AXS Astoria Inflation Sensitive ETF (Ticker: PPI)
AXS Brendan Wood TopGun Index ETF (Ticker: TGN)
AXS Change Finance ESG ETF (Ticker: CHGX)
AXS Esoterica NextG Economy ETF (Ticker: WUGI)
AXS First Priority CLO Bond ETF (Ticker: AAA)
AXS Green Alpha ETF (Ticker: NXTE)
PROSPECTUS
Each Fund is a series of Investment Managers Series Trust II. Shares of each Fund are listed on the following exchanges (each an “Exchange”):
FUND |
EXCHANGE |
AXS Astoria Inflation Sensitive ETF |
NYSE Arca, Inc. (“Arca”) |
AXS Brendan Wood TopGun Index ETF |
Arca |
AXS Change Finance ESG ETF |
Arca |
AXS Esoterica NextG Economy ETF |
Cboe BZX Exchange, Inc. (“Cboe”) |
AXS Green Alpha ETF |
Arca |
AXS First Priority CLO Bond ETF |
Arca |
Shares of each Fund trade on their respective exchange at market prices that may be below, at or above a Fund’s net asset value.
Neither the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission nor the Commodity Futures Trading Commission has approved or disapproved these securities or passed upon the accuracy or adequacy of this prospectus. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal offense.
AXS
Astoria Inflation Sensitive ETF
AXS Brendan Wood TopGun Index ETF
AXS
Change Finance ESG ETF
AXS Green Alpha ETF
AXS Esoterica NextG Economy
ETF
AXS First Priority CLO Bond ETF
Each a series of Investment
Managers Series Trust II (the “Trust”)
Table of Contents
1 | |
1 | |
12 | |
19 | |
28 | |
38 | |
46 | |
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ABOUT THE FUNDS’ INVESTMENT STRATEGIES |
52 |
60 | |
77 | |
83 | |
84 | |
86 | |
87 | |
87 | |
89 |
AXS Astoria Inflation Sensitive ETF Shares
AXS Astoria Blended Benchmark Index (reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes)
Bloomberg Commodity Total Return Index
Bloomberg U.S. TIPS 1-3 Year (USD) Index (reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes)
MSCI ACWI (Net) Index (reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes)
AXS Astoria Inflation Sensitive ETF (the “Fund”) seeks long-term capital appreciation in inflation-adjusted terms.
This table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy, hold and sell shares of the Fund (“Shares”). Investors may pay other fees, such as brokerage commissions and other fees to financial intermediaries, which are not reflected in the table and example set forth below.
|
|
Management fees |
|
Distribution and Service (Rule 12b-1) fees |
|
Other expenses |
|
Acquired fund fees and expenses1 |
|
Total annual fund operating expenses1 |
|
1 |
|
This example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the Fund with the cost of investing in other funds. This example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the Fund for the time periods indicated and then sell 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 at current levels. This example does not include the brokerage commissions that investors may pay to buy and sell Shares. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, your costs, based on these assumptions, would be:
1 Year |
3 Years |
5 Years |
10 Years |
$ |
$ |
$ |
$ |
The
Fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it purchases and sells
securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover will
cause the Fund to incur additional 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 example, may affect
the Fund’s performance. During the most recent fiscal year, the Fund’s portfolio
turnover rate was
The Fund is an actively managed exchange-traded fund (“ETF”) that seeks to achieve its investment objective by investing principally in securities across multiple asset classes which have the potential to benefit, either directly or indirectly, from increases in the rate of rising costs of goods and services (i.e., inflation). These investments are expected to include, but are not limited to, equity securities of companies engaged in the energy, financials, industrial, and materials sectors, as well as investments in other ETFs (“Underlying ETFs”) that directly or indirectly invest in commodities or fixed income securities. The Fund’s investments in equity interests are generally expected to include common stock, general and limited partnership interests of publicly traded master limited partnerships (“MLPs”) and units of royalty trusts.
1
The Fund may invest in non-U.S. securities, including depositary receipts. AXS Investments LLC serves as the Fund’s investment advisor (the “Advisor”) and Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC serves as the investment sub-advisor to the Fund (“Astoria”). Astoria manages the investment strategy and portfolio selection for the Fund.
In pursuing its investment strategy, Astoria seeks to identify investments that it believes are positioned to benefit from a sustained inflationary environment, such as companies the overall profits of which are expected to increase with rising consumer, producer, and raw material prices. Examples of companies that Astoria believes may benefit from a rising interest rate environment include, but are not limited to, financial services companies, consumer discretionary companies, such as homebuilders and household durables, companies producing industrial machinery, metals and steel, and companies engaged in the exploration, production, transportation and mining of commodity assets, such as oil, gas, coal, agriculture, minerals and other real assets, including the passive ownership of royalties or production streams of such assets. Astoria expects that the Fund’s portfolio generally will include the equity securities of approximately 50-60 issuers that may range from mid- to large capitalization companies.
Although the majority of the Fund’s portfolio securities are expected to be of issuers that are either domiciled in or earn a majority of their revenues from activities within the United States, the Fund also may have significant exposure to issuers that are either domiciled in or earn a majority of their revenues from activities within Asia, Canada, or Europe.
The Fund may also invest in Underlying ETFs with exposure to commodities that have an opportunity to benefit from higher demand, elevated global growth, or a shortage of supply, including, but not limited to, crude oil, copper, natural gas, gold, silver, platinum, palladium, soybean, live cattle, coffee, and corn. The Underlying ETFs typically gain exposure to these commodities through the use of commodity-linked derivatives, including futures contracts. The Fund may also invest in Underlying ETFs that invest in investment grade fixed income securities of any maturity including inflation-protected public obligations of the U.S. Treasury, commonly known as “TIPS.” The Fund may also invest in equity ETFs which have the potential to benefit from rising inflation.
In selecting investments for the Fund’s portfolio, Astoria employs a top-down quantitative approach selecting the companies which pass various fundamental screens, such as valuations, growth prospects, quality ratios, and momentum measures. Astoria’s research and analysis seeks to leverage data from a variety of external sources as well as internal research in order to identify and capitalize on trends that have implications for individual companies, sectors or commodities exposures. Astoria expects to sell portfolio holdings when it determines they no longer fit the Fund’s investment strategy or are no longer attractively valued on a fundamental basis.
As
with all investments, there are certain risks of investing in the Fund.
Market Risk. The market price of a security or instrument may decline, sometimes rapidly or unpredictably, due to general market conditions that are not specifically related to a particular company, such as real or perceived adverse economic or political conditions throughout the world, changes in the general outlook for corporate earnings, changes in interest or currency rates, or adverse investor sentiment generally. In addition, local, regional or global events such as war, acts of terrorism, the spread of infectious illness or other public health issues, or other events could have a significant impact on a security or instrument. The market value of a security or instrument also may decline because of factors that affect a particular industry or industries, such as labor shortages or increased production costs and competitive conditions within an industry.
2
Equity Securities Risk. The value of the equity securities the Underlying ETFs hold may fall due to general market and economic conditions, perceptions regarding the industries in which the issuers of securities the Underlying ETFs holds participate or factors relating to specific companies in which the Underlying ETFs invest. These can include stock movements, purchases or sales of securities by the Underlying ETFs, government policies, litigation and changes in interest rates, inflation, the financial condition of the securities’ issuer or perceptions of the issuer, or economic conditions in general or specific to the issuer. Equity securities may also be particularly sensitive to general movements in the stock market, and a decline in the broader market may affect the value of the Underlying ETFs’ equity investments.
Debt Securities Risk. Investments in debt securities subject the holder to the credit risk of the issuer. Credit risk refers to the possibility that the issuer or other obligor of a security will not be able or willing to make payments of interest and principal when due. Generally, the value of debt securities will change inversely with changes in interest rates. To the extent that interest rates rise, certain underlying obligations may be paid off substantially slower than originally anticipated and the value of those securities may fall sharply. During periods of falling interest rates, the income received by the Fund may decline. If the principal on a debt security is prepaid before expected, the prepayments of principal may have to be reinvested in obligations paying interest at lower rates. Debt securities generally do not trade on a securities exchange making them generally less liquid and more difficult to value than common stock.
U.S. Treasury Obligations and TIPS Risk. U.S. Treasury obligations, including TIPS, may differ from other securities in their interest rates, maturities, times of issuance and other characteristics. TIPS are income-generating instruments whose interest and principal are adjusted for inflation. The inflation adjustment, which is typically applied monthly to the principal of the bond, follows a designated inflation index, the Consumer Price Index (CPI), and TIPS’ principal payments are adjusted according to changes in the CPI. While this may provide a hedge against inflation, the returns may be relatively lower than those of other securities. Similar to other issuers, changes to the financial condition or credit rating of the U.S. government may cause the value of the Fund’s exposure to U.S. Treasury obligations to decline.
Foreign Securities Risk. Investments in the securities of non-U.S. issuers involve risks beyond those associated with investments in U.S. securities. These additional risks include greater market volatility, the availability of less reliable financial information, higher transactional and custody costs, taxation by foreign governments, decreased market liquidity and political instability. Some countries and regions have experienced security concerns, war or threats of war and aggression, terrorism, economic uncertainty, natural and environmental disasters and/or systemic market dislocations that have led, and in the future may lead, to increased short-term market volatility and may have adverse long-term effects on the U.S. and world economies and markets generally. Foreign issuers are often subject to less stringent requirements regarding accounting, auditing, financial reporting and record keeping than are U.S. issuers, and therefore not all material information will be available. Securities exchanges or foreign governments may adopt rules or regulations that may negatively impact the Fund’s ability to invest in foreign securities or may prevent the Fund from repatriating its investments. Less developed securities markets are more likely to experience problems with the clearing and settling of trades, as well as the holding of securities by local banks, agents and depositories. The less developed a country’s securities market is, the greater the likelihood of custody problems.
Geographic Investment Risk. The Fund may invest a substantial amount of its assets in securities of issuers located in a single country or geographic region. As a result, any changes to the regulatory, political, social or economic conditions in such country or geographic region will generally have greater impact on the Fund than such changes would have on a more geographically diversified fund and may result in increased volatility and greater losses. This risk may be especially pronounced to the extent the Fund invests in countries and regions experiencing, or likely to experience, security concerns, war, threats of war, terrorism, economic uncertainty and natural disasters. The Fund may have significant risks with respect to the following geographic regions:
● |
Asia Risk. Investments in securities of issuers in certain Asian countries involve risks that are specific to Asia, including certain legal, regulatory, political and economic risks. Certain Asian countries have experienced expropriation and/or nationalization of assets, confiscatory taxation, political instability, armed conflict and |
3
social instability as a result of religious, ethnic, socio-economic and/or political unrest. In particular, escalated tensions involving North Korea and any outbreak of hostilities involving North Korea, or even the threat of an outbreak of hostilities, could have a severe adverse effect on Asian economies. Some economies in this region are dependent on a range of commodities, are strongly affected by international commodity prices and are particularly vulnerable to price changes for these products. The market for securities in this region may also be directly influenced by the flow of international capital and by the economic and market conditions of neighboring countries. Some Asian economies are highly dependent on trade; economic conditions in other countries within and outside of Asia can impact these economies.
● |
Canada Risk. The Fund is subject to certain risks specifically associated with investments in the securities of Canadian issuers. The Canadian economy is heavily dependent on the demand for natural resources and agricultural products. Canada is a major producer of commodities such as forest products, metals, agricultural products, and energy related products like oil, gas, and hydroelectricity. Accordingly, a change in the supply and demand of these resources, both domestically and internationally, can have a significant effect on Canadian market performance. Canada is a top producer of zinc and uranium and a global source of many other natural resources, such as gold, nickel, aluminum, and lead. Conditions that weaken demand for such products worldwide could have a negative impact on the Canadian economy as a whole. Changes to the U.S. economy may significantly affect the Canadian economy because the U.S. is Canada’s largest trading partner and foreign investor. These and other factors could have a negative impact on the Fund and its investments in Canada. |
● |
Europe Risk. Most developed countries in Western Europe are members of the European Union (“EU”), and many are also members of the European Monetary Union (“EMU”), which requires compliance with restrictions on inflation rates, deficits and debt levels. Unemployment in certain European nations is historically high and several countries face significant debt problems. These conditions can significantly affect every country in Europe. The euro is the official currency of the EU and, accordingly, the Fund’s investment in European securities may lead to significant exposure to the euro and events affecting it. Recent market events affecting several EU member countries have adversely affected the sovereign debt issued by those countries, and ultimately may lead to a decline in the value of the euro. A significant decline in the value of the euro, or the exit of a country from the EU or EMU, may produce unpredictable effects on trade and commerce generally and could lead to increased volatility in financial markets worldwide. Political or economic disruptions in European countries, even in countries in which the Fund is not invested, may adversely affect security values and thus the Fund’s holdings. In particular, Russia’s large-scale invasion of Ukraine and the economic and diplomatic responses by the United States, EU, United Kingdom and other countries, including heavy sanctions on the Russian economy, have led to increased volatility and uncertainty in European and global financial markets and could negatively impact regional and global economies for the foreseeable future. Also, the Fund’s investments in the United Kingdom and other European countries may be significantly impacted by the decision of the United Kingdom to leave the EU (known as “Brexit”). Brexit has introduced significant uncertainty and may have a negative impact on the economy and currency of the United Kingdom and European countries, including increased market volatility and illiquidity and potentially lower economic growth. |
Currency Risk. The values of investments in securities denominated in foreign currencies increase or decrease as the rates of exchange between those currencies and the U.S. Dollar change. Currency conversion costs and currency fluctuations could erase investment gains or add to investment losses. Currency exchange rates can be volatile and are affected by factors such as general economic conditions, the actions of the United States and foreign governments or central banks, the imposition of currency controls, and speculation.
MLP Risk. Investment in securities of an MLP involves risks that differ from investments in common stock, including risks related to limited control and limited rights to vote on matters affecting the MLP, risks related to potential conflicts of interest between the MLP and the MLP’s general partner, cash flow risks, dilution risks and risks related to the general partner’s right to require unit-holders to sell their common units at an undesirable time or price. Certain MLP securities may trade in low volumes due to their small capitalizations. Accordingly, those MLPs may be subject to more abrupt or erratic price movements and may lack sufficient market liquidity to enable the Fund to effect sales at an advantageous time or without a substantial drop in price. MLPs are generally considered interest-rate sensitive investments. During periods of interest rate volatility, these investments may not provide
4
attractive returns. MLPs may incur environmental costs and liabilities due to the nature of their businesses and the substances they handle. Changes in existing laws, regulations or enforcement policies governing the energy sector could significantly increase the compliance costs of MLPs. The Fund will select its investments in MLPs from the current small pool of issuers. Demand for investment opportunities in MLPs that operate energy-related businesses may exceed supply, which could make it difficult to operate the Fund.
Commodities Risk. The Fund has exposure to commodities through investments in Underlying ETFs. Commodity prices can have significant volatility, and exposure to commodities can cause the value of the Fund’s shares to decline or fluctuate in a rapid and unpredictable manner. The values of commodities may be affected by changes in overall market movements, real or perceived inflationary trends, commodity index volatility, changes in interest rates or currency exchange rates, population growth and changing demographics, international economic, political and regulatory developments, and factors affecting a particular region, industry or commodity, such as drought, floods, or other weather conditions, livestock disease, changes in storage costs, trade embargoes, competition from substitute products, transportation bottlenecks or shortages, fluctuations in supply and demand, and tariffs. A liquid secondary market may not exist for certain commodity investments, which may make it difficult for the Fund to sell them at a desirable price or at the price at which it is carrying them. The commodity markets are subject to temporary distortions or other disruptions due to, among other factors, lack of liquidity, the participation of speculators, and government regulation and other actions.
Commodity-Linked Derivatives Risk. The value of a commodity-linked derivative instrument in which an Underlying ETF may invest typically is based upon the price movements of the underlying commodity or an economic variable linked to such price movements. The prices of commodity-related investments may fluctuate quickly and dramatically as a result of changes affecting a particular commodity and may not correlate to price movements in other asset classes, such as stocks, bonds and cash. Commodity-linked derivatives are subject to the risk that the counterparty to the transaction, the exchange or trading facility on which they trade, or the applicable clearing house may default or otherwise fail to perform. In addition, each exchange or trading facility on which the derivatives are traded has the right to suspend or limit trading in all futures or other instruments that it lists. An Underlying ETF’s use of commodity-linked derivatives may also have a leveraging effect on the Underlying ETF’s portfolio. Leverage generally magnifies the effect of a change in the value of an asset and creates a risk of loss of value on a larger pool of assets than the Fund would otherwise have had. An Underlying ETF is required to post margin in respect to its holdings in derivatives. Each of these factors and events could have a significant negative impact on the Fund.
Real Assets Risk. The Fund’s investments in securities linked to real assets, such as precious metals, commodities, land, equipment and natural resources, involve significant risks, including financial, operating, and competitive risks. Investments in securities linked to real assets may expose the Fund to adverse macroeconomic conditions, such as changes and volatility in commodity prices, a rise in interest rates or a downturn in the economy in which the asset is located. Changes in inflation rates or in the market’s inflation expectations may adversely affect the market value of equities linked to real assets.
Underlying ETF Risk. The Fund’s investment in shares of Underlying ETFs subjects it to the risks of owning the holdings underlying the Underlying ETF, as well as the same structural risks faced by an investor purchasing shares of the Fund, including authorized participant concentration risk, market maker risk, premium/discount risk and trading issues risk. As a shareholder in another ETF, the Fund bears its proportionate share of the Underlying ETF’s expenses, subjecting Fund shareholders to duplicative expenses.
Futures Contracts Risk. The Fund expects that certain of the Underlying ETFs in which it invests will utilize futures contracts for its commodities investments. Futures contracts are typically exchange-traded contracts that call for the future delivery of an asset by one party to another at a certain price and date, or cash settlement of the terms of the contract. The risk of a position in a futures contract may be very large compared to the relatively low level of margin the Underlying ETF is required to deposit. In many cases, a relatively small price movement in a futures contract may result in immediate and substantial loss or gain to the investor relative to the size of a required margin deposit. In the event no secondary market exists for a particular contract, it might not be possible to effect
5
closing transactions, and the Underlying ETF will be unable to terminate the derivative. If the Underlying ETF uses futures contracts for hedging purposes, there is a risk of imperfect correlation between movements in the prices of the derivatives and movements in the securities or index underlying the derivatives or movements in the prices of the Underlying ETF’s investments that are the subject of such hedge. The prices of futures contracts may not correlate perfectly with movements in the securities or index underlying them.
