HFND Unlimited HFND Multi-Strategy Return Tracker ETF
   
  listed on NYSE Arca, Inc.

 

PROSPECTUS 

March 23, 2024

 

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) nor the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”) have approved or disapproved of these securities or passed upon the accuracy or adequacy of this Prospectus. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal offense.

 

 

 

 

 

TABLE OF CONTENTS

 

Unlimited HFND Multi-Strategy Return Tracker ETF - Fund Summary 1
Additional Information about the Fund 9
Portfolio Holdings Information 14
Management 15
How to Buy and Sell Shares 16
Dividends, Distributions, and Taxes 18
Distribution 20
Premium/Discount Information 20
Additional Notices 20
Financial Highlights 21

 

 

 

 

Unlimited HFND Multi-Strategy Return Tracker ETF - FUND SUMMARY

 

Investment Objective

 

The Unlimited HFND Multi-Strategy Return Tracker ETF (the “Fund”) seeks capital appreciation.

 

Fees and Expenses of the Fund

 

This table describes the fees and expenses you may pay if you buy, hold, and sell shares of the Fund (“Shares”). You may pay other fees, such as brokerage commissions and other fees to financial intermediaries, which are not reflected in the table and Example below.

 

Annual Fund Operating Expenses(1) (expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)  
Management Fees   0.95%
Distribution and/or Service (12b-1) Fees   0.00%
Other Expenses   0.00%
Dividends and Interest Expense on Short Positions(2)  0.22%
Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses(2)   0.05%
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses (2)  1.22%
   
(1) The Fund’s investment adviser, Tidal Investments LLC (“Tidal” or the “Adviser”), a Tidal Financial Group company, will pay, or require a sub-adviser to pay, all expenses incurred by the Fund (except for advisory fees and sub-advisory fees, as the case may be) excluding interest charges on any borrowings, dividends and other expenses on securities sold short, taxes, brokerage commissions and other expenses incurred in placing orders for the purchase and sale of securities and other investment instruments, acquired fund fees and expenses, accrued deferred tax liability, distribution fees and expenses paid by the Fund under any distribution plan adopted pursuant to Rule 12b-1 under the 1940 Act, and litigation expenses, and other non-routine or extraordinary expenses. 

 

(2) Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses (“AFFE”) are the indirect costs of investing in other investment companies. Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses do not correlate to the expense ratio in the Fund’s Financial Highlights because the Financial Highlights include only the direct operating expenses incurred by the Fund and exclude AFFE. Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses also do not correlate to the expense ratio in the Fund’s Financial Highlights because Dividends and Interest Expense on Short Positions and AFFE have been restated and are estimated to reflect fees for the current fiscal year.

 

Expense 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 redeem or hold all of your Shares at the end of those periods. The Example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year and that the Fund’s operating expenses remain the same. The Example does not take into account brokerage commissions that you may pay on your purchases and sales of Shares. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:

 

1 Year 3 Years 5 Years 10 Years
$124 $387 $670 $1,477

 

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 Shares are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in total annual fund operating expenses or in the expense example above, affect the Fund’s performance. For the fiscal period October 10, 2022 (commencement of operations) to August 31, 2023, the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate was 232% of the average value of its portfolio.

 

Principal Investment Strategy

 

The Fund is an actively-managed exchange-traded fund (“ETF”) that seeks capital appreciation.

 

The Fund seeks to create an investment portfolio that has similar return characteristics as the hedge fund industry gross of fees returns. By creating an investment portfolio for the Fund with similar return characteristics as the hedge fund industry’s gross of fees returns, the Fund’s sub-adviser, Unlimited Funds, Inc. (“Unlimited” or the “Sub-Adviser”), believes that the Fund’s net of fees returns may outperform the hedge fund industry’s net of fees returns due to the relatively high fees and expenses charged by hedge funds versus the comparatively lower operating expenses of the Fund.

 

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The Sub-Adviser obtains publicly reported returns and fee data for the hedge fund industry from various sources. The Sub-Adviser then seeks to create an investment portfolio with similar return characteristics (return, volatility, and correlation with other asset classes) as the hedge fund industry gross of fees returns primarily by taking long and short positions in broad-based exchange-traded funds (“Underlying ETFs”) and futures contracts. A long position means the Fund will buy a security with the expectation that it will rise in value. In contrast, the Fund will “short” a security with the expectation that it will fall in value.

 

The Investment Process

 

The Sub-Adviser first determines the most recent month’s gross of fees returns of the hedge fund industry as a whole and of several individual hedge fund sectors that comprise the hedge fund industry (such as long/short equity, global macro, event-driven, fixed income arbitrage, emerging markets, managed futures, and multi-strategy). The Sub-Adviser does this by reviewing publicly reported gross of fees returns information for the hedge fund industry.

 

Next, for each of the hedge fund sectors, the Sub-Adviser determines an investment portfolio of long and short positions in roughly 10-20 Underlying ETFs and futures contracts which best match the hedge fund sector’s most recent publicly reported month’s gross of fees returns by using a proprietary machine learning algorithm (each, a “Sector Portfolio”). The selection of Underlying ETFs and futures contracts used as algorithm inputs is determined by the Sub-Adviser’s portfolio managers based upon their belief of what assets best capture the positioning (e.g., stock sectors, stocks vs. bonds) and factors (e.g., liquidity conditions, borrowing costs) driving the returns of each hedge fund style. The proprietary machine learning algorithm analyzes the historical pattern of returns over several time frames to determine the Sector Portfolio that best matches the most recently publicly reported month’s hedge fund sector gross of fees returns, as well portfolio returns over various prior periods (as determined appropriate by the Sub-Adviser).

 

The Sub-Adviser then aggregates each of the Sector Portfolio’s positions, which results in a total hedge fund industry model – and, in turn, determines the Fund’s investment portfolio. In this aggregation process, the Sub-Adviser nets any offsetting long and short Underlying ETF and futures positions across the Sector Portfolios. The Sector Portfolios are weighted based upon the relative asset levels in each hedge fund sector (based on publicly reported data). The Fund’s investment portfolio will generally consist of long and short positions in 30 to 50 Underlying ETFs and futures contracts. Over time, through the use of this proprietary machine learning process, the Sub-Adviser expects the Fund to have similar return characteristics as the hedge fund industry gross of fees returns.

 

The Sub-Adviser performs the foregoing analyses on an ongoing basis because hedge fund performance data for different indices (the “Indices”) is available at different times. The Sub-Adviser will frequently trade all or a significant portion of the holdings in the Fund’s investment portfolio as a result.

 

What the Fund invests in: The Fund’s portfolio will generally consist of long and short positions in 30 to 50 Underlying ETFs and futures contracts. In addition, the Fund may invest in swap agreements. Please see the heading titled “Portfolio Construction,” below, for more information about the Fund’s portfolio holdings.

 

What the Fund will NOT do: The Fund is not a hedge fund, nor will it invest in hedge fund strategies or positions. For the avoidance of doubt:

 

  The Fund will not invest in hedge funds.
  The Fund will not seek to replicate the direct underlying holdings of hedge funds.
  The Fund will not engage in certain types of investment activities that are permissible for hedge funds. For example, hedge funds may use more leverage than the Fund, and hedge funds may invest a greater percentage of their assets in illiquid investments as compared to the Fund.

 

Portfolio Construction

 

The Fund invests primarily in Underlying ETFs and exchange-listed futures contracts. The Fund’s initial universe of ETF investments includes a broad range of primarily passively-managed ETFs. The initial universe may include, among others:

 

  Commodity ETFs that invest in commodities like oil and gold.
  Factor ETFs that invest primarily based on one of several investment factor categories, such as value and momentum.
  Fixed Income ETFs that invest in fixed income categories, such as treasuries, corporate bonds, municipal bonds, and high-yield bonds.
  Domestic, Global, and Foreign ETFs that invest in the U.S., developed markets, and/or emerging markets, as well as country-specific ETFs.
  Sector ETFs that invest primarily in one of several economic sectors, such as information technology and consumer discretionary.

 

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If there are several potential candidates for inclusion in the Fund’s portfolio, the Sub-Adviser’s selection criteria favor lower cost Underlying ETFs.

 

To achieve an appropriate risk/return profile for the Fund’s portfolio, the Fund will also “short” the securities of Underlying ETFs. A short sale is a transaction in which the Fund sells a security it does not own, typically in anticipation of a decline in the market price of that security. To effect a short sale, the Fund arranges through a broker to borrow the security it does not own to be delivered to a buyer of such security. In borrowing the security to be delivered to the buyer, the Fund will become obligated to replace the security borrowed at the time of replacement, regardless of the market price at that time. A short sale results in a gain when the price of the securities sold short declines between the date of the short sale and the date on which a security is purchased to replace the borrowed security. Conversely, a short sale will result in a loss if the price of the security sold short increases. When the Fund makes a short sale, the broker effecting the short sale typically holds the proceeds as part of the collateral securing the Fund’s obligation to cover the short position.

 

In addition, the Fund’s portfolio will hold futures contracts, which are standardized contracts traded on, or subject to the rules of, an exchange that call for the future delivery of a specified quantity and type of asset at a specified time and place or, alternatively, may call for cash settlement. The Fund will hold futures contracts to express long and short exposures if futures contracts are either lower cost or more accurately reflect the Sub-Adviser’s desired positioning for the Fund’s overall portfolio than investments in Underlying ETFs. The Fund can also invest in swap agreements for similar purposes.

 

The Sub-Adviser adjusts the Fund’s portfolio on a frequent basis in light of its ongoing analysis of the Indices. As a result, the Fund will frequently trade all or a significant portion of the holdings in the Fund’s investment portfolio.

 

The Fund is deemed to be non-diversified under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “1940 Act”), which means that it may invest a greater percentage of its assets in the securities of a single issuer or a smaller number of issuers than if it was a diversified fund.

