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Clearwater Tax-Exempt Bond Fund
Clearwater Tax-Exempt Bond Fund
Investment Objective 

The Fund seeks high current income that is exempt from U.S. federal income tax, consistent with preservation of capital.

Fees and Expenses of the Fund 

The table below describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy and hold shares of the Fund.

Annual Fund Operating Expenses (Expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)
Annual Fund Operating Expenses - {Clearwater Tax-Exempt Bond Fund}
Clearwater Tax-Exempt Bond Fund
Clearwater Tax-Exempt Bond Fund
Management Fees 0.60%
Other Expenses none
Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses 0.05%
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses 0.65% [1]
[1] Differs from the ratio of expenses, before waivers, to average net assets in the Financial Highlights, which reflects the operating expenses of the Fund and does not include acquired fund fees and expenses.
Example:

The Example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the Fund with the cost of investing in other mutual 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. The Example also assumes that your investment has 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:

Expense Example- {Clearwater Tax-Exempt Bond Fund}
1 Year
3 Years
5 Years
10 Years
Clearwater Tax-Exempt Bond Fund | Clearwater Tax-Exempt Bond Fund | USD ($) 66 208 362 810
Portfolio Turnover

The Fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes when Fund shares are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in annual fund operating expenses or in the Example, affect the Fund’s performance. During the most recent fiscal year, the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate was 12.53% of the average value of its portfolio.

Principal Investment Strategies

Under normal market conditions, the Fund invests at least 80% of its net assets, plus the amount of any borrowings for investment purposes, in tax-exempt bonds, which are debt obligations issued by or for the U.S. states, territories and possessions and the District of Columbia. The interest on these bonds is generally exempt from both U.S. regular federal income tax and U.S. federal alternative minimum tax. However, the Fund may invest up to 20% of its assets in bonds that generate interest income subject to federal alternative minimum tax for individuals.

 

The Fund invests in both revenue bonds, which are backed by and payable only from the revenues derived from a specific facility or specific revenue source, and in general obligation bonds, which are secured by the full faith, credit and taxation power of the issuing municipality.

 

The Fund primarily invests in bonds rated investment grade at the time of purchase or, if unrated, determined to be of comparable quality by the Fund’s subadviser. However, the Fund may invest up to 30% of its assets in bonds rated below investment grade (rated below Baa3 by Moody’s Investors Service, Inc. (“Moody’s”) and BBB-by Standard and Poor’s Corporation (“S&P”) or Fitch, Inc. (“Fitch”), commonly referred to as “junk” bonds) or determined to be of comparable quality by the subadviser. The Fund may not invest in bonds rated at the time of purchase lower than B3 by Moody’s or B-by S&P or Fitch. The Fund may invest in closed-end funds that invest in the same types of securities in which the Fund may invest directly. The subadviser attempts to maintain an average effective duration for the portfolio of approximately three to eight years. Duration is a measure of the sensitivity of the price of a fixed-income security to changes in interest rates and is expressed as a number of years. A longer duration generally means the price is more sensitive to changes in interest rates. For every 1% change in interest rate, the Fund’s net asset value is expected to change inversely by approximately 1% for each year of duration. For example, a 1% increase in interest rate would be expected to cause a fixed-income portfolio with an average dollar weighted duration of five years to decrease in value by approximately 5% (1% interest rate increase multiplied by the five-year duration).

 

Clearwater Management Co., Inc. (“CMC”) serves as the investment manager to the Fund and is responsible for the oversight of the Fund’s subadvisers, Fiduciary Counselling, Inc. (“FCI”) and Sit Fixed Income Advisors II, LLC (“Sit”). Sit provides day-to-day management for the Fund. FCI also acts as a subadviser to the Fund, but does not provide day-to-day management. FCI provides the Fund with the following investment-related services: investment strategy advice, manager recommendations and related duties as requested by the Fund’s adviser.

Principal Risks of Investing in the Fund 

Please remember that with any mutual fund investment you may lose money. The principal risks of investing in the Fund include:

 

Market Risk
The price of fixed income securities may fluctuate, sometimes rapidly and unpredictably. Market risk may impact fixed income securities based on general market or economic conditions. These factors may include government economic outlooks, changes in interest rates, investor sentiment, or changes in government or tax policy. Additionally, events such as war, acts of terrorism, social unrest, natural disasters, the spread of infectious illness or other public health threats could also have a significant impact.

 

Active Management Risk
The Fund is actively managed and as a result, the Fund’s performance will reflect in part the subadviser’s ability to make investment decisions that are suited to achieving the Fund’s investment objective. The Fund could under-perform other mutual funds with similar investment objectives.

