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The Energy & Minerals Group EV, Solar & Battery Materials (Lithium, Nickel, Copper, Cobalt) Futures Strategy ETF

(formerly, Element EV, Solar & Battery Materials (Lithium, Nickel, Copper, Cobalt) Futures Strategy ETF) 

 

(NYSE Arca, Inc.: CHRG)

 

PROSPECTUS

dated December 28, 2022

(As supplemented on February 3, 2023)

 

A series of The RBB Fund Trust

 

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

 

THE COMMODITY FUTURES TRADING COMMISSION HAS NOT PASSED UPON THE MERITS OF PARTICIPATING IN THIS POOL NOR HAS THE COMMISSION PASSED ON THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS DISCLOSURE DOCUMENT.

 
 

TABLE OF CONTENTS

 

Summary Section 1
Additional Information about the Fund 11
Management of the Fund 22
How to Buy and Sell Shares 24
Dividends, Distributions, and Taxes 25
Distribution 29
Additional Considerations 29
Financial Highlights 31

 

No securities dealer, sales representative, or any other person has been authorized to give any information or to make any representations, other than those contained in this prospectus or in approved sales literature in connection with the offer contained herein, and if given or made, such other information or representations must not be relied upon as having been authorized by The Energy & Minerals Group EV, Solar & Battery Materials (Lithium, Nickel, Copper, Cobalt) Futures Strategy ETF (the “Fund”) or The RBB Fund Trust. This prospectus does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any of the securities offered hereby in any jurisdiction or to any person to whom it is unlawful to make such offer.

 
 

SUMMARY SECTION

 

Investment Objective

 

The Energy & Minerals Group EV, Solar & Battery Materials (Lithium, Nickel, Copper, Cobalt) Futures Strategy ETF (formerly, Element EV, Solar & Battery Materials (Lithium, Nickel, Copper, Cobalt) Futures Strategy ETF) (the “Fund”) seeks long-term capital appreciation.

 

Fees and Expenses

 

This table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy, hold, and sell shares of the Fund (“Shares”). This table and the Example below do not include the brokerage commissions that investors may pay on their purchases and sales of Fund Shares.

 

   
Annual Fund Operating Expenses (expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment):
Management Fees 0.95%
Distribution (12b-1) Fees 0.00%

Other Expenses(1)

0.00%
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses 0.95%

 

(1) “Other Expenses” have been estimated to reflect expenses to be incurred during the current fiscal year.

 

Example

This Example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the Fund with the cost of investing in other funds. The Example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the Fund for the time periods indicated and then hold or redeem all of your Shares at the end of those periods. The Example also assumes that: (1) your investment has a 5% return each year, and (2) 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
$97 $303

 

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. No portfolio turnover rate is provided for the Fund because the Fund had not commenced operations prior to the date of this Prospectus.

 

Principal Investment Strategies

The Fund is an actively-managed exchange-traded fund (“ETF”) advised by The Energy & Minerals Group Advisors, LLC (formerly, Element ETFs, LLC) (the “Adviser”). The Fund seeks to achieve its investment objective by concentrating its investments in a combination of financial instruments that are economically linked to elements necessary for the production of batteries and Battery Energy Storage Systems (“BESS”) used in the electric vehicle and solar industries. Such elements are currently lithium, nickel, copper and cobalt. The Fund may also invest in financial instruments that are economically linked to manganese or graphite.

 

A BESS is a type of energy storage system that uses batteries to store and distribute energy in the form of electricity. BESS are commonly used in electricity grids and in other applications such as electric vehicles, solar power installations, and smart homes.  Generally, a BESS consists of one or more batteries that store electrical energy for use at a later time. The stored energy can then be drawn upon when needed to meet demands for power across various applications.

 

Under normal circumstances, the Fund invests, either directly or through a wholly-owned subsidiary (the “Subsidiary”), in lithium, nickel, copper and cobalt exchange-traded futures contracts, equity securities linked to batteries and BESS, and Collateral (as defined below).  The Fund will not invest directly into metal commodities.  Instead, the Fund attempts to obtain investment returns that are highly correlated to the lithium, nickel, copper and cobalt by investing in instruments such as lithium, nickel, copper and cobalt futures contracts indirectly through its Subsidiary.  The Fund’s investment in the Subsidiary is expected to provide the Fund with exposure to lithium, nickel, copper and cobalt futures contracts in accordance with the limits of the federal tax laws, which limit the ability of investment companies like the Fund to invest directly in such investments. 

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The Fund’s investment in the Subsidiary may not exceed 25% of the Fund’s total assets at each quarter-end of the Fund’s fiscal year. The Subsidiary operates under Cayman Islands law. It is wholly-owned and controlled by the Fund and advised by the Adviser. The Subsidiary has the same investment objective as the Fund and will follow the same general investment policies and restrictions, except that unlike the Fund, it may invest without limit in lithium, nickel, copper and cobalt futures contracts. Except as noted, for purposes of this Prospectus, references to the Fund’s investment strategies and risks include those of its Subsidiary.  

 

Because the Fund intends to qualify as a regulated investment company (“RIC”) under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (“Code”), the Fund’s investments in the Subsidiary are limited by certain requirements of the Code and related Internal Revenue Service regulations. Accordingly, the Fund (and the Subsidiary, as applicable) invests its remaining assets directly in equity securities linked to batteries and BESS in addition to Collateral.  Collateral is defined as high-quality securities such as U.S. Treasuries, other U.S. Government obligations, money market funds, cash and cash-like equivalents (e.g., high quality commercial paper and similar instruments that are rated investment grade or, if unrated, of comparable quality as the Adviser may determine) that provide liquidity, serve as margin or collateralize the Subsidiary’s investments in lithium, nickel, copper and cobalt exchange-traded futures contracts.

 

The Fund will have exposure to U.S. and non-U.S. markets and both developed and emerging markets. The Fund may enter into forward foreign currency exchange contracts in order to protect against uncertainty in the level of future foreign currency exchange rates.

 

The Fund may invest in securities of companies of all sizes. Small-mid capitalization companies are those with market capitalizations at the time of investment between $2 billion and $20 billion.

 

As a result of its strategy, the Fund may have a relatively high level of portfolio turnover as compared to other funds, which may affect the Fund’s performance due to higher transaction costs.

 

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

 

Principal Investment Risks

The value of the Fund’s investments may decrease which will cause the value of the Fund’s Shares to decrease. As a result, you may lose money on your investment in the Fund, and there can be no assurance that the Fund will achieve its investment objective. Each risk summarized below is considered a “principal risk” of investing in the Fund, regardless of the order in which it appears.  Different risks may be more significant at different times depending on market conditions or other factors.

 

● Active Management Risk. The Fund is subject to management risk as an actively-managed investment portfolio. The Adviser’s investment approach may fail to produce the intended results.

 

● Clearing Broker Risk: The Fund’s investments in exchange-traded futures contracts expose it to the risks of a clearing broker (or a futures commission merchant (“FCM”)). Under current regulations, a clearing broker or FCM maintains customers’ assets in a bulk segregated account. There is a risk that Fund assets deposited with the clearing broker to serve as margin may be used to satisfy the broker’s own obligations or the losses of the broker’s other clients. In the event of default, the Fund could experience lengthy delays in recovering some or all of its assets and may not see any recovery at all.

 

 Collateral Risk:  If the Fund holds a significant portion of its assets in cash, cash equivalents, or other short-term investments, then its investment returns may be adversely affected and the Fund may not achieve its investment objective.

 

● Commodity Pool Risk: The Subsidiary’s investments in futures contracts has caused it and the Fund to be deemed commodity pools, thereby subjecting each of the Subsidiary and the Fund to regulation under the Commodity Exchange Act and Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”) rules. The Adviser is registered as a commodity pool operator (“CPO”) and the Sub-Adviser is registered as a commodity trading advisor (“CTA”), and will manage both the Fund and the Subsidiary in accordance with CFTC rules, as well as the rules that apply to registered investment companies. Registration as a CPO or CTA subjects the Adviser to additional laws, regulations and enforcement policies, which could increase compliance costs and may affect the operations and financial performance of the Fund or the Subsidiary. Registration as a commodity pool may have negative effects on the ability of the Fund or the Subsidiary to engage in its planned investment program. Additionally, the Subsidiary’s positions in futures contracts may have to be liquidated at disadvantageous times or prices to prevent the Fund from exceeding any applicable position limits established by the CFTC. Such actions may subject the Fund to substantial losses.

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● Commodity Sector Risk: Exposure to the commodities markets may subject the Fund to greater volatility than investments in traditional securities. The value of commodity-linked derivative instruments may be affected by changes in overall market movements, commodity index volatility, changes in interest rates, or factors affecting a particular industry or commodity, such as drought, floods, weather, pandemics, embargoes or other trade barriers, tariffs and international economic, political and regulatory developments. The prices of energy, industrial metals, and precious metals sector commodities may fluctuate widely due to factors such as changes in value, supply and demand and governmental regulatory policies. The commodity-linked securities in which the Fund invests may be issued by companies in the financial services sector, and events affecting the financial services sector may cause the Fund’s Share value to fluctuate.

 

● Counterparty Risk: Where the Fund enters into derivative contracts that are exchange-traded or traded through a central clearing counterparty, the Fund is subject to the counterparty risk associated with the Fund’s clearing broker or clearinghouse. In addition, the fund may enter into derivative contracts that are privately negotiated in the over-the-counter market. These contracts also involve exposure to credit risk, since contract performance depends in part on the financial condition of the counterparty. Relying on a counterparty exposes the Fund to the risk that a counterparty will not settle a transaction in accordance with its terms and conditions because of a dispute over the terms of the contract (whether or not bona fide) or because of a credit or liquidity problem, thus causing the Fund to suffer a loss. If a counterparty defaults on its payment obligations to the Fund, this default will cause the value of an investment in the Fund to decrease. In addition, to the extent the Fund deals with a limited number of counterparties, it will be more susceptible to the credit risks associated with those counterparties. The Fund is neither restricted from dealing with any particular counterparty nor from concentrating any or all of its transactions with one counterparty. The ability of the Fund to transact business with any one or number of counterparties and the absence of a regulated market to facilitate settlement may increase the potential for losses by the Fund.

 

● Credit Risk: Credit risk refers to the possibility that the issuer of the security or counterparty will not be able to make principal and interest payments when due or default completely. Changes in an issuer’s credit rating or the market’s perception of an issuer’s or counterparty’s creditworthiness may also affect the value of the Fund’s investment in that issuer. Securities rated in the four highest categories by the rating agencies are considered investment grade but they may also have some speculative characteristics. Investment grade ratings do not guarantee that bonds will not lose value or default. In addition, the credit quality of securities may be lowered if an issuer’s or counterparty’s financial condition changes. The Fund could also be delayed or hindered in its enforcement of rights against an issuer, guarantor, or counterparty.

 

● Currency Risk: Investment in foreign securities also involves currency risk associated with securities that trade or are denominated in currencies other than the U.S. dollar and which may be affected by fluctuations in currency exchange rates. An increase in the strength of the U.S. dollar relative to a foreign currency may cause the U.S. dollar value of an investment in that country to decline. Foreign currencies also are subject to risks caused by inflation, interest rates, budget deficits and low savings rates, political factors and government controls. Forward foreign currency exchange contracts may limit potential gains from a favorable change in value between the U.S. dollar and foreign currencies. Unanticipated changes in currency pricing may result in poorer overall performance for the Fund than if it had not engaged in these contracts.

 

●  Cyber Security Risk: Cyber security risk is the risk of an unauthorized breach and access to Fund assets, Fund or customer data (including private shareholder information), or proprietary information, or the risk of an incident occurring that causes the Fund, the Adviser, custodian, transfer agent, distributor and other service providers and financial intermediaries to suffer data breaches, data corruption or lose operational functionality or prevent Fund investors from purchasing, redeeming or exchanging shares or receiving distributions. The Fund and its Adviser have limited ability to prevent or mitigate cyber security incidents affecting third-party service providers, and such third-party service providers may have limited indemnification obligations to the Fund or the Adviser. Successful cyber-attacks or other cyber-failures or events affecting the Fund or its service providers may adversely impact and cause financial losses to the Fund or its shareholders. Issuers of securities in which the Fund invests are also subject to cyber security risks, and the value of these securities could decline if the issuers experience cyber-attacks or other cyber-failures.

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● Derivatives Risk:  Derivatives include instruments and contracts that are based on, and are valued in relation to, one or more underlying securities, financial benchmarks or indices, such as futures, options, swap agreements and forward contracts. Derivatives typically have economic leverage inherent in their terms. Such leverage will magnify any losses. See “Leverage/Volatility Risk” below. The use of derivatives is a highly specialized activity that involves investment techniques and risks different from those associated with investments in more traditional securities and instruments. The primary types of derivatives in which the Fund invests in are futures contracts. The Fund may also invest in forward contracts and swap contracts . Futures contracts, forward contracts and swap agreements can be highly volatile, illiquid and difficult to value, and changes in the value of such instruments held directly or indirectly by the Fund may not correlate with the underlying instrument or reference assets, or the Fund’s other investments. Although the value of futures contracts, forward contracts and swap agreements depends largely upon price movements in the underlying instrument or reference asset, there are additional risks associated with futures contracts, forward contracts and swap agreements that are possibly greater than the risks associated with investing directly in the underlying instruments or reference assets, including illiquidity risk, leveraging risk and counterparty credit risk. A small position in futures contracts, forward contracts or swap agreements could have a potentially large impact on the Fund’s performance. Trading restrictions or limitations may be imposed by an exchange, and government regulations may restrict trading in swap agreements, futures contracts and options and forward contracts.