Non-Diversification Risk. The Fund is classified as “non-diversified,” which means the Fund may invest a larger percentage of its assets in the securities of a smaller number of issuers than a diversified fund. Investment in securities of a limited number of issuers exposes the Fund to greater market risk and potential losses than if its assets were diversified among the securities of a greater number of issuers.
Sector Focus Risk. The Fund may invest a larger portion of its assets in one or more sectors than many other funds, and thus will be more susceptible to negative events affecting those sectors.
● |
Consumer Discretionary Sector Risk. Consumer discretionary companies are companies that provide non-essential goods and services, such as retailers, media companies and consumer services. These companies manufacture products and provide discretionary services directly to the consumer, and the success of these companies is tied closely to the performance of the overall domestic and international economy, interest rates, competition and consumer confidence. |
● |
Energy Sector Risk. Companies in the energy sector may be adversely affected by, among other things, supply and demand both for their specific product or service and for energy products in general, changes in prices of energy, exploration and production spending, government regulation, world events, exchange rates, economic conditions and energy conservation efforts. Revenues for energy companies may come significantly from a relatively limited number of customers, including governmental entities and utilities. As a result, governmental budget constraints may have a significant impact on energy companies. Energy companies also face a significant threat from accidents resulting in injury, pollution or other environmental concerns and natural disasters. |
● |
Financials Sector Risk. Companies in the financials sector, such as retail and commercial banks, insurance companies and financial services companies, are especially subject to the adverse effects of economic recession, currency exchange rates, extensive government regulation, decreases in the availability of capital, volatile interest rates, portfolio concentrations in geographic markets, industries or products (such as commercial and residential real estate loans) and competition from new entrants and blurred distinctions in their fields of business. |
● |
Industrials Sector Risk. Performance of companies in the industrials sector may be affected by, among other things, supply and demand for their specific product or service and for industrials sector products in general. Moreover, government regulation, world events, exchange rates and economic conditions, technological developments, fuel prices, labor agreements, insurance costs, and liabilities for environmental damage and general civil liabilities will likewise affect the performance of these companies. |
● |
Materials Sector Risk. Performance of companies in the materials sector can be significantly impacted by the level and volatility of commodity prices, the exchange value of the dollar, import and export controls, increased competition, liability for environmental damage, depletion of resources, and mandated expenditures for safety and pollution controls. |
Securities Exchange Companies Risk. The Fund’s investments in the securities in the financials sector may include securities issued by a securities exchange. The business and financial performance of a securities exchange can be impacted by a number of factors, including general economic conditions, market volatility, changes in investment patterns and priorities, preferences for services offered by competing exchanges and other service providers, technology developments and regulatory constraints. A substantial portion of a securities exchange’s revenues are derived from data services fees and fees for transactions executed and cleared in its markets. Data subscriptions and trading volumes could decline substantially if market participants reduce their level of spending or trading activities. A reduction in overall trading volume could also render a securities exchange less attractive to market participants as a source of liquidity, which could result in further loss of trading volume and associated transaction-based revenues and in the demand for data and other services. Further, a decline in the initial public offering market, or issuers
6
choosing to list on alternative venues, could have an adverse effect on the revenues of a securities exchange. A securities exchange may not be successful in offering new products or technologies or in identifying opportunities, which could reduce long-term customer demand for services provided by a securities exchange.
Depositary Receipts Risk. The Fund may invest in depositary receipts. Depositary receipts may be subject to certain of the risks associated with direct investments in the securities of foreign companies, such as currency, political, economic and market risks, because their values depend on the performance of the non-dollar denominated underlying foreign securities. Certain countries may limit the ability to convert depositary into the underlying foreign securities and vice versa, which may cause the securities of the foreign company to trade at a discount or premium to the market price of the related depositary receipts. Depositary receipts may be purchased through “sponsored” or “unsponsored” facilities. A sponsored facility is established jointly by a depositary and the issuer of the underlying security. A depositary may establish an unsponsored facility without participation by the issuer of the deposited security. Unsponsored receipts may involve higher expenses and may be less liquid. Holders of unsponsored depositary receipts generally bear all the costs of such facilities, and the depositary of an unsponsored facility frequently is under no obligation to distribute shareholder communications received from the issuer of the deposited security or to pass through voting rights to the holders of such receipts in respect of the deposited securities.
Small-Cap and Mid-Cap Company Risk. The securities of small-capitalization and mid-capitalization companies may be subject to more abrupt or erratic market movements and may have lower trading volumes or more erratic trading than securities of larger, more established companies or marker averages in general. In addition, such companies typically are more likely to be adversely affected than large capitalization companies by changing in earning results, business prospects, investor expectations or poor economic or market conditions.
Royalty Trusts Risk. The Fund may invest in publicly traded royalty trusts. Royalty trusts are special purpose vehicles organized as investment trusts created to make investments in operating companies or their cash flows. A royalty trust generally acquires an interest in natural resource companies and distributes the income it receives to the investors of the royalty trust. A sustained decline in demand for the royalty trust’s underlying commodity could adversely affect income and royalty trust revenues and cash flows. Factors that could lead to a decrease in market demand include a recession or other adverse economic conditions, rising interest rates, an increase in the market price of the underlying commodity, higher taxes or other regulatory actions that increase costs, or a shift in consumer demand for the products.
ETF Structure Risks. The Fund is an ETF, and, as a result of an ETF’s structure, it is exposed to the following risks:
● | Authorized Participant Concentration Risk. Only an authorized participant may engage in creation or redemption transactions directly with the Fund. The Fund has a limited number of institutions that act as authorized participants on an agency basis (i.e., on behalf of other market participants). To the extent that these institutions exit the business or are unable to proceed with creation and/or redemption orders with respect to the Fund and no other authorized participant is able to step forward to create or redeem, in either of these cases, shares may trade at a discount to the Fund’s net asset value and possibly face delisting. |
● | Cash Transaction Risk. To the extent the Fund sells portfolio securities to meet some or all of a redemption request with cash, the Fund may incur taxable gains or losses that it might not have incurred had it made redemptions entirely in-kind. As a result, the Fund may pay out higher annual capital gain distributions than if the in-kind redemption process was used. |
● | 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 |
7
liquidity, and the spread 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. |
● | Fluctuation of Net Asset Value Risk: As with all ETFs, shares may be bought and sold in the secondary market at market prices. Although it is expected that the market prices of shares will approximate the Fund’s NAV, there may be times when the market prices of shares is more than the NAV intra-day (premium) or less than the NAV intra-day (discount). Differences in market price and NAV may be due, in large part, to the fact that supply and demand forces at work in the secondary trading market for shares will be closely related to, but not identical to, the same forces influencing the prices of the holdings of the Fund trading individually or in the aggregate at any point in time. These differences can be especially pronounced during times of market volatility or stress. During these periods, the demand for Fund shares may decrease considerably and cause the market price of Fund shares to deviate significantly from the Fund’s NAV. |
● | Market Maker Risk. If the Fund has lower average daily trading volumes, it may rely on a small number of third-party market makers to provide a market for the purchase and sale of Fund shares. Any trading halt or other problem relating to the trading activity of these market makers could result in a dramatic change in the spread between the Fund’s NAV and the price at which the Fund shares are trading on the Exchange, which could result in a decrease in value of the Fund shares. In addition, decisions by market makers or authorized participants to reduce their role or step away from these activities in times of market stress could inhibit the effectiveness of the arbitrage process in maintaining the relationship between the underlying values of the Fund’s portfolio securities and the Fund’s market price. This reduced effectiveness could result in Fund shares trading at a discount to NAV and also in greater than normal intra-day bid-ask spreads for Fund shares. |
● | Shares are Not Individually Redeemable. Shares are only redeemable by the Fund at NAV if they are tendered in Creation Units. Only Authorized Participants may engage in such creation and redemption transactions directly with the Fund. Individual Shares may be sold on a stock exchange at their current market prices, which may be less, more, or equal to their NAV. |
● | Trading Issues Risk: Although the Fund shares are listed for trading on the Exchange, there can be no assurance that an active trading market for such Fund shares will develop or be maintained. Trading in Fund shares on the Exchange may be halted due to market conditions or for reasons that, in the view of the Exchange, make trading in Fund shares inadvisable. In addition, trading in Fund shares on the Exchange is subject to trading halts caused by extraordinary market volatility pursuant to the Exchange “circuit breaker” rules. Market makers are under no obligation to make a market in the Fund shares, and authorized participants are not obligated to submit purchase or redemption orders for Creation Units. There can be no assurance that the requirements of the Exchange necessary to maintain the listing of the Fund will continue to be met or will remain unchanged. Initially, due to the small asset size of the Fund, it may have difficulty maintaining its listings on the Exchange. |
Operational Risk. The Fund is exposed to operational risks arising from a number of factors, including, but not limited to, human error, processing and communication errors, errors of the Fund’s service providers, counterparties or other third parties, failed or inadequate processes and technology or systems failures. The Fund and the Advisor seek to reduce these operational risks through controls and procedures. However, these measures do not address every possible risk and may be inadequate to address these risks.
Management and Strategy Risk. The value of your investment depends on the judgment of the Advisor and Sub-advisor about the quality, relative yield, value or market trends affecting a particular security, industry, sector or region, which may prove to be incorrect.
8
Tax Risk. In order to qualify for the favorable tax treatment generally available to regulated investment companies, the Fund must satisfy certain diversification and other requirements. In particular, the Fund generally may not acquire a security if, as a result of the acquisition, more than 50% of the value of the Fund’s assets would be invested in (a) issuers in which the Fund has, in each case, invested more than 5% of the Fund’s assets and (b) issuers more than 10% of whose outstanding voting securities are owned by the Fund. If the Fund were to fail to qualify as a regulated investment company, it would be taxed in the same manner as an ordinary corporation, and distributions to its shareholders would not be deductible by the Fund in computing its taxable income.
Recent Market Events. Periods of market volatility may occur in response to market events and other economic, political, and global macro factors. For example, in recent years the COVID-19 pandemic, the large expansion of government deficits and debt as a result of government actions to mitigate the effects of the pandemic, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and the rise of inflation have resulted in extreme volatility in the global economy and in global financial markets. These and other similar events could be prolonged and could adversely affect the value and liquidity of the Fund’s investments, impair the Fund’s ability to satisfy redemption requests, and negatively impact the Fund’s performance.
Cybersecurity Risk. Cybersecurity incidents may allow an unauthorized party to gain access to Fund assets, customer data (including private shareholder information), or proprietary information, or cause the Fund, the Advisor, Astoria, and/or other service providers (including custodians, sub-custodians, transfer agents and financial intermediaries) to suffer data breaches, data corruption or loss of operational functionality. In an extreme case, a shareholder’s ability to exchange or redeem Fund shares may be affected. Issuers of securities in which the Fund invests are also subject to cybersecurity risks, and the value of those securities could decline if the issuers experience cybersecurity incidents.
For each
calendar year at NAV
Year |
Return |
2022 |
|
9
The
as of , was .
|
Quarter ended | |
|
|
Quarter ended |
|
One Year |
Since |
Return Before Taxes |
|
|
Return After Taxes on Distributions* |
|
|
Return After Taxes on Distributions and Sale of Fund Shares* |
|
|
AXS Astoria Blended Benchmark Index (reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes) |
( |
( |
Bloomberg Commodity Total Return Index |
|
|
Bloomberg U.S. TIPS 1-3 Year (USD) Index (reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes) |
( |
( |
MSCI ACWI (Net) Index (reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes) |
( |
( |
* |
Investment Advisor
AXS Investments LLC
Sub-Advisor
Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC
Portfolio Manager
John Davi, Chief Executive Officer, Chief Investment Officer and Founder of Astoria, has served as the portfolio manager since the Fund’s inception in December 2021. Mr. Davi is responsible for the day-to-day management of the Fund’s portfolio.
Purchase and Sale of Fund Shares
The Fund may issue and redeem Shares in exchange for cash at a later date but has no current intention of doing so. Except when aggregated in Creation Units, the Shares are not redeemable securities of the Fund.
Individual Shares of the Fund may only be purchased and sold on the secondary market through a broker-dealer. Since Shares of the Fund trade on securities exchanges in the secondary market at their market price rather than their net asset value, the Fund’s Shares may trade at a price greater than (premium) or less than (discount) the Fund’s net asset value. An investor may incur costs attributable to the difference between the highest price a buyer is willing to pay to purchase Shares of the Fund (bid) and the lowest price a seller is willing to accept for Shares of the Fund (ask) when buying or selling Shares in the secondary market (the “bid-ask spread”). Recent information, including the Fund’s net asset value, market price, premiums and discounts, and bid-ask spreads, is available online at www.axsinvestments.com.
Tax Information
The Fund’s distributions will generally be taxable as ordinary income, returns of capital or capital gains. A sale of Shares may result in capital gain or loss.
10
Payments to Broker-Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries
If you purchase Shares through a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary (such as a bank), the Advisor and ALPS Distributors, Inc., the Fund’s distributor, may pay the intermediary for the sale of Shares and related services. These payments may create a conflict of interest by influencing the broker-dealer or other intermediary and your salesperson to recommend the Fund over another investment. Ask your salesperson or visit your financial intermediary’s website for more information.
11
AXS Brendan Wood TopGun Index ETF Shares
The AXS Brendan Wood TopGun Index ETF (the “Fund”) seeks to track the performance, before fees and expenses, of the Brendan Wood TopGun Index (the “Index”).
This table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy, hold and sell shares of the Fund (“Shares”). Investors may pay other fees, such as brokerage commissions and other fees to financial intermediaries, which are not reflected in the table and example set forth below.
|
|
Management fees |
|
Distribution and Service (Rule 12b-1) fees |
|
Other expenses |
|
Interest expense |
|
Total annual fund operating expenses |
|
This example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the Fund with the cost of investing in other funds.
This example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the Fund for the time periods indicated and then redeem all of your Shares at the end of those periods. The example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year and that the Fund’s operating expenses remain at current levels. This example does not include the brokerage commissions that investors may pay to buy and sell Shares.
Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, your costs, based on these assumptions, would be:
1 Year |
3 Years |
5 Years |
10 Years |
$ |
$ |
$ |
$ |
The
Fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it purchases and sells
securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may
indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes when Fund
shares are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in
annual fund operating expenses or in the example, affect the Fund’s performance.
During the fiscal period November 8, 2022 (inception), through March 31, 2023,
the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate was
The Fund uses a “passive management” (or indexing) approach to track the performance, before fees and expenses, of the Index. Under normal circumstances, at least 80% of the Fund’s net assets, plus borrowings for investment purposes, will be invested in the component securities of the Index.
Brendan Wood TopGun Index
The Index was developed by Brendan Wood International, the Fund’s index provider (“Brendan Wood” or the “Index Provider”).
12
Construction of the Index begins with the identification of approximately 1,400 companies composing the Brendan Wood “Shareholder Conviction Universe”, which are generally stocks of liquid large and mid-capitalization companies (with market capitalizations of $2 billion or greater) that trade on a national exchange in the United States and/or Canada, including American Depositary Receipts (“ADRs”). Companies included in the Shareholder Conviction Universe are evaluated based on the results of up to 2,000 personal interviews with institutional investment professionals, including large financial services companies and advisory firms, conducted by Brendan Wood during the calendar year. These interviews with institutional investment professionals are designed to generate data that is used by Brendan Wood to establish the quality of companies in the Shareholder Conviction Universe and then rate and rank the companies based on multiple investment attributes discussed. These interviews include questions regarding various investment quality metrics, including each company’s business strategy, long-term and short-term performance, executive and senior management, governance (including the company’s environmental, social and governance (“ESG”) practices), reporting and disclosure, balance sheet, commitment to own, momentum and price appreciation. These interviews also seek information regarding sectors in which the institutional investment professionals intend to increase their investment exposure. From these responses, Brendan Wood forecasts the demand of the nine Shareholder Conviction Universe sectors (i.e., financials, mining, real estate, generalist, energy, industrials, healthcare, technology media and telecom (“TMT”), and consumer). Those companies that are identified with the highest investment quality ratings and are in high demand sectors are algorithmically selected for inclusion in the Index (collectively, “TopGun companies”). The Index generally contains approximately 25 TopGun companies.
When the algorithm for the Index determines that a TopGun company’s investment score or sector demand of its principal business has decreased to a level beneath the ratings threshold established by the algorithm, the company will be removed from the Index. The proceeds generated from any such sale are allocated to other TopGun companies, as determined by the algorithm. In the event that no more than 15 companies meet the Index’s selection criteria at any time, the Index will reflect allocation of the proceeds of a sale of companies removed from the Index to cash, fixed income securities, including U.S. government securities, corporate bonds that are rated investment grade at time of purchase, and money market instruments, and/or exchange-traded funds (“ETFs”) that invest in large cap companies until the algorithm identifies a qualifying additional company for inclusion in the Index.
The Index is reconstituted and rebalanced to be dollar weighted equally in January of each year. The Index’s exposure may change significantly with each reconstitution or based on market movements between reconstitutions.
The Fund will generally use a “replication” strategy to achieve its investment objective, meaning it generally will invest in all of the component securities of the Index in approximately the same proportion as in the Index. However, the Fund may use a “representative sampling” strategy, meaning it may invest in a sample of the securities in the Index whose risk, return and other characteristics closely resemble the risk, return and other characteristics of the Index as a whole, when the Fund’s advisor believes it is in the best interests of the Fund (e.g., when replicating the Index involves practical difficulties or substantial costs, an Index constituent becomes temporarily illiquid, unavailable, or less liquid, or as a result of legal restrictions or limitations that apply to the Fund but not to the Index).
To the extent the Index concentrates (i.e., holds more than 25% of its total assets) in the securities of a particular industry, the Fund will concentrate its investments to approximately the same extent as the Index. In addition, to the extent the Index focuses on particular sectors, the Fund intends to focus on the same sectors. As of the date of this Prospectus, the Index is focused in the following Shareholder Conviction Universe sectors: financial, real estate and mining. As of the date of this Prospectus, the Index is not concentrated in any particular industries.
The Fund is classified as “non-diversified” under the Investment Company Act of 1940 (the “1940 Act”), which means that it may invest more of its assets in a smaller number of issuers than “diversified” funds.
13
Market Risk. The market price of a security or instrument may decline, sometimes rapidly or unpredictably, due to general market conditions that are not specifically related to a particular company, such as real or perceived adverse economic or political conditions throughout the world, changes in the general outlook for corporate earnings, changes in interest or currency rates, or adverse investor sentiment generally. In addition, local, regional or global events such as war, acts of terrorism, the spread of infectious illness or other public health issues, or other events could have a significant impact on a security or instrument. The market value of a security or instrument also may decline because of factors that affect a particular industry or industries, such as labor shortages or increased production costs and competitive conditions within an industry.