 

Cayman Subsidiary

 

The Fund intends to gain exposure to futures contracts and swap agreements either directly or indirectly by investing through a wholly-owned Cayman Islands subsidiary (the “Subsidiary”) that is advised by the Adviser. The Fund may invest up to 25% of its total assets in the Subsidiary. The Subsidiary will comply with the same 1940 Act requirements that are applicable to the Fund’s transactions in derivatives. In addition, the Subsidiary will be subject to the same fundamental investment restrictions and will follow the same compliance policies and procedures as the Fund. Unlike the Fund, the Subsidiary will not seek to qualify as a regulated investment company (“RIC”) under Subchapter M of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”). The Fund is the sole investor in the Subsidiary. The Adviser selects the Subsidiary’s investments.

 

Principal Investment Risks

 

The principal risks of investing in the Fund are summarized below. Each risk summarized below is considered a “principal risk” of investing in the Fund, regardless of the order in which it appears. The discussion below applies to investments made directly by the Fund and to investments made by the Underlying ETFs in which the Fund invests. As with any investment, there is a risk that you could lose all or a portion of your investment in the Fund. Some or all of these risks may adversely affect the Fund’s net asset value per share (“NAV”), trading price, yield, total return and/or ability to meet its investment objective. For more information about the risks of investing in the Fund, see the section in the Fund’s Prospectus titled “Additional Information About the Fund’s Principal Risks.

 

Please note that while each Index’s underlying holdings may include very complex investment instruments, the Fund’s portfolio will primarily consist of both long and short positions in Underlying ETFs and futures contracts. As a result, the Fund is not directly subject to the risks of the complex investment instruments held by various hedge funds. The following risks could affect the value of your investment in the Fund:

 

Underlying ETFs Risks. The Fund will incur higher and duplicative expenses because it invests in Underlying ETFs. There is also the risk that the Fund may suffer losses due to the investment practices of the Underlying ETFs. The Fund will be subject to substantially the same risks as those associated with the direct ownership of securities held by the Underlying ETFs. Additionally, Underlying ETFs are also subject to the “ETF Risks” described above.

 

Newer Sub-Adviser Risk. Unlimited is a recently registered investment adviser with a limited track record serving as an adviser or sub-adviser to an investment company. As a result, there is no long-term track record against which an investor may judge Unlimited and it is possible Unlimited may not achieve the Fund’s intended investment objective. In addition, Unlimited currently has limited personnel and resources, which may prevent it from being able to continue to provide sub-advisory services if one of the principals becomes incapacitated. Over time, Unlimited will augment its resources as market conditions permit. In addition, Unlimited regularly evaluates its business continuity plan with the Adviser to ensure continuity of operations and portfolio management should a disruption to operations occur.

 

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Management Risk. The Fund and the Subsidiary are actively-managed and may not meet its investment objective based on the Sub-Adviser’s or Adviser’s success or failure to implement investment strategies for the Fund or the Subsidiary, as the case may be. In addition, the Fund’s principal investment strategies are dependent upon the Sub-Adviser’s use of a machine learning security selection process and, as a result, the Sub-Adviser’s skill in understanding and utilizing such process.

 

Machine Learning, Model and Data Risk. The Fund relies heavily on proprietary “machine learning” selection processes. In addition, the composition of the Fund’s portfolio is heavily dependent on proprietary quantitative models as well as information and data supplied by third parties (“Models and Data”). To the extent the machine learning process does not perform as designed or as intended, the Fund’s strategy may not be successfully implemented, and the Fund may lose value. Similarly, when Models and Data prove to be incorrect or incomplete, any decisions made in reliance thereon may lead to portfolio management decisions for the Fund that would not have been made had the Models and Data been correct and complete.

 

Data Lag Risk. The Sub-Adviser’s approach has limitations because the Models are derived using past returns Data, and therefore the investment strategy is structurally time lagged. The delays between when particular hedge funds’ returns occur and when they are reported creates additional lag. The Sub-Adviser expects that these structural lags will create divergence between each Style Portfolio’s returns and the corresponding hedge fund style’s returns. In turn, the Fund’s performance may diverge from that of the total hedge fund industry portfolio.

 

Cayman Subsidiary Risk. By investing in the Subsidiary, the Fund is indirectly exposed to the risks associated with the Subsidiary’s investments. Futures contracts and swap agreements held by the Subsidiary are subject to the same economic 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 and 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.

 

The remaining principal risks are presented in alphabetical order. Each risk summarized below is considered a “principal risk” of investing in the Fund, regardless of the order in which it appears.

 

Cybersecurity Risk. With the increased use of technologies such as the Internet to conduct business, the Fund is susceptible to operational, information security, and related risks. Cyber incidents affecting the Fund or its service providers may cause disruptions and impact business operations, potentially resulting in financial losses, interference with the Fund’s ability to calculate its NAV, impediments to trading, the inability of shareholders to transact business, violations of applicable privacy and other laws, regulatory fines, penalties, reputational damage, reimbursement or other compensation costs, or additional compliance costs.

 

Commodity Risk. Underlying ETFs that invest in the commodities markets may be subject to greater volatility than investments in traditional securities. Commodity prices may be influenced by unfavorable weather, animal and plant disease, geologic and environmental factors as well as changes in government regulation such as tariffs, embargoes or burdensome production rules and restrictions.

 

Derivatives Risk. The Fund’s, the Subsidiary’s, or an Underlying ETF’s derivative investments have risks, including the imperfect correlation between the value of such instruments and the underlying assets or index; the loss of principal, including the potential loss of amounts greater than the initial amount invested in the derivative instrument; the possible default of the other party to the transaction; and illiquidity of the derivative investments. If a counterparty becomes bankrupt or otherwise fails to perform its obligations under a derivative contract due to financial difficulties, the Fund, the Subsidiary, or an Underlying ETF, as applicable, may experience significant delays in obtaining any recovery under the derivative contract in a bankruptcy or other reorganization proceeding. Derivative instruments may give rise to a form of leverage. Leverage magnifies the potential for gain and the risk of loss. Certain derivative investments could also affect the amount, timing, and character of distributions to shareholders, which may result in the Fund realizing more short-term capital gain and ordinary income subject to tax at ordinary income tax rates than it would if it did not engage in such transactions, which may adversely impact the Fund’s after-tax returns.

 

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Emerging Markets Risk. The Fund may invest in Underlying ETFs that invest in securities issued by companies domiciled or headquartered in emerging market nations. Investments in securities traded in developing or emerging markets, or that provide exposure to such securities or markets, can involve additional risks relating to political, economic, currency, or regulatory conditions not associated with investments in U.S. securities and investments in more developed international markets. Such conditions may impact the ability of the Fund to buy, sell or otherwise transfer securities, adversely affect the trading market and price for Fund Shares and cause the Fund to decline in value.

 

Equity Market Risk. The equity securities held by the Underlying ETFs in which the Fund invests may experience sudden, unpredictable drops in value or long periods of decline in value. This may occur because of factors that affect securities markets generally or factors affecting specific issuers, industries, or sectors in which an Underlying ETF invests. Common stocks are generally exposed to greater risk than other types of securities, such as preferred stock and debt obligations, because common stockholders generally have inferior rights to receive payment from issuers. Securities in an Underlying ETF’s portfolio may underperform in comparison to securities in the general securities markets, a particular financial market, or other asset classes, due to a number of factors, including inflation (or expectations for inflation), interest rates, global demand for particular products or resources, natural disasters or events, pandemic diseases, terrorism, regulatory events, or government controls.

 

ETF Risk. The Fund (and each Underlying ETF) 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. The Fund has a limited number of financial institutions that are authorized to purchase and redeem Shares directly from the Fund (known as “Authorized Participants” or “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, 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.

 

  Cash Redemption Risk. The Fund’s investment strategy may require it to redeem Shares for cash or to otherwise include cash as part of its redemption proceeds. For example, the Fund may not be able to redeem in-kind certain securities held by the Fund (e.g., derivative instruments that cannot be broken up beyond certain minimum sizes needed for transfer and settlement). In such a case, the Fund may be required to sell or unwind portfolio investments to obtain the cash needed to distribute redemption proceeds. This may cause the Fund to recognize a capital gain that it might not have recognized if it had made a redemption in-kind. As a result, the Fund may have less cash efficiency and pay out higher annual capital gain distributions to shareholders than if the in-kind redemption process was used. In addition, cash redemption costs could include brokerage costs or taxable gains or losses, which might not have otherwise been incurred if the redemption was fully in-kind.

 

  Costs of Buying or Selling Shares. Due to the costs of buying or selling Shares, including brokerage commissions imposed by brokers and 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.

 

  Shares May Trade at Prices Other Than NAV. 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) due to supply and demand of Shares or during periods of market volatility. This risk is heightened in times of market volatility, periods of steep market declines, and periods when there is limited trading activity for Shares in the secondary market, in which case such premiums or discounts may be significant.

 

  Trading. Although Shares are listed for trading on a national securities exchange, such as NYSE Arca, Inc. (the “Exchange”) and may be traded on U.S. exchanges other than the Exchange, 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 Shares may begin to mirror the liquidity of the Fund’s underlying portfolio holdings, which can be significantly less liquid than Shares. Also, in stressed market conditions, the market for Shares may become less liquid in response to deteriorating liquidity in the market for the Fund’s underlying portfolio holdings. These adverse effects on liquidity for Shares, in turn, could lead to wider bid/ask spreads and differences between the market price of Shares and the underlying value of those underlying portfolio holdings, which can be significantly less liquid than Shares.

 

Factor Risk. The market may reward certain factors (such as value, momentum) for a period of time and not others. The average level of volatility for a specific risk factor may vary significantly relative to other risk factors and may increase or decrease significantly during different phases of an economic cycle.

 

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Fixed Income Securities Risk. The Fund may invest in Underlying ETFs that invest in fixed income securities. The prices of fixed income securities may be affected by changes in interest rates, the creditworthiness and financial strength of the issuer and other factors. An increase in prevailing interest rates typically causes the value of existing fixed income securities to fall and often has a greater impact on longer-duration and/or higher quality fixed income securities. Falling interest rates will cause an Underlying ETF to reinvest the proceeds of fixed income securities that have been repaid by the issuer at lower interest rates and may also reduce such Underlying ETF’s distributable income because interest payments on floating rate fixed income instruments held by the Underlying ETF will decline. The Fund could lose money on indirect investments in fixed income securities if the issuer or borrower fails to meet its obligations to make interest payments and/or to repay principal in a timely manner.