 

● Emerging Markets Risk: Investment in emerging market securities involves greater risk than that associated with investment in foreign securities of developed foreign countries. These risks include volatile currency exchange rates, periods of high inflation, increased risk of default, greater social, economic and political uncertainty and instability, less governmental supervision and regulation of securities markets, weaker auditing and financial reporting standards, lack of liquidity in the markets, and the significantly smaller market capitalizations of emerging market issuers. The information available about an emerging market issuer may be less reliable than for comparable issuers in more developed capital markets. Investments in certain emerging markets are subject to an elevated risk of loss resulting from market manipulation and the imposition of exchange controls (including repatriation restrictions). The legal rights and remedies available for investors in emerging markets, whether individually or in combination with other shareholders,  may be more limited than the rights and remedies available in the U.S., and the ability of U.S. authorities (e.g., SEC and the U.S. Department of Justice) to bring actions against bad actors in emerging markets may be limited. 

 

● Equity and Equity-Related Securities Risk: Investments in equity securities and equity derivatives in general are subject to market risks that may cause their prices to fluctuate over time. The value of a convertible security may not increase or decrease as rapidly as the underlying common stock. Common stocks may decline over short or even extended periods of time. The purchase of rights or warrants involves the risk that the Fund could lose the purchase value of a right or warrant if the right to subscribe to additional shares is not executed prior to the right’s or warrant’s expiration. The value of securities convertible into equity securities, such as warrants or convertible debt, is also affected by prevailing interest rates, the credit quality of the issuer and any call provision.

 

ETF Risk. The Fund is an ETF, and, as a result of an ETF’s structure, it is exposed to the following risks: “Authorized Participants, Market Makers and Liquidity Providers Concentration Risk,” “Secondary Market Trading Risk,” and “Shares May Trade at Prices Other Than NAV Risk.”

 

Authorized Participants, Market Makers and Liquidity Providers Concentration Risk. Only an authorized participant (“APs”) may engage in creation or redemption transactions directly with the Fund. The Fund has a limited number of financial institutions that are institutional investors and may act as APs. In addition, there may be a limited number of market makers and/or liquidity providers in the marketplace. To the extent either of the following events occur, Fund Shares may trade at a material discount to net asset value (“NAV”) and possibly face delisting: (i) APs exit the business or otherwise become unable to process creation and/or redemption orders and no other APs step forward to perform these services, or (ii) market makers and/or liquidity providers exit the business or significantly reduce their business activities and no other entities step forward to perform their functions. These events, among others, may lead to the Fund Shares trading at a premium or discount to NAV and to widening bid-ask spreads. A diminished market for an ETF’s shares substantially increases the risk that a shareholder may pay considerably more or receive significantly less than the underlying value of the ETF shares bought or sold. In periods of market volatility, APs, market makers and/or liquidity providers may be less willing to transact in Fund Shares. In stressed market conditions, the market for the fund’s shares may become less liquid in response to deteriorating liquidity in the markets for the fund’s underlying portfolio holdings. This adverse effect on liquidity for the Fund’s shares in turn could lead to wider bid/ask spreads and differences between the market price of the Fund’s shares and the underlying value of those shares. Where all or a portion of the fund's underlying securities trade in a market that is closed when the market in which the fund's shares are listed and trading in that market is open, there may be changes between the last quote from its closed foreign market and the value of such security during the fund's domestic trading day. This, in turn, could lead to wider bid/ask spreads and differences between the market price of the fund's shares and the underlying value of those shares.

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Secondary Market Trading Risk. Although Shares are listed on a national securities exchange, the NYSE Arca, Inc. (the “Exchange”), and may be traded on U.S. exchanges other than the Exchange, there can be no assurance that an active or liquid trading market for them will develop or be maintained. In addition, trading in Shares on the Exchange may be halted. Any absence of an active market could, in turn, lead to a heightened risk that there may be times when the market price of Shares is more than the NAV intra-day (premium) or less than the NAV intra-day (discount) and there may be widening bid-ask spreads.. This risk is heightened in times of market volatility or periods of steep market declines. During the domestic trading day, this market price variance can be reflected as a spread between the prices quoted in the market for an immediate sale (bid) and an immediate purchase (ask or offer) of the fund’s shares, known as the bid-ask spread. At the end of the domestic trading day, market price variance can be reflected as a difference between the closing market price of fund’s shares and the fund’s official daily NAV. When spreads widen or premiums/discounts become larger than usual, investors may pay significantly more or receive significantly less than the underlying value of the fund’s shares when they buy or sell in the secondary market

 

Shares May Trade at Prices Other Than NAV Risk. As with all ETFs, Shares may be bought and sold in the secondary market at market prices. Although it is expected that the market price of Shares will approximate the Fund’s NAV, there may be times when the market price of Shares is more than the NAV intra-day (premium) or less than the NAV intra-day (discount). This risk is heightened in times of market volatility or periods of steep market declines.

 

● Foreign Investments Risk: International investing may be subject to special risks, including currency exchange rate volatility, political, social or economic instability, less publicly available information, less stringent investor protections, and differences in taxation, auditing and other financial practices. The Fund may invest in securities of foreign issuers either directly or through depositary receipts. Depositary receipts may be available through “sponsored” or “unsponsored” facilities. Holders of unsponsored depositary receipts generally bear all of the costs of the unsponsored facility. The depository of an unsponsored facility is frequently 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. The depository of unsponsored depositary receipts may provide less information to receipt holders. Foreign securities in which the Fund invests may be traded in markets that close before the time that the Fund calculates its NAV. Furthermore, certain foreign securities in which the Fund invests may be listed on foreign exchanges that trade on weekends or other days when the Fund does not calculate its NAV. As a result, the value of the Fund’s holdings may change on days when shareholders are not able to purchase or redeem the Fund’s shares.

 

●  Futures and Forward Contracts and Related Risks: The successful use of futures and forward contracts draws upon the Adviser’s skill and experience with respect to such instruments and are subject to special risk considerations. The primary risks associated with the use of futures and forward contracts are:

 

●  futures and forward contracts have a high degree of price variability and are subject to occasional rapid and substantial changes;

 

●  the imperfect correlation between the change in market value of the forward or futures contracts and the market value of the underlying instrument or reference assets with respect to such contracts;

 

●  possible lack of a liquid secondary market for a forward or futures contract and the resulting inability to close a forward or futures contract when desired;

 

●  possible market disruption or other extraordinary events, including but not limited to, governmental intervention;

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●  potentially unlimited losses caused by unanticipated market movements;

 

●  the Fund’s inability to predict correctly the direction of securities prices, interest rates, currency exchange rates and other economic factors;

 

●  the possibility that the counterparty will default in the performance of its obligations; and

 

●  if the Fund has insufficient cash, it may either have to sell securities from its portfolio to meet daily variation margin requirements with respect to its derivative instruments or close certain positions at a time when it may be disadvantageous to do so.

 

The use of futures contracts, forward contracts and derivative instruments will have the economic effect of financial leverage. Financial leverage magnifies exposure to the swings in prices of an asset class underlying an investment and results in increased volatility, which means the Fund will have the potential for greater losses than if the Fund did not employ leverage in its investment activity. Leveraging tends to magnify, sometimes significantly, the effect of any increase or decrease in the Fund’s exposure to an asset class and may cause the value of the Fund’s securities or related derivatives instruments to be volatile. Accordingly, the Fund’s NAV may be volatile because of its investment exposure to the Fund.

 

There is no assurance that the Fund’s investment in a derivative instrument with leveraged exposure to certain investments and markets will enable the Fund to achieve its investment objective.

 

● Gap Risk: The Fund is subject to the risk that a commodity price will change between periods of trading. Usually such movements occur when there are adverse news announcements, which can cause a commodity price to drop substantially from the previous day’s closing price.

 

● Government Intervention and Regulatory Changes: The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (the “Dodd-Frank Act”) (which was passed into law in July 2010) significantly revised and expanded the rulemaking, supervisory and enforcement authority of federal bank, securities and commodities regulators. There can be no assurance that future regulatory actions including, but not limited to, those authorized by the Dodd-Frank Act will not adversely impact the Fund. Major changes resulting from legislative or regulatory actions could materially affect the profitability of the Fund or the value of investments made by the Fund or force the Fund to revise its investment strategy or divest certain of its investments. Any of these developments could expose the Fund to additional costs, taxes, liabilities, enforcement actions and reputational risk.

 

On August 19, 2022, the SEC implemented new regulations governing the use of derivatives by registered investment companies. Rule 18f-4 imposes limits on the amount of derivatives a fund can enter into, eliminates the asset segregation framework previously used by funds to comply with Section 18 of the 1940 Act, treats derivatives as senior securities so that a failure to comply with the limits would result in a statutory violation and requires the Fund to establish and maintain a comprehensive derivatives risk management program and appoint a derivatives risk manager. Rule 18f-4 may require the Fund to observe more stringent asset coverage and related requirements than were previously imposed by the 1940 Act.

 

● Hedging Transactions Risk: The Adviser from time to time employ various hedging techniques. The success of the Fund’s hedging strategy will be subject to the Adviser’s ability to correctly assess the degree of correlation between the performance of the instruments used in the hedging strategy and the performance of the investments in the portfolio being hedged. Since the characteristics of many securities change as markets change or time passes, the success of the Fund’s hedging strategy will also be subject to the Adviser’s ability to continually recalculate, readjust, and execute hedges in an efficient and timely manner. For a variety of reasons, the Adviser may not seek to establish a perfect correlation between such hedging instruments and the portfolio holdings being hedged. Such imperfect correlation may prevent the Fund from achieving the intended hedge or expose the Fund to risk of loss. In addition, it is not possible to hedge fully or perfectly against any risk, and hedging entails its own cost.

 

● High Portfolio Turnover Risk: The risk that when investing on a shorter-term basis, the Fund may as a result trade more frequently and incur higher levels of brokerage fees and commissions, and cause higher levels of current tax liability to shareholders in the Fund.

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Industry Concentration Risk: A fund that concentrates in a particular industry will generally be more volatile than a fund that invests more broadly. Because the Fund invests in securities and financial instruments related to the metals and mining industry, the Fund’s performance largely depends on the overall condition of this industry. The metals and mining industry could be adversely affected by various political, regulatory, supply-and-demand, and other economic factors.

 

● Leveraging Risk: Investments in futures contracts and other derivative instruments may give rise to a form of leverage. The Adviser may engage in speculative transactions which involve substantial risk and leverage, such as making short sales. The use of leverage by the Adviser may increase the volatility of the Fund. These leveraged instruments may result in losses to the Fund or may adversely affect the Fund’s NAV or total return, because instruments that contain leverage are more sensitive to changes in interest rates. The Fund may also have to sell assets at inopportune times to satisfy its obligations in connection with such transactions.

 

● Lithium, Nickel, Copper and Cobalt Exposure Risk: The Fund invests in financial instruments such as futures contracts and the equity securities of companies linked to lithium, nickel, copper, cobalt and other elements necessary for the production of batteries and BESS used in electric vehicle and solar industries, which may be susceptible to fluctuations in the underlying commodities market. Commodity prices may be influenced or characterized by unpredictable factors, including, where applicable, high volatility, changes in supply and demand relationships, weather, agriculture, trade, changes in interest rates and monetary and other governmental policies, action and inaction. Securities of companies held by the Fund that are dependent on a single commodity, or are concentrated on a single commodity sector, may typically exhibit even higher volatility attributable to commodity prices. Companies involved in the manufacturing of lithium-ion batteries are subject to the effects of price fluctuations of traditional and alternative sources of energy, developments in battery and alternative energy technology, the possibility that government subsidies for alternative energy will be eliminated and the possibility that lithium-ion technology is not suitable for widespread adoption.

 

●  Liquidity Risk: The Fund is subject to liquidity risk primarily due to its investments in derivatives. Investments in derivative instruments involve the risk that the Fund may be unable to sell the derivative instrument or sell it at a reasonable price.

 

● Management Risk: The Fund is subject to management risk because it is an actively managed portfolio. In managing the Fund’s portfolio holdings, the Adviser applies investment techniques and risk analyses in making investment decisions for the Fund, but there can be no guarantee that these actions will produce the desired results.

 

● Market Risk: The NAV of the Fund will change with changes in the market value of its portfolio positions. The value of investments held by the Fund may increase or decrease in response to economic, political, financial, public health crises (such as epidemics or pandemics) or other disruptive events (whether real, expected or perceived) in the U.S. and global markets. Investors may lose money.

 

● Metals Sector Risk: Because the Fund invests in financial instruments that are linked to different types of commodities from the metals sector, the Fund is subject to the risks inherent in the metals sector. Such risks may include, but are not limited to: general economic conditions or cyclical market patterns that could negatively affect supply and demand in a particular industry; changes in environmental conditions, energy conservation and environmental policies; competition for or depletion of resources; adverse labor relations; political or world events; increased regulatory burdens; changes in exchange rates; imposition of import controls; obsolescence of technologies; and increased competition or new product introductions.

 

The performance of the Fund in part is linked to the daily performance of the spot price of certain industrial metals, including iron ore, copper, aluminum, nickel and cobalt. Investments in metals may be highly volatile and can change quickly and unpredictably due to a number of factors, including the supply and demand of each metal, environmental or labor costs, political, legal, financial, accounting and tax matters and other events that the Fund cannot control. In addition, changes in international monetary policies or economic and political conditions can affect the supply of metals, and consequently the value of metal investments. The United States or foreign governments may pass laws or regulations limiting metal investments for strategic or other policy reasons. Further, the principal supplies of metal industries may be concentrated in a small number of countries and regions. Consequently, the price of a metal held by the Fund could decline, which would adversely affect the Fund’s performance.

