Putnam
Sustainable Leaders
ETF

Annual report
8 | 31 | 23

 

Message from the Trustees

October 16, 2023

Dear Shareholder:

Stocks rose across most global markets in the 12 months ended August 31, 2023. During this time, the U.S. economy continued to expand despite worries about a potential recession. Enthusiasm over the innovation of generative artificial intelligence helped lift investor sentiment. Stock performance in non-U.S. markets generally lagged U.S. markets. Growth in the eurozone stalled in the winter of 2022–2023 amid Russia’s war against Ukraine, while China’s economy struggled given its heavily indebted property sector.

Bond market performance was mostly lackluster over the period, although some sectors posted gains. The U.S. Federal Reserve has continued to raise interest rates but at a more gradual pace compared with 2022. U.S. inflation has eased but is still above the Fed’s 2% target. Against this backdrop, investors are weighing the impact of high borrowing costs and tighter lending conditions at banks.

As active managers, your investment team continues to research attractive opportunities for your fund while monitoring risks. This report offers an update on their efforts.

Thank you for investing with Putnam.

Data are historical. Past performance does not guarantee future results. More recent returns may be less or more than those shown. Share price, principal value, and return will fluctuate, and you may have a gain or a loss when you sell your shares. Performance of fund shares assumes reinvestment of distributions and does not account for taxes. Fund returns in the bar chart are at net asset value (NAV). See below and pages 7–8 for additional performance information, including fund returns at market price. For a portion of the periods, the fund had expense limitations, without which returns would have been lower. Index results should be compared with fund performance at NAV. To obtain the most recent month-end performance, please visit putnam.com or call 1-833-228-5577 (toll free).

Lipper peer group median is provided by Lipper, a Refinitiv company.

This comparison shows your fund’s performance in the context of broad market indexes for the 12 months ended 8/31/23. See above and pages 7–8 for additional fund performance information. Index descriptions can be found on page 10.

All Bloomberg indices are provided by Bloomberg Index Services Limited.

 

How was the investing environment for U.S. stocks during the 12 - month reporting period?

Stocks delivered solid gains in a period challenged by many macroeconomic issues. From the start of the period, rising interest rates and a slowdown in global economic growth weighed on investor sentiment. Among the biggest headwinds for investors were historically high inflation and efforts by central banks to tame it. Inflation in the U.S. reached 40-year highs, and in early 2022, the U.S. Federal Reserve began its most rapid series of interest-rate increases since the early 1980s. Along the way, investors feared the Fed’s monetary tightening would push the economy into a recession.

In late 2022, inflation, as measured by the Consumer Price Index, began to show signs of easing. With the prospect of an end to interest-rate hikes, 2023 began on a bright note and stocks posted solid gains in January. However, recession concerns escalated in February, and new worries emerged in March. The banking industry experienced tumult with the failures of several U.S. regional banks as well as a Swiss government-engineered takeover of

 

Allocations are shown as a percentage of the fund’s net assets as of 8/31/23. Cash and net other assets, if any, represent the market value weights of cash, derivatives, short-term securities, and other unclassified assets in the portfolio. Summary information may differ from the portfolio schedule included in the financial statements due to the inclusion of derivative securities, any interest accruals, the exclusion of as-of trades, if any, the use of different classifications of securities for presentation purposes, and rounding. Holdings and allocations may vary over time. Due to rounding, percentages may not equal 100%.

This table shows the fund’s top 10 holdings by percentage of the fund’s net assets as of 8/31/23. Short-term investments and derivatives, if any, are excluded. Holdings may vary over time.

 

Credit Suisse by UBS. Despite ongoing issues, stocks posted monthly gains from March through July, helped by positive earnings reports and data showing easing inflation. Concerns about inflation reemerged in August, and stocks posted a loss in the final month of the period.

How did the fund perform for the reporting period?

For the 12-month reporting period, the fund returned 15.44%, and its benchmark, the S&P 500 Index, returned 15.94%.

What were some holdings that contributed to relative performance during the reporting period?

A top contributor was NVIDIA, a leading designer of graphic processing units that are used in a variety of end markets, including gaming and data centers. NVIDIA’s core business has experienced accelerating organic growth over the past several years as the firm has broadened its product focus from traditional PC graphics to more complex and faster-growing areas such as artificial intelligence and autonomous driving. The company is aligned with our Thriving Public ^® theme. We believe NVIDIA’s core strategy of developing solutions for computing-intensive functions that improve efficiency and effectiveness for customers drives NVIDIA’s fundamental success.

Industrial company Ingersoll Rand was also among the top contributors to performance relative to the benchmark. The company provides industrial products and services to a variety of end markets. It is aligned with our Thriving Planet ^® theme, as the company’s core business lines — predominantly pumps and compressors — help to increase energy efficiency and productivity in customer operations, lowering costs and energy use. Ingersoll also has a unique stock ownership program that includes all employees across the company. This proactive leadership helps to align the entire organization around key financial goals, which we believe can help drive superior performance.

Could you discuss some holdings that detracted from the fund’s performance during the reporting period?

The top detractor for the period was First Republic, which was aligned with our Thriving Public theme. The company was a leading private bank and wealth management company that provided personalized banking, lending, investment, and trust services to high-net-worth individuals and businesses. We viewed its differentiated service model and strong culture as key to driving customer and employee relationships and providing consistent and above-peer earnings growth. However, we sold out of our position during the recent banking crisis, when increased investor fears and subsequent declines in regional bank stock prices fueled deposit outflows. These developments and our related financial analysis ultimately changed our fundamental view of the company’s prospects.

Another detractor was consumer staples retailer Dollar General, a retailer of everyday essentials at affordable prices to consumers, including those in rural and suburban communities. By offering affordable and needed products, and creating local jobs, the company has created durable business growth opportunities with strong long-term financial results, in our view. In addition, investments in energy efficiency and waste reduction have improved efficiency and ongoing operating costs in its stores and distribution centers. The stock was an underperformer during the

 

period as a combination of competition and macroeconomic headwinds for customers dampened results.

What is your outlook for the months ahead?