 

Foreign Securities Risk. Foreign securities held by Underlying ETFs in which the Fund invests involve certain risks not involved in domestic investments and may experience more rapid and extreme changes in value than investments in securities of U.S. companies. Financial markets in foreign countries often are not as developed, efficient or liquid as financial markets in the United States, and therefore, the prices of non-U.S. securities can be more volatile. In addition, the Fund will be subject to risks associated with adverse political and economic developments in foreign countries, which may include the imposition of economic sanctions. Generally, there is less readily available and reliable information about non-U.S. issuers due to less rigorous disclosure or accounting standards and regulatory practices.

 

Futures Contracts Risk. The Fund, the Subsidiary, or Underlying ETFs may invest in futures contracts. Risks of futures contracts include: (i) an imperfect correlation between the value of the futures contract and the underlying asset; (ii) possible lack of a liquid secondary market; (iii) the inability to close a futures contract when desired; (iv) losses caused by unanticipated market movements, which may be unlimited; (v) an obligation for the Fund, the Subsidiary, or an Underlying ETF, as applicable, to make daily cash payments to maintain its required margin, particularly at times when the Fund, the Subsidiary, or Underlying ETF may have insufficient cash; and (vi) unfavorable execution prices from rapid selling. Unlike equity securities, which typically entitle the holder to a continuing stake in a corporation, futures contracts normally specify a certain date for settlement in cash based on the reference asset. As the futures contracts approach expiration, they may be replaced by similar contracts that have a later expiration. This process is referred to as “rolling.” If the market for these contracts is in “contango,” meaning that the prices of futures contracts in the nearer months are lower than the price of contracts in the distant months, the sale of the near-term month contract would be at a lower price than the longer-term contract, resulting in a cost to “roll” the futures contract. The actual realization of a potential roll cost will be dependent upon the difference in price of the near and distant contract.

 

General Market Risk. Economies and financial markets throughout the world are becoming increasingly interconnected, which increases the likelihood that events or conditions in one country or region will adversely impact markets or issuers in other countries or regions. Securities in the Underlying ETFs’ portfolios may underperform in comparison to securities in the general financial markets, a particular financial market, or other asset classes, due to a number of factors, including inflation (or expectations for inflation), interest rates, global demand for particular products or resources, natural disasters or events, pandemic diseases, terrorism, regulatory events, and government controls.

 

High Portfolio Turnover Risk. The Indices have historically had high portfolio turnover rates. As a result, the Fund is likewise expected to frequently trade all or a significant portion of the securities in its portfolio. A high portfolio turnover rate increases transaction costs, which may increase the Fund’s expenses. Frequent trading may also cause adverse tax consequences for investors in the Fund due to an increase in short-term capital gains.

 

Market Capitalization Risk. These risks apply to the extent the Underlying ETFs in which the Fund invests hold securities of large-, mid- and small-capitalization companies.

 

  Large-Capitalization Investing. The securities of large-capitalization companies may be relatively mature compared to smaller companies and therefore subject to slower growth during times of economic expansion. Large-capitalization companies may also be unable to respond quickly to new competitive challenges, such as changes in technology and consumer tastes.

 

  Mid-Capitalization Investing. The securities of mid-capitalization companies may be more vulnerable to adverse issuer, market, political, or economic developments than securities of large-capitalization companies. The securities of mid-capitalization companies generally trade in lower volumes and are subject to greater and more unpredictable price changes than large capitalization stocks or the stock market as a whole.

 

  Small-Capitalization Investing. The securities of small-capitalization companies may be more vulnerable to adverse issuer, market, political, or economic developments than securities of large- or mid-capitalization companies. The securities of small-capitalization companies generally trade in lower volumes and are subject to greater and more unpredictable price changes than large- or mid-capitalization stocks or the stock market as a whole. There is typically less publicly available information concerning smaller-capitalization companies than for larger, more established companies.

 

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Newer Fund Risk. The Fund is a recently organized management investment company with a limited operating history. As a result, prospective investors have a limited track record or history on which to base their investment decision. There can be no assurance that the Fund will grow to or maintain an economically viable size.

 

Non-Diversification Risk. Because the Fund is “non-diversified,” it may invest a greater percentage of its assets in the securities of a single issuer or a smaller number of issuers than if it was a diversified fund. As a result, a decline in the value of an investment in a single issuer or a smaller number of issuers could cause the Fund’s overall value to decline to a greater degree than if the Fund held a more diversified portfolio.

 

Recent Market Events Risk. U.S. and international markets have experienced and may continue to experience significant periods of volatility in recent years and months due to a number of economic, political and global macro factors including uncertainty regarding inflation and central banks’ interest rate increases, the possibility of a national or global recession, trade tensions, political events, the war between Russia and Ukraine, significant conflict between Israel and Hamas in the Middle East, and the impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) global pandemic. The impact of COVID-19 may last for an extended period of time. As a result of continuing political tensions and armed conflicts, including the war between Ukraine and Russia, the U.S. and the European Union imposed sanctions on certain Russian individuals and companies, including certain financial institutions, and have limited certain exports and imports to and from Russia. The war has contributed to recent market volatility and may continue to do so.

 

Sector Risk. To the extent an Underlying ETF invests more heavily in particular sectors of the economy, its performance will be especially sensitive to developments that significantly affect those sectors.

 

Short Selling Risk. The Fund may make short sales of securities of Underlying ETFs, which involves selling a security it does not own in anticipation that the price of the security will decline. Short sales may involve substantial risk and leverage. Short sales expose the Fund to the risk that it will be required to buy (“cover”) the security sold short when the security has appreciated in value or is unavailable, thus resulting in a loss to the Fund. Short sales also involve the risk that losses may exceed the amount invested and may be unlimited.

 

Swap Agreement Risk. The Fund, the Subsidiary, or an Underlying ETF may invest in swap agreements. Swap agreements are entered into primarily with major global financial institutions for a specified period, which may range from one day to more than six months. The swap agreements in which the Fund, the Subsidiary, or an Underlying ETF, as applicable, invests are generally traded in the over-the-counter market, which generally has less transparency than exchange-traded derivatives instruments. In a standard swap transaction, two parties agree to exchange the return (or differentials in rates of return) earned or realized on particular predetermined reference assets or underlying securities or instruments. The gross return to be exchanged or swapped between the parties is calculated based on a notional amount or the return on or change in value of a particular dollar amount invested in a basket of securities representing a particular sector or index.

 

Tax Risk. The federal income tax treatment of the Fund’s income from the Subsidiary may be negatively affected by future legislation, Treasury Regulations (proposed or final), and/or other Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) guidance or authorities that could affect the character, timing of recognition, and/or amount of the Fund’s investment company taxable income and/or net capital gains and, therefore, the distributions it makes. If the Fund failed the source of income test for any taxable year but was eligible to and did cure the failure, it could incur potentially significant additional federal income tax expenses. If, on the other hand, the Fund failed to qualify as a RIC for any taxable year and was ineligible to or otherwise did not cure the failure, it would be subject to federal income tax at the fund-level on its taxable income at the regular corporate tax rate (without reduction for distributions to shareholders), with the consequence that its income available for distribution to shareholders would be reduced and distributions from its current or accumulated earnings and profits would generally be taxable to its shareholders as dividend income.

 

Performance

 

The following performance information provides some indication of the risks of investing in the Fund by showing changes in the Fund’s performance. The bar chart shows the annual returns for the Fund. The table illustrates how the Fund’s average annual returns for the 1-year and since inception periods compare with those of a broad measure of market performance. The Fund’s past performance, before and after taxes, does not necessarily indicate how it will perform in the future. Updated performance information is available on the Fund’s website at www.unlimitedetfs.com.

 

Calendar Year Ended December 31, 2023

 

 

 

 

 

 

During the period of time shown in the bar chart, the Fund’s highest quarterly return was 4.41% for the quarter ended December 31, 2023 and the lowest quarterly return was -2.04% for the quarter ended September 30, 2023.

 

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Average Annual Total Returns

 

For the Periods Ended December 31, 2023

 

  1 Year  Since Inception 
October 10, 2022  
Return Before Taxes  3.94 4.95
Return After Taxes on Distributions  3.47 4.44
Return After Taxes on Distributions and Sale of Fund Shares  2.46 3.63
S&P 500 Total Return Index(1) (reflects no deduction for fees, expenses, or taxes)  26.29 27.59

 

(1) The S&P 500® Total Return Index is a widely recognized unmanaged index of 500 common stocks, which are generally representative of the U.S. stock market as a whole.  The returns provided for the S&P 500® Total Return Index include the reinvestment of dividends.

 

After-tax returns are calculated using the historical highest individual federal marginal income tax rates during the period covered by the table above and do not reflect the impact of state and local taxes. Actual after-tax returns depend on an investor’s tax situation and may differ from those shown. After-tax returns shown are not relevant to investors who hold their Shares through tax-deferred or other tax-advantaged arrangements such as an individual retirement account (“IRA”).

 

Management

 

Investment Adviser

 

Tidal Investments LLC (“Tidal” or the “Adviser”), a Tidal Financial Group company, serves as investment adviser to the Fund.

 

Investment Sub-Adviser

 

Unlimited Funds Inc. (“Unlimited” or the “Sub-Adviser”) serves as investment sub-adviser to the Fund.

 

Portfolio Managers

 

Bob Elliott, Chief Investment Officer for the Sub-Adviser, and Bruce McNevin, Chief Data Scientist for the Sub-Adviser, have been portfolio managers of the Fund since its inception in 2022.

 

Michael Venuto, Chief Investment Officer for the Adviser, and Charles A. Ragauss, CFA, Portfolio Manager for the Adviser, have been portfolio managers of the Fund since its inception in 2022.

 

Purchase and Sale of Shares

 

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 (the “Deposit Securities”) and/or a designated amount of U.S. cash.

