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H Class Shares | Commodities Strategy Fund

Commodities Strategy Fund

INVESTMENT OBJECTIVE

The Commodities Strategy Fund (the “Fund”) seeks to provide investment results that correlate, before fees and expenses, to the performance of a benchmark for commodities. The Fund’s current benchmark is the S&P GSCITM Commodity Index (the “underlying index”).

FEES AND EXPENSES OF THE FUND

This table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy and hold H-Class Shares of the Fund.

SHAREHOLDER FEES (fees paid directly from your investment)

Shareholder Fees (USD $)
H Class Shares
Commodities Strategy Fund
H-Class Shares
Shareholder Fee none

ANNUAL FUND OPERATING EXPENSES (expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)

Annual Fund Operating Expenses
H Class Shares
Commodities Strategy Fund
H-Class Shares
Management Fees of the Fund and the Subsidiary 0.85%
Distribution (12b-1) Fees 0.0025
Other Expenses of the Fund 0.49%
Other Expenses of the Subsidiary 0.01%
Other Expenses 0.50%
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses 1.60%
Fee Waiver [1] 0.11%
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses After Fee Waiver 1.49%
[1] The Advisor has contractually agreed to waive the management fee it receives from the Fund in an amount equal to the management fee paid to the Advisor by the Subsidiary. This undertaking will continue in effect for so long as the Fund invests in the Subsidiary, and may be terminated only with the approval of the Fund's Board of Trustees.

EXAMPLE

This 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 (USD $)
1 Year
3 Years
5 Years
10 Years
H Class Shares Commodities Strategy Fund H-Class Shares
152 471 813 1,779

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 Total 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 0% of the average value of its portfolio. The Fund’s portfolio turnover rate is calculated without regard to cash instruments or derivatives. If such instruments were included, the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate might be significantly higher.

PRINCIPAL INVESTMENT STRATEGIES

The Fund seeks exposure to the performance of the commodities markets. The Fund will seek to gain exposure to the underlying index, a composite index of commodity sector returns, representing an unleveraged long-only investment in commodity futures that is broadly diversified across the spectrum of commodities, by investing in exchange-traded products, including investment companies and commodity pools, that provide exposure to the commodities markets and in commodity-linked derivative instruments, which primarily consist of structured notes, swap agreements, commodity options, and futures and options on futures. Investing in derivative instruments enables the Fund to pursue its objective without investing directly in physical commodities. Certain of the Fund’s derivative investments may be traded in the over-the-counter (“OTC”) market, which generally provides for less transparency than exchange-traded derivative instruments. Investments in derivative instruments, such as futures, options, and forward contracts and swap agreements, have the economic effect of creating financial leverage in the Fund’s portfolio because such investments may give rise to losses that exceed the amount the Fund has invested in those instruments. Financial leverage will magnify, sometimes significantly, the Fund’s exposure to any increase or decrease in prices associated with a particular trend resulting in increased volatility in the value of the Fund’s portfolio. The value of the Fund’s portfolio is likely to experience greater volatility over short-term periods. While such financial leverage has the potential to produce greater gains, it also may result in greater losses, which in some cases may cause the Fund to liquidate other portfolio investments at a loss to comply with limits on leverage and asset segregation requirements imposed by the Investment Company Act of 1940 (the “1940 Act”) or to meet redemption requests. The Fund’s use of derivatives and the leveraged investment exposure created by the use of derivatives are expected to be significant. To the extent the underlying index is concentrated in a particular industry the Fund will necessarily be concentrated in that industry. It is anticipated that the Fund’s investment exposure will tend to be heavily weighted toward oil and other energy-related commodities. On a day-to-day basis, the Fund may hold U.S. government securities or cash equivalents to collateralize its derivative positions. The Fund also may enter into repurchase agreements with counterparties that are deemed to present acceptable credit risks.

 

The Fund also may invest up to 25% of its total assets in a wholly-owned and controlled Cayman Islands subsidiary (the “Subsidiary”). The Subsidiary is advised by the Advisor, and has the same investment objective as the Fund. Unlike the Fund, however, the Subsidiary may invest to a greater extent in commodity-linked derivative instruments. The Subsidiary’s investments in such instruments are subject to limits on leverage imposed by the 1940 Act. The Fund’s investment in the Subsidiary is expected to provide the Fund with an effective means of obtaining exposure to the investment returns of global commodities markets.