Structurally, we continue to see sustainability strategies advancing across many corporations in a way that is tailored to long-term value creation for specific business settings. After the recent period of very narrow market leadership, we now see a range of opportunities across most sectors that we believe offer compelling strategic and fundamental characteristics at reasonable valuations. Given an uncertain macroeconomic outlook, we believe our focus on company-specific fundamental analysis and stock-specific portfolio positioning is especially important. Our consistent, integrated analytical framework focuses on identifying companies whose long-term prospects can benefit from business-relevant sustainability leadership.

Thank you, Katherine and Stephanie, for your time and insights today.

The views expressed in this report are exclusively those of Putnam Management and are subject to change. They are not meant as investment advice.

Please note that the holdings discussed in this report may not have been held by the fund for the entire period. Portfolio composition is subject to review in accordance with the fund’s investment strategy and may vary in the future. Current and future portfolio holdings are subject to risk.

 

Your fund’s performance

This section shows your fund’s performance, price, and distribution information for periods ended August 31, 2023, the end of its most recent fiscal year. We also include performance information as of the most recent calendar quarter-end. Performance should always be considered in light of a fund’s investment strategy. Data represent past performance. Past performance does not guarantee future results. More recent returns may be less or more than those shown. Investment return, net asset value, and market price will fluctuate, and you may have a gain or a loss when you sell your shares. For the most recent month-end performance, please visit putnam.com or call 1-833-228-5577 (toll-free).

Annualized fund performance Total return for periods ended 8/31/23

 

Current performance may be lower or higher than the quoted past performance, which cannot guarantee future results. Performance assumes reinvestment of distributions and does not account for taxes.

Performance includes the deduction of management fees.

For a portion of the periods, the fund had expense limitations, without which returns would have been lower.

Comparative annualized index returns For periods ended 8/31/23

 

Index and Lipper results should be compared with fund performance at net asset value.

Lipper peer group median is provided by Lipper, a Refinitiv company.

^* Over the 1-year and life-of-fund periods ended 8/31/23, there were 668 and 630 funds, respectively, in this Lipper category.

Past performance does not indicate future results.

 

Fund price and distribution information For the 12-month period ended 8/31/23

 

The classification of distributions, if any, is an estimate. Final distribution information will appear on your year-end tax forms.

Annualized fund performance as of most recent calendar quarter
Total return for periods ended 9/30/23

 

See the discussion following the fund performance table on page 7 for information about the calculation of fund performance.

Your fund’s expenses

As an investor, you pay ongoing expenses, such as management fees, and other expenses (with certain exceptions). In the most recent six-month period, your fund’s expenses were limited; had expenses not been limited, they would have been higher. Using the following information, you can estimate how these expenses affect your investment and compare them with the expenses of other funds. You may also pay brokerage commissions in connection with your purchase or sale of shares of the fund, which are not shown in this section and would have resulted in higher total expenses. The expenses shown in the example also do not reflect transaction costs, which would have resulted in higher total expenses. For more information, see your fund’s prospectus or talk to your financial representative.

Expense ratios

 

Fiscal year expense information in this table is taken from the most recent prospectus, is subject to change, and may differ from that shown for the annualized expense ratio and in the financial highlights of this report.

Expenses are shown as a percentage of average net assets.

^* Expense ratio is for the fund’s most recent fiscal half year. As a result of this, ratio may differ from expense ratios based on one-year data in the financial highlights.

 

Expenses per $1,000

The following table shows the expenses you would have paid on a $1,000 investment in the fund from 3/1/23 to 8/31/23. It also shows how much a $1,000 investment would be worth at the close of the period, assuming actual returns and expenses.

 

^* Expenses are calculated using the fund’s annualized expense ratio, which represents the ongoing expenses as a percentage of average net assets for the six months ended 8/31/23.

^† Expenses are calculated by multiplying the expense ratio by the average account value for the period; then multiplying the result by the number of days in the period (184); and then dividing that result by the number of days in the year (365).

Estimate the expenses you paid

To estimate the ongoing expenses you paid for the six months ended 8/31/23, use the following calculation method. To find the value of your investment on 3/1/23, call 1-833-228-5577.

Compare expenses using the SEC’s method

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has established guidelines to help investors assess fund expenses. Per these guidelines, the following table shows your fund’s expenses based on a $1,000 investment, assuming a hypothetical 5% annualized return . You can use this information to compare the ongoing expenses (but not transaction expenses or total costs) of investing in the fund with those of other funds. All shareholder reports will provide this information to help you make this comparison. Please note that you cannot use this information to estimate your actual ending account balance and expenses paid during the period.

 

^* Expenses are calculated using the fund’s annualized expense ratio, which represents the ongoing expenses as a percentage of average net assets for the six months ended 8/31/23.

^† Expenses are calculated by multiplying the expense ratio by the average account value for the six-month period; then multiplying the result by the number of days in the six-month period (184); and then dividing that result by the number of days in the year (365).

 

Comparative index definitions

Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Bond Index is an unmanaged index of U.S. investment-grade fixed income securities.

ICE BofA (Intercontinental Exchange Bank of America) U.S. 3-Month Treasury Bill Index is an unmanaged index that seeks to measure the performance of U.S. Treasury bills available in the marketplace.

S&P 500 ^® Index is an unmanaged index of common stock performance.

Indexes assume reinvestment of all distributions and do not account for fees. Securities and performance of a fund and an index will differ. You cannot invest directly in an index.

BLOOMBERG ^®   is a trademark and service mark of Bloomberg Finance L.P. and its affiliates (collectively “Bloomberg”). Bloomberg or Bloomberg’s licensors own all proprietary rights in the Bloomberg Indices. Neither Bloomberg nor Bloomberg’s licensors approve or endorse this material, or guarantee the accuracy or completeness of any information herein, or make any warranty, express or implied, as to the results to be obtained therefrom, and to the maximum extent allowed by law, neither shall have any liability or responsibility for injury or damages arising in connection therewith.

ICE Data Indices, LLC (“ICE BofA”), used with permission. ICE BofA permits use of the ICE BofA indices and related data on an “as is” basis; makes no warranties regarding same; does not guarantee the suitability, quality, accuracy, timeliness, and/or completeness of the ICE BofA indices or any data included in, related to, or derived therefrom; assumes no liability in connection with the use of the foregoing; and does not sponsor, endorse, or recommend Putnam Investments, or any of its products or services.