Equity Risk. The value of the equity securities held by the Fund may fall due to general market and economic conditions, perceptions regarding the industries in which the issuers of securities held by the Fund participate, or factors relating to specific companies in which the Fund invests.
ETF Structure Risks. The Fund is an ETF, and, as a result of an ETF’s structure, it is exposed to the following risks:
● |
Authorized Participant Concentration Risk. Only an authorized participant may engage in creation or redemption transactions directly with the Fund. The Fund has a limited number of institutions that act as authorized participants on an agency basis (i.e., on behalf of other market participants). To the extent that these institutions exit the business or are unable to proceed with creation and/or redemption orders with respect to the Fund and no other authorized participant is able to step forward to create or redeem, in either of these cases, shares may trade at a discount to the Fund’s net asset value and possibly face delisting. |
● |
Cash Transaction Risk. To the extent the Fund sells portfolio securities to meet some or all of a redemption request with cash, the Fund may incur taxable gains or losses that it might not have incurred had it made redemptions entirely in-kind. As a result, the Fund may pay out higher annual capital gain distributions than if the in-kind redemption process was used. |
● |
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 the spread 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. |
● |
Fluctuation of NAV Risk. As with all ETFs, shares may be bought and sold in the secondary market at market prices. Although it is expected that the market prices of shares will approximate the Fund’s NAV, there may be times when the market prices of shares is more than the NAV intra-day (premium) or less than the NAV intra-day (discount). Differences in market price and NAV may be due, in large part, to the fact that supply and demand forces at work in the secondary trading market for shares will be closely related to, but not identical to, the same forces influencing the prices of the holdings of the Fund trading individually or in the aggregate at any point in time. These differences can be especially pronounced during times of market volatility or stress. During these periods, the demand for Fund shares may decrease considerably and cause the market price of Fund shares to deviate significantly from the Fund’s NAV. In addition, the market for the Fund’s shares may become less liquid in response to deteriorating liquidity in the markets for the Fund’s underlying portfolio holdings, and that this could lead to wider bid/ask spreads and differences between the market price of the Fund’s shares and NAV. |
● |
Market Maker Risk. If the Fund has lower average daily trading volumes, it may rely on a small number of third-party market makers to provide a market for the purchase and sale of Fund shares. Any trading halt or other problem relating to the trading activity of these market makers could result in a dramatic change in the |
14
spread between the Fund’s net asset value (“NAV”) and the price at which the Fund shares are trading on the Exchange, which could result in a decrease in value of the Fund shares. In addition, decisions by market makers or authorized participants to reduce their role or step away from these activities in times of market stress could inhibit the effectiveness of the arbitrage process in maintaining the relationship between the underlying values of the Fund’s portfolio securities and the Fund’s market price. This reduced effectiveness could result in Fund shares trading at a discount to NAV and also in greater than normal intra-day bid-ask spreads for Fund shares.
● |
Shares are Not Individually Redeemable. Shares are only redeemable by the Fund at NAV if they are tendered in Creation Units. Only Authorized Participants may engage in such creation and redemption transactions directly with the Fund. Individual Shares may be sold on a stock exchange at their current market prices, which may be less, more, or equal to their NAV. |
● |
Trading Issues Risk. Although the Fund shares are listed for trading on the Exchange, there can be no assurance that an active trading market for such Fund shares will develop or be maintained. Trading in Fund shares on the Exchange may be halted due to market conditions or for reasons that, in the view of the Exchange, make trading in Fund shares inadvisable. In addition, trading in Fund shares on the Exchange is subject to trading halts caused by extraordinary market volatility pursuant to the Exchange “circuit breaker” rules. Market makers are under no obligation to make a market in the Fund shares, and authorized participants are not obligated to submit purchase or redemption orders for Creation Units. There can be no assurance that the requirements of the Exchange necessary to maintain the listing of the Fund will continue to be met or will remain unchanged. Initially, due to the small asset size of the Fund, it may have difficulty maintaining its listings on the Exchange. |
Risks Related to Investing in Canada. The Canadian economy is reliant on the sale of natural resources and commodities, which can pose risks such as the fluctuation of prices and the variability of demand for exportation of such products. Changes in spending on Canadian products by other countries or changes in the other countries’ economies may cause a significant impact on the Canadian economy. In particular, the Canadian economy is heavily dependent on relationships with certain key trading partners, including the United States and China.
Foreign Securities Risk. Investments in the securities of non-U.S. issuers involve risks beyond those associated with investments in U.S. securities. These additional risks include greater market volatility, the availability of less reliable financial information, higher transactional and custody costs, taxation by foreign governments, decreased market liquidity and political instability. Some countries and regions have experienced security concerns, war or threats of war and aggression, terrorism, economic uncertainty, natural and environmental disasters and/or systemic market dislocations that have led, and in the future may lead, to increased short-term market volatility and may have adverse long-term effects on the U.S. and world economies and markets generally. Foreign issuers are often subject to less stringent requirements regarding accounting, auditing, financial reporting and record keeping than are U.S. issuers, and therefore not all material information will be available. Securities exchanges or foreign governments may adopt rules or regulations that may negatively impact the Fund’s ability to invest in foreign securities or may prevent the Fund from repatriating its investments. Less developed securities markets are more likely to experience problems with the clearing and settling of trades, as well as the holding of securities by local banks, agents and depositories. The less developed a country’s securities market is, the greater the likelihood of custody problems.
Depositary Receipts Risk. The Fund may invest in depositary receipts. Depositary receipts may be subject to certain of the risks associated with direct investments in the securities of foreign companies, such as currency, political, economic and market risks, because their values depend on the performance of the non-dollar denominated underlying foreign securities. Certain countries may limit the ability to convert depositary into the underlying foreign securities and vice versa, which may cause the securities of the foreign company to trade at a discount or premium to the market price of the related depositary receipts. Depositary receipts may be purchased through “sponsored” or “unsponsored” facilities. A sponsored facility is established jointly by a depositary and the issuer of the underlying security. A depositary may establish an unsponsored facility without participation by the issuer of the deposited security. Unsponsored receipts may involve higher expenses and may be less liquid. Holders of unsponsored depositary receipts generally bear all the costs of such facilities, and the depositary of an unsponsored facility frequently is under no obligation to distribute shareholder communications received from the issuer of the deposited security or to pass through voting rights to the holders of such receipts in respect of the deposited securities.
15
Concentration Risk. The Fund will be concentrated (i.e., invest more than 25% of Fund assets) in the industries or group of industries within a single sector to the extent that the Index is so concentrated. A portfolio concentrated in one or more sectors may present more risks than a portfolio broadly diversified over several sectors.
Sector Focus Risk. The Fund may invest a larger portion of its assets in one or more sectors than many other funds, and thus will be more susceptible to negative events affecting those sectors. While the Fund’s sector exposure is expected to vary over time based on the composition of the Index, the Fund anticipates that it may be subject to the risks associated with the financial, mining and real estate sectors.
● |
Financials Sector Risk. Performance of companies in the financials sector may be adversely impacted by many factors, including, among others: government regulations of, or related to, the sector; governmental monetary and fiscal policies; economic, business or political conditions; credit rating downgrades; changes in interest rates; price competition; and decreased liquidity in credit markets. This sector has experienced significant losses and a high degree of volatility in the recent past, and the impact of more stringent capital requirements and of recent or future regulation on any individual financial company or on the sector as a whole cannot be predicted. |
● |
Mining Sector Risk. The exploration and development of mineral deposits involve significant financial risks over a significant period of time, which even a combination of careful evaluation, experience and knowledge may not eliminate. Few properties which are explored are ultimately developed into producing mines. Major expenditures may be required to establish reserves by drilling and to construct mining and processing facilities at a site. In addition, mineral exploration companies typically operate at a loss and are dependent on securing equity and/or debt financing, which might be more difficult to secure for an exploration company than for a more established counterpart. |
● |
Real Estate Sector Risk. An investment in the real estate sector may be subject to risks similar to those associated with direct ownership of real estate, including, by way of example, the possibility of declines in the value of real estate, losses from casualty or condemnation, and changes in local and general economic conditions, supply and demand, interest rates, environmental liability, zoning laws, regulatory limitations on rents, property taxes, and operating expenses. Some companies in the real estate sector have limited diversification because they invest in a limited number of properties, a narrow geographic area, or a single type of property. |
Large-Cap Company Risk. Larger, more established companies may be unable to attain the high growth rates of successful, smaller companies during periods of economic expansion.
Index Provider Risk. Brendan Wood, the Fund’s Index Provider, developed the Brendan Wood TopGun Index in 2010. There is no assurance that the Index Provider, or any agents that act on its behalf, will compile the Index accurately, or that the Index will be determined, maintained, constructed, reconstituted, rebalanced, composed, calculated or disseminated accurately. Any losses or costs associated with errors made by the Index Provider or its agents generally will be borne by the Fund and its shareholders.
Tracking Error Risk. As with all index funds, the performance of the Fund and the Index may differ from each other for a variety of reasons. For example, the Fund incurs operating expenses and portfolio transaction costs not incurred by the Index. In addition, the Fund may not be fully invested in the securities of the Index at all times or may hold securities not included in the Index.
Operational Risk. The Fund is exposed to operational risks arising from a number of factors, including, but not limited to, human error, processing and communication errors, errors of the Fund’s service providers, counterparties or other third-parties, failed or inadequate processes and technology or systems failures. The Fund and the Advisor seek to reduce these operational risks through controls and procedures. However, these measures do not address every possible risk and may be inadequate to address these risks.
Passive Investment Risk. The Fund is not actively managed. The Fund invests in securities included in or representative of the Index regardless of investment merit. The Fund generally will not attempt to take defensive positions in declining markets. In the event that the Index is no longer calculated, the Index license is terminated or the identity or character of the Index is materially changed, the Fund will seek to engage a replacement index.
16
Non-Diversification
Risk.
Limited Operating History. The Fund is recently organized and has a limited operating history. As a result, prospective investors have a limited track record or history on which to base their investment decisions.
Recent Market Events. Periods of market volatility may occur in response to market events and other economic, political, and global macro factors. For example, in recent years the COVID-19 pandemic, the large expansion of government deficits and debt as a result of government actions to mitigate the effects of the pandemic, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and the rise of inflation have resulted in extreme volatility in the global economy and in global financial markets. These and other similar events could be prolonged and could adversely affect the value and liquidity of the Fund’s investments, impair the Fund’s ability to satisfy redemption requests, and negatively impact the Fund’s performance.
Cybersecurity Risk. Cybersecurity incidents may allow an unauthorized party to gain access to Fund assets, customer data (including private shareholder information), or proprietary information, or cause the Fund, the Advisor and/or other service providers (including custodians, sub-custodians, transfer agents and financial intermediaries) to suffer data breaches, data corruption or loss of operational functionality. In an extreme case, a shareholder’s ability to exchange or redeem Fund shares may be affected. Issuers of securities in which the Fund invests are also subject to cybersecurity risks, and the value of those securities could decline if the issuers experience cybersecurity incidents.
The Shares will change in value, and you could lose money by investing in the Fund. The Fund may not achieve its investment objective.
Management
Investment Advisor
AXS Investments LLC (“AXS Investments” or the “Advisor”)
Portfolio Managers
Travis Trampe, Managing Director, Portfolio Management of the Advisor, and Parker Binion, Portfolio Manager of the Advisor, have served as the Fund’s portfolio managers since the Fund’s inception in October 2022. Messrs. Trampe and Binion are jointly and primarily responsible for the day-to-day management of the Fund’s portfolio.
Purchase and Sale of Shares
The Fund issues and redeems Shares on a continuous basis, at NAV, only in large blocks of shares called “Creation Units.” The Fund may issue and redeem Shares in exchange for cash at a later date but has no current intention of doing so. Except when aggregated in Creation Units, the Shares are not redeemable securities of the Fund.
Individual Shares of the Fund may only be purchased and sold on the secondary market through a broker-dealer. Since Shares of the Fund trade on securities exchanges in the secondary market at their market price rather than their net asset value, the Fund’s Shares may trade at a price greater than (premium) or less than (discount) the Fund’s NAV. An investor may incur costs attributable to the difference between the highest price a buyer is willing to pay to purchase Shares of the Fund (bid) and the lowest price a seller is willing to accept for Shares of the Fund (ask) when buying or selling Shares in the secondary market (the “bid-ask spread”). Recent information, including the Fund’s NAV, market price, premiums and discounts, and bid-ask spreads, is available online at www.axsinvestments.com.
17
Tax Information
The Fund’s distributions will generally be taxable as ordinary income, returns of capital or capital gains. A sale of Shares may result in capital gain or loss.
Payments to Broker-Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries
If you purchase Shares through a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary (such as a bank), AXS Investments and ALPS Distributors, Inc., the Fund’s distributor, may pay the intermediary for the sale of Shares and related services. These payments may create a conflict of interest by influencing the broker-dealer or other intermediary and your salesperson to recommend the Fund over another investment. Ask your salesperson or visit your financial intermediary’s website for more information.
18
AXS Change Finance ESG ETF Shares
Change Finance Diversified Impact U.S. Large Cap Fossil Fuel Free Index (reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes)
S&P 500® Index (reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes)
The AXS Change Finance ESG ETF (the “Fund”) seeks to track the performance, before fees and expenses, of the Change Finance Diversified Impact U.S. Large Cap Fossil Fuel Free Index (the “Index”).
This table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy, hold and sell shares of the Fund (“Shares”). Investors may pay other fees, such as brokerage commissions and other fees to financial intermediaries, which are not reflected in the table and example set forth below.
|
|
Management fees |
|
Distribution and Service (Rule 12b-1) fees |
|
Other expenses |
|
Total annual fund operating expenses |
|
This example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the Fund with the cost of investing in other funds.
This example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the Fund for the time periods indicated and then redeem all of your Shares at the end of those periods. The example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year and that the Fund’s operating expenses remain at current levels. This example does not include the brokerage commissions that investors may pay to buy and sell Shares.
Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, your costs, based on these assumptions, would be:
1 Year |
3 Years |
5 Years |
10 Years |
$ |
$ |
$ |
$ |
The
Fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it purchases and sells
securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may
indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes when Fund
shares are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in
annual fund operating expenses or in the example, affect the Fund’s performance.
As a result of a reorganization (the “Reorganization”), the Fund acquired all of
the assets, and assumed all of the liabilities, of Change Finance U.S. Large Cap
Fossil Fuel Free ETF, a series of ETF Series Solutions (the “Predecessor Fund”).
During the fiscal period August 1, 2022, through March 31, 2023, the Fund’s
portfolio turnover rate was
The Fund uses a “passive management” (or indexing) approach to track the performance, before fees and expenses, of the Index.
Change Finance Diversified Impact U.S. Large Cap Fossil Fuel Free Index
The Index was developed in 2017 by Change Finance, PBC, the Fund’s index provider (“Change Finance” or the “Index Provider”), and measures the performance of an equal-weighted portfolio of approximately 100 large-, mid-capitalization equity securities of U.S.-listed companies. The Index excludes companies involved in the fossil fuel industry, fossil-fired utilities and companies which fail to meet a diverse set of environmental, social, and governance (“ESG”) standards.
19
Construction of the Index begins with the constituents of the Solactive US Large & Mid Cap Index (the “Solactive Universe”), generally the 1,000 largest U.S.-listed common stocks and real estate investment trusts.
To be eligible for inclusion in the Index, companies must meet the ESG standards determined by Change Finance, which relies on ESG indicators provided by ISS ESG, a division of Institutional Shareholder Services (“ISS”), a global provider of investment data and analytics. The ISS ESG indicators measure the degree to which a company performs its business in accordance with specified ESG factors. Such factors include (i) whether a company’s primary business is in a prohibited industry (e.g., oil, gas, coal, tobacco); (ii) whether a company is involved in producing goods in a controversial business area (e.g., fossil fuels, nuclear power, genetically modified organisms (“GMOs”), military weapons, pesticides); (iii) whether a company has a history of controversial business practices relating to human rights, labor rights, environmental protection, or business malpractice (e.g., corruption, extreme tax avoidance); as well as (iv) standards and performance criteria related to environmental impacts (e.g., emissions, harmful chemicals in product portfolio, biodiversity management) and human impacts (e.g., hiring practices related to diversity, supply chain standards, health risk in product portfolio). Each factor may be evaluated using one or more indicators. Indicators generally take one of three forms: (A) a percentage of revenue derived from a particular business activity; (B) an analyst rating from 1-4 (with 1 being the lowest score and 4 the highest); or (C) for controversy indicators, the severity of the controversy (e.g., human rights).
ISS ESG assigns a score, with respect to each applicable indicator, to each company. To be eligible for inclusion in the Index, a company must meet the minimum threshold score established by the Index methodology with respect to each indicator. At its discretion and from time to time, Change Finance may supplement ISS ESG data with data from additional sources to further refine eligibility. In addition, Change Finance may make adjustments to the Eligible Companies selected for inclusion in the index, for example, to preserve eligibility to file shareholder proposals or to retain access for ongoing or potential shareholder engagement. The companies eligible for inclusion in the Index (the “Eligible Companies”) are then sorted by sector (e.g., healthcare, technology, consumer services) and ranked within each sector by their free-float market capitalization.
The Index contains approximately 100 equally-weighted Eligible Companies, and the weight of each sector in the Index reflects the weight of such sector in the Solactive Universe. For example, if the technology sector makes up 13.27% of the Solactive Universe, the 13 largest Eligible Companies in the technology sector will generally be included in the Index with a total weight of 13%.
At the time of each reconstitution of the Index, 100 companies are selected for inclusion in the Index and equally-weighted (i.e., each of the 100 companies receives a weight of 1%). The Index is reconstituted quarterly after the close of trading on the 10th business day of each March, June, September, and December, utilizing data from the last business day of the month preceding the reconstitution. The Index’s exposure may change significantly with each reconstitution or based on market movements between reconstitutions.
The Index was developed by Change Finance in 2017 in anticipation of the commencement of operations of the Predecessor Fund.
The Fund’s Investment Strategy
Under normal circumstances, at least 80% of the Fund’s net assets, plus borrowings for investment purposes, will be invested in the equity securities of Eligible Companies (i.e., companies that meet the ESG criteria described above) that do not derive any revenue from fossil fuel production, fossil fuel power generation, tobacco production, production of GMOs, nuclear power generation, weapons production, or hazardous pesticide production. Such policy has been adopted as a non-fundamental investment policy and may be changed without shareholder approval upon 60 days’ written notice to shareholders. With respect to this policy, the Fund defines “equity securities” to mean common and preferred stocks, rights, warrants, depositary receipts, equity interests in real estate investment trusts (“REITs”) and master limited partnerships (“MLPs”). The Fund attempts to invest all, or substantially all, of its assets in the component securities that make up the Index. Under normal circumstances, at least 80% of the Fund’s total assets (exclusive of any collateral held from securities lending) will be invested in the component securities of the Index. The Advisor expects that, over time, the correlation between the Fund’s performance and that of the Index, before fees and expenses, will be 95% or better.