 

Credit Risk
The Fund could lose money if the issuers or guarantors of securities owned by the Fund default on the payment of principal or interest, or on other obligations to the Fund. The revenue bonds in which the Fund invests may entail greater credit risk than the Fund’s investments in general obligation bonds. Revenue bond prices can decline if related projects become unprofitable. Municipal bonds are subject to the risk that political events, local business or economic conditions could have a significant effect on an issuer’s ability to make payments of principal and/or interest.

 

Interest Rate Risk
Interest rate risk is the risk that a fixed income security will lose value because of changes in interest rates. An increase in interest rates likely will lower the Fund’s value and the overall return on your investment. The Fund is also subject to call or prepayment risk when, generally as a result of declining interest rates, the issuer of a security exercises its right to prepay principal earlier than scheduled, forcing the Fund to reinvest in lower yielding securities. Declining interest rates may compel borrowers to prepay mortgages and debt obligations underlying securities owned by the Fund. Many factors can cause interest rates to rise. Some examples include central bank monetary policy (such as tapering of the Federal Reserve Board’s quantitative easing program), rising inflation rates and general economic conditions.

 

Below Investment Grade Securities Risk
Investments in high-yield debt securities (commonly referred to as “junk” bonds) are sometimes considered speculative as they present a greater risk of loss than higher quality debt securities. Such securities may, under certain circumstances, be less liquid than higher rated debt securities. These securities pay investors a premium (a high interest rate or yield) because of the increased risk of loss. These securities can also be subject to greater price volatility. In times of unusual or adverse market, economic or political conditions, these securities may experience higher than normal default rates.

 

Tax Risk
There is no guarantee that the Fund’s income will be exempt from U.S. federal or state income taxes. Events occurring after the date of issuance of a municipal bond or after the Fund’s acquisition of a municipal bond may result in a determination that interest on that bond is includible in gross income for U.S. federal income tax purposes retroactively to its date of issuance. Such a determination may cause a portion of prior distributions by the Fund to its shareholders to be taxable to those shareholders in the year of receipt. Federal or state changes in income or alternative minimum tax rates or in the tax treatment of municipal bonds may make municipal bonds less attractive as investments and cause them to lose value.

 

Investing in Closed-End Funds Risk

Closed-end funds generally do not continuously offer their shares for sale. Rather, they sell a fixed number of shares at one time, after which the shares typically trade on a secondary market, such as the New York Stock Exchange. The price of closed-end fund shares that trade on a secondary market is determined by the market and may be greater or less than the shares’ net asset value. Closed-end fund shares generally are not redeemable. The investment portfolios of closed-end funds generally are managed by investment advisers.

 

Please note that, under normal market conditions, the Clearwater Tax-Exempt Bond Fund is not a suitable investment for tax-deferred accounts.

 

Please note that the Fund is not a money market fund and is not intended to be a money market fund substitute. The Fund does not attempt to maintain a stable net asset value and is not subject to the rules that govern the quality, maturity, liquidity and other features of securities that money market funds may purchase. Under normal conditions, the Fund’s investment may be more susceptible than a money market fund to interest rate risk and credit risks relevant to the Fund’s investments.

Past Performance 

The bar chart illustrates some of the risks of investing in the Fund by showing the performance of the Fund’s shares for each of the past 10 calendar years. The total return table illustrates some of the risks of investing in the Fund by comparing the average annual total return of the Fund for the periods shown to that of the Fund’s benchmark, the Barclays Municipal Bond 5 Year (4-6) Index. Past performance, both before and after taxes, does not necessarily indicate how the Fund will perform in the future.  

Bar Chart

During the periods shown in the chart above, the highest and lowest quarterly returns were as follows: 

 

Highest: 5.53% in 1st Quarter 2014

Lowest: (4.95)% in 4th Quarter 2010

Clearwater Tax-Exempt Bond Fund Average Annual Total Returns (For the Periods Ended December 31, 2019)
Average Annual Total Returns- {Clearwater Tax-Exempt Bond Fund} - Clearwater Tax-Exempt Bond Fund
1 Year
5 Years
10 Years
Clearwater Tax-Exempt Bond Fund 7.69% 4.93% 6.04%
Clearwater Tax-Exempt Bond Fund | Return After Taxes on Distributions 7.69% 4.78% 5.93%
Clearwater Tax-Exempt Bond Fund | Return After Taxes on Distributions and Sale of Fund Shares 6.39% 4.79% 5.77%
Barclays Municipal Bond 5 Year (4-6) Index 5.45% 2.44% 2.94%

After-tax returns are calculated using the highest historical individual federal marginal income tax rates and do not reflect the impact of state and local taxes. Actual after-tax returns will depend on an investor’s tax situation and may differ from those shown. If you hold your Fund shares through a tax-deferred account, such as a 401(k) plan or individual retirement account, after-tax returns are not relevant.