Lipper,  a Refinitiv company, is a third-party industry-ranking entity that ranks funds. Its rankings do not reflect sales charges. Lipper rankings are based on total return at net asset value relative to other funds that have similar current investment styles or objectives as determined by Lipper. Lipper may change a fund’s category assignment at its discretion. Lipper category medians reflect performance trends for funds within a category.

 

Other information for shareholders

Important notice regarding delivery of shareholder documents

In accordance with Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) regulations, Putnam sends a single notice of internet availability, or a single printed copy, of annual and semiannual shareholder reports, prospectuses, and proxy statements to Putnam shareholders who share the same address, unless a shareholder requests otherwise. If you prefer to receive your own copy of these documents, please call Putnam at 1-800-225-1581 or, for exchange-traded funds only, 1-833-228-5577 toll free. We will begin sending individual copies within 30 days.

Proxy voting

Putnam is committed to managing our funds in the best interests of our shareholders. The Putnam funds’ proxy voting guidelines and procedures, as well as information regarding how your fund voted proxies relating to portfolio securities during the 12-month period ended June 30, 2023, are available in the Individual Investors section of putnam.com and on the SEC’s website, www.sec.gov. If you have questions about finding forms on the SEC’s website, you may call the SEC at 1-800-SEC-0330. You may also obtain the Putnam funds’ proxy voting guidelines and procedures at no charge by calling Putnam’s Shareholder Services at 1-800-225-1581 or, for exchange-traded funds only, 1-833-228-5577 toll free.

Fund portfolio holdings

The fund will file a complete schedule of its portfolio holdings with the SEC for the first and third quarters of each fiscal year on Form N-PORT within 60 days of the end of such fiscal quarter. Shareholders may obtain the fund’s Form N-PORT on the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov.

Trustee and employee fund ownership

Putnam employees and members of the Board of Trustees place their faith, confidence, and, most importantly, investment dollars in Putnam funds. As of August 31, 2023, Putnam employees had approximately $499,000,000 and the Trustees had approximately $70,000,000 invested in Putnam funds. These amounts include investments by the Trustees’ and employees’ immediate family members as well as investments through retirement and deferred compensation plans.

Liquidity risk management program

Putnam, as the administrator of the fund’s liquidity risk management program (appointed by the Board of Trustees), presented the most recent annual report on the program to the Trustees in May 2023. The report covered the structure of the program, including the program documents and related policies and procedures adopted to comply with Rule 22e-4 under the Investment Company Act of 1940, and reviewed the operation of the program from January 2022 through December 2022. The report included a description of the annual liquidity assessment of the fund that Putnam performed in November 2022. The report noted that there were no material compliance exceptions identified under Rule 22e-4 during the period. The report included a review of the governance of the program and the methodology for classification of the fund’s investments. Putnam concluded that the program has been operating effectively and adequately to ensure compliance with Rule 22e-4.

 

Important notice regarding Putnam’s privacy policy

In order to conduct business with our shareholders, we must obtain certain personal information such as account holders’ names, addresses, Social Security numbers, and dates of birth. Using this information, we are able to maintain accurate records of accounts and transactions.

It is our policy to protect the confidentiality of our shareholder information, whether or not a shareholder currently owns shares of our funds. In particular, it is our policy not to sell information about you or your accounts to outside marketing firms. We have safeguards in place designed to prevent unauthorized access to our computer systems and procedures to protect personal information from unauthorized use.

Under certain circumstances, we must share account information with outside vendors who provide services to us, such as mailings and proxy solicitations. In these cases, the service providers enter into confidentiality agreements with us, and we provide only the information necessary to process transactions and perform other services related to your account. Finally, it is our policy to share account information with your financial representative, if you’ve listed one on your Putnam account.

 

Trustee approval of management contracts

Consideration of your fund’s new and interim management and sub-management contracts

At their meeting on June 23, 2023, the Board of Trustees of your fund, including all of the Trustees who are not “interested persons” (as this term is defined in the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “1940 Act”)) of the Putnam mutual funds, closed-end funds and exchange-traded funds (collectively, the “funds”) (the “Independent Trustees”) approved, subject to approval by your fund’s shareholders, a new management contract with Putnam Investment Management (“Putnam Management”) and a new sub-management contract between Putnam Management and its affiliate, Putnam Investments Limited (“PIL”) (collectively, the “New Management Contracts”). The Trustees considered the proposed New Management Contracts in connection with the planned acquisition of Putnam U.S. Holdings I, LLC (“Putnam Holdings”) by a subsidiary of Franklin Resources, Inc. (“Franklin Templeton”). The Trustees considered that, on May 31, 2023, Franklin Templeton and Great-West Lifeco Inc., the parent company of Putnam Holdings, announced that they had entered into a definitive agreement for a subsidiary of Franklin Templeton to acquire Putnam Holdings in a stock and cash transaction (the “Transaction”). The Trustees noted that Putnam Holdings was the parent company of Putnam Management and PIL. The Trustees were advised that the Transaction would result in a “change of control” of Putnam Management and PIL and would cause your fund’s current Management Contract with Putnam Management and Sub-Management Contract with PIL (collectively, the “Current Management Contracts”) to terminate in accordance with the 1940 Act. The Trustees considered that the New Management Contracts would take effect upon the closing of the Transaction, which was expected to occur in the fourth quarter of 2023.

In addition to the New Management Contracts, the Trustees also approved interim management and sub-management contracts with Putnam Management and PIL, respectively (the “Interim Management Contracts”), which would take effect in the event that for any reason shareholder approval of a New Management Contract was not received by the time of the Transaction closing. The Trustees considered that each Interim Management Contract that became effective would remain in effect until shareholders approved the proposed New Management Contract, or until 150 days elapse after the closing of the Transaction, whichever occurred first. The considerations and conclusions discussed in connection with the Trustees’ consideration of the New Management Contracts and the continuance of your fund’s Current Management Contracts also apply to the Trustees’ consideration of the Interim Management Contracts, supplemented by consideration of the terms, nature and reason for any Interim Management Contract.