20
The Fund will generally use a “replication” strategy to achieve its investment objective, meaning it generally will invest in all of the component securities of the Index in approximately the same proportion as in the Index. However, the Fund may use a “representative sampling” strategy, meaning it may invest in a sample of the securities in the Index the risk, return and other characteristics of which closely resemble the risk, return and other characteristics of the Index as a whole, when the Fund’s sub-advisor believes it is in the best interests of the Fund (e.g., when replicating the Index involves practical difficulties or substantial costs, an Index constituent becomes temporarily illiquid, unavailable, or less liquid, or as a result of legal restrictions or limitations that apply to the Fund but not to the Index).
To the extent the Index concentrates (i.e., holds more than 25% of its total assets) in the securities of a particular industry or group of related industries, the Fund will concentrate its investments to approximately the same extent as the Index.
Market Risk. The market price of a security or instrument may decline, sometimes rapidly or unpredictably, due to general market conditions that are not specifically related to a particular company, such as real or perceived adverse economic or political conditions throughout the world, changes in the general outlook for corporate earnings, changes in interest or currency rates, or adverse investor sentiment generally. In addition, local, regional or global events such as war, acts of terrorism, the spread of infectious illness or other public health issues, or other events could have a significant impact on a security or instrument. The market value of a security or instrument also may decline because of factors that affect a particular industry or industries, such as labor shortages or increased production costs and competitive conditions within an industry.
Equity Risk. The value of the equity securities held by the Fund may fall due to general market and economic conditions, perceptions regarding the industries in which the issuers of securities held by the Fund participate, or factors relating to specific companies in which the Fund invests.
ETF Structure Risks. The Fund is an ETF, and, as a result of an ETF’s structure, it is exposed to the following risks:
● |
Authorized Participant Concentration Risk. Only an authorized participant may engage in creation or redemption transactions directly with the Fund. The Fund has a limited number of institutions that act as authorized participants on an agency basis (i.e., on behalf of other market participants). To the extent that these institutions exit the business or are unable to proceed with creation and/or redemption orders with respect to the Fund and no other authorized participant is able to step forward to create or redeem, in either of these cases, shares may trade at a discount to the Funds’ net asset value and possibly face delisting. |
● |
Cash Transaction Risk. To the extent the Fund sells portfolio securities to meet some or all of a redemption request with cash, the Fund may incur taxable gains or losses that it might not have incurred had it made redemptions entirely in-kind. As a result, the Fund may pay out higher annual capital gain distributions than if the in-kind redemption process was used. |
● |
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 the spread 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 |
21
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.
● |
Fluctuation of Net Asset Value Risk. As with all ETFs, shares may be bought and sold in the secondary market at market prices. Although it is expected that the market prices of shares will approximate the Funds’ NAV, there may be times when the market prices of shares is more than the NAV intra-day (premium) or less than the NAV intra-day (discount). Differences in market price and NAV may be due, in large part, to the fact that supply and demand forces at work in the secondary trading market for shares will be closely related to, but not identical to, the same forces influencing the prices of the holdings of the Fund trading individually or in the aggregate at any point in time. These differences can be especially pronounced during times of market volatility or stress. During these periods, the demand for Fund shares may decrease considerably and cause the market price of Fund shares to deviate significantly from the Funds’ NAV. |
● |
Market Maker Risk. If the Fund has lower average daily trading volumes, it may rely on a small number of third-party market makers to provide a market for the purchase and sale of Fund shares. Any trading halt or other problem relating to the trading activity of these market makers could result in a dramatic change in the spread between the Funds’ NAV and the price at which the Fund shares are trading on the Exchange, which could result in a decrease in value of the Fund shares. In addition, decisions by market makers or authorized participants to reduce their role or step away from these activities in times of market stress could inhibit the effectiveness of the arbitrage process in maintaining the relationship between the underlying values of the Funds’ portfolio securities and the Funds’ market price. This reduced effectiveness could result in Fund shares trading at a discount to NAV and also in greater than normal intra-day bid-ask spreads for Fund shares. |
● |
Shares are Not Individually Redeemable. Shares are only redeemable by the Fund at NAV if they are tendered in Creation Units. Only Authorized Participants may engage in such creation and redemption transactions directly with the Fund. Individual Shares may be sold on a stock exchange at their current market prices, which may be less, more, or equal to their NAV. |
● |
Trading Issues Risk. Although the Fund shares are listed for trading on the Exchange, there can be no assurance that an active trading market for such Fund shares will develop or be maintained. Trading in Fund shares on the Exchange may be halted due to market conditions or for reasons that, in the view of the Exchange, make trading in Fund shares inadvisable. In addition, trading in Fund shares on the Exchange is subject to trading halts caused by extraordinary market volatility pursuant to the Exchange “circuit breaker” rules. Market makers are under no obligation to make a market in the Fund shares, and authorized participants are not obligated to submit purchase or redemption orders for Creation Units. There can be no assurance that the requirements of the Exchange necessary to maintain the listing of the Fund will continue to be met or will remain unchanged. Initially, due to the small asset size of the Fund, it may have difficulty maintaining its listings on the Exchange. |
REIT Risk. The Funds’ investment in REITs will subject the Fund to risks similar to those associated with direct ownership of real estate, including losses from casualty or condemnation, and changes in local and general economic conditions, supply and demand, interest rates, zoning laws, regulatory limitations on rents, property taxes and operating expenses.
Risk of Investing in ESG Companies. The universe of acceptable investments for the Fund may be limited as compared to other funds due to the Index methodology’s ESG investment screening. This may affect the Funds’ exposure to certain companies or industries and may adversely impact the Funds’ performance depending on whether such companies or industries are in or out of favor in the market. The Funds’ performance may be lower than other funds that do not seek to invest in companies based on ESG factors and/or remove certain companies or industries from its selection process. The Index methodology seeks to identify companies that meet certain ESG standards and scores, but investors may differ in their views of ESG characteristics. As a result, the Fund may invest in companies that do not reflect the beliefs and values of any particular investor. Additionally, the Index methodology incorporates ESG information provided by third-party data providers, which may be incomplete, inaccurate or unavailable for certain issuers. In addition, ESG information across third-party data providers, indexes and other funds may differ and/or be incomplete.
22
Preferred Stock Risk. Preferred stock represents an equity interest in a company that generally entitles the holder to receive, in preference to the holders of other stocks such as common stock, dividends and a fixed share of the proceeds resulting from a liquidation of the company. The market value of preferred stock is subject to company-specific and market risks applicable generally to equity securities and is also sensitive to changes in the company’s creditworthiness, the ability of the company to make payments on the preferred stock, and changes in interest rates, typically declining in value if interest rates rise.
Warrants and Rights Risk. Warrants and rights may lack a liquid secondary market for resale. The prices of warrants and rights may fluctuate as a result of speculation or other factors. Warrants and rights can provide a greater potential for profit or loss than an equivalent investment in the underlying security. Prices of warrants and rights do not necessarily move in tandem with the prices of their underlying securities and are highly volatile and speculative investments. If a warrant or right expires without being exercised, the Fund will lose any amount paid for the warrant or right.
MLP Risk. Investment in securities of an MLP involves risks that differ from investments in common stock, including risks related to limited control and limited rights to vote on matters affecting the MLP, risks related to potential conflicts of interest between the MLP and the MLP’s general partner, cash flow risks, dilution risks and risks related to the general partner’s right to require unit-holders to sell their common units at an undesirable time or price. Certain MLP securities may trade in low volumes due to their small capitalizations. Accordingly, those MLPs may be subject to more abrupt or erratic price movements and may lack sufficient market liquidity to enable the Fund to effect sales at an advantageous time or without a substantial drop in price. MLPs are generally considered interest-rate sensitive investments. During periods of interest rate volatility, these investments may not provide attractive returns. MLPs may incur environmental costs and liabilities due to the nature of their businesses and the substances they handle. Changes in existing laws, regulations or enforcement policies governing the energy sector could significantly increase the compliance costs of MLPs. The Fund will select its investments in MLPs from the current small pool of issuers. Demand for investment opportunities in MLPs that operate energy-related businesses may exceed supply, which could make it difficult to operate the Fund.
Concentration Risk. The Fund will be concentrated (i.e., invest more than 25% of Fund assets) in the industries or group of industries within a single sector to the extent that the Index is so concentrated. A portfolio concentrated in one or more sectors may present more risks than a portfolio broadly diversified over several sectors.
Market Capitalization Risk. Larger, more established companies may be unable to attain the high growth rates of successful, smaller companies during periods of economic expansion. The securities of mid-capitalization companies may be subject to more abrupt or erratic market movements and may have lower trading volumes or more erratic trading than securities of larger, more established companies or market averages in general. In addition, such companies typically are more likely to be adversely affected than large-capitalization companies by changes in earning results, business prospects, investor expectations or poor economic or market conditions.
Sector Focus Risk. The Fund may invest a larger portion of its assets in one or more sectors than many other funds, and thus will be more susceptible to negative events affecting those sectors. While the Fund's sector exposure is expected to vary over time based on the composition of the Index, the Fund anticipates that it may be subject to the risks associated with the financial, mining and real estate sectors.
● | Consumer Discretionary Sector Risk. Consumer discretionary companies are companies that provide non-essential goods and services, such as retailers, media companies and consumer services. These companies manufacture products and provide discretionary services directly to the consumer, and the success of these companies is tied closely to the performance of the overall domestic and international economy, interest rates, competition and consumer confidence. |
● | Consumer Staples Sector Risk. Consumer staples companies provide products directly to the consumer that are typically considered non-discretionary items based on consumer purchasing habits. Such products include food, beverages, household items and tobacco. Companies providing these products may be affected by the regulation of various product components and production methods, new laws, regulations or litigation, marketing campaigns, competitive pricing and other factors affecting consumer demand. Changes in the worldwide economy, demographics, consumer preferences, consumer spending, exploration and production spending may adversely affect these companies, as well as natural and man-made disasters, political, social or labor unrest, world events and economic conditions. |
● | Financials Sector Risk. Performance of companies in the financials sector may be adversely impacted by many factors, including, among others: government regulations of, or related to, the sector; governmental monetary and fiscal policies; economic, business or political conditions; credit rating downgrades; changes in interest rates; price competition; and |
23
decreased liquidity in credit markets. This sector has experienced significant losses and a high degree of volatility in the recent past, and the impact of more stringent capital requirements and of recent or future regulation on any individual financial company or on the sector as a whole cannot be predicted. |
● | Health Care Sector Risk. Companies in the health care sector are subject to extensive government regulation and their profitability can be significantly affected by restrictions on government reimbursement for medical expenses, rising costs of medical products and services, pricing pressure (including price discounting), limited product lines, litigation, obsolescence of technology, and an increased emphasis on the delivery of health care through outpatient services. The business operations and profitability of companies in the pharmaceuticals and biotechnology industry can be significantly affected by, among other things, government approval of products and services, government regulation and reimbursement rates, product liability claims, patent expirations and protection, and intense competition. |
● | Information Technology Sector Risk. Information technology companies produce and provide hardware, software and information technology systems and services. These companies may be adversely affected by rapidly changing technologies, short product life cycles, fierce competition, aggressive pricing and reduced profit margins, the loss of patent, copyright and trademark protections, cyclical market patterns, evolving industry standards and frequent new product introductions. In addition, information technology companies are particularly vulnerable to federal, state and local government regulation, and competition and consolidation, both domestically and internationally, including competition from foreign competitors with lower production costs. Information technology companies also heavily rely on intellectual property rights and may be adversely affected by the loss or impairment of those rights. |
Index Provider Risk. There is no assurance that the Index Provider, or any agents that act on its behalf, will compile the Index accurately, or that the Index will be determined, maintained, constructed, reconstituted, rebalanced, composed, calculated or disseminated accurately. The Index Provider relies on an independent calculation agent to calculate and disseminate the Index accurately. Any losses or costs associated with errors made by the Index Provider or its agents generally will be borne by the Fund and its shareholders.
Third-Party Data Risk. The composition of the Index is heavily dependent on proprietary information and data supplied by a third party (“Third-Party Data”). When Third-Party Data prove to be incorrect or incomplete, any decisions made in reliance thereon may lead to the inclusion or exclusion of securities from the Index that would have been excluded or included had the Third-Party Data been correct and complete. If the composition of the Index reflects such errors, the Funds’ portfolio can be expected to reflect the errors, too.
Tracking Error Risk. As with all index funds, the performance of the Fund and the Index may differ from each other for a variety of reasons. For example, the Fund incurs operating expenses and portfolio transaction costs not incurred by the Index. In addition, the Fund may not be fully invested in the securities of the Index at all times or may hold securities not included in the Index.
Operational Risk. The Fund is exposed to operational risks arising from a number of factors, including, but not limited to, human error, processing and communication errors, errors of the Funds’ service providers, counterparties or other third-parties, failed or inadequate processes and technology or systems failures. The Fund and the Advisor seek to reduce these operational risks through controls and procedures. However, these measures do not address every possible risk and may be inadequate to address these risks.
Passive Investment Risk. The Fund is not actively managed. The Fund invests in securities included in or representative of the Index regardless of investment merit. The Fund generally will not attempt to take defensive positions in declining markets. In the event that the Index is no longer calculated, the Index license is terminated or the identity or character of the Index is materially changed, the Fund will seek to engage a replacement index.
Recent Market Events. Periods of market volatility may occur in response to market events and other economic, political, and global macro factors. For example, in recent years the COVID-19 pandemic, the large expansion of government deficits and debt as a result of government actions to mitigate the effects of the pandemic, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine,
24
and the rise of inflation have resulted in extreme volatility in the global economy and in global financial markets. These and other similar events could be prolonged and could adversely affect the value and liquidity of the Fund’s investments, impair the Fund’s ability to satisfy redemption requests, and negatively impact the Fund’s performance.
Cybersecurity Risk. Cybersecurity incidents may allow an unauthorized party to gain access to Fund assets, customer data (including private shareholder information), or proprietary information, or cause the Fund, the Advisor, Change Finance and/or other service providers (including custodians, sub-custodians, transfer agents and financial intermediaries) to suffer data breaches, data corruption or loss of operational functionality. In an extreme case, a shareholder’s ability to exchange or redeem Fund shares may be affected. Issuers of securities in which the Fund invests are also subject to cybersecurity risks, and the value of those securities could decline if the issuers experience cybersecurity incidents.
The Shares will change in value, and you could lose money by investing in the Fund. The Fund may not achieve its investment objective.
The Fund adopted the performance of the Predecessor Fund following the Reorganization of the Predecessor Fund on March 18, 2022. The Predecessor Fund had substantially similar investment objectives, strategies and policies, portfolio management team and contractual arrangements, including the same contractual fees and expenses, as the Fund as of the date of the Reorganization. As a result of the Reorganization, the Fund is the accounting successor of the Predecessor Fund. Performance results shown in the bar chart and the performance table below for periods prior to March 18, 2022, reflect the performance of the Predecessor Fund.
For each
calendar year at NAV
Year |
Return |
2018 |
- |
2019 |
|
2020 |
|
2021 |
|
2022 |
- |
25
The
as of , was .
|
|
Quarter Ended |
|
|
Quarter Ended |
|
1 Year |
5 Years |
Since
|
Return Before Taxes1 |
( |
|
|
Return After Taxes on Distributions1 |
( |
|
|
Return After Taxes on Distributions and Sale of Fund Shares1 |
( |
|
|
Change Finance Diversified Impact U.S. Large Cap Fossil Fuel Free Index (reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes) |
( |
|
|
S&P 500® Index (reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes) |
( |
|
|
1 |
|
Your
own actual after-tax returns will depend on your specific tax situation and may
differ from what is shown here.
Management
Investment Advisor
AXS Investments LLC (the “Advisor”)
Investment Sub-Advisor
Change Finance, PBC (“Change Finance” or the “Sub-Advisor”)
Portfolio Managers
Andrew Rodriguez, Chief Investment Officer of Change Finance, has served as a portfolio manager of the Fund and Predecessor Fund since its inception in October 2017. Travis Trampe, Portfolio Manager of the Advisor, has served as a portfolio manager of the Fund since November 2022. Messrs. Rodriguez and Trampe are jointly and primarily responsible for the day-to-day management of the Fund’s portfolio.
Purchase and Sale of Shares
The Fund issues and redeems Shares on a continuous basis, at net asset value, only in large blocks of shares called “Creation Units.” The Fund may issue and redeem Shares in exchange for cash at a later date but has no current intention of doing so. Except when aggregated in Creation Units, the Shares are not redeemable securities of the Fund.
Individual Shares of the Fund may only be purchased and sold on the secondary market through a broker-dealer. Since Shares of the Fund trade on securities exchanges in the secondary market at their market price rather than their net asset value, the Funds’ Shares may trade at a price greater than (premium) or less than (discount) the Funds’ net asset value. An investor may incur costs attributable to the difference between the highest price a buyer is willing to pay to purchase Shares of the Fund (bid) and the lowest price a seller is willing to accept for Shares of the Fund (ask) when buying or selling Shares in the secondary market (the “bid-ask spread”). Recent information, including the Funds’ net asset value, market price, premiums and discounts, and bid-ask spreads, is available online at www.axsinvestments.com
26
Tax Information
The Fund’s distributions will generally be taxable as ordinary income, returns of capital or capital gains. A sale of Shares may result in capital gain or loss.
Payments to Broker-Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries
If you purchase Shares through a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary (such as a bank), AXS and ALPS Distributors, Inc., the Fund’s distributor, may pay the intermediary for the sale of Shares and related services. These payments may create a conflict of interest by influencing the broker-dealer or other intermediary and your salesperson to recommend the Fund over another investment. Ask your salesperson or visit your financial intermediary’s website for more information.
27
AXS Esoterica NextG Economy ETF Shares
MSCI All Country World IndexSM (reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes)
S&P 500® Index (reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes)
The investment objective of the AXS Esoterica NextG Economy ETF (the “Fund”) is to seek capital appreciation.