 

● Mining Sector Risk: The exploration and development of mineral deposits involve significant financial risks over a significant period of time, which even a combination of careful evaluation, experience and knowledge may not eliminate. Few properties which are explored are ultimately developed into producing mines. Major expenditures may be required to establish reserves by drilling and to construct mining and processing facilities at a site. In addition, mineral exploration companies typically operate at a loss and are dependent on securing equity and/or debt financing, which might be more difficult to secure for an exploration company than for a more established counterpart.

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● New Adviser Risk: The Adviser is newly registered with the SEC and has not previously managed an exchange-traded fund. Accordingly, investors in the Fund bear the risk that the Adviser’s inexperience may limit its effectiveness.

 

● New Fund Risk: The Fund is a recently organized, non-diversified management investment company with no operating history. There is a risk that the Fund will not grow or maintain an economically viable size, in which case the Board of Trustees (the “Board”) of The RBB Fund Trust may determine to liquidate the Fund.

 

● Non-Diversification Risk: The Fund is non-diversified. Compared to other funds, the Fund may invest more of its assets in a smaller number of companies. Gains or losses on a single security may have greater impact on the Fund.

 

● Non-Lithium, Nickel, Copper and Cobalt Exposure Risk: Although the Fund invests a large percentage of its assets in financial instruments such as futures contracts and the equity securities of companies linked to lithium, nickel, copper, cobalt and other elements necessary for the production of batteries and BESS used in the electric vehicle and solar industries, these companies may derive a significant percentage of their profits from other non-lithium, nickel, copper and cobalt business activities including, for example, the production of manganese, graphite, fertilizers and/or specialty and industrial chemicals. As a result, the performance of these non-lithium, nickel, copper and cobalt business activities and the profits of these companies from such activities may significantly impact the performance of such companies, and in turn impact the Fund’s performance.

 

● Operational Risk: The Fund is exposed to operational risks arising from a number of factors, including, but not limited to, human error, processing and communication errors, errors of the Fund’s service providers, counterparties or other third-parties, failed or inadequate processes and technology or systems failures. The Fund and the Adviser seek to reduce these operational risks through controls and procedures. However, these measures do not address every possible risk and may be inadequate to address these risks.

 

● Options Risk: Purchasing and writing put and call options are highly specialized activities and entail greater than ordinary investment risks. The Fund may not fully benefit from or may lose money on an option if changes in its value do not correspond as anticipated to changes in the value of the underlying securities.

 

● OTC Trading Risk: Certain of the derivatives in which the Fund may invest may be traded (and privately negotiated) in the “over-the-counter” or “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.

 

● Quantitative Trading Strategies Risk: The Adviser may use quantitative methods to select investments. Securities or other investments selected using quantitative methods may perform differently from the market as a whole or from their expected performance for many reasons, including factors used in building the quantitative analytical framework, the weights placed on each factor, and changing sources of market returns, among others. Any errors or imperfections in quantitative analyses or models, or in the data on which they are based, could adversely affect the ability of the Adviser to use such analyses or models effectively, which in turn could adversely affect the Fund’s performance. There can be no assurance that these methodologies will help the Fund to achieve its investment objective.

 

● Small and Mid-Capitalization Companies Risk. The Fund invests in securities of companies of all sizes, including those that have relatively small market capitalizations. Investments in securities of these companies involve greater risks than do investments in larger, more established companies. The prices of securities of small-cap companies tend to be more vulnerable to adverse developments specific to the company or its industry, or the securities markets generally, than are securities of larger capitalization companies.

 

● Subsidiary Risk: By investing in the Subsidiary, the Fund is indirectly exposed to the risks associated with the Subsidiary’s investments. The derivatives and other investments held by the Subsidiary are generally similar to those that are permitted to be held by the Fund and are subject to the same risks that apply to similar investments if held directly by the fund. The Subsidiary is not registered under the 1940 Act, and, unless otherwise noted in this Prospectus, is not subject to all the investor protections of the 1940 Act. Changes in the laws of the United States, Delaware and/or the Cayman Islands could result in the inability of the Fund and/or the Subsidiary to continue to operate as it does currently and could adversely affect the Fund.

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● Swaps Risk: In a standard “swap” transaction, two parties agree to exchange the returns, differentials in rates of return or some other amount earned or realized on the “notional amount” of predetermined investments or instruments, which may be adjusted for an interest factor. Swaps can involve greater risks than direct investment in securities, because swaps may be leveraged, are subject to the risk that the counterparty may default on the obligation, and may be difficult to value.

 

● Tax Risk: In order to qualify as a RIC, the Fund must meet certain requirements regarding the source of its income, the diversification of its assets and the distribution of its income. Under the test regarding the source of a RIC’s income, at least 90% of the gross income of the RIC each year must be qualifying income, which consists of dividends, interest, gains on investment assets and other categories of investment income. In 2006, the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) published a ruling that income realized from swaps with respect to a commodities index would not be qualifying income. The Fund’s investment in the Subsidiary is expected to provide the Fund with exposure to the commodities markets within the limitations of the Code for qualification as a RIC, but there is a risk that the IRS could assert that the income derived from the Fund’s investment in the Subsidiary will not be considered qualifying income for purposes of the Fund remaining qualified as a RIC for U.S. federal income tax purposes. The IRS finalized Treasury Regulations that provide that the income from a foreign subsidiary that is a controlled foreign corporation is qualifying income for purposes of a fund remaining qualified as a RIC for U.S. federal income tax purposes (1) to the extent the income is actually distributed by a foreign subsidiary for the RIC each year and (2) even if not distributed currently, to the extent the income is derived with respect to the fund’s business of investing in stock, securities or currencies. If the Fund were to fail to qualify as a RIC and became subject to federal income tax, shareholders of the Fund would be subject to diminished returns. Changes in the laws or acts of the United States, Delaware and/or the Cayman Islands could result in the inability of the Fund and/or its Subsidiaries to operate as described in this Prospectus and the Statement of Additional Information and could adversely affect the Fund. For example, the Cayman Islands does not currently impose any income, corporate or capital gains tax or withholding tax on the Subsidiary. If Cayman Islands act changes such that the Subsidiary must pay Cayman Islands taxes, Fund shareholders would likely suffer decreased investment returns.

 

Performance Information:  

Performance information for the Fund is not included because the Fund did not commence operations prior to the date of this Prospectus. In the future, performance information for the Fund will be presented in this section. Updated performance information will be available on the Fund’s website at www.emgadvisors.com.

 

Management 

Investment Adviser and Investment Sub-Adviser 

The Energy & Minerals Group Advisors, LLC serves as the investment adviser. Vident Investment Advisory, LLC (“Vident”) serves as investment sub-adviser to the Fund.

 

Portfolio Managers

Team Member Primary Title Start Date with the Fund
William McDonough Portfolio Manager at the Adviser Since the Fund’s inception in December 2022
John Calvert Portfolio Manager at the Adviser Since the Fund’s inception in December 2022
John Raymond Portfolio Manager at the Adviser Since the Fund’s inception in December 2022
Ryan Dofflemeyer Senior Portfolio Manager at Vident Since the Fund’s inception in December 2022
Austin Wen, CFA Portfolio Manager at Vident Since the Fund’s inception in December 2022

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Purchase and Sale of Fund Shares

Shares are listed on the Exchange, and investors can only buy and sell Shares through brokers or dealers at market prices, rather than NAV. Because Shares trade at market prices rather than NAV, Shares may trade at a price greater than NAV (premium) or less than NAV (discount). An investor may incur costs attributable to the difference between the highest price a buyer is willing to pay to purchase shares (bid) and the lowest price a seller is willing to accept for shares (ask) when buying or selling shares in the secondary market (the "bid-ask spread"). The median bid-ask spread for the Fund’s most recent fiscal year cannot be provided because the Fund did not have a sufficient trading history to report trading information and related costs. Once available, information on the Fund’s NAV, market price, premiums and discounts, and bid-ask spreads will be provided at www.emgadvisors.com.

 

The Fund issues and redeems Shares at NAV only in large blocks known as “Creation Units,” which only APs (typically, broker-dealers) may purchase or redeem. The Fund generally issues and redeems Creation Units in exchange for a portfolio of securities closely approximating the holdings of the Fund (the “Deposit Securities”) and/or a designated amount of U.S. cash.

 

Tax Information

Fund distributions are generally taxable as ordinary income, qualified dividend income, or capital gains (or a combination), unless your investment is in an individual retirement account (“IRA”) or other tax-advantaged account. Distributions on investments made through tax-deferred arrangements may be taxed later upon withdrawal of assets from those accounts.

 

Financial Intermediary Compensation

If you purchase Shares through a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary (such as a bank) (an “Intermediary”), the Fund’s investment adviser, or its affiliates may pay Intermediaries for certain activities related to the Fund, including participation in activities that are designed to make Intermediaries more knowledgeable about exchange traded products, including the Fund, or for other activities, such as marketing, educational training or other initiatives related to the sale or promotion of Shares. These payments may create a conflict of interest by influencing the Intermediary and your salesperson to recommend the Fund over another investment. Any such arrangements do not result in increased Fund expenses. Ask your salesperson or visit the Intermediary’s website for more information.

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ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ABOUT THE FUND

 

Investment Objective

The Fund’s investment objective is to seek long-term capital appreciation. The Fund’s investment objective is non-fundamental and may be changed by the Board of The RBB Fund Trust without the approval of the Fund’s shareholders. However, as a matter of policy, the Fund would not materially change its investment objective without informing shareholders at least 60 days in advance of any such change.

 

Additional Principal Investment Strategies

The Fund’s investments are designed to achieve long-term capital appreciation by concentrating its investments in a combination of financial instruments that are economically linked to elements necessary for the production of batteries and BESS used in the electric vehicle and solar industries (currently, lithium, nickel, copper and cobalt). Under normal circumstances, the Fund invests, either directly or through the Subsidiary, in domestic or foreign lithium, nickel, copper and cobalt exchange-traded futures contracts, equity securities linked to batteries and BESS, and Collateral. The Fund may also invest in financial instruments that are economically linked to manganese or graphite

 

The Adviser will focus on taking positions in the key inputs for current and future battery chemistries and technologies supplying the rapidly growing global markets for (1) electric vehicles (passenger, light duty, etc.) and (2) the energy storage systems needed to store and then make available for use renewable energy from wind and solar projects and a range of other related applications.

 

The Adviser may use discretionary approaches aimed at identifying value investments and turning points in trends. The Adviser utilizes a disciplined approach to risk management. The Fund may sell an investment if it has obtained a target value for the relative sector, issuer, or specific security; if pricing performance or fundamental performance varies from expectations; if fundamentals deteriorate; or if the Adviser believes that alternative investments offer the opportunity to achieve more favorable risk-adjusted returns. The markets traded include domestic and foreign equity markets and commodity markets. Most of the trading is done in derivative markets, usually listed futures markets, but some trading in cash markets may take place when this is the most effective way to enter or exit a trading position. More information about the Fund’s investments and portfolio management techniques, and related risks, is included in the SAI.

 

The investments and strategies described in this Prospectus are those that the Fund uses under normal conditions. The Fund may depart from its principal investment strategy in response to adverse market, economic, political or other conditions by taking temporary defensive positions (up to 100% of its assets) in all types of money market and short-term debt securities. If the Fund were to take a temporary defensive position, it may be unable to achieve its investment objective for a period of time.

 

This Prospectus describes the Fund’s principal investment strategies, and the Fund will normally invest in the types of securities described in this Prospectus. In addition to the investments and strategies described in this Prospectus, the Fund also may invest, to a lesser extent, in other securities, use other strategies and engage in other investment practices that are not part of its principal investment strategy. These investments and strategies, as well as those described in this Prospectus, are described in detail in the Fund’s SAI. There is no guarantee that the Fund will achieve its investment objective.

 

The Fund complies with Section 8 and Section 18 of the 1940 Act, governing investment policies and capital structure and leverage, respectively, on an aggregate basis with the Subsidiary. The Subsidiary also complies with Section 17 of the 1940 Act relating to affiliated transactions and custody. With respect to the Subsidiary, the Adviser complies with provisions of the 1940 Act relating to investment advisory contracts (Section 15) as an investment adviser to a fund under Section 2(a)(20) of the 1940 Act.

 

Additional Principal Risk Information

The value of the Fund’s investments may decrease which will cause the value of the Fund’s Shares to decrease. As a result, you may lose money on your investment in the Fund, and there can be no assurance that the Fund will achieve its investment objective. An investment in the Fund is subject to one or more of the principal risks.

 

● Active Management Risk. The Adviser actively manages the Fund’s investments. Consequently, the Fund is subject to the risk that the investment techniques and risk analyses employed by the Adviser may not produce the desired results. This could cause the Fund to lose value or its investment results to lag relevant benchmarks or other funds with similar objectives. Additionally, legislative, regulatory or tax developments may affect the investment techniques available to the Adviser in connection with managing the Fund and may also adversely affect the ability of the Fund to achieve its investment goal.

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● Clearing Broker Risk: The Fund’s investments in exchange-traded futures contracts expose it to the risks of a clearing broker (or a futures commission merchant (“FCM”)). Under current regulations, a clearing broker or FCM maintains customers’ assets in a bulk segregated account. There is a risk that Fund assets deposited with the clearing broker to serve as margin may be used to satisfy the broker’s own obligations or the losses of the broker’s other clients. In the event of default, the Fund could experience lengthy delays in recovering some or all of its assets and may not see any recovery at all.

 

● Collateral Securities Risk: Collateral may include obligations issued or guaranteed by the U.S. Government, its agencies and instrumentalities, including bills, notes and bonds issued by the U.S. Treasury, money market funds and corporate debt securities, such as commercial paper.

