereof, as discussed below. Only an authorized participant may engage in creation and redemption transactions directly with the fund. Once created, shares of the fund generally trade in the secondary market in amounts less than a Creation Unit.

Shares of the fund are listed on a national securities exchange for trading during the trading day. Shares can be bought and sold throughout the trading day like shares of other publicly traded companies. American Century ETF Trust (the trust) does not impose any minimum investment for shares of the fund purchased on an exchange. Shares of the fund trade under the following ticker symbol: AVSE.

Buying or selling fund shares on an exchange involves two types of costs that may apply to all securities transactions. When buying or selling shares of the fund through a broker, you will likely incur a brokerage commission or other charges determined by your broker. The commission is frequently a fixed amount and may be a significant proportional cost for investors seeking to buy or sell small amounts of shares. In addition, you may incur the cost of the “spread,” that is, any difference between the bid price and the ask price. The spread varies over time for shares of the fund based on the fund’s trading volume and market liquidity, and is generally lower if the fund has a lot of trading volume and market liquidity, and higher if the fund has little trading volume and market liquidity.

The fund’s primary listing exchange is NYSE Arca, Inc., which is open for trading Monday through Friday and is closed on weekends and 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.

Book Entry

Shares of the fund are held in book-entry form, which means that no share certificates are issued. The Depository Trust Company (DTC) or its nominee is the record owner of all outstanding shares of the fund and is recognized as the owner of all shares for all purposes.

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

Frequent Trading Practices

The Board of Trustees has not adopted a policy of monitoring for frequent purchases and redemptions of fund shares (frequent trading). The Board of Trustees believes that a frequent trading policy is unnecessary because fund shares are listed for trading on a national securities exchange. Therefore, it is unlikely that a shareholder could take advantage of a potential arbitrage opportunity presented by a lag between a change in the value of the fund’s portfolio securities after the close of the primary markets for the fund’s portfolio securities and the reflection of that change in the fund’s NAV (market timing), because the fund generally sells and redeems its shares directly through transactions that are in-kind and/or for cash, subject to the conditions described below under Creations and Redemptions.

Investments by Other Investment Companies

Section 12(d)(1) of the Investment Company Act restricts investments by investment companies in the securities of other investment companies. Registered investment companies are permitted to invest in the fund beyond the limits set forth in Section 12(d)(1), subject to certain terms and conditions set forth in SEC rules. In order for an unaffiliated registered investment company to invest in shares of the fund beyond the limitations of Section 12(d)(1) pursuant to Rule 12d1-4, the registered investment company must enter into an agreement with the trust.

Creations and Redemptions

Prior to trading in the secondary market, shares of the fund are “created” at NAV by market makers, large investors and institutions only in block-size units, called “Creation Units.” All orders to purchase Creation Units must be placed by or through an authorized

participant that has entered into an authorized participant agreement (AP Agreement) with Foreside Fund Services, LLC (the distributor). Only an authorized participant may create or redeem Creation Units directly with the fund.

A creation transaction, which is subject to acceptance by the trust, generally takes place when an authorized participant deposits into the fund a designated portfolio of securities and/or cash (which may include cash in lieu of certain securities) in exchange for a specified number of Creation Units. Similarly, shares can be redeemed only in Creation Units, generally for a designated portfolio of securities and/or cash (which may include cash in lieu of certain securities). With respect to the fund, redemptions are generally on an in-kind basis, but the fund reserves the right to meet redemptions in cash. Except when aggregated in Creation Units, shares are not redeemable by the fund.

The prices at which creations and redemptions occur are based on the next calculation of NAV after a creation or redemption order is received in a proper form under the AP Agreement. The portfolio of securities required for purchase of a Creation Unit is generally the same as the portfolio of securities the fund will deliver upon redemption of fund shares, except under certain circumstances. As a result of any system failure or other interruption, creation or redemption orders either may not be executed according to the fund’s instructions or may not be executed at all, or the fund may not be able to place or change such orders.

Creations and redemptions must be made through a firm that is either a broker-dealer or other participant in the Continuous Net Settlement System of the National Securities Clearing Corporation or a DTC participant and, in either case, has executed an AP Agreement with the distributor. Information about the procedures regarding creations and redemptions of Creation Units (including the cut-off times for receipt of creation and redemption orders) is included in the fund’s statement of additional information (SAI).

Because new shares may be created and issued on an ongoing basis, at any point during the life of the fund a “distribution,” as such term is used in the Securities Act of 1933 (Securities Act), may be occurring. 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 that could render them statutory underwriters and subject to the prospectus delivery and liability provisions of the Securities Act. Any determination of whether one is an underwriter must take into account all the relevant facts and circumstances of each particular case.

Broker-dealers should also note that dealers who are not “underwriters” but are participating in a distribution (as contrasted to ordinary secondary transactions), and thus dealing with shares that are part of an “unsold allotment” within the meaning of Section 4(a)(3)(C) of the Securities Act, would 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 is available only with respect to transactions on a national securities exchange.

In addition, certain affiliates of the fund and the advisor may purchase and resell fund shares pursuant to this prospectus.

Share Price and Distributions

Share Price

The price of fund shares is based on market price. The trading prices of the fund’s shares in the secondary market generally differ from the fund’s daily NAV and are affected by market forces such as supply and demand, economic conditions and other factors.

Calculation of NAV

American Century Investments will price the fund shares purchased or redeemed by authorized participants based on the net asset value (NAV) next determined after an order is received in good order by the fund’s transfer agent. We determine the NAV of the fund as of the close of regular trading (usually 4 p.m. Eastern time) on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on each day the NYSE is open. On days when the NYSE is closed (including certain U.S. national holidays), we do not calculate the NAV.

Thenet asset value, or NAV, of the fund is the current value of the fund’s assets, minus any liabilities, divided by the number of shares of the fund outstanding.

The fund values portfolio securities for which market quotations are readily available at their market price. As a general rule, equity securities listed on a U.S. exchange are valued at the last reported sale price as of the time of valuation. Portfolio securities primarily traded on foreign securities exchanges are generally valued at the preceding official close price or last sale price of such securities on the foreign exchange where primarily traded or at the time the fund’s NAV is determined, if that foreign exchange is open later than the NYSE. The fund may apply a model-derived factor to the closing price of equity securities traded on foreign securities exchanges to derive the market price. The factor is based on observable market data as provided by an independent pricing service. The value of any security or other asset denominated in a currency other than U.S. dollars is then converted to U.S. dollars at the prevailing foreign exchange rate at the time the fund’s NAV is determined. Securities that are neither listed on a securities exchange or traded over the counter may be priced using the mean of the bid and asked prices obtained from an independent broker who is an established market maker in the security. The fund may use third party pricing services to assist in the determination of market value.

If the fund determines that the market price for a portfolio security is not readily available or that the valuation methods mentioned above do not reflect the security’s fair value, such security is valued as determined in good faith by the fund’s board or its designee, in

accordance with procedures adopted by the fund’s board. Circumstances that may cause the fund to use alternate procedures to value a security include, but are not limited to:

•if, after the close of the foreign exchange on which a portfolio security is principally traded, but before the close of the NYSE, an event occurs that may materially affect the value of the security;

•a debt security has been declared in default; or

•trading in a security has been halted during the trading day.

If such circumstances occur, the fund will fair value the security if the fair valuation would materially impact the fund’s NAV. While fair value determinations involve judgments that are inherently subjective, these determinations are made in good faith in accordance with procedures adopted by the fund’s board.

The effect of using fair value determinations is that the fund’s NAV will be based, to some degree, on security valuations that the board or its designee believes are fair rather than being solely determined by the market.

With respect to any portion of the fund’s assets that are invested in one or more open-end management investment companies that are registered with the SEC (known as registered investment companies), the fund’s NAV will be calculated based upon the NAVs of such registered investment companies. These registered investment companies are required by law to explain the circumstances under which they will use fair value pricing and the effects of using fair value pricing in their prospectuses.

Trading of securities in foreign markets may not take place every day the NYSE is open. Also, trading in some foreign markets and on some electronic trading networks may take place on weekends or holidays when the fund’s NAV is not calculated. So, the value of the fund’s portfolio may be affected on days when you will not be able to purchase or sell fund shares.

Distributions

Federal tax laws require the fund to make distributions to its shareholders in order to qualify as a regulated investment company. Qualification as a regulated investment company means the fund should not be subject to state or federal income tax on amounts distributed. The distributions generally consist of dividends and interest received by the fund, as well as capital gains realized by the fund on the sale of its investment securities.

Capital gainsare increases in the values of capital assets, such as stocks or bonds, from the time the assets are purchased.

The fund generally expects to pay distributions from net income, if any, semiannually. The fund generally pays distributions from realized capital gains, if any, once a year. It may make more frequent distributions if necessary to comply with Internal Revenue Code provisions.

Although dividends generally will be treated as distributed when paid, any dividend declared by a fund in October, November or December and payable to shareholders of record in such a month that is paid during the following January will be treated for U.S. federal income tax purposes as received by shareholders on December 31 of the calendar year in which it was declared.

Dividend payments are made through DTC participants and indirect participants to beneficial owners then of record with proceeds received from the fund. Distributions may be automatically reinvested in whole fund shares only if you purchased the shares through a broker that makes such option available.

Taxes

Some of the tax consequences of owning shares of the fund will vary depending on whether you own them through a taxable or tax-deferred account. Distributions by the fund of dividend and interest income, capital gains and other income it has generated through its investment activities will generally be taxable to shareholders who hold shares in a taxable account. Tax consequences also may result when investors sell fund shares.

Tax-Deferred Accounts

If you purchase fund shares through a tax-deferred account, such as an IRA or employer-sponsored retirement plan, income and capital gains distributions usually will not be subject to current taxation but will accumulate in your account under the plan on a tax-deferred basis. Likewise, moving from one fund to another fund within a plan or tax-deferred account generally will not cause you to be taxed. For information about the tax consequences of making purchases or withdrawals through a tax-deferred account, please consult your plan administrator, your summary plan description or a tax advisor.

Taxable Accounts

If you own fund shares through a taxable account, you may be taxed on your investments if the fund makes distributions or if you sell your fund shares. If you invest through a taxable account, you may be able to claim a foreign tax credit for any foreign income taxes paid by the fund. In order to qualify for this tax credit, certain requirements must be satisfied. Please consult the statement of additional information for a more complete discussion of the tax consequences of owning shares of the fund.

Taxability of Distributions

Fund distributions may consist of income, such as dividends and interest earned by the fund from its investments, or capital gains generated by the fund from the sale of investment securities. Distributions of income are taxed as ordinary income, unless they are designated as qualified dividend income and you meet a minimum required holding period with respect to your shares of the fund, in which case distributions of income are taxed at the same rates as long-term capital gains.

Qualified dividend incomeis a dividend received by a fund from the stock of a domestic or qualifying foreign corporation, provided that the fund has held the stock for a required holding period and the stock was not on loan at the time of the dividend.

The tax character of any distributions from capital gains is determined by how long the fund held the underlying security that was sold, not by how long you have been invested in the fund or whether you reinvest your distributions or take them in cash. Short-term (one year or less) capital gains are taxable as ordinary income. Gains on securities held for more than one year are taxed at the lower rates applicable to long-term capital gains.

If a fund’s distributions exceed current and accumulated earnings and profits, such excess will generally be considered a return of capital. A return of capital distribution is generally not subject to tax, but will reduce your cost basis in the fund and result in higher realized capital gains (or lower realized capital losses) upon the sale of fund shares.

You will receive information regarding the tax character of fund distributions for each calendar year in an annual tax mailing.

If you meet specified income levels, you will also be subject to a 3.8% Medicare contribution tax which is imposed on net investment income, including interest, dividends and capital gains. Distributions also may be subject to state and local taxes. Because everyone’s tax situation is unique, you may want to consult your tax professional about federal, state and local tax consequences.

Taxes on Transactions

Your sales of fund shares are subject to capital gains tax. Short-term capital gains are gains on fund shares you held for 12 months or less. Long-term capital gains are gains on fund shares you held for more than 12 months. If your shares decrease in value, their sale will result in a long-term or short-term capital loss. However, you should note that loss realized upon the sale of shares held for six months or less will be treated as a long-term capital loss to the extent of any distribution of long-term capital gain to you with respect to those shares. If a loss is realized on the sale of fund shares, the reinvestment in additional fund shares within 30 days before or after the sale may be subject to the wash sale rules of the Internal Revenue Code. This may result in a postponement of the recognition of such loss for federal income tax purposes.

If you have not certified that your Social Security number or tax identification number is correct and that you are not subject to withholding, you may be subject to backup withholding at the applicable federal withholding tax rate on taxable dividends, capital gains distributions and proceeds from the sale of fund shares.

Taxes on Creations and Redemptions of Creation Units

An Authorized Participant who exchanges securities for Creation Units generally will recognize a gain or a loss equal to the difference between the market value of the Creation Units at the time and the sum of the exchanger’s aggregate basis in the securities surrendered plus the amount of cash paid for such Creation Units. A person who redeems Creation Units will generally recognize a gain or loss equal to the difference between the exchanger’s basis in the Creation Units and the sum of the aggregate market value of any securities received plus the amount of any cash received for such Creation Units. 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.

Any capital gain or loss realized upon the creation of Creation Units will generally be treated as long-term capital gain or loss if the securities exchanged for such Creation Units have been held for more than one year. Any capital gain or loss realized upon the redemption of Creation Units will generally be treated as long-term capital gain or loss if the shares comprising the Creation Units have been held for more than one year. Otherwise, such capital gains or losses will generally be treated as short-term capital gain or loss. Any loss upon a redemption of Creation Units held for six months or less will be treated as a long-term capital loss to the extent of any amounts treated as distributions to the applicable Authorized Participant of long-term capital gain with respect to the Creation Units (including any amounts credited to the Authorized Participant as undistributed capital gains).

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

Buying a Dividend

Purchasing fund shares in a taxable account shortly before a distribution is sometimes known as buying a dividend. In taxable accounts, you must pay income taxes on the distribution whether you reinvest the distribution or take it in cash. In addition, you will have to pay taxes on the distribution whether the value of your investment decreased, increased or remained the same after you bought the fund shares.

The risk in buying a dividend is that a fund’s portfolio may build up taxable income and gains throughout the period covered by a distribution, as income is earned and securities are sold at a profit. The fund distributes the income and gains to you, after subtracting any losses, even if you did not own the shares when the income was earned or the gains occurred.

If you buy a dividend, you incur the full tax liability of the distribution period, but you may not enjoy the full benefit of the income earned or the gains realized in the fund’s portfolio.

Additional Information

Service, Distribution and Administrative Fees

Investment Company Act Rule 12b-1 permits investment companies that adopt a written plan to pay certain expenses associated with the distribution of their shares out of fund assets. The Board of Trustees has adopted a 12b-1 plan that allows the fund to pay annual fees not to exceed 0.25% to the distributor for distribution and individual shareholder services. However, the Board of Trustees has determined not to authorize payment of a 12b-1 plan fee at this time.

Because these fees may be used to pay for services that are not related to prospective sales of the fund, to the extent that a fee is authorized, the fund will continue to make payments under its plan even if it is closed to new investors. Because these fees are paid out of the fund’s assets on an ongoing basis, to the extent that a fee is authorized, over time these fees will increase the cost of your investment and may cost you more than paying other types of sales charges.

The advisor or its affiliates may make payments to intermediaries for various additional services, other expenses and/or the intermediaries’ distribution of the fund out of their profits or other available sources. Such payments may be made for one or more of the following: (1) distribution, which may include expenses incurred by intermediaries for their sales activities with respect to the fund, such as preparing, printing and distributing sales literature and advertising materials and compensating registered representatives or other employees of such financial intermediaries for their sales activities, as well as the opportunity for the fund to be made available by such intermediaries; (2) shareholder services, such as providing individual and custom investment advisory services to clients of the financial intermediaries; and (3) marketing and promotional services, including business planning assistance, educating personnel about the fund, and sponsorship of sales meetings, which may include covering costs of providing speakers, meals and other entertainment. The advisor may pay partnership and/or sponsorship fees to support seminars, conferences, and other programs designed to educate intermediaries about the fund and may cover the expenses associated with attendance at such meetings, including travel costs. The advisor and its affiliates may also pay fees related to obtaining data regarding intermediary or financial advisor activities to assist American Century with sales reporting, business intelligence and training and education opportunities. These payments and activities are intended to provide an incentive to intermediaries to sell the fund by educating them about the fund and helping defray the costs associated with offering the fund. These payments may create a conflict of interest by influencing the intermediary to recommend the fund over another investment. Ask your salesperson or visit your financial intermediary’s website for more information. The amount of any payments described in this paragraph is determined by the advisor or its affiliates, and all such amounts are paid out of their available assets, and not paid by you or the fund. As a result, the total expense ratio of the fund will not be affected by any such payments.

Financial Highlights

There is no financial information for the fund because it is a new fund.

Notes

Notes

Where to Find More Information

Annual and Semiannual Reports

Additional information about the fund’s investments will be available in the fund’s annual and semiannual reports to shareholders. In the fund’s annual report, you will find a discussion of the market conditions and investment strategies that significantly affected the fund’s performance during its last fiscal year.

Statement of Additional Information (SAI)

The SAI contains a more detailed legal description of the fund’s operations, investment restrictions, policies and practices. The SAI is incorporated by reference into this prospectus. This means that it is legally part of this prospectus, even if you don’t request a copy.

You may obtain a free copy of the SAI, annual reports and semiannual reports, and you may ask questions about the fund or your accounts, online at avantisinvestors.com, by contacting Avantis Investors at the addresses or telephone numbers listed below or by contacting your financial intermediary.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)

Reports and other information about the fund are available on the EDGAR database on the SEC’s website at sec.gov, and copies of this information may be obtained, after paying a duplicating fee, by electronic request at the following email address: publicinfo@sec.gov.

This prospectus shall not constitute an offer to sell securities of the fund in any state, territory, or other jurisdiction where the fund’s shares have not been registered or qualified for sale, unless such registration or qualification is not required, or under any circumstances in which such offer or solicitation would be unlawful.

Avantis Investors by American Century Investments
avantisinvestors.com

Financial Professionals
P.O. Box 419385
Kansas City, Missouri 64141-6385
833-9AVANTIS

Investment Company Act File No. 811-23305 CL-PRS-xxxxx 2201

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

[date], 2022

Avantis Investors®

By American Century Investments®

Prospectus

	Ticker:	Exchange:
Avantis® Responsible International Equity ETF	AVSD	NYSE Arca, Inc.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has
not approved or disapproved these securities or
passed upon the adequacy of this prospectus. Any
representation to the contrary is a criminal offense.

Table of Contents

Fund Summary	2
Investment Objective	2
Fees and Expenses	2
Principal Investment Strategies	2
Principal Risks	3
Fund Performance	4
Portfolio Management	4
Purchase and Sale of Fund Shares	4
Tax Information	4
Payments to Broker-Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries	4
Objectives, Strategies and Risks	5
Management	7
Investing in the Fund	9
Share Price and Distributions	10
Taxes	11
Additional Information	13
Financial Highlights	14

©2022 American Century Proprietary Holdings, Inc. All rights reserved.

Fund Summary

Investment Objective

The fund seeks long-term capital appreciation.

Fees and Expenses

The following table describes the fees and expenses you may pay if you buy, hold, and sell shares of the fund. You may pay other fees, such as brokerage commissions and other fees to financial intermediaries, which are not reflected in the tables and examples below.

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

Example

The example below is intended to help you compare the costs of investing in the fund with the costs of investing in other funds. The example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the fund for the time periods indicated and then redeem all of your shares at the end of those periods, that you earn a 5% return each year, and that the fund’s operating expenses remain the same. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:

1 year 3 years

Portfolio Turnover

The fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes when 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. Because the fund is new, the fund’s portfolio turnover rate is not available.

Principal Investment Strategies

The fund invests primarily in a diverse group of non-U.S. companies across countries, market sectors and industry groups. The fund may invest in companies of all market capitalizations.

The portfolio management team limits its investable universe of companies by screening out those that raise concerns based on the team’s evaluation of multiple ESG metrics. The portfolio managers utilize third party commercial data sources and scoring systems, as well as proprietary evaluations, to decide what securities should be excluded due to ESG concerns. Though the factors considered in the proprietary screening model may change from time to time, currently the fund excludes the following issuers from its investable universe:

•companies with significant revenue (e.g., 5% thresholds and up depending on the category) from any of the following: oil and gas production or distribution; manufacture or sale of civilian firearms and ammunition; manufacture of chemical, biological, or nuclear weapons and related systems or components; factory farming; palm oil production; production or sale of tobacco or cannabis; gambling; or adult entertainment;

•companies with more than de minimis revenue from thermal coal;

•companies ranking in the bottom 5% in terms of carbon emissions intensity;

•companies with low corporate governance scores; and

•companies involved in environmental, social, or governance controversies that, in the portfolio management team’s judgment, merit exclusion.

When information used in the fund’s ESG screening model is not publicly available with respect to an issuer, the issuer will be eligible for purchase by the fund if the portfolio managers are not aware of any other ESG concerns related to the issuer that in their judgment would warrant exclusion. The eligibility of a security for inclusion in the fund’s portfolio will be determined at the time of purchase. In the event of a subsequent change in the ESG characteristics of (or the availability of ESG information about) an issuer, the fund will not be obligated to dispose of that security and may continue to hold the security if otherwise deemed appropriate by the portfolio managers.

Within the fund’s investable universe of issuers that have been screened for ESG characteristics, the fund seeks securities of companies that it expects to have higher returns by placing an enhanced emphasis on securities of companies with smaller market capitalizations and securities of companies it defines as high profitability or value companies. Conversely, the fund seeks to underweight or exclude securities it expects to have lower returns, such as securities of large companies with lower levels of

profitability and higher prices relative to their book values or other financial metrics. To identify small capitalization, high profitability, or value companies, the portfolio managers may use reported and estimated company financials and market data including, but not limited to, shares outstanding, book value and its components, cash flows, revenue, expenses, accruals and income. Value companies may be defined as those with lower price relative to book value ratio or other fundamental value. High profitability companies may be defined as those with higher cash based operating profitability. The portfolio managers may also consider other factors when selecting a security including, industry classification, the past performance of the security relative to other securities, its liquidity, its float, and tax, governance or cost considerations, among others.

Under normal market conditions, the fund will invest at least 80% of its assets in equity securities. The fund may invest in securities that are denominated in foreign currencies and may also invest in foreign securities that are represented in the U.S. and other securities markets by American Depositary Receipts (ADRs), Global Depositary Receipts (GDRs), and other similar depositary arrangements.

The fund may also engage in securities lending and invest its collateral in eligible securities, such as a government money market fund.

The fund is an actively managed exchange-traded fund (ETF) that does not seek to replicate the performance of a specified index. The portfolio managers continually analyze market and financial data to make buy, sell, and hold decisions. When buying or selling a security, the portfolio managers may consider the trade-off between expected returns of the security and implementation or tax costs of the trade in an attempt to gain trading efficiencies, avoid unnecessary risk, and enhance fund performance.

Principal Risks

•Equity Securities Risk - The value of equity securities, may fluctuate due to changes in investor perception of a specific issuer, changes in the general condition of the stock market, or occurrences of political or economic events that affect equity issuers and the market. Common stock prices may be particularly sensitive to rising interest rates, as the cost of capital rises and borrowing costs increase.

•ESG Risk - Because the portfolio managers screen securities based on ESG characteristics, the fund may exclude the securities of certain issuers or industry sectors for other than financial reasons and, as a result, the fund may perform differently or maintain a different risk profile than the market generally or compared to funds that do not use similar ESG-based screens. Investing based on ESG considerations may also prioritize long term rather than short term returns. Furthermore, when analyzing ESG criteria for issuers, the portfolio management team relies on proprietary evaluations and information, ratings and scoring models published by third party sources (collectively, “ESG Data”). Due to the lack of regulation and uniform reporting standards with respect to ESG characteristics of issuers, ESG Data may be inconsistent across sources and, in certain cases, incorrect. In addition, ESG Data is not currently available for many issuers and, when available, frequently only includes some but not all of the ESG characteristics considered by the team when applying their ESG screens.

•Small-Cap Stock Risk - Smaller companies may have limited financial resources, product lines, markets and have less publicly available information. These securities may trade less frequently and in more limited volumes than larger companies’ securities, leading to higher transaction costs. Smaller companies also may be more sensitive to changing economic conditions, and investments in smaller foreign companies may experience more price volatility.

•Currency Risk - The fund could experience gains or losses solely on changes in the exchange rate between foreign currencies and the U.S. dollar.

•Foreign Risk - Foreign securities are generally riskier than U.S. securities. Political events (such as civil unrest, national elections and imposition of exchange controls), social and economic events (such as labor strikes and rising inflation), natural disasters and public health emergencies occurring in a country where the fund invests could cause the fund’s investments in that country to experience gains or losses. Securities of foreign issuers may be less liquid, more volatile and harder to value than U.S. securities.

•Depositary Receipts Risk - Investment in depositary receipts does not eliminate all the risks inherent in investing in securities of non-U.S. issuers. The market value of depositary receipts is dependent upon the market value of the underlying securities and fluctuations in the relative value of the currencies in which the depositary receipts and the underlying securities are quoted.

•Investment Process Risk - Stocks selected by the portfolio managers may perform differently than expected due to the portfolio managers’ judgments regarding the factors used, the weight placed on each factor, changes from the factors’ historical trends, and technical issues with the construction and implementation of the investment process (including, for example, data problems and/or software or other implementation issues). There is no guarantee that the investment process will result in effective investment decisions for the fund.

•Cash Transactions Risk - The fund may effect its creations and redemptions for cash, rather than for in-kind securities. Therefore, it may be required to sell portfolio securities and subsequently recognize gains on such sales that the fund might not have recognized if it were to distribute portfolio securities in-kind. As such, investments in fund shares may be less tax-efficient than an investment in an ETF that distributes portfolio securities entirely in-kind. Cash transactions may have to be carried out over several days if the securities market is relatively illiquid and may involve considerable brokerage fees and taxes. Brokerage fees and taxes will be higher than if the fund sold and redeemed shares in-kind.

•Style Risk - If at any time the market is not favoring the fund’s investment style, the fund’s gains may not be as big as, or its losses may be bigger than, those of other equity funds using different investment styles.

•Market Trading Risk - The fund faces numerous market trading risks, including the potential lack of an active market for fund shares, losses from trading in secondary markets, periods of high volatility and disruption in the creation and/or redemption process of the fund. Any of these factors, among others, may lead to the fund’s shares trading at a premium or discount to NAV. Thus, you may pay more (or less) than NAV when you buy shares of the fund in the secondary market, and you may receive less (or more) than NAV when you sell those shares in the secondary market. The portfolio managers cannot predict whether shares will trade above (premium), below (discount) or at NAV.

•Market Risk - The value of the fund’s shares will go up and down based on the performance of the companies whose securities it owns and other factors generally affecting the securities market. Market risks, including political, regulatory, economic and social developments, can affect the value of the fund’s investments. Natural disasters, public health emergencies, terrorism and other unforeseeable events may lead to increased market volatility and may have adverse long-term effects on world economies and markets generally.

•Public Health Emergency Risk - A pandemic, caused by the infectious respiratory illness COVID-19, is causing market disruption and other economic impacts. Markets have experienced volatility, reduced liquidity, and increased trading costs. These events may continue to impact the fund and its underlying investments and could cause increased premiums or discounts to the fund’s NAV.

•Securities Lending Risk - Securities lending involves the risk of loss of rights in, or delay in recovery of, the loaned securities if the borrower fails to return the security loaned or becomes insolvent.

•Authorized Participant Concentration Risk - Only an authorized participant may engage in creation or redemption transactions directly with the fund. The fund may have a limited number of institutions that act as authorized participants. To the extent that these institutions exit the business or are unable to proceed with creation and/or redemption orders with respect to the fund and no other authorized participant is able to step forward to process creation and/or redemption orders, fund shares may trade at a discount to net asset value (NAV) and possibly face trading halts and/or delisting. This risk may be more pronounced in volatile markets, potentially where there are significant redemptions in ETFs generally.

•Price Volatility Risk - The value of the fund’s shares may fluctuate significantly in the short term.

•Redemption Risk - The fund may need to sell securities at times it would not otherwise do so to meet shareholder redemption requests. Selling securities to meet such redemptions may cause the fund to experience a loss, increase the fund’s transaction costs or have tax consequences. To the extent that a large shareholder (including a fund of funds or 529 college savings plan) invests in the fund, the fund may experience relatively large redemptions as such shareholder reallocates its assets.

•Principal Loss Risk - At any given time your shares may be worth less than the price you paid for them. In other words, it is possible to lose money by investing in the fund.

An investment in the fund is not a bank deposit, and it is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) or any other government agency.

Fund Performance

The fund’s performance history is not available as of the date of this prospectus. When the fund has investment results for a full calendar year, this section will feature charts that show annual total returns, highest and lowest quarterly returns and average annual total returns for the fund. This information indicates the volatility of the fund’s historical returns from year to year. For current performance information, please visit avantisinvestors.com.

Performance information is designed to help you see how fund returns can vary. Keep in mind that past performance (before and after taxes) does not predict how the fund will perform in the future.

Portfolio Management

Investment Advisor

American Century Investment Management, Inc.

Portfolio Managers

Eduardo Repetto, Chief Investment Officer of Avantis Investors, has been a member of the team that manages the fund since 2022.

Mitchell Firestein, Senior Portfolio Manager, has been a member of the team that manages the fund since 2022.

Daniel Ong, Senior Portfolio Manager, has been a member of the team that manages the fund since 2022.

Ted Randall, Senior Portfolio Manager, has been a member of the team that manages the fund since 2022.

Purchase and Sale of Fund Shares

The fund is an ETF. Fund shares may only be bought and sold in a secondary market through a broker-dealer at a market price. Because ETF shares trade at market prices rather than NAV, shares may trade at a price greater than NAV (a premium) or less than

NAV (a discount). An investor may incur costs attributable to the difference between the highest price a buyer is willing to pay to purchase shares of the fund (bid) and the lowest price a seller is willing to accept for shares of the fund (ask) when buying or selling shares in the secondary market (bid-ask spread). Investors can find information on the fund’s NAV, market price, premiums and discounts, and bid-ask spread at avantisinvestors.com.

Tax Information

Fund distributions are generally taxable as ordinary income or capital gains, unless you are investing through a tax-deferred account such as a 401(k) or individual retirement account (in which case you may be taxed upon withdrawal of your investment 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 advisor and its related companies 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.

Objectives, Strategies and Risks

What is the fund’s investment objective?

The fund seeks long-term capital appreciation.

The fund’s investment objective is a nonfundamental investment policy and may be changed by the Board of Trustees without approval by shareholders.

What are the fund’s principal investment strategies?

The fund invests primarily in a diverse group of non-U.S. companies across countries, market sectors and industry groups. The fund may invest in companies of all market capitalizations.

The portfolio management team limits its investable universe of companies by screening out those that raise concerns based on the team’s evaluation of multiple ESG metrics. The portfolio managers utilize third party commercial data sources and scoring systems, as well as proprietary evaluations, to decide what securities should be excluded due to ESG concerns. Though the factors considered in the proprietary screening model may change from time to time, currently the fund excludes the following issuers from its investable universe:

•companies with significant revenue (e.g., 5% thresholds and up depending on the category) from any of the following: oil and gas production or distribution; manufacture or sale of civilian firearms and ammunition; manufacture of chemical, biological, or nuclear weapons and related systems or components; factory farming; palm oil production; production or sale of tobacco or cannabis; gambling; or adult entertainment;

•companies with more than de minimis revenue from thermal coal;

•companies ranking in the bottom 5% in terms of carbon emissions intensity;

•companies with low corporate governance scores; and

•companies involved in environmental, social, or governance controversies that, in the portfolio management team’s judgment, merit exclusion.

When information used in the fund’s ESG screening model is not publicly available with respect to an issuer, the issuer will be eligible for purchase by the fund if the portfolio managers are not aware of any other ESG concerns related to the issuer that in their judgment would warrant exclusion. The eligibility of a security for inclusion in the fund’s portfolio will be determined at the time of purchase. In the event of a subsequent change in the ESG characteristics of (or the availability of ESG information about) an issuer, the fund will not be obligated to dispose of that security and may continue to hold the security if otherwise deemed appropriate by the portfolio managers.

Within the fund’s investable universe of issuers that have been screened for ESG characteristics, the fund seeks securities of companies that it expects to have higher returns by placing an enhanced emphasis on securities of companies with smaller market capitalizations and securities of companies it defines as high profitability or value companies. Conversely, the fund seeks to underweight or exclude securities it expects to have lower returns, such as securities of large companies with lower levels of profitability and higher prices relative to their book values or other financial metrics. To identify small capitalization, high profitability, or value companies, the portfolio managers may use reported and estimated company financials and market data including, but not limited to, shares outstanding, book value and its components, cash flows, revenue, expenses, accruals and income. Value companies may be defined as those with lower price relative to book value ratio or other fundamental value. High profitability companies may be defined as those with higher cash based operating profitability. The portfolio managers may also consider other factors when selecting a security including, industry classification, the past performance of the security relative to other securities, its liquidity, its float, and tax, governance or cost considerations, among others.

Under normal market conditions, the fund will invest at least 80% of its assets in equity securities. Equity securities in which the fund may invest include common stock, preferred stock, and equity-equivalent securities, such as convertible securities.

The fund may invest in securities that are denominated in foreign currencies and may also invest in foreign securities that are represented in the U.S. and other securities markets by American Depositary Receipts (ADRs), Global Depositary Receipts (GDRs), and other similar depositary arrangements.

The fund may also engage in securities lending. Collateral received by the fund in connection with loaning its securities may consist of cash and U.S. government securities. Cash collateral may be invested in eligible securities, such as a government money market fund.

The fund is an actively managed exchange-traded fund (ETF) that does not seek to replicate the performance of a specified index. The portfolio managers continually analyze market and financial data to make buy, sell, and hold decisions. When buying or selling a security, the portfolio managers may consider the trade-off between expected returns of the security and implementation or tax costs of the trade in an attempt to gain trading efficiencies, avoid unnecessary risk, and enhance fund performance.

In the event of exceptional market or economic conditions, the fund may take temporary defensive positions that are inconsistent with the fund’s principal investment strategies. To the extent the fund assumes a defensive position, it may not achieve its investment objective.

A description of the policies and procedures with respect to the disclosure of the fund’s portfolio securities is available in the statement of additional information. Portfolio holdings can be viewed online on the fund’s website.

What are the principal risks of investing in the fund?

•Equity Securities Risk - The value of equity securities, may fluctuate due to changes in investor perception of a specific issuer, changes in the general condition of the stock market, or occurrences of political or economic events that affect equity issuers and the market. Common stock prices may be particularly sensitive to rising interest rates, as the cost of capital rises and borrowing costs increase.

•ESG Risk - Because the portfolio managers screen securities based on ESG characteristics, the fund may exclude the securities of certain issuers or industry sectors for other than financial reasons and, as a result, the fund may perform differently or maintain a different risk profile than the market generally or compared to funds that do not use similar ESG-based screens. Investing based on ESG considerations may also prioritize long term rather than short term returns. Furthermore, when analyzing ESG criteria for issuers, the portfolio management team relies on proprietary evaluations and information, ratings and scoring models published by third party sources (collectively, “ESG Data”). Due to the lack of regulation and uniform reporting standards with respect to ESG characteristics of issuers, ESG Data may be inconsistent across sources and, in certain cases, incorrect. In addition, ESG Data is not currently available for many issuers and, when available, frequently only includes some but not all of the ESG characteristics considered by the team when applying their ESG screens.

•Small-Cap Stock Risk - Smaller companies may have limited financial resources, product lines, markets and have less publicly available information. These securities may trade less frequently and in more limited volumes than larger companies’ securities, leading to higher transaction costs. Smaller companies also may be more sensitive to changing economic conditions, and investments in smaller foreign companies may experience more price volatility.

•Currency Risk - The fund could experience gains or losses solely on changes in the exchange rate between foreign currencies and the U.S. dollar.

•Foreign Risk - Foreign securities are generally riskier than U.S. securities. Political events (such as civil unrest, national elections and imposition of exchange controls), social and economic events (such as labor strikes and rising inflation), natural disasters and public health emergencies occurring in a country where the fund invests could cause the fund’s investments in that country to experience gains or losses. Securities of foreign issuers may be less liquid, more volatile and harder to value than U.S. securities.