The Independent Trustees met with their independent legal counsel, as defined in Rule 0 –1(a)(6) under the 1940 Act (their “independent legal counsel”), and representatives of Putnam Management and its parent company, Power Corporation of Canada, to discuss the potential Transaction, including the timing and structure of the Transaction and its implications for Putnam Management and the funds, during their regular meeting on November 18, 2022, and the full Board of Trustees further discussed these matters with representatives of Putnam Management at its regular meeting on December 15, 2022. At a special meeting on December 20, 2022, the full Board of Trustees met with representatives of Putnam Management, Power Corporation of Canada and Franklin Templeton to further discuss the potential Transaction, including Franklin Templeton’s strategic plans for Putnam Management’s asset management business and the funds, potential sources of synergy between Franklin Templeton and Putnam Management, potential areas of partnership between Power Corporation of Canada and Franklin Templeton, Franklin Templeton’s distribution capabilities, Franklin Templeton’s existing service provider relationships and Franklin Templeton’s recent acquisitions of other asset management firms.

In order to assist the Independent Trustees in their consideration of the New Management Contracts and other anticipated impacts of the Transaction on the funds and their shareholders, independent legal counsel for the Independent Trustees furnished an initial information request to Franklin Templeton (the “Initial Franklin Request”). At a special meeting of the full Board of Trustees held on January 25, 2023, representatives of Franklin Templeton addressed the firm’s responses to the Initial Franklin Request. At the

 

meeting, representatives of Franklin Templeton discussed, among other things, the business and financial condition of Franklin Templeton and its affiliates, Franklin Templeton’s U.S. registered fund operations, its recent acquisition history, Franklin Templeton’s intentions regarding the operation of Putnam Management and the funds following the completion of the potential Transaction and expected benefits to the funds and Putnam Management that might result from the Transaction.

The Board of Trustees actively monitored developments with respect to the potential Transaction throughout the period leading up to the public announcement of a final sale agreement on May 31, 2023. The Independent Trustees met to discuss these matters at their regular meetings on January 27, April 20 and May 19, 2023. The full Board of Trustees also discussed developments at their regular meeting on February 23, 2023. Following the public announcement of the Transaction on May 31, 2023, independent legal counsel for the Independent Trustees furnished a supplemental information request (the “Supplemental Franklin Request”) to Franklin Templeton. At the Board of Trustees’ regular in-person meeting held on June 22 – 23, 2023, representatives of Putnam Management and Power Corporation of Canada provided further information regarding, among other matters, the final terms of the Transaction and efforts undertaken to retain Putnam employees. The Contract Committee of the Board of Trustees also met on June 22, 2023 to discuss Franklin Templeton’s responses to the Supplemental Franklin Request. Mr. Reynolds, the only Trustee affiliated with Putnam Management, participated in portions of these meetings to provide the perspective of the Putnam organization, but did not otherwise participate in the deliberations of the Independent Trustees or the Contract Committee regarding the potential Transaction.

After the presentations and after reviewing the written materials provided, the Independent Trustees met at their in-person meeting on June 23, 2023 to consider the New Management Contracts for each fund, proposed to become effective upon the closing of the Transaction, and the filing of a preliminary proxy statement. At this meeting and throughout the process, the Independent Trustees also received advice from their independent legal counsel regarding their responsibilities in evaluating the potential Transaction and the New Management Contracts. The Independent Trustees reviewed the terms of the proposed New Management Contracts and the differences between the New Management Contracts and the Current Management Contracts. They noted that the terms of the proposed New Management Contracts were substantially identical to the Current Management Contracts, except for certain changes designed largely to address differences among various of the existing contracts, which had been developed and implemented at different times in the past.

In considering the approval of the proposed New Management Contracts, the Board of Trustees took into account a number of factors, including: ¹

(i) Franklin Templeton’s and Putnam Management’s belief that the Transaction would not adversely affect the funds or their shareholders and their belief that the Transaction was likely to result in certain benefits (described below) for the funds and their shareholders;

(ii) That Franklin Templeton did not intend to make any material change in Putnam Management’s senior investment professionals (other than certain changes related to reporting structure and organization of personnel discussed below), including the portfolio managers of the funds, or to the firm’s operating locations as a result of the Transaction;

(iii) That Franklin Templeton intended for Putnam Management’s equity investment professionals to continue to operate largely independently from Franklin Templeton, reporting to Franklin Templeton’s Head of Public Markets following the Transaction;

(iv) That, while Putnam Management’s organizational structure was not expected to change immediately following the Transaction, Franklin Templeton intended to revise Putnam Management’s reporting structure in order to include Putnam Management’s fixed income investment professionals in Franklin Templeton’s fixed income group and to include Putnam Management’s Global Asset Allocation (“GAA”) investment professionals in Franklin Templeton’s investment solutions group, with both Franklin Templeton groups reporting to Franklin Templeton’s Head of Public Markets;

¹ All subsequent references to Putnam Management describing the Board of Trustees’ considerations should be deemed to include references to PIL as necessary or appropriate in the context.

 

(v) Franklin Templeton’s expectation that there would not be any changes in the investment objectives, strategies or portfolio holdings of the funds as a result of the Transaction;

(vi) That neither Franklin Templeton nor Putnam Management had any current plans to propose changes to the funds’ existing management fees or expense limitations, or current plans to make changes to the funds’ existing distribution arrangements;

(vii) Franklin Templeton’s and Putnam Management’s representations that, following the Transaction, there was not expected to be any diminution in the nature, quality and extent of services provided to the funds and their shareholders by Putnam Management and PIL, including compliance and other non-advisory services;

(viii) That Franklin Templeton did not currently plan to change the branding of the funds or to change the lineup of funds in connection with the Transaction but would continue to evaluate how best to position the funds in the market;

(ix) The possible benefits accruing to the funds and their shareholders as a result of the Transaction, including:

a. That the scale of Franklin Templeton’s investment operations platform would increase the investment and operational resources available to the funds;

b. That the Putnam open-end funds would benefit from Franklin Templeton’s large retail and institutional global distribution capabilities and significant network of intermediary relationships, which may provide additional opportunities for the funds to increase assets and reduce expenses by spreading expenses over a larger asset base; and

c. Potential benefits to shareholders of the Putnam open-end funds that could result from the alignment of certain fund features and shareholder benefits with those of other funds sponsored by Franklin Templeton and its affiliates and access to a broader array of investment opportunities;

(x) The financial strength, reputation, experience and resources of Franklin Templeton and its investment advisory subsidiaries;

(xi) Franklin Templeton’s expectation that the Transaction would not impact the capabilities or responsibilities of Putnam Management’s Investment Division (other than any impact related to reporting structure changes for Putnam Management’s equity, fixed income and GAA investment groups and to including Putnam Management’s fixed income and GAA investment professionals in existing Franklin Templeton investment groups, as discussed above) and that any changes to the Investment Division over the longer term would be made in order to achieve perceived operational efficiencies or improvements to the portfolio management process;

(xii) Franklin Templeton’s commitment to maintaining competitive compensation arrangements to allow Putnam Management to continue to attract and retain highly qualified personnel and Putnam Management’s and Franklin Templeton’s efforts to retain personnel, including efforts implemented since the Transaction was announced;

(xiii) That the current senior management teams at Putnam Management and Power Corporation of Canada had indicated their strong support of the Transaction and that Putnam Management had recommended that the Board of Trustees approve the New Management Contracts; and

(xiv) Putnam Management’s and Great-West Lifeco Inc.’s commitment to bear all expenses incurred by the funds in connection with the Transaction, including all costs associated with the proxy solicitation in connection with seeking shareholder approval of the New Management Contracts.