This table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy, hold and sell shares of the Fund (“Shares”). Investors may pay other fees, such as brokerage commissions and other fees to financial intermediaries, which are not reflected in the table and example set forth below.
|
|
Management fees |
|
Distribution and Service (Rule 12b-1) fees |
|
Other expenses |
|
Total annual fund operating expenses |
|
Fees waived and/or reimbursed1 |
( |
Total annual fund operating expenses after waiving fees and/or reimbursing expenses |
|
1 |
|
This example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the Fund with the cost of investing in other funds. This example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the Fund for the time periods indicated and then sell 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 at current levels. The example reflects the Fund’s contractual fee waiver and/or expense reimbursement only for the term of the contractual fee waiver and/or expense reimbursement. This example does not include the brokerage commissions that investors may pay to buy and sell Shares. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, your costs, based on these assumptions, would be:
One Year |
Three Years |
Five Years |
Ten Years |
$ |
$ |
$ |
$ |
28
The
Fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells
securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover may
indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes when Fund
shares are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in
annual fund operating expenses or in the example, affect the Fund’s performance.
During the fiscal period November 1, 2022, through March 31, 2023, the Fund’s
portfolio turnover rate was
The Fund is an actively managed exchange traded fund (“ETF”). Under normal circumstances, the Fund will invest 80% of its net assets (plus any borrowings for investment purposes) in domestic and foreign equity securities of companies that are relevant to the fifth generation digital cellular network technology (“5G”) enabled digital economy, including companies involved in the production of 5G technology and companies that may benefit from the use of 5G, such as companies engaged in e-commerce or internet sales.
The Fund’s investments may include investments in micro-, small-, medium- and large-capitalization companies. The Fund will concentrate (i.e., invest 25% or more of its assets) in companies in the internet, computer, semiconductor and software industries. The Fund’s foreign investments include developed and emerging markets. The Fund may invest in foreign securities (including investments in American Depositary Receipts (‘‘ADRs’’) and Global Depositary Receipts (‘‘GDRs’’)) and securities listed on local foreign exchanges. The Fund may invest up to 20% of its net assets in cash and cash equivalents.
In selecting companies that the sub-advisor, Esoterica Capital LLC (“Esoterica”), believes are relevant to the 5G enabled digital economy, it seeks to identify companies that would benefit by expanding the accessible market for their products and services as a result of the adoption of 5G. Esoterica further believes that companies that are engaged in e-commerce or internet sales, for example, may especially benefit from the adoption of 5G technology due to 5G technology’s increased peak data rates, increased speed of connectivity, and more efficient use of bandwidth such that the maximum amount of data can be transmitted with the fewest transmission errors, relative to existing technology. More efficient and accurate transmission of data may result in a larger available market.
Esoterica constructs the Fund’s portfolio. Esoterica’s process for identifying companies uses both ‘‘top down’’ (thematic research sizing the potential total available market and changes in the underlying technological cycle) and ‘‘bottom up’’ (valuation, fundamental and quantitative measures) approaches. Esoterica’s internal research and analysis utilizes insights from diverse sources, including external research, to develop and refine its investment themes and identify and take advantage of trends that it believes have ramifications for individual companies or entire industries. As part of Esoterica’s top down process, the universe of potential investments are categorized by Esoterica into one of the following groups:
● Group 1: Infrastructure
The company’s business activities, products or services are focused on or benefit from the development of new products or services, technological improvements and advancements in scientific research in the development of 5G communication infrastructure network, including core network, transmission, and radio access network, or cloud computing infrastructure.
● Group 2: Edge Devices
An edge device is a type of networking device that connects an internal local area network with an external wide area network or the internet. The edge device provides interconnectivity and traffic translation between different networks on their entering edges or the network boundaries. A Group 2 company’s business activities, products or services are focused on or benefit from the development of new products or services, technological improvements and advancements in scientific research in the access of 5G networks by end users, including the edge device itself, such as a cellular phone, or a key component within the edge device, such as a baseband processor.
29
● Group 3: Services
The company’s business activities, products or services are enabled by the proliferation of 5G infrastructure and edge devices, which can be further categorized into enhanced mobile broadband (“eMBB”), massive machine type communications (“mMTC”), and ultra-reliable low latency communications (“uRLLC”). The possible products and services may include video streaming, cloud gaming, autonomous driving, augmented reality and virtual reality (“AR/VR”), Internet of Things (“IoT”), and remote surgery. Cloud gaming is a type of online gaming that aims to provide smooth and direct playability to end users of games across various devices. Such a service could include making available a host gaming server capable of executing a gaming engine and streaming the gaming data to the client device. IoT is a system of interrelated computing devices, mechanical and digital machines, objects, animals or people that are provided with unique identifiers and the ability to transfer data over a network without requiring human-to-human or human-to-computer interaction.
Esoterica selects investments for the Fund that represent its highest-conviction investment ideas within the above groups, are attractively valued and well-positioned, and which Esoterica believes offer the best risk-reward opportunities.
In managing the Fund’s portfolio, Esoterica may engage in frequent transactions, resulting in a higher portfolio turnover rate. The Fund seeks to participate in gains in the U.S. and foreign markets in all market conditions and will attempt to minimize the impact of market losses during periods of extreme market stress.
The Fund is classified as “non-diversified” under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “1940 Act”), which means that it may invest more of its assets in a smaller number of issuers than “diversified” funds.
Market Risk. The market price of a security or instrument may decline, sometimes rapidly or unpredictably, due to general market conditions that are not specifically related to a particular company, such as real or perceived adverse economic or political conditions throughout the world, changes in the general outlook for corporate earnings, changes in interest or currency rates, or adverse investor sentiment generally. In addition, local, regional or global events such as war, acts of terrorism, the spread of infectious illness or other public health issues, or other events could have a significant impact on a security or instrument. The market value of a security or instrument also may decline because of factors that affect a particular industry or industries, such as labor shortages or increased production costs and competitive conditions within an industry.
Equity Risk. The value of the equity securities held by the Fund may fall due to general market and economic conditions, perceptions regarding the industries in which the issuers of securities held by the Fund participate, or factors relating to specific companies in which the Fund invests.
5G Companies and Emerging Technologies Investment Risk. Companies across a wide variety of industries, primarily in the technology sector, are exploring the possible applications of 5G technologies. The extent of such technologies’ versatility has not yet been fully explored. Consequently, the Fund’s holdings will include equity securities of operating companies that focus on or have exposure to a wide variety of industries. The revenues of the companies held by the Fund are generally expected to be significantly tied to 5G technologies. Currently, there are few public companies for which 5G technologies represent an attributable and significant revenue or profit stream, and such technologies may not ultimately have a material effect on the economic returns of companies in which the Fund invests.
Active Management Risk. The Fund is actively-managed and its performance reflects investment decisions that the Adviser or Sub-Advisor makes for the Fund. Such judgments about the Fund’s investments may prove to be incorrect. If the investments selected and the strategies employed by the Fund fail to produce the intended results, the Fund could underperform as compared to other funds with similar investment objectives and/or strategies, or could have negative
30
returns. The Fund is actively managed, which means that investment decisions are made based on investment views. There is no guarantee that the investment views will produce the desired results or expected returns, which may cause the Fund to fail to meet its investment objective or to underperform its benchmark index or funds with similar investment objectives and strategies.
Concentration Risk. To the extent the Fund’s investments are concentrated in a particular industry or group of industries, the Fund may be susceptible to loss due to adverse occurrences affecting that industry or group of industries.
● |
Computer Software/Services Companies Risk. Computer software/services companies can be significantly affected by competitive pressures, aggressive pricing, technological developments, changing domestic demand, the ability to attract and retain skilled employees and availability and price of components. The market for products produced by computer software/services companies is characterized by rapidly changing technology, rapid product obsolescence, cyclical market patterns, evolving industry standards and frequent new product introductions. The success of computer software/services companies depends in substantial part on the timely and successful introduction of new products and the ability to service such products. An unexpected change in one or more of the technologies affecting an issuer’s products or in the market for products based on a particular technology could have a material adverse effect on a participant’s operating results. Many computer software/services companies rely on a combination of patents, copyrights, trademarks and trade secret laws to establish and protect their proprietary rights in their products and technologies. There can be no assurance that the steps taken by computer software/services companies to protect their proprietary rights will be adequate to prevent misappropriation of their technology or that competitors will not independently develop technologies that are substantially equivalent or superior to such companies’ technology. |
● |
Internet Companies Risk. Investments in internet industry companies may be volatile. Internet companies are subject to intense competition, the risk of product obsolescence, changes in consumer preferences and legal, regulatory and political changes. They are also especially at risk of hacking and other cybersecurity events. In addition, it can be difficult to adequately capture what qualifies as an Internet company. |
● |
Semiconductor Companies Risk. The Fund is subject to the risk that market or economic factors impacting semiconductor companies and companies that rely heavily on technological advances could have a major effect on the value of the Fund’s investments. The value of stocks of semiconductor companies and companies that rely heavily on technology is particularly vulnerable to rapid changes in product cycles, rapid product obsolescence, government regulation and competition, both domestically and internationally, including competition from foreign competitors with lower production costs. Semiconductor companies and companies that rely heavily on technology, especially those of smaller, less-seasoned companies, tend to be more volatile than the overall market. Additionally, semiconductor companies may face dramatic and often unpredictable changes in growth rates and competition for the services of qualified personnel. |
Foreign Investment Risk. The prices of foreign securities may be more volatile than the prices of securities of U.S. issuers because of economic and social conditions abroad, political developments, and changes in the regulatory environments of foreign countries. Changes in exchange rates and interest rates, and the imposition of sanctions, confiscations, trade restrictions (including tariffs) and other government restrictions by the United States and/or other governments may adversely affect the values of the Fund’s foreign investments. Foreign companies are generally subject to different legal and accounting standards than U.S. companies, and foreign financial intermediaries may be subject to less supervision and regulation than U.S. financial firms. Foreign securities include ADRs and GDRs. Unsponsored ADRs and GDRs are organized independently and without the cooperation of the foreign issuer of the underlying securities, and involve additional risks because U.S. reporting requirements do not apply. In addition, the issuing bank may deduct shareholder distribution, custody, foreign currency exchange, and other fees from the payment of dividends.
Depositary Receipts Risk. Depositary receipts involve risks similar to those associated with investments in foreign securities, such as changes in political or economic conditions of other countries and changes in the exchange rates of foreign currencies. Depositary receipts listed on U.S. exchanges are issued by banks or trust companies and entitle the holder to all dividends and capital gains that are paid out on the underlying foreign shares (“Underlying Shares”). When
31
the Fund invests in depositary receipts as a substitute for an investment directly in the Underlying Shares, the Fund is exposed to the risk that the depositary receipts may not provide a return that corresponds precisely with that of the Underlying Shares.
Emerging Markets Risk. Many of the risks with respect to foreign investments are more pronounced for investments in issuers in developing or emerging market countries. Emerging market countries tend to have more government exchange controls, more volatile interest and currency exchange rates, less market regulation, and less developed and less stable economic, political and legal systems than those of more developed countries. There may be less publicly available and reliable information about issuers in emerging markets than is available about issuers in more developed markets. In addition, emerging market countries may experience high levels of inflation and may have less liquid securities markets and less efficient trading and settlement systems.
Risks Associated with China. Investments in Chinese issuers involve legal, regulatory, political, currency, and economic risks that are specific to China. The Chinese economy is generally considered an emerging market and can be significantly affected by economic and political conditions and policy in China and surrounding Asian countries. A relatively small number of Chinese companies represent a large portion of China’s total market and thus may be more sensitive to adverse political or economic circumstances and market movements. The economy of China differs, often unfavorably, from the U.S. economy in such respects as structure, general development, government involvement, wealth distribution, rate of inflation, growth rate, allocation of resources and capital reinvestment, among others. Under China’s political and economic system, the central government has historically exercised substantial control over virtually every sector of the Chinese economy through administrative regulation and/or state ownership. In addition, expropriation, including nationalization, confiscatory taxation, political, economic or social instability or other developments could adversely affect and significantly diminish the values of the Chinese companies in which the Fund invests. International trade tensions may arise from time to time which can result in trade tariffs, embargoes, trade limitations, trade wars and other negative consequences. These consequences may trigger a reduction in international trade, the oversupply of certain manufactured goods, substantial price reductions of goods and possible failure of individual companies and/or large segments of China’s export industry with a potentially severe negative impact to the Fund. From time to time, China has experienced outbreaks of infectious illnesses, and the country may be subject to other public health threats or similar issues in the future. Any spread of an infectious illness, public health threat or similar issue could reduce consumer demand or economic output, result in market closures, travel restrictions or quarantines, and generally have a significant impact on the Chinese economy.
ETF Structure Risks. The Fund is an ETF, and, as a result of an ETF’s structure, it is exposed to the following risks:
● |
Authorized Participant Concentration Risk. Only an authorized participant may engage in creation or redemption transactions directly with the Fund. The Fund has a limited number of institutions that act as authorized participants on an agency basis (i.e., on behalf of other market participants). To the extent that these institutions exit the business or are unable to proceed with creation and/or redemption orders with respect to the Fund and no other authorized participant is able to step forward to create or redeem, shares may trade at a discount to the Fund’s net asset value (“NAV”) and possibly face delisting. |
● |
Cash Transaction Risk. To the extent the Fund sells portfolio securities to meet some or all of a redemption request with cash, the Fund may incur taxable gains or losses that it might not have incurred had it made redemptions entirely in-kind. As a result, the Fund may pay out higher annual capital gain distributions than if the in-kind redemption process was used. |
● |
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 the spread is generally lower if shares have more trading volume and market liquidity and higher if shares have little |
32
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.
● |
Fluctuation of NAV Risk. As with all ETFs, shares may be bought and sold in the secondary market at market prices. Although it is expected that the market prices of shares will approximate the Fund’s NAV, there may be times when the market prices of shares is more than the NAV intra-day (premium) or less than the NAV intra-day (discount). Differences in market price and NAV may be due, in large part, to the fact that supply and demand forces at work in the secondary trading market for shares will be closely related to, but not identical to, the same forces influencing the prices of the holdings of the Fund trading individually or in the aggregate at any point in time. These differences can be especially pronounced during times of market volatility or stress. During these periods, the demand for Fund shares may decrease considerably and cause the market price of Fund shares to deviate significantly from the Fund’s NAV. In addition, the market for the Fund’s shares may become less liquid in response to deteriorating liquidity in the markets for the Fund’s underlying portfolio holdings, and that this could lead to wider bid/ask spreads and differences between the market price of the Fund’s shares and NAV. |
● |
Market Maker Risk. If the Fund has lower average daily trading volumes, it may rely on a small number of third-party market makers to provide a market for the purchase and sale of Fund shares. Any trading halt or other problem relating to the trading activity of these market makers could result in a dramatic change in the spread between the Fund’s NAV and the price at which the Fund shares are trading on the Exchange, which could result in a decrease in value of the Fund shares. In addition, decisions by market makers or authorized participants to reduce their role or step away from these activities in times of market stress could inhibit the effectiveness of the arbitrage process in maintaining the relationship between the Fund’s NAV and the Fund’s market price. This reduced effectiveness could result in Fund shares trading at a discount to NAV and also in greater than normal intra-day bid-ask spreads for Fund shares. |
● |
Shares are Not Individually Redeemable. Shares are only redeemable by the Fund at NAV if they are tendered in Creation Units. Only Authorized Participants may engage in such creation and redemption transactions directly with the Fund. Individual Shares may be sold on a stock exchange at their current market prices, which may be less, more, or equal to their NAV. |
● |
Trading Issues Risk. Although the Fund shares are listed for trading on the Exchange, there can be no assurance that an active trading market for such Fund shares will develop or be maintained. Trading in Fund shares on the Exchange may be halted due to market conditions or for reasons that, in the view of the Exchange, make trading in Fund shares inadvisable. In addition, trading in Fund shares on the Exchange is subject to trading halts caused by extraordinary market volatility pursuant to the Exchange “circuit breaker” rules. Market makers are under no obligation to make a market in the Fund shares, and authorized participants are not obligated to submit purchase or redemption orders for Creation Units. There can be no assurance that the requirements of the Exchange necessary to maintain the listing of the Fund will continue to be met or will remain unchanged. Initially, due to the small asset size of the Fund, it may have difficulty maintaining its listings on the Exchange. |
Management and Strategy Risk. The value of your investment depends on the judgment of the Advisor and Sub-advisor about the quality, relative yield, value or market trends affecting a particular security, industry, sector or region, which may prove to be incorrect.
Market Capitalization Risk. Larger, more established companies may be unable to attain the high growth rates of successful, smaller companies during periods of economic expansion. The securities of small-capitalization or mid-capitalization companies may be subject to more abrupt or erratic market movements and may have lower trading volumes or more erratic trading than securities of larger, more established companies or market averages in general. In addition, such companies typically are more likely to be adversely affected than large capitalization companies by changes in earning results, business prospects, investor expectations or poor economic or market conditions.
33
Sector Focus Risk. The Fund may focus its investments in securities of a particular sector. Economic, legislative or regulatory developments may occur that significantly affect the sector. This may cause the Fund’s NAV to fluctuate more than that of a fund that does not focus on a particular sector.
● |
Communications Services Sector Risk. The Fund is generally expected to invest significantly in companies in the communications services sector, and therefore the performance of the Fund could be negatively impacted by events affecting this sector. Communications services companies are subject to extensive government regulation. The costs of complying with governmental regulations, delays or failure to receive required regulatory approvals, or the enactment of new adverse regulatory requirements may adversely affect the business of such companies. Companies in the communications services sector can also be significantly affected by intense competition, including competition with alternative technologies such as wireless communications (including with 5G and other technologies), product compatibility, consumer preferences, rapid product obsolescence, and research and development of new products. Technological innovations may make the products and services of such companies obsolete. |
● |
Information Technology Sector Risk. Information technology companies produce and provide hardware, software and information technology systems and services. These companies may be adversely affected by rapidly changing technologies, short product life cycles, fierce competition, aggressive pricing and reduced profit margins, the loss of patent, copyright and trademark protections, cyclical market patterns, evolving industry standards and frequent new product introductions. In addition, information technology companies are particularly vulnerable to federal, state and local government regulation, and competition and consolidation, both domestically and internationally, including competition from foreign competitors with lower production costs. Information technology companies also heavily rely on intellectual property rights and may be adversely affected by the loss or impairment of those rights. |
● |
Materials Sector Risk. To the extent that the Fund invests in the materials sector, it will be sensitive to changes in, and its performance will depend to a greater extent on, the overall condition of the materials sector. Companies engaged in the production and distribution of basic materials may be adversely affected by changes in world events, political and economic conditions, energy conservation, environmental policies, commodity price volatility, changes in exchange rates, imposition of import controls, increased competition, depletion of resources and labor relations. |
● |
Consumer Discretionary Sector Risk. Consumer discretionary companies are companies that provide non-essential goods and services, such as retailers, media companies and consumer services. These companies manufacture products and provide discretionary services directly to the consumer, and the success of these companies is tied closely to the performance of the overall domestic and international economy, interest rates, competition and consumer confidence. |
● |
Financials Sector Risk. Performance of companies in the financials sector may be adversely impacted by many factors, including, among others, government regulations, economic conditions, credit rating downgrades, changes in interest rates, and decreased liquidity in credit markets. The impact of more stringent capital requirements, recent or future regulation of any individual financial company, or recent or future regulation of the financials sector as a whole cannot be predicted. |
34
Non-Diversification
Risk.