 

Shares are listed on a national securities exchange, such as the Exchange, and individual Shares may only be bought and sold in the secondary market through brokers 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 (the “bid” price) and the lowest price a seller is willing to accept for Shares (the “ask” price) when buying or selling Shares in the secondary market. This difference in bid and ask prices is often referred to as the “bid-ask spread.”

 

Information regarding the Fund’s NAV, market price, how often Shares traded on the Exchange at a premium or discount, and bid-ask spreads can be found on the Fund’s website at www.unlimitedetfs.com.

 

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Tax Information

 

Fund distributions are generally taxable to shareholders as ordinary income, qualified dividend income, or capital gains (or a combination), unless an investment is in an 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 Adviser, the Sub-Adviser or their 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.

 

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ABOUT THE FUND

 

Investment Objective. The Unlimited HFND Multi-Strategy Return Tracker ETF (the “Fund”) seeks capital appreciation.

 

An investment objective is fundamental if it cannot be changed without the consent of the holders of a majority of the outstanding Shares. The Fund’s investment objective has not been adopted as a fundamental investment policy and therefore may be changed without the consent of the Fund’s shareholders upon approval by the Board of Trustees (the “Board”) of Tidal ETF Trust (the “Trust”) and written notice to shareholders.

 

The Fund complies with the provisions of the 1940 Act relating to investment policies, capital structure and leverage on an aggregate basis with the Subsidiary. The Subsidiary also complies with the provisions of Section 17 of the 1940 Act relating to affiliated transactions and custody.

 

Temporary Defensive Strategies. For temporary defensive purposes during adverse market, economic, political, or other conditions, the Fund may invest in cash or cash equivalents or short-term instruments such as commercial paper, money market mutual funds, or short-term U.S. government securities. Taking a temporary defensive position may result in the Fund not achieving its investment objective.

 

Additional Information About the Fund’s Principal Risks. The principal risks are presented in alphabetical order to facilitate finding particular risks and comparing them with those of other funds. Each risk summarized below is considered a “principal risk” of investing in the Fund, regardless of the order in which it appears. The discussion below applies to investments made directly by the Fund and to investments made by the Underlying ETFs in which the Fund invests. As with any investment, there is a risk that you could lose all or a portion of your investment in the Fund. Some or all of these risks may adversely affect the Fund’s NAV per share, trading price, yield, total return and/or ability to meet its investment objective. The following risks could affect the value of your performance in the Fund:

 

Cayman Subsidiary Risk. By investing in the Subsidiary, the Fund is indirectly exposed to the risks associated with the Subsidiary’s investments. Futures contracts and swap agreements held by the Subsidiary are subject to the same economic 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 and 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.

 

Cybersecurity Risk. With the increased use of technologies such as the Internet to conduct business, the Fund is susceptible to operational, information security, and related risks. In general, cyber incidents can result from deliberate attacks or unintentional events. Cyber attacks include, but are not limited to, gaining unauthorized access to digital systems (e.g., through “hacking” or malicious software coding) for purposes of misappropriating assets or sensitive information, corrupting data, or causing operational disruption. Cyber attacks may also be carried out in a manner that does not require gaining unauthorized access, such as causing denial-of-service attacks on websites (i.e., efforts to make network services unavailable to intended users). Cyber incidents affecting the Fund or its service providers have the ability to cause disruptions and impact business operations, potentially resulting in financial losses, interference with the Fund’s ability to calculate its NAV, impediments to trading, the inability of shareholders to transact business, violations of applicable privacy and other laws, regulatory fines, penalties, reputational damage, reimbursement or other compensation costs, or additional compliance costs. Similar adverse consequences could result from cyber incidents affecting issuers of securities in which the Fund invests, counterparties with which the Fund engages in transactions, governmental and other regulatory authorities, exchange and other financial market operators, banks, brokers, dealers, insurance companies and other financial institutions (including financial intermediaries and service providers for shareholders) and other parties. In addition, substantial costs may be incurred in order to prevent any cyber incidents in the future. While the Fund’s service providers have established business continuity plans in the event of, and risk management systems to prevent, such cyber incidents, there are inherent limitations in such plans and systems including the possibility that certain risks have not been identified. Furthermore, the Fund cannot control the cyber security plans and systems put in place by their service providers or any other third parties whose operations may affect the Fund or its shareholders. As a result, the Fund and its shareholders could be negatively impacted.

 

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Commodity Risk. Underlying ETFs that invest in the commodities markets may be subject to greater volatility than investments in traditional securities. Commodity prices may be influenced by unfavorable weather, animal and plant disease, geologic and environmental factors as well as changes in government regulation such as tariffs, embargoes or burdensome production rules and restrictions.

 

Data Lag Risk. The Sub-Adviser’s approach has limitations because the Models are derived using past returns Data, and therefore the investment strategy is structurally time lagged. The delays between when particular hedge funds’ returns occur and when they are reported creates additional lag. The Sub-Adviser expects that these structural lags will create divergence between each Sector Portfolio’s returns and the corresponding hedge fund style’s returns. In turn, the Fund’s performance may diverge from that of the total hedge fund industry portfolio.

 

Derivatives Risk. The Fund’s, the Subsidiary’s, or an Underlying ETF’s derivative investments have risks, including the imperfect correlation between the value of such instruments and the underlying assets or index; the loss of principal, including the potential loss of amounts greater than the initial amount invested in the derivative instrument; the possible default of the other party to the transaction; and illiquidity of the derivative investments. If a counterparty becomes bankrupt or otherwise fails to perform its obligations under a derivative contract due to financial difficulties, the Fund, the Subsidiary, or an Underlying ETF, as applicable, may experience significant delays in obtaining any recovery under the derivative contract in a bankruptcy or other reorganization proceeding. Derivative investments may give rise to a form of leverage. Leverage magnifies the potential for gain and the risk of loss. Certain derivatives could also affect the amount, timing, and character of distributions to shareholders, which may result in the Fund, the Subsidiary, or an Underlying ETF, as applicable, realizing more short-term capital gain and ordinary income subject to tax at ordinary income tax rates than it would if it did not engage in such transactions, which may adversely impact the Fund’s after-tax returns.

 

Emerging Markets Risk. Investments in emerging market securities impose risks different from, or greater than, risks of investing in foreign developed countries. These risks include: smaller market capitalization of securities markets, which may suffer periods of relative illiquidity; significant price volatility; and restrictions on foreign investment. Emerging market countries may have relatively unstable governments and may present the risk of nationalization of businesses, expropriation, and confiscatory taxation or, in certain instances, reversion to closed market, centrally planned economies. Emerging market economies may also experience more severe downturns. In addition, foreign investors may be required to register or pay taxes or tariffs on the proceeds of securities sales; future economic or political crises could lead to price controls, forced mergers, expropriation or confiscatory taxation, seizure, nationalization, or creation of government monopolies. The currencies of emerging market countries may experience significant declines against the U.S. dollar, and devaluation may occur subsequent to investments in these currencies by the Underlying ETFs held by the Fund. Inflation and rapid fluctuations in inflation rates have had, and may continue to have, negative effects on the economies and securities markets of certain emerging market countries.

 

Additional risks of emerging markets securities may include: greater social, economic and political uncertainty and instability; more substantial governmental involvement in the economy; less governmental supervision and regulation; unavailability of currency hedging techniques; companies that are newly organized and small; differences in auditing and financial reporting standards, which may result in unavailability of material information about issuers; and less developed legal systems. Emerging securities markets may have different clearance and settlement procedures, which may be unable to keep pace with the volume of securities transactions or otherwise make it difficult to engage in such transactions. Settlement problems may cause an Underlying ETF to miss attractive investment opportunities, hold a portion of its assets in cash pending investment, or be delayed in disposing of a portfolio security. Such a delay could result in possible liability to a purchaser of the security. In addition, less information may be available about companies in emerging markets than in developed markets because such emerging markets companies may not be subject to accounting, auditing and financial reporting standards or to other regulatory practices required by U.S. companies which may lead to potential errors in index data, index computation and/or index construction. Such conditions may impact the ability of the Fund to buy, sell or otherwise transfer securities; adversely affect the trading market and price for such securities; and/or cause the Fund to decline in value.

 

Equity Market Risk. Common stocks are susceptible to general stock market fluctuations and to volatile increases and decreases in value as market confidence in and perceptions of their issuers change. These investor perceptions are based on various and unpredictable factors including: expectations regarding government, economic, monetary and fiscal policies; inflation and interest rates; economic expansion or contraction; and global or regional political, economic, public health, and banking crises. As the Underlying ETFs in which the Fund invests hold common stock, or common stock equivalents, of any given issuer, it is exposed to greater risk than if it held preferred stocks and debt obligations of the issuer because common stockholders, or holders of equivalent interests, generally have inferior rights to receive payments from issuers in comparison with the rights of preferred stockholders, bondholders, and other creditors of such issuers.

 

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ETF Risks. The Fund is an ETF, and, as a result of an ETF’s structure, is exposed to the following risks:

 

  Authorized Participants, Market Makers, and Liquidity Providers Concentration Risk. The Fund has a limited number of financial institutions that 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, 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.

 

  Cash Redemption Risk. The Fund’s investment strategy may require it to redeem Shares for cash or to otherwise include cash as part of its redemption proceeds. For example, the Fund may not be able to redeem in-kind certain securities held by the Fund (e.g., derivative instruments that cannot be broken up beyond certain minimum sizes needed for transfer and settlement). In such a case, the Fund may be required to sell or unwind portfolio investments to obtain the cash needed to distribute redemption proceeds. This may cause the Fund to recognize a capital gain that it might not have recognized if it had made a redemption in-kind. As a result, the Fund may have less cash efficiency and pay out higher annual capital gain distributions to shareholders than if the in-kind redemption process was used. In addition, cash redemption costs could include brokerage costs or taxable gains or losses, which might not have otherwise been incurred if the redemption was fully in-kind.

 

  Costs of Buying or Selling Shares. Investors buying or selling Shares 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 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.