•Depositary Receipts Risk - Investment in depositary receipts does not eliminate all the risks inherent in investing in securities of non-U.S. issuers. The market value of depositary receipts is dependent upon the market value of the underlying securities and fluctuations in the relative value of the currencies in which the depositary receipts and the underlying securities are quoted.

•Investment Process Risk - Stocks selected by the portfolio managers may perform differently than expected due to the portfolio managers’ judgments regarding the factors used, the weight placed on each factor, changes from the factors’ historical trends, and technical issues with the construction and implementation of the investment process (including, for example, data problems and/or software or other implementation issues). There is no guarantee that the investment process will result in effective investment decisions for the fund.

•Cash Transactions Risk - ETFs generally are able to make in-kind redemptions to avoid some costs, including being taxed on gains on the distributed portfolio securities at the fund level. However, because the fund may effect purchases or redemptions fully or partially in cash, rather than in-kind, it may be required to sell portfolio securities in order to obtain the cash needed to distribute redemption proceeds. If the fund recognizes gain on these sales, this generally will cause the fund to recognize gain it might not otherwise have recognized, or to recognize such gain sooner than would otherwise be required if it were to distribute portfolio securities in-kind. The fund generally intends to distribute these gains to shareholders to avoid being taxed on this gain at the fund level and otherwise comply with the special tax rules that apply to it. This strategy may cause shareholders to be subject to tax on gains they would not otherwise be subject to, or at an earlier date than, if they had made an investment in a different ETF. Moreover, cash transactions may have to be carried out over several days if the securities market is relatively illiquid and may involve considerable brokerage fees and taxes. These brokerage fees and taxes, which may be higher than if the fund sold and redeemed its shares in-kind, will be passed on to purchasers and redeemers of Creation Units in the form of creation and redemption transaction fees. To the extent that these costs are not offset by a transaction fee, the fund may bear the expense.

•Style Risk - If at any time the market is not favoring the fund’s investment style, the fund’s gains may not be as big as, or its losses may be bigger than, those of other equity funds using different investment styles.

•Market Trading Risk - Although shares of the fund are listed for trading on one or more stock exchanges, there can be no assurance that an active trading market for such shares will develop or be maintained. There are no obligations of market makers to make a market in the fund’s shares or of an authorized participant 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 value of the fund’s portfolio securities and the fund’s market price. This reduced effectiveness could result in fund shares trading at a premium or discount to its NAV and also greater than normal intraday bid/ask spreads.

Shares of the fund may trade in the secondary market at times when the fund does not accept orders to purchase or redeem shares. At such times, shares may trade in the secondary market with more significant premiums or discounts than might be experienced at times when the fund accepts purchase and redemption orders. Secondary market trading in fund shares may be halted by a stock exchange because of market conditions or other reasons, and may be subject to trading halts caused by extraordinary market volatility pursuant to “circuit breaker” rules on the stock exchange or market. There can be no assurance that the requirements necessary to maintain the listing or trading of fund shares will continue to be met or will remain unchanged. In addition, during a “flash crash,” the market prices of the fund’s shares may decline suddenly and significantly. Such a decline may not reflect the performance of the portfolio securities held by the fund. Flash crashes may cause authorized participants and other market makers to limit or cease trading in the fund’s shares for temporary or longer periods. Shareholders could suffer significant losses to the extent that they sell fund shares at these temporarily low market prices.

Shares of the fund may trade at prices other than NAV. Thus, you may pay more (or less) than NAV when you buy shares of the fund in the secondary market, and you may receive less (or more) than NAV when you sell those shares in the secondary market. While the creation/redemption feature is designed to make it likely that the fund’s shares normally will trade on stock exchanges at prices close to the fund’s next calculated NAV, market prices are not expected to correlate exactly with the fund’s NAV due to timing reasons as well as market supply and demand factors. In addition, disruptions to creations and redemptions or extreme market volatility may result in trading prices for shares of the fund that differ significantly from its NAV. The portfolio managers cannot predict whether shares will trade above (premium), below (discount) or at NAV.

When buying or selling shares of the fund through a broker, you will likely incur a brokerage commission or other charges determined by your broker. In addition, you may incur the cost of the “spread,” that is, any difference between the bid price and the ask price. The spread varies over time for shares of the fund based on the fund’s trading volume and market liquidity, and is generally lower if the fund has a lot of trading volume and market liquidity, and higher if the fund has little trading volume and market liquidity. During times of market stress, spreads may widen causing investors to pay more.

•Market Risk - The value of the fund’s shares will go up and down based on the performance of the companies whose securities it owns and other factors generally affecting the securities market. Market risks, including political, regulatory, economic and social developments, can affect the value of the fund’s investments. Natural disasters, public health emergencies, terrorism and other unforeseeable events may lead to increased market volatility and may have adverse long-term effects on world economies and markets generally.

•Public Health Emergency Risk - A pandemic, caused by the infectious respiratory illness COVID-19, is causing travel restrictions, disruption of healthcare systems, prolonged quarantines, cancellations, supply chain interruptions, lower consumer demand, layoffs, credit downgrades, and defaults among other economic impacts. Certain markets have experienced temporary closures, extreme volatility, losses, reduced liquidity and increased trading costs. These events may continue to impact the fund and its underlying investments and could cause increased premiums or discounts to the fund’s NAV.

•Securities Lending Risk - Securities lending involves the risk of loss of rights in, or delay in recovery of, the loaned securities if the borrower fails to return the security loaned or becomes insolvent. Any decline in the value of a security while the security is loaned will adversely affect performance. These events could also result in adverse tax consequences.

•Authorized Participant Concentration Risk - Only an authorized participant may engage in creation or redemption transactions directly with the fund. The fund may have a limited number of institutions that act as authorized participants, none of which are obligated to engage in creation or redemption transactions. To the extent that these institutions exit the business or are unable to proceed with creation and/or redemption orders with respect to the fund and no other authorized participant is able to step forward to process creation and/or redemption orders, fund shares may trade at a discount to NAV and possibly face trading halts and/or delisting. This risk may be more pronounced in volatile markets, potentially where there are significant redemptions in ETFs generally. Authorized participant concentration risks may be heightened in scenarios where authorized participants have limited or diminished access to the capital required to post collateral.

•Price Volatility Risk - The value of the fund’s shares may fluctuate significantly in the short term.

•Redemption Risk - The fund may need to sell securities at times it would not otherwise do so to meet shareholder redemption requests. Selling securities to meet such redemptions may cause the fund to experience a loss, increase the fund’s transaction costs or have tax consequences. To the extent that a large shareholder (including a fund of funds or 529 college savings plan) invests in the fund, the fund may experience relatively large redemptions as such shareholder reallocates its assets.

•Principal Loss Risk - At any given time your shares may be worth less than the price you paid for them. In other words, it is possible to lose money by investing in the fund.

An investment in the fund is not a bank deposit, and it is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) or any other government agency.

Management

Who manages the fund?

The Board of Trustees, investment advisor and fund management team play key roles in the management of the fund.

The Board of Trustees

The Board of Trustees is responsible for overseeing the advisor’s management and operations of the fund pursuant to the management agreement. In performing their duties, Board members receive detailed information about the fund and its advisor regularly throughout the year, and meet at least quarterly with management of the advisor to review reports about fund operations. The trustees’ role is to provide oversight and not to provide day-to-day management. The majority of the trustees are independent of the fund’s advisor. They are not employees, directors or officers of, and have no financial interest in, the advisor or any of its affiliated companies (other than as shareholders of American Century Investments funds), and they do not have any other affiliations, positions or relationships that would cause them to be considered “interested persons” under the Investment Company Act of 1940 (Investment Company Act).

The Investment Advisor

The fund’s investment advisor is American Century Investment Management, Inc. (the advisor). The advisor has been managing investment companies since 1958 and is headquartered at 4500 Main Street, Kansas City, Missouri 64111. Avantis Investors is a division of American Century Investment Management, Inc.

The advisor is responsible for managing the investment portfolio of the fund and directing the purchase and sale of its investment securities. The advisor also arranges for transfer agency, custody and all other services necessary for the fund to operate.

For the services it provides to the fund, the advisor receives a unified management fee based on a percentage of the daily net assets of the fund at the annual rate of [__]%. The amount of the fee is calculated daily and paid monthly in arrears. The advisor pays all expenses of managing and operating the fund, other than the management fee payable to the advisor, brokerage and other transaction fees and expenses relating to the acquisition and disposition of portfolio securities, acquired fund fees and expenses, interest (including without limitation borrowing costs and overdraft charges), taxes (including without limitation income, excise, transfer, and withholding taxes), litigation expenses (including without limitation litigation counsel fees and expenses), extraordinary expenses, and expenses incurred in connection with the provision of shareholder and distribution services under a plan adopted pursuant to Rule 12b-1 under the 1940 Act. The advisor may pay unaffiliated third parties who provide recordkeeping and administrative services that would otherwise be performed by an affiliate of the advisor.

A discussion regarding the basis for the Board of Trustees’ approval of the fund’s investment advisory agreement with the advisor will be available in the fund’s annual report to shareholders dated August 31, 2022.

The Fund Management Team

Portfolio managers work as a team to manage funds. Portfolio managers regularly review portfolio holdings and potential purchase and sale activity. Team members buy and sell securities for a fund as they see fit, guided by the fund’s investment objective and strategy.

The portfolio managers on the investment team who are jointly and primarily responsible for the day-to-day management of the fund are identified below.

Eduardo Repetto

Mr. Repetto, Chief Investment Officer of Avantis Investors, joined Avantis Investors in 2019. Prior to joining Avantis Investors, he served in investment management roles at Dimensional Fund Advisors (DFA) from 2000 to 2017, including as co-chief executive officer from 2010 to 2017, co-chief investment officer from 2014 to 2017 and chief investment officer from 2007 to 2014. He has a Diploma de Honor in civil engineering from the Universidad de Buenos Aires, a master’s degree in engineering from Brown University and a Ph.D. in aeronautics from the California Institute of Technology.

Mitchell Firestein

Mr. Firestein, Senior Portfolio Manager, joined Avantis Investors in 2019. Prior to joining Avantis Investors, he served in investment management roles at Dimensional Fund Advisors (DFA) from 2005 to 2019, including as a senior portfolio manager and vice president in 2019 and as a portfolio manager from 2014 to 2018. He has a bachelor’s degree in finance and management from Tulane University.

Daniel Ong

Mr. Ong, Senior Portfolio Manager, joined Avantis Investors in 2019. Prior to joining Avantis Investors, he served as a senior portfolio manager and vice president at Dimensional Fund Advisors (DFA) from 2005 to 2019. He has a bachelor’s degree in economics from the University of California, Irvine and an MBA in finance and accounting from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. He is a CFA charterholder.

Ted Randall

Mr. Randall, Senior Portfolio Manager, joined Avantis Investors in 2019. Prior to joining Avantis Investors, he was president and founder of Pro-Value Construction Services, Inc. from 2016 to 2018. From 2001 to 2015, he served in investment management roles at Dimensional Fund Advisors (DFA), including as a portfolio manager and vice president from 2008 to 2015. He has a bachelor’s

degree in business administration with a concentration in finance from the University of Southern California and a master’s degree in business administration from the Anderson School of Management at the University of California, Los Angeles.

The statement of additional information provides additional information about the accounts managed by the portfolio managers, the structure of their compensation, and their ownership of fund securities.

Fundamental Investment Policies

Shareholders must approve any change to the fundamental investment policies contained in the statement of additional information. The Board of Trustees and/or the advisor may change any other policies, including the fund’s investment objective, or investment strategies described in this prospectus or otherwise used in the operation of the fund at any time, subject to applicable notice provisions.

Investing in the Fund

Buying and Selling Shares

Shares of the fund may be acquired or redeemed directly from the fund only in Creation Units or multiples thereof, as discussed below. Only an authorized participant may engage in creation and redemption transactions directly with the fund. Once created, shares of the fund generally trade in the secondary market in amounts less than a Creation Unit.

Shares of the fund are listed on a national securities exchange for trading during the trading day. Shares can be bought and sold throughout the trading day like shares of other publicly traded companies. American Century ETF Trust (the trust) does not impose any minimum investment for shares of the fund purchased on an exchange. Shares of the fund trade under the following ticker symbol: AVSD.

Buying or selling fund shares on an exchange involves two types of costs that may apply to all securities transactions. When buying or selling shares of the fund through a broker, you will likely incur a brokerage commission or other charges determined by your broker. The commission is frequently a fixed amount and may be a significant proportional cost for investors seeking to buy or sell small amounts of shares. In addition, you may incur the cost of the “spread,” that is, any difference between the bid price and the ask price. The spread varies over time for shares of the fund based on the fund’s trading volume and market liquidity, and is generally lower if the fund has a lot of trading volume and market liquidity, and higher if the fund has little trading volume and market liquidity.

The fund’s primary listing exchange is NYSE Arca, Inc., which is open for trading Monday through Friday and is closed on weekends and 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.

Book Entry

Shares of the fund are held in book-entry form, which means that no share certificates are issued. The Depository Trust Company (DTC) or its nominee is the record owner of all outstanding shares of the fund and is recognized as the owner of all shares for all purposes.

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

Frequent Trading Practices

The Board of Trustees has not adopted a policy of monitoring for frequent purchases and redemptions of fund shares (frequent trading). The Board of Trustees believes that a frequent trading policy is unnecessary because fund shares are listed for trading on a national securities exchange. Therefore, it is unlikely that a shareholder could take advantage of a potential arbitrage opportunity presented by a lag between a change in the value of the fund’s portfolio securities after the close of the primary markets for the fund’s portfolio securities and the reflection of that change in the fund’s NAV (market timing), because the fund generally sells and redeems its shares directly through transactions that are in-kind and/or for cash, subject to the conditions described below under Creations and Redemptions.

Investments by Other Investment Companies

Section 12(d)(1) of the Investment Company Act restricts investments by investment companies in the securities of other investment companies. Registered investment companies are permitted to invest in the fund beyond the limits set forth in Section 12(d)(1), subject to certain terms and conditions set forth in SEC rules. In order for an unaffiliated registered investment company to invest in shares of the fund beyond the limitations of Section 12(d)(1) pursuant to Rule 12d1-4, the registered investment company must enter into an agreement with the trust.

Creations and Redemptions

Prior to trading in the secondary market, shares of the fund are “created” at NAV by market makers, large investors and institutions only in block-size units, called “Creation Units.” All orders to purchase Creation Units must be placed by or through an authorized participant that has entered into an authorized participant agreement (AP Agreement) with Foreside Fund Services, LLC (the distributor). Only an authorized participant may create or redeem Creation Units directly with the fund.

A creation transaction, which is subject to acceptance by the trust, generally takes place when an authorized participant deposits into the fund a designated portfolio of securities and/or cash (which may include cash in lieu of certain securities) in exchange for a specified number of Creation Units. Similarly, shares can be redeemed only in Creation Units, generally for a designated portfolio of securities and/or cash (which may include cash in lieu of certain securities). With respect to the fund, redemptions are generally on an

in-kind basis, but the fund reserves the right to meet redemptions in cash. Except when aggregated in Creation Units, shares are not redeemable by the fund.

The prices at which creations and redemptions occur are based on the next calculation of NAV after a creation or redemption order is received in a proper form under the AP Agreement. The portfolio of securities required for purchase of a Creation Unit is generally the same as the portfolio of securities the fund will deliver upon redemption of fund shares, except under certain circumstances. As a result of any system failure or other interruption, creation or redemption orders either may not be executed according to the fund’s instructions or may not be executed at all, or the fund may not be able to place or change such orders.

Creations and redemptions must be made through a firm that is either a broker-dealer or other participant in the Continuous Net Settlement System of the National Securities Clearing Corporation or a DTC participant and, in either case, has executed an AP Agreement with the distributor. Information about the procedures regarding creations and redemptions of Creation Units (including the cut-off times for receipt of creation and redemption orders) is included in the fund’s statement of additional information (SAI).

Because new shares may be created and issued on an ongoing basis, at any point during the life of the fund a “distribution,” as such term is used in the Securities Act of 1933 (Securities Act), may be occurring. 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 that could render them statutory underwriters and subject to the prospectus delivery and liability provisions of the Securities Act. Any determination of whether one is an underwriter must take into account all the relevant facts and circumstances of each particular case.

Broker-dealers should also note that dealers who are not “underwriters” but are participating in a distribution (as contrasted to ordinary secondary transactions), and thus dealing with shares that are part of an “unsold allotment” within the meaning of Section 4(a)(3)(C) of the Securities Act, would 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 is available only with respect to transactions on a national securities exchange.

In addition, certain affiliates of the fund and the advisor may purchase and resell fund shares pursuant to this prospectus.

Share Price and Distributions

Share Price

The price of fund shares is based on market price. The trading prices of the fund’s shares in the secondary market generally differ from the fund’s daily NAV and are affected by market forces such as supply and demand, economic conditions and other factors.

Calculation of NAV

American Century Investments will price the fund shares purchased or redeemed by authorized participants based on the net asset value (NAV) next determined after an order is received in good order by the fund’s transfer agent. We determine the NAV of the fund as of the close of regular trading (usually 4 p.m. Eastern time) on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on each day the NYSE is open. On days when the NYSE is closed (including certain U.S. national holidays), we do not calculate the NAV.

Thenet asset value, or NAV, of the fund is the current value of the fund’s assets, minus any liabilities, divided by the number of shares of the fund outstanding.

The fund values portfolio securities for which market quotations are readily available at their market price. As a general rule, equity securities listed on a U.S. exchange are valued at the last reported sale price as of the time of valuation. Portfolio securities primarily traded on foreign securities exchanges are generally valued at the preceding official close price or last sale price of such securities on the foreign exchange where primarily traded or at the time the fund’s NAV is determined, if that foreign exchange is open later than the NYSE. The fund may apply a model-derived factor to the closing price of equity securities traded on foreign securities exchanges to derive the market price. The factor is based on observable market data as provided by an independent pricing service. The value of any security or other asset denominated in a currency other than U.S. dollars is then converted to U.S. dollars at the prevailing foreign exchange rate at the time the fund’s NAV is determined. Securities that are neither listed on a securities exchange or traded over the counter may be priced using the mean of the bid and asked prices obtained from an independent broker who is an established market maker in the security. The fund may use third party pricing services to assist in the determination of market value.

If the fund determines that the market price for a portfolio security is not readily available or that the valuation methods mentioned above do not reflect the security’s fair value, such security is valued as determined in good faith by the fund’s board or its designee, in accordance with procedures adopted by the fund’s board. Circumstances that may cause the fund to use alternate procedures to value a security include, but are not limited to:

•if, after the close of the foreign exchange on which a portfolio security is principally traded, but before the close of the NYSE, an event occurs that may materially affect the value of the security;

•a debt security has been declared in default; or

•trading in a security has been halted during the trading day.

If such circumstances occur, the fund will fair value the security if the fair valuation would materially impact the fund’s NAV. While fair value determinations involve judgments that are inherently subjective, these determinations are made in good faith in accordance with procedures adopted by the fund’s board.

The effect of using fair value determinations is that the fund’s NAV will be based, to some degree, on security valuations that the board or its designee believes are fair rather than being solely determined by the market.

With respect to any portion of the fund’s assets that are invested in one or more open-end management investment companies that are registered with the SEC (known as registered investment companies), the fund’s NAV will be calculated based upon the NAVs of such registered investment companies. These registered investment companies are required by law to explain the circumstances under which they will use fair value pricing and the effects of using fair value pricing in their prospectuses.

Trading of securities in foreign markets may not take place every day the NYSE is open. Also, trading in some foreign markets and on some electronic trading networks may take place on weekends or holidays when the fund’s NAV is not calculated. So, the value of the fund’s portfolio may be affected on days when you will not be able to purchase or sell fund shares.

Distributions

Federal tax laws require the fund to make distributions to its shareholders in order to qualify as a regulated investment company. Qualification as a regulated investment company means the fund should not be subject to state or federal income tax on amounts distributed. The distributions generally consist of dividends and interest received by the fund, as well as capital gains realized by the fund on the sale of its investment securities.

Capital gainsare increases in the values of capital assets, such as stocks or bonds, from the time the assets are purchased.

The fund generally expects to pay distributions from net income, if any, semiannually. The fund generally pays distributions from realized capital gains, if any, once a year. It may make more frequent distributions if necessary to comply with Internal Revenue Code provisions.

Although dividends generally will be treated as distributed when paid, any dividend declared by a fund in October, November or December and payable to shareholders of record in such a month that is paid during the following January will be treated for U.S. federal income tax purposes as received by shareholders on December 31 of the calendar year in which it was declared.

Dividend payments are made through DTC participants and indirect participants to beneficial owners then of record with proceeds received from the fund. Distributions may be automatically reinvested in whole fund shares only if you purchased the shares through a broker that makes such option available.

Taxes

Some of the tax consequences of owning shares of the fund will vary depending on whether you own them through a taxable or tax-deferred account. Distributions by the fund of dividend and interest income, capital gains and other income it has generated through its investment activities will generally be taxable to shareholders who hold shares in a taxable account. Tax consequences also may result when investors sell fund shares.

Tax-Deferred Accounts

If you purchase fund shares through a tax-deferred account, such as an IRA or employer-sponsored retirement plan, income and capital gains distributions usually will not be subject to current taxation but will accumulate in your account under the plan on a tax-deferred basis. Likewise, moving from one fund to another fund within a plan or tax-deferred account generally will not cause you to be taxed. For information about the tax consequences of making purchases or withdrawals through a tax-deferred account, please consult your plan administrator, your summary plan description or a tax advisor.

Taxable Accounts

If you own fund shares through a taxable account, you may be taxed on your investments if the fund makes distributions or if you sell your fund shares. If you invest through a taxable account, you may be able to claim a foreign tax credit for any foreign income taxes paid by the fund. In order to qualify for this tax credit, certain requirements must be satisfied. Please consult the statement of additional information for a more complete discussion of the tax consequences of owning shares of the fund.

Taxability of Distributions

Fund distributions may consist of income, such as dividends and interest earned by the fund from its investments, or capital gains generated by the fund from the sale of investment securities. Distributions of income are taxed as ordinary income, unless they are designated as qualified dividend income and you meet a minimum required holding period with respect to your shares of the fund, in which case distributions of income are taxed at the same rates as long-term capital gains.

Qualified dividend incomeis a dividend received by a fund from the stock of a domestic or qualifying foreign corporation, provided that the fund has held the stock for a required holding period and the stock was not on loan at the time of the dividend.

The tax character of any distributions from capital gains is determined by how long the fund held the underlying security that was sold, not by how long you have been invested in the fund or whether you reinvest your distributions or take them in cash. Short-term (one year or less) capital gains are taxable as ordinary income. Gains on securities held for more than one year are taxed at the lower rates applicable to long-term capital gains.

If a fund’s distributions exceed current and accumulated earnings and profits, such excess will generally be considered a return of capital. A return of capital distribution is generally not subject to tax, but will reduce your cost basis in the fund and result in higher realized capital gains (or lower realized capital losses) upon the sale of fund shares.

You will receive information regarding the tax character of fund distributions for each calendar year in an annual tax mailing.

If you meet specified income levels, you will also be subject to a 3.8% Medicare contribution tax which is imposed on net investment income, including interest, dividends and capital gains. Distributions also may be subject to state and local taxes. Because everyone’s tax situation is unique, you may want to consult your tax professional about federal, state and local tax consequences.

Taxes on Transactions

Your sales of fund shares are subject to capital gains tax. Short-term capital gains are gains on fund shares you held for 12 months or less. Long-term capital gains are gains on fund shares you held for more than 12 months. If your shares decrease in value, their sale will result in a long-term or short-term capital loss. However, you should note that loss realized upon the sale of shares held for six months or less will be treated as a long-term capital loss to the extent of any distribution of long-term capital gain to you with respect to those shares. If a loss is realized on the sale of fund shares, the reinvestment in additional fund shares within 30 days before or after the sale may be subject to the wash sale rules of the Internal Revenue Code. This may result in a postponement of the recognition of such loss for federal income tax purposes.

If you have not certified that your Social Security number or tax identification number is correct and that you are not subject to withholding, you may be subject to backup withholding at the applicable federal withholding tax rate on taxable dividends, capital gains distributions and proceeds from the sale of fund shares.

Taxes on Creations and Redemptions of Creation Units

An Authorized Participant who exchanges securities for Creation Units generally will recognize a gain or a loss equal to the difference between the market value of the Creation Units at the time and the sum of the exchanger’s aggregate basis in the securities surrendered plus the amount of cash paid for such Creation Units. A person who redeems Creation Units will generally recognize a gain or loss equal to the difference between the exchanger’s basis in the Creation Units and the sum of the aggregate market value of any securities received plus the amount of any cash received for such Creation Units. 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.

Any capital gain or loss realized upon the creation of Creation Units will generally be treated as long-term capital gain or loss if the securities exchanged for such Creation Units have been held for more than one year. Any capital gain or loss realized upon the redemption of Creation Units will generally be treated as long-term capital gain or loss if the shares comprising the Creation Units have been held for more than one year. Otherwise, such capital gains or losses will generally be treated as short-term capital gain or loss. Any loss upon a redemption of Creation Units held for six months or less will be treated as a long-term capital loss to the extent of any amounts treated as distributions to the applicable Authorized Participant of long-term capital gain with respect to the Creation Units (including any amounts credited to the Authorized Participant as undistributed capital gains).

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

Buying a Dividend

Purchasing fund shares in a taxable account shortly before a distribution is sometimes known as buying a dividend. In taxable accounts, you must pay income taxes on the distribution whether you reinvest the distribution or take it in cash. In addition, you will have to pay taxes on the distribution whether the value of your investment decreased, increased or remained the same after you bought the fund shares.

The risk in buying a dividend is that a fund’s portfolio may build up taxable income and gains throughout the period covered by a distribution, as income is earned and securities are sold at a profit. The fund distributes the income and gains to you, after subtracting any losses, even if you did not own the shares when the income was earned or the gains occurred.

If you buy a dividend, you incur the full tax liability of the distribution period, but you may not enjoy the full benefit of the income earned or the gains realized in the fund’s portfolio.

Additional Information

Service, Distribution and Administrative Fees

Investment Company Act Rule 12b-1 permits investment companies that adopt a written plan to pay certain expenses associated with the distribution of their shares out of fund assets. The Board of Trustees has adopted a 12b-1 plan that allows the fund to pay annual fees not to exceed 0.25% to the distributor for distribution and individual shareholder services. However, the Board of Trustees has determined not to authorize payment of a 12b-1 plan fee at this time.

Because these fees may be used to pay for services that are not related to prospective sales of the fund, to the extent that a fee is authorized, the fund will continue to make payments under its plan even if it is closed to new investors. Because these fees are paid out of the fund’s assets on an ongoing basis, to the extent that a fee is authorized, over time these fees will increase the cost of your investment and may cost you more than paying other types of sales charges.

The advisor or its affiliates may make payments to intermediaries for various additional services, other expenses and/or the intermediaries’ distribution of the fund out of their profits or other available sources. Such payments may be made for one or more of the following: (1) distribution, which may include expenses incurred by intermediaries for their sales activities with respect to the fund, such as preparing, printing and distributing sales literature and advertising materials and compensating registered representatives or other employees of such financial intermediaries for their sales activities, as well as the opportunity for the fund to be made available by such intermediaries; (2) shareholder services, such as providing individual and custom investment advisory services to clients of the financial intermediaries; and (3) marketing and promotional services, including business planning assistance, educating personnel about the fund, and sponsorship of sales meetings, which may include covering costs of providing speakers, meals and other entertainment. The advisor may pay partnership and/or sponsorship fees to support seminars, conferences, and other programs designed to educate intermediaries about the fund and may cover the expenses associated with attendance at such meetings, including travel costs. The advisor and its affiliates may also pay fees related to obtaining data regarding intermediary or financial advisor activities to assist American Century with sales reporting, business intelligence and training and education opportunities. These payments and activities are intended to provide an incentive to intermediaries to sell the fund by educating them about the fund and helping defray the costs associated with offering the fund. These payments may create a conflict of interest by influencing the intermediary to recommend the fund over another investment. Ask your salesperson or visit your financial intermediary’s website for more information. The amount of any payments described in this paragraph is determined by the advisor or its affiliates, and all such amounts are paid out of their available assets, and not paid by you or the fund. As a result, the total expense ratio of the fund will not be affected by any such payments.

Financial Highlights

There is no financial information for the fund because it is a new fund.

Notes

Notes

Notes

Where to Find More Information

Annual and Semiannual Reports

Additional information about the fund’s investments will be available in the fund’s annual and semiannual reports to shareholders. In the fund’s annual report, you will find a discussion of the market conditions and investment strategies that significantly affected the fund’s performance during its last fiscal year.

Statement of Additional Information (SAI)

The SAI contains a more detailed legal description of the fund’s operations, investment restrictions, policies and practices. The SAI is incorporated by reference into this prospectus. This means that it is legally part of this prospectus, even if you don’t request a copy.

You may obtain a free copy of the SAI, annual reports and semiannual reports, and you may ask questions about the fund or your accounts, online at avantisinvestors.com, by contacting Avantis Investors at the addresses or telephone numbers listed below or by contacting your financial intermediary.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)

Reports and other information about the fund are available on the EDGAR database on the SEC’s website at sec.gov, and copies of this information may be obtained, after paying a duplicating fee, by electronic request at the following email address: publicinfo@sec.gov.

This prospectus shall not constitute an offer to sell securities of the fund in any state, territory, or other jurisdiction where the fund’s shares have not been registered or qualified for sale, unless such registration or qualification is not required, or under any circumstances in which such offer or solicitation would be unlawful.

Avantis Investors by American Century Investments
avantisinvestors.com

Financial Professionals
P.O. Box 419385
Kansas City, Missouri 64141-6385
833-9AVANTIS

Investment Company Act File No. 811-23305 CL-PRS-xxxxx 2201

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

[date], 2022

Avantis Investors®

By American Century Investments®

Prospectus

	Ticker:	Exchange:
Avantis® Responsible U.S. Equity ETF	AVSU	NYSE Arca, Inc.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has
not approved or disapproved these securities or
passed upon the adequacy of this prospectus. Any
representation to the contrary is a criminal offense.

Table of Contents

Fund Summary	2
Investment Objective	2
Fees and Expenses	2
Principal Investment Strategies	2
Principal Risks	3
Fund Performance	4
Portfolio Management	4
Purchase and Sale of Fund Shares	4
Tax Information	4
Payments to Broker-Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries	4
Objectives, Strategies and Risks	5
Management	7
Investing in the Fund	8
Share Price and Distributions	10
Taxes	11
Additional Information	12
Financial Highlights	14

©2022 American Century Proprietary Holdings, Inc. All rights reserved.

Fund Summary

Investment Objective

The fund seeks long-term capital appreciation.

Fees and Expenses

The following table describes the fees and expenses you may pay if you buy, hold, and sell shares of the fund. You may pay other fees, such as brokerage commissions and other fees to financial intermediaries, which are not reflected in the tables and examples below.

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

Example

The example below is intended to help you compare the costs of investing in the fund with the costs of investing in other funds. The example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the fund for the time periods indicated and then redeem all of your shares at the end of those periods, that you earn a 5% return each year, and that the fund’s operating expenses remain the same. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:

1 year 3 years

Portfolio Turnover

The fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes when 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. Because the fund is new, the fund’s portfolio turnover rate is not available.

Principal Investment Strategies

The fund invests primarily in a diverse group of U.S. companies across market sectors and industry groups. The fund may invest in companies of all market capitalizations.

The portfolio management team limits its investable universe of companies by screening out those that raise concerns based on the team’s evaluation of multiple ESG metrics. The portfolio managers utilize third party commercial data sources and scoring systems, as well as proprietary evaluations, to decide what securities should be excluded due to ESG concerns. Though the factors considered in the proprietary screening model may change from time to time, currently the fund excludes the following issuers from its investable universe:

•companies with significant revenue (e.g., 5% thresholds and up depending on the category) from any of the following: oil and gas production or distribution; manufacture or sale of civilian firearms and ammunition; manufacture of chemical, biological, or nuclear weapons and related systems or components; factory farming; palm oil production; production or sale of tobacco or cannabis; gambling; or adult entertainment;

•companies with more than de minimis revenue from thermal coal;

•companies ranking in the bottom 5% in terms of carbon emissions intensity;

•companies with no female members on their boards of directors;

•companies with low corporate governance scores; and

•companies involved in environmental, social, or governance controversies that, in the portfolio management team’s judgment, merit exclusion.

When information used in the fund’s ESG screening model is not publicly available with respect to an issuer, the issuer will be eligible for purchase by the fund if the portfolio managers are not aware of any other ESG concerns related to the issuer that in their judgment would warrant exclusion. The eligibility of a security for inclusion in the fund’s portfolio will be determined at the time of purchase. In the event of a subsequent change in the ESG characteristics of (or the availability of ESG information about) an issuer, the fund will not be obligated to dispose of that security and may continue to hold the security if otherwise deemed appropriate by the portfolio managers.

Within the fund’s investable universe of issuers that have been screened for ESG characteristics, the fund seeks securities of companies that it expects to have higher returns by placing an enhanced emphasis on securities of companies with smaller market capitalizations and securities of companies it defines as high profitability or value companies. Conversely, the fund seeks to

underweight or exclude securities it expects to have lower returns, such as securities of large companies with lower levels of profitability and higher prices relative to their book values or other financial metrics. To identify small capitalization, high profitability, or value companies, the portfolio managers may use reported and estimated company financials and market data including, but not limited to, shares outstanding, book value and its components, cash flows, revenue, expenses, accruals and income. Value companies may be defined as those with lower price relative to book value ratio or other fundamental value. High profitability companies may be defined as those with higher cash based operating profitability. The portfolio managers may also consider other factors when selecting a security including, industry classification, the past performance of the security relative to other securities, its liquidity, its float, and tax, governance or cost considerations, among others.

Under normal market conditions, the fund will invest at least 80% of its assets in equity securities of U.S. companies. To determine whether a company is a U.S. company, the portfolio managers will consider various factors, including where the company is headquartered, where the company’s principal operations are located, where a majority of the company’s revenues are derived, where the principal trading market is located, the country in which the company was legally organized, and whether the company is in the fund’s benchmark—the Russell 3000® Index.

The fund may also engage in securities lending and invest its collateral in eligible securities, such as a government money market fund.

The fund is an actively managed exchange-traded fund (ETF) that does not seek to replicate the performance of a specified index. The portfolio managers continually analyze market and financial data to make buy, sell, and hold decisions. When buying or selling a security, the portfolio managers may consider the trade-off between expected returns of the security and implementation or tax costs of the trade in an attempt to gain trading efficiencies, avoid unnecessary risk, and enhance fund performance.

Principal Risks

•Equity Securities Risk - The value of equity securities, may fluctuate due to changes in investor perception of a specific issuer, changes in the general condition of the stock market, or occurrences of political or economic events that affect equity issuers and the market. Common stock prices may be particularly sensitive to rising interest rates, as the cost of capital rises and borrowing costs increase.

•ESG Risk - Because the portfolio managers screen securities based on ESG characteristics, the fund may exclude the securities of certain issuers or industry sectors for other than financial reasons and, as a result, the fund may perform differently or maintain a different risk profile than the market generally or compared to funds that do not use similar ESG-based screens. Investing based on ESG considerations may also prioritize long term rather than short term returns. Furthermore, when analyzing ESG criteria for issuers, the portfolio management team relies on proprietary evaluations and information, ratings and scoring models published by third party sources (collectively, “ESG Data”). Due to the lack of regulation and uniform reporting standards with respect to ESG characteristics of issuers, ESG Data may be inconsistent across sources and, in certain cases, incorrect. In addition, ESG Data is not currently available for many issuers and, when available, frequently only includes some but not all of the ESG characteristics considered by the team when applying their ESG screens.

•Small-Cap Stock Risk - Smaller companies may have limited financial resources, product lines, markets and have less publicly available information. These securities may trade less frequently and in more limited volumes than larger companies’ securities, leading to higher transaction costs. Smaller companies also may be more sensitive to changing economic conditions, and investments in smaller foreign companies may experience more price volatility.

•Investment Process Risk - Stocks selected by the portfolio managers may perform differently than expected due to the portfolio managers’ judgments regarding the factors used, the weight placed on each factor, changes from the factors’ historical trends, and technical issues with the construction and implementation of the investment process (including, for example, data problems and/or software or other implementation issues). There is no guarantee that the investment process will result in effective investment decisions for the fund.