 

Some securities issued or guaranteed by federal agencies and U.S. Government-sponsored instrumentalities may not be backed by the full faith and credit of the United States, in which case the investor must look principally to the agency or instrumentality issuing or guaranteeing the security for ultimate repayment, and may not be able to assert a claim against the United States itself in the event that the agency or instrumentality does not meet its commitment. The U.S. Government, its agencies and instrumentalities do not guarantee the market value of their securities, and consequently, the value of such securities may fluctuate. Although the Fund may hold securities that carry U.S. Government guarantees, these guarantees do not extend to shares of the Fund.

 

Money market funds are subject to management fees and other expenses. Therefore, investments in money market funds will cause the Fund to bear indirectly a proportional share of the fees and costs of the money market funds in which it invests. At the same time, the Fund will continue to pay its own management fees and expenses with respect to all of its assets, including any portion invested in the shares of the money market fund. It is possible to lose money by investing in money market funds.

 

Corporate debt securities such as commercial paper generally are short-term unsecured promissory notes issued by businesses. Corporate debt may be rated investment-grade or below investment-grade and may carry variable or floating rates of interest. Corporate debt securities carry both credit risk and interest rate risk. Credit risk is the risk that the Fund could lose money if the issuer of a corporate debt security is unable to pay interest or repay principal when it is due. Some corporate debt securities that are rated below investment-grade generally are considered speculative because they present a greater risk of loss, including default, than higher quality debt securities.

 

● Commodity Sector Risk: Exposure to the commodities markets may subject the Fund to greater volatility than investments in traditional securities. The value of commodity-linked derivative instruments may be affected by changes in overall market movements, commodity index volatility, changes in interest rates, or factors affecting a particular industry or commodity, such as drought, floods, weather, pandemics, embargoes or other trade barriers, tariffs and international economic, political and regulatory developments. The prices of energy, industrial metals, and precious metals sector commodities may fluctuate widely due to factors such as changes in value, supply and demand and governmental regulatory policies. The commodity-linked securities in which the Fund invests may be issued by companies in the financial services sector, and events affecting the financial services sector may cause the Fund’s Share value to fluctuate.

 

The Fund may gain exposure to the commodities markets through commodity-linked structured notes, swap agreements and commodity futures and options. These instruments have one or more commodity-dependent components. They are derivative instruments because at least part of their value is derived from the value of an underlying commodity index, commodity futures contract, index or other readily measurable economic variable. The prices of commodity-linked derivative instruments may move in different directions than investments in traditional equity and debt securities when the value of those traditional securities is declining due to adverse economic conditions. There cannot be any guarantee that derivative instruments will perform in that manner in the future, and at certain times the price movements of commodity-linked investments have been parallel to debt and equity securities.

 

● Counterparty Risk: Where the Fund enters into derivative contracts that are exchange-traded or traded through a central clearing counterparty, the Fund is subject to the counterparty risk associated with the Fund’s clearing broker or clearinghouse. In addition, the fund may enter into derivative contracts that are privately negotiated in the over-the-counter market. These contracts also involve exposure to credit risk, since contract performance depends in part on the financial condition of the counterparty. Relying on a counterparty exposes the Fund to the risk that a counterparty will not settle a transaction in accordance with its terms and conditions because of a dispute over the terms of the contract (whether or not bona fide) or because of a credit or liquidity problem, thus causing the Fund to suffer a loss. If a counterparty defaults on its payment obligations to the Fund, this default will cause the value of an investment in the Fund to decrease. In addition, to the extent the Fund deals with a limited number of counterparties, it will be more susceptible to the credit risks associated with those counterparties. The Fund is neither restricted from dealing with any particular counterparty nor from concentrating any or all of its transactions with one counterparty. The ability of the Fund to transact business with any one or number of counterparties and the absence of a regulated market to facilitate settlement may increase the potential for losses by the Fund.

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● Credit Risk: Credit risk refers to the possibility that the issuer of the security or counterparty will not be able to make principal and interest payments when due or default completely. Changes in an issuer’s credit rating or the market’s perception of an issuer’s or counterparties’ creditworthiness may also affect the value of the Fund’s investment in that issuer. Securities rated in the four highest categories by the rating agencies are considered investment grade but they may also have some speculative characteristics. Investment grade ratings do not guarantee that bonds will not lose value or default. In addition, the credit quality of securities may be lowered if an issuer’s or counterparty’s financial condition changes. The Fund could also be delayed or hindered in its enforcement of rights against an issuer, guarantor, or counterparty.

 

● Currency Risk: Investment in foreign securities also involves currency risk associated with securities that trade or are denominated in currencies other than the U.S. dollar and which may be affected by fluctuations in currency exchange rates. An increase in the strength of the U.S. dollar relative to a foreign currency may cause the U.S. dollar value of an investment in that country to decline. Foreign currencies also are subject to risks caused by inflation, interest rates, budget deficits and low savings rates, political factors and government controls. Forward foreign currency exchange contracts may limit potential gains from a favorable change in value between the U.S. dollar and foreign currencies. Unanticipated changes in currency pricing may result in poorer overall performance for the Fund than if it had not engaged in these contracts.

 

●  Cyber Security Risk: Cyber security risk is the risk of an unauthorized breach and access to Fund assets, Fund or customer data (including private shareholder information), or proprietary information, or the risk of an incident occurring that causes the Fund, the Adviser, custodian, transfer agent, distributor and other service providers and financial intermediaries to suffer data breaches, data corruption or lose operational functionality or prevent Fund investors from purchasing, redeeming or exchanging shares or receiving distributions. The Fund and its Adviser have limited ability to prevent or mitigate cyber security incidents affecting third-party service providers, and such third-party service providers may have limited indemnification obligations to the Fund or the Adviser. Successful cyber-attacks or other cyber-failures or events affecting the Fund or its service providers may adversely impact and cause financial losses to the Fund or its shareholders. Issuers of securities in which the Fund invests are also subject to cyber security risks, and the value of these securities could decline if the issuers experience cyber-attacks or other cyber-failures.

 

● Derivatives Risk:  Derivatives include instruments and contracts that are based on, and are valued in relation to, one or more underlying securities, financial benchmarks or indices, such as futures, options, swap agreements and forward contracts. Derivatives typically have economic leverage inherent in their terms. Such leverage will magnify any losses. The use of derivatives is a highly specialized activity that involves investment techniques and risks different from those associated with investments in more traditional securities and instruments. The primary types of derivatives in which the Fund invests in are futures contracts. The Fund may also invest in forward contracts and swap contracts. Futures contracts, forward contracts and swap agreements can be highly volatile, illiquid and difficult to value, and changes in the value of such instruments held directly or indirectly by the Fund may not correlate with the underlying instrument or reference assets, or the Fund’s other investments. Although the value of futures contracts, forward contracts and swap agreements depends largely upon price movements in the underlying instrument or reference asset, there are additional risks associated with futures contracts, forward contracts and swap agreements that are possibly greater than the risks associated with investing directly in the underlying instruments or reference assets, including illiquidity risk, leveraging risk and counterparty credit risk. A small position in futures contracts, forward contracts or swap agreements could have a potentially large impact on the Fund’s performance. Trading restrictions or limitations may be imposed by an exchange, and government regulations may restrict trading in swap agreements, futures contracts and options and forward contracts.

 

● Emerging Markets Risk: Investment in emerging market securities involves greater risk than that associated with investment in foreign securities of developed foreign countries. These risks include volatile currency exchange rates, periods of high inflation, increased risk of default, greater social, economic and political uncertainty and instability, less governmental supervision and regulation of securities markets, weaker auditing and financial reporting standards, lack of liquidity in the markets, and the significantly smaller market capitalizations of emerging market issuers. The information available about an emerging market issuer may be less reliable than for comparable issuers in more developed capital markets. Government actions such as currency controls or seizure of private business or property may be more likely in emerging markets. Investments in certain emerging markets are subject to an elevated risk of loss resulting from market manipulation and the imposition of exchange controls (including repatriation restrictions). The legal rights and remedies available for investors in emerging markets, whether individually or in combination with other shareholders,  may be more limited than the rights and remedies available in the U.S., and the ability of U.S. authorities (e.g., SEC and the U.S. Department of Justice) to bring actions against bad actors in emerging markets may be limited. 

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● Equity and Equity-Related Securities Risk: Investments in equity securities and equity derivatives in general are subject to market risks that may cause their prices to fluctuate over time. The value of a convertible security may not increase or decrease as rapidly as the underlying common stock. Common stocks may decline over short or even extended periods of time. The purchase of rights or warrants involves the risk that the Fund could lose the purchase value of a right or warrant if the right to subscribe to additional shares is not executed prior to the right’s or warrant’s expiration. The value of securities convertible into equity securities, such as warrants or convertible debt, is also affected by prevailing interest rates, the credit quality of the issuer and any call provision. Fluctuations in the value of equity securities in which an exchange-traded fund invests will cause the Fund’s NAV to fluctuate. The number of issuers in the Fund’s portfolio will vary over time.

 

ETF Risk. The Fund is an ETF, and, as a result of an ETF’s structure, it is exposed to the following risks: “Authorized Participants, Market Makers and Liquidity Providers Concentration Risk,” “Secondary Market Trading Risk,” and “Shares May Trade at Prices Other Than NAV Risk.”

 

Authorized Participants, Market Makers and Liquidity Providers Concentration Risk. Only an AP may engage in creation or redemption transactions directly with the Fund. The Fund has a limited number of financial institutions that are institutional investors and may act as APs. In addition, there may be a limited number of market makers and/or liquidity providers in the marketplace. To the extent either of the following events occur, Fund Shares may trade at a material discount to NAV and possibly face delisting: (i) APs exit the business or otherwise become unable to process creation and/or redemption orders and no other APs step forward to perform these services, or (ii) market makers and/or liquidity providers exit the business or significantly reduce their business activities and no other entities step forward to perform their functions. These events, among others, may lead to the Fund Shares trading at a premium or discount to NAV and to widening bid-ask spreads. A diminished market for an ETF’s shares substantially increases the risk that a shareholder may pay considerably more or receive significantly less than the underlying value of the ETF shares bought or sold. In periods of market volatility, APs, market makers and/or liquidity providers may be less willing to transact in Fund Shares. In stressed market conditions, the market for the fund’s shares may become less liquid in response to deteriorating liquidity in the markets for the fund’s underlying portfolio holdings. This adverse effect on liquidity for the Fund’s shares in turn could lead to wider bid/ask spreads and differences between the market price of the Fund’s shares and the underlying value of those shares. Where all or a portion of the fund's underlying securities trade in a market that is closed when the market in which the fund's shares are listed and trading in that market is open, there may be changes between the last quote from its closed foreign market and the value of such security during the fund's domestic trading day. This, in turn, could lead to wider bid/ask spreads and differences between the market price of the fund's shares and the underlying value of those shares.

 

Secondary Market Trading Risk. Although the Fund’s Shares are listed for trading on the Exchange and may be listed or traded on U.S. and non-U.S. stock exchanges other than the Exchange, there can be no assurance that an active trading market for Shares will develop or be maintained. Trading in the Fund’s Shares may be halted due to market conditions or for reasons that, in the view of the Exchange, make trading in Shares inadvisable. In addition, trading in Shares on the Exchange is subject to trading halts caused by extraordinary market volatility pursuant to Exchange “circuit breaker” rules, which temporarily halt trading on the Exchange. Additional rules applicable to the Exchange may halt trading in Shares when extraordinary volatility causes sudden, significant swings in the market price of Shares. There can be no assurance that Shares will trade with any volume, or at all, on any stock exchange. In stressed market conditions, the liquidity of the Fund’s Shares may begin to mirror the liquidity of the Fund’s underlying holdings, which can be significantly less liquid than the Fund’s Shares. Any absence of an active market could, in turn, lead to a heightened risk that there may be times when the market price of Shares is more than the NAV intra-day (premium) or less than the NAV intra-day (discount) and there may be widening bid-ask spreads.. This risk is heightened in times of market volatility or periods of steep market declines. During the domestic trading day, this market price variance can be reflected as a spread between the prices quoted in the market for an immediate sale (bid) and an immediate purchase (ask or offer) of the fund’s shares, known as the bid-ask spread. At the end of the domestic trading day, market price variance can be reflected as a difference between the closing market price of fund’s shares and the fund’s official daily NAV. When spreads widen or premiums/discounts become larger than usual, investors may pay significantly more or receive significantly less than the underlying value of the fund’s shares when they buy or sell in the secondary market

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Shares May Trade at Prices Other Than NAV Risk. As with all ETFs, Shares of the Fund may be bought and sold in the secondary market at market prices. Although it is expected that the market price of Shares will approximate the Fund’s NAV, there may be times when the market price of Shares is more than the NAV intra-day (premium) or less than the NAV intra-day (discount) due to supply and demand of Shares or during periods of market volatility. This risk is heightened in times of market volatility or periods of steep market declines. The market price of Shares during the trading day, like the price of any exchange-traded security, includes a “bid/ask” spread charged by the exchange specialist, market makers or other participants that trade Shares. In times of severe market disruption, the bid/ask spread can increase significantly. At those times, Shares are most likely to be traded at a discount to NAV, and the discount is likely to be greatest when the price of Shares is falling fastest, which may be the time that you most want to sell your Shares. The Adviser believes that, under normal market conditions, large market price discounts or premiums to NAV will not be sustained because of arbitrage opportunities.