Recent Market Events. Periods of market volatility may occur in response to market events and other economic, political, and global macro factors. For example, in recent years the COVID-19 pandemic, the large expansion of government deficits and debt as a result of government actions to mitigate the effects of the pandemic, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and the rise of inflation have resulted in extreme volatility in the global economy and in global financial markets. These and other similar events could be prolonged and could adversely affect the value and liquidity of the Fund’s investments, impair the Fund’s ability to satisfy redemption requests, and negatively impact the Fund’s performance.
Cybersecurity Risk. Cybersecurity incidents may allow an unauthorized party to gain access to Fund assets, customer data (including private shareholder information), or proprietary information, or cause the Fund, the Advisor, and/or other service providers (including custodians, sub-custodians, transfer agents and financial intermediaries) to suffer data breaches, data corruption or loss of operational functionality. In an extreme case, a shareholder’s ability to exchange or redeem Fund shares may be affected. Issuers of securities in which the Fund invests are also subject to cybersecurity risks, and the value of those securities could decline if the issuers experience cybersecurity incidents.
The Shares will change in value, and you could lose money by investing in the Fund. The Fund may not achieve its investment objective.
The Fund commenced operations and acquired the assets and liabilities of the Esoterica NextG Economy ETF (the “Predecessor Fund”), following the reorganization of the Predecessor Fund on December 16, 2022. As a result of the reorganization, the Fund is the accounting successor of the Predecessor Fund. For the relevant periods, the bar chart and the performance table below reflect the performance of the Predecessor Fund prior to the commencement of the Fund’s operations on December 16, 2022.
35
For each
calendar year at NAV
Year |
Return |
2021 |
|
2022 |
- |
The
as of , was
|
|
Quarter Ended |
|
|
Quarter Ended |
|
One |
Since
|
|
Return Before Taxes |
( |
|
|
Return After Taxes on Distributions1 |
( |
|
|
Return After Taxes on Distributions and Sale of Fund Shares1 |
( |
|
|
MSCI All Country World IndexSM (reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes)2 |
( |
|
|
S&P 500® Index (reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes)3 |
( |
|
1 |
2 |
The Fund’s benchmark is the MSCI All Country World IndexSM. The MSCI All Country World IndexSM is a market-cap-weighted global equity index that tracks emerging and developed markets. It currently monitors nearly 3,000 large-and mid-cap stocks in 49 countries. Unlike the Fund, the benchmark is unmanaged and does not include any fees or expenses. An investor cannot invest directly in an index. |
3 |
The Fund also compares its performance with the S&P 500 Index®. The Standard & Poor’s (“S&P”) 500 Index® is an unmanaged index consisting of 500 stocks chosen for market size, liquidity, and industry group representation. It is a market-weighted index (stock price times number of shares outstanding) with each stock’s weight in the Index proportionate to its market value. Unlike the Fund, the benchmark is unmanaged and does not include any fees or expenses. An investor cannot invest directly in an index. |
36
Management
Investment Advisor
AXS Investments LLC (the “Advisor”) is the Fund’s investment advisor.
Investment Sub-Advisor
Esoterica Capital LLC is the Fund’s investment sub-advisor.
Portfolio Managers
Parker Binion, Portfolio Manager of the Advisor, and Travis Trampe, Managing Director, Portfolio Management of the Advisor, have served as portfolio managers of the Fund since December 2022. Qindong (Bruce) Liu, CEO of Esoterica, has served as a portfolio manager of the Predecessor Fund since it commenced operations in March 2020, and as a portfolio manager of the Fund since December 2022. Yang Ren, portfolio manager of Esoterica, has served as a portfolio manager of the Predecessor Fund since September 2020, and as a portfolio manager of the Fund since December 2022. Messrs. Binion, Trampe, Liu and Ren are jointly and primarily responsible for the day-to-day management of the Fund’s portfolio.
Purchase and Sale of Shares
The Fund issues and redeems Shares on a continuous basis, at NAV, only in large blocks of shares called “Creation Units.” Except when aggregated in Creation Units, the Shares are not redeemable securities of the Fund.
Individual Shares of the Fund may only be purchased and sold on the secondary market through a broker-dealer. Since Shares of the Fund trade on securities exchanges in the secondary market at their market price rather than their NAV, the Fund’s Shares may trade at a price greater than (premium) or less than (discount) the Fund’s NAV. An investor may incur costs attributable to the difference between the highest price a buyer is willing to pay to purchase Shares of the Fund (bid) and the lowest price a seller is willing to accept for Shares of the Fund (ask) when buying or selling Shares in the secondary market (the “bid-ask spread”). Recent information, including the Fund’s NAV, market price, premiums and discounts, and bid-ask spreads, is available online at www.axsinvestments.com.
Tax Information
The Fund’s distributions will generally be taxable as ordinary income, returns of capital or capital gains. A sale of Shares may result in capital gain or loss.
Payments to Broker-Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries
If you purchase Shares through a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary (such as a bank), the Advisor and the Fund’s distributor may pay the intermediary for the sale of Shares and related services. These payments may create a conflict of interest by influencing the broker-dealer or other intermediary and your salesperson to recommend the Fund over another investment. Ask your salesperson or visit your financial intermediary’s website for more information.
37
AXS First Priority CLO Bond ETF Shares
Bloomberg Floating Rate Note less than 5 Years Index (reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes)
AXS First Priority CLO Bond ETF (the “Fund”) seeks capital preservation and income.
This table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy, hold and sell shares of the Fund (“Shares”). Investors may pay other fees, such as brokerage commissions and other fees to financial intermediaries, which are not reflected in the table and example set forth below.
|
|
Management fees |
|
Distribution and Service (Rule 12b-1) fees |
|
Other expenses |
|
Total annual fund operating expenses |
|
This example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the Fund with the cost of investing in other funds. This example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the Fund for the time periods indicated and then sell 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 at current levels. This example does not include the brokerage commissions that investors may pay to buy and sell Shares. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, your costs, based on these assumptions, would be:
1 Year |
3 Years |
5 Years |
10 Years |
$ |
$ |
$ |
$ |
The
Fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it purchases and sells
securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover will
cause the Fund to incur additional 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 example, may affect
the Fund’s performance. As a result of a reorganization (the “Reorganization”),
the Fund acquired all of the assets, and assumed all of the liabilities, of AAF
First Priority CLO Bond ETF, a series of Listed Funds Trust (the “Predecessor
Fund”). During the fiscal period August 1, 2022, through March 31, 2023, the
Fund’s portfolio turnover rate was
The Fund is an actively-managed exchange-traded fund (“ETF”). Under normal circumstances, the Fund invests at least 80% of its net assets (plus any borrowings for investment purposes) in AAA rated first priority debt tranches of U.S. dollar-dominated collateralized loan obligations (“CLOs”).
CLOs are trusts that are typically collateralized by a pool of loans, which may include, among others, domestic and foreign senior secured loans, senior unsecured loans and subordinate corporate loans, including loans that may be rated below investment grade or equivalent unrated loans. The Fund may invest in CLOs of any maturity. The Fund is actively managed and does not seek to track the performance of any particular index.
38
The Fund principally invests in CLOs with the following criteria:
Rated AAA
No CLO, at the time of purchase by the Fund, will have a rating that is below AAA (or equivalent by a nationally recognized statistical rating organization (“NRSRO”)). An NRSRO is a credit rating agency such as Moody’s Investors Service, Inc. (“Moody’s”), Standard & Poor’s, a division of McGraw Hill Companies Inc. (“S&P”), or Fitch Ratings Ltd. (“Fitch”), that issues credit ratings that the SEC permits other financial firms to use for certain regulatory purposes. After purchase, a CLO’s rating may decline below the minimum rating required by the Fund for purchase. In such cases, Alternative Access Funds, LLC (“AAF”) will consider whether continuing to hold the CLO is in the best interest of the Fund.
Broadly Syndicated Senior-Secured Loans
The underlying collateral pool for each CLO must be comprised primarily (typically 90%) of broadly syndicated senior-secured first lien loans. A Broadly Syndicated Loan CLO (“BSL CLO”) is a CLO that limits the amount of loan collateral whose offering size is typically less than $250 million to a maximum of approximately 5% of the portfolio. No investments will be made in middle market CLOs, collateralized bond obligations (“CBOs”), asset-backed securities (“ABS”), collateralized debt obligations (“CDOs”) and synthetic CLOs.
First Priority Tranches Only
The Fund will invest only in the senior-most tranches of CLOs. The cash flows from a CLO trust are generally split into two or more portions, called tranches, varying in risk and yield. Senior tranches are paid from the cash flows of the underlying assets before the junior tranches and equity, or “first loss,” tranches. Losses are first borne by the equity tranches, then by the junior tranches, and finally by the senior tranches. Senior tranches pay the lowest interest rates but are generally safer investments than more junior tranches because, should there be any default, senior tranches are typically paid first. For the avoidance of doubt, the CLOs that the Fund purchases will be the senior-most tranches, consisting of floating rate bonds that rank first in priority of payments, at the time the CLO is issued. The Fund will not purchase CLO tranches that have subsequently become the senior-most tranches due to amortization of previously more senior tranches.
Minimum Offering and Tranche Size
The Fund will only invest in a CLO with a minimum initial total deal size of $300 million and minimum initial AAA tranche size of $150 million.
Maximum Positions Size
The Fund will not invest more than 5% of its total assets in any single security.
Maximum CLO Manager Exposure
The Fund will not invest more than 10% of its total assets in any single CLO manager.
Maximum Weighted Average Rating Factor
Each CLO will have a maximum Weighted Average Rating Factor (the “WARF”) (the “Maximum WARF”), at the time of purchase, of less than the greater of: a) 3,000, and b) the median WARF value of all outstanding broadly syndicated CLOs (as determined by AAF). WARF is a measure that is used by credit rating companies to indicate the quality of a CLO by aggregating the credit ratings of the CLO’s holdings into a single numerical value. If no WARF is calculated by the trustee of a particular CLO, AAF will at its discretion invest only in a CLO that it believes would not exceed the Maximum WARF. After purchase, a CLO’s WARF may exceed the Maximum WARF. In such cases, AAF will consider whether to continue to hold the CLO. Additional information about the WARF is located in the “Additional Information About the Funds’ Investment Strategies” section.
39
Market Risk. The market price of a security or instrument may decline, sometimes rapidly or unpredictably, due to general market conditions that are not specifically related to a particular company, such as real or perceived adverse economic or political conditions throughout the world, changes in the general outlook for corporate earnings, changes in interest or currency rates, or adverse investor sentiment generally. In addition, local, regional or global events such as war, acts of terrorism, the spread of infectious illness or other public health issues, or other events could have a significant impact on a security or instrument. The market value of a security or instrument also may decline because of factors that affect a particular industry or industries, such as labor shortages or increased production costs and competitive conditions within an industry.
Collateralized Loan Obligations Risk. A CLO is a trust collateralized by a pool of credit-related assets. Accordingly, CLO securities present risks similar to those of other types of credit investments, including default (credit), interest rate and prepayment risks. The extent of these risks depend largely on the type of securities used as collateral and the class of the CLOs in which the Fund invests. In addition, CLOs are often governed by a complex series of legal documents and contracts, which increases the risk of dispute over the interpretation and enforceability of such documents relative to other types of investments. There is also a risk that the trustee of a CLO does not properly carry out its duties to the CLO, potentially resulting in loss to the CLO.
Collateralized Loan Obligations Leveraging Risk. CLOs are typically leveraged, and such leverage will magnify the loss on CLO investments, which may in turn magnify the loss experienced by the Fund. The cumulative effect of the use of leverage with respect to any investments in a market that moves adversely to such investments could result in a substantial loss that would be greater than if the Funds’ investments were not leveraged. The Fund intends to invest only in the most senior tranches of CLOs (those that are also AAA-rated), which generally are less affected by the effects of leverage than more junior tranches.
Fixed Income Securities Risk. The prices of fixed income securities respond to economic developments, particularly interest rate changes, as well as to changes in an issuer’s credit rating or market perceptions about the creditworthiness of an issuer. Generally fixed income securities decrease in value if interest rates rise and increase in value if interest rates fall, and longer-term and lower rated securities are more volatile than shorter-term and higher rated securities.
Prepayment or Call Risk. If the Fund holds a fixed income security subject to prepayment or call risk, it may not benefit fully from the increase in value that other fixed income securities generally experience when interest rates fall. Upon prepayment of the security, the Fund may be forced to reinvest the proceeds in securities with lower yields. In addition, the Fund may lose the amount of the premium paid in the event of prepayment.
Extension Risk. When interest rates rise, repayments of fixed income securities may occur more slowly than anticipated, extending the effective duration of these fixed income securities at below market interest rates and causing their market prices to decline more than they would have declined due to the rise in interest rates alone.
Credit Risk. Debt securities, even investment-grade debt securities, are subject to credit risk. Credit risk is the risk that the inability or perceived inability of the issuer to make interest and principal payments will cause the value of the securities to decrease. As a result the Funds’ NAV could also decrease. Changes in the credit rating of a debt security held by the Fund could have a similar effect.
Interest Rate Risk. Generally fixed income securities decrease in value if interest rates rise and increase in value if interest rates fall, with longer-term securities being more sensitive than shorter-term securities. For example, the price of a security with a three-year duration would be expected to drop by approximately 3% in response to a 1% increase in interest rates. Generally, the longer the maturity and duration of a bond or fixed rate loan, the more sensitive it is to this risk. Falling interest rates also create the potential for a decline in the Fund’s income. Changes in governmental policy,
40
rising inflation rates, and general economic developments, among other factors, could cause interest rates to increase and could have a substantial and immediate effect on the values of the Fund’s investments. In addition, a potential rise in interest rates may result in periods of volatility and increased redemptions that might require the Fund to liquidate portfolio securities at disadvantageous prices and times.
Floating Rate Notes Risk. Securities with floating or variable interest rates can be less sensitive to interest rate changes than securities with fixed interest rates, but may decline in value if their interest rates do not rise as much, or as quickly, as interest rates in general. Conversely, floating rate securities will not generally increase in value if interest rates decline. A decline in interest rates may result in a reduction of income received from floating rate securities held by the Fund and may adversely affect the value of the Funds’ shares. Generally, floating rate securities carry lower yields than fixed notes of the same maturity. The interest rate for a floating rate note resets or adjusts periodically by reference to a benchmark interest rate. The impact of interest rate changes on floating rate investments is typically mitigated by the periodic interest rate reset of the investments. Securities with longer durations tend to be more sensitive to interest rate changes, usually making them more volatile than securities with shorter durations. Floating rate notes generally are subject to legal or contractual restrictions on resale, may trade infrequently, and their value may be impaired when the Fund needs to liquidate such loans. Benchmark interest rates, such as the LIBOR, may not accurately track market interest rates.
Private Placements and Restricted Securities Risk. Private placement securities are securities that have been privately placed and are not registered under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended. They are eligible for sale only to certain eligible investors. Private placements often may offer attractive opportunities for investment not otherwise available on the open market. Private placement and other “restricted” securities often cannot be sold to the public without registration under the Securities Act or an exemption from registration (such as Rules 144 or 144A). Private placements and other restricted securities may be considered illiquid securities.
ETF Structure Risks. The Fund is an ETF, and, as a result of an ETF’s structure, it is exposed to the following risks:
● |
Authorized Participant Concentration Risk. Only an authorized participant may engage in creation or redemption transactions directly with the Fund. The Fund has a limited number of institutions that act as authorized participants on an agency basis (i.e., on behalf of other market participants). To the extent that these institutions exit the business or are unable to proceed with creation and/or redemption orders with respect to the Fund and no other authorized participant is able to step forward to create or redeem, shares may trade at a discount to the Funds’ net asset value and possibly face delisting. |
● |
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 the spread 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. |
● |
Fluctuation of Net Asset Value Risk. As with all ETFs, shares may be bought and sold in the secondary market at market prices. Although it is expected that the market prices of shares will approximate the Funds’ NAV, there may be times when the market prices of shares is more than the NAV intra-day (premium) or less than the NAV intra-day (discount). Differences in market price and NAV may be due, in large part, to the fact that supply and |
41
demand forces at work in the secondary trading market for shares will be closely related to, but not identical to, the same forces influencing the prices of the holdings of the Fund trading individually or in the aggregate at any point in time. These differences can be especially pronounced during times of market volatility or stress. During these periods, the demand for Fund shares may decrease considerably and cause the market price of Fund shares to deviate significantly from the Funds’ NAV.
● |
Market Maker Risk. If the Fund has lower average daily trading volumes, it may rely on a small number of third-party market makers to provide a market for the purchase and sale of Fund shares. Any trading halt or other problem relating to the trading activity of these market makers could result in a dramatic change in the spread between the Funds’ NAV and the price at which the Fund shares are trading on the Exchange, which could result in a decrease in value of the Fund shares. In addition, decisions by market makers or authorized participants to reduce their role or step away from these activities in times of market stress could inhibit the effectiveness of the arbitrage process in maintaining the relationship between the Funds’ NAV and the Funds’ market price. This reduced effectiveness could result in Fund shares trading at a discount to NAV and also in greater than normal intra-day bid-ask spreads for Fund shares. |
● |
Shares are Not Individually Redeemable. Shares are only redeemable by the Fund at NAV if they are tendered in Creation Units. Only Authorized Participants may engage in such creation and redemption transactions directly with the Fund. Individual Shares may be sold on a stock exchange at their current market prices, which may be less, more, or equal to their NAV. |
● |
Trading Issues Risk. Although the Fund shares are listed for trading on the Exchange, there can be no assurance that an active trading market for such Fund shares will develop or be maintained. Trading in Fund shares on the Exchange may be halted due to market conditions or for reasons that, in the view of the Exchange, make trading in Fund shares inadvisable. In addition, trading in Fund shares on the Exchange is subject to trading halts caused by extraordinary market volatility pursuant to the Exchange “circuit breaker” rules. Market makers are under no obligation to make a market in the Fund shares, and authorized participants are not obligated to submit purchase or redemption orders for Creation Units. There can be no assurance that the requirements of the Exchange necessary to maintain the listing of the Fund will continue to be met or will remain unchanged. Initially, due to the small asset size of the Fund, it may have difficulty maintaining its listings on the Exchange. |
Transactions in Cash Risk. The Fund intends to effect its creations and redemptions primarily for cash, rather than in-kind securities. Paying redemption proceeds in cash rather than through in- kind delivery of portfolio securities may require the Fund to dispose of or sell portfolio investments at an inopportune time to obtain the cash needed to pay redemption proceeds. This may cause the Fund to incur certain costs such as brokerage costs, and to recognize gains or losses that it might not have incurred if it had paid redemption proceeds in-kind. As a result, the Fund may pay out higher or lower annual capital gains distributions than ETFs that redeem in-kind. In addition, the costs imposed on the Fund will decrease the Funds' NAV unless the costs are offset by a transaction fee payable by an authorized participant.