Finally, in considering the proposed New Management Contracts, the Board of Trustees also took into account their concurrent deliberations and conclusions, as described below, in connection with their annual review of the funds’ Current Management Contracts and the approval of their continuance, effective July 1, 2023, and the extensive materials that they had reviewed in connection with that review process.

Based upon the foregoing considerations, on June 23, 2023, the Board of Trustees, including all of the Independent Trustees, unanimously approved the proposed New Management Contracts and determined to recommend their approval to the shareholders of the funds.

General conclusions — Current
Management Contracts

The Board of Trustees oversees the management of each fund and, as required by law, determines annually whether to approve the continuance of

 

your fund’s management contract with Putnam Management and the sub-management contract with respect to your fund between Putnam Management and PIL. (Because PIL is an affiliate of Putnam Management and Putnam Management remains fully responsible for all services provided by PIL, the Trustees did not attempt to evaluate PIL as a separate entity.) The Board of Trustees, with the assistance of its Contract Committee, requests and evaluates all information it deems reasonably necessary under the circumstances in connection with its annual contract review. The Contract Committee consists solely of Independent Trustees.

At the outset of the review process, members of the Board of Trustees’ independent staff and independent legal counsel considered any possible changes to the annual contract review materials furnished to the Contract Committee during the course of the previous year’s review and, as applicable, identified those changes to Putnam Management. Following these discussions and in consultation with the Contract Committee, the Independent Trustees’ independent legal counsel requested that Putnam Management and its affiliates furnish specified information, together with any additional information that Putnam Management considered relevant, to the Contract Committee. Over the course of several months ending in June 2023, the Contract Committee met on a number of occasions with representatives of Putnam Management, and separately in executive session, to consider the information that Putnam Management provided. Throughout this process, the Contract Committee was assisted by the members of the Board of Trustees’ independent staff and by independent legal counsel for the funds and the Independent Trustees.

At the Board of Trustees’ June 2023 meeting, the Contract Committee met in executive session to discuss and consider its recommendations with respect to the continuance of the contracts. At that meeting, the Contract Committee also met in executive session with the other Independent Trustees to review a summary of the key financial, performance and other data that the Contract Committee considered in the course of its review. The Contract Committee recommended, and the Independent Trustees approved, the continuance of your fund’s Current Management Contracts, effective July 1, 2023, and the approval of your fund’s New Management Contracts and Interim Management Contracts, as discussed above.

The Independent Trustees’ approvals were based on the following conclusions:

• That the fee schedule in effect for your fund represented reasonable compensation in light of the nature and quality of the services being provided to the fund, the fees paid by competitive funds, the costs incurred by Putnam Management in providing services to the fund and the application of certain reductions and waivers noted below; and

• That the fee schedule in effect for your fund represented an appropriate sharing between fund shareholders and Putnam Management of any economies of scale as may exist in the management of the fund at current asset levels.

These conclusions were based on a comprehensive consideration of all information provided to the Trustees and were not the result of any single factor. Some of the factors that figured particularly in the Trustees’ deliberations and how the Trustees considered these factors are described below, although individual Trustees may have evaluated the information presented differently, giving different weights to various factors. The Trustees also took into account their concurrent deliberations and conclusions, and the materials that they had reviewed, in connection with their approval on June 23, 2023 of the Interim Management Contracts and the New Management Contracts, which had been proposed in light of the Transaction (which would cause the fund’s Current Management Contracts to terminate in accordance with applicable law or the terms of each contract).

Management fee schedules
and total expenses

The Trustees reviewed the management fee schedules in effect for all funds, including fee levels and any breakpoints. The Trustees also reviewed the total expenses of each Putnam fund, recognizing that in most cases management fees represented the major, but not the sole, determinant of total costs to fund shareholders. (Two mutual funds and each of the exchange-traded funds, including your fund, have implemented so-called “all-in” or unitary management fees covering substantially all routine fund operating costs.)

In reviewing fees and expenses, the Trustees generally focus their attention on material changes in circumstances — for example, changes in assets under management, changes in a fund’s

 

investment strategy, changes in Putnam Management’s operating costs or profitability, or changes in competitive practices in the fund industry —that suggest that consideration of fee changes might be warranted. The Trustees concluded that the circumstances did not indicate that changes to the management fee schedule for your fund would be appropriate at this time.

Under its management contract, your fund pays a management fee at a fixed rate of 59 basis points to Putnam Management. Putnam Management is obligated to pay, out of the management fee, all of the fund’s organizational and other operating expenses with limited exceptions, which include fees, if any, payable under the fund’s distribution plan, interest, taxes, brokerage commissions and other transaction costs, fund proxy expenses, litigation expenses, extraordinary expenses and acquired fund fees and expenses.

As in the past, the Trustees also focused on the competitiveness of each fund’s total expense ratio. The Trustees noted that the exchange-traded funds are subject to unitary management fees, as noted above, and that none of the exchange-traded funds have a contractual expense limitation at present.

The Trustees reviewed comparative fee and expense information for a custom group of competitive funds selected by Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. (“Broadridge”). This comparative information included your fund’s percentile ranking for effective management fees and total expenses (excluding any applicable 12b-1 fees), which provides a general indication of your fund’s relative standing. In the custom peer group, your fund ranked in the second quintile in total expenses (excluding any applicable 12b-1 fees) as of December 31, 2022. (Total expenses reflect the fees and expenses borne directly by the fund and the competitive funds included in the custom Lipper peer groups, as well as any underlying funds’ net fees and expenses.) The first quintile represents the least expensive funds and the fifth quintile the most expensive funds. The fee and expense data reported by Broadridge as of December 31, 2022 reflected the most recent fiscal year-end data available in Broadridge’s database at that time.