 

● Foreign Investments Risk: International investing may be subject to special risks, including currency exchange rate volatility, political, social or economic instability, less publicly available information, less stringent investor protections, and differences in taxation, auditing and other financial practices. The Fund may invest in securities of foreign issuers either directly or through depositary receipts. Depositary receipts may be available through “sponsored” or “unsponsored” facilities. Holders of unsponsored depositary receipts generally bear all of the costs of the unsponsored facility. The depository of an unsponsored facility is frequently 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. The depository of unsponsored depositary receipts may provide less information to receipt holders. Foreign securities in which the Fund invests may be traded in markets that close before the time that the Fund calculates its NAV. Furthermore, certain foreign securities in which the Fund invests may be listed on foreign exchanges that trade on weekends or other days when the Fund does not calculate its NAV. As a result, the value of the Fund’s holdings may change on days when shareholders are not able to purchase or redeem the Fund’s shares. Changes in foreign currency rates relative to the U.S. dollar will affect the U.S. dollar value of the Fund’s assets denominated or quoted in currencies other than the U.S. dollar.

 

●  Futures and Forward Contracts and Related Risks: The successful use of futures and forward contracts draws upon the Adviser’s skill and experience with respect to such instruments and are subject to special risk considerations. The primary risks associated with the use of futures and forward contracts are:

 

●  futures and forward contracts have a high degree of price variability and are subject to occasional rapid and substantial changes;

 

●  the imperfect correlation between the change in market value of the forward or futures contracts and the market value of the underlying instrument or reference assets with respect to such contracts;

 

●  possible lack of a liquid secondary market for a forward or futures contract and the resulting inability to close a forward or futures contract when desired;

 

●  possible market disruption or other extraordinary events, including but not limited to, governmental intervention;

 

●  potentially unlimited losses caused by unanticipated market movements;

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●  the Fund’s inability to predict correctly the direction of securities prices, interest rates, currency exchange rates and other economic factors;

 

●  the possibility that the counterparty will default in the performance of its obligations; and

 

●  if the Fund has insufficient cash, it may either have to sell securities from its portfolio to meet daily variation margin requirements with respect to its derivative instruments or close certain positions at a time when it may be disadvantageous to do so.

 

The use of futures contracts, forward contracts and derivative instruments will have the economic effect of financial leverage. Financial leverage magnifies exposure to the swings in prices of an asset class underlying an investment and results in increased volatility, which means the Fund will have the potential for greater losses than if the Fund did not employ leverage in its investment activity. Leveraging tends to magnify, sometimes significantly, the effect of any increase or decrease in the Fund’s exposure to an asset class and may cause the value of the Fund’s securities or related derivatives instruments to be volatile. Accordingly, the Fund’s NAV may be volatile because of its investment exposure to the Fund.

 

There is no assurance that the Fund’s investment in a derivative instrument with leveraged exposure to certain investments and markets will enable the Fund to achieve its investment objective.

 

● Gap Risk: The Fund is subject to the risk that a commodity price will change between periods of trading. Usually such movements occur when there are adverse news announcements, which can cause a commodity price to drop substantially from the previous day’s closing price before the Fund can exit the investment. Trading halts may lead to gap risk.

 

● Government Intervention and Regulatory Changes: The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (the “Dodd-Frank Act”) (which was passed into law in July 2010) significantly revised and expanded the rulemaking, supervisory and enforcement authority of federal bank, securities and commodities regulators. There can be no assurance that future regulatory actions including, but not limited to, those authorized by the Dodd-Frank Act will not adversely impact the Fund. Major changes resulting from legislative or regulatory actions could materially affect the profitability of the Fund or the value of investments made by the Fund or force the Fund to revise its investment strategy or divest certain of its investments. Any of these developments could expose the Fund to additional costs, taxes, liabilities, enforcement actions and reputational risk.

 

On August 19, 2022, the SEC implemented new regulations governing the use of derivatives by registered investment companies. Rule 18f-4 imposes limits on the amount of derivatives a fund can enter into, eliminates the asset segregation framework previously used by funds to comply with Section 18 of the 1940 Act, treats derivatives as senior securities so that a failure to comply with the limits would result in a statutory violation, and requires the Fund to establish and maintain a comprehensive derivatives risk management program and appoint a derivatives risk manager. Rule 18f-4 may require the Fund to observe more stringent asset coverage and related requirements than were previously imposed by the 1940 Act.

 

● Hedging Transactions Risk: The Adviser from time to time employ various hedging techniques. The success of the Fund’s hedging strategy will be subject to the Adviser’s ability to correctly assess the degree of correlation between the performance of the instruments used in the hedging strategy and the performance of the investments in the portfolio being hedged. Since the characteristics of many securities change as markets change or time passes, the success of the Fund’s hedging strategy will also be subject to the Adviser’s ability to continually recalculate, readjust, and execute hedges in an efficient and timely manner. For a variety of reasons, the Adviser may not seek to establish a perfect correlation between such hedging instruments and the portfolio holdings being hedged. Such imperfect correlation may prevent the Fund from achieving the intended hedge or expose the Fund to risk of loss. In addition, it is not possible to hedge fully or perfectly against any risk, and hedging entails its own cost.

 

● High Portfolio Turnover Risk: The risk that when investing on a shorter-term basis, the Fund may as a result trade more frequently and incur higher levels of brokerage fees and commissions, and cause higher levels of current tax liability to shareholders in the Fund. Frequent trading may also cause adverse tax consequences for investors in the Fund due to an increase in short-term capital gains.

 

Industry Concentration Risk: A fund that concentrates in a particular industry will generally be more volatile than a fund that invests more broadly. Because the Fund invests in securities and financial instruments related to the metals and mining industry, the Fund’s performance largely depends on the overall condition of this industry. The metals and mining industry could be adversely affected by various political, regulatory, supply-and-demand, and other economic factors.

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● Leveraging Risk: The Fund’s use of futures, forward contracts, swaps, other derivative instruments and selling securities short will have the economic effect of financial leverage. The use of leverage by the Adviser may increase the volatility of the Fund. These leveraged instruments may result in losses to the Fund or may adversely affect the Fund’s NAV or total return, because instruments that contain leverage are more sensitive to changes in interest rates. The Fund may also use borrowed funds to create leverage. Although the use of leverage by the Fund may create an opportunity for increased return, it also results in additional risks and can magnify the effect of any losses. If the income and gains earned on the securities and instruments purchased with leverage proceeds are greater than the cost of the leverage, the Fund’s return will be greater than if leverage had not been used. Conversely, if the income and gains from the securities and instruments purchased with such proceeds does not cover the cost of leverage, the Fund’s return will be less than if leverage had not been used. In the event of a sudden, precipitous drop in value of the Fund’s assets, the Fund may not be able to liquidate assets quickly enough to pay off its borrowing. Short sales of securities also involve the use of leverage. Using this investment technique may adversely affect the Fund’s NAV or total return.

 

To limit leverage risk, the Fund will segregate assets determined by the Adviser to be liquid in accordance with procedures established by the Board, or, when permissible, enter into offsetting transactions, to cover its obligations resulting from its use of derivative instruments. Securities held in a segregated account cannot be sold while the futures contract, option or other derivative is outstanding, unless they are replaced with other suitable assets. As a result, it is possible that segregating a large percentage of the Fund’s assets could impede portfolio management or its ability to meet redemption requests or other current obligations.

 

● Lithium, Copper, Cobalt and Nickel Exposure Risk: The Fund invests in financial instruments such as futures contracts and the equity securities of companies linked to lithium, nickel, copper, cobalt and other elements necessary for the production of batteries and BESS used in electric vehicle and solar industries, which may be susceptible to fluctuations in the underlying commodities market. Commodity prices may be influenced or characterized by unpredictable factors, including, where applicable, high volatility, changes in supply and demand relationships, weather, agriculture, trade, changes in interest rates and monetary and other governmental policies, action and inaction. Securities of companies held by the Fund that are dependent on a single commodity, or are concentrated on a single commodity sector, may typically exhibit even higher volatility attributable to commodity prices. Companies involved in the manufacturing of lithium-ion batteries are subject to the effects of price fluctuations of traditional and alternative sources of energy, developments in battery and alternative energy technology, the possibility that government subsidies for alternative energy will be eliminated and the possibility that lithium-ion technology is not suitable for widespread adoption.

 

If lithium-ion technology is not suitable for widespread adoption, or sufficient demand for lithium-ion products does not develop or takes long periods of time to develop, the revenues of companies that are economically tied to the lithium industry may decline. As a result of these risks, the Fund’s investments can be adversely affected and you may lose money on your investment in the Fund.

 

Companies involved in the various activities that are related to the mining, production, recycling, mineral sands, processing and/or refining of rare earth and critical materials tend to be small-, medium- and micro-capitalization companies with volatile share prices, are highly dependent on the price of rare earth and critical materials, which may fluctuate substantially over short periods of time. The value of such companies may be significantly affected by events relating to international, national and local political and economic developments, energy conservation efforts, the success of exploration projects, commodity prices, tax and other government regulations, depletion of resources, and mandated expenditures for safety and pollution control devices. The mining, production, recycling, processing and/or refining of rare earth and critical metals can be capital intensive and, if companies involved in such activities are not managed well, the share prices of such companies could decline even as prices for the underlying rare earth and critical metals are rising. In addition, companies involved in the various activities that are related to the mining, production, recycling, processing and/or refining of rare earth and critical metals may be at risk for environmental damage claims.

 

●  Liquidity Risk: The Fund is subject to liquidity risk primarily due to its investments in derivatives. Investments in derivative instruments involve the risk that the Fund may be unable to sell the derivative instrument or sell it at a reasonable price.

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● Management Risk: The Fund is subject to management risk because it is an actively managed portfolio. In managing the Fund’s portfolio holdings, the Adviser applies investment techniques and risk analyses in making investment decisions for the Fund, but there can be no guarantee that these actions will produce the desired results. Due to its active management, the Fund could underperform other mutual funds with similar investment objectives.

 

● Market Risk:  The Fund’s NAV and investment return will fluctuate based upon changes in the value of its investments. The market value of the Fund’s holdings is based upon the market’s perception of value and is not necessarily an objective measure of an investment’s value. There is no assurance that the Fund will realize its investment objective, and an investment in the Fund is not, by itself, a complete or balanced investment program. You could lose money on your investment in the Fund, or the Fund could underperform other investments.

 

Periods of unusually high financial market volatility and restrictive credit conditions, at times limited to a particular sector or geographic area, have occurred in the past and may be expected to recur in the future. Some countries, including the United States, have adopted or have signaled protectionist trade measures, relaxation of the financial industry regulations that followed the financial crisis, and/or reductions to corporate taxes. The scope of these policy changes is still developing, but the equity and debt markets may react strongly to expectations of change, which could increase volatility, particularly if a resulting policy runs counter to the market’s expectations. The outcome of such changes cannot be foreseen at the present time. In addition, geopolitical and other risks, including environmental and public health risks, may add to instability in the world economy and markets generally. As a result of increasingly interconnected global economies and financial markets, the value and liquidity of the Fund’s investments may be negatively affected by events impacting a country or region, regardless of whether the Fund invests in issuers located in or with significant exposure to such country or region.

 

The continuing spread of an infectious respiratory illness caused by a novel strain of coronavirus (known as COVID-19) has caused volatility, severe market dislocations and liquidity constraints in many markets and may adversely affect the Fund’s investments and operations. The outbreak was first detected in December 2019 and subsequently spread globally. The transmission of COVID-19 and efforts to contain its spread have resulted in international and domestic travel restrictions and disruptions, closed international borders, enhanced health screenings at ports of entry and elsewhere, disruption of and delays in healthcare service preparation and delivery, quarantines, event and service cancellations or interruptions, disruptions to business operations (including staff reductions), supply chains and consumer activity, as well as general concern and uncertainty that has negatively affected the economic environment. These disruptions have led to instability in the marketplace, including stock and credit market losses and overall volatility. The impact of COVID-19, and other infectious illness outbreaks, epidemics or pandemics that may arise in the future, could adversely affect the economies of many nations or the entire global economy, the financial performance of individual issuers, borrowers and sectors and the health of the markets generally in potentially significant and unforeseen ways. Health crises caused by the recent outbreak may heighten other pre-existing political, social and economic risks in a country or region. In the event of a pandemic or an outbreak, there can be no assurance that the Fund and its service providers will be able to maintain normal business operations for an extended period of time or will not lose the services of key personnel on a temporary or long-term basis due to illness or other reasons. Although vaccines for COVID-19 are becoming more widely available, the full impacts of a pandemic or disease outbreaks are unknown and the pace of recovery may vary from market to market, resulting in a high degree of uncertainty for potentially extended periods of time.

 

● Metals and Mining Sector Risk: Financial instruments such as futures contracts and the equity securities of companies linked to the metals and mining sectors can be significantly affected by events relating to international political and economic developments, energy conservation, the success of exploration projects, commodity prices, and tax and other government regulations. Investments in metals and mining securities may be speculative and may be subject to greater price volatility than investments in other types of securities. Risks of metals and mining investments include: changes in international monetary policies or economic and political conditions that can affect the supply of precious metals and consequently the value of metals and mining company investments; the U.S. or foreign governments may pass laws or regulations limiting metals investments for strategic or other policy reasons; and increased environmental or labor costs may depress the value of metals and mining investments.

 

● New Adviser Risk: The Adviser is newly registered with the SEC and has not previously managed an exchange-traded fund. Accordingly, investors in the Fund bear the risk that the Adviser’s inexperience may limit its effectiveness. Furthermore, there is no guarantee that the Adviser will be able to produce satisfactory returns for the Fund or preserve the Fund’s assets. 

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● New Fund Risk: The Fund is recently organized, non-diversified management investment company and has no operating history. There is a risk that the Fund will not grow or maintain an economically viable size, in which case the Board may determine to liquidate the Fund. Like other new funds, large inflows and outflows may impact the Fund’s market exposure for limited periods of time. This impact may be positive or negative, depending on the direction of market movement during the period affected. If the Fund fails to attract a large amount of assets, shareholders of the Fund may incur higher expenses as the Fund’s fixed costs would be allocated over a smaller number of shareholders.