Liquidity Risk. The Fund may not be able to sell some or all of the investments that it holds due to a lack of demand in the marketplace or other factors such as market turmoil, or if the Fund is forced to sell an illiquid asset to meet redemption requests or other cash needs it may only be able to sell those investments at a loss. In addition, the reduction in dealer market-making capacity in the fixed income markets that has occurred in recent years has the potential to decrease the liquidity of the Funds’ investments. Illiquid assets may also be difficult to value.
LIBOR Risk. Many financial instruments, financings or other transactions to which the Fund may be a party use or may use a floating rate based on the London Interbank Offered Rate (“LIBOR”). In July 2017, the Financial Conduct Authority, the United Kingdom’s financial regulatory body, announced that after 2021 it would cease its active encouragement of banks to provide quotations needed to sustain LIBOR. The publication of LIBOR on a representative basis ceased for the one-week and two-month U.S. dollar LIBOR settings immediately after December 31, 2021, and it is expected to cease for the remaining U.S. dollar LIBOR settings immediately after June 30, 2023. Any potential effects of the transition away from LIBOR on the Fund or on certain instruments in which the Fund invests can be difficult to determine, and they may vary depending on factors that include, but are not limited to, (i) existing fallback or termination provisions in individual contracts and (ii) whether, how, and when industry participants develop and adopt new reference rates and fallbacks for both legacy and new products and instruments. The transition process may involve, among other things, increased volatility or illiquidity in markets for instruments that currently rely on LIBOR, and there may be a reduction in the value of certain instruments held by the Fund.
Operational Risk. The Fund is exposed to operational risks arising from a number of factors, including, but not limited to, human error, processing and communication errors, errors of the Funds’ service providers, counterparties or other third parties, failed or inadequate processes and technology or systems failures. The Fund and AAF seek to reduce these operational risks through controls and procedures. However, these measures do not address every possible risk and may be inadequate to address these risks.
42
Management and Strategy Risk. The value of your investment depends on the judgment of the Funds’ Advisor and Sub-Advisor about the quality, relative yield, value or market trends affecting a particular security, industry, sector or region, which may prove to be incorrect.
Recent Market Events. Periods of market volatility may occur in response to market events and other economic, political, and global macro factors. For example, in recent years the COVID-19 pandemic, the large expansion of government deficits and debt as a result of government actions to mitigate the effects of the pandemic, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and the rise of inflation have resulted in extreme volatility in the global economy and in global financial markets. These and other similar events could be prolonged and could adversely affect the value and liquidity of the Fund’s investments, impair the Fund’s ability to satisfy redemption requests, and negatively impact the Fund’s performance.
Cybersecurity Risk. Cybersecurity incidents may allow an unauthorized party to gain access to Fund assets, customer data (including private shareholder information), or proprietary information, or cause the Fund, the Advisor, AAF and/or other service providers (including custodians, sub-custodians, transfer agents and financial intermediaries) to suffer data breaches, data corruption or loss of operational functionality. In an extreme case, a shareholder’s ability to exchange or redeem Fund shares may be affected. Issuers of securities in which the Fund invests are also subject to cybersecurity risks, and the value of those securities could decline if the issuers experience cybersecurity incidents.
The Shares will change in value, and you could lose money by investing in the Fund. The Fund may not achieve its investment objective.
The Fund adopted the performance of the Predecessor Fund following the Reorganization of the Predecessor Fund on October 14, 2022. As a result of the acquisition, the Fund is the accounting successor of the Predecessor Fund. Performance results shown in the bar chart and the performance table below for periods prior to October 14, 2022, reflect the performance of the Predecessor Fund.
The
bar chart and table provide an indication of the risks of investing in the Fund
by showing changes in the Fund’s performance from year-to-year and by showing
how the Fund’s average annual total returns based on net asset value compared to
those of the Bloomberg Floating Rate Note <5 Years Index. The Fund’s
performance information is accessible on the Fund’s website at
For each
calendar year at NAV
Year |
Return |
2021 |
|
2022 |
|
43
The
as of , was .
|
|
Quarter Ended |
|
|
Quarter Ended |
|
1 Year |
Since
|
Return Before Taxes1 |
|
|
Return After Taxes on Distributions1 |
( |
|
Return After Taxes on Distributions and Sale of Fund Shares1 |
|
|
Bloomberg Floating Rate Note <5 Years Index (reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes) |
|
|
1 |
Management
Investment Advisor
AXS Investments LLC (the “Advisor”)
Sub-Advisor
Alternative Access Funds, LLC (“AAF” or the “Sub-Advisor”)
Portfolio Manager
Peter Coppa, Managing Partner of AAF, has served as portfolio manager of the Fund and Predecessor Fund since its inception in September 2020. Mr. Coppa is the portfolio manager and is responsible for the day-to-day management of the Fund’s portfolio.
Purchase and Sale of Shares
The Fund issues and redeems Shares on a continuous basis, at net asset value, only in large blocks of shares called “Creation Units.” Except when aggregated in Creation Units, the Shares are not redeemable securities of the Fund.
Individual Shares of the Fund may only be purchased and sold on the secondary market through a broker-dealer. Since Shares of the Fund trade on securities exchanges in the secondary market at their market price rather than their net asset value, the Funds’ Shares may trade at a price greater than (premium) or less than (discount) the Funds’ net asset value. An investor may incur costs attributable to the difference between the highest price a buyer is willing to pay to purchase Shares of the Fund (bid) and the lowest price a seller is willing to accept for Shares of the Fund (ask) when buying or selling Shares in the secondary market (the “bid-ask spread”). Recent information, including the Funds’ net asset value, market price, premiums and discounts, and bid-ask spreads, is available online at www.axsinvestments.com.
Tax Information
The Fund’s distributions will generally be taxable as ordinary income, returns of capital or capital gains. A sale of Shares may result in capital gain or loss.
44
Payments to Broker-Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries
If you purchase Shares through a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary (such as a bank), the Advisor and ALPS Distributors, Inc., the Funds’ distributor, may pay the intermediary for the sale of Shares and related services. These payments may create a conflict of interest by influencing the broker-dealer or other intermediary and your salesperson to recommend the Fund over another investment. Ask your salesperson or visit your financial intermediary’s website for more information.
45
AXS Green Alpha ETF Shares
The investment objective of the AXS Green Alpha ETF (the “Fund”) is to seek long term capital appreciation.
This table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy, hold and sell shares of the Fund (“Shares”). Investors may pay other fees, such as brokerage commissions and other fees to financial intermediaries, which are not reflected in the table and example set forth below.
|
|
Management fees |
|
Distribution and Service (Rule 12b-1) fees |
|
Other expenses |
|
Total annual fund operating expenses |
|
This example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the Fund with the cost of investing in other funds.
This example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the Fund for the time periods indicated and then redeem all of your Shares at the end of those periods. The example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year and that the Fund’s operating expenses remain at current levels. This example does not include the brokerage commissions that investors may pay to buy and sell Shares.
Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, your costs, based on these assumptions, would be:
1 Year |
3 Years |
5 Years |
10 Years |
$ |
$ |
$ |
$ |
The
Fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it purchases and sells
securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may
indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes when Fund
shares are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in
annual fund operating expenses or in the example, affect the Fund’s performance.
During the fiscal period September 27, 2022 (inception), through March 31, 2023,
the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate was
Under normal circumstances, the Fund will invest at least 80% of its net assets, plus borrowings for investment purposes, in sustainable companies. Sustainable companies are companies that are determined by Green Alpha Advisors, LLC, the Fund’s sub-advisor (the “Green Alpha”), that seek to mitigate global sustainability systemic risks. Such risks include, but are not limited to, the climate crisis, natural resource degradation and scarcity, and human disease burdens.
The Fund seeks investments in companies that in addition to seeking to address global sustainability systemic risks, Green Alpha believes have above-average growth potential and are reasonably valued at the time of purchase.
46
In selecting investments for the Fund, Green Alpha identifies the universe of investible companies as companies that Green Alpha believes are leading a transition to global stability in one or more of the following four pillars of sustainability:
1. |
Rapid, large economic productivity gains: Economic productivity gains are defined by Green Alpha as the ability of the economy to produce increasingly more goods and services for the same amount (or less) of inputs, including work as measured in person hours and/or energy required, capital required, or required consumed materials including natural resources. For an economy to continue to function indefinitely without succumbing to one of the system-level threats present today, economic productivity must increase such that current and growing levels of output can be maintained versus shrinking quantities of inputs. In the language of sustainability, this is sometimes referred to as economic “dematerialization.” |
2. |
Renewable energies: The efficient, innovative means of production must be powered entirely by renewable sources of energy, which Green Alpha defines as those with zero cost of fuel input, including wind, water, solar, and some forms of geothermal energy. |
3. |
Waste-to-value supply chains: Extraction of primary geological resources needs to be reduced dramatically, and ultimately halted altogether. Thus, life cycle product management and indefinite reuse of already economically functional material is important. |
4. |
More equitable distribution of wealth: This fourth pillar ties the first three together. Historically, education and productivity have been the most important influences on stability, economic growth, and social well-being. A high degree of social cohesion is required to address risks and achieve true sustainability, and conversely, sharply divided civilizations have often experienced collapse. If individuals believe they live in a fair system with equal access to opportunity, civil unrest and its attendant risks are greatly attenuated. |
Green Alpha’s selection process includes proprietary, multi-dimensional research and analysis methodologies. In order to qualify for potential investment by the Fund, a company’s business activities must be net contributing to one or more of the four pillars of sustainability that are described above. This is determined based on an evaluation of a company’s source of revenues and capital expenditure priorities. In particular, the company’s earning revenue generation must be majority derived from advancing one or more of the four pillars of sustainability, and similarly, the company’s capital expenditures must prioritize further investment addressing the sustainability pillar(s). If a company meets this initial qualification for potential investment, further analysis is then undertaken to determine the company’s commitment to sustainability utilizing metrics such as realized and planned efforts at decarbonization, electrification, dematerialization, and reductions in overall emissions. In particular, a company must have stated operational sustainability commitments and demonstrated adherence to such commitments. After this evaluation, further analysis is undertaken to determine relative social and governance merits of a company, such as diversity of leadership and workforce, employee well-being, and commitment to developing long-term shareholder value. If a company sufficiently passes the above-described evaluation process, it is put through fundamentals and valuation analysis, referred to as the “bottom-up process.” Fundamental factors considered in Green Alpha’s bottom-up process include, but are not limited to: revenue growth history and forward-looking expectations, track record of delivering margins and margin expansion, balance sheet health (emphasis on debt structure, levels and access to future capital, cost of capital), ability to service debt, and strong and expanding cash flows (or path to positive and expanding cash flows). Valuation factors considered in Green Alpha’s bottom-up process include but are not limited to: price-to-book ratio, price-to-sales ratio, price-to-cash flow ratio, market-share growth, addressable market growth, and revenue and earnings growth expectations relative to current price. Green Alpha applies its proprietary investment process to each equity investment opportunity.
Green Alpha’s proprietary research and analysis processes seek opportunities in all sectors and industries, regardless of which pillar(s) of sustainability a company may address. In addition, Green Alpha utilizes an active management approach to the strategy. As such, at any given time, the Fund’s portfolio may be more heavily weighted towards companies that address a particular pillar of sustainability. Green Alpha’s strategy may place additional emphasis on companies that seek to simultaneously address two or more pillars of sustainability, and/or solve for two or more system-level risks. For example, Green Alpha believes that electric, zero emissions transportation mitigates both human disease burdens, particularly in cities where tailpipe emissions are a major public health concern, and the climate crisis.
47
The Fund may invest in companies of all sizes and across economic sectors and geography. Although the Fund will attempt to invest as much of its assets as is practical in common stocks and American Depositary Receipts (“ADRs”), the Fund may maintain a reasonable (up to 20%) position in U.S. Treasury Bills and money market instruments to meet liquidity needs.
Market Risk. The market price of a security or instrument may decline, sometimes rapidly or unpredictably, due to general market conditions that are not specifically related to a particular company, such as real or perceived adverse economic or political conditions throughout the world, changes in the general outlook for corporate earnings, changes in interest or currency rates, or adverse investor sentiment generally. In addition, local, regional or global events such as war, acts of terrorism, the spread of infectious illness or other public health issues, or other events could have a significant impact on a security or instrument. The market value of a security or instrument also may decline because of factors that affect a particular industry or industries, such as labor shortages or increased production costs and competitive conditions within an industry.
Equity Risk. The value of the equity securities held by the Fund may fall due to general market and economic conditions, perceptions regarding the industries in which the issuers of securities held by the Fund participate, or factors relating to specific companies in which the Fund invests.
ETF Structure Risks. The Fund is an ETF, and, as a result of an ETF’s structure, it is exposed to the following risks:
● |
Authorized Participant Concentration Risk. Only an authorized participant may engage in creation or redemption transactions directly with the Fund. The Fund has a limited number of institutions that act as authorized participants on an agency basis (i.e., on behalf of other market participants). To the extent that these institutions exit the business or are unable to proceed with creation and/or redemption orders with respect to the Fund and no other authorized participant is able to step forward to create or redeem, shares may trade at a discount to the Fund’s net asset value and possibly face delisting. |
● |
Cash Transaction Risk. To the extent the Fund sells portfolio securities to meet some or all of a redemption request with cash, the Fund may incur taxable gains or losses that it might not have incurred had it made redemptions entirely in-kind. As a result, the Fund may pay out higher annual capital gain distributions than if the in-kind redemption process was used. |
● |
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 the spread 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. |
● |
Fluctuation of Net Asset Value Risk. As with all ETFs, shares may be bought and sold in the secondary market at market prices. Although it is expected that the market prices of shares will approximate the Fund’s NAV, there may be times when the market prices of shares is more than the NAV intra-day (premium) or less than the NAV intra-day (discount). Differences in market price and NAV may be due, in large part, to the fact that supply and demand forces at work in the secondary trading market for shares will be closely related to, but not identical to, |
48
the same forces influencing the prices of the holdings of the Fund trading individually or in the aggregate at any point in time. These differences can be especially pronounced during times of market volatility or stress. During these periods, the demand for Fund shares may decrease considerably and cause the market price of Fund shares to deviate significantly from the Fund’s NAV.
● |
Market Maker Risk. If the Fund has lower average daily trading volumes, it may rely on a small number of third-party market makers to provide a market for the purchase and sale of Fund shares. Any trading halt or other problem relating to the trading activity of these market makers could result in a dramatic change in the spread between the Fund’s net asset value (“NAV”) and the price at which the Fund shares are trading on the Exchange, which could result in a decrease in value of the Fund shares. In addition, decisions by market makers or authorized participants to reduce their role or step away from these activities in times of market stress could inhibit the effectiveness of the arbitrage process in maintaining the relationship between the Fund’s NAV and the Fund’s market price. This reduced effectiveness could result in Fund shares trading at a discount to NAV and also in greater than normal intra-day bid-ask spreads for Fund shares. |
● |
Shares are Not Individually Redeemable. Shares are only redeemable by the Fund at NAV if they are tendered in Creation Units. Only Authorized Participants may engage in such creation and redemption transactions directly with the Fund. Individual Shares may be sold on a stock exchange at their current market prices, which may be less, more, or equal to their NAV. |
● |
Trading Issues Risk. Although the Fund shares are listed for trading on the Exchange, there can be no assurance that an active trading market for such Fund shares will develop or be maintained. Trading in Fund shares on the Exchange may be halted due to market conditions or for reasons that, in the view of the Exchange, make trading in Fund shares inadvisable. In addition, trading in Fund shares on the Exchange is subject to trading halts caused by extraordinary market volatility pursuant to the Exchange “circuit breaker” rules. Market makers are under no obligation to make a market in the Fund shares, and authorized participants are not obligated to submit purchase or redemption orders for Creation Units. There can be no assurance that the requirements of the Exchange necessary to maintain the listing of the Fund will continue to be met or will remain unchanged. Initially, due to the small asset size of the Fund, it may have difficulty maintaining its listings on the Exchange. |
Environmental Investing Risk. The universe of acceptable investments for the Fund may be limited as compared to other funds due to Green Alpha’s proprietary research process. This may affect the Fund’s exposure to certain companies or industries and may adversely impact the Fund’s performance depending on whether such companies or industries are in or out of favor in the market. The Fund’s performance may be lower than other funds that do not seek to invest in companies based on environmental factors and/or remove certain companies or industries from its selection process.
Small-Cap and Mid-Cap Company Risk. The securities of small-capitalization and mid-capitalization companies may be subject to more abrupt or erratic market movements and may have lower trading volumes or more erratic trading than securities of larger, more established companies or market averages in general. In addition, such companies typically are more likely to be adversely affected than large capitalization companies by changes in earning results, business prospects, investor expectations or poor economic or market conditions.
Foreign Investment Risk. The prices of foreign securities may be more volatile than the prices of securities of U.S. issuers because of economic and social conditions abroad, political developments, and changes in the regulatory environments of foreign countries. Changes in exchange rates and interest rates, and the imposition of sanctions, confiscations, trade restrictions (including tariffs) and other government restrictions by the United States and/or other governments may adversely affect the values of the Fund’s foreign investments. Foreign companies are generally subject to different legal and accounting standards than U.S. companies, and foreign financial intermediaries may be subject to less supervision and regulation than U.S. financial firms. Foreign securities include ADRs and Global Depositary Receipts (“GDRs”). Unsponsored ADRs and GDRs are organized independently and without the cooperation of the foreign issuer of the underlying securities, and involve additional risks because U.S. reporting requirements do not apply. In addition, the issuing bank may deduct shareholder distribution, custody, foreign currency exchange, and other fees from the payment of dividends. Emerging markets tend to be more volatile than the markets of more mature economies and generally have less diverse and less mature economic structures and less stable political systems than those of developed countries.