In connection with their review of fund management fees and total expenses, the Trustees also reviewed the costs of the services provided and the profits realized by Putnam Management and its affiliates from their contractual relationships with the funds. This information included trends in revenues, expenses and profitability of Putnam Management and its affiliates relating to the investment management, investor servicing and distribution services provided to the funds, as applicable. In this regard, the Trustees also reviewed an analysis of the revenues, expenses and profitability of Putnam Management and its affiliates, allocated on a fund-by-fund basis, with respect to (as applicable) the funds’ management, distribution and investor servicing contracts. For each fund, the analysis presented information about revenues, expenses and profitability in 2022 for each of the applicable agreements separately and for the agreements taken together on a combined basis. The Trustees concluded that, at current asset levels, the fee schedules in place for each of the funds, including the fee schedule for your fund, represented reasonable compensation for the services being provided and represented an appropriate sharing between fund shareholders and Putnam Management of any economies of scale as may exist in the management of the funds at that time.

The information examined by the Trustees in connection with their annual contract review for the funds included information regarding services provided and fees charged by Putnam Management and its affiliates to other clients, including collective investment trusts offered in the defined contribution and defined benefit retirement plan markets, sub-advised mutual funds, private funds sponsored by affiliates of Putnam Management, model-only separately managed accounts and Putnam Management’s manager-traded separately managed account programs. This information included, in cases where a product’s investment strategy corresponds with a fund’s strategy, comparisons of those fees with fees charged to the funds, as well as an assessment of the differences in the services provided to these clients as compared to the services provided to the funds. The Trustees observed that the differences in fee rates between these clients and the funds are by no means uniform when examined by individual asset sectors, suggesting that differences in the pricing of investment management services to these types of clients may reflect, among other things, historical competitive forces operating in separate marketplaces. The Trustees considered the fact that in many cases fee rates across different asset classes are higher on average for 1940 Act-registered funds than for other clients, and the Trustees also considered

 

the differences between the services that Putnam Management provides to the funds and those that it provides to its other clients. The Trustees did not rely on these comparisons to any significant extent in concluding that the management fees paid by your fund are reasonable.

Investment performance

The quality of the investment process provided by Putnam Management represented a major factor in the Trustees’ evaluation of the quality of services provided by Putnam Management under your fund’s management contract. The Trustees were assisted in their review of Putnam Management’s investment process and performance by the work of the investment oversight committees of the Trustees and the full Board of Trustees, which meet on a regular basis with individual portfolio managers and with senior management of Putnam Management’s Investment Division throughout the year. The Trustees concluded that Putnam Management generally provides a high-quality investment process — based on the experience and skills of the individuals assigned to the management of fund portfolios, the resources made available to them and in general Putnam Management’s ability to attract and retain high-quality personnel — but also recognized that this does not guarantee favorable investment results for every fund in every time period.

The Trustees considered that, in the aggregate, peer-relative and benchmark-relative Putnam fund performance was generally encouraging in 2022 against a backdrop of volatile equity and fixed income markets, driven by factors such as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, increased tensions with China, disruptions in energy markets and broader supply chains, rising inflation and the significant tightening of monetary policy by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve in an effort to combat inflation. The Trustees further noted that, in the face of these numerous economic headwinds, corporate earnings and employment data had been generally robust throughout 2022. For the one-year period ended December 31, 2022, the Trustees noted that the Putnam funds, on an asset-weighted basis, ranked in the 41st percentile of their peers as determined by Lipper Inc. (“Lipper”) and, on an asset-weighted-basis, outperformed their benchmarks by 1.3% gross of fees over the one-year period. The Committee also noted that the funds’ aggregate performance over longer-term periods continued to be strong, with the funds, on an asset-weighted basis, ranking in the 34th, 27th and 22nd percentiles of their Lipper peers over the three-year, five-year and ten-year periods ended December 31, 2022, respectively. The Trustees further noted that the funds, in the aggregate, outperformed their benchmarks on a gross basis for each of the three-year, five-year and ten-year periods. The Trustees also considered the Morningstar Inc. ratings assigned to the funds and that 40 funds were rated four or five stars at the end of 2022, which represented an increase of 15 funds year-over-year. The Trustees also considered that seven funds were five-star rated at the end of 2022, which was a year-over-year decrease of two funds, and that 83% of the funds’ aggregate assets were in four- or five-star rated funds at year end.

In addition to the performance of the individual Putnam funds, the Trustees considered, as they had in prior years, the performance of The Putnam Fund complex versus competitor fund complexes, as reported in the Barron’s/Lipper Fund Families survey (the “Survey”). The Trustees noted that the Survey ranks mutual fund companies based on their performance across a variety of asset types, and that The Putnam Fund complex had performed exceptionally well in 2022. In this regard, the Trustees considered that the funds had ranked 9th out of 49 fund companies, 3rd out of 49 fund companies and 2nd out of 47 fund companies for the one-year, five-year and ten-year periods, respectively. The Trustees also noted that The Putnam Fund complex had been the only fund family to rank in the top ten in all three time periods. They also noted, however, the disappointing investment performance of some Putnam funds for periods ended December 31, 2022 and considered information provided by Putnam Management regarding the factors contributing to the underperformance and, where relevant, actions being taken to improve the performance of these particular funds. The Trustees indicated their intention to continue to monitor the performance of those funds.

For purposes of the Trustees’ evaluation of the Putnam funds’ investment performance, the Trustees generally focus on a competitive industry ranking of each fund’s total net return over a one-year, three-year and five-year period. For a number of Putnam funds with relatively unique investment mandates for which Putnam Management informed the Trustees that meaningful competitive performance rankings are not considered to be available, the Trustees evaluated performance based on their total gross and net

 

returns and comparisons of those returns to the returns of selected investment benchmarks. In the case of your fund, the Trustees considered information about your fund’s total return and its performance relative to its benchmark over the since-inception period (beginning May 25, 2021) and over the one-year period ended December 31, 2022. Your fund’s return, net of fees and expenses, was negative and trailed the return of its benchmark over each period. (When considering performance information, shareholders should be mindful that past performance is not a guarantee of future results.)