•Cash Transactions Risk - The fund may effect its creations and redemptions for cash, rather than for in-kind securities. Therefore, it may be required to sell portfolio securities and subsequently recognize gains on such sales that the fund might not have recognized if it were to distribute portfolio securities in-kind. As such, investments in fund shares may be less tax-efficient than an investment in an ETF that distributes portfolio securities entirely in-kind. Cash transactions may have to be carried out over several days if the securities market is relatively illiquid and may involve considerable brokerage fees and taxes. Brokerage fees and taxes will be higher than if the fund sold and redeemed shares in-kind.

•Style Risk - If at any time the market is not favoring the fund’s investment style, the fund’s gains may not be as big as, or its losses may be bigger than, those of other equity funds using different investment styles.

•Market Trading Risk - The fund faces numerous market trading risks, including the potential lack of an active market for fund shares, losses from trading in secondary markets, periods of high volatility and disruption in the creation and/or redemption process of the fund. Any of these factors, among others, may lead to the fund’s shares trading at a premium or discount to NAV. Thus, you may pay more (or less) than NAV when you buy shares of the fund in the secondary market, and you may receive less (or more) than NAV when you sell those shares in the secondary market. The portfolio managers cannot predict whether shares will trade above (premium), below (discount) or at NAV.

•Market Risk - The value of the fund’s shares will go up and down based on the performance of the companies whose securities it owns and other factors generally affecting the securities market. Market risks, including political, regulatory, economic and social developments, can affect the value of the fund’s investments. Natural disasters, public health emergencies, terrorism and other unforeseeable events may lead to increased market volatility and may have adverse long-term effects on world economies and markets generally.

•Public Health Emergency Risk - A pandemic, caused by the infectious respiratory illness COVID-19, is causing market disruption and other economic impacts. Markets have experienced volatility, reduced liquidity, and increased trading costs. These events may continue to impact the fund and its underlying investments and could cause increased premiums or discounts to the fund’s NAV.

•Securities Lending Risk - Securities lending involves the risk of loss of rights in, or delay in recovery of, the loaned securities if the borrower fails to return the security loaned or becomes insolvent.

•Authorized Participant Concentration Risk - Only an authorized participant may engage in creation or redemption transactions directly with the fund. The fund may have a limited number of institutions that act as authorized participants. To the extent that these institutions exit the business or are unable to proceed with creation and/or redemption orders with respect to the fund and no other authorized participant is able to step forward to process creation and/or redemption orders, fund shares may trade at a discount to net asset value (NAV) and possibly face trading halts and/or delisting. This risk may be more pronounced in volatile markets, potentially where there are significant redemptions in ETFs generally.

•Price Volatility Risk - The value of the fund’s shares may fluctuate significantly in the short term.

•Redemption Risk - The fund may need to sell securities at times it would not otherwise do so to meet shareholder redemption requests. Selling securities to meet such redemptions may cause the fund to experience a loss, increase the fund’s transaction costs or have tax consequences. To the extent that a large shareholder (including a fund of funds or 529 college savings plan) invests in the fund, the fund may experience relatively large redemptions as such shareholder reallocates its assets.

•Principal Loss Risk - At any given time your shares may be worth less than the price you paid for them. In other words, it is possible to lose money by investing in the fund.

An investment in the fund is not a bank deposit, and it is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) or any other government agency.

Fund Performance

The fund’s performance history is not available as of the date of this prospectus. When the fund has investment results for a full calendar year, this section will feature charts that show annual total returns, highest and lowest quarterly returns and average annual total returns for the fund. This information indicates the volatility of the fund’s historical returns from year to year. For current performance information, please visit avantisinvestors.com.

Performance information is designed to help you see how fund returns can vary. Keep in mind that past performance (before and after taxes) does not predict how the fund will perform in the future.

Portfolio Management

Investment Advisor

American Century Investment Management, Inc.

Portfolio Managers

Eduardo Repetto, Chief Investment Officer of Avantis Investors, has been a member of the team that manages the fund since 2022.

Mitchell Firestein, Senior Portfolio Manager, has been a member of the team that manages the fund since 2022.

Daniel Ong, Senior Portfolio Manager, has been a member of the team that manages the fund since 2022.

Ted Randall, Senior Portfolio Manager, has been a member of the team that manages the fund since 2022.

Purchase and Sale of Fund Shares

The fund is an ETF. Fund shares may only be bought and sold in a secondary market through a broker-dealer at a market price. Because ETF shares trade at market prices rather than NAV, shares may trade at a price greater than NAV (a premium) or less than NAV (a discount). An investor may incur costs attributable to the difference between the highest price a buyer is willing to pay to purchase shares of the fund (bid) and the lowest price a seller is willing to accept for shares of the fund (ask) when buying or selling shares in the secondary market (bid-ask spread). Investors can find information on the fund’s NAV, market price, premiums and discounts, and bid-ask spread at avantisinvestors.com.

Tax Information

Fund distributions are generally taxable as ordinary income or capital gains, unless you are investing through a tax-deferred account such as a 401(k) or individual retirement account (in which case you may be taxed upon withdrawal of your investment 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 advisor and its related companies 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.

Objectives, Strategies and Risks

What is the fund’s investment objective?

The fund seeks long-term capital appreciation.

The fund’s investment objective is a nonfundamental investment policy and may be changed by the Board of Trustees without approval by shareholders.

What are the fund’s principal investment strategies?

The fund invests primarily in a diverse group of U.S. companies across market sectors and industry groups. The fund may invest in companies of all market capitalizations.

The portfolio management team limits its investable universe of companies by screening out those that raise concerns based on the team’s evaluation of multiple ESG metrics. The portfolio managers utilize third party commercial data sources and scoring systems, as well as proprietary evaluations, to decide what securities should be excluded due to ESG concerns. Though the factors considered in the proprietary screening model may change from time to time, currently the fund excludes the following issuers from its investable universe:

•companies with significant revenue (e.g., 5% thresholds and up depending on the category) from any of the following: oil and gas production or distribution; manufacture or sale of civilian firearms and ammunition; manufacture of chemical, biological, or nuclear weapons and related systems or components; factory farming; palm oil production; production or sale of tobacco or cannabis; gambling; or adult entertainment;

•companies with more than de minimis revenue from thermal coal;

•companies ranking in the bottom 5% in terms of carbon emissions intensity;

•companies with no female members on their boards of directors;

•companies with low corporate governance scores; and

•companies involved in environmental, social, or governance controversies that, in the portfolio management team’s judgment, merit exclusion.

When information used in the fund’s ESG screening model is not publicly available with respect to an issuer, the issuer will be eligible for purchase by the fund if the portfolio managers are not aware of any other ESG concerns related to the issuer that in their judgment would warrant exclusion. The eligibility of a security for inclusion in the fund’s portfolio will be determined at the time of purchase. In the event of a subsequent change in the ESG characteristics of (or the availability of ESG information about) an issuer, the fund will not be obligated to dispose of that security and may continue to hold the security if otherwise deemed appropriate by the portfolio managers.

Within the fund’s investable universe of issuers that have been screened for ESG characteristics, the fund seeks securities of companies that it expects to have higher returns by placing an enhanced emphasis on securities of companies with smaller market capitalizations and securities of companies it defines as high profitability or value companies. Conversely, the fund seeks to underweight or exclude securities it expects to have lower returns, such as securities of large companies with lower levels of profitability and higher prices relative to their book values or other financial metrics. To identify small capitalization, high profitability, or value companies, the portfolio managers may use reported and estimated company financials and market data including, but not limited to, shares outstanding, book value and its components, cash flows, revenue, expenses, accruals and income. Value companies may be defined as those with lower price relative to book value ratio or other fundamental value. High profitability companies may be defined as those with higher cash based operating profitability. The portfolio managers may also consider other factors when selecting a security including, industry classification, the past performance of the security relative to other securities, its liquidity, its float, and tax, governance or cost considerations, among others.

Under normal market conditions, the fund will invest at least 80% of its assets in equity securities of U.S. companies. To determine whether a company is a U.S. company, the portfolio managers will consider various factors, including where the company is headquartered, where the company’s principal operations are located, where a majority of the company’s revenues are derived, where the principal trading market is located, the country in which the company was legally organized, and whether the company is in the fund’s benchmark—the Russell 3000® Index.

Equity securities in which the fund may invest include common stock, preferred stock, and equity-equivalent securities, such as convertible securities.

The fund may also engage in securities lending. Collateral received by the fund in connection with loaning its securities may consist of cash and U.S. government securities. Cash collateral may be invested in eligible securities, such as a government money market fund.

The fund is an actively managed exchange-traded fund (ETF) that does not seek to replicate the performance of a specified index. The portfolio managers continually analyze market and financial data to make buy, sell, and hold decisions. When buying or selling a security, the portfolio managers may consider the trade-off between expected returns of the security and implementation or tax costs of the trade in an attempt to gain trading efficiencies, avoid unnecessary risk, and enhance fund performance.

In the event of exceptional market or economic conditions, the fund may take temporary defensive positions that are inconsistent with the fund’s principal investment strategies. To the extent the fund assumes a defensive position, it may not achieve its investment objective.

A description of the policies and procedures with respect to the disclosure of the fund’s portfolio securities is available in the statement of additional information. Portfolio holdings can be viewed online on the fund’s website.

What are the principal risks of investing in the fund?

•Equity Securities Risk - The value of equity securities, may fluctuate due to changes in investor perception of a specific issuer, changes in the general condition of the stock market, or occurrences of political or economic events that affect equity issuers and the market. Common stock prices may be particularly sensitive to rising interest rates, as the cost of capital rises and borrowing costs increase.

•ESG Risk - Because the portfolio managers screen securities based on ESG characteristics, the fund may exclude the securities of certain issuers or industry sectors for other than financial reasons and, as a result, the fund may perform differently or maintain a different risk profile than the market generally or compared to funds that do not use similar ESG-based screens. Investing based on ESG considerations may also prioritize long term rather than short term returns. Furthermore, when analyzing ESG criteria for issuers, the portfolio management team relies on proprietary evaluations and information, ratings and scoring models published by third party sources (collectively, “ESG Data”). Due to the lack of regulation and uniform reporting standards with respect to ESG characteristics of issuers, ESG Data may be inconsistent across sources and, in certain cases, incorrect. In addition, ESG Data is not currently available for many issuers and, when available, frequently only includes some but not all of the ESG characteristics considered by the team when applying their ESG screens.

•Small-Cap Stock Risk - Smaller companies may have limited financial resources, product lines, markets and have less publicly available information. These securities may trade less frequently and in more limited volumes than larger companies’ securities, leading to higher transaction costs. Smaller companies also may be more sensitive to changing economic conditions, and investments in smaller foreign companies may experience more price volatility.

•Investment Process Risk - Stocks selected by the portfolio managers may perform differently than expected due to the portfolio managers’ judgments regarding the factors used, the weight placed on each factor, changes from the factors’ historical trends, and technical issues with the construction and implementation of the investment process (including, for example, data problems and/or software or other implementation issues). There is no guarantee that the investment process will result in effective investment decisions for the fund.

•Cash Transactions Risk - ETFs generally are able to make in-kind redemptions to avoid some costs, including being taxed on gains on the distributed portfolio securities at the fund level. However, because the fund may effect purchases or redemptions fully or partially in cash, rather than in-kind, it may be required to sell portfolio securities in order to obtain the cash needed to distribute redemption proceeds. If the fund recognizes gain on these sales, this generally will cause the fund to recognize gain it might not otherwise have recognized, or to recognize such gain sooner than would otherwise be required if it were to distribute portfolio securities in-kind. The fund generally intends to distribute these gains to shareholders to avoid being taxed on this gain at the fund level and otherwise comply with the special tax rules that apply to it. This strategy may cause shareholders to be subject to tax on gains they would not otherwise be subject to, or at an earlier date than, if they had made an investment in a different ETF. Moreover, cash transactions may have to be carried out over several days if the securities market is relatively illiquid and may involve considerable brokerage fees and taxes. These brokerage fees and taxes, which may be higher than if the fund sold and redeemed its shares in-kind, will be passed on to purchasers and redeemers of Creation Units in the form of creation and redemption transaction fees. To the extent that these costs are not offset by a transaction fee, the fund may bear the expense.

•Style Risk - If at any time the market is not favoring the fund’s investment style, the fund’s gains may not be as big as, or its losses may be bigger than, those of other equity funds using different investment styles.

•Market Trading Risk - Although shares of the fund are listed for trading on one or more stock exchanges, there can be no assurance that an active trading market for such shares will develop or be maintained. There are no obligations of market makers to make a market in the fund’s shares or of an authorized participant 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 value of the fund’s portfolio securities and the fund’s market price. This reduced effectiveness could result in fund shares trading at a premium or discount to its NAV and also greater than normal intraday bid/ask spreads.

Shares of the fund may trade in the secondary market at times when the fund does not accept orders to purchase or redeem shares. At such times, shares may trade in the secondary market with more significant premiums or discounts than might be experienced at times when the fund accepts purchase and redemption orders. Secondary market trading in fund shares may be halted by a stock exchange because of market conditions or other reasons, and may be subject to trading halts caused by extraordinary market volatility pursuant to “circuit breaker” rules on the stock exchange or market. There can be no assurance that the requirements necessary to maintain the listing or trading of fund shares will continue to be met or will remain unchanged. In addition, during a “flash crash,” the market prices of the fund’s shares may decline suddenly and significantly. Such a decline may not reflect the

performance of the portfolio securities held by the fund. Flash crashes may cause authorized participants and other market makers to limit or cease trading in the fund’s shares for temporary or longer periods. Shareholders could suffer significant losses to the extent that they sell fund shares at these temporarily low market prices.

Shares of the fund may trade at prices other than NAV. Thus, you may pay more (or less) than NAV when you buy shares of the fund in the secondary market, and you may receive less (or more) than NAV when you sell those shares in the secondary market. While the creation/redemption feature is designed to make it likely that the fund’s shares normally will trade on stock exchanges at prices close to the fund’s next calculated NAV, market prices are not expected to correlate exactly with the fund’s NAV due to timing reasons as well as market supply and demand factors. In addition, disruptions to creations and redemptions or extreme market volatility may result in trading prices for shares of the fund that differ significantly from its NAV. The portfolio managers cannot predict whether shares will trade above (premium), below (discount) or at NAV.

When buying or selling shares of the fund through a broker, you will likely incur a brokerage commission or other charges determined by your broker. In addition, you may incur the cost of the “spread,” that is, any difference between the bid price and the ask price. The spread varies over time for shares of the fund based on the fund’s trading volume and market liquidity, and is generally lower if the fund has a lot of trading volume and market liquidity, and higher if the fund has little trading volume and market liquidity. During times of market stress, spreads may widen causing investors to pay more.

•Market Risk - The value of the fund’s shares will go up and down based on the performance of the companies whose securities it owns and other factors generally affecting the securities market. Market risks, including political, regulatory, economic and social developments, can affect the value of the fund’s investments. Natural disasters, public health emergencies, terrorism and other unforeseeable events may lead to increased market volatility and may have adverse long-term effects on world economies and markets generally.

•Public Health Emergency Risk - A pandemic, caused by the infectious respiratory illness COVID-19, is causing travel restrictions, disruption of healthcare systems, prolonged quarantines, cancellations, supply chain interruptions, lower consumer demand, layoffs, credit downgrades, and defaults among other economic impacts. Certain markets have experienced temporary closures, extreme volatility, losses, reduced liquidity and increased trading costs. These events may continue to impact the fund and its underlying investments and could cause increased premiums or discounts to the fund’s NAV.

•Securities Lending Risk - Securities lending involves the risk of loss of rights in, or delay in recovery of, the loaned securities if the borrower fails to return the security loaned or becomes insolvent. Any decline in the value of a security while the security is loaned will adversely affect performance. These events could also result in adverse tax consequences.

•Authorized Participant Concentration Risk - Only an authorized participant may engage in creation or redemption transactions directly with the fund. The fund may have a limited number of institutions that act as authorized participants, none of which are obligated to engage in creation or redemption transactions. To the extent that these institutions exit the business or are unable to proceed with creation and/or redemption orders with respect to the fund and no other authorized participant is able to step forward to process creation and/or redemption orders, fund shares may trade at a discount to NAV and possibly face trading halts and/or delisting. This risk may be more pronounced in volatile markets, potentially where there are significant redemptions in ETFs generally. Authorized participant concentration risks may be heightened in scenarios where authorized participants have limited or diminished access to the capital required to post collateral.

•Price Volatility Risk - The value of the fund’s shares may fluctuate significantly in the short term.

•Redemption Risk - The fund may need to sell securities at times it would not otherwise do so to meet shareholder redemption requests. Selling securities to meet such redemptions may cause the fund to experience a loss, increase the fund’s transaction costs or have tax consequences. To the extent that a large shareholder (including a fund of funds or 529 college savings plan) invests in the fund, the fund may experience relatively large redemptions as such shareholder reallocates its assets.

•Principal Loss Risk - At any given time your shares may be worth less than the price you paid for them. In other words, it is possible to lose money by investing in the fund.

An investment in the fund is not a bank deposit, and it is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) or any other government agency.

Management

Who manages the fund?

The Board of Trustees, investment advisor and fund management team play key roles in the management of the fund.

The Board of Trustees

The Board of Trustees is responsible for overseeing the advisor’s management and operations of the fund pursuant to the management agreement. In performing their duties, Board members receive detailed information about the fund and its advisor regularly throughout the year, and meet at least quarterly with management of the advisor to review reports about fund operations. The trustees’ role is to provide oversight and not to provide day-to-day management. The majority of the trustees are independent of the fund’s advisor. They

are not employees, directors or officers of, and have no financial interest in, the advisor or any of its affiliated companies (other than as shareholders of American Century Investments funds), and they do not have any other affiliations, positions or relationships that would cause them to be considered “interested persons” under the Investment Company Act of 1940 (Investment Company Act).

The Investment Advisor

The fund’s investment advisor is American Century Investment Management, Inc. (the advisor). The advisor has been managing investment companies since 1958 and is headquartered at 4500 Main Street, Kansas City, Missouri 64111. Avantis Investors is a division of American Century Investment Management, Inc.

The advisor is responsible for managing the investment portfolio of the fund and directing the purchase and sale of its investment securities. The advisor also arranges for transfer agency, custody and all other services necessary for the fund to operate.

For the services it provides to the fund, the advisor receives a unified management fee based on a percentage of the daily net assets of the fund at the annual rate of [__]%. The amount of the fee is calculated daily and paid monthly in arrears. The advisor pays all expenses of managing and operating the fund, other than the management fee payable to the advisor, brokerage and other transaction fees and expenses relating to the acquisition and disposition of portfolio securities, acquired fund fees and expenses, interest (including without limitation borrowing costs and overdraft charges), taxes (including without limitation income, excise, transfer, and withholding taxes), litigation expenses (including without limitation litigation counsel fees and expenses), extraordinary expenses, and expenses incurred in connection with the provision of shareholder and distribution services under a plan adopted pursuant to Rule 12b-1 under the 1940 Act. The advisor may pay unaffiliated third parties who provide recordkeeping and administrative services that would otherwise be performed by an affiliate of the advisor.

A discussion regarding the basis for the Board of Trustees’ approval of the fund’s investment advisory agreement with the advisor will be available in the fund’s annual report to shareholders dated August 31, 2022.

The Fund Management Team

Portfolio managers work as a team to manage funds. Portfolio managers regularly review portfolio holdings and potential purchase and sale activity. Team members buy and sell securities for a fund as they see fit, guided by the fund’s investment objective and strategy.

The portfolio managers on the investment team who are jointly and primarily responsible for the day-to-day management of the fund are identified below.

Eduardo Repetto

Mr. Repetto, Chief Investment Officer of Avantis Investors, joined Avantis Investors in 2019. Prior to joining Avantis Investors, he served in investment management roles at Dimensional Fund Advisors (DFA) from 2000 to 2017, including as co-chief executive officer from 2010 to 2017, co-chief investment officer from 2014 to 2017 and chief investment officer from 2007 to 2014. He has a Diploma de Honor in civil engineering from the Universidad de Buenos Aires, a master’s degree in engineering from Brown University and a Ph.D. in aeronautics from the California Institute of Technology.

Mitchell Firestein

Mr. Firestein, Senior Portfolio Manager, joined Avantis Investors in 2019. Prior to joining Avantis Investors, he served in investment management roles at Dimensional Fund Advisors (DFA) from 2005 to 2019, including as a senior portfolio manager and vice president in 2019 and as a portfolio manager from 2014 to 2018. He has a bachelor’s degree in finance and management from Tulane University.

Daniel Ong

Mr. Ong, Senior Portfolio Manager, joined Avantis Investors in 2019. Prior to joining Avantis Investors, he served as a senior portfolio manager and vice president at Dimensional Fund Advisors (DFA) from 2005 to 2019. He has a bachelor’s degree in economics from the University of California, Irvine and an MBA in finance and accounting from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. He is a CFA charterholder.

Ted Randall

Mr. Randall, Senior Portfolio Manager, joined Avantis Investors in 2019. Prior to joining Avantis Investors, he was president and founder of Pro-Value Construction Services, Inc. from 2016 to 2018. From 2001 to 2015, he served in investment management roles at Dimensional Fund Advisors (DFA), including as a portfolio manager and vice president from 2008 to 2015. He has a bachelor’s degree in business administration with a concentration in finance from the University of Southern California and a master’s degree in business administration from the Anderson School of Management at the University of California, Los Angeles.

The statement of additional information provides additional information about the accounts managed by the portfolio managers, the structure of their compensation, and their ownership of fund securities.

Fundamental Investment Policies

Shareholders must approve any change to the fundamental investment policies contained in the statement of additional information. The Board of Trustees and/or the advisor may change any other policies, including the fund’s investment objective, or investment strategies described in this prospectus or otherwise used in the operation of the fund at any time, subject to applicable notice provisions.

Investing in the Fund

Buying and Selling Shares

Shares of the fund may be acquired or redeemed directly from the fund only in Creation Units or multiples thereof, as discussed below. Only an authorized participant may engage in creation and redemption transactions directly with the fund. Once created, shares of the fund generally trade in the secondary market in amounts less than a Creation Unit.

Shares of the fund are listed on a national securities exchange for trading during the trading day. Shares can be bought and sold throughout the trading day like shares of other publicly traded companies. American Century ETF Trust (the trust) does not impose any minimum investment for shares of the fund purchased on an exchange. Shares of the fund trade under the following ticker symbol: AVSU.

Buying or selling fund shares on an exchange involves two types of costs that may apply to all securities transactions. When buying or selling shares of the fund through a broker, you will likely incur a brokerage commission or other charges determined by your broker. The commission is frequently a fixed amount and may be a significant proportional cost for investors seeking to buy or sell small amounts of shares. In addition, you may incur the cost of the “spread,” that is, any difference between the bid price and the ask price. The spread varies over time for shares of the fund based on the fund’s trading volume and market liquidity, and is generally lower if the fund has a lot of trading volume and market liquidity, and higher if the fund has little trading volume and market liquidity.

The fund’s primary listing exchange is NYSE Arca, Inc., which is open for trading Monday through Friday and is closed on weekends and 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.

Book Entry

Shares of the fund are held in book-entry form, which means that no share certificates are issued. The Depository Trust Company (DTC) or its nominee is the record owner of all outstanding shares of the fund and is recognized as the owner of all shares for all purposes.

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

Frequent Trading Practices

The Board of Trustees has not adopted a policy of monitoring for frequent purchases and redemptions of fund shares (frequent trading). The Board of Trustees believes that a frequent trading policy is unnecessary because fund shares are listed for trading on a national securities exchange. Therefore, it is unlikely that a shareholder could take advantage of a potential arbitrage opportunity presented by a lag between a change in the value of the fund’s portfolio securities after the close of the primary markets for the fund’s portfolio securities and the reflection of that change in the fund’s NAV (market timing), because the fund generally sells and redeems its shares directly through transactions that are in-kind and/or for cash, subject to the conditions described below under Creations and Redemptions.

Investments by Other Investment Companies

Section 12(d)(1) of the Investment Company Act restricts investments by investment companies in the securities of other investment companies. Registered investment companies are permitted to invest in the fund beyond the limits set forth in Section 12(d)(1), subject to certain terms and conditions set forth in SEC rules. In order for an unaffiliated registered investment company to invest in shares of the fund beyond the limitations of Section 12(d)(1) pursuant to Rule 12d1-4, the registered investment company must enter into an agreement with the trust.

Creations and Redemptions

Prior to trading in the secondary market, shares of the fund are “created” at NAV by market makers, large investors and institutions only in block-size units, called “Creation Units.” All orders to purchase Creation Units must be placed by or through an authorized participant that has entered into an authorized participant agreement (AP Agreement) with Foreside Fund Services, LLC (the distributor). Only an authorized participant may create or redeem Creation Units directly with the fund.

A creation transaction, which is subject to acceptance by the trust, generally takes place when an authorized participant deposits into the fund a designated portfolio of securities and/or cash (which may include cash in lieu of certain securities) in exchange for a specified number of Creation Units. Similarly, shares can be redeemed only in Creation Units, generally for a designated portfolio of securities and/or cash (which may include cash in lieu of certain securities). With respect to the fund, redemptions are generally on an in-kind basis, but the fund reserves the right to meet redemptions in cash. Except when aggregated in Creation Units, shares are not redeemable by the fund.

The prices at which creations and redemptions occur are based on the next calculation of NAV after a creation or redemption order is received in a proper form under the AP Agreement. The portfolio of securities required for purchase of a Creation Unit is generally the same as the portfolio of securities the fund will deliver upon redemption of fund shares, except under certain circumstances. As a result of any system failure or other interruption, creation or redemption orders either may not be executed according to the fund’s instructions or may not be executed at all, or the fund may not be able to place or change such orders.

Creations and redemptions must be made through a firm that is either a broker-dealer or other participant in the Continuous Net Settlement System of the National Securities Clearing Corporation or a DTC participant and, in either case, has executed an AP Agreement with the distributor. Information about the procedures regarding creations and redemptions of Creation Units (including the cut-off times for receipt of creation and redemption orders) is included in the fund’s statement of additional information (SAI).

Because new shares may be created and issued on an ongoing basis, at any point during the life of the fund a “distribution,” as such term is used in the Securities Act of 1933 (Securities Act), may be occurring. 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 that could render them statutory underwriters and subject to the prospectus delivery and liability provisions of the Securities Act. Any determination of whether one is an underwriter must take into account all the relevant facts and circumstances of each particular case.

Broker-dealers should also note that dealers who are not “underwriters” but are participating in a distribution (as contrasted to ordinary secondary transactions), and thus dealing with shares that are part of an “unsold allotment” within the meaning of Section 4(a)(3)(C) of the Securities Act, would 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 is available only with respect to transactions on a national securities exchange.

In addition, certain affiliates of the fund and the advisor may purchase and resell fund shares pursuant to this prospectus.

Share Price and Distributions

Share Price

The price of fund shares is based on market price. The trading prices of the fund’s shares in the secondary market generally differ from the fund’s daily NAV and are affected by market forces such as supply and demand, economic conditions and other factors.

Calculation of NAV

American Century Investments will price the fund shares purchased or redeemed by authorized participants based on the net asset value (NAV) next determined after an order is received in good order by the fund’s transfer agent. We determine the NAV of the fund as of the close of regular trading (usually 4 p.m. Eastern time) on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on each day the NYSE is open. On days when the NYSE is closed (including certain U.S. national holidays), we do not calculate the NAV.

Thenet asset value, or NAV, of the fund is the current value of the fund’s assets, minus any liabilities, divided by the number of shares of the fund outstanding.

The fund values portfolio securities for which market quotations are readily available at their market price. As a general rule, equity securities listed on a U.S. exchange are valued at the last reported sale price as of the time of valuation. Securities that are neither listed on a securities exchange or traded over the counter may be priced using the mean of the bid and asked prices obtained from an independent broker who is an established market maker in the security. The fund may use third party pricing services to assist in the determination of market value.

If the fund determines that the market price for a portfolio security is not readily available or that the valuation methods mentioned above do not reflect the security’s fair value, such security is valued as determined in good faith by the fund’s board or its designee, in accordance with procedures adopted by the fund’s board. Circumstances that may cause the fund to use alternate procedures to value a security include, but are not limited to:

•if, after the close of the foreign exchange on which a portfolio security is principally traded, but before the close of the NYSE, an event occurs that may materially affect the value of the security;

•a debt security has been declared in default; or

•trading in a security has been halted during the trading day.

If such circumstances occur, the fund will fair value the security if the fair valuation would materially impact the fund’s NAV. While fair value determinations involve judgments that are inherently subjective, these determinations are made in good faith in accordance with procedures adopted by the fund’s board.

The effect of using fair value determinations is that the fund’s NAV will be based, to some degree, on security valuations that the board or its designee believes are fair rather than being solely determined by the market.

With respect to any portion of the fund’s assets that are invested in one or more open-end management investment companies that are registered with the SEC (known as registered investment companies), the fund’s NAV will be calculated based upon the NAVs of such registered investment companies. These registered investment companies are required by law to explain the circumstances under which they will use fair value pricing and the effects of using fair value pricing in their prospectuses.

Trading of securities in foreign markets may not take place every day the NYSE is open. Also, trading in some foreign markets and on some electronic trading networks may take place on weekends or holidays when the fund’s NAV is not calculated. So, the value of the fund’s portfolio may be affected on days when you will not be able to purchase or sell fund shares.

Distributions

Federal tax laws require the fund to make distributions to its shareholders in order to qualify as a regulated investment company. Qualification as a regulated investment company means the fund should not be subject to state or federal income tax on amounts distributed. The distributions generally consist of dividends and interest received by the fund, as well as capital gains realized by the fund on the sale of its investment securities.

Capital gainsare increases in the values of capital assets, such as stocks or bonds, from the time the assets are purchased.

The fund generally expects to pay distributions from net income, if any, quarterly. The fund generally pays distributions from realized capital gains, if any, once a year. It may make more frequent distributions if necessary to comply with Internal Revenue Code provisions.

Although dividends generally will be treated as distributed when paid, any dividend declared by a fund in October, November or December and payable to shareholders of record in such a month that is paid during the following January will be treated for U.S. federal income tax purposes as received by shareholders on December 31 of the calendar year in which it was declared.

Dividend payments are made through DTC participants and indirect participants to beneficial owners then of record with proceeds received from the fund. Distributions may be automatically reinvested in whole fund shares only if you purchased the shares through a broker that makes such option available.

Taxes

Some of the tax consequences of owning shares of the fund will vary depending on whether you own them through a taxable or tax-deferred account. Distributions by the fund of dividend and interest income, capital gains and other income it has generated through its investment activities will generally be taxable to shareholders who hold shares in a taxable account. Tax consequences also may result when investors sell fund shares.

Tax-Deferred Accounts

If you purchase fund shares through a tax-deferred account, such as an IRA or employer-sponsored retirement plan, income and capital gains distributions usually will not be subject to current taxation but will accumulate in your account under the plan on a tax-deferred basis. Likewise, moving from one fund to another fund within a plan or tax-deferred account generally will not cause you to be taxed. For information about the tax consequences of making purchases or withdrawals through a tax-deferred account, please consult your plan administrator, your summary plan description or a tax advisor.

Taxable Accounts

If you own fund shares through a taxable account, you may be taxed on your investments if the fund makes distributions or if you sell your fund shares.

Taxability of Distributions

Fund distributions may consist of income, such as dividends and interest earned by the fund from its investments, or capital gains generated by the fund from the sale of investment securities. Distributions of income are taxed as ordinary income, unless they are designated as qualified dividend income and you meet a minimum required holding period with respect to your shares of the fund, in which case distributions of income are taxed at the same rates as long-term capital gains.

Qualified dividend incomeis a dividend received by a fund from the stock of a domestic or qualifying foreign corporation, provided that the fund has held the stock for a required holding period and the stock was not on loan at the time of the dividend.

The tax character of any distributions from capital gains is determined by how long the fund held the underlying security that was sold, not by how long you have been invested in the fund or whether you reinvest your distributions or take them in cash. Short-term (one year or less) capital gains are taxable as ordinary income. Gains on securities held for more than one year are taxed at the lower rates applicable to long-term capital gains.

If a fund’s distributions exceed current and accumulated earnings and profits, such excess will generally be considered a return of capital. A return of capital distribution is generally not subject to tax, but will reduce your cost basis in the fund and result in higher realized capital gains (or lower realized capital losses) upon the sale of fund shares.

You will receive information regarding the tax character of fund distributions for each calendar year in an annual tax mailing.

If you meet specified income levels, you will also be subject to a 3.8% Medicare contribution tax which is imposed on net investment income, including interest, dividends and capital gains. Distributions also may be subject to state and local taxes. Because everyone’s tax situation is unique, you may want to consult your tax professional about federal, state and local tax consequences.

Taxes on Transactions

Your sales of fund shares are subject to capital gains tax. Short-term capital gains are gains on fund shares you held for 12 months or less. Long-term capital gains are gains on fund shares you held for more than 12 months. If your shares decrease in value, their sale will result in a long-term or short-term capital loss. However, you should note that loss realized upon the sale of shares held for six months or less will be treated as a long-term capital loss to the extent of any distribution of long-term capital gain to you with respect to those shares. If a loss is realized on the sale of fund shares, the reinvestment in additional fund shares within 30 days before or after the sale may be subject to the wash sale rules of the Internal Revenue Code. This may result in a postponement of the recognition of such loss for federal income tax purposes.

If you have not certified that your Social Security number or tax identification number is correct and that you are not subject to withholding, you may be subject to backup withholding at the applicable federal withholding tax rate on taxable dividends, capital gains distributions and proceeds from the sale of fund shares.

Taxes on Creations and Redemptions of Creation Units

An Authorized Participant who exchanges securities for Creation Units generally will recognize a gain or a loss equal to the difference between the market value of the Creation Units at the time and the sum of the exchanger’s aggregate basis in the securities surrendered plus the amount of cash paid for such Creation Units. A person who redeems Creation Units will generally recognize a gain or loss equal to the difference between the exchanger’s basis in the Creation Units and the sum of the aggregate market value of any securities received plus the amount of any cash received for such Creation Units. 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.

Any capital gain or loss realized upon the creation of Creation Units will generally be treated as long-term capital gain or loss if the securities exchanged for such Creation Units have been held for more than one year. Any capital gain or loss realized upon the redemption of Creation Units will generally be treated as long-term capital gain or loss if the shares comprising the Creation Units have been held for more than one year. Otherwise, such capital gains or losses will generally be treated as short-term capital gain or loss. Any loss upon a redemption of Creation Units held for six months or less will be treated as a long-term capital loss to the extent of any amounts treated as distributions to the applicable Authorized Participant of long-term capital gain with respect to the Creation Units (including any amounts credited to the Authorized Participant as undistributed capital gains).

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

Buying a Dividend

Purchasing fund shares in a taxable account shortly before a distribution is sometimes known as buying a dividend. In taxable accounts, you must pay income taxes on the distribution whether you reinvest the distribution or take it in cash. In addition, you will have to pay taxes on the distribution whether the value of your investment decreased, increased or remained the same after you bought the fund shares.

The risk in buying a dividend is that a fund’s portfolio may build up taxable income and gains throughout the period covered by a distribution, as income is earned and securities are sold at a profit. The fund distributes the income and gains to you, after subtracting any losses, even if you did not own the shares when the income was earned or the gains occurred.

If you buy a dividend, you incur the full tax liability of the distribution period, but you may not enjoy the full benefit of the income earned or the gains realized in the fund’s portfolio.

Additional Information

Service, Distribution and Administrative Fees

Investment Company Act Rule 12b-1 permits investment companies that adopt a written plan to pay certain expenses associated with the distribution of their shares out of fund assets. The Board of Trustees has adopted a 12b-1 plan that allows the fund to pay annual fees not to exceed 0.25% to the distributor for distribution and individual shareholder services. However, the Board of Trustees has determined not to authorize payment of a 12b-1 plan fee at this time.

Because these fees may be used to pay for services that are not related to prospective sales of the fund, to the extent that a fee is authorized, the fund will continue to make payments under its plan even if it is closed to new investors. Because these fees are paid out of the fund’s assets on an ongoing basis, to the extent that a fee is authorized, over time these fees will increase the cost of your investment and may cost you more than paying other types of sales charges.