 

In an effort to ensure that the Fund is fully invested on a day-to-day basis, the Fund may conduct any necessary trading activity at or just prior to the close of the U.S. financial markets. The Fund invests, to a significant extent, in companies or commodity-linked derivatives concentrated in the same economic sector. The Fund is non-diversified and, therefore, may invest a greater percentage of its assets in a particular issuer in comparison to a diversified fund.

PRINCIPAL RISKS

As with all mutual funds, a shareholder is subject to the risk that his or her investment could lose money. In addition to this risk, the Fund is subject to a number of additional risks that may affect the value of its shares, including:

Active Trading Risk – Active trading, also called “high portfolio turnover,” may result in higher brokerage costs or mark-up charges, which may negatively affect Fund performance. High portfolio turnover may also and result in high levels of short-term capital gains, which are generally taxable as ordinary income when distributed to shareholders. Large movements of assets into and out of the Fund due to active trading also may adversely affect the Fund’s ability to achieve its investment objective.

CFTC Regulatory Risk – The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”) has recently adopted amendments to certain CFTC rules, and is in the process of promulgating new rules, that subject the Fund, the Subsidiary, and the Advisor to certain CFTC disclosure, reporting, and recordkeeping requirements if the Fund and the Subsidiary do not operate within certain derivatives trading and marketing limitations. Compliance with these additional requirements will likely increase Fund and Subsidiary expenses and may adversely affect the Fund’s and the Subsidiary’s ability to obtain exposure to certain investments and the commodities market generally. Certain of the regulatory requirements that would apply to the Fund have not yet been adopted, and it is unclear what the effect of those requirements would be on the Fund if they are adopted. Consistent with the Fund’s investment strategies and investment policies, the Advisor intends to maintain the flexibility to utilize certain derivatives beyond the CFTC’s new trading limitations and to comply with CFTC rules to the extent required to maintain such investment flexibility.

Commodity-Linked Derivative Investment Risk The value of a commodity-linked derivative investment typically is based upon the price movements of a physical commodity (such as heating oil, livestock, or agricultural products), a commodity futures contract or commodity index, or some other readily measurable economic variable dependent upon changes in the value of commodities or the commodities markets. The value of these securities will rise or fall in response to changes in the underlying commodity or related benchmark or investment. These securities expose the Fund economically to movements in commodity prices. The Fund’s investment in commodity-related investment products may lead to losses in excess of the Fund’s investment in such products. Such losses can significantly and adversely affect the net asset value of the Fund and, consequently, a shareholder’s interest in the Fund.

Counterparty Credit Risk – The Fund may invest in financial instruments involving counterparties that attempt to gain exposure to a particular group of securities, index or asset class without actually purchasing those securities or investments, or to hedge a position. The Fund’s use of such financial instruments, including swap agreements and structured notes, involves risks that are different from those associated with ordinary portfolio securities transactions. For example, if a swap agreement counterparty defaults on its payment obligations to the Fund, this default will cause the value of your investment in the Fund to decrease. Swap agreements and structured notes also may be considered to be illiquid. Similarly, if the credit quality of an issuer or guarantor of a debt instrument improves, this change may adversely affect the value of the Fund’s investment.

Derivatives Risk – The Fund’s investments in derivatives may pose risks in addition to those associated with investing directly in securities or other investments, including illiquidity of the derivatives, imperfect correlations with underlying investments or the Fund’s other portfolio holdings, lack of availability and counterparty risk. To the extent the Fund invests in derivatives to seek to hedge risk or limit leveraged exposure created by other investments, there is no guarantee that such hedging strategies will be effective at managing risk or limiting exposure to leveraged investments. When used to generate leveraged exposure, the Fund’s investments in derivatives may expose the Fund to potentially dramatic losses (or gains) in the value of the derivative instruments. The Fund could lose more than the principal amount invested.

Early Closing Risk – The Fund is subject to the risk that unanticipated early closings of securities exchanges and other financial markets may result in the Fund’s inability to buy or sell securities or other financial instruments on that day and may cause the Fund to incur substantial trading losses.

Equity Risk – The Fund is subject to the risk that the value of the equity securities or equity-based derivatives in the Fund’s portfolio will decline due to volatility in the equity market caused by general market and economic conditions, perceptions regarding particular industries represented in the equity market, or factors relating to specific companies to which the Fund has investment exposure.