The Trustees expressed concern about your fund’s significant underperformance relative to its benchmark over the since-inception and one-year periods ended December 31, 2022 and considered the circumstances that may have contributed to this disappointing performance. With respect to sector allocation, the Trustees noted Putnam Management’s observation that an underweight to the energy sector detracted from the fund’s performance. The Trustees also considered Putnam Management’s statement that stock selection within the materials and information technology sectors detracted from the fund’s performance.

The Trustees noted that Putnam Management remained confident in the fund’s portfolio managers. The Trustees also considered Putnam Management’s continued efforts to support fund performance through certain initiatives, including structuring compensation for portfolio managers to enhance accountability for fund performance, emphasizing accountability in the portfolio management process and affirming its commitment to a fundamental-driven approach to investing.

As a general matter, the Trustees believe that cooperative efforts between the Trustees and Putnam Management represent the most effective way to address investment performance concerns that may arise from time to time. The Trustees noted that investors in the Putnam funds have, in effect, placed their trust in the Putnam organization, under the oversight of the funds’ Trustees, to make appropriate decisions regarding the management of the funds. The Trustees also considered that Putnam Management has made changes in light of subpar investment performance when warranted. Based on Putnam Management’s willingness to take appropriate measures to address fund performance issues, the Trustees concluded that it continued to be advisable to seek change within Putnam Management to address performance shortcomings. In the Trustees’ view, the alternative of engaging a new investment adviser for an underperforming fund, with all the attendant risks and disruptions, would not likely provide any greater assurance of improved investment performance.

Brokerage and soft-dollar allocations

The Trustees considered various potential benefits that Putnam Management may receive in connection with the services it provides under the management contract with your fund. These include benefits related to brokerage allocation and the use of soft dollars, whereby a portion of the commissions paid by a fund for brokerage may be used to acquire research services that are expected to be useful to Putnam Management in managing the assets of the fund and of other clients. Subject to policies established by the Trustees, soft dollars generated by these means are used predominantly to acquire brokerage and research services (including third-party research and market data) that enhance Putnam Management’s investment capabilities and supplement Putnam Management’s internal research efforts. The Trustees indicated their continued intent to monitor regulatory and industry developments in this area with the assistance of their Brokerage Committee. In addition, with the assistance of their Brokerage Committee, the Trustees indicated their continued intent to monitor the allocation of the funds’ brokerage in order to ensure that the principle of seeking best price and execution remains paramount in the portfolio trading process.

 

Audited financial statements

These sections of the report, as well as the accompanying Notes, preceded by the Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm, constitute the fund’s audited financial statements.

The fund’s portfolio lists all the fund’s investments and their values as of the last day of the reporting period. Holdings are organized by asset type and industry sector, country, or state to show areas of concentration and diversification.

Statement of assets and liabilities shows how the fund’s net assets and share price are determined. All investment and non-investment assets are added together. Any unpaid expenses and other liabilities are subtracted from this total. The result is divided by the number of shares to determine the net asset value per share, which is calculated separately for each class of shares. (For funds with preferred shares, the amount subtracted from total assets includes the liquidation preference of preferred shares.)

Statement of operations shows the fund’s net investment gain or loss. This is done by first adding up all the fund’s earnings — from dividends and interest income — and subtracting its operating expenses to determine net investment income (or loss). Then, any net gain or loss the fund realized on the sales of its holdings — as well as any unrealized gains or losses over the period — is added to or subtracted from the net investment result to determine the fund’s net gain or loss for the fiscal period.

Statement of changes in net assets shows how the fund’s net assets were affected by the fund’s net investment gain or loss, by distributions to shareholders, and by changes in the number of the fund’s shares. It lists distributions and their sources (net investment income or realized capital gains) over the current reporting period and the most recent fiscal year-end. The distributions listed here may not match the sources listed in the Statement of operations because the distributions are determined on a tax basis and may be paid in a different period from the one in which they were earned.

Financial highlights provide an overview of the fund’s investment results, per-share distributions, expense ratios, net investment income ratios, and portfolio turnover (not required for money market funds) in one summary table, reflecting the five most recent reporting periods. In a semiannual report, the highlights table also includes the current reporting period.

 

Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm

To the Board of Trustees of Putnam ETF Trust and Shareholders of
Putnam Sustainable Leaders ETF:

Opinion on the Financial Statements

We have audited the accompanying statement of assets and liabilities, including the fund’s portfolio, of Putnam Sustainable Leaders ETF (one of the funds constituting Putnam ETF Trust, referred to hereafter as the “Fund”) as of August 31, 2023, the related statement of operations for the year ended August 31, 2023, the statement of changes in net assets for each of the two years in the period ended August 31, 2023, including the related notes, and the financial highlights for each of the periods indicated therein (collectively referred to as the “financial statements”). In our opinion, the financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the Fund as of August 31, 2023, the results of its operations for the year then ended, the changes in its net assets for each of the two years in the period ended August 31, 2023 and the financial highlights for each of the periods indicated therein in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America.

Basis for Opinion

These financial statements are the responsibility of the Fund’s management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the Fund’s financial statements based on our audits. We are a public accounting firm registered with the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (“PCAOB”) and are required to be independent with respect to the Fund in accordance with the U.S. federal securities laws and the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PCAOB.

We conducted our audits of these financial statements in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement, whether due to error or fraud.

Our audits included performing procedures to assess the risks of material misstatement of the financial statements, whether due to error or fraud, and performing procedures that respond to those risks. Such procedures included examining, on a test basis, evidence regarding the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. Our audits also included evaluating the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall presentation of the financial statements. Our procedures included confirmation of securities owned as of August 31, 2023 by correspondence with the custodian, transfer agent and brokers; when replies were not received from brokers, we performed other auditing procedures. We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinion.

PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP
Boston, Massachusetts
October 16, 2023

We have served as the auditor of one or more investment companies in the Putnam Investments family of funds since at least 1957. We have not been able to determine the specific year we began serving as auditor.