The advisor or its affiliates may make payments to intermediaries for various additional services, other expenses and/or the intermediaries’ distribution of the fund out of their profits or other available sources. Such payments may be made for one or more of the following: (1) distribution, which may include expenses incurred by intermediaries for their sales activities with respect to the fund, such as preparing, printing and distributing sales literature and advertising materials and compensating registered representatives or other employees of such financial intermediaries for their sales activities, as well as the opportunity for the fund to be made

available by such intermediaries; (2) shareholder services, such as providing individual and custom investment advisory services to clients of the financial intermediaries; and (3) marketing and promotional services, including business planning assistance, educating personnel about the fund, and sponsorship of sales meetings, which may include covering costs of providing speakers, meals and other entertainment. The advisor may pay partnership and/or sponsorship fees to support seminars, conferences, and other programs designed to educate intermediaries about the fund and may cover the expenses associated with attendance at such meetings, including travel costs. The advisor and its affiliates may also pay fees related to obtaining data regarding intermediary or financial advisor activities to assist American Century with sales reporting, business intelligence and training and education opportunities. These payments and activities are intended to provide an incentive to intermediaries to sell the fund by educating them about the fund and helping defray the costs associated with offering the fund. These payments may create a conflict of interest by influencing the intermediary to recommend the fund over another investment. Ask your salesperson or visit your financial intermediary’s website for more information. The amount of any payments described in this paragraph is determined by the advisor or its affiliates, and all such amounts are paid out of their available assets, and not paid by you or the fund. As a result, the total expense ratio of the fund will not be affected by any such payments.

Financial Highlights

There is no financial information for the fund because it is a new fund.

Notes

Notes

Notes

Where to Find More Information

Annual and Semiannual Reports

Additional information about the fund’s investments will be available in the fund’s annual and semiannual reports to shareholders. In the fund’s annual report, you will find a discussion of the market conditions and investment strategies that significantly affected the fund’s performance during its last fiscal year.

Statement of Additional Information (SAI)

The SAI contains a more detailed legal description of the fund’s operations, investment restrictions, policies and practices. The SAI is incorporated by reference into this prospectus. This means that it is legally part of this prospectus, even if you don’t request a copy.

You may obtain a free copy of the SAI, annual reports and semiannual reports, and you may ask questions about the fund or your accounts, online at avantisinvestors.com, by contacting Avantis Investors at the addresses or telephone numbers listed below or by contacting your financial intermediary.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)

Reports and other information about the fund are available on the EDGAR database on the SEC’s website at sec.gov, and copies of this information may be obtained, after paying a duplicating fee, by electronic request at the following email address: publicinfo@sec.gov.

This prospectus shall not constitute an offer to sell securities of the fund in any state, territory, or other jurisdiction where the fund’s shares have not been registered or qualified for sale, unless such registration or qualification is not required, or under any circumstances in which such offer or solicitation would be unlawful.

Avantis Investors by American Century Investments
avantisinvestors.com

Financial Professionals
P.O. Box 419385
Kansas City, Missouri 64141-6385
833-9AVANTIS

Investment Company Act File No. 811-23305 CL-PRS-95484 2201

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

[date]

Avantis Investors®

By American Century Investments®

Statement of Additional Information

American Century ETF Trust

	Ticker:	Exchange:
Avantis® Core Fixed Income ETF	AVIG	NYSE Arca, Inc.
Avantis® Core Municipal Fixed Income ETF	AVMU	NYSE Arca, Inc.
Avantis® Emerging Markets Equity ETF	AVEM	NYSE Arca, Inc.
Avantis® Emerging Markets Value ETF	AVES	NYSE Arca, Inc.
Avantis® International Equity ETF	AVDE	NYSE Arca, Inc.
Avantis® International Large Cap Value ETF	AVIV	NYSE Arca, Inc.
Avantis® International Small Cap Value ETF	AVDV	NYSE Arca, Inc.
Avantis® Real Estate ETF	AVRE	NYSE Arca, Inc.
Avantis® Responsible Emerging Markets Equity ETF	AVSE	NYSE Arca, Inc.
Avantis® Responsible International Equity ETF	AVSD	NYSE Arca, Inc.
Avantis® Responsible U.S. Equity ETF	AVSU	NYSE Arca, Inc.
Avantis® Short-Term Fixed Income ETF	AVSF	NYSE Arca, Inc.
Avantis® U.S. Equity ETF	AVUS	NYSE Arca, Inc.
Avantis® U.S. Large Cap Value ETF	AVLV	NYSE Arca, Inc.
Avantis® U.S. Small Cap Equity ETF	AVSC	NYSE Arca, Inc.
Avantis® U.S. Small Cap Value ETF	AVUV	NYSE Arca, Inc.

This statement of additional information adds to the discussion in the funds’ prospectuses dated ______, 2022, but is not a prospectus. The statement of additional information should be read in conjunction with the funds’ current prospectuses. If you would like a copy of a prospectus, please contact us at one of the addresses or telephone numbers listed on the back cover or visit Avantis Investors’ website at avantisinvestors.com. This statement of additional information incorporates by reference certain information that appears in the funds’ annual reports, which are delivered to all investors. You may obtain a free copy of the funds’ annual reports by calling 833-9AVANTIS.

©2022 American Century Proprietary Holdings, Inc. All rights reserved.

Table of Contents

The Funds’ History	2
Exchange Listing and Trading	2
Fund Investment Guidelines	3
Fund Investments and Risks	3
Investment Strategies and Risks	3
Investment Policies	26
Temporary Defensive Measures	28
Portfolio Turnover	28
Disclosure of Portfolio Holdings	28
Management	29
The Board of Trustees	29
Officers	33
Code of Ethics	34
Proxy Voting Policies	34
The Funds’ Principal Shareholders	34
Creation and Redemption of Creation Units	35
Service Providers	41
Investment Advisor	41
Portfolio Managers	43
Transfer Agent	45
Administrator	46
Sub-Administrator	46
Distributor	46
Custodian Bank	47
Securities Lending Agent	47
Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm	47
Brokerage Allocation	48
Information About Fund Shares	49
Valuation of a Fund’s Securities	50
Taxes	50
Federal Income Taxes	50
State and Local Taxes	54
Financial Statements	54
Appendix A - Principal Shareholders	A-1
Appendix B - Explanation of Fixed-Income Securities Ratings	B-1
Appendix C - Proxy Voting Policies	C-1

The Funds’ History

American Century ETF Trust is a registered open-end management investment company that was organized as a Delaware statutory trust on June 27, 2017. Throughout this statement of additional information (SAI) we refer to American Century ETF Trust as the trust.

Each fund described in this SAI (each, a “fund” and together, the “funds”) is a separate series of the trust. Each fund has its own investment objective, strategies, assets, and tax identification and stock registration numbers.

Fund/Class	Ticker Symbol	Inception Date
Avantis Core Fixed Income ETF	AVIG	10/13/2020
Avantis Core Municipal Fixed Income ETF	AVMU	12/08/2020
Avantis Emerging Markets Equity ETF	AVEM	09/17/2019
Avantis Emerging Markets Value ETF	AVES	09/28/2021
Avantis International Equity ETF	AVDE	09/24/2019
Avantis International Large Cap Value ETF	AVIV	09/28/2021
Avantis International Small Cap Value ETF	AVDV	09/24/2019
Avantis Real Estate ETF	AVRE	09/28/2021
Avantis® Responsible Emerging Markets Equity ETF	AVSE
Avantis® Responsible International Equity ETF	AVSD
Avantis® Responsible U.S. Equity ETF	AVSU
Avantis Short-Term Fixed Income ETF	AVSF	10/13/2020
Avantis U.S. Equity ETF	AVUS	09/24/2019
Avantis U.S. Large Cap Value ETF	AVLV	09/21/2021
Avantis U.S. Small Cap Equity ETF	AVSC
Avantis U.S. Small Cap Value ETF	AVUV	09/24/2019

The funds offer and issue shares at their net asset value per share (NAV) only in aggregations of a specified number of shares (a Creation Unit), generally in exchange for a designated portfolio of securities (including any portion of such securities for which cash may be substituted) (Deposit Securities), together with the deposit of a specified cash payment (Cash Component). Shares of each fund are listed for trading on NYSE Arca, Inc. (Listing Exchange), a national securities exchange. Shares of each fund are traded in the secondary market and elsewhere at market prices that may be at, above or below the fund’s NAV. Shares of each fund are redeemable only in Creation Units, generally in exchange for portfolio securities and a Cash Component.

The trust reserves the right to permit or require that creations and redemptions of shares are effected fully or partially in cash. Shares may be issued in advance of receipt of Deposit Securities, subject to various conditions, including a requirement to maintain with the trust a cash deposit equal to at least 105% and up to 115%, which percentage the trust may change from time to time, of the market value of the omitted Deposit Securities. See Creation and Redemption of Creation Units, page 35 of this SAI. Transaction fees and other costs associated with creations or redemptions that include a cash portion may be higher than the transaction fees and other costs associated with in-kind creations or redemptions. In all cases, transaction fees will be limited in accordance with the requirements of U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) rules and regulations applicable to management investment companies offering redeemable securities.

Exchange Listing and Trading

A discussion of exchange listing and trading matters associated with an investment in each fund is contained in the Investing in the Fund section of that fund’s prospectus. The discussion below supplements, and should be read in conjunction with, that section of each prospectus.

Shares of the funds are listed for trading, and trade throughout the day, on the Listing Exchange and in the other secondary markets. Shares of the funds may also be listed on certain non-U.S. exchanges. There can be no assurance that the requirements of the Listing Exchange necessary to maintain the listing of shares of the fund will continue to be met. The Listing Exchange may, but is not required to, remove the shares of a fund from listing if (i) the Listing Exchange becomes aware that the fund is no longer eligible to operate in reliance on Rule 6c-11 of the Investment Company Act, (ii) the fund no longer complies with the Listing Exchange’s requirements for exchange-traded fund shares, (iii) following the initial 12-month period beginning upon the commencement of trading of fund shares, there are fewer than 50 beneficial owners of shares of the fund, or (iv) any other event shall occur or condition shall exist that, in the opinion of the Listing Exchange, makes further dealings on the Listing Exchange inadvisable.

The Listing Exchange will also remove shares of a fund from listing and trading upon termination of the fund.

As in the case of other publicly traded securities, when you buy or sell shares through a broker, you will incur a brokerage commission determined by that broker.

The trust reserves the right to adjust the share prices of a fund in the future to maintain convenient trading ranges for investors. Any adjustments would be accomplished through stock splits or reverse stock splits, which would have no effect on the net assets of the fund or an investor’s equity interest in the fund.

Fund Investment Guidelines

This section explains the extent to which the funds’ advisor, American Century Investment Management, Inc. (ACIM or the advisor), can use various investment vehicles and strategies in managing a fund’s assets. Descriptions of the investment techniques and risks associated with each appear in the section, Investment Strategies and Risks, below. In the case of the funds’ principal investment strategies, these descriptions elaborate upon discussions contained in the prospectuses. In addition to the main types of investments and strategies undertaken by the funds as described in the prospectuses, the funds also may invest in other types of instruments and engage in and pursue other investment strategies, which are described in this SAI.

The funds are diversified as defined in the Investment Company Act of 1940 (the Investment Company Act). Diversified means that, with respect to 75% of its total assets, each fund will not invest more than 5% of its total assets in the securities of a single issuer or own more than 10% of the outstanding voting securities of a single issuer (other than U.S. government securities and securities of other investment companies).

To meet federal tax requirements for qualification as a regulated investment company, each fund must limit its investments so that at the close of each quarter of its taxable year (1) no more than 25% of its total assets are invested in the securities of a single issuer (other than the U.S. government or a regulated investment company), and (2) with respect to at least 50% of its total assets, no more than 5% of its total assets are invested in the securities of a single issuer (other than the U.S. government or a regulated investment company) and it does not own more than 10% of the outstanding voting securities of a single issuer.

The funds are actively managed ETFs. In general, within the restrictions outlined here and in the funds’ prospectuses, the portfolio managers have broad powers to decide how to invest fund assets. Investments in the fund vary according to what is judged advantageous under changing economic conditions. It is the advisor’s policy to retain maximum flexibility in management without restrictive provisions as to the proportion of one or another class of securities that may be held, subject to the investment restrictions described on the following pages.

Incidental to a fund’s other investment activities, including in connection with a bankruptcy, restructuring, workout, or other extraordinary events concerning a particular investment a fund owns, the fund may receive securities (including convertible securities, warrants and rights), real estate or other investments that the fund normally would not, or could not, buy. If this happens, the fund may, although it is not required to, sell such investments as soon as practicable while seeking to maximize the return to shareholders.

Unless otherwise noted, all investment restrictions described below and in each fund’s prospectus are measured at the time of the transaction in the security.  If market action affecting fund securities (including, but not limited to, appreciation, depreciation or a credit rating event) causes a fund to exceed an investment restriction, the advisor is not required to take immediate action.  Under normal market conditions, however, the advisor’s policies and procedures indicate that the advisor will not make any purchases that will make the fund further outside the investment restriction.

Fund Investments and Risks

Investment Strategies and Risks

This section describes investment vehicles and techniques the portfolio managers can use in managing a fund’s assets. It also details the risks associated with each, because each investment vehicle and technique contributes to a fund’s overall risk profile.

Asset-Backed Securities (ABS)

ABS are structured like mortgage-backed securities, but instead of mortgage loans or interest in mortgage loans, the underlying assets may include, for example, such items as motor vehicle installment sales or installment loan contracts, leases of various types of real and personal property, home equity loans, student loans, small business loans, and receivables from credit card agreements. The ability of an issuer of ABS to enforce its security interest in the underlying assets may be limited. The value of an ABS is affected by changes in the market’s perception of the assets backing the security, the creditworthiness of the servicing agent for the loan pool, the originator of the loans, the financial institution providing any credit enhancement, and subordination levels.

Payments of principal and interest passed through to holders of ABS are typically supported by some form of credit enhancement, such as a letter of credit, surety bond, limited guarantee by another entity or a priority to certain of the borrower’s other securities. The degree of credit enhancement varies, and generally applies to only a fraction of the ABS’s par value until exhausted. If the credit enhancement of an ABS held by the fund has been exhausted, and if any required payments of principal and interest are not made with respect to the underlying loans, the fund may experience losses or delays in receiving payment.

Some types of ABS may be less effective than other types of securities as a means of “locking in” attractive long-term interest rates. One reason is the need to reinvest prepayments of principal; another is the possibility of significant unscheduled prepayments resulting from declines in interest rates. These prepayments would have to be reinvested at lower rates. As a result, these securities may have less potential for capital appreciation during periods of declining interest rates than other securities of comparable maturities, although they may have a similar risk of decline in market value during periods of rising interest rates. Prepayments may also significantly shorten the effective maturities of these securities, especially during periods of declining interest rates. Conversely, during periods of rising interest rates, a reduction in prepayments may increase the effective maturities of these securities, subjecting them to a greater risk of decline in market value in response to rising interest rates than traditional debt securities, and, therefore, potentially increasing the volatility of the fund.

The risks of investing in ABS are ultimately dependent upon the repayment of loans by the individual or corporate borrowers. Although the fund would generally have no recourse against the entity that originated the loans in the event of default by a borrower, ABS typically are structured to mitigate this risk of default.

ABS are generally issued in more than one class, each with different payment terms. Multiple class ABS may be used as a method of providing credit support through creation of one or more classes whose right to payments is made subordinate to the right to such payments of the remaining class or classes. Multiple classes also may permit the issuance of securities with payment terms, interest rates or other characteristics differing both from those of each other and from those of the underlying assets. Examples include so-called strips (ABS entitling the holder to disproportionate interests with respect to the allocation of interest and principal of the assets backing the security), and securities with classes having characteristics such as floating interest rates or scheduled amortization of principal.

Bank Obligations

Negotiable certificates of deposit (CDs) evidence a bank’s obligation to repay money deposited with it for a specified period of time. The following table identifies the types of CDs the funds may buy.

CD Type	Issuer
Domestic	Domestic offices of U.S. banks
Yankee	U.S. branches of foreign banks
Eurodollar	Issued in London by U.S., Canadian, European and Japanese banks
Schedule B	Canadian subsidiaries of non-Canadian banks

To the extent permitted by its investment objective and policies, the funds may also buy bankers’ acceptances, bank notes and time deposits. Bankers’ acceptances are used to finance foreign commercial trade. Issued by a bank with an importer’s name on them, these instruments allow the importer to back up its own pledge to pay for imported goods with a bank’s obligation to cover the transaction if the importer fails to do so.

Bank notes are senior unsecured promissory notes issued in the United States by domestic commercial banks.

Time deposits are non-negotiable bank deposits maintained for up to seven days at a stated interest rate. These instruments may be withdrawn on demand, although early withdrawals may be subject to penalties.

The bank obligations the portfolio managers may buy generally are not insured by the FDIC or any other insurer.

Collateralized Debt Obligations

Collateralized debt obligations (“CDOs”), include collateralized loan obligations (“CLOs”), collateralized bond obligations (“CBOs”), and other similarly structured investments. CBOs and CLOs are types of asset backed securities. A CLO is a trust or other special purpose entity that is typically collateralized by a pool of loans, which may include, among others, U.S. and non-U.S. senior secured loans, senior unsecured loans, and subordinate corporate loans, including loans that may be rated below investment grade or equivalent unrated loans. A CBO is generally a trust which is backed by a diversified pool of high risk, below investment grade fixed-income securities. The risks of an investment in a CDO depend largely on the type of the collateral backing the obligation and the class of the CDO in which the fund invests. CDOs are subject to credit, interest rate, valuation, prepayment and extension risks. These securities are also subject to risk of default on the underlying asset, particularly during periods of economic downturn. CDOs carry additional risks including, but not limited to, (i) the possibility that distributions from collateral securities will not be adequate to make interest or other payments, (ii) the collateral may decline in value or default, (iii) the fund may invest in CDOs that are subordinate to other classes, and (iv) the complex structure of the security may not be fully understood at the time of investment and may produce disputes with the issuer or unexpected investment results.

Commercial Paper

The funds may invest in commercial paper (CP) that is issued by utility, financial, and industrial companies, supranational organizations and foreign governments and their agencies and instrumentalities. Rating agencies assign ratings to short-term securities (including CP) issuers indicating the agencies’ assessment of credit risk. Short-term ratings assigned by certain rating agencies are provided in the Explanation of Fixed-Income Securities Ratings, Appendix B.

Some examples of CP and CP issuers are provided in the following paragraphs.

Domestic CP is issued by U.S. industrial and finance companies, utility companies, thrifts and bank holding companies. Foreign CP is issued by non-U.S. industrial and finance companies and financial institutions. Domestic and foreign corporate issuers occasionally have the underlying support of a well-known, highly rated commercial bank or insurance company. Bank support is provided in the form of a letter of credit (an LOC) or irrevocable revolving credit commitment (an IRC). Insurance support is provided in the form of a surety bond.

Bank holding company CP is issued by the holding companies of many well-known domestic banks, including Citicorp, J.P. Morgan Chase & Company and First Union National Bank. Bank holding company CP may be issued by the parent of a money center or regional bank.

Thrift CP is issued by major federal- or state-chartered savings and loan associations and savings banks.

Schedule B Bank CP is short-term, U.S. dollar-denominated CP issued by Canadian subsidiaries of non-Canadian banks (Schedule B banks). Whether issued as CP, a certificate of deposit or a promissory note, each instrument issued by a Schedule B bank ranks equally with any other deposit obligation. CP issued by Schedule B banks provides an investor with the comfort and reduced risk of a direct and unconditional parental bank guarantee. Schedule B instruments generally offer higher rates than the short-term instruments of the parent bank or holding company.

Asset-backed CP is issued by corporations through special programs. In a typical program, a special purpose corporation (SPC), created and/or serviced by a bank or other financial institution, uses the proceeds from an issuance of CP to purchase receivables or other financial assets from one or more corporations (sellers). The sellers transfer their interest in the receivables or other financial assets to the SPC, and the cash flow from the receivables or other financial assets is used to pay interest and principal on the CP. Letters of credit or other forms of credit enhancement may be available to cover the risk that the cash flow from the receivables or other financial assets will not be sufficient to cover the maturing CP.

Convertible Securities

A convertible security is a bond, debenture, note, preferred stock or other security that may be converted into or exchanged for a prescribed amount of common stock of the same or a different issuer within a particular time period at a specified price or formula. A convertible security entitles the holder to receive the interest paid or accrued on debt or the dividend paid on preferred stock until the convertible security matures or is redeemed, converted or exchanged. Before conversion or exchange, such securities ordinarily provide a stream of income with generally higher yields than common stocks of the same or similar issuers, but lower than the yield on non-convertible debt. Of course, there can be no assurance of current income because issuers of convertible securities may default on their obligations. In addition, there can be no assurance of capital appreciation because the value of the underlying common stock will fluctuate. Because of the conversion feature, the managers consider some convertible securities to be equity equivalents.

The price of a convertible security will normally fluctuate in some proportion to changes in the price of the underlying asset. A convertible security is subject to risks relating to the activities of the issuer and/or general market and economic conditions. The stream of income typically paid on a convertible security may tend to cushion the security against declines in the price of the underlying asset. However, the stream of income causes fluctuations based upon changes in interest rates and the credit quality of the issuer. In general, the value of a convertible security is a function of (1) its yield in comparison with yields of other securities of comparable maturity and quality that do not have a conversion privilege and (2) its worth, at market value, if converted or exchanged into the underlying common stock. The price of a convertible security often reflects such variations in the price of the underlying common stock in a way that a non-convertible security does not. At any given time, investment value generally depends upon such factors as the general level of interest rates, the yield of similar nonconvertible securities, the financial strength of the issuer and the seniority of the security in the issuer’s capital structure.

A convertible security may be subject to redemption at the option of the issuer at a predetermined price. If a convertible security held by a fund is called for redemption, the fund would be required to permit the issuer to redeem the security and convert it to underlying common stock or to cash or would sell the convertible security to a third party, which may have an adverse effect on the fund. A convertible security may feature a put option that permits the holder of the convertible security to sell that security back to the issuer at a predetermined price. A fund generally invests in convertible securities for their favorable price characteristics and total return potential and normally would not exercise an option to convert unless the security is called or conversion is forced.

Counterparty Risk

A fund will be exposed to the credit risk of the counterparties with which, or the brokers, dealers and exchanges through which, it deals, whether it engaged in exchange traded or off-exchange transactions. If a fund’s futures commission merchant, (FCM) becomes bankrupt or insolvent, or otherwise defaults on its obligations to the fund, the fund may not receive all amounts owed to it in respect of its trading, despite the clearinghouse fully discharging all of its obligations. The Commodity Exchange Act requires an FCM to segregate all funds received from its customers with respect to regulated futures transactions from such FCM’s proprietary funds. If an FCM were not to do so to the full extent required by law, the assets of an account might not be fully protected in the event of the bankruptcy of an FCM. Furthermore, in the event of an FCM’s bankruptcy, a fund would be limited to recovering only a pro rata share of all available funds segregated on behalf of an FCM’s combined customer accounts, even though certain property specifically

traceable to the fund (for example, U.S. Treasury bills deposited by the fund) was held by an FCM. FCM bankruptcies have occurred in which customers were unable to recover from the FCM’s estate the full amount of their funds on deposit with such FCM and owing to them. Such situations could arise due to various factors, or a combination of factors, including inadequate FCM capitalization, inadequate controls on customer trading and inadequate customer capital. In addition, in the event of the bankruptcy or insolvency of a clearinghouse, the fund might experience a loss of funds deposited through its FCM as margin with the clearinghouse, a loss of unrealized profits on its open positions, and the loss of funds owed to it as realized profits on closed positions. Such a bankruptcy or insolvency might also cause a substantial delay before the fund could obtain the return of funds owed to it by an FCM who was a member of such clearinghouse.

Because bi-lateral derivative transactions are traded between counterparties based on contractual relationships, a fund is subject to the risk that a counterparty will not perform its obligations under the related contracts. Although each fund intends to enter into transactions only with counterparties which the advisor believes to be creditworthy, there can be no assurance that a counterparty will not default and that the funds will not sustain a loss on a transaction as a result. In situations where a fund is required to post margin or other collateral with a counterparty, the counterparty may fail to segregate the collateral or may commingle the collateral with the counterparty’s own assets. As a result, in the event of the counterparty’s bankruptcy or insolvency, a fund’s collateral may be subject to the conflicting claims of the counterparty’s creditors, and a fund may be exposed to the risk of a court treating a fund as a general unsecured creditor of the counterparty, rather than as the owner of the collateral.

A fund is subject to the risk that issuers of the instruments in which it invests and trades may default on their obligations under those instruments, and that certain events may occur that have an immediate and significant adverse effect on the value of those instruments. There can be no assurance that an issuer of an instrument in which a fund invests will not default, or that an event that has an immediate and significant adverse effect on the value of an instrument will not occur, and that a fund will not sustain a loss on a transaction as a result.

Transactions entered into by a fund may be executed on various U.S. and non-U.S. exchanges, and may be cleared and settled through various clearinghouses, custodians, depositories and prime brokers throughout the world. Although a fund attempts to execute, clear and settle the transactions through entities the advisor believes to be sound, there can be no assurance that a failure by any such entity will not lead to a loss to a fund.

Cyber Security Risk

As the funds increasingly rely on technology and information systems to operate, they become susceptible to operational risks linked to security breaches in those information systems. Both calculated attacks and unintentional events can cause failures in the funds’ information systems. Cyber attacks can include acquiring unauthorized access to information systems, usually through hacking or the use of malicious software, for purposes of stealing assets or confidential information, corrupting data, or disrupting fund operations. Cyber attacks can also occur without direct access to information systems, for example by making network services unavailable to intended users. Cyber security failures by, or breaches of the information systems of, the advisor, distributors, broker-dealers, other service providers (including, but not limited to, index providers, clearinghouses, fund accountants, custodians, transfer agents and administrators), or the issuers of securities the fund invests in may also cause disruptions and impact the funds’ business operations. Breaches in information security may result in financial losses, interference with the funds’ ability to calculate NAV, impediments to trading, inability of fund shareholders to transact business, violations of applicable privacy and other laws, regulatory fines, penalties, reputational damage, reimbursement or other compensation costs, or additional compliance costs. Additionally, the funds may incur substantial costs to prevent future cyber incidents. The funds have business continuity plans in the event of, and risk management systems to help prevent, such cyber attacks, but these plans and systems have limitations including the possibility that certain risks have not been identified. Moreover, the funds do not control the cyber security plans and systems of our service providers and other third-party business partners. The funds and their shareholders could be negatively impacted as a result.

Debt Securities

The funds may invest in debt securities. Each fund may invest in debt securities when the portfolio managers believe such securities represent an attractive investment for the funds. These funds may invest in debt securities for income or as a defensive strategy when the managers believe adverse economic or market conditions exist.

The funds may purchase sovereign debt instruments issued or guaranteed by foreign governments or their agencies, including debt of emerging market countries. Sovereign debt may be in the form of conventional securities or other types of debt instruments, such as loans or loan participations. Sovereign debt of emerging market countries may involve a high degree of risk and may present a risk of default or renegotiation or rescheduling of debt payments.

Debt securities rated lower than Baa by Moody’s or BBB by S&P, or their equivalent, are considered by many to be predominantly speculative. Changes in economic conditions or other circumstances are more likely to lead to a weakened capacity to make principal and interest payments on such securities than is the case with higher quality debt securities. Regardless of rating levels, all debt securities considered for purchase by the fund are analyzed by the investment manager to determine, to the extent reasonably possible, that the planned investment is sound, given the fund’s investment objective. See Explanation of Fixed-Income Securities Ratings in Appendix B.

In addition to other factors that will affect its value, the value of a fund’s investments in fixed income securities will change as prevailing interest rates change. In general, the prices of such securities vary inversely with interest rates. As prevailing interest rates fall, the prices of bonds and other securities that trade on a yield basis rise. When prevailing interest rates rise, bond prices generally fall. These changes in value may, depending upon the amount and type of fixed-income securities holdings of a fund, impact the net asset value of that fund’s shares.

Depositary Receipts

Depositary receipts are certificates evidencing ownership of shares of a foreign issuer. They include American Depositary Receipts (“ADRS”), as well as other “hybrid” forms of ADRs, European Depositary Receipts (“EDRs”), Global Depositary Receipts (“GDRs”), Non-Voting Depositary Receipts (“NVDRs”), and other similar depositary arrangements. Depositary receipts are securities that evidence ownership interests in a security or a pool of securities that have been deposited with a “depository” and may be sponsored or unsponsored. These certificates are issued by depository banks and generally trade on an established market in the United States or elsewhere. The underlying shares are held in trust by a custodian bank or similar financial institution in the issuer’s home country. The depository bank may not have physical custody of the underlying securities at all times and may charge fees for various services, including forwarding dividends and interest and corporate actions. Depositary receipts are alternatives to directly purchasing the underlying foreign securities in their national markets and currencies. However, depositary receipts continue to be subject to many of the risks associated with investing directly in foreign securities.

For ADRs, the depository is typically a U.S. financial institution and the underlying securities are issued by a foreign issuer. For other depositary receipts, the depository may be a foreign or a U.S. entity, and the underlying securities may have a foreign or a U.S. issuer. Depositary receipts will not necessarily be denominated in the same currency as their underlying securities. Generally, ADRs are issued in registered form, denominated in U.S. dollars. Other depositary receipts, such as GDRs and EDRs, may be issued in bearer form and denominated in other currencies, and are generally traded in securities markets outside the U.S. While the two types of depositary receipt facilities (unsponsored or sponsored) are similar, there are differences regarding a holder’s rights and obligations and the practices of market participants. A depository may establish an unsponsored facility without participation by (or acquiescence of) the underlying issuer; typically, however, the depository requests a letter of non-objection from the underlying issuer prior to establishing the facility. Holders of unsponsored depositary receipts generally bear all the costs of the facility. The depository usually charges fees upon deposit and withdrawal of the underlying securities, the conversion of dividends into U.S. dollars or other currency, the disposition of non-cash distributions, and the performance of other services. The depository of an unsponsored facility frequently is under no obligation to distribute shareholder communications received from the underlying issuer or to pass through voting rights to depositary receipt holders with respect to the underlying securities.

Sponsored depositary receipt facilities are created in generally the same manner as unsponsored facilities, except that sponsored depositary receipts are established jointly by a depository and the underlying issuer through a deposit agreement. The deposit agreement sets out the rights and responsibilities of the underlying issuer, the depository, and the depositary receipt holders. With sponsored facilities, the underlying issuer typically bears some of the costs of the depositary receipts (such as dividend payment fees of the depository), although most sponsored depositary receipts agree to distribute notices of shareholders meetings, voting instructions, and other shareholder communications and information to the depositary receipt holders at the underlying issuer’s request. The depositary of an unsponsored facility frequently is under no obligation to distribute shareholder communications received from the issuer of the deposited security or to pass through, to the holders of the receipts, voting rights with respect to the deposited securities. Depositary receipts do not eliminate all of the risks associated with directly investing in the securities of foreign issuers.

Derivative Instruments

To the extent permitted by its investment objectives and policies, each of the funds may invest in instruments that are commonly referred to as derivative instruments. Generally, a derivative instrument is a financial arrangement the value of which is based on, or derived from, a traditional security, asset, or market index. Examples of common derivative instruments include futures contracts, warrants, structured notes, credit default swaps, options contracts, swap transactions and forward currency contracts.

Certain derivative instruments are more accurately described as index/structured investments. Index/structured investments are derivative instruments whose value or performance is linked to other equity securities, currencies, interest rates, indices or other financial indicators (reference indices).

A structured investment is a security whose value or performance is linked to an underlying index or other security or asset class. Structured investments include asset-backed securities (ABS), asset-backed commercial paper (ABCP), commercial and residential mortgage-backed securities (MBS), collateralized debt obligations (CDO), collateralized loan obligations (CLO), and securities backed by other types of collateral or indices. Structured investments involve the transfer of specified financial assets to a special purpose entity, generally a corporation or trust, or the deposit of financial assets with a custodian; and the issuance of securities or depositary receipts backed by or representing interests in those assets.

Some structured investments are individually negotiated agreements or are traded over the counter. Structured investments may be organized and operated to restructure the investment characteristics of the underlying security. The cash flow on the underlying instruments may be apportioned among the newly issued structured investments to create securities with different investment

characteristics, such as varying maturities, payment priorities and interest rate provisions, and the extent of such payments made with respect to structured investments is dependent on the extent of the cash flow on the underlying instruments. Because structured investments typically involve no credit enhancement, their credit risk generally will be equivalent to that of the underlying instruments. In addition, structured investments are subject to the risks that the issuers of the underlying securities may be unable or unwilling to repay principal and interest (credit risk) and may request to reschedule or restructure outstanding debt and to extend additional loan amounts (prepayment risk).

There are many different types of derivative instruments and many different ways to use them. Futures and options are commonly used for traditional hedging purposes to attempt to protect a fund from exposure to changing interest rates, securities prices, or currency exchange rates and for cash management purposes as a low-cost method of gaining exposure to a particular securities market without investing directly in those securities.

The return on a derivative instrument may increase or decrease, depending upon changes in the reference index or instrument to which it relates.

There are risks associated with investing in derivatives, including:

•the risk that the underlying security, interest rate, market index or other financial asset will not move in the direction the portfolio managers anticipate or that the value of the structured or derivative instrument will not move or react to changes in the underlying security, interest rate, market index or other financial asset as anticipated;

•the possibility that there may be no liquid secondary market, which may make it difficult or impossible to close out a position when desired;

•the risk that daily limits on price fluctuations and speculative position limits on exchanges on which a fund may conduct its transactions in derivative instruments may prevent profitable liquidation of positions, subjecting a fund to the potential of greater losses;

•the risk that adverse price movements in an instrument can result in a loss substantially greater than a fund’s initial investment;

•the risk that the counterparty will fail to perform its obligations; and

•the risk that a fund will be subject to higher volatility because some derivative instruments create leverage.

The funds’ Board of Trustees has reviewed the advisor’s policy regarding investments in derivative instruments. That policy specifies factors that must be considered in connection with a purchase of derivative instruments. The policy also establishes a committee that must review certain proposed purchases before the purchases can be made. The advisor will report on fund activity in derivative instruments to the Board of Trustees as necessary.

Distressed Investments

Distressed investments generally entail greater risks due to such things as sensitivity to general economic and capital market conditions, interest rates, risks associated with leveraged companies and risks inherent in investing in companies experiencing financial and operating distress (e.g., issuer credit risk). Distressed investments generally have very low credit ratings or are unrated by credit rating agencies.

Greater Risk of Loss - These investments are regarded as highly speculative. There is a greater risk that issuers of lower-rated investments will default than issuers of higher-rated investments, and some may be subject to bankruptcy proceedings or may be in default as to the repayment of principal and/or interest. Issuers of lower-rated investments generally are more vulnerable to real or perceived economic changes, political changes or adverse industry developments. In addition, distressed debt investments are frequently subordinated to the prior payment of senior indebtedness or have claims that are otherwise junior in priority with regard to the issuer’s assets. If an issuer fails to pay principal or interest, the fund would experience a decrease in income and a decline in the market value of its investments. These investments carry a much greater risk of default and loss, which could include the loss of the entire amount of the investment.

Valuation Difficulties - It is often more difficult to value distressed and other lower-rated investments than higher-rated investments. If an issuer’s financial condition deteriorates, accurate financial and business information may be limited or unavailable. In addition, lower-rated investments may be thinly traded and there may be no established secondary market. Because of the lack of market pricing and current information for investments in some distressed and lower-rated investments, valuation of such investments is much more dependent on judgment than is the case with higher-rated investments.

Liquidity - There may be no established secondary or public market for investments in distressed and other lower-rated investments. Such investments generally are traded in markets that are less liquid than the market for higher-rated investments. In addition, relatively few institutional purchasers may hold a major portion of an issue of lower-rated investments. As a result, the fund may be required to sell investments at substantial losses, or may be unable to sell investments.

Equity Equivalents

Equity equivalents include securities that permit a fund to receive an equity interest in an issuer, the opportunity to acquire an equity interest in an issuer, or the opportunity to receive a return on its investment that permits the fund to benefit from the growth over time in the equity of an issuer. Examples of equity equivalents include preferred stock, convertible preferred stock, convertible securities, stock futures contracts or stock index futures contracts. Equity equivalents also may include securities whose value or return is derived from the value or return of a different security.