 

● Non-Diversification Risk: The Fund is non-diversified. Compared to other funds, the Fund may invest more of its assets in a smaller number of companies. Gains or losses on a single security may have greater impact on the Fund.

 

● Non-Lithium, Copper, Cobalt and Nickel Exposure Risk: Although the Fund invests a large percentage of its assets in financial instruments such as futures contracts and the equity securities of companies linked to lithium, nickel, copper, cobalt and other elements necessary for the production of batteries and BESS used in electric vehicle and solar industries, these companies may derive a significant percentage of their profits from other non-lithium nickel, copper and cobalt business activities including, for example, the production of manganese, graphite, fertilizers and/or specialty and industrial chemicals. As a result, the performance of these non-lithium nickel, copper and cobalt business activities and the profits of these companies from such activities may significantly impact the performance of such companies, and in turn impact the Fund’s performance.

 

● Operational Risk: The Fund is exposed to operational risks arising from a number of factors, including, but not limited to, human error, processing and communication errors, errors of the Fund’s service providers, counterparties or other third-parties, failed or inadequate processes and technology or systems failures. The Fund and the Adviser seek to reduce these operational risks through controls and procedures. However, these measures do not address every possible risk and may be inadequate to address these risks.

 

● Options Risk: Purchasing and writing put and call options are highly specialized activities and entail greater than ordinary investment risks. The Fund may not fully benefit from or may lose money on an option if changes in its value do not correspond as anticipated to changes in the value of the underlying securities.

 

●  OTC Trading Risk: Certain of the derivatives in which the Fund may invest may be traded (and privately negotiated) in the “over-the-counter” or “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.

 

● Quantitative Trading Strategies Risk: The Adviser may use quantitative methods to select investments. Securities or other investments selected using quantitative methods may perform differently from the market as a whole or from their expected performance for many reasons, including factors used in building the quantitative analytical framework, the weights placed on each factor, and changing sources of market returns, among others. Any errors or imperfections in quantitative analyses or models, or in the data on which they are based, could adversely affect the ability of the Adviser to use such analyses or models effectively, which in turn could adversely affect the Fund’s performance. There can be no assurance that these methodologies will help the Fund to achieve its investment objective.

 

● Small and Mid-Capitalization Companies Risk. The Fund invests in securities of companies of all sizes, including those that have relatively small market capitalizations. Investments in securities of these companies involve greater risks than do investments in larger, more established companies. The prices of securities of small-cap companies tend to be more vulnerable to adverse developments specific to the company or its industry, or the securities markets generally, than are securities of larger capitalization companies.

 

● Subsidiary Risk: The Fund will make investments through its direct Subsidiary organized under the acts of the Cayman Islands. By investing in the Subsidiary, the Fund is indirectly exposed to the risks associated with the Subsidiary’s investments. The derivatives and other investments held by a Subsidiary are generally similar to those that are permitted to be held by the Fund and are subject to the same risks that apply to similar investments if held directly by the Fund. These risks are described elsewhere in this Prospectus. There can be no assurance that the investment objective of the Subsidiary will be achieved.

 

The Subsidiary is not registered under the 1940 Act, and, unless otherwise noted in this Prospectus, is not subject to all the investor protections of the 1940 Act. However, the Fund, directly or indirectly, wholly owns and controls the Subsidiary, making it unlikely that the Subsidiary will take action contrary to the interests of the Fund and its shareholders. The Board has oversight responsibility for the investment activities of the Fund, including its investment in the Subsidiary, and the Fund’s role as the direct sole shareholder of the Subsidiary. The Subsidiary will be subject to the same investment restrictions and limitations, and follow the same compliance policies and procedures, as the Fund.

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Changes in the laws or acts of the United States and/or the Cayman Islands could result in the inability of the Fund and/or its Subsidiary to operate as described in this Prospectus and in the SAI and could adversely affect the Fund. For example, the Cayman Islands does not currently impose any income, corporate or capital gains tax or withholding tax on the Subsidiary. If Cayman Islands act changes such that the Subsidiary SPC must pay Cayman Islands taxes, Fund shareholders would likely suffer decreased investment returns.

 

● Swaps Risk: In a standard “swap” transaction, two parties agree to exchange the returns, differentials in rates of return or some other amount earned or realized on the “notional amount” of predetermined investments or instruments, which may be adjusted for an interest factor. The most significant factor in the performance of a swap transaction is the change in the specific interest rate, currency, individual equity values or other factors that determine the amounts of payments due to and from a party. Swaps can involve greater risks than direct investment in securities, because swaps may be leveraged, are subject to the risk that the counterparty may default on the obligation, and may be difficult to value.

 

● Tax Risk: In order to qualify as a RIC, the Fund must meet certain requirements regarding the source of its income, the diversification of its assets and the distribution of its income. Under the test regarding the source of a RIC’s income, at least 90% of the gross income of the RIC each year must be qualifying income, which consists of dividends, interest, gains on investment assets and other categories of investment income. In 2006, the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) published a ruling that income realized from swaps with respect to a commodities index would not be qualifying income. The Fund’s investment in the Subsidiary is expected to provide the Fund with exposure to the commodities markets within the limitations of the Code for qualification as a RIC, but there is a risk that the IRS could assert that the income derived from the Fund’s investment in the Subsidiary will not be considered qualifying income for purposes of the Fund remaining qualified as a RIC for U.S. federal income tax purposes. The IRS finalized Treasury Regulations that provide that the income from a foreign subsidiary that is a controlled foreign corporation is qualifying income for purposes of a fund remaining qualified as a RIC for U.S. federal income tax purposes (1) to the extent the income is actually distributed by a foreign subsidiary for the RIC each year and (2) even if not distributed currently, to the extent the income is derived with respect to the fund’s business of investing in stock, securities or currencies. If the Fund were to fail to qualify as a RIC and became subject to federal income tax, shareholders of the Fund would be subject to diminished returns. Changes in the laws or acts of the United States and/or the Cayman Islands could result in the inability of the Fund and/or its Subsidiaries to operate as described in this Prospectus and the SAI and could adversely affect the Fund. For example, the Cayman Islands does not currently impose any income, corporate or capital gains tax or withholding tax on the Subsidiary. If Cayman Islands act changes such that the Subsidiary must pay Cayman Islands taxes, Fund shareholders would likely suffer decreased investment returns.

 

Additional Information About Non-Principal Risks of the Fund. This section provides additional information regarding certain non-principal risks of investing in the Fund. The risk listed below could have a negative impact on the Fund’s performance and trading prices.

 

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

 

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

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Costs of Buying or Selling Shares Risk. Investors buying or selling Shares of the Fund in the secondary market will pay brokerage commissions or other charges imposed by brokers, as determined by that broker. Brokerage commissions are often a fixed amount and may be a significant proportional cost for investors seeking to buy or sell relatively small amounts of the Fund’s Shares. In addition, secondary market investors will also incur the cost of the difference between the price at which an investor is willing to buy Shares (the “bid” price) and the price at which an investor is willing to sell Shares (the “ask” price). This difference in bid and ask prices is often referred to as the “spread” or “bid/ask spread.” The bid/ask spread varies over time for Shares based on trading volume and market liquidity, and is generally lower if Shares have more trading volume and market liquidity and higher if Shares have little trading volume and market liquidity. Further, a relatively small investor base in the Fund, asset swings in the Fund and/or increased market volatility may cause increased bid/ask spreads. Due to the costs of buying or selling Shares, including bid/ask spreads, frequent trading of Shares may significantly reduce investment results and an investment in Shares may not be advisable for investors who anticipate regularly making small investments.

 

Interest Rate Risk: The Fund’s investments in U.S. Government securities and commercial paper will change in value in response to interest rate changes and other factors, such as the perception of an issuer’s creditworthiness. For example, the value of fixed-income securities generally decrease when interest rates rise, which may cause the Fund’s value to decrease. Also, investments in fixed-income securities with longer maturities fluctuate more in response to interest rate changes.

 

Legal and Regulatory Change Risks.  The regulatory environment for investment companies is evolving, and changes in regulation may adversely affect the value of the Fund’s investments and its ability to pursue its trading strategy.  In addition, the securities markets are subject to comprehensive statutes and regulations.  The SEC and other regulators and self-regulatory organizations and exchanges are authorized to take extraordinary actions in the event of market emergencies.  The effect of any future regulatory change on the Fund could be substantial and adverse.

 

RIC Compliance Risk.  The Fund has elected to be, and intends to qualify each year for treatment as, a RIC under Subchapter M of Subtitle A, Chapter 1, of the Code.  To continue to qualify for federal income tax treatment as a RIC, the Fund must meet certain source-of-income, asset diversification and annual distribution requirements.  If for any taxable year the Fund fails to qualify for the special federal income tax treatment afforded to RICs, all of the Fund’s taxable income will be subject to federal income tax at regular corporate rates (without any deduction for distributions to its shareholders) and its income available for distribution will be reduced.  Under certain circumstances, the Fund could cure a failure to qualify as a RIC, but in order to do so, the Fund could incur significant Fund-level taxes and could be forced to dispose of certain assets.

 

Short-Term Investments Risk. During periods of adverse market or economic conditions, the Fund may temporarily invest all or a substantial portion of their assets in high quality, fixed-income securities, money market instruments, and shares of money market mutual funds, or it may hold cash. At such times, to preserve capital, the Fund would not be pursuing its stated investment objective with its usual investment strategies. The Fund may also hold these investments for liquidity purposes.

 

The Fund may make other types of investments and may engage in various other investment practices. These investments and practices, and their risks, are described in the SAI.

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Disclosure of Portfolio Holdings

The Fund’s entire portfolio holdings are publicly disseminated each day the Fund is open for business through the Fund’s website located at www.emgadvisors.com and may be made available through financial reporting and news services or any other medium, including publicly available internet web sites. Additional information regarding the Fund’s policies and procedures with respect to the disclosure of the Fund’s portfolio securities is available in the SAI.

 

MANAGEMENT OF THE FUND

 

The Board of The RBB Fund Trust (the “Trust”), of which the Fund is a series, is responsible for supervising the operations and affairs of the Fund. The Adviser is responsible for the daily management and administration of the Fund’s operations.

 

Investment Adviser

The Energy & Minerals Group Advisors, LLC, the investment adviser to the Fund, is located at 704 Goodlette Frank Road North, Suite 118, Naples, Florida 34102. The Adviser is a wholly owned subsidiary of JRJC Corestone LLC, which is in turn indirectly owned and controlled by John Calvert, William McDonough, and John Raymond. 

 

Subject to the overall supervision of the Board, the Adviser manages the overall investment operations of the Fund in accordance with the Fund’s investment objective and policies and formulates a continuing investment strategy for the Fund pursuant to the terms of investment advisory agreements between the Trust and the Adviser (the “Advisory Agreement”). Under the terms of the Advisory Agreement, the Fund pays the Adviser a unitary management fee that is computed and paid monthly at an annual rate of 0.95% of the Fund’s average daily net assets during the month. From the unitary management fees, the Adviser pays most of the expenses of the Fund, including the cost of sub-advisory fees to Vident, Subsidiary expenses, transfer agency, custody, fund administration, legal, audit and other services. However, under the Advisory Agreement, the Adviser is not responsible for interest expenses, brokerage commissions and other trading expenses, taxes and other extraordinary costs such as litigation and other expenses not incurred in the ordinary course of business.  No information regarding the advisory fees paid by the Fund is currently available, as the Fund had not commenced operations prior to the date of this Prospectus.

 

A discussion regarding the Board’s approval of the Fund’s Advisory Agreement and the factors the Board considered with respect to its approval will be available in the Fund’s first semi-annual or annual report to shareholders.

 

The Adviser’s Portfolio Management Team

John Calvert, William McDonough, and John Raymond are the Fund’s portfolio managers and they each are responsible for the portfolio management decisions for the Fund’s assets. 

 

John Calvert 

John Calvert is Co-Founder and Portfolio Manager of the Adviser. Mr. Calvert is also Co-Founder and President of The Energy and Minerals Group (“EMG”). Mr. Calvert is responsible for directing EMG’s strategic and investment decisions, as well as managing EMG’s investment portfolio on a day-to-day basis. Mr. Calvert has more than 28 years of experience in the natural resources sector, and, prior to his tenure atop EMG, spent 13 years as an investment banker focused on the mining and natural resources industries. Mr. Calvert served as a Managing Director at Deutsche Bank Securities in the Large-Cap investment banking coverage group based in New York, where he provided strategic counsel and transaction execution advice to Deutsche Bank’s global mining and metals clients. Prior to Deutsche Bank, Mr. Calvert was a Managing Director and Global Head of Mining Investment Banking at Credit Suisse First Boston, where he had global coverage responsibility for the mining sector. Mr. Calvert, in addition to his role as President of EMG, currently serves as a director on the boards of nine portfolio companies of EMG.

 

William McDonough

William McDonough is Chief Executive Officer, Co-Founder and Portfolio Manager of the Adviser. Mr. McDonough is also Founder and Chairman of Corestone Capital LLC, and is responsible for directing strategic and investment activities of Corestone and managing its investment portfolio. Prior to founding Corestone, Mr. McDonough served in a number of senior executive management roles across the financial services sector over a period of 15 years. These include co-founding a distressed debt and credit fund of funds with Avenue Capital Group in 2007, then joining Goldman Sachs to manage the private capital of the current and retired Partners of the bank from 2010 to 2013.  McDonough left Goldman to co-found a Special Purpose Acquisition Company, Atlas Mara, that listed on the London Stock Exchange in 2014.  Since 2014 McDonough has run Corestone Capital, investing in emerging asset classes. Mr. McDonough graduated from the Carroll School of Management at Boston College in 2002 with a Bachelor of Science degree with dual concentrations in Marketing and Pre-Law.