Industry and Energy Sector Concentration Risk – The Fund invests, to a significant extent, in commodities or commodity-linked derivatives concentrated in the same economic sector. The risk of concentrating Fund investments in a limited number of issuers conducting business in the same industry or group of industries is that the Fund will be more susceptible to the risks associated with that industry or group of industries than a fund that does not concentrate its investments. To the extent that the Fund’s investments are concentrated in the energy sector, the Fund is subject to the risk that the securities of such issuers will underperform the market as a whole due to legislative or regulatory changes, adverse market conditions and/or increased competition affecting that economic sector. The prices of the securities of energy companies also may fluctuate widely in response to such events.

Investment in Investment Companies Risk – Investing in other investment companies subjects the Fund to those risks affecting the investment company, including the possibility that the value of the underlying securities held by the investment company could decrease. Moreover, the Fund will incur its pro rata share of the expenses of the underlying investment companies’ expenses.

Investment in the Subsidiary Risk – The Subsidiary is not registered under the 1940 Act and, unless otherwise noted in this Prospectus, is not subject to all of the investor protections of the 1940 Act. Thus, the Fund, as the sole investor in the Subsidiary, will not have all of the protections offered to shareholders of registered investment companies. By investing in the Subsidiary, the Fund is exposed to the risks of the Subsidiary’s investments, which in turn will be exposed primarily to the risks of investing in the commodities markets. The Fund also will incur its pro rata share of the expenses of the Subsidiary. In addition, changes in the laws of the United States or the Cayman Islands, under which the Fund and the Subsidiary, respectively, are organized, could result in the inability of the Fund and/or the Subsidiary to operate as intended and could negatively affect the Fund and its shareholders.

Investment Technique Risk – Some investment techniques of the Fund, such as its use of derivatives and other commodity-linked financial instruments to seek to achieve its investment objective, may be considered aggressive. These instruments may increase the volatility of the Fund and may involve a small investment of cash relative to the magnitude of the risk assumed. Such investment techniques may not consistently produce desired results and may be limited by legislative, regulatory, or tax developments.

Leveraging Risk – The Fund derives substantially all of its commodities exposure from its investment in derivatives and other financial instruments that provide leveraged exposure. The Fund’s investment in these instruments generally requires a small investment relative to the amount of investment exposure assumed. As a result, such investments may give rise to losses that exceed the amount invested in those instruments. Because such instruments are an integral part of the Fund’s investment strategy, the use of such instruments may expose the Fund to potentially dramatic losses or gains in the value of its portfolio. The cost of investing in such instruments generally increases as interest rates increase, which will lower the Fund’s return.

Liquidity Risk – In certain circumstances, it may be difficult for the Fund to purchase and sell particular investments within a reasonable time at a fair price. While the Fund intends to invest in liquid futures, options, forwards and swap contracts, under certain market conditions, such as when the market makes a “limit move,” it may be difficult or impossible for the Fund to liquidate such investments. In addition, the ability of the Fund to assign an accurate daily value to certain investments may be difficult, and the Advisor may be required to fair value the investments.

Market Risk – The Fund’s investments in securities and derivatives, in general, are subject to market risks that may cause their prices, and therefore the Fund’s value, to fluctuate over time. An investment in the Fund may lose money.

Non-Diversification Risk – The Fund is considered non-diversified and can invest a greater portion of its assets in securities of individual issuers than a diversified fund. As a result, changes in the market value of a single security could cause greater fluctuations in the value of Fund shares than would occur in a diversified fund.

OTC Trading Risk – Certain of the derivatives in which the Fund may invest may be traded (and privately negotiated) in the OTC market. While the OTC derivatives market is the primary trading venue for many derivatives, it is largely unregulated. As a result and similar to other privately negotiated contracts, the Fund is subject to counterparty credit risk with respect to such derivative contracts.

Passive Investment Risk – The Fund is not actively managed and the Advisor does not attempt to take defensive positions in declining markets. Therefore, the Fund may be subject to greater losses in a declining market than a fund that is actively managed.

Portfolio Turnover Risk – The Fund’s strategy may frequently involve buying and selling portfolio securities, which may lead to increased costs to the Fund. Portfolio turnover risk may cause the Fund’s performance to be less than you expect.

Repurchase Agreement Risk – The Fund’s investment in repurchase agreements may be subject to market and credit risk with respect to the collateral securing the repurchase agreements. Investments in repurchase agreements also may be subject to the risk that the market value of the underlying obligations may decline prior to the expiration of the repurchase agreement term.