Foreign Currency Transactions and Forward Exchange Contracts

A fund may conduct foreign currency transactions on a spot basis (i.e., cash) or forward basis (i.e., by entering into forward currency exchange contracts, currency options and futures transactions to purchase or sell foreign currencies). Although foreign exchange dealers generally do not charge a fee for such transactions, they do realize a profit based on the difference between the prices at which they are buying and selling various currencies.

Forward contracts are customized transactions that require a specific amount of a currency to be delivered at a specific exchange rate on a specific date or range of dates in the future. Forward contracts are generally traded in an interbank market directly between currency traders (usually larger commercial banks) and their customers. The parties to a forward contract may agree to offset or terminate the contract before its maturity or may hold the contract to maturity and complete the contemplated currency exchange.

The following summarizes the principal currency management strategies involving forward contracts. A fund may also use swap agreements, indexed securities, and options and futures contracts relating to foreign currencies for the same purposes.

(1)Settlement Hedges or Transaction Hedges. When the portfolio managers wish to lock in the U.S. dollar price of a foreign currency denominated security when a fund is purchasing or selling the security or when the fund expects to receive a dividend, the fund may enter into a forward contract to do so. This type of currency transaction, often called a “settlement hedge” or “transaction hedge,” protects the fund against an adverse change in foreign currency values between the date a security is purchased or sold and the date on which payment is made or received (i.e., settled). Forward contracts to purchase or sell a foreign currency may also be used by a fund in anticipation of future purchases or sales of securities denominated in foreign currency, even if the specific investments have not yet been selected by the portfolio managers. This strategy is often referred to as “anticipatory hedging.”

(2)Position Hedges. When the portfolio managers wish to minimize the variation produced by changes in the foreign currency associated with a security, a fund may enter into a forward contract to sell foreign currency for a fixed U.S. dollar amount approximating the value of some or all of its portfolio securities either denominated in, or whose value is tied to, such foreign currency. This use of a forward contract is sometimes referred to as a “position hedge.” For example, if a fund owned securities denominated in Euro, it could enter into a forward contract to sell Euro in return for U.S. dollars to hedge against possible declines in the Euro’s value. This hedge would tend to offset both positive and negative currency fluctuations but would not tend to offset changes in security values caused by other factors.

A fund could also hedge the position by entering into a forward contract to sell another currency expected to perform similarly to the currency in which the fund’s existing investments are denominated. This type of hedge, often called a “proxy hedge,” could offer advantages in terms of cost, yield or efficiency, but may not hedge currency exposure as effectively as a simple position hedge against U.S. dollars. This type of hedge may result in losses if the currency used to hedge does not perform similarly to the currency in which the hedged securities are denominated.

The precise matching of forward contracts in the amounts and values of securities involved generally would not be possible because the future values of such foreign currencies will change as a consequence of market movements in the values of those securities between the date the forward contract is entered into and the date it matures. The successful execution of a short-term hedging strategy is highly uncertain.

At the maturity of the forward contract, the fund may either sell the portfolio security and make delivery of the foreign currency, or it may retain the security and terminate the obligation to deliver the foreign currency by purchasing an “offsetting” forward contract with the same currency trader obligating the fund to purchase, on the same maturity date, the same amount of the foreign currency.

It is impossible to forecast with absolute precision the market value of portfolio securities at the expiration of the forward contract. Accordingly, it may be necessary for a fund to purchase additional foreign currency on the spot market (and bear the expense of such purchase) if the market value of the security is less than the amount of foreign currency the fund is obligated to deliver and if a decision is made to sell the security and make delivery of the foreign currency the fund is obligated to deliver.

(3)Shifting Currency Exposure. A fund may also enter into forward contracts to shift its investment exposure from one currency into another. This may include shifting exposure from U.S. dollars to foreign currency, or from one foreign currency to another foreign currency. This strategy tends to limit exposure to the currency sold, and increase exposure to the currency that is purchased, much as if a fund had sold a security denominated in one currency and purchased an equivalent security denominated in another currency. For example, if the portfolio managers have too much exposure to the U.S. dollar and need exposure to the Euro, they could enter into a forward contract to purchase Euros for a fixed amount of U.S. dollars. This transaction would protect

against losses resulting from a decline in the value of the U.S. dollar, but would cause the fund to assume the risk of fluctuations in the value of the Euro.

Currency management strategies may substantially subject a fund’s investment exposure to changes in currency rates and could result in losses to a fund if currencies perform adversely. For example, if a currency’s value rose at a time when the fund hedged by selling the currency in exchange for U.S. dollars, a fund would not participate in the currency’s appreciation. Similarly, if the portfolio managers increase a fund’s exposure to a currency and that currency’s value declines, a fund will sustain a loss. There is no assurance that the funds’ use of foreign currency management strategies will be advantageous or that it will hedge at appropriate times.

The fund will generally cover outstanding forward contracts by maintaining liquid portfolio securities denominated in, or whose value is tied to, the currency underlying the forward contract or the currency being hedged. To the extent that the fund is not able to cover its forward currency positions with underlying portfolio securities, the fund’s custodian will segregate cash or other liquid assets having a value equal to the aggregate amount of the fund’s commitments under forward contracts entered into with respect to position hedges, settlement hedges and anticipatory hedges.

Foreign Securities

The funds may invest in the securities of foreign issuers, including foreign governments, when these securities meet the fund’s standards of selection. The funds may make foreign investments either directly in foreign securities or indirectly by purchasing depositary receipts, depositary shares or similar instruments (DRs) for foreign securities. DRs are securities that are listed on exchanges or quoted in over-the-counter markets in one country but represent shares of issuers domiciled in another country. The funds also may purchase securities of issuers in foreign markets, either on foreign securities exchanges, electronic trading networks or in over-the-counter markets.

A description of the funds’ investment strategies regarding foreign securities is contained in the funds’ prospectuses. Investing in securities of foreign issuers generally involves greater risks than investing in the securities of domestic companies including:

Currency Risk. The value of the foreign investments held by the funds may be significantly affected by changes in currency exchange rates. The dollar value of a foreign security generally decreases when the value of the dollar rises against the foreign currency in which the security is denominated and tends to increase when the value of the dollar falls against such currency. In addition, the value of fund assets may be affected by losses and other expenses incurred in converting between various currencies in order to purchase and sell foreign securities, and by currency restrictions, exchange control regulation, currency devaluations and political developments.

Social, Political and Economic Risk. The economies of many of the countries in which the funds invest are not as developed as the economy of the United States and may be subject to significantly different forces. Political or social instability, expropriation, nationalization, or confiscatory taxation, and limitations on the removal of funds or other assets, could also adversely affect the value of investments. Further, the funds may find it difficult or be unable to enforce ownership rights, pursue legal remedies or obtain judgments in foreign courts.

Regulatory Risk. Foreign companies generally are not subject to the regulatory controls imposed on U.S. issuers and, in general, there is less publicly available information about foreign securities than is available about domestic securities. Many foreign companies are not subject to uniform accounting, auditing and financial reporting standards, practices and requirements comparable to those applicable to domestic companies and there may be less stringent investor protection and disclosure standards in some foreign markets. Certain jurisdictions do not currently provide the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (“PCAOB”) with sufficient access to inspect audit work papers and practices, or otherwise do not cooperate with U.S. regulators, potentially exposing investors in U.S. capital markets to significant risks. Income from foreign securities owned by the funds may be reduced by a withholding tax at the source, which would reduce dividend income payable to shareholders.

Market and Trading Risk. Brokerage commission rates in foreign countries, which are generally fixed rather than subject to negotiation as in the United States, are likely to be higher. The securities markets in many of the countries in which the funds invest will have substantially less trading volume than the principal U.S. markets. As a result, the securities of some companies in these countries may be less liquid, more volatile and harder to value than comparable U.S. securities. Furthermore, one securities broker may represent all or a significant part of the trading volume in a particular country, resulting in higher trading costs and decreased liquidity due to a lack of alternative trading partners. There is generally less government regulation and supervision of foreign stock exchanges, brokers and issuers, which may make it difficult to enforce contractual obligations. In addition, it may be more difficult in foreign countries to accurately determine appropriate brokerage commissions, taxes and other trading costs related to securities trades.

Clearance and Settlement Risk. Foreign securities markets also have different clearance and settlement procedures, and in certain markets there have been times when settlements have been unable to keep pace with the volume of securities transactions, making it difficult to conduct such transactions. Market practice may require that payments are made prior to receipt of the security which is being purchased or that delivery of a security must be made before payment is received. Delays in clearance and settlement could result in temporary periods when assets of the funds are uninvested and no return is earned. The inability of the funds to make intended security purchases due to clearance and settlement problems could cause the funds to miss attractive investment opportunities. Inability to dispose of portfolio securities due to clearance and settlement problems could result either in losses to the

funds due to subsequent declines in the value of the portfolio security or, if the fund has entered into a contract to sell the security, liability to the purchaser. This risk may be magnified in emerging markets because settlement systems may be less organized, creating a risk that settlements may be not only delayed, but also lost because of failures or defects in such systems.

Ownership Risk. Evidence of securities ownership may be uncertain in many foreign countries. In many of these countries, the most notable of which is the Russian Federation, the ultimate evidence of securities ownership is the share register held by the issuing company or its registrar. While some companies may issue share certificates or provide extracts of the company’s share register, these are not negotiable instruments and are not effective evidence of securities ownership. In an ownership dispute, the company’s share register is controlling. As a result, there is a risk that a fund’s trade details could be incorrectly or fraudulently entered on the issuer’s share register at the time of the transaction, or that a fund’s ownership position could thereafter be altered or deleted entirely, resulting in a loss to the fund. While the funds intend to invest directly in Russian companies that utilize an independent registrar, there can be no assurance that such investments will not result in a loss to the funds.

Emerging Markets Risk. Investing in emerging market companies generally is also riskier than investing in other foreign securities. Risks of investing in emerging markets countries may relate to lack of liquidity, market manipulation, limited reliable access to capital, and differing foreign investment structures. Emerging market countries may have unstable governments and/or economies that are subject to sudden change. These changes may be magnified by the countries’ emergent financial markets, resulting in significant volatility to investments in these countries. These countries also may lack the legal, business and social framework to support securities markets.

As a result of the foregoing risks, Avantis Emerging Markets Equity ETF, Avantis Emerging Markets Value ETF, and Avantis Responsible Emerging Markets Equity ETF are intended for aggressive investors seeking significant gains through investments in foreign securities. Those investors must be willing and able to accept the significantly greater risks associated with the investment strategy that the funds will pursue. An investment in the funds is not appropriate for individuals with limited investment resources or who are unable to tolerate fluctuations in the value of their investment.

Risk of Focusing Investment on Region or Country. Investing a significant portion of assets in one country or region makes a fund more dependent upon the political and economic circumstances of that particular country or region.

Eurozone Investment Risk - The Economic and Monetary Union of the European Union (EMU) is comprised of the European Union (EU) members that have adopted the euro currency. By adopting the euro as its currency, a member state relinquishes control of its own monetary policies and is subject to fiscal and monetary controls. EMU members could voluntarily abandon, or be forced out of, the euro. Such events could impact the market values of Eurozone and various other securities and currencies, cause redenomination of certain securities into less valuable local currencies and create more volatile and illiquid markets. As a result, European countries are significantly affected by fiscal and monetary controls implemented by the EMU. The euro currency may not fully reflect the strengths and weaknesses of the various economies that comprise the EMU and Europe generally. Certain countries and regions in the EU are experiencing significant financial difficulties. Some of these countries may be dependent on assistance from other European governments and institutions or agencies. Assistance may be dependent on a country’s implementation of reforms or reaching a certain level of performance. Failure to reach those objectives or an insufficient level of assistance could result in an economic downturn that could significantly affect the value of investments in those and other European countries. One or more countries could depart from the EU, which could weaken the EU and, by extension, its remaining members. For example, the United Kingdom’s departure, described in more detail below.

United Kingdom Investment Risk - Commonly known as “Brexit,” the United Kingdom’s exit from the EU occurred in January of 2021. The UK and the EU continue to work to establish regulatory frameworks for cooperation on financial services. Continuing uncertainty in the UK, EU, and other financial markets may result in volatility, fluctuations in asset values and exchange rates, decreased liquidity and unwillingness or inability of financial and other counterparties to enter into transactions.

Risk of Investing in China. Investing in Chinese securities is riskier than investing in U.S. securities. Although the Chinese government is currently implementing reforms to promote foreign investment and reduce government economic control, there is no guarantee that the reforms will be ongoing or effective. Investing in China involves risk of loss due to nationalization, expropriation, and confiscation of assets and property. Losses may also occur due to new or expanded restrictions on foreign investments or repatriation of capital. Participants in the Chinese market are subject to less regulation and oversight than participants in the U.S. market. This may lead to trading volatility, difficulty in the settlement and recording of transactions, and uncertainty in interpreting and applying laws and regulations. Reduction in spending on Chinese products and services, institution of tariffs or other trade barriers, or a downturn in the economies of any of China’s key trading partners may adversely affect the securities of Chinese issuers. Regional conflict could also have an adverse effect on the Chinese economy. The SEC and the PCAOB continue to have concerns about their ability to inspect international auditing standards of U.S. companies operating in China and PCAOB-registered auditing firms in China. Because the SEC and PCAOB have limited access to information about these auditing firms and are restricted from inspecting the audit work and practices of registered accountants in China, there is the risk that material information about Chinese issuers may be unavailable. As a result, there is substantially greater risk that disclosures will be incomplete or misleading and, in the event of investor harm, substantially less access to recourse, in comparison to U.S. domestic companies.

Stock Connect Risk. Investments in China A-shares listed and traded through the Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect and Shenzhen-Hong Kong Stock Connect programs (“Stock Connect Programs”) involve unique risks. The Stock Connect Programs are relatively new and there is no guarantee that they will continue. Trading through Stock Connect Programs is subject to daily quotas that limit the maximum daily net purchases and daily limits on permitted price fluctuations. Trading suspensions are more likely in the A-shares market than in many other global equity markets. There can be no assurance that a liquid market on an exchange will exist. In addition, investments made through Stock Connect Programs are subject to comparatively untested trading, clearance and settlement procedures. Stock Connect Programs are available only on days when markets in both China and Hong Kong are open. A fund’s ownership interest in Stock Connect Programs securities will not be reflected directly, and thus the fund may have to rely on the ability or willingness of a third party to enforce its rights. Investments in Stock Connect Program A-shares are generally subject to Chinese securities regulations and listing rules, among other restrictions. Hong Kong investor compensation funds, which protect against trade defaults, are unavailable when investing through Stock Connect Programs. Uncertainties in Chinese tax rules could also result in unexpected tax liabilities for the fund.

Sanctions. The U.S. may impose economic sanctions against companies in various sectors of certain countries. This could limit a fund’s investment opportunities in such countries, impairing the fund’s ability to invest in accordance with its investment strategy and/or to meet its investment objective. For example, a fund may be prohibited from investing in securities issued by companies subject to such sanctions. In addition, the sanctions may require a fund to freeze its existing investments in sanctioned companies, prohibiting the fund from selling or otherwise transacting in these investments. Current sanctions or the threat of potential sanctions may also impair the value or liquidity of affected securities and negatively impact a fund.

Futures and Options

Each fund may enter into futures contracts, options or options on futures contracts. Futures contracts provide for the sale by one party and purchase by another party of a specific security at a specified future time and price. Generally, futures transactions will be used to:

•protect against a decline in market value of the fund’s securities at a time the fund needs to raise cash (taking a short futures position), or

•protect against the risk of an increase in market value for securities in which the fund generally invests at a time when the fund is not fully-invested (taking a long futures position), or

•provide a temporary substitute for the purchase of an individual security or securities that may be purchased in an orderly fashion.

Some futures and options strategies, such as selling futures, buying puts and writing calls, hedge a fund’s investments against price fluctuations. Other strategies, such as buying futures, writing puts and buying calls, tend to increase market exposure.

Although other techniques may be used to control a fund’s exposure to market fluctuations, the use of futures contracts may be a more effective means of hedging this exposure. While a fund pays brokerage commissions in connection with opening and closing out futures positions, these costs are lower than the transaction costs incurred in the purchase and sale of the underlying securities.

For example, the sale of a future by a fund means the fund becomes obligated to deliver the security (or securities, in the case of an index future) at a specified price on a specified date. The purchase of a future means the fund becomes obligated to buy the security (or securities) at a specified price on a specified date. The portfolio managers may engage in futures and options transactions, provided that the transactions are consistent with the fund’s investment objectives. The managers also may engage in futures and options transactions based on specific securities. Futures contracts are traded on national futures exchanges. Futures exchanges and trading are regulated under the Commodity Exchange Act by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), a U.S. government agency.

Index futures contracts differ from traditional futures contracts in that when delivery takes place, no stocks or bonds change hands. Instead, these contracts settle in cash at the spot market value of the index. Although other types of futures contracts by their terms call for actual delivery or acceptance of the underlying securities, in most cases the contracts are closed out before the settlement date. A futures position may be closed by taking an opposite position in an identical contract (i.e., buying a contract that has previously been sold or selling a contract that has previously been bought).

Unlike when the fund purchases or sells a security, no price is paid or received by the fund upon the purchase or sale of the future. Initially, the fund will be required to deposit an amount of cash or securities equal to a varying specified percentage of the contract amount. This amount is known as initial margin. The margin deposit is intended to ensure completion of the contract (delivery or acceptance of the underlying security) if it is not terminated prior to the specified delivery date. A margin deposit does not constitute a margin transaction for purposes of the fund’s investment restrictions. Minimum initial margin requirements are established by the futures exchanges and may be revised.

In addition, brokers may establish margin deposit requirements that are higher than the exchange minimums. Cash held in the margin accounts generally is not income producing. However, coupon bearing securities, such as Treasury bills and bonds, held in margin accounts generally will earn income. Subsequent payments, to and from the broker, called variation margin, will be made on a daily basis as the price of the underlying security or index fluctuates, making the future more or less valuable, a process known as marking the contract to market. Changes in variation margin are recorded by the fund as unrealized gains or losses. At any time prior to expiration of the future, the fund may elect to close the position by taking an opposite position. A final determination of variation margin is then made; additional cash is required to be paid by or released to the fund and the fund realizes a loss or gain.

Risks Related to Futures and Options Transactions

Futures and options prices can be volatile, and trading in these markets involves certain risks. If the portfolio managers apply a hedge at an inappropriate time or judge interest rate or equity market trends incorrectly, futures and options strategies may lower a fund’s return.

A fund could suffer losses if it were unable to close out its position because of an illiquid secondary market. Futures contracts may be closed out only on an exchange that provides a secondary market for these contracts, and there is no assurance that a liquid secondary market will exist for any particular futures contract at any particular time. Consequently, it may not be possible to close a futures position when the portfolio managers consider it appropriate or desirable to do so. In the event of adverse price movements, a fund would be required to continue making daily cash payments to maintain its required margin. If the fund had insufficient cash, it might have to sell portfolio securities to meet daily margin requirements at a time when the portfolio managers would not otherwise elect to do so. In addition, a fund may be required to deliver or take delivery of instruments underlying futures contracts it holds. The portfolio managers will seek to minimize these risks by limiting the futures contracts entered into on behalf of the funds to those traded on national futures exchanges and for which there appears to be a liquid secondary market.

A fund could suffer losses if the prices of its futures and options positions were poorly correlated with its other investments, or if securities underlying futures contracts purchased by a fund had different maturities than those of the portfolio securities being hedged. Such imperfect correlation may give rise to circumstances in which a fund loses money on a futures contract while it experiences a decline in the value of its hedged portfolio securities. A fund also could lose margin payments it has deposited with a margin broker, if, for example, the broker became bankrupt.

Most futures exchanges limit the amount of fluctuation permitted in futures contract prices during a single trading day. The daily limit establishes the maximum amount that the price of a futures contract may vary either up or down from the previous day’s settlement price at the end of the trading session. Once the daily limit has been reached in a particular type of contract, no trades may be made on that day at a price beyond the limit. However, the daily limit governs only price movement during a trading day and, therefore, does not limit potential losses. In addition, the daily limit may prevent liquidation of unfavorable positions. Futures contract prices have occasionally moved to the daily limit for several consecutive trading days with little or no trading, thereby preventing prompt liquidation of futures positions and subjecting some futures traders to substantial losses.

Options Disclosure

By buying a put option, a fund obtains the right (but not the obligation) to sell the instrument underlying the option at a fixed strike price and in return a fund pays the current market price for the option (known as the option premium). A fund may terminate its position in a put option it has purchased by allowing it to expire, by exercising the option or by entering into an offsetting transaction, if a liquid market exists. If the option is allowed to expire, a fund will lose the entire premium it paid. If a fund exercises a put option on a security, it will sell the instrument underlying the option at the strike price. Purchasing an option on a futures contract does not require a fund to make margin payments unless the option is exercised. The buyer of a typical put option can expect to realize a gain if the value of the underlying instrument falls substantially. However, if the price of the instrument underlying the option does not fall enough to offset the cost of purchasing the option, a put buyer can expect to suffer a loss limited to the amount of the premium paid, plus related transaction costs.

The features of call options are essentially the same as those of put options, except that the buyer of a call option obtains the right to purchase, rather than sell, the instrument underlying the option at the option’s strike price. The buyer of a typical call option can expect to realize a gain if the value of the underlying instrument increases substantially and can expect to suffer a loss if security prices do not rise sufficiently to offset the cost of the option.

When a fund writes a put option, it takes the opposite side of the transaction from the option’s buyer. In return for the receipt of the premium, a fund assumes the obligation to pay the strike price for the instrument underlying the option if the other party to the option chooses to exercise it. A fund may seek to terminate its position in a put option it writes before exercise by purchasing an offsetting option in the market at its current price. Otherwise, a fund must continue to be prepared to pay the strike price while the option is outstanding, regardless of price changes, and must continue to post margin as discussed below. If the price of the underlying instrument rises, a put writer would generally realize as profit the premium it received. If the price of the underlying instrument remains the same over time, it is likely that the writer will also profit, because it should be able to close out the option at a lower price. If the price of the underlying instrument falls, the put writer would expect to suffer a loss.

A fund writing a call option is obligated to sell or deliver the option’s underlying instrument in return for the strike price upon exercise of the option. Writing calls generally is a profitable strategy if the price of the underlying instrument remains the same or falls. A call writer offsets part of the effect of a price decline by receipt of the option premium but gives up some ability to participate in security price increases. The writer of an exchange traded put or call option on a security, an index of securities or a futures contract is required to deposit cash or securities or a letter of credit as margin and to make mark to market payments of variation margin as the position becomes unprofitable.

The funds may write (or sell) call options that obligate them to sell (or deliver) the option’s underlying instrument upon exercise of the option. While the receipt of option premiums would mitigate the effects of price declines, the funds would give up some ability to

participate in a price increase on the underlying security. If a fund were to engage in options transactions, it would own the futures contract at the time a call was written and would keep the contract open until the obligation to deliver it pursuant to the call expired.

Restrictions on the Use of Futures Contracts and Options

Each fund may enter into futures contracts, options, options on futures contracts, or swap agreements as permitted by its investment policies and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) rules. The advisor to each fund has claimed an exclusion from the definition of the term “commodity pool operator” under the Commodity Exchange Act and, therefore, the advisor is not subject to registration or regulation as a commodity pool operator under that Act with respect to its provision of services to each fund.

Certain rules adopted by the CFTC may impose additional limits on the ability of a fund to invest in futures contracts, options on futures, swaps, and certain other commodity interests if its investment advisor does not register with the CFTC as a “commodity pool operator” with respect to such fund. It is expected that the funds will be able to execute their investment strategies within the limits adopted by the CFTC’s rules. As a result, the advisor does not intend to register with the CFTC as a commodity pool operator on behalf of any of the funds. If one of the funds engages in transactions that necessitate future registration with the CFTC, the advisor will register as a commodity pool operator and comply with applicable regulations with respect to that fund.

To the extent required by law, each fund will segregate cash, cash equivalents or other appropriate liquid securities on its records in an amount sufficient to cover its obligations under the futures contracts, options and swap agreements.

Inflation-linked Securities

Inflation-linked securities are issued by the U.S. Treasury, U.S. government agencies and instrumentalities other than the U.S. Treasury, and entities other than the U.S. Treasury or U.S. government agencies and instrumentalities.

Inflation-linked securities are designed to offer a return linked to inflation, thereby protecting future purchasing power of the money invested in them. However, inflation-linked securities provide this protected return only if held to maturity. In addition, inflation-linked securities may not trade at par value. Real interest rates (the market rate of interest less the anticipated rate of inflation) change over time as a result of many factors, such as what investors are demanding as a true value for money. When real rates do change, inflation-linked securities prices will be more sensitive to these changes than conventional bonds, because these securities were sold originally based upon a real interest rate that is no longer prevailing. Should market expectations for real interest rates rise, the price of inflation-linked securities and the share price of the fund holding these securities will fall. Investors in the fund should be prepared to accept not only this share price volatility but also the possible adverse tax consequences it may cause.

An investment in securities featuring inflation-linked principal and/or interest involves factors not associated with more traditional fixed-principal securities. Such factors include the possibility that the inflation index may be subject to significant changes, that changes in the index may or may not correlate to changes in interest rates generally or changes in other indices, or that the resulting interest may be greater or less than that payable on other securities of similar maturities. In the event of sustained deflation, it is possible that the amount of semiannual interest payments, the inflation-linked principal of the security or the value of the stripped components will decrease. If any of these possibilities are realized, a fund’s NAV could be negatively affected.

Inflation-linked Treasury Securities

Inflation-linked U.S. Treasury securities are U.S. Treasury securities with a final value and interest payment stream linked to the inflation rate. inflation-linked U.S. Treasury securities may be issued in either note or bond form. inflation-linked U.S. Treasury notes have maturities of at least one year, but not more than 10 years. Inflation-linked U.S. Treasury bonds have maturities of more than 10 years.

Inflation-linked U.S. Treasury securities may be attractive to investors seeking an investment backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government that provides a return in excess of the rate of inflation. These securities were first sold in the U.S. market in January 1997. Inflation-linked U.S. Treasury securities are auctioned and issued on a quarterly basis.

Structure and Inflation Index - The principal value of inflation-linked U.S. Treasury securities will be adjusted to reflect changes in the level of inflation. The index for measuring the inflation rate for inflation-linked U.S. Treasury securities is the non-seasonally adjusted U.S. City Average All Items Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (Consumer Price Index) published monthly by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Semiannual coupon interest payments are made at a fixed percentage of the inflation-linked principal value. The coupon rate for the semiannual interest rate of each issuance of inflation-linked U.S. Treasury securities is determined at the time the securities are sold to the public (i.e., by competitive bids in the auction). The coupon rate will likely reflect real yields available in the U.S. Treasury market; real yields are the prevailing yields on U.S. Treasury securities with similar maturities, less then-prevailing inflation expectations. While a reduction in inflation will cause a reduction in the interest payment made on the securities, the repayment of principal at the maturity of the security is guaranteed by the U.S. Treasury to be no less than the original face or par amount of the security at the time of issuance.

Indexing Methodology - The principal value of inflation-linked U.S. Treasury securities will be indexed, or adjusted, to account for changes in the Consumer Price Index. Semiannual coupon interest payment amounts will be determined by multiplying the inflation-linked principal amount by one-half the stated rate of interest on each interest payment date.

Taxation - The taxation of inflation-linked U.S. Treasury securities is similar to the taxation of conventional bonds. Both interest payments and the difference between original principal and the inflation-linked principal will be treated as interest income subject to taxation. Interest payments are taxable when received or accrued. The inflation adjustment to the principal is subject to tax in the year the adjustment is made, not at maturity of the security when the cash from the repayment of principal is received. If an upward adjustment has been made, investors in non-tax-deferred accounts will pay taxes on this amount currently. Decreases in the indexed principal can be deducted only from current or previous interest payments reported as income.

Inflation-linked U.S. Treasury securities therefore have a potential cash flow mismatch to an investor, because investors must pay taxes on the inflation-linked principal before the repayment of principal is received. It is possible that, particularly for high income tax bracket investors, inflation-linked U.S. Treasury securities would not generate enough cash in a given year to cover the tax liability they could create. This is similar to the current tax treatment for zero-coupon bonds and other discount securities. If inflation-linked U.S. Treasury securities are sold prior to maturity, capital losses or gains are realized in the same manner as traditional bonds.

Investors in the fund will receive dividends that represent both the interest payments and the principal adjustments of the inflation-linked securities held in the fund’s portfolio. An investment in the fund may, therefore, be a means to avoid the cash flow mismatch associated with a direct investment in inflation-linked securities. For more information about taxes and their effect on you as an investor in the fund, see Taxes, page 48.

U.S. Government Agencies

A number of U.S. government agencies and instrumentalities other than the U.S. Treasury may issue inflation-linked securities. Some U.S. government agencies have issued inflation-linked securities whose design mirrors that of the inflation-linked U.S. Treasury securities described above.

Other Entities

Entities other than the U.S. Treasury or U.S. government agencies and instrumentalities may issue inflation-linked securities. While some entities have issued inflation-linked securities whose design mirrors that of the inflation-linked U.S. Treasury securities described above, others utilize different structures. For example, the principal value of these securities may be adjusted with reference to the Consumer Price Index, but the semiannual coupon interest payments are made at a fixed percentage of the original issue principal. Alternatively, the principal value may remain fixed, but the coupon interest payments may be adjusted with reference to the Consumer Price Index.

Initial Public Offerings

The funds may invest in initial public offerings (IPOs) of common stock or other equity securities issued by a company including issuances in connection with a spin-off. The purchase of securities in an IPO may involve higher transaction costs than those associated with the purchase of securities already traded on exchanges or other established markets. In addition to the risks associated with equity securities generally, IPO securities may be subject to additional risk due to factors such as the absence of a prior public market, unseasoned trading and speculation, a potentially small number of securities available for trading, limited information about the issuer and other factors. These factors may cause IPO shares to be volatile in price. While a fund may hold IPO securities for a period, it may sell them in the aftermarket soon after the purchase, which could increase portfolio turnover and lead to increased expenses such as commissions and transaction costs. Investments in IPOs could have a magnified impact (either positive or negative) on performance if a fund’s assets are relatively small. The impact of IPOs on a fund’s performance may tend to diminish as assets grow.

Inverse Floaters

An inverse floater is a type of derivative instrument that bears an interest rate that moves inversely to market interest rates. As market interest rates rise, the interest rate on inverse floaters goes down, and vice versa. Generally, this is accomplished by expressing the interest rate on the inverse floater as an above-market fixed rate of interest, reduced by an amount determined by reference to a market-based or bond-specific floating interest rate (as well as by any fees associated with administering the inverse floater program).

Inverse floaters may be issued in conjunction with an equal amount of Dutch Auction floating-rate bonds (floaters), or a market-based index may be used to set the interest rate on these securities. A Dutch Auction is an auction system in which the price of the security is gradually lowered until it meets a responsive bid and is sold. Floaters and inverse floaters may be brought to market by (1) a broker-dealer who purchases fixed-rate bonds and places them in a trust, or (2) an issuer seeking to reduce interest expenses by using a floater/inverse floater structure in lieu of fixed-rate bonds.

In the case of a broker-dealer structured offering (where underlying fixed-rate bonds have been placed in a trust), distributions from the underlying bonds are allocated to floater and inverse floater holders in the following manner:

(i)Floater holders receive interest based on rates set at a six-month interval or at a Dutch Auction, which is typically held every 28 to 35 days. Current and prospective floater holders bid the minimum interest rate that they are willing to accept on the floaters, and the interest rate is set just high enough to ensure that all of the floaters are sold.

(ii)Inverse floater holders receive all of the interest that remains, if any, on the underlying bonds after floater interest and auction fees are paid. The interest rates on inverse floaters may be significantly reduced, even to zero, if interest rates rise.

Procedures for determining the interest payment on floaters and inverse floaters brought to market directly by the issuer are comparable, although the interest paid on the inverse floaters is based on a presumed coupon rate that would have been required to bring fixed-rate bonds to market at the time the floaters and inverse floaters were issued.

Where inverse floaters are issued in conjunction with floaters, inverse floater holders may be given the right to acquire the underlying security (or to create a fixed-rate bond) by calling an equal amount of corresponding floaters. The underlying security may then be held or sold. However, typically, there are time constraints and other limitations associated with any right to combine interests and claim the underlying security.

Floater holders subject to a Dutch Auction procedure generally do not have the right to put back their interests to the issuer or to a third party. If a Dutch Auction fails, the floater holder may be required to hold its position until the underlying bond matures, during which time interest on the floater is capped at a predetermined rate.

The secondary market for floaters and inverse floaters may be limited. The market value of inverse floaters tends to be significantly more volatile than fixed-rate bonds.

Investments in Issuers with Limited Operating Histories

The funds may invest in securities of issuers with limited operating histories. The portfolio managers consider an issuer to have a limited operating history if that issuer has a record of less than three years of continuous operation. The managers will consider periods of capital formation, incubation, consolidations, and research and development in determining whether an issuer has a record of three years of continuous operation.

Investments in securities of issuers with limited operating histories may involve greater risks than investments in securities of more mature issuers. By their nature, such issuers present limited operating histories and financial information upon which the managers may base their investment decision on behalf of the funds. In addition, financial and other information regarding such issuers, when available, may be incomplete or inaccurate.

For purposes of this limitation, “issuers” refers to operating companies that issue securities for the purposes of issuing debt or raising capital as a means of financing their ongoing operations. It does not, however, refer to entities, corporate or otherwise, that are created for the express purpose of securitizing obligations or income streams. For example, a fund’s investments in a trust created for pooling mortgage obligations or other financial assets would not be subject to the limitation.

LIBOR Transition Risk

The London Interbank Offered Rate (“LIBOR”) is a benchmark interest rate intended to be representative of the rate at which major international banks who are members of the British Bankers Association lend to one another over short-terms. LIBOR is the most common benchmark interest rate index used to make adjustments to variable-rate loans. Global banking and financial industries use LIBOR to determine interest rates for a variety of financial instruments-such as debt instruments and derivatives-and borrowing arrangements. Following manipulation allegations, the Financial Conduct Authority, the United Kingdom’s financial regulatory body, announced a plan to phase out the use of LIBOR. The transition process to a replacement rate or rates may lead to increased volatility or illiquidity in markets for instruments that currently rely on LIBOR. The transition may also result in a change in the value of certain instruments the funds hold or a change in the cost of temporary borrowing for the funds. When LIBOR is discontinued, the LIBOR replacement rate may be lower than market expectations, which could have an adverse impact on the value of preferred and debt-securities with floating or fixed-to-floating rate coupons. The transition away from LIBOR could result in losses to the funds.

Loan Participations

Loan participations represent interests in the cash flow generated by commercial loans. Each loan participation requires three parties: a participant (or investor), a lending bank and a borrower. The investor purchases a share in a loan originated by a lending bank, and this participation entitles the investor to a percentage of the principal and interest payments made by the borrower.

Loan participations are attractive because they typically offer higher yields than other money market instruments. However, along with these higher yields come certain risks, not the least of which is the risk that the borrower will be unable to repay the loan. Generally, because the lending bank does not guarantee payment, the investor is directly exposed to risk of default by the borrower. In addition, the investor is not a direct creditor of the borrower. The participation represents an interest in assets owned by the lending bank. If the lending bank becomes insolvent, the investor could be considered an unsecured creditor of the bank instead of the holder of a participating interest in a loan. Because of these risks, the manager must carefully consider the creditworthiness of both the borrower and the lender.

Another concern is liquidity. Because there is no established secondary market for loan participations, a fund’s ability to sell them for cash is limited. Some participation agreements place limitations on the investor’s right to resell the loan participation, even when a buyer can be found.

Loan Participation Notes

In terms of their functioning and investment risk, loan participation notes (“LPNs”) are comparable to an investment in “normal” bonds. In return for the investor’s commitment of capital, the issuer makes regular interest payments and, at maturity or in accordance with an agreed upon amortization schedule, the note is repaid at par.