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John Raymond

John Raymond is Co-Founder and Portfolio Manager of the Adviser. Mr. Raymond is a Co-Founder and the Chief Executive Officer of EMG, a leading diversified natural resources-focused private equity firm. Mr. Raymond is responsible for directing strategic and investment activities of EMG and managing its investment portfolio and day-to-day activities with John Calvert. Prior to founding EMG in 2006, Mr. Raymond served in a number of senior executive management roles within the energy sector over a period of 14 years. These include his time as Chief Executive Officer of Plains Resources, Inc. (“Plains Resources”), a publicly traded company, from 2002 to 2004. Following the management-led buyout of Plains Resources in 2004, Mr. Raymond served as Chief Executive Officer of the successor entity, Vulcan Energy Corporation, from 2004 to 2005. In addition to his current role as Chief Executive Officer of EMG, Mr. Raymond serves on the boards of 25 companies, including public and private portfolio companies of EMG, as well as several companies not owned by or affiliated with EMG. Mr. Raymond graduated from the A.B. Freeman School of Business at Tulane University in 1992 with a B.S.M. with dual concentrations in Finance and Accounting.

 

Investment Sub-Adviser

 

The Fund and the Adviser have submitted an application with the SEC for an exemptive order with respect to the Fund that would permit the Adviser to engage or terminate a sub-adviser, and to enter into and materially amend an existing sub-advisory agreement, upon the approval of the Board, without obtaining shareholder approval. This arrangement has been approved by the Board and the Fund's initial shareholder. Consequently, if approved by the SEC, under the exemptive order, the Adviser would have the right to hire, terminate and replace sub-advisers when the Board and the Adviser feel that a change would benefit the Fund. The exemptive order will enable the Fund to operate with greater efficiency and without incurring the expense and delays associated with obtaining shareholder approval of sub-advisory agreements.

 

Vident Investment Advisory, LLC (“Vident”) is a Delaware limited liability company located at 1125 Sanctuary Parkway, Suite 515, Alpharetta, Georgia 30009. Vident was formed in 2014 and provides investment advisory services to exchange-traded funds, including the Fund. Vident is responsible for selecting broker-dealers to execute purchase and sale transactions, as instructed by the Adviser, subject to the supervision of the Adviser and the Board. Pursuant to a sub-advisory agreement, the Adviser pays Vident a fee, calculated daily and paid monthly, based on a tiered schedule tied to the Fund’s net assets, subject to a minimum amount.

 

The Sub-Adviser’s Portfolio Management Team

 

Ryan Dofflemeyer

Ryan Dofflemeyer has over 16 years of trading and portfolio management experience across various asset classes including both ETFs and mutual funds. He is Senior Portfolio Manager for Vident Investment Advisory, specializing in managing and trading of global equity and multi-asset portfolios. Prior to joining Vident Investment Advisory, he was a Senior Portfolio Manager at ProShares for over $3 billion in ETF assets across global equities, commodities, and volatility strategies. Before that, he was a Research Analyst at the Investment Company Institute in Washington DC. Mr. Dofflemeyer holds a BA from the University of Virginia and an MBA from the University of Maryland.

 

Austin Wen, CFA

Austin Wen has eight years of investment management experience. He is a Portfolio Manager at Vident Investment Advisory, specializing in portfolio management and trading of equity portfolios and commodities-based portfolios, as well as risk monitoring and investment analysis. Previously, he was an analyst for Vident Financial, working on the development and review of investment solutions. He began his career as a State Examiner for the Georgia Department of Banking and Finance. Mr. Wen obtained a BA in Finance from the University of Georgia and holds the Chartered Financial Analyst designation.

 

A discussion regarding the Board’s approval of the sub-advisory agreement and the factors the Board considered with respect to the Fund will be available in the Fund’s first annual or semi-annual report to shareholders.

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The SAI provides additional information about the compensation of each Portfolio Manager, other accounts managed by them, and their ownership of Shares of the Fund.

 

HOW TO BUY AND SELL SHARES

 

The Fund issues and redeems its Shares at NAV only in Creation Units. Only APs may acquire Shares directly from the Fund, and only APs may tender their Shares for redemption directly to the Fund, at NAV. APs must be (i) a broker-dealer or other participant in the clearing process through the Continuous Net Settlement System of the NSCC, a clearing agency that is registered with the SEC; or (ii) a DTC participant (as discussed below). In addition, each AP must execute a Participant Agreement that has been agreed to by the Distributor, and that has been accepted by the Transfer Agent, with respect to purchases and redemptions of Creation Units. Once created, Shares trade in the secondary market in quantities less than a Creation Unit.

 

Investors can only buy and sell Shares in secondary market transactions through brokers. Shares are listed for trading on the secondary market on the Exchange and can be bought and sold throughout the trading day like other publicly traded securities.

 

When buying or selling the Fund’s Shares through a broker, you will incur customary brokerage commissions and charges, and you may pay some or all of the spread between the bid and the offer price in the secondary market on each leg of a round trip (purchase and sale) transaction. In addition, because secondary market transactions occur at market prices, you may pay more than NAV when you buy Shares, and receive less than NAV when you sell those Shares.

 

Book Entry

Shares are held in book-entry form, which means that no stock certificates are issued. The Depository Trust Company (“DTC”) or its nominee is the record owner of all outstanding Shares.

 

Investors owning the Fund’s Shares are beneficial owners as shown on the records of DTC or its participants. DTC serves as the securities depository for all Shares. DTC’s 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” through your brokerage account.

 

Share Trading Prices on the Exchange

Trading prices of the Fund’s Shares on the Exchange may differ from the Fund’s daily NAV. Market forces of supply and demand, economic conditions and other factors may affect the trading prices of Shares. To provide additional information regarding the indicative value of Shares, the Exchange or a market data vendor disseminates information every 15 seconds through the facilities of the Consolidated Tape Association, or other widely disseminated means, an updated “intraday indicative value” (“IIV”) for Shares as calculated by an information provider or market data vendor. The Fund is neither involved in nor responsible for any aspect of the calculation or dissemination of the IIVs and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the IIVs. If the calculation of the IIV is based on the basket of Deposit Securities, such IIV may not represent the best possible valuation of the Fund’s portfolio because the basket of Deposit Securities does not necessarily reflect the precise composition of the current Fund portfolios at a particular point in time. The IIV should not be viewed as a “real-time” update of the Fund’s NAV because the IIV may not be calculated in the same manner as the NAV, which is computed only once a day, typically at the end of the business day. The IIV is generally determined by using both current market quotations and/or price quotations obtained from broker-dealers that may trade in the Deposit Securities.

 

Frequent Purchases and Redemptions of Shares

The Fund imposes no restrictions on the frequency of purchases and redemptions of Shares. In determining not to approve a written, established policy, the Board evaluated the risks of market timing activities by Fund shareholders. Purchases and redemptions by APs, who are the only parties that may purchase or redeem Shares directly with the Fund, are an essential part of the ETF process and help keep share trading prices in line with NAV. As such, the Fund accommodates frequent purchases and redemptions by APs. However, the Board has also determined that frequent purchases and redemptions for cash may increase tracking error and portfolio transaction costs and may lead to the realization of capital gains or losses. To minimize these potential consequences of frequent purchases and redemptions, the Fund employs fair value pricing and impose transaction fees on purchases and redemptions of Creation Units to cover the custodial and other costs incurred by the Fund in effecting trades. In addition, the Fund reserves the right to reject any purchase order at any time.

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Determination of Net Asset Value

The Fund’s NAV is calculated as of the scheduled close of regular trading on the NYSE, generally 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time, each day the NYSE is open for business. The NAV for the Fund is calculated by dividing the Fund’s net assets by its Shares outstanding.

 

In calculating its NAV, the Fund generally values its assets on the basis of market quotations, last sale prices, or estimates of value furnished by a pricing service or brokers who make markets in such instruments. If such information is not available for a security held by the Fund or is determined to be unreliable, the security will be valued at fair value estimates under guidelines established by the Board.

 

Fair Value Pricing

If available, the Fund’s investments in securities and other exchange-traded assets are generally valued based on market quotations. If market quotations are unavailable or deemed unreliable by the Fund’s administrator, in consultation with the Adviser, securities will be fair valued by the Adviser in accordance with procedures adopted by the Board and under the Board’s ultimate supervision. The Fund will regularly value its investments in derivative instruments at fair value. The Fund may use independent pricing services to assist in calculating the value of the Fund’s portfolio holdings. Relying on prices supplied by pricing services or dealers or using fair valuation involves the risk that the values used by the Fund to price its investments may be higher or lower than the values used by other investment companies and investors to price the same investments.

 

DIVIDENDS, DISTRIBUTIONS, AND TAXES

 

Dividends and Distributions

The Fund intends to pay out dividends, if any, and distribute any net realized capital gains to its shareholders at least annually.

 

Dividend Reinvestment Service

Brokers may make the DTC book-entry dividend reinvestment service available to their customers who own Shares.  If this service is available and used, dividend distributions of both income and capital gains will automatically be reinvested in additional whole Shares of the Fund purchased on the secondary market.  Without this service, investors would receive their distributions in cash. In order to achieve the maximum total return on their investments, investors are encouraged to use the dividend reinvestment service.  To determine whether the dividend reinvestment service is available and whether there is a commission or other charge for using this service, consult your broker.  Brokers may require the Fund’s shareholders to adhere to specific procedures and timetables.

 

Taxes

As with any investment, you should consider how your investment in shares of the Fund will be taxed. The tax information in this Prospectus is provided as general information. Except where otherwise indicated, the discussion relates to investors who are individual United States citizens or residents. You should consult your own tax professional about the tax consequences of an investment in shares of the Fund.

 

Unless your investment in shares of the Fund is made through a tax-exempt entity or tax-advantaged account, such as an IRA plan, you need to be aware of the possible tax consequences when: (i) the Fund makes distributions; (ii) you sell your shares listed on the Exchange; and (iii) you purchase or redeem Creation Units.

 

Taxes on Distributions

The Fund intends to distribute, at least annually, substantially all of its net investment income and net capital gains income. For federal income tax purposes, distributions of investment income are generally taxable as ordinary income or qualified dividend income. Taxes on distributions of capital gains (if any) are determined by how long the Fund owned the investments that generated them, rather than how long a shareholder has owned his or her shares of the Fund. Sales of assets held by the Fund for more than one year generally result in long-term capital gains and losses, and sales of assets held by the Fund for one year or less generally result in short-term capital gains and losses. Distributions of the Fund’s net capital gain (the excess of net long-term capital gains over net short-term capital losses) that are reported by the Fund as capital gain dividends (“Capital Gain Dividends”) will be taxable as long-term capital gains, which for non-corporate shareholders are subject to tax at reduced rates. Distributions of short-term capital gain will generally be taxable as ordinary income. Dividends and distributions are generally taxable to you whether you receive them in cash or reinvest them in additional shares.

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Distributions reported by the Fund as “qualified dividend income” are generally taxed to non-corporate shareholders at rates applicable to long-term capital gains, provided holding period and other requirements are met. “Qualified dividend income” generally is income derived from dividends paid by U.S. corporations or certain foreign corporations that are either incorporated in a U.S. possession or eligible for tax benefits under certain U.S. income tax treaties. In addition, dividends that the Fund receives in respect of stock of certain foreign corporations may be qualified dividend income if that stock is readily tradable on an established U.S. securities market. The amount of the Fund’s distributions that qualify for this favorable treatment may be reduced as a result of the Fund’s securities lending activities, if any. Corporate shareholders may be entitled to a dividends-received deduction for the portion of dividends they receive from the Fund that are attributable to dividends received by the Fund from U.S. corporations, subject to certain limitations. The amount of the dividends qualifying for this deduction may, however, be reduced as a result of the Fund’s securities lending activities, if any.

 

Shortly after the close of each calendar year, you will be informed of the character of any distributions received from the Fund.

 

U.S. individuals with income exceeding specified thresholds are subject to a 3.8% Medicare contribution tax on all or a portion of their “net investment income,” which includes interest, dividends, and certain capital gains (including capital gains distributions and capital gains realized on the sale of shares of the Fund). This 3.8% tax also applies to all or a portion of the undistributed net investment income of certain shareholders that are estates and trusts.

 

In general, your distributions are subject to federal income tax for the year in which they are paid. Certain distributions paid in January, however, may be treated as paid on December 31 of the prior year. Distributions are generally taxable even if they are paid from income or gains earned by the Fund before your investment (and thus were included in the shares’ NAV when you purchased your shares of the Fund).

 

You may wish to avoid investing in the Fund shortly before a dividend or other distribution, because such a distribution will generally be taxable to you even though it may economically represent a return of a portion of your investment. This adverse tax result is known as “buying into a dividend.”

 

Taxes When Shares are Sold on the Exchange

For federal income tax purposes, any capital gain or loss realized upon a sale of shares of the Fund generally is treated as a long-term capital gain or loss if those shares have been held for more than 12 months and as a short-term capital gain or loss if those shares have been held for 12 months or less. However, any capital loss on a sale of shares held for six months or less is treated as long-term capital loss to the extent of Capital Gain Dividends paid with respect to such shares of the Fund. Any loss realized on a sale will be disallowed to the extent shares of the Fund are acquired, including through reinvestment of dividends, within a 61-day period beginning 30 days before and ending 30 days after the sale of shares. If disallowed, the loss will be reflected in an upward adjustment to the basis of the shares acquired.

 

IRAs and Other Tax-Qualified Plans

The one major exception to the preceding tax principles is that distributions on and sales of shares of the Fund held in an IRA (or other tax-qualified plan) will not be currently taxable unless it borrowed to acquire the shares.