 

  Shares May Trade at Prices Other Than NAV. 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 the 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 the 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 the 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. Because securities held by the Fund may trade on foreign exchanges that are closed when the Fund’s primary listing exchange is open, the Fund is likely to experience premiums and discounts greater than those of ETFs holding only domestic securities.

 

  Trading. Although 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 such Shares will develop or be maintained. Trading in 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 when a decline in the S&P 500® Index during a single day reaches certain thresholds (e.g., 7%, 13%, and 20%). 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 Shares may begin to mirror the liquidity of the Fund’s underlying portfolio holdings, which can be significantly less liquid than Shares. Also, in stressed market conditions, the market for 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 Shares, in turn, could lead to wider bid/ask spreads and differences between the market price of Shares and the underlying value of those Shares.

 

Factor Risk. The market may reward certain factors (such as value, momentum) for a period of time and not others. The average level of volatility for a specific risk factor may vary significantly relative to other risk factors and may increase or decrease significantly during different phases of an economic cycle.

 

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Fixed Income Risk. The value of the Underlying ETFs’ investments in fixed income securities will fluctuate with changes in interest rates. Typically, a rise in interest rates causes a decline in the value of fixed income securities owned indirectly by the Fund. On the other hand, if rates fall, the value of the fixed income securities generally increases. The Fund may be subject to a greater risk of rising interest rates due to the current period of historically low rates and the effect of potential government fiscal policy initiatives and resulting market reaction to those initiatives. In general, the market price of fixed income securities with longer maturities will increase or decrease more in response to changes in interest rates than shorter-term securities.

 

Foreign Securities Risk. The Underlying ETFs held by the Fund may invest in foreign securities. Certain foreign countries may impose exchange control regulations, restrictions on repatriation of profit on investments or of capital invested, local taxes on investments, and restrictions on the ability of issuers of non-U.S. securities to make payments of principal and interest to investors located outside the country, whether from currency blockage or otherwise. In addition, the Fund will be subject to risks associated with adverse political and economic developments in foreign countries, including seizure or nationalization of foreign deposits, the imposition of economic sanctions, different legal systems and laws relating to bankruptcy and creditors’ rights and the potential inability to enforce legal judgments, all of which could cause the Fund to lose money on its investments in non-U.S. securities. The cost of servicing external debt will also generally be adversely affected by rising international interest rates, as many external debt obligations bear interest at rates which are adjusted based upon international interest rates.

 

  Foreign banks and securities depositories at which an Underlying ETF holds its foreign securities and cash may be recently organized or new to the foreign custody business and may be subject to only limited or no regulatory oversight. Additionally, many foreign governments do not supervise and regulate stock exchanges, brokers and the sale of securities to the same extent as does the United States and may not have laws to protect investors that are comparable to U.S. securities laws. Settlement and clearance procedures in certain foreign markets may result in delays in payment for or delivery of securities not typically associated with settlement and clearance of U.S. investments.

 

  In recent years, the European financial markets have experienced volatility and adverse trends due to concerns about economic downturns in, or rising government debt levels of, several European countries. These events may spread to other countries in Europe, including countries that do not use the Euro. These events may affect the value and liquidity of certain of the Fund’s investments.

 

Futures Contracts Risk. The Fund, the Subsidiary, or the Underlying ETFs may invest in futures contracts. Risks of futures contracts include: (i) an imperfect correlation between the value of the futures contract and the underlying asset; (ii) possible lack of a liquid secondary market; (iii) the inability to close a futures contract when desired; (iv) losses caused by unanticipated market movements, which may be unlimited; (v) an obligation for the Fund, the Subsidiary, or an Underlying ETF, as applicable, to make daily cash payments to maintain its required margin, particularly at times when the Fund, the Subsidiary, or Underlying ETF may have insufficient cash; and (vi) unfavorable execution prices from rapid selling. Unlike equity securities, which typically entitle the holder to a continuing stake in a corporation, futures contracts normally specify a certain date for settlement in cash based on the reference asset. As the futures contracts approach expiration, they may be replaced by similar contracts that have a later expiration. This process is referred to as “rolling.” If the market for these contracts is in “contango,” meaning that the prices of futures contracts in the nearer months are lower than the price of contracts in the distant months, the sale of the near-term month contract would be at a lower price than the longer-term contract, resulting in a cost to “roll” the futures contract. The actual realization of a potential roll cost will be dependent upon the difference in price of the near and distant contract.

 

General Market Risk. Market risk may affect a single issuer, industry, or sector of the economy or the market as a whole. Economies and financial markets throughout the world are becoming increasingly interconnected, which increases the likelihood that events or conditions in one country or region will adversely impact markets or issuers in other countries or regions. The market value of a security in the Fund’s portfolio may move up or down, sometimes rapidly and unpredictably. These fluctuations may cause a security to be worth less than the price the Fund originally paid for it, or less than it was worth at an earlier time. Securities in the Fund’s portfolio may underperform in comparison to securities in the general financial markets, a particular financial market or other asset classes, due to a number of factors, including inflation (or expectations for inflation), interest rates, global demand for particular products or resources, natural disasters or events, pandemic diseases, terrorism, regulatory events, and government controls.

 

High Portfolio Turnover Risk. The Indices have historically had high portfolio turnover rates. As a result, the Fund is likewise expected to frequently trade all or a significant portion of the securities in its portfolio. A high portfolio turnover rate increases transaction costs, which may increase the Fund’s expenses. Frequent trading may also cause adverse tax consequences for investors in the Fund due to an increase in short-term capital gains.

 

High Yield Securities Risk. Securities rated below investment grade are often referred to as high yield securities or “junk bonds.” Investments in lower rated corporate debt securities typically entail greater price volatility and principal and income risk. High yield securities may be more susceptible to real or perceived adverse economic and competitive industry conditions than investment grade securities. The prices of high yield securities have been found to be more sensitive to adverse economic downturns or individual corporate developments. A projection of an economic downturn or of a period of rising interest rates, for example, could cause a decline in high yield security prices because the advent of a recession could lessen the ability of a highly leveraged company to make principal and interest payments on its debt securities. If an issuer of high yield securities defaults, in addition to risking payment of all or a portion of interest and principal, the Fund by investing in such securities may incur additional expenses to obtain recovery.

 

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Machine Learning, Model and Data Risk. The Fund relies heavily on proprietary “machine learning” selection processes. In addition, the composition of the Fund’s portfolio is heavily dependent on proprietary quantitative models as well as Models and Data. To the extent the machine learning process does not perform as designed or as intended, the Fund’s strategy may not be successfully implemented, and the Fund may lose value. Similarly, when Models and Data prove to be incorrect or incomplete, any decisions made in reliance thereon may lead to portfolio management decisions for the Fund that would not have been made had the Models and Data been correct and complete.

 

Market Capitalization Risk

 

  Large-Capitalization Investing. The securities of large-capitalization companies may be relatively mature compared to smaller companies and therefore subject to slower growth during times of economic expansion. Large-capitalization companies may also be unable to respond quickly to new competitive challenges, such as changes in technology and consumer tastes.

 

 

 

 

Mid-Capitalization Investing. The securities of mid-capitalization companies may be more vulnerable to adverse issuer, market, political, or economic developments than securities of large-capitalization companies. The securities of mid-capitalization companies generally trade in lower volumes and are subject to greater and more unpredictable price changes than large capitalization stocks or the stock market as a whole. Some medium capitalization companies have limited product lines, markets, financial resources, and management personnel and tend to concentrate on fewer geographical markets relative to large-capitalization companies.

 

  Small-Capitalization Investing. The securities of small-capitalization companies may be more vulnerable to adverse issuer, market, political, or economic developments than securities of large- or mid-capitalization companies. The securities of small-capitalization companies generally trade in lower volumes and are subject to greater and more unpredictable price changes than large- or mid-capitalization stocks or the stock market as a whole. Some small capitalization companies have limited product lines, markets, and financial and managerial resources and tend to concentrate on fewer geographical markets relative to larger capitalization companies. There is typically less publicly available information concerning smaller-capitalization companies than for larger, more established companies. Small-capitalization companies also may be particularly sensitive to changes in interest rates, government regulation, borrowing costs and earnings.

 

Management Risk. The Fund and the Subsidiary are actively-managed and may not meet its investment objective based on the Sub-Adviser’s or Adviser’s success or failure to implement investment strategies for the Fund or the Subsidiary, as the case may be. In addition, the Fund’s principal investment strategies are dependent upon the Sub-Adviser’s use of a machine learning security selection process and, as a result, the Sub-Adviser’s skill in understanding and utilizing such process.

 

Newer Fund Risk. The Fund is a recently organized management investment company with a limited operating history. As a result, prospective investors have a limited track record or history on which to base their investment decisions. There can be no assurance that the Fund will grow to or maintain an economically viable size.

 

Newer Sub-Adviser Risk. Unlimited is a recently registered investment adviser with a limited track record serving as an adviser or sub-adviser to an investment company. As a result, there is no long-term track record against which an investor may judge Unlimited and it is possible Unlimited may not achieve the Fund’s intended investment objective. In addition, Unlimited currently has limited personnel and resources, which may prevent it from being able to continue to provide sub-advisory services if one of the principals becomes incapacitated. Over time, Unlimited will augment its resources as market conditions permit. In addition, Unlimited regularly evaluates its business continuity plan with the Adviser to ensure continuity of operations and portfolio management should a disruption to operations occur.

 

Non-Diversification Risk. Because the Fund is “non-diversified,” it may invest a greater percentage of its assets in the securities of a single issuer or a smaller number of issuers than if it was a diversified fund. As a result, a decline in the value of an investment in a single issuer or a smaller number of issuers could cause the Fund’s overall value to decline to a greater degree than if the Fund held a more diversified portfolio.