However, in contrast to “normal” bonds, there are three parties involved in the issuance of an LPN. The legal issuer, typically a bankruptcy-remote, limited purpose entity, issues notes to investors and uses the proceeds received from investors to make loans to the borrower-with each loan generally having substantially identical payment terms to the related note issued by the issuer. The borrower is typically an operating company, and the issuer’s obligations under a note are typically limited to the extent of any capital repayments and interest payments made by the borrower under the related loan. Accordingly, the investor generally assumes the credit risk of the underlying borrower. The loan participation note structure is generally used to provide the borrower more efficient financing in the capital markets than the borrower would be able to obtain if it issued notes directly.

In the event of a default by the borrower of an LPN, the fund may experience delays in receiving payments of interest and principal while the note issuer enforces and liquidates the underlying collateral, and there is no guarantee that the underlying collateral will cover the principal and interest owed to the fund under the LPN.

LPNs are generally subject to liquidity risk. Even though an LPN may be traded on an exchange there can be no assurance that a liquid market will develop for the LPNs, that holders of the LPNs will be able to sell their LPNs, or that such holders will be able to sell their LPNs for a price that reflects their value.

Depending on the creditworthiness of the underlying borrower, LPNs may be subject to the risk of investing in high-yield securities. Additionally, LPNs are generally utilized by foreign borrowers and therefore may be subject to the risk of investing in foreign securities and emerging market risk. Such foreign risk could include interest payments being subject to withholding tax.

Loans of Portfolio Securities

To realize additional income, a fund may lend its portfolio securities. Such loans may not exceed one-third of the fund’s total assets valued at market, however, this limitation does not apply to purchases of debt securities in accordance with the fund’s investment objectives, policies and limitations, or to repurchase agreements with respect to portfolio securities.

Cash received from the borrower as collateral through loan transactions may be invested in other eligible securities. Investing this cash subjects that investment to market appreciation or depreciation. If a borrower defaults on a securities loan because of insolvency or other reasons, the lending fund could experience delays or costs in recovering the securities it loaned; if the value of the loaned securities increased over the value of the collateral, the fund could suffer a loss. To minimize the risk of default on securities loans, the advisor adheres to guidelines prescribed by the Board of Trustees governing lending of securities. These guidelines strictly govern:

•the type and amount of collateral that must be received by the fund;

•the circumstances under which additions to that collateral must be made by borrowers;

•the return to be received by the fund on the loaned securities;

•the limitations on the percentage of fund assets on loan; and

•the credit standards applied in evaluating potential borrowers of portfolio securities.

In addition, the guidelines require that the fund have the option to terminate any loan of a portfolio security at any time and set requirements for recovery of securities from borrowers.

Lower-Quality Bonds

Consistent with their investment objectives, the funds may invest in lower-rated bonds and unrated bonds judged by the advisor to be of comparable quality (collectively, lower-quality bonds).While the market values of higher-quality bonds tend to correspond to market interest rate changes, the market values of lower-quality bonds tend to reflect the financial condition of their issuers. The ability of an issuer to make payment could be affected by litigation, legislation or other political events, or the bankruptcy of the issuer. Lower-quality municipal bonds are more susceptible to these risks than higher-quality municipal bonds. In addition, lower-quality bonds may be unsecured or subordinated to other obligations of the issuer. Projects financed through the issuance of lower-quality bonds often carry higher levels of risk. The issuer’s ability to service its debt obligations may be adversely affected by an economic downturn, weaker-than-expected economic development, a period of rising interest rates, the issuer’s inability to meet projected revenue forecasts, a higher level of debt, or a lack of needed additional financing. Lower quality bonds generally are unsecured and are often subordinated to other obligations of the issuer. These bonds may have call or buy-back features that permit the issuer to call or repurchase the bond from the holder. Premature disposition of a lower-quality bond due to a call or buy-back feature, deterioration of the issuer’s creditworthiness, or a default may make it difficult for the advisor to manage the flow of income to the fund, which may have a negative tax impact on shareholders.The market for lower-quality bonds tends to be concentrated among a smaller number of dealers than the market for higher-quality bonds. This market may be dominated by dealers and institutions (including mutual funds), rather than by individuals. To the extent that a secondary trading market for lower-quality bonds exists, it may not be as liquid as the secondary market for higher-quality bonds. Limited liquidity in the secondary market may adversely affect market prices and hinder the advisor’s ability to dispose of particular bonds when it determines that it is in the best interest of a fund to

do so. Reduced liquidity also may hinder the advisor’s ability to obtain market quotations for purposes of valuing a fund’s portfolio and determining its NAV. The advisor continually monitors securities to determine their relative liquidity. A fund may incur expenses in excess of its ordinary operating expenses if it becomes necessary to seek recovery on a defaulted bond, particularly a lower-quality bond.

Mortgage-Related Securities

Background

A mortgage-backed security represents an ownership interest in a pool of mortgage loans. The loans are made by financial institutions to finance home and other real estate purchases. As the loans are repaid, investors receive payments of both interest and principal.

Like fixed-income securities such as U.S. Treasury bonds, mortgage-backed securities pay a stated rate of interest during the life of the security. However, unlike a bond, which returns principal to the investor in one lump sum at maturity, mortgage-backed securities return principal to the investor in increments during the life of the security.

Because the timing and speed of principal repayments vary, the cash flow on mortgage-backed securities is irregular. If mortgage holders sell their homes, refinance their loans, prepay their mortgages or default on their loans, the principal is distributed pro rata to investors.

As with other fixed-income securities, the prices of mortgage-backed securities fluctuate in response to changing interest rates; when interest rates fall, the prices of mortgage-backed securities rise, and vice versa. Changing interest rates have additional significance for mortgage-backed securities investors, however, because they influence prepayment rates (the rates at which mortgage holders prepay their mortgages), which in turn affect the yields on mortgage-backed securities. When interest rates decline, prepayment rates generally increase. Mortgage holders take advantage of the opportunity to refinance their mortgages at lower rates with lower monthly payments. When interest rates rise, mortgage holders are less inclined to refinance their mortgages. The effect of prepayment activity on yield depends on whether the mortgage-backed security was purchased at a premium or at a discount.

The fund may receive principal sooner than it expected because of accelerated prepayments. Under these circumstances, the fund might have to reinvest returned principal at rates lower than it would have earned if principal payments were made on schedule. Conversely, a mortgage-backed security may exceed its anticipated life if prepayment rates decelerate unexpectedly. Under these circumstances, the fund might miss an opportunity to earn interest at higher prevailing rates.

GNMA Certificates

The Government National Mortgage Association (GNMA) is a wholly owned corporate instrumentality of the United States within the Department of Housing and Urban Development. The National Housing Act of 1934 (Housing Act), as amended, authorizes GNMA to guarantee the timely payment of interest and repayment of principal on certificates that are backed by a pool of mortgage loans insured by the Federal Housing Administration under the Housing Act, or by Title V of the Housing Act of 1949 (FHA Loans), or guaranteed by the Veterans’ Affairs under the Servicemen’s Readjustment Act of 1944 (VA Loans), as amended, or by pools of other eligible mortgage loans. The Housing Act provides that the full faith and credit of the U.S. government is pledged to the payment of all amounts that may be required to be paid under any guarantee. GNMA has unlimited authority to borrow from the U.S. Treasury in order to meet its obligations under this guarantee.

GNMA certificates represent a pro rata interest in one or more pools of the following types of mortgage loans: (a) fixed-rate level payment mortgage loans; (b) fixed-rate graduated payment mortgage loans (GPMs); (c) fixed-rate growing equity mortgage loans (GEMs); (d) fixed-rate mortgage loans secured by manufactured (mobile) homes (MHs); (e) mortgage loans on multifamily residential properties under construction (CLCs); (f) mortgage loans on completed multifamily projects (PLCs); (g) fixed-rate mortgage loans that use escrowed funds to reduce the borrower’s monthly payments during the early years of the mortgage loans (buydown mortgage loans); and (h) mortgage loans that provide for payment adjustments based on periodic changes in interest rates or in other payment terms of the mortgage loans.

Current Status of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac

Since September 2008, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have operated under a conservatorship administered by the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA). In addition, the U.S. Treasury has entered into senior preferred stock purchase agreements (SPSPAs) to provide additional financing to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Although the SPSPAs are intended to provide Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac with the necessary cash resources to meet their obligations, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac continue to operate as going concerns while in conservatorship, and each remains liable for all of its obligations, including its guaranty obligations, associated with its mortgage-backed securities.

The future status and role of Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac could be impacted by, among other things, the actions taken and restrictions placed on Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac by the FHFA in its role as conservator, the restrictions placed on Fannie Mae’s or Freddie Mac’s operations and activities under the senior preferred stock purchase agreements, market responses to developments at Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac, and future legislative, regulatory, or legal action that alters the operations, ownership, structure and/or mission of Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac, each of which may, in turn, impact the value of, and cash flows on, any securities guaranteed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Fannie Mae Certificates

The Federal National Mortgage Association (FNMA or Fannie Mae) is a federally chartered and privately owned corporation established under the Federal National Mortgage Association Charter Act. Fannie Mae was originally established in 1938 as a U.S. government agency designed to provide supplemental liquidity to the mortgage market and was reorganized as a stockholder-owned and privately managed corporation by legislation enacted in 1968. Fannie Mae acquires capital from investors who would not ordinarily invest in mortgage loans directly and thereby expands the total amount of funds available for housing. This money is used to buy home mortgage loans from local lenders, replenishing the supply of capital available for mortgage lending.

Fannie Mae certificates represent a pro rata interest in one or more pools of FHA Loans, VA Loans, or, most commonly, conventional mortgage loans (i.e., mortgage loans that are not insured or guaranteed by a government agency) of the following types: (a) fixed-rate level payment mortgage loans; (b) fixed-rate growing equity mortgage loans; (c) fixed-rate graduated payment mortgage loans; (d) adjustable-rate mortgage loans; and (e) fixed-rate mortgage loans secured by multifamily projects.

Fannie Mae certificates entitle the registered holder to receive amounts representing a pro rata interest in scheduled principal and interest payments (at the certificate’s pass-through rate, which is net of any servicing and guarantee fees on the underlying mortgage loans), any principal prepayments, and a proportionate interest in the full principal amount of any foreclosed or otherwise liquidated mortgage loan. The full and timely payment of interest and repayment of principal on each Fannie Mae certificate is guaranteed by Fannie Mae; this guarantee is not backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government.

Freddie Mac Certificates

The Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (FHLMC or Freddie Mac) is a corporate instrumentality of the United States created pursuant to the Emergency Home Finance Act of 1970 (FHLMC Act), as amended. Freddie Mac was established primarily for the purpose of increasing the availability of mortgage credit. Its principal activity consists of purchasing first-lien conventional residential mortgage loans (and participation interests in such mortgage loans) and reselling these loans in the form of mortgage-backed securities, primarily Freddie Mac certificates.

Freddie Mac certificates represent a pro rata interest in a group of mortgage loans (a Freddie Mac certificate group) purchased by Freddie Mac. The mortgage loans underlying Freddie Mac certificates consist of fixed- or adjustable-rate mortgage loans with original terms to maturity of between 10 and 30 years, substantially all of which are secured by first-liens on one- to four-family residential properties or multifamily projects. Each mortgage loan must meet standards set forth in the FHLMC Act. A Freddie Mac certificate group may include whole loans, participation interests in whole loans, undivided interests in whole loans, and participations composing another Freddie Mac certificate group.

Freddie Mac guarantees to each registered holder of a Freddie Mac certificate the timely payment of interest at the rate provided for by the certificate. Freddie Mac also guarantees ultimate collection of all principal on the related mortgage loans, without any offset or deduction, but generally does not guarantee the timely repayment of principal. Freddie Mac may remit principal at any time after default on an underlying mortgage loan, but no later than 30 days following (a) foreclosure sale, (b) payment of a claim by any mortgage insurer, or (c) the expiration of any right of redemption, whichever occurs later, and in any event no later than one year after demand has been made upon the mortgager for accelerated payment of principal. Obligations guaranteed by Freddie Mac are not backed by the full faith and credit pledge of the U.S. government.

Collateralized Mortgage Obligations (CMOs)

A CMO is a multiclass bond backed by a pool of mortgage pass-through certificates or mortgage loans. CMOs may be collateralized by (a) GNMA, Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac pass-through certificates; (b) unsecured mortgage loans insured by the Federal Housing Administration or guaranteed by the Department of Veterans’ Affairs; (c) unsecuritized conventional mortgages; or (d) any combination thereof.

In structuring a CMO, an issuer distributes cash flow from the underlying collateral over a series of classes called tranches. Each CMO is a set of two or more tranches, with average lives and cash flow patterns designed to meet specific investment objectives. The average life expectancies of the different tranches in a four-part deal, for example, might be two, five, seven and 20 years.

As payments on the underlying mortgage loans are collected, the CMO issuer pays the coupon rate of interest to the bondholders in each tranche. At the outset, scheduled and unscheduled principal payments go to investors in the first tranches. Investors in later tranches do not begin receiving principal payments until the prior tranches are paid off. This basic type of CMO is known as a sequential pay or plain vanilla CMO.

Some CMOs are structured so that the prepayment or market risks are transferred from one tranche to another. Prepayment stability is improved in some tranches if other tranches absorb more prepayment variability.

The final tranche of a CMO often takes the form of a Z-bond, also known as an accrual bond or accretion bond. Holders of these securities receive no cash until the earlier tranches are paid in full. During the period that the other tranches are outstanding, periodic interest payments are added to the initial face amount of the Z-bond but are not paid to investors. When the prior tranches are retired, the Z-bond receives coupon payments on its higher principal balance plus any principal prepayments from the underlying mortgage

loans. The existence of a Z-bond tranche helps stabilize cash flow patterns in the other tranches. In a changing interest rate environment, however, the value of the Z-bond tends to be more volatile.

As CMOs have evolved, some classes of CMO bonds have become more prevalent. The planned amortization class (PAC) and targeted amortization class (TAC), for example, were designed to reduce prepayment risk by establishing a sinking-fund structure. PAC and TAC bonds assure to varying degrees that investors will receive payments over a predetermined period under various prepayment scenarios. Although PAC and TAC bonds are similar, PAC bonds are better able to provide stable cash flows under various prepayment scenarios than TAC bonds because of the order in which these tranches are paid.

The existence of a PAC or TAC tranche can create higher levels of risk for other tranches in the CMO because the stability of the PAC or TAC tranche is achieved by creating at least one other tranche-known as a companion bond, support or non-PAC bond-that absorbs the variability of principal cash flows. Because companion bonds have a high degree of average life variability, they generally pay a higher yield. A TAC bond can have some of the prepayment variability of a companion bond if there is also a PAC bond in the CMO issue.

Floating-rate CMO tranches (floaters) pay a variable rate of interest that is usually tied to a reference rate, such as the Secured Overnight Financing Rate (SOFR). Institutional investors with short-term liabilities, such as commercial banks, often find floating-rate CMOs attractive investments. Super floaters (which float a certain percentage above a reference rate) and inverse floaters (which float inversely to a reference rate) are variations on the floater structure that have highly variable cash flows.

Single- and Multi-Family Mortgage-Related Securities

A single- or multi-family mortgage-backed security represents an ownership interest in a pool of mortgage loans. The loans are made by financial institutions or municipal agencies to finance home and other real estate purchases. As the loans are repaid, investors receive payments of both interest and principal. Like fixed-income securities such as U.S. Treasury bonds, mortgage-backed securities pay a stated rate of interest during the life of the security. However, unlike a bond, which returns principal to the investor in one lump sum at maturity, single- or multi-family mortgage-backed securities return principal to the investor in increments during the life of the security.Because the timing and speed of principal repayments vary, the cash flow on single- or multi-family mortgage-backed securities is irregular. If mortgage holders sell their homes, refinance their loans, prepay their mortgages or default on their loans, the principal may be distributed pro rata to investors. As with other fixed-income securities, the prices of single- or multi-family mortgage-backed securities fluctuate in response to changing interest rates; when interest rates fall, the prices of these securities rise, and vice versa. Changing interest rates have additional significance for mortgage-backed securities investors, however, because they influence prepayment rates (the rates at which mortgage holders prepay their mortgages), which in turn affect the yields on mortgage-backed securities. When interest rates decline, prepayment rates generally increase. Mortgage holders take advantage of the opportunity to refinance their mortgages at lower rates with lower monthly payments. When interest rates rise, mortgage holders are less inclined to refinance their mortgages. The effect of prepayment activity on yield depends on whether the mortgage-backed security was purchased at a premium or at a discount.

A fund may receive principal sooner than it expected because of accelerated prepayments. Under these circumstances, the fund might have to reinvest returned principal at rates lower than it would have earned if principal payments were made on schedule. Conversely, a mortgage-backed security may exceed its anticipated life if prepayment rates decelerate unexpectedly. Under these circumstances, a fund might miss an opportunity to earn interest at higher prevailing rates.

Stripped Mortgage-Backed Securities

Stripped mortgage-backed securities are created by segregating the cash flows from underlying mortgage loans or mortgage securities to create two or more new securities, each with a specified percentage of the underlying security’s principal or interest payments. Mortgage-backed securities may be partially stripped so that each investor class receives some interest and some principal. When securities are completely stripped, however, all of the interest is distributed to holders of one type of security, known as an interest-only security, or IO, and all of the principal is distributed to holders of another type of security known as a principal-only security, or PO. Strips can be created in a pass-through structure or as tranches of a CMO.

The market values of IOs and POs are very sensitive to interest rate and prepayment rate fluctuations. POs, for example, increase (or decrease) in value as interest rates decline (or rise). The price behavior of these securities also depends on whether the mortgage collateral was purchased at a premium or discount to its par value. Prepayments on discount coupon POs generally are much lower than prepayments on premium coupon POs. IOs may be used to hedge a fund’s other investments because prepayments cause the value of an IO strip to move in the opposite direction from other mortgage-backed securities.

Commercial Mortgage-Backed Securities (CMBS)

CMBS are securities created from a pool of commercial mortgage loans, such as loans for hotels, shopping centers, office buildings, apartment buildings, and the like. Interest and principal payments from these loans are passed on to the investor according to a particular schedule of payments. They may be issued by U.S. government agencies or by private issuers. The credit quality of CMBS depends primarily on the quality of the underlying loans and on the structure of the particular deal. Generally, deals are structured with senior and subordinate classes. Multiple classes may permit the issuance of securities with payment terms, interest rates, or other characteristics differing both from those of each other and those of the underlying assets. Examples include classes having

characteristics such as floating interest rates or scheduled amortization of principal. Rating agencies rate the individual classes of the deal based on the degree of seniority or subordination of a particular class and other factors. The value of these securities may change because of actual or perceived changes in the creditworthiness of individual borrowers, their tenants, the servicing agents, or the general state of commercial real estate and other factors.

CMBS may be partially stripped so that each investor class receives some interest and some principal. When securities are completely stripped, however, all of the interest is distributed to holders of one type of security, known as an interest-only security (IO), and all of the principal is distributed to holders of another type of security known as a principal-only security (PO). As interest rates rise and fall, the value of IOs tends to move in the same direction as interest rates. The cash flows and yields on IO classes are extremely sensitive to the rate of principal payments (including prepayments) on the related underlying mortgage assets. In the cases of IOs, prepayments affect the amount of cash flows provided to the investor. If the underlying mortgage assets experience greater than anticipated prepayments of principal, an investor may fail to fully recoup its initial investment in an IO class of a stripped mortgage-backed security, even if the IO class is rated AAA or Aaa or is derived from a full faith and credit obligation. However, because commercial mortgages are often locked out from prepayment, or have high prepayment penalties or a defeasance mechanism, the prepayment risk associated with a CMBS IO class is generally less than that of a residential IO.

Adjustable Rate Mortgage Securities

Adjustable rate mortgage securities (ARMs) have interest rates that reset at periodic intervals. Acquiring ARMs permits a fund to participate in increases in prevailing current interest rates through periodic adjustments in the coupons of mortgages underlying the pool on which ARMs are based. In addition, when prepayments of principal are made on the underlying mortgages during periods of rising interest rates, a fund can reinvest the proceeds of such prepayments at rates higher than those at which they were previously invested. Mortgages underlying most ARMs, however, have limits on the allowable annual or lifetime increases that can be made in the interest rate that the mortgagor pays. Therefore, if current interest rates rise above such limits over the period of the limitation, a fund holding an ARM does not benefit from further increases in interest rates. Moreover, when interest rates are in excess of coupon rates (i.e., the rates being paid by mortgagors) of the mortgages, ARMs behave more like fixed-income securities and less like adjustable rate securities and are subject to the risks associated with fixed-income securities. In addition, during periods of rising interest rates, increases in the coupon rate of adjustable rate mortgages generally lag current market interest rates slightly, thereby creating the potential for capital depreciation on such securities.

Mortgage Dollar Rolls

Mortgage dollar rolls consist of a fund selling mortgage-backed securities to financial institutions for delivery in the current month and simultaneously contracting to repurchase similar securities on a specified future date. During the period between the sale and repurchase (the “roll period”), the fund forgoes principal and interest paid on the mortgage-backed securities. The fund is compensated by the difference between the current sales price and the forward price for the future purchase (often referred to as the “drop”), as well as by the interest earned on the cash proceeds of the initial sale. The fund will use the proceeds generated from the transaction to invest in high-quality, short duration investments, which may enhance the fund’s current yield and total return. Such investments may have a leveraging effect, increasing the volatility of the fund.

For each mortgage dollar roll transaction, the fund will cover the roll by segregating on its books an offsetting cash position or a position of liquid securities of equivalent value. The portfolio managers will monitor the value of such securities to determine that the value equals or exceeds the mortgage dollar roll contract price.

The fund could suffer a loss if the contracting party fails to perform the future transaction and the fund is therefore unable to buy back the mortgage-backed securities it initially sold. The fund also takes the risk that the mortgage-backed securities that it repurchases at a later date will have less favorable market characteristics than the securities originally sold.

To Be Announced (TBA) Transactions

A TBA transaction is a method of trading mortgage-backed securities where the buyer and seller agree upon general trade parameters such as agency, settlement date, par amount, and price at the time the contract is entered into but the mortgage-backed securities are delivered in the future. Although the securities that are delivered in TBA transactions must meet certain standards, there is a risk that the actual securities received by the fund may be less favorable than what was anticipated when entering into the transaction. TBA transactions also involve the risk that a counterparty will fail to deliver the security, exposing the fund to further losses. Whether or not the fund takes delivery of the securities at the termination date of a TBA transaction, it will nonetheless be exposed to changes in the value of the underlying investments during the term of the agreement.

Municipal Obligations

Tax-exempt or taxable municipal obligations are generally issued by state and local governments or government entities. Interest payments from municipal obligations are generally exempt from federal income tax. Interest payments from certain municipal obligations, however, are subject to federal income tax because of the degree of non-government involvement in the transaction or because federal tax code limitations on the issuance of tax-exempt bonds that benefit private entities have been exceeded. Some typical examples of these taxable municipal obligations include industrial revenue bonds and economic development bonds issued by

state or local governments to aid private enterprise. The interest on a taxable municipal bond is often exempt from state taxation in the issuing state. The funds (except Avantis Core Municipal Fixed Income ETF) do not expect to be eligible to pass through to shareholders the tax-exempt character of interest on municipal obligations.

Municipal Activities Focus

From time to time, a significant portion of the Avantis Core Municipal Fixed Income ETF’s assets may be invested in municipal obligations that are related to the extent that economic, business or political developments affecting one of these obligations could affect the other obligations in a similar manner. For example, if the fund invested a significant portion of its assets in utility bonds and a state or federal government agency or legislative body promulgated or enacted new environmental protection requirements for utility providers, projects financed by utility bonds could suffer as a group. Additional financing might be required to comply with the new environmental requirements, and outstanding debt might be downgraded in the interim. Among other factors that could negatively affect bonds issued to finance similar types of projects are state and federal legislation regarding financing for municipal projects, pending court decisions relating to the validity or means of financing municipal projects, material or manpower shortages and declining demand for projects or facilities financed by the municipal bonds.

Municipal Bonds

Municipal bonds generally have maturities of more than one year when issued and are designed to meet longer-term capital needs. These securities have two principal classifications: general obligation bonds and revenue bonds.

General Obligation (GO) bonds are issued by states, counties, cities, towns and regional districts to fund a variety of public projects, including construction of and improvements to schools, highways, and water and sewer systems. GO bonds are backed by the issuer’s full faith and credit pledge based on its ability to levy taxes for the timely payment of interest and repayment of principal, although such levies may be constitutionally or statutorily limited as to rate or amount.

Revenue bonds are not backed by an issuer’s taxing authority; rather, interest and principal are secured by the net revenues from a project or facility. Revenue bonds are issued to finance a variety of capital projects, including construction or refurbishment of utility and waste disposal systems, highways, bridges, tunnels, air and seaport facilities, schools and hospitals.

Industrial Development Bonds (IDBs), a type of revenue bond, are issued by or on behalf of public authorities to finance privately operated facilities. These bonds are used to finance business, manufacturing, housing, athletic and pollution control projects, as well as public facilities such as mass transit systems, air and seaport facilities and parking garages. Payment of interest and repayment of principal on an IDB depend solely on the ability of the facility’s operator to meet financial obligations and on the pledge, if any, of the real or personal property financed. The interest earned on IDBs may be subject to the federal alternative minimum tax.

Some longer-term municipal bonds allow an investor to “put” or sell the security at a specified time and price to the issuer or other “put provider.” If a put provider fails to honor its commitment to purchase the security, the fund may have to treat the security’s final maturity as its effective maturity, lengthening the fund’s weighted average maturity and increasing the volatility of the fund.

The funds may purchase municipal bonds with credit enhancements such as letters of credit or municipal bond insurance from time to time. Letters of credit are issued by a third party, usually a bank, to enhance liquidity and ensure repayment of principal and any accrued interest if the underlying municipal bond should default. Municipal bond insurance, which is usually purchased by the bond issuer from a private, nongovernmental insurance company, provides an unconditional and irrevocable guarantee that the insured bond’s principal and interest will be paid when due. Insurance does not guarantee the price of the bond or the share price of a fund. The credit rating of an insured bond reflects the credit rating of the insurer, based on its claims-paying ability. But, it can reflect the rating on the insured credit if the bond insurer rating is downgraded below that of the insured credit.The obligation of a municipal bond insurance company to pay a claim extends over the life of each insured bond. Although defaults on insured municipal bonds have been low to date, there is no assurance that this will continue. A higher-than-expected default rate could strain the insurer’s loss reserves and adversely affect its ability to pay claims to bondholders. A significant portion of insured municipal bonds that have been issued and are outstanding are insured by a small number of insurance companies, so an event involving one or more of these insurance companies, such as a credit rating downgrade, could have a significant adverse effect on the value of the municipal bonds insured by that insurance company and on the municipal bond markets as a whole.Before the 2008 financial crisis, municipal bond insurers insured approximately half of newly issued municipal securities. Since the crisis, the number of municipal bond insurers has dropped, and the role of bond insurance in the municipal markets has declined significantly. Currently, there are only a few companies actively writing such polices, and municipal market penetration is less than 10%.

Municipal Lease Obligations

Municipal lease obligations, which may take the form of a lease, an installment purchase, or a conditional sale contract, are issued by state and local governments and authorities to acquire land and a wide variety of equipment and facilities. Generally, the funds will not hold such obligations directly as a lessor of the property but will purchase a participation interest in a municipal lease obligation from a bank or other third party. Municipal leases frequently carry risks distinct from those associated with general obligation or revenue bonds. State constitutions and statutes set requirements that states and municipalities must meet to incur debt. These may include voter referenda, interest rate limits or public sale requirements. Leases, installment purchases or conditional sale contracts (which normally provide for title to the leased asset to pass to the government issuer) have evolved as a way for government issuers to acquire property

and equipment without meeting constitutional and statutory requirements for the issuance of debt. Many leases and contracts include nonappropriation clauses, which provide that the governmental issuer has no obligation to make future payments under the lease or contract unless money is appropriated for such purposes by the appropriate legislative body on a yearly or other periodic basis. Municipal lease obligations also may be subject to abatement risk. For example, construction delays or destruction of a facility as a result of an uninsurable disaster that prevents occupancy could result in all or a portion of a lease payment not being made.

Municipal Notes

Consistent with their investment objectives, the funds may invest in municipal notes, which are issued by state and local governments or government entities to provide short-term capital or to meet cash flow needs.

Tax Anticipation Notes (TANs) are issued in anticipation of seasonal tax revenues, such as ad valorem property, income, sales, use and business taxes, and are payable from these future taxes. TANs usually are general obligations of the issuer. General obligations are backed by the issuer’s full faith and credit pledge based on its ability to levy taxes for the timely payment of interest and repayment of principal, although such levies may be constitutionally or statutorily limited as to rate or amount.

Revenue Anticipation Notes (RANs) are issued with the expectation that receipt of future revenues, such as federal revenue sharing or state aid payments, will be used to repay the notes. Typically, these notes also constitute general obligations of the issuer.

Bond Anticipation Notes (BANs) are issued to provide interim financing until long-term financing can be arranged. In most cases, the long-term bonds provide the money for repayment of the notes.

Revenue anticipation warrants, or reimbursement warrants, are issued to meet the cash flow needs of state governments at the end of a fiscal year and in the early weeks of the following fiscal year. These warrants are payable from unapplied money in the state’s General Fund, including the proceeds of RANs issued following enactment of a state budget or the proceeds of refunding warrants issued by the state.

Municipal Tobacco Bonds

Municipal tobacco bonds’ payment obligations are tied to a master settlement agreement between 46 states and certain U.S. territories and several major tobacco companies. The agreement provides that if certain conditions are met the tobacco companies may reduce or suspend part of their payments. In such an event, the issuer of the bonds may not make full payments and the funds, as investors of the bonds, may suffer.

Other Investment Companies

Each of the funds may invest in other investment companies, such as closed-end investment companies, unit investment trusts, other exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and other open-end investment companies, provided that the investment is consistent with the fund’s investment policies and restrictions. Under the Investment Company Act, a fund’s investment in such securities, subject to certain exceptions, currently is limited to

•3% of the total voting stock of any one investment company;

•5% of the fund’s total assets with respect to any one investment company; and

•10% of a fund’s total assets in the aggregate.

A fund’s investments in other investment companies may include money market funds managed by the advisor. Investments in money market funds are not subject to the percentage limitations set forth above.

As a shareholder of another investment company, a fund would bear, along with other shareholders, its pro rata portion of the other investment company’s expenses, including advisory fees. These expenses would be in addition to the management fee that each fund bears directly in connection with its own operations.

Repurchase Agreements

Each fund may invest in repurchase agreements when they present an attractive short-term return on cash that is not otherwise committed to the purchase of securities pursuant to the investment policies of that fund.

A repurchase agreement occurs when, at the time the fund purchases an interest-bearing obligation, the seller (a bank or a broker-dealer registered under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934) agrees to purchase it on a specified date in the future at an agreed-upon price. The repurchase price reflects an agreed-upon interest rate during the time the fund’s money is invested in the security.

Because the security purchased constitutes collateral security for the repurchase obligation, a repurchase agreement can be considered a loan collateralized by the security purchased. The fund’s risk is the seller’s ability to pay the agreed-upon repurchase price on the repurchase date. If the seller defaults, the fund may incur costs in disposing of the collateral, which would reduce the amount realized thereon. If the seller seeks relief under the bankruptcy laws, the disposition of the collateral may be delayed or limited. To the extent the value of the security decreases, the fund could experience a loss.

The funds will limit repurchase agreement transactions to securities issued by the U.S. government, its agencies and instrumentalities, and will enter into such transactions with those banks and securities dealers who are deemed creditworthy by the funds’ advisor.

Repurchase Agreements maturing in more than seven days would count toward a fund’s 15% limit on illiquid securities.

Restricted and Illiquid Securities

The funds may, from time to time, purchase restricted or illiquid securities, including Rule 144A securities, when they present attractive investment opportunities that otherwise meet the funds’ criteria for selection. Restricted securities include securities that cannot be sold to the public without registration under the Securities Act of 1933 or the availability of an exemption from registration, or that are “not readily marketable” because they are subject to other legal or contractual delays in or restrictions on resale. Rule 144A securities are securities that are privately placed with and traded among qualified institutional investors rather than the general public. Although Rule 144A securities are considered restricted securities, they are not necessarily illiquid.

With respect to securities eligible for resale under Rule 144A, the advisor will determine the liquidity of such securities pursuant to the fund’s Liquidity Risk Management Program, approved by the Board of Trustees in accordance with Rule 22e-4.

Because the secondary market for restricted securities is generally limited to certain qualified institutional investors, the liquidity of such securities may be limited accordingly, and a fund may, from time to time, hold a Rule 144A or other security that is illiquid. In such an event, the portfolio managers will consider appropriate remedies to minimize the effect on such fund’s liquidity. Each of the funds may invest no more than 15% of the value of its assets in illiquid securities.

Secondary Listings Risk

A fund’s shares may be listed or traded on U.S. and non-U.S. stock exchanges other than the U.S. stock exchange where the fund’s primary listing is maintained. There can be no assurance that a fund’s shares will continue to trade on any such stock exchange or in any market or that the fund’s shares will continue to meet the requirements for listing or trading on any exchange or in any market. The fund’s shares may be less actively traded in certain markets than others, and investors are subject to the execution and settlement risks and market standards of the market where they or their broker direct their trades for execution. Certain information available to investors who trade fund shares on a U.S. stock exchange during regular U.S. market hours may not be available to investors who trade in other markets, which may result in secondary market prices in such markets being less efficient.

Short-Term Securities

To meet anticipated redemptions, anticipated purchases of additional securities for a fund’s portfolio, or, in some cases, for temporary defensive purposes, the funds may invest a portion of their assets in money market and other short-term securities.

Examples of those securities include:

•Securities issued or guaranteed by the U.S. government and its agencies and instrumentalities;

•Commercial Paper;

•Certificates of Deposit and Euro Dollar Certificates of Deposit;

•Bankers’ Acceptances;

•Short-term notes, bonds, debentures, or other debt instruments;

•Repurchase agreements; and

•Money market funds.

Swap Agreements

Each fund may invest in swap agreements, consistent with its investment objective and strategies. A fund may enter into a swap agreement to, for example, attempt to obtain or preserve a particular return or spread at a lower cost than obtaining a return or spread through purchases and/or sales of instruments in other markets; protect against currency fluctuations; attempt to manage duration to protect against any increase in the price of securities the fund anticipates purchasing at a later date; or gain exposure to certain markets in the most economical way possible.

Swap agreements are two-party contracts entered primarily by institutional investors for periods ranging from a few weeks to more than one year. In a standard “swap” transaction, two parties agree to exchange the returns (or differentials in rates of return) earned or realized on predetermined investments or instruments, which may be adjusted for an interest factor. The gross returns to be exchanged or “swapped” between the parties are generally calculated with respect to a “notional amount,” i.e., the return on or increase in value of a dollar amount invested at a particular interest rate, in a particular foreign currency, or in a “basket” of securities representing a particular index. Forms of swap agreements include, for example, interest rate swaps, under which fixed- or floating-rate interest payments on a specific principal amount are exchanged and total return swaps, under which one party agrees to pay the other the total return of a defined underlying asset (usually an index, including inflation indexes, stock, bond or defined portfolio of loans and mortgages) in exchange for fee payments, often a variable stream of cashflows based on a reference rate. The funds may enter into credit default swap agreements to hedge an existing position by purchasing or selling credit protection. Credit default swaps enable an investor to buy/sell protection against a credit event of a specific issuer. The seller of credit protection against a security or basket of securities receives an up-front or periodic payment to compensate against potential default event(s). The fund may enhance returns by selling protection or attempt to mitigate credit risk by buying protection. Market supply and demand factors may cause distortions between the cash securities market and the credit default swap market.

Interest rate swaps could result in losses if interest rate changes are not correctly anticipated by the fund. Total return swaps could result in losses if the reference index, security, or investments do not perform as anticipated by the fund. Credit default swaps could result in losses if the fund does not correctly evaluate the creditworthiness of the issuer on which the credit default swap is based. Because they are two-party contracts and because they may have terms of greater than seven days, swap agreements may be illiquid. Moreover, a fund bears the risk of loss of the amount expected to be received under a swap agreement in the event of the default or bankruptcy of a swap agreement counterparty. The funds will enter into swap agreements only with counterparties that meet certain standards of creditworthiness or that are cleared through a Derivatives Clearing Organization (“DCO”). Certain restrictions imposed on the funds by the Internal Revenue Code may limit the funds’ ability to use swap agreements.