 

The fund’s portfolio 8/31/23

COMMON STOCKS (97.5%)*	Shares	Value
Automobiles (1.0%)
General Motors Co.	116,779	$3,913,264
		3,913,264
Banks (3.1%)
Bank of America Corp.	210,480	6,034,462
JPMorgan Chase & Co.	39,665	5,804,179
		11,838,641
Biotechnology (1.4%)
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. †	6,172	5,101,096
		5,101,096
Broadline retail (4.5%)
Amazon.com, Inc. †	123,102	16,989,307
		16,989,307
Capital markets (3.3%)
Charles Schwab Corp. (The)	83,211	4,921,931
KKR & Co., Inc.	70,847	4,449,900
TPG, Inc.	105,340	2,962,161
		12,333,992
Chemicals (3.5%)
Eastman Chemical Co.	52,958	4,501,960
Ginkgo Bioworks Holdings, Inc. †	405,354	948,528
Linde PLC	19,621	7,594,112
		13,044,600
Commercial services and supplies (0.8%)
Waste Connections, Inc.	21,216	2,906,380
		2,906,380
Consumer staples distribution and retail (4.2%)
Dollar General Corp.	9,044	1,252,594
Kroger Co. (The)	73,611	3,414,814
Target Corp.	4,277	541,254
Walmart, Inc.	64,303	10,456,311
		15,664,973
Electric utilities (2.5%)
Constellation Energy Corp.	78,898	8,218,016
NextEra Energy, Inc.	17,957	1,199,528
		9,417,544
Entertainment (1.2%)
Walt Disney Co. (The) †	53,538	4,480,060
		4,480,060
Financial services (2.4%)
Visa, Inc. Class A	36,445	8,953,808
		8,953,808
Ground transportation (1.1%)
Canadian Pacific Kansas City, Ltd. (Canada)	50,137	3,979,875
		3,979,875
Health care equipment and supplies (3.5%)
Boston Scientific Corp. †	162,035	8,740,168
Cooper Cos., Inc. (The)	12,444	4,604,156
		13,344,324

COMMON STOCKS (97.5%)* cont.	Shares	Value
Health care providers and services (2.6%)
UnitedHealth Group, Inc.	20,328	$9,687,918
		9,687,918
Hotels, restaurants, and leisure (3.7%)
Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. †	2,963	5,708,634
Hilton Worldwide Holdings, Inc.	55,566	8,259,886
		13,968,520
Independent power and renewable electricity producers (1.0%)
AES Corp. (The)	211,011	3,783,427
		3,783,427
Industrial REITs (1.4%)
Prologis, Inc. R	41,490	5,153,058
		5,153,058
Life sciences tools and services (3.4%)
Danaher Corp.	18,889	5,005,585
Thermo Fisher Scientific, Inc.	13,846	7,713,607
		12,719,192
Machinery (5.6%)
Fortive Corp.	102,903	8,113,902
Ingersoll Rand, Inc.	129,133	8,988,948
Otis Worldwide Corp.	47,545	4,067,475
		21,170,325
Office REITs (1.0%)
Boston Properties, Inc.	57,862	3,863,446
		3,863,446
Personal care products (2.6%)
Kenvue, Inc. †	179,577	4,139,250
Unilever PLC ADR (United Kingdom)	113,747	5,803,372
		9,942,622
Pharmaceuticals (6.0%)
Eli Lilly and Co.	20,566	11,397,677
Merck & Co., Inc.	60,403	6,582,719
Sanofi ADR (France)	89,657	4,767,959
		22,748,355
Semiconductors and semiconductor equipment (8.9%)
Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. †	40,291	4,259,565
Applied Materials, Inc.	37,895	5,788,840
ASML Holding NV (NY Reg Shares) (Netherlands)	8,234	5,438,804
NVIDIA Corp.	36,673	18,099,959
		33,587,168
Software (16.9%)
Adobe, Inc. †	16,082	8,995,306
Intuit, Inc.	7,873	4,265,670
Microsoft Corp.	99,397	32,578,361
Roper Technologies, Inc.	16,677	8,322,824
Salesforce, Inc. †	43,515	9,636,832
		63,798,993
Specialized REITs (1.0%)
American Tower Corp.	20,306	3,681,884
		3,681,884

COMMON STOCKS (97.5%)* cont.	Shares	Value
Specialty retail (1.8%)
Home Depot, Inc. (The)	20,631	$6,814,419
		6,814,419
Technology hardware, storage, and peripherals (8.1%)
Apple, Inc.	161,501	30,341,190
		30,341,190
Textiles, apparel, and luxury goods (0.3%)
On Holding AG Class A (Switzerland) †	38,916	1,121,948
		1,121,948
Wireless telecommunication services (0.7%)
T-Mobile US, Inc. †	19,367	2,638,754
		2,638,754
Total common stocks (cost $326,450,977)		$366,989,083

SHORT-TERM INVESTMENTS (2.4%)*		Shares	Value
Putnam Government Money Market Fund Class P 5.04% L		9,106,759	$9,106,759
Total short-term investments (cost $9,106,759)			$9,106,759

TOTAL INVESTMENTS
Total investments (cost $335,557,736)	$376,095,842

Key to holding’s abbreviations
ADR	American Depository Receipts: Represents ownership of foreign securities on deposit with a custodian bank.

Notes to the fund’s portfolio
	Unless noted otherwise, the notes to the fund’s portfolio are for the close of the fund’s reporting period, which ran from September 1, 2022 through August 31, 2023 (the reporting period). Within the following notes to the portfolio, references to “Putnam Management” represent Putnam Investment Management, LLC, the fund’s manager, an indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of Putnam Investments, LLC and references to “ASC 820” represent Accounting Standards Codification 820 Fair Value Measurements and Disclosures.
*	Percentages indicated are based on net assets of $376,401,538.
†	This security is non-income-producing.
L	Affiliated company (Note 5). The rate quoted in the security description is the annualized 7-day yield of the fund at the close of the reporting period.
R	Real Estate Investment Trust.

ASC 820 establishes a three-level hierarchy for disclosure of fair value measurements. The valuation hierarchy is based upon the transparency of inputs to the valuation of the fund’s investments. The three levels are defined as follows:

Level 1: Valuations based on quoted prices for identical securities in active markets.

Level 2: Valuations based on quoted prices in markets that are not active or for which all significant inputs are observable, either directly or indirectly.

Level 3: Valuations based on inputs that are unobservable and significant to the fair value measurement.

The following is a summary of the inputs used to value the fund’s net assets as of the close of the reporting period:

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