 

Recent Market Events Risk. In recent years and months, U.S. and international markets have experienced and may continue to experience significant periods of volatility in recent years and months due to a number of economic, political and global macro factors including rising inflation, uncertainty regarding central banks’ interest rate increases, the possibility of a national or global recession, trade tensions, political events, the war between Russia and Ukraine, armed conflict between Israel and Hamas in the Middle East, and the impact of COVID-19. The impact of COVID-19 may last for an extended period of time. As a result of continuing political tensions and armed conflicts, including the war between Ukraine and Russia, the U.S. and the European Union imposed sanctions on certain Russian individuals and companies, including certain financial institutions, and have limited certain exports and imports to and from Russia. The Russian war in Ukraine, and other current ongoing wars have contributed to recent market volatility and may continue to do so. The Middle East conflict has led to significant loss of life, damaged infrastructure and escalated tensions both in the region and globally. These developments, as well as other events, could result in further market volatility and negatively affect financial asset prices, the liquidity of certain securities and the normal operations of securities exchanges and other markets, despite government efforts to address market disruptions. As a result, the risk environment remains elevated. The Adviser and Sub-Adviser will monitor developments and seek to manage the Fund in a manner consistent with achieving the Fund’s investment objective, but there can be no assurance that they will be successful in doing so.

 

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Sector Risk. To the extent an Underlying ETF invests more heavily in particular sectors of the economy, its performance will be especially sensitive to developments that significantly affect those sectors.

 

Short Selling Risk. The Fund may make short sales of securities, which involves selling a security it does not own in anticipation that the price of the security will decline. Short sales may involve substantial risk and leverage. Short sales expose the Fund to the risk that it will be required to buy (“cover”) the security sold short when the security has appreciated in value or is unavailable, thus resulting in a loss to the Fund. Short sales also involve the risk that losses may exceed the amount invested and may be unlimited.

 

Swap Agreement Risk. The Fund, the Subsidiary, or an Underlying ETF may invest in swap agreements. Swap agreements are entered into primarily with major global financial institutions for a specified period, which may range from one day to more than six months. The swap agreements in which the Fund, the Subsidiary, or an Underlying ETF, as applicable, invests are generally traded in the over-the-counter market, which generally has less transparency than exchange-traded derivatives instruments. In a standard swap transaction, two parties agree to exchange the return (or differentials in rates of return) earned or realized on particular predetermined reference assets or underlying securities or instruments. The gross return to be exchanged or swapped between the parties is calculated based on a notional amount or the return on or change in value of a particular dollar amount invested in a basket of securities representing a particular sector or index.

 

Tax Risk. The federal income tax treatment of the Fund’s income from the Subsidiary may be negatively affected by future legislation, Treasury Regulations (proposed or final), and/or other IRS guidance or authorities that could affect the character, timing of recognition, and/or amount of the Fund’s investment company taxable income and/or net capital gains and, therefore, the distributions it makes. If the Fund failed the source of income test for any taxable year but was eligible to and did cure the failure, it could incur potentially significant additional federal income tax expenses. If, on the other hand, the Fund failed to qualify as a RIC for any taxable year and was ineligible to or otherwise did not cure the failure, it would be subject to federal income tax at the fund-level on its taxable income at the regular corporate tax rate (without reduction for distributions to shareholders), with the consequence that its income available for distribution to shareholders would be reduced and distributions from its current or accumulated earnings and profits would generally be taxable to its shareholders as dividend income.

 

Changes in the laws of the United States and/or the Cayman Islands could result in the inability of the Fund and/or the Subsidiary to operate as described in this Prospectus and the Statement of Additional Information (“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 law changes such that the Subsidiary must pay Cayman Islands taxes, Fund shareholders would likely suffer decreased investment returns.

 

Underlying ETFs Risk. The Fund will incur higher and duplicative expenses when it invests in ETFs and other investment companies. By investing in another investment company, the Fund becomes a shareholder of that investment company and bears its proportionate share of the fees and expenses of the other investment company. There is also the risk that the Fund may suffer losses due to the investment practices of the underlying funds as the Fund will be subject to substantially the same risks as those associated with the direct ownership of securities held by such investment companies. ETFs may be less liquid than other investments, and thus their share values more volatile than the values of the investments they hold. Investments in ETFs are also subject to the “ETF Risks” described above.

 

PORTFOLIO HOLDINGS INFORMATION

 

Information about the Fund’s daily portfolio holdings will be available on the Fund’s website at www.unlimitedetfs.com. A complete description of the Fund’s policies and procedures with respect to the disclosure of the Fund’s portfolio holdings is available in the Fund’s Statement of Additional Information (the “SAI”).

 

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MANAGEMENT

 

Investment Adviser

 

Tidal Investments LLC, formerly Toroso Investments, LLC, a Tidal Financial Group company, located at 234 West Florida Street, Suite 203, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53204, is an SEC-registered investment adviser and a Delaware limited liability company. Tidal was founded in March 2012 and is dedicated to understanding, researching and managing assets within the expanding ETF universe. As of February 29, 2024, Tidal had assets under management of approximately $13.47 billion and served as the investment adviser or sub-adviser for 174 registered funds.

 

Tidal serves as investment adviser to the Fund, and has overall responsibility for the general management and administration of the Fund pursuant to an investment advisory agreement with the Trust, on behalf of the Fund (the “Advisory Agreement”). The Adviser provides oversight of the Sub-Adviser and review of the Sub-Adviser’s performance. The Adviser is also responsible for trading portfolio securities for the Fund, including selecting broker-dealers to execute purchase and sale transactions. The Adviser also arranges for sub-advisory, transfer agency, custody, fund administration, and all other related services necessary for the Fund to operate.

 

For the services it provides to the Fund, the Fund pays the Adviser a unitary management fee, which is calculated daily and paid monthly, at an annual rate of 0.95% of the Fund’s average daily net assets.

 

Under the Advisory Agreement, in exchange for a single unitary management fee from the Fund, the Adviser has agreed to pay all expenses incurred by the Fund except for interest charges on any borrowings, dividends and other expenses on securities sold short, taxes, brokerage commissions, and other expenses incurred in placing orders for the purchase and sale of securities and other investment instruments, acquired fund fees and expenses, accrued deferred tax liability, distribution fees expenses paid by the Fund under any distribution plan adopted pursuant to Rule 12b-1 under the 1940 Act, and litigation expenses and other non-routine or extraordinary expenses (collectively, the “Excluded Expenses”) and the unitary management fee payable to the Adviser.

 

The Adviser also serves as the investment adviser to the Subsidiary, a wholly-owned and controlled subsidiary of the Fund organized under the laws of the Cayman Islands as an exempted company, pursuant to an investment advisory agreement with the Subsidiary. The Adviser does not receive additional compensation for its services to the Subsidiary. The investment advisory agreement between the Adviser and the Subsidiary was approved by the Board. However, because the Subsidiary is not registered under the 1940 Act, it is not subject to the regulatory protections of the 1940 Act and the Fund, as an investor in the Subsidiary, will not have all of the protections offered to investors in registered investment companies. Because the Fund wholly owns and controls the Subsidiary, and the Adviser is subject to the oversight of the Board, it is unlikely that the Subsidiary will take action contrary to the interests of the Fund or its shareholders.

 

Additionally, as part of the Board’s consideration of the Advisory Agreement between the Trust and the Adviser, the Board will also consider the Adviser’s performance with regard to the Subsidiary.

 

CFTC Regulation

 

Because of the nature of its investments, the Subsidiary (but not the Fund) is subject to regulation under the Commodities Exchange Act of 1936, as amended (the “CEA”), as a commodity pool and the Adviser is subject to regulation under the CEA as a commodity pool operator (“CPO”) with respect to the Subsidiary, as those terms are defined under the CEA. The Adviser is registered with the CFTC as a commodity pool operator and is subject to those regulator’s disclosure requirements.

 

Investment Sub-Adviser

 

Unlimited Funds Inc., located at 222 Broadway, 20th Floor, New York City, New York, 10038, serves as investment sub-adviser to the Fund, pursuant to a sub-advisory agreement between the Adviser and Sub-Adviser (the “Sub-Advisory Agreement”). The Sub-Adviser provides portfolio management services to mutual funds, separately managed accounts and the Fund. As of November 30, 2023, the Sub-Adviser had assets under management of approximately $42 million. The Sub-Adviser is an SEC-registered investment adviser and a Delaware corporation founded in February 2022.

 

The Sub-Adviser is responsible for the day-to-day management of the Fund’s portfolio, including determining the securities purchased and sold by the Fund, subject to the supervision of the Adviser and the Board. For its services, the Sub-Adviser is paid a fee by the Adviser, which fee is calculated daily and paid monthly, at an annual rate of 0.02% of the Fund’s average daily net assets. The Sub-Adviser has agreed to assume the Adviser’s obligation to pay all expenses incurred by the Fund, except for Excluded Expenses. For assuming the payment obligations for the Fund, the Adviser has agreed to pay the Sub-Adviser the profits, if any, generated by the Fund’s unitary management fee. Expenses incurred by the Fund and paid by the Sub-Adviser include fees charged by Tidal ETF Services LLC, a Tidal Financial Group company, the Fund’s administrator and an affiliate of the Adviser. See the section of the SAI titled “Administrator” for additional information about the Fund’s administrator.

 

A discussion regarding the basis for the Board’s approval of the Fund’s Advisory Agreement and Sub-Advisory Agreement is available in the Fund’s semi-annual report to shareholders for the fiscal period ended February 28, 2023.

 

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Portfolio Managers

 

The following individuals (each, a “Portfolio Manager”) have served as portfolio managers of the Fund since its inception in 2022. In addition, Messrs. Venuto and Ragauss have served as portfolio managers of the Subsidiary since its inception in 2024. Messrs. Elliott and McNevin are primarily responsible for the day-to-day management of the Fund, and Mr. Venuto and Mr. Ragauss oversee trading and execution for the Fund. Messrs. Venuto and Ragauss are primarily responsible for the day-to-day management of the Subsidiary.

 

Michael Venuto, Chief Investment Officer for the Adviser

 

Mr. Venuto is a co-founder and has been the Chief Investment Officer of the Adviser since 2012. Mr. Venuto is an ETF industry veteran with over a decade of experience in the design and implementation of ETF-based investment strategies. Previously, he was Head of Investments at Global X Funds where he provided portfolio optimization services to institutional clients. Before that, he was Senior Vice President at Horizon Kinetics where his responsibilities included new business development, investment strategy and client and strategic initiatives.