The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (the “Dodd-Frank Act”) and related regulatory developments require the clearing and exchange-trading of certain standardized derivative instruments that the CFTC and SEC have defined as “swaps.” The CFTC has implemented mandatory exchange-trading and clearing requirements under the Dodd-Frank Act and the CFTC continues to approve contracts for central clearing. Although exchange trading is designed to decrease counterparty risk, it does not do so entirely because the fund will still be subject to the credit risk of the central clearinghouse. Cleared swaps are subject to margin requirements imposed by both the central clearinghouse and the clearing member FCM. Uncleared swaps are now subject to post and collect collateral on a daily basis to secure mark-to-market obligations (variation margin). Swaps data reporting may subject a fund to administrative costs, and the safeguards established to protect trader anonymity may not function as expected. Exchange trading, central clearing, margin requirements, and data reporting regulations may increase a fund’s cost of hedging risk and, as a result, may affect shareholder returns.

Tender Option Bonds

Tender Option Bonds (TOBs) were created to increase the supply of high-quality, short-term tax-exempt obligations.

TOBs are created by municipal bond dealers who purchase long-term tax-exempt bonds in the secondary market, place the certificates in trusts, and sell interests in the trusts with puts or other liquidity guarantees attached. The credit quality of the resulting synthetic short-term instrument is based on the put provider’s short-term rating and the underlying bond’s long-term rating.

There is some risk that a remarketing agent will renege on a tender option agreement if the underlying bond is downgraded or defaults. Because of this, the portfolio managers monitor the credit quality of bonds underlying the fund’s TOB holdings.

The portfolio managers also take steps to minimize the risk that a fund may realize taxable income as a result of holding TOBs. These steps may include consideration of (1) legal opinions relating to the tax-exempt status of the underlying municipal bonds, (2) legal opinions relating to the tax ownership of the underlying bonds, and (3) other elements of the structure that could result in taxable income or other adverse tax consequences. After purchase, the portfolio managers monitor factors related to the tax-exempt status of the fund’s TOB holdings in order to minimize the risk of generating taxable income.

U.S. Government Securities

The funds may invest in U.S. government securities, including bills, notes and bonds issued by the U.S. Treasury and securities issued or guaranteed by agencies or instrumentalities of the U.S. government. Some U.S. government securities are supported by the direct full faith and credit pledge of the U.S. government; others are supported by the right of the issuer to borrow from the U.S. Treasury; others, such as securities issued by the Federal National Mortgage Association (FNMA), are supported by the discretionary authority of the U.S. government to purchase the agencies’ obligations; and others are supported only by the credit of the issuing or guaranteeing instrumentality. There is no assurance that the U.S. government will provide financial support to an instrumentality it sponsors when it is not obligated by law to do so.

Variable- and Floating-Rate Securities

Variable- and floating-rate securities, including variable-rate demand obligations (VRDOs) and floating-rate notes (FRNs), provide for periodic adjustments to the interest rate. The adjustments are generally based on an index-linked formula, or determined through a remarketing process.

These types of securities may be combined with a put or demand feature that permits the fund to demand payment of principal plus accrued interest from the issuer or a financial institution. Examples of VRDOs include variable-rate demand notes (VRDN) and variable rate demand preferreds (VRDP). VRDNs combine a demand feature with an interest rate reset mechanism designed to result in a market value for the security that approximates par. VRDNs are generally designed to meet the requirements of money market fund Rule 2a-7. VRDPs are issued by a closed-end fund that in turn invests primarily in portfolios of bonds. They feature a floating rate dividend set via a weekly remarketing and have a fixed term, mandatory redemption, and an unconditional put option.

When-Issued and Forward Commitment Agreements

The funds may engage in securities transactions on a when-issued or forward commitment basis in which the transaction price and yield are each fixed at the time the commitment is made, but payment and delivery occur at a future date.

For example, a fund may sell a security and at the same time make a commitment to purchase the same or a comparable security at a future date and specified price. Conversely, a fund may purchase a security and at the same time make a commitment to sell the same or a comparable security at a future date and specified price. These types of transactions are executed simultaneously in what are

known as dollar-rolls, buy/sell back transactions, cash and carry, or financing transactions. For example, a broker-dealer may seek to purchase a security that a fund owns. The fund will sell that security to the broker-dealer and simultaneously enter into a forward commitment agreement to buy it back at a future date. This type of transaction generates income for the fund if the dealer is willing to execute the transaction at a favorable price to acquire a specific security.

When purchasing securities on a when-issued or forward commitment basis, a fund assumes the rights and risks of ownership, including the risks of price and yield fluctuations. Market rates of interest on debt securities at the time of delivery may be higher or lower than those contracted for on the when-issued security. Accordingly, the value of the security may decline prior to delivery, which could result in a loss to the fund. While the fund will make commitments to purchase or sell securities with the intention of receiving or delivering them, it may sell the securities before the settlement date if doing so is deemed advisable as a matter of investment strategy.

In purchasing securities on a when-issued or forward commitment basis, a fund will segregate cash, cash equivalents or other appropriate liquid securities on its records in an amount sufficient to meet the purchase price. To the extent a fund remains fully invested or almost fully invested at the same time it has purchased securities on a when-issued basis, there will be greater fluctuations in its net asset value than if it solely set aside cash to pay for when-issued securities. When the time comes to pay for the when-issued securities, a fund will meet its obligations with available cash, through the sale of securities, or, although it would not normally expect to do so, by selling the when-issued securities themselves (which may have a market value greater or less than the fund’s payment obligation). Selling securities to meet when-issued or forward commitment obligations may generate taxable capital gains or losses.

Zero-Coupon, Step-Coupon, Range Floaters and Pay-In-Kind Securities

Zero-coupon debt securities do not make regular cash interest payments, and are sold at a deep discount to their face value.

The fund may also purchase step-coupon or step-rate debt securities. Instead of having a fixed coupon for the life of the security, coupon or interest payments may increase to predetermined rates at future dates. The issuer generally retains the right to call the security. Some step-coupon securities are issued with no coupon payments at all during an initial period, and only become interest-bearing at a future date; these securities are sold at a deep discount to their face value.

Finally, the fund may purchase pay-in-kind securities that do not make regular cash interest payments, but pay interest through the issuance of additional securities. Because such securities do not pay current cash income, the price of these securities can be volatile when interest rates fluctuate.

Although zero-coupon, pay-in-kind and certain range floaters and step-coupon securities may not pay current cash income, federal income tax law requires the holder to include in income each year the portion of any original issue discount and other noncash income on such securities accrued during that year. In order to continue to qualify for treatment as a regulated investment company under the Internal Revenue Code and avoid certain excise tax, the fund is required to make distributions of any original issue discount and other noncash income accrued for each year. Accordingly, the fund may be required to dispose of other portfolio securities, which may occur in periods of adverse market prices, to generate a case to meet these distribution requirements.

Investment Policies

Unless otherwise indicated, with the exception of the percentage limitations on borrowing, the following policies apply at the time a fund enters into a transaction. Accordingly, any later increase or decrease beyond the specified limitation resulting from a change in a fund’s assets will not be considered in determining whether it has complied with its investment policies.

Fundamental Investment Policies

The funds’ fundamental investment policies are set forth below. These investment policies and a fund’s status as diversified may not be changed without approval of a majority of the outstanding votes of shareholders of a fund. Under the Investment Company Act, the vote of a majority of the outstanding votes of shareholders means, the vote of (A) 67 percent or more of the voting securities present at a shareholder meeting, if the holders of more than 50 percent of the outstanding voting securities are present or represented by proxy; or (B) more than 50 percent of the outstanding voting securities, whichever is less.

Subject	Policy
Senior Securities	A fund may not issue senior securities, except as permitted under the Investment Company Act.
Borrowing	A fund may not borrow money, except to the extent permitted by the Investment Company Act, or any rules, exemptions or interpretations thereunder that may be adopted, granted or issued by the SEC.
Lending	A fund may not make loans if, as a result, more than 33 1/3% of its total assets would be lent to other persons, including other investment companies to the extent permitted by the Investment Company Act or any rules, exemptions or interpretations thereunder that may be adopted, granted or issued by the SEC. This limitation does not apply to (i) the lending of portfolio securities, (ii) the purchase of debt securities, other debt instruments, loan participations and/or engaging in direct corporate loans in accordance with its investment goals and policies, and (iii) repurchase agreements to the extent the entry into a repurchase agreement is deemed to be a loan.

Subject	Policy
Real Estate	A fund may not purchase or sell real estate unless acquired as a result of ownership of securities or other instruments. This policy shall not prevent a fund from investing in securities or other instruments backed by real estate or securities of companies that deal in real estate or are engaged in the real estate business.
Concentration	Other than Avantis Real Estate ETF, a fund may not concentrate its investments in securities of issuers in a particular industry (other than securities issued or guaranteed by the U.S. government or any of its agencies or instrumentalities). Avantis Real Estate ETF will concentrate its investments in the real estate industry.
Underwriting	A fund may not act as an underwriter of securities issued by others, except to the extent that the fund may be considered an underwriter within the meaning of the 1933 Act in the disposition of restricted securities.
Commodities	A fund may not purchase or sell commodities, except to the extent permitted by the 1940 Act or any rules, exemptions or interpretations thereunder that may be adopted, granted or issued by the SEC.
Control	A fund may not invest for purposes of exercising control over management.

For purposes of the investment policy relating to senior securities, a fund may borrow from any bank provided that immediately after any such borrowing there is asset coverage of at least 300% for all borrowings of such fund. In the event that such asset coverage falls below 300%, the fund shall, within three days thereafter (not including Sundays and holidays) or such longer period as the SEC may prescribe by rules and regulations, reduce the amount of its borrowings to an extent that the asset coverage of such borrowings is at least 300%. In addition, when a fund enters into certain transactions involving potential leveraging, it will hold offsetting positions or segregate assets to cover such obligations at levels consistent with the guidance of the SEC and its staff.

In complying with the fundamental investment policy relating to concentration:

(a)there is no limitation with respect to obligations issued or guaranteed by the U.S. government, any state, territory or possession of the United States, the District of Columbia or any of their authorities, agencies, instrumentalities or political subdivisions and repurchase agreements secured by such obligations (except that an Industrial Development Bond backed only by the assets and revenues of a non-governmental user will be deemed to be an investment in the industry represented by such user);

(b)wholly owned finance companies will be considered to be in the industries of their parents if their activities are primarily related to financing the activities of their parents;

(c)utilities will be divided according to their services, for example, gas, gas transmission, electric and gas, electric and telephone will each be considered a separate industry; and

(d)personal credit and business credit businesses will be considered separate industries.

Although the funds’ fundamental investment policy relating to commodities would permit investments in commodities, none of the funds currently intend to purchase or sell physical commodities unless acquired as a result of ownership of securities or other instruments. The funds may, however, purchase or sell options and futures contracts or invest in securities or other instruments backed by physical commodities to the extent permitted by such fund’s investment objectives and policies.

The Avantis Core Municipal Fixed Income ETF has a fundamental policy to invest at least 80% of its net assets, in municipal fixed income securities with interest payments exempt from federal income tax.

Nonfundamental Investment Policies

The funds are subject to the following investment policies that are not fundamental and may be changed by the Board of Trustees.

Each fund’s investment objective is a nonfundamental investment policy and may be changed by the Board of Trustees without approval by shareholders.

The funds have adopted nonfundamental investment policies in accordance with Rule 35d-1 under the 1940 Act to invest at least 80% of their assets in the type of investments suggested by their respective names. For purposes of such investment policy, “assets” include the fund’s net assets, plus the amount of any borrowings for investment purposes. Each fund’s Rule 35d-1 80% policy is nonfundamental, which means that it may be changed by the Board of Trustees without the approval of shareholders. Shareholders will be given at least 60 days’ notice of any change to a fund’s Rule 35d-1 80% policy.

The Investment Company Act imposes certain additional restrictions upon the funds’ ability to acquire securities issued by insurance companies, broker-dealers, underwriters or investment advisors, and upon transactions with affiliated persons as defined by the Act. It also defines and forbids the creation of cross and circular ownership. Neither the SEC nor any other agency of the federal or state government participates in or supervises the management of the funds or their investment practices or policies.

Temporary Defensive Measures

For temporary defensive purposes, each fund may invest in securities that may not fit its investment objective or its stated market. During a temporary defensive period, a fund may invest a portion of its assets in money market, cash, cash-equivalents or other short-term securities.

Portfolio Turnover

The portfolio turnover rate of each fund for its most recent fiscal year will be included in the Fund Summary section of that fund’s prospectus. The portfolio turnover rate for each fund’s last five fiscal years (or a shorter period if the fund is less than five years old) will be shown in the Financial Highlights tables in the prospectus. Variations in a fund’s portfolio turnover rate from year to year may be due to a fluctuating volume of shareholder purchase and redemption activity, varying market conditions, and/or changes in the managers’ investment outlook.

The portfolio managers do not have a predefined holding period for any security because changes in the market or security specific financial information may occur at any time. Turnover is expected to be low given that the portfolios managers consider the trade-off between expected returns and implementation costs when deciding to sell a security. However, there is no guarantee that portfolio turnover will always remain low. Higher turnover would generate correspondingly higher brokerage commissions, which is a cost the funds pay directly. Portfolio turnover also may affect the character of capital gains realized and distributed by the funds, if any, because short-term capital gains are taxable as ordinary income.

Disclosure of Portfolio Holdings

ACIM has adopted policies and procedures with respect to the disclosure of fund portfolio holdings and characteristics, which are described below.

Distribution to the Public

On each business day of a fund, before commencement of trading in shares on a national securities exchange, the fund will disclose on its website the identities and quantities of the fund’s portfolio holdings that will form the basis for the fund’s calculation of NAV at the end of that business day.

Portfolio holdings are also disclosed in annual and semiannual shareholder reports. Quarterly portfolio disclosures will be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Form N-PORT within 60 days of each fiscal quarter end.

In addition, each business day, each fund’s portfolio holdings information will be provided to the funds’ transfer agent or other agents for dissemination through the facilities of the National Securities Clearing Corporation (NSCC) and/or other fee-based subscription services to NSCC members and/or subscribers to those other fee-based subscription services, including large institutional investors (known as “Authorized Participants”) that have been authorized to purchase and redeem large blocks of shares pursuant to legal requirements, and to entities that publish and/or analyze such information in connection with the process of purchasing or redeeming Creation Units or trading shares of a fund in the secondary market.

Portfolio holdings information made available in connection with the creation/redemption process may be provided to other entities that provide services to the fund in the ordinary course of business after it has been disseminated to the NSCC. From time to time, information concerning portfolio holdings other than portfolio holdings information made available in connection with the creation/redemption process, as discussed above, may be provided to other entities that provide services to a fund in the ordinary course of business, no earlier than one business day following the date of the information. The eligible third parties to whom portfolio holdings information may be released in advance of general release fall into the following categories: data consolidators (including rating agencies), fund rating/ranking services and other data providers and service providers to the fund, including Authorized Participants and pricing services.

Continuous Offering

The method by which Creation Units are created and traded may raise certain issues under applicable securities laws. Because new Creation Units are issued and sold by the funds on an ongoing basis, at any point a “distribution,” as such term is used in the 1933 Act, may occur. 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 that could render them statutory underwriters and subject them to the prospectus delivery requirement and liability provisions of the 1933 Act.

For example, a broker-dealer firm or its client may be deemed a statutory underwriter if it takes Creation Units after placing an order with the transfer agent, breaks them down into constituent shares and sells such shares directly to customers or if it chooses to couple the creation 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 1933 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 categorization as an underwriter.

Broker-dealer firms should also 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) of the 1933 Act is not available in respect of such transactions as a result of Section 24(d) of the 1940 Act. Firms that incur a prospectus delivery obligation with respect to shares of the fund are reminded that, pursuant to Rule 153 under the 1933 Act, a prospectus delivery obligation under Section 5(b)(2) of the 1933 Act owed to an exchange member in connection with a sale on the Listing Exchange is satisfied by the fact that the prospectus is available at the Listing Exchange upon request. The prospectus delivery mechanism provided in Rule 153 is available only with respect to transactions on an exchange.

Management

The Board of Trustees

The individuals listed below serve as trustees of the funds. Each trustee will continue to serve in this capacity until death, retirement, resignation or removal from office. The board has adopted a mandatory retirement age for trustees who are not “interested persons,” as that term is defined in the Investment Company Act (independent trustees). Trustees who are not also officers of the trust shall retire by December 31st of the year in which they reach their 75th birthday.

Jonathan S. Thomas is an “interested person” because he currently serves as President and Chief Executive Officer of American Century Companies, Inc. (ACC), the parent company of American Century Investment Management, Inc. (ACIM or the advisor). The other trustees are independent. They are not employees, directors or officers of, and have no financial interest in, ACC or any of its wholly owned, direct or indirect, subsidiaries, including ACIM and American Century Services, LLC (ACS), and they do not have any other affiliations, positions or relationships that would cause them to be considered “interested persons” under the Investment Company Act. The following trustees also serve in this capacity for a number of other registered investment companies in the American Century Investments family of funds: Jonathan S. Thomas, 15; Ronald J. Gilson, 8; and Stephen E. Yates, 7.

The following table presents additional information about the trustees. The mailing address for each trustee other than Jonathan S. Thomas is 330 Madison Avenue, New York, New York 10017. The mailing address for Jonathan S. Thomas is 4500 Main Street, Kansas City, Missouri 64111.

Name (Year of Birth)	Position(s) Held with Funds	Length of Time Served	Principal Occupation(s) During Past 5 Years	Number of American Century Portfolios Overseen by Trustee	Other Directorships Held During Past 5 Years
Independent Trustees
Reginald M. Browne (1968)	Trustee and Chairman of the Board	Since 2017 (Chairman since 2019)	Principal, GTS Securities (automated capital markets trading firm)(2019 to present); Senior Managing Director, Co Global Head-ETF Group, Cantor Fitzgerald (financial services firm)(2013 to 2019)	35	None
Ronald J. Gilson (1946)	Trustee	Since 2017	Charles J. Meyers Professor of Law and Business, Emeritus (since 2018), Stanford Law School (1979 to 2016); Marc and Eva Stern Professor of Law and Business, Columbia University School of Law (1992 to present)	73	None
Barry A. Mendelson (1958)	Trustee	Since 2017	Retired; Consultant regarding ETF and mutual fund matters (2015 to 2016)	35	None
Stephen E. Yates (1948)	Trustee	Since 2017	Retired	107	None
Interested Trustee
Jonathan S. Thomas (1963)	Trustee	Since 2017	President and Chief Executive Officer, ACC (2007 to present). Also serves as Chief Executive Officer, ACS; Director, ACC and other ACC subsidiaries	145	None

Qualifications of Trustees

Generally, no one factor was decisive in the selection of the trustees to the board. Qualifications considered by the board to be important to the selection and retention of trustees include the following: (i) the individual’s business and professional experience and accomplishments; (ii) the individual’s educational background and accomplishments; (iii) the individual’s experience and expertise performing senior policy-making functions in business, government, education, accounting, law and/or administration; (iv) how the individual’s expertise and experience would contribute to the mix of relevant skills and experience on the board; (v) the individual’s ability to work effectively with the other members of the board; and (vi) the individual’s ability and willingness to make the time commitment necessary to serve as an effective trustee. In addition, the individuals’ ability to review and critically evaluate information, their ability to evaluate fund service providers, their ability to exercise good business judgment on behalf of fund shareholders, their prior service on the board, and their familiarity with the funds are considered important assets.

While the board has not adopted a specific policy on diversity, it takes overall diversity into account when considering and evaluating nominees for trustee. The board generally considers the manner in which each trustee’s professional experience, background, skills, and other individual attributes will contribute to the effectiveness of the board. Additional information about each trustee’s individual educational and professional experience (supplementing the information provided in the table above) follows and was considered as part of his or her nomination to, or retention on, the board.

Reginald M. Browne: BS in Business Administration, La Salle University; 15 years’ experience in the ETF industry with a core focus on market-making and institutional sales

Ronald J. Gilson: BA, Washington University; JD, Yale Law School; Senior Fellow, Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research; formerly, Attorney, Steinhart, Goldberg, Feigenbaum & Ladar

Barry A. Mendelson: AB, Geology, Vassar College; JD, The George Washington University School of Law; formerly Principal and Senior Counsel, The Vanguard Group (investment management); eight years’ experience with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Division of Investment Management

Jonathan S. Thomas: BA in Economics, University of Massachusetts; MBA, Boston College; formerly held senior leadership roles with Fidelity Investments, Boston Financial Services, Bank of America and Morgan Stanley; serves on the Board of Governors of the Investment Company Institute 

Stephen E. Yates: BS and MS in Industrial Engineering, University of Alabama; formerly, Executive Vice President, Technology & Operations, KeyCorp. (computer services); formerly, President, USAA Information Technology Company (financial services); 33 years’ of experience in Information Technology; formerly, Director, Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc.

Responsibilities of the Board

The board is responsible for overseeing the advisor’s management and operations of the funds pursuant to the management agreement. Trustees also have significant responsibilities under the federal securities laws. Among other things, they:

•oversee the performance of the funds;

•oversee the quality of the advisory and shareholder services provided by the advisor;

•review annually the fees paid to the advisor for its services;

•monitor potential conflicts of interest between the funds and their affiliates, including the advisor;

•oversee custody of assets and the valuation of securities; and

•oversee the funds’ compliance program.

In performing their duties, board members receive detailed information about the funds and the advisor regularly throughout the year, and they meet in person at least quarterly with management of the advisor to review reports about fund operations. The trustees’ role is to provide oversight and not to provide day-to-day management.

The board has all powers necessary or convenient to carry out its responsibilities. Consequently, the board may adopt bylaws providing for the regulation and management of the affairs of the funds and may amend and repeal them to the extent that such bylaws do not reserve that right to the funds’ shareholders. They may increase or reduce the number of board members and may, subject to the Investment Company Act, fill board vacancies. Board members also may elect and remove such officers and appoint and terminate such agents as they consider appropriate. They may establish and terminate committees consisting of two or more trustees who may exercise the powers and authority of the board as determined by the trustees. They may, in general, delegate such authority as they consider desirable to any officer of the funds, to any board committee and to any agent or employee of the funds or to any custodian, transfer agent, investor servicing agent, principal underwriter or other service provider for a fund.

To communicate with the board, or a member of the board, a shareholder should send a written communication addressed to the board or member of the board to the attention of the Corporate Secretary at the following address: P.O. Box 418210, Kansas City, Missouri 64141-9210. Shareholders who prefer to communicate by email may send their comments to corporatesecretary@americancentury.com. All shareholder communications received will be forwarded to the board or the independent chairman of the board.

Board Leadership Structure and Standing Board Committees

Reginald M. Browne serves as the independent chairman of the board and has served in such capacity since 2019. All the board’s members except Jonathan S. Thomas are independent trustees. The independent trustees meet separately to consider a variety of matters that are scheduled to come before the board and meet periodically with the funds’ Chief Compliance Officer and fund auditors. They are advised by independent legal counsel. No independent trustee may serve as an officer or employee of a fund. The board has also established an Audit Committee, described below, comprised solely of independent trustees. The board believes that the current leadership structure is appropriate and allows for independent oversight of the funds.

The board has an Audit Committee that approves the funds’ (or trust’s) engagement of the independent registered public accounting firm and recommends approval of such engagement to the independent trustees. The committee also oversees the activities of the accounting firm, receives regular reports regarding fund accounting, oversees securities valuation (approving the funds’ valuation policy and receiving reports regarding instances of fair valuation thereunder) and receives regular reports from the advisor’s internal audit department. The committee currently consists of Barry A. Mendelson (chair), Reginald M. Browne, Ronald J. Gilson and Stephen E. Yates. It met two times during the fiscal year ended August 31, 2021.

Risk Oversight by the Board

As previously disclosed, the board oversees the advisor’s management of the funds and meets at least quarterly with management of the advisor to review reports and receive information regarding fund operations. Risk oversight relating to the funds is one component of the board’s oversight and is undertaken in connection with the duties of the board. The board oversees various types of risks relating to the funds, including, but not limited to, investment risk, operational risk and enterprise risk. Through its regular interactions with management of the advisor during and between meetings, the board will analyze, evaluate, and provide feedback on the advisor’s risk management processes. In addition, the board will receive information regarding, and have discussions with senior management of the advisor about, the advisor’s enterprise risk management systems and strategies. There can be no assurance that all elements of risk, or even all elements of material risk, will be disclosed to or identified by the board, or that the advisor’s risk management systems and strategies, and the board’s oversight thereof, will mitigate all elements of risk, or even all elements of material risk to the funds.

Board Compensation

For the fiscal year ended August 31, 2021, trustees listed in the following table received the amounts shown for services on the trust’s board and on the boards of other funds in the American Century family of funds if applicable. Neither Jonathan S. Thomas nor any officers of the funds receives compensation from the funds.

Name of Trustee	Total Compensation for Service as Trustee to the Trust(1)(2)	Total Compensation for Services as Directors/Trustees for the American Century Investments Family of Funds(3)
Reginald M. Browne	$75,000	$75,000
Ronald J. Gilson	$60,000	$446,667
Barry A. Mendelson	$65,000	$65,000
Stephen E. Yates	$60,000	$453,000

1    Includes compensation paid to the trustees for the fiscal year ended August 31, 2021, and also includes amounts deferred at the election of the trustees under the American Century Mutual Funds’ Independent Directors’ Deferred Compensation Plan.

2    Reflects the compensation paid to each trustee for the funds in this SAI aggregated with the compensation paid to the trustees for other series of the trust.

3    Includes compensation paid to each trustee for his service as director/trustee for one (in the case of Mr. Gilson, nine, and in the case of Mr. Yates, eight) investment company in the American Century Investments family of funds. Includes deferred compensation paid under the American Century Mutual Funds’ Independent Directors’ Deferred Compensation Plan as follows: Mr. Yates, $453,000.

None of the funds currently provides any pension or retirement benefits to the trustees except pursuant to the American Century Mutual Funds’ Independent Directors’ Deferred Compensation Plan adopted by the trust. Under the plan, the independent trustees may defer receipt of all or any part of the fees to be paid to them for serving as trustees of the funds. All deferred fees are credited to accounts established in the names of the trustees. The amounts credited to each account then increase or decrease, as the case may be, in accordance with the performance of one or more American Century funds selected by the trustees. The account balance continues to fluctuate in accordance with the performance of the selected fund or funds until final payment of all amounts credited to the account. Trustees are allowed to change their designation of funds from time to time.

Generally, deferred fees are not payable to a trustee until the distribution date elected by the trustee in accordance with the terms of the plan. Such distribution date may be a date on or after the trustee’s retirement date, but may be an earlier date if the trustee agrees not to make any additional deferrals after such distribution date. Distributions may commence prior to the elected payment date for certain reasons specified in the plan, such as unforeseeable emergencies, death or disability. Trustees may receive deferred fee account balances either in a lump sum payment or in substantially equal installment payments to be made over a period not to exceed 10 years. Upon the death of a trustee, all remaining deferred fee account balances are paid to the trustee’s beneficiary or, if none, to the trustee’s estate.

The plan is an unfunded plan and, accordingly, the funds have no obligation to segregate assets to secure or fund the deferred fees. To date, the funds have met all payment obligations under the plan. The rights of trustees to receive their deferred fee account balances are the same as the rights of a general unsecured creditor of the funds. The plan may be terminated at any time by the administrative committee of the plan. If terminated, all deferred fee account balances will be paid in a lump sum.

Ownership of Fund Shares

The trustees owned shares in the funds as of December 31, 2020, as shown in the the table below.

	Name of Trustee
	Reginald M. Browne	Ronald J. Gilson	Barry A. Mendelson	Jonathan S. Thomas	Stephen E. Yates
Dollar Range of Equity Equity Securities in the Fund:
Avantis Core Fixed Income ETF	A	A	A	A	A
Avantis Core Municipal Fixed Income ETF	A	A	A	A	A
Avantis Emerging Markets Equity ETF	A	A	A	D	A
Avantis International Equity ETF	A	A	A	D	A
Avantis International Small Cap Value ETF	A	A	A	D	A
Avantis Short-Term Fixed Income ETF	A	A	A	A	A
Avantis U.S. Equity ETF	A	A	A	D	A
Avantis U.S. Small Cap Value ETF	A	A	A	D	A
Aggregate Dollar Range of Equity Securities in all Registered Investment Companies Overseen by Trustees in Family of Investment Companies	A	E	C	E	E

Ranges: A—none, B—$1-$10,000, C—$10,001-$50,000, D—$50,001-$100,000, E—More than $100,000

Beneficial Ownership of Affiliates by Independent Trustees

No independent trustee or his or her immediate family members beneficially owned shares of the advisor, the funds’ principal underwriter or any other person directly or indirectly controlling, controlled by, or under common control with the advisor or the funds’ principal underwriter as of the date of this SAI.

Officers

The following table presents certain information about the executive officers of the funds. Each officer, except Cleo Chang and Edward Rosenberg, serves as an officer for each of the 16 investment companies in the American Century family of funds. No officer is compensated for his or her service as an officer of the funds. The listed officers are interested persons of the funds and are appointed or re-appointed on an annual basis. The mailing address for each officer listed below is 4500 Main Street, Kansas City, Missouri 64111.

Name (Year of Birth)	Offices with the Funds	Principal Occupation(s) During the Past Five Years
Patrick Bannigan (1965)	President since 2019	Executive Vice President and Director, ACC (2012 to present); Chief Financial Officer, Chief Accounting Officer and Treasurer, ACC (2015 to present). Also serves as President, ACS; Vice President, ACIM; Chief Financial Officer, Chief Accounting Officer and/or Director, ACIM, ACS and other ACC subsidiaries
R. Wes Campbell (1974)	Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer since 2018	Vice President, ACS (2020 to present); Investment Operations and Investment Accounting, ACS (2000 to present)
Amy D. Shelton (1964)	Chief Compliance Officer and Vice President since 2017	Chief Compliance Officer, American Century funds, (2014 to present); Chief Compliance Officer, ACIM (2014 to present); Chief Compliance Officer, ACIS (2009 to present). Also serves as Vice President, ACIS
John Pak (1968)	General Counsel and Vice President since 2021	General Counsel and Senior Vice President, ACC (2021 to present); Also serves as General Counsel and Senior Vice President, ACIM, ACS and ACIS. Chief Legal Officer of Investment and Wealth Management, The Bank of New York Mellon (2014 to 2021)
Cleo Chang (1977)	Vice President since 2019	Senior Vice President, ACIM (2015 to present)
David H. Reinmiller (1963)	Vice President since 2017	Attorney, ACC (1994 to present); Also serves as Vice President, ACIM and ACS
Edward Rosenberg (1973)	Vice President since 2017	Senior Vice President, ACIM (2017 to present); Senior Vice President, Flexshares Head of ETF Capital Markets, Northern Trust (2012 to 2017)
C. Jean Wade (1964)	Vice President since 2017	Senior Vice President, ACS (2017 to present); Vice President, ACS (2000 to 2017)
Ward D. Stauffer (1960)	Secretary since 2019	Attorney, ACC (2003 to present)

Code of Ethics

The funds and the advisor have adopted codes of ethics under Rule 17j-1 of the Investment Company Act. They permit personnel subject to the codes to invest in securities, including securities that may be purchased or held by the funds, provided that they first obtain approval from the compliance department before making such investments. The funds’ distributor (Foreside Fund Services, LLC) relies on the principal underwriters exception under Rule 17j-1(c)(3), specifically where the distributor is not affiliated with the Trust or the advisor, and no officer, director or general partner of the distributor serves as an officer, director or general partner of the Trust or the advisor.

Proxy Voting Policies

The advisor is responsible for exercising the voting rights associated with the securities purchased and/or held by the funds. The funds’ Board of Trustees has approved the advisor’s proxy voting policies to govern the advisor’s proxy voting activities.

A copy of the advisor’s proxy voting policies is attached hereto as Appendix C. Information regarding how the advisor voted proxies relating to portfolio securities during the most recent 12-month period ended June 30 is available at americancentury.com/proxy. The advisor’s proxy voting record also is available on the SEC’s website at sec.gov.

The Funds’ Principal Shareholders

The name and percentage ownership of each DTC Participant (as defined below) that owns of record 5% or more of the outstanding shares of a fund are listed in Appendix A. The trust generally does not have information concerning the beneficial ownership of shares held by DTC Participants.

Following the creation of the initial Creation Unit(s) of shares of a fund and immediately prior to the commencement of trading in the fund’s shares, a holder of shares may be a “control person” of the fund, as defined in the Investment Company Act. A fund cannot predict the length of time for which one or more shareholders may remain a control person of the fund.

Depository Trust Company (DTC) acts as securities depository for shares of the funds. Shares of the funds are represented by securities registered in the name of DTC or its nominee and deposited with, or on behalf of, DTC.

DTC was created in 1973 to enable electronic movement of securities between its participants (DTC Participants), and NSCC was established in 1976 to provide a single settlement system for securities clearing and to serve as central counterparty for securities trades among DTC Participants. In 1999, DTC and NSCC were consolidated within the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC) and became wholly owned subsidiaries of DTCC. The common stock of DTCC is owned by the DTC Participants, but the New York Stock Exchange and FINRA, through subsidiaries, hold preferred shares in DTCC that provide them with the right to elect one member each to the DTCC Board of Directors. Access to the DTC system is available to entities, such as banks, brokers, dealers and trust companies, that clear through or maintain a custodial relationship with a DTC Participant, either directly or indirectly (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 maintained by DTC (with respect to DTC Participants) and on the records of DTC Participants (with respect to Indirect Participants and Beneficial Owners that are not DTC Participants). Beneficial Owners will receive from or through the DTC Participant a written confirmation relating to their purchase of shares. The laws of some jurisdictions may require that certain purchasers of securities take physical delivery of such securities in definitive form. Such laws may impair the ability of certain investors to acquire beneficial interests in 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 of a fund 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 notice, statement or communication may be transmitted by such DTC Participant, directly or indirectly, to such Beneficial Owners. In addition, the trust shall pay to each such DTC Participant a fair and reasonable amount as reimbursement for the expenses attendant to such transmittal, all subject to applicable statutory and regulatory requirements.

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

The trust has no responsibility or liability for any aspect of the records relating to or notices to Beneficial Owners, or payments made on account of beneficial ownership interests in 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. DTC may decide to discontinue providing its service with respect to shares of the trust 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.

Seed Capital

The advisor or its affiliates (the “Selling Shareholders”) may purchase shares of a fund through a broker-dealer to “seed” funds as they are launched, or may purchase fund shares from other broker-dealers that have previously provided “seed” for funds when they were launched, or otherwise in secondary market transactions. The fund shares are being registered to permit the resale of these fund shares from time to time after purchase. The funds will not receive any of the proceeds from the resale by the Selling Shareholders of these fund shares.

The Selling Shareholders intend to sell all or a portion of the fund shares owned by them and offered hereby from time to time directly or through one or more broker-dealers. The fund shares may be sold on any national securities exchange on which the fund shares may be listed or quoted at the time of sale, in the over-the-counter market or in transactions other than on these exchanges or systems at fixed prices, at prevailing market prices at the time of the sale, at varying prices determined at the time of sale, or at negotiated prices. These sales may be effected in transactions, which may involve crosses or block transactions.

Creation and Redemption of Creation Units

General    

The trust issues and sells shares of the funds only in Creation Units on a continuous basis through the distributor, without a sales load, at a price based on a fund’s NAV next determined after receipt, on any Business Day (as defined below), of an order received by the transfer agent in proper form. On days when the Listing Exchange closes earlier than normal, a fund may require orders to be placed earlier in the day. The following table sets forth the number of shares of the fund that constitute a Creation Unit for each fund.

Fund	Shares Per Creation Unit
Avantis Core Fixed Income ETF	50,000
Avantis Core Municipal Fixed Income ETF	50,000
Avantis Emerging Markets Equity ETF	50,000
Avantis Emerging Markets Value ETF	40,000
Avantis International Equity ETF	50,000
Avantis International Large Cap Value ETF	30,000
Avantis International Small Cap Value ETF	30,000
Avantis Real Estate ETF	40,000
Avantis Responsible Emerging Markets Equity ETF
Avantis Responsible International Equity ETF
Avantis Responsible U.S. Equity ETF
Avantis Short-Term Fixed Income ETF	50,000
Avantis U.S. Equity ETF	30,000
Avantis U.S. Large Cap Value ETF	20,000
Avantis U.S. Small Cap Equity ETF
Avantis U.S. Small Cap Value ETF	20,000

The advisor and the Trustees reserve the right to increase or decrease the number of a fund’s shares that constitute a Creation Unit. The board reserves the right to declare a split or a consolidation in the number of shares outstanding of a fund, and to make a corresponding change in the number of shares constituting a Creation Unit, in the event that the per share price in the secondary market rises (or declines) to an amount that falls outside the range deemed desirable by the board.