Tax Risk – To qualify for the favorable U.S. federal income tax treatment generally available to regulated investment companies, the Fund must derive at least 90% of its gross income for each taxable year from sources generating “qualifying income.” Income derived from direct and certain indirect investments in commodities is not qualifying income. The Fund has received a private letter ruling from the Internal Revenue Service that the income attributable to its investment in the Subsidiary will be qualifying income. The Fund currently gains most of its exposure to the commodities markets through its investment in the Subsidiary which may invest in commodity-linked derivative instruments and other similar instruments. However, to the extent the Fund invests in such instruments directly, it may be subject to the risk that such instruments will not generate qualifying income and, thus, may compromise the Fund’s ability to qualify as a regulated investment company. If the Fund invests directly in commodity-linked derivative instruments and similar instruments that are not addressed in the private letter ruling, it will seek to restrict the resulting income from such instruments so that, when combined with its non-qualifying income, such income amounts to less than 10% of its gross income. The Fund might generate more non-qualifying income than anticipated, might not be able to generate qualifying income in a particular taxable year at levels sufficient to meet the qualifying income test, or might not be able to determine the percentage of qualifying income it derives for a taxable year until after year-end. Failure to comply with the qualifying income test would have significant negative tax consequences to Fund shareholders. Under certain circumstances, the Fund may be able to cure a failure to meet the qualifying income test, but in order to do so the Fund may incur significant Fund-level taxes, which would effectively reduce (and could eliminate) the Fund’s returns.

Tracking Error Risk – The Advisor may not be able to cause the Fund’s performance to correlate to that of the Fund’s benchmark, either on a daily or aggregate basis. Factors such as Fund expenses, imperfect correlation between the Fund’s investments and those of the underlying index, rounding of share prices, changes to the composition of the underlying index, regulatory policies, high portfolio turnover rate and the use of leverage all contribute to tracking error. Tracking error may cause the Fund’s performance to be less than you expect.

Trading Halt Risk – If a trading halt occurs, the Fund may temporarily be unable to purchase or sell certain securities, options or futures contracts. Such a trading halt near the time the Fund prices its shares may limit the Fund’s ability to use leverage and may prevent the Fund from achieving its investment objective.

PERFORMANCE INFORMATION

The following bar chart shows the performance of the H-Class Shares of the Fund from year to year. The variability of performance over time provides an indication of the risks of investing in the Fund. The following table shows the performance of the H-Class Shares of the Fund as an average over different periods of time in comparison to the performance of a broad-based market index. The figures in the bar chart and table assume the reinvestment of dividends and capital gains distributions. Of course, this past performance (before and after taxes) does not necessarily indicate how the Fund will perform in the future.

 

Updated performance information is available on the Fund’s website at www.guggenheiminvestments.com or by calling Guggenheim Investments Client Services at 800.820.0888.

The performance information shown below for the H-Class Shares is based on a calendar year.

Bar Chart

Highest Quarter Return

(quarter ended 6/30/2008) 27.67%

 

Lowest Quarter Return

(quarter ended 12/31/2008) -47.60%

AVERAGE ANNUAL TOTAL RETURN (for periods ended December 31, 2012)

The after-tax returns presented in the table below are calculated using highest historical individual federal marginal income tax rates and do not reflect the impact of state and local taxes. Your actual after-tax returns will depend on your specific tax situation and may differ from those shown below. After-tax returns are not relevant to investors who hold shares of the Fund through tax-deferred arrangements, such as 401(k) plans or individual retirement accounts.

Average Annual Total Returns H Class Shares Commodities Strategy Fund
Label
Past 1 Year
Past 5 Years
Since Inception
Inception Date
H-Class Shares

Return Before Taxes

(1.57%) (10.29%) (4.61%) May 25, 2005
H-Class Shares After Taxes on Distributions

Return After Taxes on Distributions

(2.47%) (10.97%) (5.12%) May 25, 2005
H-Class Shares After Taxes on Distributions and Sales

Return After Taxes on Distributions and Sale of Fund Shares

(1.03%) (8.79%) (4.10%) May 25, 2005
H-Class Shares S&P GSCITM Commodity Index (reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes)

S&P GSCITM Commodity Index (reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes)

0.08% (8.12%) (2.13%) May 25, 2005