 

Charles A. Ragauss, CFA®, Portfolio Manager for the Adviser

 

Mr. Ragauss serves as Portfolio Manager of the Adviser, having joined the Adviser in September 2020. Mr. Ragauss previously served as Chief Operating Officer and in other roles at CSat Investment Advisory, L.P. from April 2016 to September 2020. Previously, Mr. Ragauss was Assistant Vice President at Huntington National Bank (“Huntington”), where he was Product Manager for the Huntington Funds and Huntington Strategy Shares ETFs, a combined fund complex of almost $4 billion in assets under management. At Huntington, he led ETF development bringing to market some of the first actively managed ETFs. Mr. Ragauss joined Huntington in 2010. Mr. Ragauss attended Grand Valley State University where he received his Bachelor of Business Administration in Finance and International Business, as well as a minor in French. He is a member of both the National and West Michigan CFA societies and holds the CFA designation.

 

Robert Elliott, Chief Investment Officer for the Sub-Adviser

 

Mr. Elliott is a Co-Founder, Chief Executive Officer, and Chief Investment Officer of Unlimited. He is an experienced investment management executive with a track record of building and managing innovative investment strategies in both institutional and startup environments. From 2005 to 2018, Mr. Elliott was a member of the investment team at Bridgewater Associates, LP (“Bridgewater”). As a Senior Executive at Bridgewater, Mr. Elliott created and managed investment strategies across asset classes, including many employed by its flagship Pure Alpha fund. Mr. Elliott also was a prolific contributor to Bridgewater’s widely read Daily Observations and counseled some of the world’s foremost policymakers and institutional investors on economic and investing issues. After departing Bridgewater, Mr. Elliott was an advisor and executive at several startups including CircleUp, an investment company focused on early-stage consumer brands. There he revamped the investment strategy for the company’s venture funds, leveraging big data approaches to improve decision making. He holds a BA in History and Science from Harvard University.

 

Bruce McNevin, Chief Data Scientist for the Sub-Adviser

 

Mr. McNevin is a Co-Founder and Chief Data Scientist at Unlimited. He is an economist with 35 years of experience specializing in econometric modeling and forecasting. From 2016 to 2022, he was as a Director in the Quantitative Strategy Group at Bank of America where his primary responsibility was the development of models for pricing of mortgage-backed securities. He was with Bank of America for five years and prior to that he worked for 12 years at a hedge fund as the Managing Director of Mortgage Research. For the past 16 years, Mr. McNevin has been an adjunct Professor in the Economics Department of New York University where he teaches master’s level courses in Financial Econometrics and Bayesian Econometrics. He is maintaining an active research agenda outside of his normal work responsibilities and has recently published several papers on the use of wavelets for estimating the CAPM beta. Mr. McNevin has a PhD in Economics from the C.U.N.Y Graduate Center.

 

CFA® is a registered trademark owned by the CFA Institute.

 

The Fund’s SAI provides additional information about each Portfolio Manager’s compensation structure, other accounts that each Portfolio Manager manages, and each Portfolio Manager’s ownership of Shares.

 

HOW TO BUY AND SELL SHARES

 

The Fund issues and redeems Shares only in Creation Units at the NAV per share next determined after receipt of an order from an AP. 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 a member or participant of a clearing agency registered with the SEC and must execute a Participant Agreement that has been agreed to by the Distributor (defined below), and that has been accepted by the Fund’s 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.

 

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Most investors buy and sell Shares in secondary market transactions through brokers. Individual 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 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. Depository Trust Company (“DTC”) or its nominee is the record owner of all outstanding Shares.

 

Investors owning 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.

 

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 the Fund’s 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. To minimize these potential consequences of frequent purchases and redemptions, the Fund employs fair value pricing and may 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 and the Adviser reserve the right to reject any purchase order at any time.

 

Determination of Net Asset Value

 

The Fund’s NAV is calculated as of the scheduled close of regular trading on the New York Stock Exchange (“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 or other asset held by the Fund or is determined to be unreliable, the security or other asset will be valued at fair value estimates under guidelines established by the Trust and the Adviser (as described below).

 

Fair Value Pricing

 

Consistent with Rule 2a-5 under the 1940 Act, the Trust and the Adviser have adopted procedures and methodologies wherein the Adviser, serving as the Fund’s Valuation Designee (as defined in Rule 2a-5), determines the fair value of Fund investments whose market prices are not “readily available” or are deemed to be unreliable. For example, such circumstances may arise when: (i) an investment has been delisted or has had its trading halted or suspended; (ii) an investment’s primary pricing source is unable or unwilling to provide a price; (iii) an investment’s primary trading market is closed during regular market hours; or (iv) an investment’s value is materially affected by events occurring after the close of the investment’s primary trading market. Generally, when fair valuing an investment, the Valuation Designee will take into account all reasonably available information that may be relevant to a particular valuation including, but not limited to, fundamental analytical data regarding the issuer, information relating to the issuer’s business, recent trades or offers of the investment, general and/or specific market conditions, and the specific facts giving rise to the need to fair value the investment. Fair value determinations are made in good faith and in accordance with the Adviser’s fair value methodologies, subject to oversight by the Board. Due to the subjective and variable nature of fair value pricing, there can be no assurance that the Adviser or Sub-Adviser will be able to obtain the fair value assigned to the investment upon the sale of such investment.

 

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Investments by Other Registered Investment Companies in the Fund

 

Section 12(d)(1) of the 1940 Act restricts investments by registered investment companies in the securities of other investment companies, including Shares. Registered investment companies are permitted to invest in the Fund beyond the limits set forth in Section 12(d)(1), subject to certain terms and conditions set forth by rule under the 1940 Act, including that such investment companies enter into an agreement with the Fund.

 

Delivery of Shareholder Documents – Householding

 

Householding is an option available to certain investors of the Fund. Householding is a method of delivery, based on the preference of the individual investor, in which a single copy of certain shareholder documents can be delivered to investors who share the same address, even if their accounts are registered under different names. Householding for the Fund is available through certain broker-dealers. If you are interested in enrolling in householding and receiving a single copy of prospectuses and other shareholder documents, please contact your broker-dealer. If you are currently enrolled in householding and wish to change your householding status, please contact your broker-dealer.

 

DIVIDENDS, DISTRIBUTIONS, AND TAXES

 

Dividends and Distributions

 

The Fund intends to pay out dividends and interest income, if any, annually, and distribute any net realized capital gains to its shareholders at least annually. The Fund will declare and pay income and capital gain distributions, if any, in cash. Distributions in cash may be reinvested automatically in additional whole Shares only if the broker through whom you purchased Shares makes such option available. Your broker is responsible for distributing the income and capital gain distributions to you.

 

Taxes

 

The following discussion is a summary of some important U.S. federal income tax considerations generally applicable to investments in the Fund. Your investment in the Fund may have other tax implications. Please consult your tax advisor about the tax consequences of an investment in Shares, including the possible application of foreign, state, and local tax laws.

 

The Fund intends to qualify each year for treatment as a regulated investment company (a “RIC”) under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”). If it meets certain minimum distribution requirements, a RIC is not subject to tax at the fund-level on income and gains from investments that are timely distributed to shareholders. However, the Fund’s failure to qualify as a RIC or to meet minimum distribution requirements would result (if certain relief provisions were not available) in fund-level taxation and, consequently, a reduction in income available for distribution to shareholders.

 

Unless your investment in Shares 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 the Fund makes distributions, when you sell your Shares listed on the Exchange, and when you purchase or redeem Creation Units (institutional investors only).

 

The following general discussion of certain U.S. federal income tax consequences is based on provisions of the Code and the regulations issued thereunder as in effect on the date of this Prospectus. New legislation, as well as administrative changes or court decisions, may significantly change the conclusions expressed herein, and may have a retroactive effect with respect to the transactions contemplated herein.

 

Taxes on Distributions

 

For federal income tax purposes, distributions of net investment income are generally taxable to shareholders as ordinary income or qualified dividend income. Taxes on distributions of net 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 their Shares. 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 to shareholders. Distributions of short-term capital gain will generally be taxable to shareholders as ordinary income. Dividends and distributions are generally taxable to you whether you receive them in cash or reinvest them in additional Shares.

 

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 certain 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. 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.

 

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

 

In addition to the federal income tax, certain individuals, trusts, and estates may be subject to a Net Investment Income (“NII”) tax of 3.8%. The NII tax is imposed on the lesser of: (i) a taxpayer’s investment income, net of deductions properly allocable to such income; or (ii) the amount by which such taxpayer’s modified adjusted gross income exceeds certain thresholds ($250,000 for married individuals filing jointly, $200,000 for unmarried individuals and $125,000 for married individuals filing separately). The Fund’s distributions are includable in a shareholder’s investment income for purposes of this NII tax. In addition, any capital gain realized by a shareholder upon a sale or redemption of Fund shares is includable in such shareholder’s investment income for purposes of this NII tax.

 

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 to you 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).

 

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.

 

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.

 

Under the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (“FATCA”), the Fund may be required to withhold a generally nonrefundable 30% tax on (i) distributions of investment company taxable income and (ii) distributions of net capital gain and the gross proceeds of a sale or redemption of Fund shares paid to (A) certain “foreign financial institutions” unless such foreign financial institution agrees to verify, monitor, and report to the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) the identity of certain of its account-holders, among other items (or unless such entity is otherwise deemed compliant under the terms of an intergovernmental agreement between the United States and the foreign financial institution’s country of residence), and (B) certain “non-financial foreign entities” unless such entity certifies to the Fund that it does not have any substantial U.S. owners or provides the name, address, and taxpayer identification number of each substantial U.S. owner, among other items. In December 2018, the IRS and Treasury Department released proposed Treasury Regulations that would eliminate FATCA withholding on Fund distributions of net capital gain and the gross proceeds from a sale or redemption of Fund shares. Although taxpayers are entitled to rely on these proposed Treasury Regulations until final Treasury Regulations are issued, these proposed Treasury Regulations have not been finalized, may not be finalized in their proposed form, and are potentially subject to change. This FATCA withholding tax could also affect the Fund’s return on its investments in foreign securities or affect a shareholder’s return if the shareholder holds its Fund shares through a foreign intermediary. You are urged to consult your tax adviser regarding the application of this FATCA withholding tax to your investment in the Fund and the potential certification, compliance, due diligence, reporting, and withholding obligations to which you may become subject in order to avoid this withholding tax.