A “Business Day” with respect to the funds is any day on which the Listing Exchange on which a fund is listed for trading is open for business. As of the date of this SAI, the Listing Exchange 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.

To the extent a fund engages in in-kind transactions, the fund intends to comply with the U.S. federal securities laws in accepting securities for deposit and satisfying redemptions with redemption securities by, among other means, assuring that any securities

accepted for deposit and any securities used to satisfy redemption requests will be sold in transactions that would be exempt from registration under the 1933 Act. Further, an Authorized Participant that is not a “qualified institutional buyer,” as such term is defined under Rule 144A of the 1933 Act, will not be able to receive securities that are restricted securities eligible for resale under Rule 144A.

Fund Deposit

The consideration for purchase of Creation Units ofa fund generally consists of the Deposit Securities (i.e., the in-kinddeposit of a designated portfolio of securities (including anyportion of such securities for which cash may be substituted))and the Cash Component computed as described below. However, the funds reserve the right to permit or require that creations of shares are effected fully or partially in cash. Together,the Deposit Securities and the Cash Component constitute the “Fund Deposit,” which will be applicable (subject to possible amendment or correction) to creation requests received in proper form. The Fund Deposit represents the minimum initial andsubsequent investment amount for a Creation Unit of a fund.The “Cash Component” is an amount equal to the differencebetween the NAV of the shares (per Creation Unit) and the“Deposit Amount,” which is an amount equal to the marketvalue of the Deposit Securities and serves to compensate for anydifferences between the NAV per Creation Unit and the DepositAmount. Payment of any stamp duty or other similar fees andexpenses payable upon transfer of beneficial ownership of theDeposit Securities are generally the responsibility of the AuthorizedParticipant purchasing the Creation Unit.

The advisor makes available through the NSCC on each BusinessDay prior to the opening of business on the Listing Exchange, thelist of names and the required number of shares of each DepositSecurity and the amount of the Cash Component (if any) to beincluded in the current Fund Deposit (based on information asof the end of the previous Business Day for a fund). Such FundDeposit is applicable, subject to any adjustments as describedbelow, to purchases of Creation Units of shares of a fund untilsuch time as the next-announced Fund Deposit is made available.

The identity and number of shares of the Deposit Securities andthe amount of the Cash Component changes pursuant to changesin the composition of a fund’s portfolio and as rebalancingadjustments and corporate action events are reflected from timeto time by advisor with a view to the investment goal of the fund.The composition of the Deposit Securities and the amount of theCash Component may also change in response to adjustments to a fund’s portfolio.

The funds reserve the right to permit or require the substitution of a “cash in lieu” amount to be added to the Cash Component to replace any Deposit Security that may not be available in sufficient quantity for delivery or that may not be eligible for transfer through the facilities of DTC (DTC Facilities) or the clearing process through the Continuous Net Settlement System of the NSCC (NSCC Clearing Process), a clearing agency that is registered with the SEC (as discussed below), or that the Authorized Participant is not able to trade due to a trading restriction. Each fund also reserves the right to permit or require a “cash in lieu” amount in certain circumstances.

Cash Purchase Method

When partial or full cash purchases of Creation Units areavailable or specified for the fund, theywill be effected in essentially the same manner as in-kindpurchases thereof. In the case of a partial or full cash purchase,the Authorized Participant must pay the cash equivalent of theDeposit Securities it would otherwise be required to providethrough an in-kind purchase, plus the same Cash Componentrequired to be paid by an in-kind purchaser.

Creation Units    

To be eligible to place orders and to create a Creation Unit of the fund, an entity must be: (i) a “Participating Party,” i.e., a broker-dealer or other participant in the NSCC Clearing Process, or (ii) a DTC Participant, and, in either case, must have executed an agreement with the distributor with respect to creations and redemptions of Creation Units (Authorized Participant Agreement). A Participating Party or DTC Participant who has executed an Authorized Participant Agreement is referred to as an “Authorized Participant.” All shares of a fund, however created, will be entered on the records of DTC in the name of Cede & Co. for the account of a DTC Participant.

Role of the Authorized Participant    

Creation Units may be purchased only by or through an Authorized Participant that has entered into an Authorized Participant Agreement with the distributor. Such Authorized Participant will agree, pursuant to the terms of such Authorized Participant Agreement and on behalf of itself or any investor on whose behalf it will act, to certain conditions, including that such Authorized Participant will make available in advance of each purchase of shares an amount of cash sufficient to pay the Cash Component, once the NAV of a Creation Unit is next determined after receipt of the purchase order in proper form, together with the transaction fees described below. Investors who are not Authorized Participants must make appropriate arrangements with an Authorized Participant. Investors should be aware that their particular broker may not be an Authorized Participant or may not have executed an Authorized Participant Agreement and that orders to purchase Creation Units may have to be placed by the investor’s broker through an Authorized Participant. As a result, purchase orders placed through an Authorized Participant may result in additional charges to such investor. The trust may not enter into an Authorized Participant Agreement with more than a small number of Authorized Participants.

Placement of Creation Orders    

An Authorized Participant must submit an irrevocable order to purchase shares of a fund, in proper form, no later than the closing time of the regular trading session of the Listing Exchange (normally 4 p.m., Eastern time) on any Business Day to receive that day’s NAV. On days when the Listing Exchange closes earlier than normal, a fund may require orders for Creation Units to be placed earlier in the day. Orders for Creation Units must be transmitted by an Authorized Participant by telephone or other transmission method acceptable to the transfer agent pursuant to procedures set forth in the Authorized Participant Agreement, as described below. Economic or market disruptions or changes, or telephone or other communication failure, may impede the ability to reach the transfer agent or an Authorized Participant. Orders to create shares of a fund that are submitted on the Business Day immediately preceding a holiday or a day (other than a weekend) when the equity markets in the relevant non-U.S. market are closed may not be accepted. The funds’ deadlines specified above for the submission of purchase orders is referred to as the funds’ “Cutoff Time.” The trust or its designee, in their discretion, may permit the submission of such orders and requests by or through an Authorized Participant at any time (including on days on which the Listing Exchange is not open for business) via communication through the facilities of the transfer agent’s proprietary website maintained for this purpose.

Investors, other than Authorized Participants, are responsible for making arrangements for a creation request to be made through an Authorized Participant. Those placing orders to purchase Creation Units through an Authorized Participant should allow sufficient time to permit proper submission of the purchase order to the transfer agent or its agent by the Cutoff Time on such Business Day.

Upon receiving an order for a Creation Unit, the transfer agent will notify the advisor and the custodian of such order. The custodian will then provide such information to any appropriate sub-custodian.

The Authorized Participant must make available on or before the prescribed settlement date, by means satisfactory to a fund, immediately available or same day funds estimated by the fund to be sufficient to pay the Cash Component next determined after acceptance of the purchase order, together with the applicable purchase transaction fees. Those placing orders should ascertain the applicable deadline for cash transfers by contacting the operations department of the broker or depositary institution effectuating the transfer of the Cash Component. This deadline is likely to be significantly earlier than the Cutoff Time of the fund. Investors should be aware that an Authorized Participant may require orders for purchases of shares placed with it to be in the particular form required by the individual Authorized Participant.

The Authorized Participant is responsible for all transaction-related fees, expenses and other costs (as described below), as well as any applicable cash amounts, in connection with any purchase order.

Once a purchase order has been accepted, it will be processed based on the NAV next determined after such acceptance in accordance with the fund’s Cutoff Times as provided in the Authorized Participant Agreement and disclosed in this SAI.

Acceptance of Orders for Creation Units    

Subject to the conditions that (i) an irrevocable purchase order has been submitted by the Authorized Participant (either on its own or another investor’s behalf) and (ii) arrangements satisfactory to the fund are in place for payment of the Cash Component and any other cash amounts which may be due, an order will be accepted, subject to the fund’s right to reject any order until acceptance, as set forth below.

Once a purchase order has been accepted, upon the next determination of the NAV of the shares, a fund will confirm the issuance of a Creation Unit, against receipt of payment, at such NAV. The transfer agent will then transmit a confirmation of acceptance to the Authorized Participant that placed the order.

Each fund reserves the absolute right to reject or revoke a purchase order transmitted to it by the transfer agent if: (i) the purchase 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 of the fund; (iii) the Deposit Securities delivered do not conform to the identity and number of shares specified, as described above; (iv) acceptance of the Fund Deposit would have certain adverse tax consequences to the fund; (v) acceptance of the Fund Deposit would, in the opinion of the fund, be unlawful; (vi) acceptance of the Fund Deposit would, in the discretion of the fund or the advisor, have an adverse effect on the fund or the rights of beneficial owners; or (vii) circumstances outside the control of the fund make it impossible to process purchase orders for all practical purposes. The transfer agent shall notify a prospective purchaser of a Creation Unit and/or the Authorized Participant acting on behalf of such purchaser of its rejection of such order. The funds, the funds’ custodian, the 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 failure to give such notification.

Issuance of a Creation Unit

Except as provided herein, a Creation Unit will not be issued until the transfer of good title to the fund of the Deposit Securities and the payment of the Cash Component have been completed. When the sub-custodian has confirmed to the custodian that the securities included in the Fund Deposit (or the cash value thereof) have been delivered to the account of the relevant sub-custodian or sub-custodians, the transfer agent and the advisor shall be notified of such delivery and the fund will issue and cause the delivery of the Creation Unit. Typically, Creation Units are issued on a “T+2 basis” (i.e., two Business Days after trade date). However, each fund reserves the right to settle Creation Unit transactions on a basis other than T+2 if necessary or appropriate under the circumstances.

Additionally, Avantis Emerging Markets Equity ETF, Avantis Emerging Markets Value ETF, Avantis International Equity ETF, Avantis International Large Cap Value ETF, Avantis International Small Cap Value ETF, Avantis Real Estate ETF, Avantis Responsible Emerging Markets Equity ETF, and Avantis Responsible International Equity ETF reserve the right to settle Creation Unit transactions on a basis other than T+2 to accommodate non-U.S. market holiday schedules or to account for different treatment among non-U.S. and U.S. markets of dividend record dates and ex dividend dates.

To the extent contemplated by an Authorized Participant Agreement, the funds will issue Creation Units to an Authorized Participant, notwithstanding the fact that the corresponding Fund Deposits have not been received in part or in whole, in reliance on the undertaking of the Authorized Participant to deliver the missing Deposit Securities as soon as possible, which undertaking shall be secured by such Authorized Participant’s delivery and maintenance of collateral having a value at least equal to 105% and up to 115%, which percentage the trust may change at any time, in its sole discretion, of the value of the missing Deposit Securities in accordance with the fund’s then-effective procedures. The only collateral that is acceptable to the funds is cash in U.S. dollars. Such cash collateral must be delivered no later than 1 p.m., Eastern time on the prescribed settlement date or such other time as designated by the funds’ custodian. Information concerning the funds’ current procedures for collateralization of missing Deposit Securities is available from the transfer agent. The Authorized Participant Agreement will permit the funds to buy the missing Deposit Securities at any time and will subject the Authorized Participant to liability for any shortfall between the cost to a fund of purchasing such securities and the value of the cash collateral including, without limitation, liability for related brokerage, borrowings and other charges.

In certain cases, Authorized Participants may create and redeem Creation Units on the same trade date and in these instances, a fund reserves the right to settle these transactions on a net basis or require a representation from the Authorized Participants that the creation and redemption transactions are for separate beneficial owners. 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 funds and the funds’ determination shall be final and binding.

Costs Associated with Creation Transactions

A standard creation transaction fee is imposed to offset the transfer and other transaction costs associated with the issuance of Creation Units. The standard creation transaction fee is charged to the Authorized Participant on the day such Authorized Participant creates a Creation Unit, and is the same, regardless of the number of Creation Units purchased by the Authorized Participant on the applicable Business Day. The Authorized Participant may also be required to cover certain brokerage, tax, foreign exchange, execution, market impact and other costs and expenses related to the execution of trades resulting from such transaction (up to the maximum amount shown below). If the costs of executing the transaction exceed the maximum additional charge, such charges will be paid by the fund. Authorized Participants will also bear the costs of transferring the Deposit Securities to a fund. Investors who use the services of a broker or other financial intermediary to acquire fund shares may be charged a fee for such services.

The following table sets forth each fund’s standard creation transaction fees and maximum additional charge (as described above). Transaction fees may be waived in certain circumstances deemed appropriate by the trust.

Fund	Standard Creation Transaction Fee	Maximum Additional Charge for Creations1
Avantis Core Fixed Income ETF	$200	3%
Avantis Core Municipal Fixed Income ETF	$200	3%
Avantis Emerging Markets Equity ETF	$3,000	7%
Avantis Emerging Markets Value ETF	$1,900	7%
Avantis International Equity ETF	$2,400	7%
Avantis International Large Cap Value ETF	$1,100	7%
Avantis International Small Cap Value ETF	$1,800	7%
Avantis Real Estate ETF	$800	7%
Avantis Responsible Emerging Markets Equity ETF
Avantis Responsible International Equity ETF
Avantis Responsible U.S. Equity ETF
Avantis Short-Term Fixed Income ETF	$200	3%
Avantis U.S. Equity ETF	$850	3%
Avantis U.S. Large Cap Value ETF	$250	3%
Avantis U.S. Small Cap Equity ETF
Avantis U.S. Small Cap Value ETF	$500	3%

1    As a percentage of the NAV per Creation Unit.

Redemption of Creation Units    

Shares of the funds may be redeemed by Authorized Participants only in Creation Units at their NAV next determined after receipt of a redemption request in proper form by the transfer agent and only on a Business Day. The funds will not redeem shares in amounts less than Creation Units. There can be no assurance, however, that there will be sufficient liquidity in the secondary market at any time to permit assembly of a Creation Unit. Investors should expect to incur brokerage and other costs in connection with assembling a sufficient number of shares to constitute a Creation Unit that could be redeemed by an Authorized Participant. Beneficial owners also may sell shares in the secondary market. The funds generally redeem Creation Units for Fund Securities (as defined below) and the Cash Amount (as defined below). Please see the Cash Redemption Method section below and the following discussion summarizing the in-kind method for further information on redeeming Creation Units of the funds.

The advisor makes available through the NSCC, prior to the opening of business on the Listing Exchange on each Business Day, the designated portfolio of securities (including any portion of such securities for which cash may be substituted) that will be applicable (subject to possible amendment or correction) to redemption requests received in proper form (as defined below) on that day (Fund Securities), and an amount of cash as described below (Cash Amount) (if any). Such Fund Securities and the corresponding Cash Amount (each subject to possible amendment or correction) are applicable in order to effect redemptions of Creation Units of a fund until such time as the next announced composition of the Fund Securities and Cash Amount is made available. Fund Securities received on redemption may not be identical to Deposit Securities that are applicable to creations of Creation Units under certain circumstances.

Unless cash redemptions are available or specified for the funds, the redemption proceeds for a Creation Unit generally consist of Fund Securities, plus the Cash Amount, which is an amount equal to the difference between the NAV of the shares being redeemed, as next determined after the receipt of a redemption request in proper form, and the value of Fund Securities, less a redemption transaction fee (as described below).

The funds may, in their sole discretion, substitute a “cash in lieu” amount to replace any Fund Security that may not be eligible for transfer through DTC Facilities or the NSCC Clearing Process or that the Authorized Participant is not able to trade due to a trading restriction. The funds also reserve the right to permit or require a “cash in lieu” amount in certain circumstances, including circumstances in which: (i) the delivery of a Fund Security to the Authorized Participant would be restricted under applicable securities or other local laws; (ii) the delivery of a Fund Security to the Authorized Participant would result in the disposition of the Fund Security by the Authorized Participant becoming restricted under applicable securities or other local laws; or (iii) in certain other situations. The amount of cash paid out in such cases will be equivalent to the value of the substituted security listed as a Fund Security. In the event that the Fund Securities have a value greater than the NAV of the shares, a compensating cash payment equal to the difference is required to be made by or through an Authorized Participant by the redeeming shareholder. The funds generally redeem Creation Units for Fund Securities and the Cash Amount, but the funds reserve the right to utilize a cash option for redemption of Creation Units.

Cash Redemption Method 

When partial or full cash redemptions of Creation Units areavailable or specified for the fund, theywill be effected in essentially the same manner as in-kindpurchases thereof. In the case of a partial or full cash redemption, the Authorized Participant receives the cash equivalent of the Fund Securities it would otherwise receive through an in-kind redemption, plus the same Cash Amount to be paid to an in-kind redeemer.

Costs Associated with Redemption Transactions    

A standard redemption transaction fee is imposed to offset transfer and other transaction costs that may be incurred by the funds. The standard redemption transaction fee is charged to the Authorized Participant on the day such Authorized Participant redeems a Creation Unit, and is the same regardless of the number of Creation Units redeemed by an Authorized Participant on the applicable Business Day. The Authorized Participant may also be required to cover certain brokerage, tax, foreign exchange, execution, market impact and other costs and expenses related to the execution of trades resulting from such transaction (up to the maximum amount shown below). If the costs of executing the transaction exceed the maximum additional charge, such charges will be paid by the fund. Authorized Participants will also bear the costs of transferring the Fund Securities from a fund to their account on their order. Investors who use the services of a broker or other financial intermediary to dispose of fund shares may be charged a fee for such services.

The following table sets forth each fund’s standard redemption transaction fees and maximum additional charge (as described above). Transaction fees may be waived in certain circumstances deemed appropriate by the trust.

Fund	Standard Redemption Transaction Fee	Maximum Additional Charge for Redemptions1
Avantis Core Fixed Income ETF	$200	2%
Avantis Core Municipal Fixed Income ETF	$200	2%
Avantis Emerging Markets Equity ETF	$3,000	2%
Avantis Emerging Markets Value ETF	$1,900	2%
Avantis International Equity ETF	$2,400	2%
Avantis International Large Cap Value ETF	$1,100	2%
Avantis International Small Cap Value ETF	$1,800	2%
Avantis Real Estate ETF	$800	2%
Avantis Responsible Emerging Markets Equity ETF
Avantis Responsible International Equity ETF
Avantis Responsible U.S. Equity ETF
Avantis Short-Term Fixed Income ETF	$200	2%
Avantis U.S. Equity ETF	$850	2%
Avantis U.S. Large Cap Value ETF	$250	2%
Avantis U.S. Small Cap Equity ETF
Avantis U.S. Small Cap Value ETF	$500	2%

1    As a percentage of the NAV per Creation Unit, inclusive of the standard redemption transaction fee.

Placement of Redemption Orders  

Redemption requests for Creation Units of the funds must be submitted to the transfer agent by or through an Authorized Participant. An Authorized Participant must submit an irrevocable request to redeem shares of a fund, in proper form, no later than the closing of the regular trading session of the Listing Exchange (normally 4 p.m., Eastern time) on any Business Day, in order to receive that day’s NAV. On days when the Listing Exchange closes earlier than normal, a fund may require orders to redeem Creation Units to be placed earlier that day. Investors, other than Authorized Participants, are responsible for making arrangements for a redemption request to be made through an Authorized Participant.

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

A redemption request is considered to be in “proper form” if: (i) an Authorized Participant has transferred or caused to be transferred to a fund’s transfer agent the Creation Unit redeemed through the book-entry system of DTC so as to be effective by the Listing Exchange closing time on any Business Day; (ii) a request in form satisfactory to the fund is received by the transfer agent from the Authorized Participant on behalf of itself or another redeeming investor within the time periods specified above; and (iii) all other procedures set forth in the Authorized Participant Agreement are properly followed. The trust reserves the right in connection with a redemption request to verify that the Authorized Participant owns the shares subject to the redemption at the close of business on the date of the redemption order. If the Authorized Participant, upon receipt of this request, does not provide sufficient information to the trust, the redemption request will not be considered to have been received in proper form and may be rejected. If the transfer agent does not receive the investor’s shares through DTC Facilities by 10 a.m., Eastern time on the prescribed settlement date, the redemption request may be deemed rejected. Investors should be aware that the deadline for such transfers of shares through the DTC Facilities may be significantly earlier than the close of business on the Listing Exchange. Those making redemption requests should ascertain the deadline applicable to transfers of shares through the DTC Facilities by contacting the operations department of the broker or depositary institution effecting the transfer of the shares.

Upon receiving a redemption request, the transfer agent shall notify the fund and the fund’s transfer agent of such redemption request. The tender of an investor’s shares for redemption and the distribution of the securities and/or cash included in the redemption payment made in respect of Creation Units redeemed will be made through DTC and the relevant Authorized Participant to the Beneficial

Owner thereof as recorded on the book-entry system of DTC or the DTC Participant through which such investor holds, as the case may be, or by such other means specified by the Authorized Participant submitting the redemption request.

A redeeming Beneficial Owner or Authorized Participant acting on behalf of such Beneficial Owner must maintain appropriate security arrangements with a qualified broker-dealer, bank or other custody providers in each jurisdiction in which any of the portfolio securities are customarily traded, to which account such portfolio securities will be delivered.

Deliveries of redemption proceeds by a fund generally will be made within two Business Days (i.e., “T+2”). Each fund reserves the right to settle redemption transactions later than T+2 if necessary or appropriate under the circumstances and compliant with applicable law. Delayed settlement may occur due to a number of different reasons, including, without limitation, settlement cycles for the underlying securities, unscheduled market closings, an effort to link distribution to dividend record dates and ex-dates and newly announced holidays. For example, the redemption settlement process may be extended beyond T+2 because of the occurrence of a holiday in a non-U.S. market or in the U.S. bond market that is not a holiday observed in the U.S. equity market. Additionally, Avantis Emerging Markets Equity ETF, Avantis Emerging Markets Value ETF, Avantis International Equity ETF, Avantis International Large Cap Value ETF, Avantis International Small Cap Value ETF, Avantis Real Estate ETF, Avantis Responsible Emerging Markets Equity ETF, and Avantis Responsible International Equity ETF reserve the right to settle redemption transactions on a basis other than T+2 to accommodate non-U.S. market holiday schedules or to account for different treatment among non-U.S. and U.S. markets of dividend record dates and ex dividend dates.

If neither the redeeming Beneficial Owner nor the Authorized Participant acting on behalf of such redeeming Beneficial Owner has appropriate arrangements to take delivery of Fund Securities in the applicable non-U.S. jurisdiction and it is not possible to make other such arrangements, or if it is not possible to effect deliveries of Fund Securities in such jurisdiction, the fund 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. In such case, the investor will receive a cash payment equal to the NAV of its shares based on the NAV of the fund next determined after the redemption request is received in proper form (minus a redemption transaction fee and additional charges specified above, to offset the fund’s brokerage and other transaction costs associated with the disposition of Fund Securities). Redemptions of shares for Fund Securities will be subject to compliance with applicable U.S. federal and state securities laws and the fund (whether or not it otherwise permits cash redemptions) reserves the right to redeem Creation Units for cash to the extent that the fund cannot lawfully deliver specific Fund Securities upon redemptions or cannot do so without first registering the Fund Securities under such laws.

In the event that cash redemptions are permitted or required by the trust, proceeds will be paid to the Authorized Participant redeeming shares as soon as practicable after the date of redemption (within seven calendar days thereafter).

To the extent contemplated by an Authorized Participant Agreement, in the event an Authorized Participant has submitted a redemption request in proper form but is unable to transfer all or part of the Creation Unit to be redeemed to a fund, at or prior to 10 a.m., Eastern time on the prescribed settlement date, the transfer agent may accept the redemption request in reliance on the undertaking by the Authorized Participant to deliver the missing shares as soon as possible. Such undertaking shall be secured by the Authorized Participant’s delivery and maintenance of collateral consisting of cash, in U.S. dollars in immediately available funds, having a value at least equal to 105% and up to 115%, which percentage the trust may change at any time, in its sole discretion, of the value of the missing shares. Such cash collateral must be delivered at such time as designated by the custodian, but no later than 10 a.m., Eastern time on the prescribed settlement date and shall be held by the fund’s custodian and marked-to-market daily. The fees of the fund’s custodian and any sub-custodians in respect of the delivery, maintenance and redelivery of the cash collateral shall be payable by the Authorized Participant. The Authorized Participant Agreement may permit a fund to purchase missing fund shares or acquire the Deposit Securities and the Cash Amount underlying such shares, and will subject the Authorized Participant to liability for any shortfall between the cost of the fund acquiring such shares, the Deposit Securities or Cash Amount and the value of the cash collateral including, without limitation, liability for related brokerage and other charges.

Because the portfolio securities of a fund may trade on exchange(s) on days that the Listing Exchange is closed or are otherwise not Business Days for the fund, shareholders may not be able to redeem their shares of the fund, or purchase or sell shares of the fund on the Listing Exchange on days when the NAV of the fund could be significantly affected by events in the relevant non-U.S. markets.

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

Service Providers

The funds have no employees. To conduct the funds’ day-to-day activities, the trust has hired a number of service providers. Each service provider has a specific function to fill on behalf of the funds that is described below.

ACIM and ACS are wholly owned, directly or indirectly, by ACC. The Stowers Institute for Medical Research (SIMR) controls ACC by virtue of its beneficial ownership of more than 25% of the voting securities of ACC. SIMR is part of a not-for-profit biomedical research organization dedicated to finding the keys to the causes, treatments and prevention of disease.

Investment Advisor

ACIM serves as the investment advisor for each of the funds. A description of the responsibilities of the advisor appears in each prospectus under the heading Management.

For services provided to each fund, the advisor receives a unified management fee based on a percentage of the daily net assets of each fund. For more information about the unified management fee, see The Investment Advisor under the heading Management in each fund’s prospectus. The amount of the fee is calculated daily and paid monthly in arrears. The management fee schedules for the funds appear below.

Fund	Management Fee Rate
Avantis Core Fixed Income ETF	0.15%
Avantis Core Municipal Fixed Income ETF	0.15%
Avantis Emerging Markets Equity ETF	0.33%
Avantis Emerging Markets Value ETF	0.36%
Avantis International Equity ETF	0.23%
Avantis International Large Cap Value ETF	0.25%
Avantis International Small Cap Value ETF	0.36%
Avantis Real Estate ETF	0.17%
Avantis Responsible Emerging Markets Equity ETF
Avantis Responsible International Equity ETF
Avantis Responsible U.S. Equity ETF
Avantis Short-Term Fixed Income ETF	0.15%
Avantis U.S. Equity ETF	0.15%
Avantis U.S. Large Cap Value ETF	0.15%
Avantis U.S. Small Cap Equity ETF
Avantis U.S. Small Cap Value ETF	0.25%

On each calendar day, each fund accrues a management fee that is equal to the fund’s management fee rate (as calculated pursuant to the above schedules) times the net assets of the fund divided by 365 (366 in leap years). On the first business day of each month, the funds pay a management fee to the advisor for the previous month. The management fee is the sum of the daily fee calculations for each day of the previous month.

The management agreement between the trust and the advisor shall continue in effect for a period of two years from its effective date (unless sooner terminated in accordance with its terms) and shall continue in effect from year to year thereafter for each fund so long as such continuance is approved at least annually by:

(1)either the funds’ Board of Trustees, or a majority of the outstanding voting securities of such fund (as defined in the Investment Company Act); and

(2)the vote of a majority of the trustees of the funds who are not parties to the agreement or interested persons of the advisor, cast in person at a meeting called for the purpose of voting on such approval.

The management agreement states that the funds’ Board of Trustees or a majority of the outstanding voting securities of each fund may terminate the management agreement at any time without payment of any penalty on 60 days’ written notice to the advisor. The management agreement shall be automatically terminated if it is assigned.

The management agreement states that the advisor shall not be liable to the funds or their shareholders for anything other than willful misfeasance, bad faith, gross negligence or reckless disregard of its obligations and duties.

The management agreement also provides that the advisor and its officers, trustees and employees may engage in other business, render services to others, and devote time and attention to any other business, whether of a similar or dissimilar nature.

Certain investments may be appropriate for the funds and also for other clients advised by the advisor. Investment decisions for the funds and other clients are made with a view to achieving their respective investment objectives after consideration of such factors as their current holdings, availability of cash for investment and the size of their investment generally. A particular security may be bought or sold for only one client or fund, or in different amounts and at different times for more than one but less than all clients or funds. A particular security may be bought for one client or fund on the same day it is sold for another client or fund, and a client or

fund may hold a short position in a particular security at the same time another client or fund holds a long position. In addition, purchases or sales of the same security may be made for two or more clients or funds on the same date. The advisor has adopted procedures designed to ensure such transactions will be allocated among clients and funds in a manner believed by the advisor to be equitable to each. In some cases this procedure could have an adverse effect on the price or amount of the securities purchased or sold by a fund.

The advisor may aggregate purchase and sale orders of the funds with purchase and sale orders of its other clients when the advisor believes that such aggregation provides the best execution for the funds. The Board of Trustees has approved the policy of the advisor with respect to the aggregation of portfolio transactions. To the extent equity trades are aggregated, shares purchased or sold are generally allocated to the participating portfolios pro rata based on order size. The advisor will not aggregate portfolio transactions of the funds unless it believes such aggregation is consistent with its duty to seek best execution on behalf of the funds and the terms of the management agreement. The advisor receives no additional compensation or remuneration as a result of such aggregation.

Unified management fees incurred by each fund for the fiscal period ended August 31, 2021 and 2020 are indicated in the following table.

Unified Management Fees
Fund	2021	2020
Avantis Core Fixed Income ETF	$48,568¹	N/A
Avantis Core Municipal Fixed Income ETF	$26,820²	N/A
Avantis Emerging Markets Equity ETF	$1,890,706	$422,970³
Avantis International Equity ETF	$1,451,556	$379,6374
Avantis International Small Cap Value ETF	$2,087,838	$292,8994
Avantis Short-Term Fixed Income ETF	$29,965¹	N/A
Avantis U.S. Equity ETF	$1,316,876	$329,8764
Avantis U.S. Small Cap Value ETF	$2,181,290	$317,9114

1For the period October 13, 2020, the fund’s inception date, to August 31, 2021.

2    For the period December 8, 2020, the fund’s inception date, to August 31, 2021.

3    For the period September 17, 2019, the fund’s inception date, to August 31, 2020.

4For the period September 24, 2019, the fund’s inception date, to August 31, 2020.

Portfolio Managers

Accounts Managed

The portfolio managers are responsible for the day-to-day management of various accounts, as indicated by the following table. None of these accounts has an advisory fee based on the performance of the account. As new funds, Avantis Emerging Markets Value ETF, Avantis International Large Cap Value ETF, Avantis Real Estate ETF, Avantis Responsible Emerging Markets Equity ETF, Avantis Responsible International Equity ETF, Avantis Responsible U.S. Equity ETF, Avantis U.S. Large Cap Value ETF, and Avantis U.S. Small Cap Equity ETF are not included in the table below.

Accounts Managed (As of August 31, 2021)
		Registered Investment Companies (e.g., American Century Investments funds and American Century Investments - subadvised funds)	Other Pooled Investment Vehicles (e.g., commingled trusts and 529 education savings plans)	Other Accounts (e.g., separate accounts and corporate accounts including incubation strategies and corporate money)
Hozef Arif	Number of Accounts	6	0	0
	Assets	$176.9 million(1)	N/A	N/A
Mitchell Firestein	Number of Accounts	10	0	4
	Assets	$6.8 billion(2)	N/A	$370 thousand
Mitchell Handa	Number of Accounts	6	0	0
	Assets	$176.9 million(1)	N/A	N/A
Daniel Ong	Number of Accounts	16	0	4
	Assets	$7.0 billion(3)	N/A	$370 thousand

Accounts Managed (As of August 31, 2021)
		Registered Investment Companies (e.g., American Century Investments funds and American Century Investments - subadvised funds)	Other Pooled Investment Vehicles (e.g., commingled trusts and 529 education savings plans)	Other Accounts (e.g., separate accounts and corporate accounts including incubation strategies and corporate money)
Ted Randall	Number of Accounts	10	0	4
	Assets	$6.8 billion(2)	N/A	$370 thousand
Eduardo Repetto	Number of Accounts	16	0	4
	Assets	$7.0 billion(3)	N/A	$370 thousand

1    Includes $69.5 million in Avantis Core Fixed Income ETF, $27.6 million in Avantis Core Municipal Fixed Income ETF and $32.5 million in Avantis Short-Term Fixed Income ETF.

2    Includes $861.5 million in Avantis Emerging Markets Equity ETF, $997.5 million in Avantis International Equity ETF, $1.1 billion in Avantis International Small Cap Value ETF, $1.5 billion in Avantis U.S. Equity ETF, and $1.6 billion in Avantis U.S. Small Cap Value ETF.

3    Includes $69.5 million in Avantis Core Fixed Income ETF, $27.6 million in Avantis Core Municipal Fixed Income ETF, $861.5 million in Avantis Emerging Markets Equity ETF, $997.5 million in Avantis International Equity ETF, $1.1 billion in Avantis International Small Cap Value ETF, $32.5 million in Avantis Short-Term Fixed Income ETF, $1.5 billion in Avantis U.S. Equity ETF, and $1.6 billion in Avantis U.S. Small Cap Value ETF.

Potential Conflicts of Interest

Certain conflicts of interest may arise in connection with the management of multiple portfolios. Potential conflicts include, for example, conflicts among investment strategies, such as one portfolio buying or selling a security while another portfolio has a differing, potentially opposite position in such security. This may include one portfolio taking a short position in the security of an issuer that is held long in another portfolio (or vice versa). Other potential conflicts may arise with respect to the allocation of investment opportunities, which are discussed in more detail below. American Century Investments has adopted policies and procedures that are designed to minimize the effects of these conflicts.

Responsibility for managing American Century Investments client portfolios is organized according to investment discipline. Investment disciplines include, for example, disciplined equity, global growth equity, global value equity, global fixed income, multi-asset strategies, exchange traded funds, and Avantis Investors funds. Within each discipline are one or more portfolio teams responsible for managing specific client portfolios. Generally, client portfolios with similar strategies are managed by the same team using the same objective, approach, and philosophy. Accordingly, portfolio holdings, position sizes, and industry and sector exposures tend to be similar across similar portfolios, which minimizes the potential for conflicts of interest. In addition, American Century Investments maintains an ethical wall that restricts real time access to information regarding any portfolio’s transaction activities and positions to team members that have responsibility for a given portfolio or are within the same equity investment discipline. The ethical wall is intended to aid in preventing the misuse of portfolio holdings information and trading activity in the other disciplines.

American Century Investments may aggregate orders to purchase or sell the same security for multiple portfolios when it believes such aggregation is consistent with its duty to seek best execution on behalf of its clients. Orders of certain client portfolios may, by investment restriction or otherwise, be determined not available for aggregation. American Century Investments has adopted policies and procedures to minimize the risk that a client portfolio could be systematically advantaged or disadvantaged in connection with the aggregation of orders. To the extent equity trades are aggregated, shares purchased or sold are generally allocated to the participating portfolios pro rata based on order size. Because initial public offerings (IPOs) are usually available in limited supply and in amounts too small to permit across-the-board pro rata allocations, American Century Investments has adopted special procedures designed to promote a fair and equitable allocation of IPO securities among clients over time. A centralized trading desk executes all fixed income securities transactions for Avantis ETFs and mutual funds. For all other funds in the American Century complex portfolio teams are responsible for executing fixed income trades with broker/dealers in a predominantly dealer marketplace. Trade allocation decisions are made by the portfolio manager at the time of trade execution and orders entered on the fixed income order management system. There is an ethical wall between the Avantis trading desk and all other American Century traders. The advisor’s Global Head of Trading monitors all trading activity for best execution and to make sure no set of clients is being systematically disadvantaged.

Finally, investment of American Century Investments’ corporate assets in proprietary accounts may raise additional conflicts of interest. To mitigate these potential conflicts of interest, American Century Investments has adopted policies and procedures intended to provide that trading in proprietary accounts is performed in a manner that does not give improper advantage to American Century Investments to the detriment of client portfolios.

Compensation

Portfolio manager compensation is structured to align the interests of portfolio managers with those of the shareholders whose assets they manage. As of the date of the SAI, it includes the components described below.

Base Salary<