 

U.S. Tax Treatment of Foreign Shareholders

If you are neither a resident nor a citizen of the United States or if you are a foreign entity, distributions (other than Capital Gain Dividends) paid to you by the Fund will generally be subject to a U.S. withholding tax at the rate of 30%, unless a lower treaty rate applies. The Fund may, under certain circumstances, report all or a portion of a dividend as an “interest-related dividend” or a “short-term capital gain dividend,” which would generally be exempt from this 30% U.S. withholding tax, provided certain other requirements are met.

26

 

Foreign shareholders will generally not be subject to U.S. tax on gains realized on the sale of shares in the Fund, except that a nonresident alien individual who is present in the United States for 183 days or more in a calendar year will be taxable on such gains and on capital gain dividends from the Fund.

 

In contrast, if a foreign investor conducts a trade or business in the United States and the investment in the Fund is effectively connected with that trade or business, then the foreign investor’s income from the Fund will generally be subject to U.S. federal income tax at graduated rates in a manner similar to the income of a U.S. citizen or resident.

 

The Fund is generally required to withhold 30% on certain payments to shareholders that are foreign entities and that fail to meet prescribed information reporting or certification requirements.

 

All foreign investors should consult their own tax advisors regarding the tax consequences in their country of residence of an investment in the Fund.

 

Backup Withholding

The Fund (or a financial intermediary, such as a broker, through which a shareholder owns shares of the Fund) generally is required to withhold and remit to the U.S. Treasury a percentage of the taxable distributions and sale or redemption proceeds paid to any shareholder who fails to properly furnish a correct taxpayer identification number, who has underreported dividend or interest income, or who fails to certify that he, she or it is not subject to such backup withholding. The current backup withholding rate is 24%.

 

Taxes on Purchases and Redemptions of Creation Units

An AP having the U.S. dollar as its functional currency for U.S. federal income tax purposes who exchanges securities for Creation Units generally recognizes a gain or a loss. The gain or loss will be equal to the difference between the market value of the Creation Units at the time of the exchange and the sum of the AP’s aggregate basis in the securities surrendered plus the amount of cash paid for such Creation Units. The Internal Revenue Service (“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 gain or loss realized by an AP upon a creation of Creation Units will be treated as capital gain or loss if the AP holds the securities exchanged therefor as capital assets, and otherwise will be ordinary income or loss. 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 by the AP for more than 12 months, and otherwise will be short-term capital gain or loss.

 

The Trust on behalf of the Fund has the right to reject an order for a purchase of Creation Units if the AP (or a group of APs) would, upon obtaining the Creation Units so ordered, own 80% or more of the outstanding shares of the Fund and if, pursuant to Section 351 of the Code, the Fund would have a basis in the securities different from the market value of such securities on the date of deposit. The Trust also has the right to require information necessary to determine beneficial share ownership for purposes of the 80% determination. If the Fund does issue Creation Units to an AP (or group of APs) that would, upon obtaining the Creation Units so ordered, own 80% or more of the outstanding shares of the Fund, the AP (or group of APs) may not recognize gain or loss upon the exchange of securities for Creation Units.

 

An AP who redeems Creation Units will generally recognize a gain or loss equal to the difference between the sum of the aggregate market value of any securities received plus the amount of any cash received for such Creation Units and the AP’s basis in the Creation Units. Any gain or loss realized by an AP upon a redemption of Creation Units will be treated as capital gain or loss if the AP holds the shares comprising the Creation Units as capital assets, and otherwise will be ordinary income or loss. 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 by the AP for more than 12 months, and otherwise will generally be short-term capital gain or loss. Any capital loss realized 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 AP of long-term capital gains with respect to the Creation Units (including any amounts credited to the AP as undistributed capital gains).

 

The Fund may include a payment of cash in addition to, or in place of, the delivery of a basket of securities upon the redemption of Creation Units. The Fund may sell portfolio securities to obtain the cash needed to distribute redemption proceeds. This may cause the Fund to recognize investment income and/or capital gains or losses that it might not have recognized if it had completely satisfied the redemption in-kind. As a result, the Fund may be less tax efficient if it includes such a cash payment in the proceeds paid upon the redemption of Creation Units.

27

 

Persons purchasing or redeeming Creation Units should consult their own tax advisers with respect to the tax treatment of any creation or redemption transaction.

 

The foregoing discussion summarizes some of the possible consequences under current federal tax law of an investment in the Fund. It is not a substitute for personal tax advice. You also may be subject to state and local tax on Fund distributions and sales of shares of the Fund. Consult your personal tax advisor about the potential tax consequences of an investment in Shares of the Fund under all applicable tax laws. For more information, please see the section entitled “DIVIDENDS, DISTRIBUTIONS, AND TAXES” in the SAI.

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DISTRIBUTION

 

The Distributor, Quasar Distributors, LLC, is a broker-dealer registered with the SEC. The Distributor distributes Creation Units for the Fund on an agency basis and does not maintain a secondary market in Shares. The Distributor has no role in determining the policies of the Fund or the securities that are purchased or sold by the Fund. The Distributor’s principal address is Three Canal Plaza, Suite 100, Portland, Maine 04101.

 

ADDITIONAL CONSIDERATIONS

 

Payments to Financial Intermediaries.

The Adviser, out of its own resources and without additional cost to the Fund or its shareholders, may pay intermediaries, including affiliates of the Adviser, for the sale of Fund Shares and related services, including participation in activities that are designed to make intermediaries more knowledgeable about exchange traded products.  Payments are generally made to intermediaries that provide shareholder servicing, marketing and related sales support, educational training or support, or access to sales meetings, sales representatives and management representatives of the intermediary.  Payments may also be made to intermediaries for making Shares of the Fund available to their customers generally and in investment programs.  The Adviser may also reimburse expenses or make payments from its own resources to intermediaries in consideration of services or other activities the Adviser believes may facilitate investment in the Fund.

 

The possibility of receiving, or the receipt of, the payments described above may provide intermediaries or their salespersons with an incentive to favor sales of Shares of the Fund, and other funds whose affiliates make similar compensation available, over other investments that do not make such payments.  Investors may wish to take such payment arrangements into account when considering and evaluating any recommendations relating to the Fund and other ETFs.

 

Premium/Discount Information.

The Fund is new and therefore does not have any information regarding how often Shares traded on the Exchange at a price above (i.e., at a premium) or below (i.e., at a discount) the NAV. Once available, this information will be presented, free of charge, on the Fund’s website at www.emgadvisors.com.

 

Continuous Offering.

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

 

For example, a broker-dealer firm or its client may be deemed a statutory underwriter if it takes Creation Units after placing an order with the Distributor, breaks them down into individual Shares, and sells such Shares directly to customers, or if it chooses to couple the creation of a supply of new Shares with an active selling effort involving solicitation of secondary market demand for Shares.  A determination of whether one is an underwriter for purposes of the Securities Act must take into account all the facts and circumstances pertaining to the activities of the broker-dealer or its client in the particular case, and the examples mentioned above should not be considered a complete description of all the activities that could lead to 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, are generally required to deliver a prospectus.  This is because the prospectus delivery exemption in Section 4(a)(3) of the Securities Act is not available with respect to such transactions as a result of Section 24(d) of the 1940 Act.  As a result, broker dealer-firms should note that dealers who are not underwriters but are participating in a distribution (as contrasted with ordinary secondary market transactions) and thus dealing with Shares that are part of an over-allotment within the meaning of Section 4(a)(3)(a) 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.  Firms that incur a prospectus delivery obligation with respect to Shares of the Fund are reminded that under Rule 153 of the Securities Act, a prospectus delivery obligation under Section 5(b)(2) of the Securities Act owed to an exchange member in connection with a sale on the Exchange is satisfied by the fact that such Fund’s Prospectus is available on the SEC’s electronic filing system.  The prospectus delivery mechanism provided in Rule 153 of the Securities Act is only available with respect to transactions on an exchange.

29

 

Additional Information.

The Fund enters into contractual arrangements with various parties, including among others the Fund’s investment adviser, who provides services to the Fund.  Shareholders are not parties to, or intended (or “third party”) beneficiaries of, those contractual arrangements.

 

The Prospectus and the SAI provide information concerning the Fund that you should consider in determining whether to purchase Shares of the Fund.  The Fund may make changes to this information from time to time.  Neither this Prospectus nor the SAI is intended to give rise to any contract rights or other rights in any shareholder, other than any rights conferred explicitly by federal or state securities laws that may not be waived.

 

Shareholder Rights

The Trust’s Amended and Restated Agreement and Declaration of Trust requires shareholders bringing a derivative action on behalf of the Fund to first make a pre-suit demand and also to collectively hold at least 10% of the outstanding shares of the Trust or at least 10% of the outstanding shares of the series or class to which the demand relates and to undertake to reimburse the Trust for the expense of any counsel or advisors used when considering the merits of the demand in the event that the Board of Trustees determines not to bring such action. Following receipt of the demand, the Trustees must be afforded a reasonable amount of time to investigate and consider the demand. In each case, these requirements do not apply to claims arising under the federal securities laws.

 

Duties of Trustees

The Trust’s Amended and Restated Agreement and Declaration of Trust provides that the Board is subject to the same fiduciary duties to which the directors of a Delaware corporation would be subject if (i) the Trust were a Delaware corporation, (ii) the Shareholders were shareholders of such Delaware corporation, and (iii) the trustees were directors of such Delaware corporation, and that such modified duties are instead of any fiduciary duties to which the Board would otherwise be subject.  Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, all actions and omissions of the Board are evaluated under the doctrine commonly referred to as the “business judgment rule,” as defined and developed under Delaware law, to the same extent that the same actions or omissions of directors of a Delaware corporation in a substantially similar circumstance would be evaluated under such doctrine.  Notwithstanding the foregoing, the provisions of the Trust’s Amended and Restated Agreement and Declaration of Trust and its By-Laws, to the extent that they restrict or eliminate the duties (including fiduciary duties) and liabilities relating thereto of a trustee otherwise applicable under the foregoing standard or otherwise existing at law or in equity, replace such other duties and liabilities of such trustee. In addition, nothing in the Trust’s Agreement and Declaration of Trust modifying, restricting or eliminating the duties or liabilities of trustees shall apply to, or in any way limit, the duties (including state law fiduciary duties of loyalty and care) or liabilities of such persons with respect to matters arising under the federal securities laws.

 

NO PERSON HAS BEEN AUTHORIZED TO GIVE ANY INFORMATION OR MAKE ANY REPRESENTATIONS NOT CONTAINED IN THIS PROSPECTUS OR IN THE FUND’S SAI INCORPORATED HEREIN BY REFERENCE, IN CONNECTION WITH THE OFFERING MADE BY THIS PROSPECTUS AND, IF GIVEN OR MADE, SUCH REPRESENTATIONS MUST NOT BE RELIED UPON AS HAVING BEEN AUTHORIZED BY THE TRUST OR ITS DISTRIBUTOR. THIS PROSPECTUS DOES NOT CONSTITUTE AN OFFERING BY THE TRUST OR BY THE DISTRIBUTOR IN ANY JURISDICTION IN WHICH SUCH OFFERING MAY NOT LAWFULLY BE MADE.

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FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS

 

There are no financial highlights for the Fund because it did not commence operations prior to the date of this Prospectus.

31

 

INVESTMENT ADVISER

 

The Energy & Minerals Group Advisors, LLC
704 Goodlette Frank Road North, Suite 118

Naples, Florida 34102

 

INVESTMENT SUB-ADVISER

 

Vident Investment Advisory, LLC

1125 Sanctuary Parkway, Suite 515

Alpharetta, Georgia 30009

 

ADMINISTRATOR AND
TRANSFER AGENT

 

U.S. Bank Global Fund Services
P.O. Box 701

Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53201-0701

 

CUSTODIAN

 

U.S. Bank, N.A.
1555 North Rivercenter Drive, Suite 302

Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53212

 

INDEPENDENT REGISTERED
PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM

 

Cohn & Company, Ltd.

1350 Euclid Avenue, Suite 800

Cleveland, Ohio 44115

 

DISTRIBUTOR

 

Quasar Distributors, LLC

Three Canal Plaza, Suite 100

Portland, Maine 04101

 

LEGAL COUNSEL

 

Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP
One Logan Square, Suite 2000
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19103-6996

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FOR MORE INFORMATION

 

For more information about the Fund, the following documents are available free upon request:

 

Annual/Semiannual Reports

Once available, additional information about the Fund’s investments will be provided in the Fund’s annual and semiannual reports to shareholders. The annual report will contain a discussion of the market conditions and investment strategies that significantly affected the Fund’s performance during its most recently completed fiscal year. The Fund’s annual and semi-annual reports to shareholders, once available, will be available at the Fund’s website at www.emgadvisors.com or by calling 1-800-617-0004.

 

Statement of Additional Information

The SAI dated December 28, 2022 provides more details about the Fund and its policies. The SAI, as supplemented from time to time, is on file with the SEC and is incorporated by reference into (and is legally a part of) this Prospectus.

 

TO OBTAIN INFORMATION

 

The SAI is available, without charge, upon request along with the semiannual and annual reports (when available). To obtain a free copy of the SAI, semiannual or annual reports or if you have questions about the Fund:

 

By Internet

Go to www.emgadvisors.com.

 

By Telephone

Call 1-800-617-0004 or your securities dealer.

 

By Mail

Write to:

The Energy & Minerals Group Advisors, LLC

c/o U.S. Bank Global Fund Services
P.O. Box 701

Milwaukee, WI 53201-0701

 

From the SEC

Information about the Fund (including the SAI) and other information about the Fund are available on the EDGAR Database on the SEC’s Internet site at www.sec.gov, and copies of this information may be obtained, after paying a duplicating fee, by sending an electronic request to [email protected].

 

Investment Company Act File Number 811-23011