 

The Fund (or a financial intermediary, such as a broker, through which a shareholder owns Shares) 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 they are not subject to such withholding.

 

Taxes When Shares are Sold on the Exchange

 

Any capital gain or loss realized upon a sale of Shares generally is treated as a long-term capital gain or loss if Shares have been held for more than one year and as a short-term capital gain or loss if Shares have been held for one year 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. Any loss realized on a sale will be disallowed to the extent Shares are acquired, including through reinvestment of dividends, within a 61-day period beginning 30 days before and ending 30 days after the sale of substantially identical Shares.

 

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 value of the Creation Units at the time of the exchange and the exchanging AP’s aggregate basis in the securities delivered plus the amount of any cash paid for the Creation Units. An AP who exchanges Creation Units for securities will generally recognize a gain or loss equal to the difference between the exchanging AP’s basis in the Creation Units and the aggregate U.S. dollar market value of the securities received, plus any cash received for such Creation Units. The IRS may assert, however, that a loss that is realized upon an exchange of securities for Creation Units may not be currently deducted under the rules governing “wash sales” (for an AP who does not mark-to-market their holdings) or on the basis that there has been no significant change in economic position. Persons exchanging securities should consult their own tax advisor with respect to whether wash sale rules apply and when a loss might be deductible.

 

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Any capital gain or loss realized upon redemption of Creation Units is generally treated as long-term capital gain or loss if Shares comprising the Creation Units have been held for more than one year and as a short-term capital gain or loss if such Shares have been held for one year or less.

 

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.

 

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 foreign, state, and local tax on Fund distributions and sales of Shares. Consult your personal tax advisor about the potential tax consequences of an investment in Shares under all applicable tax laws. For more information, please see the section titled “Federal Income Taxes” in the SAI.

 

Taxation of the Subsidiary

 

There is, at present, no direct taxation in the Cayman Islands and interest, dividends and gains payable to the Subsidiary will be received free of all Cayman Islands taxes. The Subsidiary is registered as an “exempted company” pursuant to the Companies Law (as amended). The Subsidiary has received an undertaking from the Governor in Cabinet of the Cayman Islands to the effect that, for a period of twenty years from the date of the undertaking, no law that thereafter is enacted in the Cayman Islands imposing any tax or duty to be levied on profits, income or on gains or appreciation, or any tax in the nature of estate duty or inheritance tax, will apply to any property comprised in or any income arising under the Subsidiary, or to the shareholders thereof, in respect of any such property or income.

 

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 foreign, state, and local tax on Fund distributions and sales of Shares. Consult your personal tax advisor about the potential tax consequences of an investment in Shares under all applicable tax laws. For more information, please see the section entitled “Federal Income Taxes” in the SAI.

 

DISTRIBUTION

 

Foreside Fund Services, LLC (the “Distributor”), the Fund’s distributor, 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.

 

The Board has adopted a Distribution (Rule 12b-1) Plan (the “Plan”) pursuant to Rule 12b-1 under the 1940 Act. In accordance with the Plan, the Fund is authorized to pay an amount up to 0.25% of its average daily net assets each year to pay distribution fees for the sale and distribution of its Shares.

 

No Rule 12b-1 fees are currently paid by the Fund, and there are no plans to impose these fees. However, in the event Rule 12b-1 fees are charged in the future, because the fees are paid out of Fund assets on an ongoing basis, over time these fees will increase the cost of your investment and may cost you more than certain other types of sales charges.

 

PREMIUM/DISCOUNT INFORMATION

 

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 of the Fund can be found on the Fund’s website at www.unlimitedetfs.com.

 

ADDITIONAL NOTICES

 

Shares are not sponsored, endorsed, or promoted by the Exchange. The Exchange is not responsible for, nor has it participated in the determination of, the timing, prices, or quantities of Shares to be issued, nor in the determination or calculation of the equation by which Shares are redeemable. The Exchange has no obligation or liability to owners of Shares in connection with the administration, marketing, or trading of Shares.

 

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Without limiting any of the foregoing, in no event shall the Exchange have any liability for any lost profits or indirect, punitive, special, or consequential damages even if notified of the possibility thereof.

 

Delaware law permits the governing documents of a statutory trust to expand, restrict or eliminate the fiduciary duties that trustees, shareholders or other persons might otherwise be subject to, and replace them with the standards set forth in the Trust’s governing documents.

 

The Trust’s Declaration of Trust provides that the Trustees shall not be subject to fiduciary duties except as set forth in the Declaration of Trust. The foregoing relates specifically to Delaware laws. Nothing in the 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.

 

FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS

 

The Financial Highlights table is intended to help you understand the Fund’s performance for the Fund’s fiscal period from October 10, 2022 (commencement of operations) to August 31, 2023. Certain information reflects financial results for a single Fund share.  The total return in the table represents the rate that an investor would have earned or lost on an investment in the Fund (assuming reinvestment of all dividends and distributions). The information has been audited by Cohen & Company, Ltd., the Fund’s independent registered public accounting firm, whose report, along with the Fund’s financial statements, is included in the Fund’s annual report, which is available upon request.

 

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Unlimited HFND Multi-Strategy Return Tracker ETF

 

FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS For a capital share outstanding throughout the period 

 

       
   

Period Ended
August 31, 2023(1) 

 
Net asset value, beginning of period     $ 20.00  
         
Income (Loss) from Investment Operations:        
Net investment income (loss)(2)       0.15  
Net realized and unrealized gain (loss) on investments(3)       0.54  
Total from investment operations       0.69  
         
Less Distributions:        
From net investment income       (0.09 )
Total distributions       (0.09 )
         
Capital Share Transactions         
Variable fees       000 (10) 
Net asset value, end of period     $ 20.60  
Total return(4)(5)       3.46 %
         
Ratios / Supplemental Data:        
Net assets, end of period (millions)     $ 39.1  
Portfolio turnover rate(4)(6)       232 %
Ratio of expenses to average net assets(7)(8)(11)       2.67 %
Ratio of net investment income (loss) to average net assets(7)(9)(12)       0.81 %

 

(1)  The Fund commenced operations on October 10, 2022. The information presented is from October 10, 2022 to August 31, 2023.
   
(2)  Calculated using average shares outstanding method.
   
(3)  Net realized and unrealized gain (loss) per share in the caption are balancing amounts necessary to reconcile the change in the net asset value per share for the period, and may not reconcile with the aggregate gain (loss) in the Statement of Operations due to share transactions for the period.
   
(4)  Not annualized.
   
(5)  The total return is based on the Fund’s net asset value.
   
(6)  Excludes the impact of in-kind transactions.
   
(7)  Annualized.
   
(8)  The ratio of expenses to average net assets includes dividends and interest on securities sold short and tax expense. The expense ratio excluding dividends and interest on securities sold short and tax expense is 0.95% for the period ended August 31, 2023.
   
(9)  The net investment income (loss) ratio includes dividends and interest on securities sold short and tax expense.
   
(10)  Does not round to 0.01 or (0.01), if applicable.
   
(11)  Does not include expenses of the investment companies in which the Fund invests.
   
(12)  Recognition of net investment income by the Fund is affected by the timing of the declaration of dividends by the underlying investment companies in which the Fund invests. The ratio does not include net investment income of the investment companies in which the Fund invests.

 

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Unlimited HFND Multi-Strategy Return Tracker ETF

 

Adviser

Tidal Investments LLC 

234 West Florida Street, Suite 203  

Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53204 

Sub-Adviser

Unlimited Funds Inc. 

222 Broadway, 20th Floor 

New York City, New York, 10038 

Distributor

Foreside Fund Services, LLC 

Three Canal Plaza, Suite 100 

Portland, Maine 04101 

Administrator

Tidal ETF Services LLC 

234 West Florida Street, Suite 203 

Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53204 

Custodian

U.S. Bank National Association 1555 N. Rivercenter Dr. 

Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53212  

Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm

Cohen & Company, Ltd. 

342 N. Water St., Suite 830  

Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53202 

Sub-Administrator, Fund Accountant, and Transfer Agent

U.S. Bancorp Fund Services, LLC, doing business as U.S. Bank Global Fund Services 

615 East Michigan Street 

Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53202  

 Legal Counsel

Godfrey & Kahn, S.C. 

833 East Michigan Street, Suite 1800 

Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53202 

 

Investors may find more information about the Fund in the following documents:

 

Statement of Additional Information: The Fund’s SAI provides additional details about the investments of the Fund and certain other additional information. A current SAI dated March 23, 2024, as supplemented from time to time, is on file with the SEC and is herein incorporated by reference into this Prospectus. It is legally considered a part of this Prospectus.

 

Annual/Semi-Annual Reports: Additional information about the Fund’s investments is available in the Fund’s annual and semi-annual reports to shareholders. In the annual report you will find a discussion of the market conditions and investment strategies that significantly affected the Fund’s performance during the Fund’s prior fiscal period.

 

You can obtain free copies of these documents, request other information or make general inquiries about the Fund by contacting the Fund at Unlimited HFND Multi-Strategy Return Tracker ETF, c/o U.S. Bank Global Fund Services, P.O. Box 701, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53201-0701 or calling 833-216-0499.

 

Shareholder reports, the Fund’s current Prospectus and SAI and other information about the Fund are available:

 

  Free of charge from the SEC’s EDGAR database on the SEC’s website at http://www.sec.gov; or
     
  Free of charge from the Fund’s Internet website at www.unlimitedetfs.com; or
     
  For a duplicating fee, by e-mail request to [email protected].

 

(SEC Investment Company Act File No. 811-23377)

 

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