49
Depositary Receipts Risk. The Fund may invest in depositary receipts. Depositary receipts may be subject to certain of the risks associated with direct investments in the securities of foreign companies, such as currency, political, economic and market risks, because their values depend on the performance of the non-dollar denominated underlying foreign securities. Certain countries may limit the ability to convert depositary receipts into the underlying foreign securities and vice versa, which may cause the securities of the foreign company to trade at a discount or premium to the market price of the related depositary receipts. Depositary receipts may be purchased through “sponsored” or “unsponsored” facilities. A sponsored facility is established jointly by a depositary and the issuer of the underlying security. A depositary may establish an unsponsored facility without participation by the issuer of the deposited security. Unsponsored receipts may involve higher expenses and may be less liquid. Holders of unsponsored depositary receipts generally bear all the costs of such facilities, and the depositary of an unsponsored facility frequently is under no obligation to distribute shareholder communications received from the issuer of the deposited security or to pass through voting rights to the holders of such receipts in respect of the deposited securities.
Operational Risk. The Fund is exposed to operational risks arising from a number of factors, including, but not limited to, human error, processing and communication errors, errors of the Fund’s service providers, counterparties or other third-parties, failed or inadequate processes and technology or systems failures. The Fund and the advisor seek to reduce these operational risks through controls and procedures. However, these measures do not address every possible risk and may be inadequate to address these risks.
Limited Operating History. The Fund is recently organized and has a limited operating history. As a result, prospective investors have a limited track record or history on which to base their investment decisions.
Recent Market Events. Periods of market volatility may occur in response to market events and other economic, political, and global macro factors. For example, in recent years the COVID-19 pandemic, the large expansion of government deficits and debt as a result of government actions to mitigate the effects of the pandemic, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and the rise of inflation have resulted in extreme volatility in the global economy and in global financial markets. These and other similar events could be prolonged and could adversely affect the value and liquidity of the Fund’s investments, impair the Fund’s ability to satisfy redemption requests, and negatively impact the Fund’s performance.
Cybersecurity Risk. Cybersecurity incidents may allow an unauthorized party to gain access to Fund assets, customer data (including private shareholder information), or proprietary information, or cause the Fund, the advisor, the Sub-Advisor and/or other service providers (including custodians, sub-custodians, transfer agents and financial intermediaries) to suffer data breaches, data corruption or loss of operational functionality. In an extreme case, a shareholder’s ability to exchange or redeem Fund shares may be affected. Issuers of securities in which the Fund invests are also subject to cybersecurity risks, and the value of those securities could decline if the issuers experience cybersecurity incidents.
The Shares will change in value, and you could lose money by investing in the Fund. The Fund may not achieve its investment objective.
Management
Investment Advisor
AXS Investments LLC (the “Advisor”) is the Fund’s investment advisor.
Investment Sub-Advisor
Green Alpha Advisors, LLC is the Fund’s investment sub-advisor.
50
Portfolio Managers
Parker Binion and Travis Trampe, each a Portfolio Manager of the Advisor, and Garvin Jabusch and Jeremy Deems, each a Portfolio Manager of Green Alpha, have served as portfolio managers of the Fund since its inception in September 2022. Messrs. Binion, Trampe, Jabusch, and Deems are jointly and primarily responsible for the day-to-day management of the Fund’s portfolio.
Purchase and Sale of Shares
The Fund issues and redeems Shares on a continuous basis, at net asset value, only in large blocks of shares called “Creation Units.” The Fund may issue and redeem Shares in exchange for cash at a later date but has no current intention of doing so. Except when aggregated in Creation Units, the Shares are not redeemable securities of the Fund.
Individual Shares of the Fund may only be purchased and sold on the secondary market through a broker-dealer. Since Shares of the Fund trade on securities exchanges in the secondary market at their market price rather than their net asset value, the Fund’s Shares may trade at a price greater than (premium) or less than (discount) the Fund’s net asset value. An investor may incur costs attributable to the difference between the highest price a buyer is willing to pay to purchase Shares of the Fund (bid) and the lowest price a seller is willing to accept for Shares of the Fund (ask) when buying or selling Shares in the secondary market (the “bid-ask spread”). Recent information, including the Fund’s net asset value, market price, premiums and discounts, and bid-ask spreads, is available online at www.axsinvestments.com.
Tax Information
The Fund’s distributions will generally be taxable as ordinary income, returns of capital or capital gains. A sale of Shares may result in capital gain or loss.
Payments to Broker-Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries
If you purchase Shares through a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary (such as a bank), the Advisor and ALPS Distributors, Inc., the Fund’s distributor, may pay the intermediary for the sale of Shares and related services. These payments may create a conflict of interest by influencing the broker-dealer or other intermediary and your salesperson to recommend the Fund over another investment. Ask your salesperson or visit your financial intermediary’s website for more information.
51
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ABOUT THE FUNDS’ INVESTMENT STRATEGIES
Each Fund is a series of the Trust and is regulated as an “investment company” under the 1940 Act. Each Fund’s investment objective is non-fundamental and may be changed without approval by the holders of a majority of the outstanding voting securities of the Fund. Unless an investment policy is identified as being fundamental, all investment policies included in this prospectus and the Funds’ Statement of Additional Information (“SAI”) are non-fundamental and may be changed by the Board of Trustees of the Trust (the “Board”) without shareholder approval. If there is a material change to a Fund’s investment objective or principal investment strategies, you should consider whether the Fund remains an appropriate investment for you. There is no guarantee that a Fund will achieve its investment objective.
Exchange-Traded Funds
ETFs are registered investment companies that trade on a securities exchange. The shares of ETFs may, at times, trade at a premium or discount to their net asset value. In addition, the Fund will incur brokerage costs when purchasing and selling shares of ETFs. As a shareholder in an ETF, the Fund will bear its ratable share of the ETF’s expenses, and would remain subject to payment of the ETF’s advisory and administrative fees with respect to assets so invested. Shareholders would therefore be subject to duplicative expenses. Securities of ETFs may be leveraged, in which case the value and/or yield of such securities will tend to be more volatile than securities of unleveraged securities.
Generally, investments in ETFs are subject to statutory limitations prescribed by the 1940 Act. These limitations include a prohibition on the Fund acquiring more than 3% of the voting shares of any other investment company, a prohibition on investing more than 5% of the Fund’s total assets in the securities of any one investment company or more than 10% of its total assets, in the aggregate, in investment company securities. Rule 12d1-4 under the 1940 Act became effective January 19, 2021. Rule 12d1-4 allows, subject to certain conditions, the Fund to invest in other registered investment companies and other registered investment companies to invest in the Fund beyond the limits contained in Section 12(d)(1) of the 1940 Act.
PRINCIPAL INVESTMENT STRATEGIES
AXS Astoria Inflation Sensitive ETF
The Fund is an actively managed ETF. The Fund’s primary investment strategies described in this prospectus are the strategies that the Advisor believes are most likely to be important in trying to achieve the Fund’s investment objective. You should note, however, that the Fund may use other non-principal strategies and invest in other securities not described in this prospectus, which are disclosed in detail in the Fund’s SAI. For a copy of the SAI please call toll free at 1-303-623-2577 or visit the Fund’s website at www.axsinvestments.com.
Equity Securities
The Fund invests in equity securities, including common stocks and/or depositary receipts. Equity securities represent an ownership position in a company. The prices of equity securities fluctuate based on, among other things, events specific to their issuers and market, economic, and other conditions. American Depositary Receipts are certificates that evidence ownership of shares of a foreign issuer and are alternatives to purchasing directly the underlying foreign securities in their national markets and currencies. Global Depositary Receipts are certificates issued by an international bank that generally are traded and denominated in the currencies of countries other than the home country of the issuer of the underlying shares.
Exchange-Traded Funds
ETFs are registered investment companies that trade on a securities exchange. The shares of ETFs may, at times, trade at a premium or discount to their net asset value. In addition, the Fund will incur brokerage costs when purchasing and selling shares of ETFs. As a shareholder in an ETF, the Fund will bear its ratable share of the ETF’s expenses, and would remain subject to payment of the ETF’s advisory and administrative fees with respect to assets so invested. Shareholders would therefore be subject to duplicative expenses. Securities of ETFs may be leveraged, in which case the value and/or yield of such securities will tend to be more volatile than securities of unleveraged securities.
52
Generally, investments in ETFs are subject to statutory limitations prescribed by the 1940 Act. These limitations include a prohibition on the Fund acquiring more than 3% of the voting shares of any other investment company, a prohibition on investing more than 5% of the Fund’s total assets in the securities of any one investment company or more than 10% of its total assets, in the aggregate, in investment company securities. However, Rule 12d1-4 under the 1940 Act allows, subject to certain conditions, the Fund to invest in other registered investment companies and other registered investment companies to invest in the Fund beyond the limits contained in Section 12(d)(1) of the 1940 Act.
AXS Brendan Wood TopGun Index ETF
The Fund is an actively managed ETF. The Fund’s primary investment strategies described in this prospectus are the strategies that the Advisor believes are most likely to be important in trying to achieve the Fund’s investment objective. You should note, however, that the Fund may use other non-principal strategies and invest in other securities not described in this prospectus, which are disclosed in detail in the Fund’s SAI. For a copy of the SAI please call toll free at 1-303-623-2577 or visit the Fund’s website at www.axsinvestments.com.
Brendan Wood TopGun Index
The Index was developed by Brendan Wood, the Fund’s index provider. The Index Provider is not affiliated with the Fund or AXS.
Construction of the Index begins with the identification of approximately 1,400 companies composing the Brendan Wood “Shareholder Conviction Universe”, which are generally stocks of liquid large and mid-capitalization companies (with market capitalizations of $2 billion or greater) that trade on a national exchange in the United States and/or Canada, including ADRs. Companies included in the Shareholder Conviction Universe are evaluated based on the results of up to 2,000 personal interviews with institutional investment professionals, including large financial services companies and advisory firms, conducted by Brendan Wood during the calendar year. These interviews with institutional investment professionals are designed to generate data that is used by Brendan Wood to establish the quality of companies in the Shareholder Conviction Universe and then rate and rank the companies based on multiple investment attributes discussed. These interviews include questions regarding various investment quality metrics, including each company’s business strategy, long-term and short-term performance, executive and senior management, governance (including the company’s ESG practices), reporting and disclosure, balance sheet, commitment to own, momentum and price appreciation. These interviews also seek information regarding sectors in which the institutional investment professionals intend to increase their investment exposure. From these responses, Brendan Wood forecasts the demand of the nine Shareholder Conviction Universe sectors (i.e., financials, mining, real estate, generalist, energy, industrials, healthcare, technology media and telecom, and consumer). Those companies that are identified with the highest investment quality ratings and are in high demand sectors are algorithmically selected for inclusion in the Index (collectively, “TopGun companies”). The Index generally contains approximately 25 TopGun companies.
When the algorithm for the Index determines that a TopGun company’s investment score or sector demand of its principal business has decreased to a level beneath the ratings threshold established by the algorithm, the company will be removed from the Index. The proceeds generated from any such sale are allocated to other TopGun companies, as determined by the algorithm. In the event that no more than 15 companies meet the Index’s selection criteria at any time, the Index will reflect allocation of the proceeds of a sale of companies removed from the Index to cash, fixed income securities, including U.S. government securities, corporate bonds that are rated investment grade at time of purchase, and money market instruments, and/or ETFs that invest in large cap companies until the algorithm identifies a qualifying additional company for inclusion in the Index.
The Index is reconstituted and rebalanced to be dollar weighted equally in January of each year. The Index’s exposure may change significantly with each reconstitution or based on market movements between reconstitutions.
The Fund will generally use a “replication” strategy to achieve its investment objective, meaning it generally will invest in all of the component securities of the Index in approximately the same proportion as in the Index. However, the Fund may use a “representative sampling” strategy, meaning it may invest in a sample of the securities in the Index whose risk, return and other characteristics closely resemble the risk, return and other characteristics of the Index as a whole,
53
when the Fund’s advisor believes it is in the best interests of the Fund (e.g., when replicating the Index involves practical difficulties or substantial costs, an Index constituent becomes temporarily illiquid, unavailable, or less liquid, or as a result of legal restrictions or limitations that apply to the Fund but not to the Index).
To the extent the Index concentrates (i.e., holds more than 25% of its total assets) in the securities of a particular industry, the Fund will concentrate its investments to approximately the same extent as the Index. In addition, to the extent the Index focuses on particular sectors, the Fund intends to focus on the same sectors. As of the date of this Prospectus, the Index is focused in the following Shareholder Conviction Universe sectors: financial, real estate and mining. As of the date of this Prospectus, the Index is not concentrated in any particular industries.
The Fund is classified as “non-diversified” under the 1940 Act, which means that it may invest more of its assets in a smaller number of issuers than “diversified” funds.
AXS Change Finance ESG ETF
The Fund is an actively managed ETF. The Fund’s primary investment strategies described in this prospectus are the strategies that the Advisor believes are most likely to be important in trying to achieve the Fund’s investment objective. You should note, however, that the Fund may use other non-principal strategies and invest in other securities not described in this prospectus, which are disclosed in detail in the Fund’s SAI. For a copy of the SAI please call toll free at 1-303-623-2577 or visit the Fund’s website at www.axsinvestments.com.
The Fund seeks to track the performance, before fees and expenses, of the Index.
Change Finance provides the Index to the Fund. Change Finance created and is responsible for maintaining and applying the rules-based methodology of the Index. The Index is calculated by an independent third-party (the “Index Calculation Agent”) that is not affiliated with the Fund, the Advisor, Change Finance, the Funds’ distributor, or any of their respective affiliates. The Index Calculation Agent provides information to the Fund about the Index constituents and does not provide investment advice with respect to the desirability of investing in, purchasing, or selling securities.
Construction of the Index begins with the constituents of the Solactive Universe generally the 1,000 largest U.S.-listed common stocks and REITs.
To be eligible for inclusion in the Index, companies must meet the ESG standards determined by Change Finance, which relies on ESG indicators provided by ISS ESG. The ISS ESG indicators measure the degree to which a company performs its business in accordance with specified ESG factors. Such factors include (i) whether a company’s primary business is in a prohibited industry (e.g., oil, gas, coal, tobacco); (ii) whether a company is involved in producing goods in a controversial business area (e.g., fossil fuels, nuclear power, GMOs, military weapons, pesticides); (iii) whether a company has a history of controversial business practices relating to human rights, labor rights, environmental protection, or business malpractice (e.g., corruption, extreme tax avoidance); as well as (iv) standards and performance criteria related to environmental impacts (e.g., emissions, harmful chemicals in product portfolio, biodiversity management) and human impacts (e.g., hiring practices related to diversity, supply chain standards, health risk in product portfolio). Each factor may be evaluated using one or more indicators. Indicators generally take one of three forms: (A) a percentage of revenue derived from a particular business activity; (B) an analyst rating from 1-4 (with 1 being the lowest score and 4 the highest); or (C) for controversy indicators, the severity of the controversy (e.g., human rights).
ISS ESG assigns a score, with respect to each applicable indicator, to each company. To be eligible for inclusion in the Index, a company must meet the minimum threshold score established by the Index methodology with respect to each indicator. The Eligible Companies are then sorted by sector (e.g., healthcare, technology, consumer services) and ranked within each sector by their free-float market capitalization.
The Index contains approximately 100 equally-weighted Eligible Companies, and the weight of each sector in the Index reflects the weight of such sector in the Solactive Universe For example, if the technology sector makes up 13.27% of the Solactive Universe, the 13 largest Eligible Companies in the technology sector will be included in the Index with a total weight of 13%.
54
Index Reconstitution. The Index is reconstituted quarterly after the close of trading on the 10th business day of each March, June, September and December, utilizing data from the last business day of the month preceding the reconstitution. If at the time of a reconstitution of the Index there are not a sufficient number of Eligible Companies in a particular sector, the target weight of the remaining sectors will be increased proportionally to include additional companies in such other sector(s). Additionally, if due to rounding, 100 stocks are not selected for the Index at the time of its reconstitution, the largest Eligible Company not otherwise included in the Index will be added to the Index.
If at the time of a reconstitution of the Index, more than 20% of the Index’s weight would be in companies that are not included in the Solactive Universe, the weight of each such company is reduced in proportion to its original weighting until all such companies have an aggregate weight of 20% and the excess weight is reallocated proportionately to all of the Index constituents included in the Solactive Universe.
Under normal circumstances, at least 80% of the Funds’ net assets, plus borrowings for investment purposes, will be invested in the Eligible Company that do not derive any revenue from fossil fuel productions, fossil fuel power generation, tobacco production, production of GMOs, nuclear power generation, weapons production, or hazardous pesticide production. Such policy has been adopted as a non-fundamental investment policy and may be changed without shareholder approval upon 60 days’ written notice to shareholders. With respect to this policy, the Fund defines “equity securities” to mean common and preferred stocks, rights, warrants, depositary receipts, equity interests in REITs, and MLPs.
The Fund will generally use a “replication” strategy to achieve its investment objective, meaning it generally will invest in all of the component securities of the Index in approximately the same proportion as in the Index. However, the Fund may use a “representative sampling” strategy, meaning it may invest in a sample of the securities in the Index, the risk, return and other characteristics of which closely resemble the risk, return and other characteristics of the Index as a whole, when Change Finance believes it is in the best interests of the Fund (e.g., when replicating the Index involves practical difficulties or substantial costs, an Index constituent becomes temporarily illiquid, unavailable, or less liquid, or as a result of legal restrictions or limitations that apply to the Fund but not to the Index).
To the extent the Index concentrates (i.e., holds more than 25% of its total assets) in the securities of a particular industry or group of related industries, the Fund will concentrate its investments to approximately the same extent as the Index.
AXS Esoterica NextG Economy ETF
The Fund is an actively managed ETF. The Fund’s primary investment strategies described in this prospectus are the strategies that Esoterica believes are most likely to be important in trying to achieve the Fund’s investment objective. You should note, however, that the Fund may use other non-principal strategies and invest in other securities not described in this prospectus, which are disclosed in detail in the Fund’s SAI. For a copy of the SAI please call toll free at 1-303-623-2577 or visit the Fund’s website at www.axsinvestments.com.
Under normal circumstances, the Fund will invest 80% of its net assets (plus any borrowings for investment purposes) in domestic and foreign equity securities of companies that are relevant to the 5G enabled digital economy, including companies involved in the production of 5G technology and companies that may benefit from the use of 5G, such as companies engaged in e-commerce or internet sales.
The Fund’s investments may include investments in micro-, small-, medium- and large-capitalization companies. The Fund will concentrate (i.e., invest 25% or more of its assets) in companies in the internet, computer, semiconductor and software industries. The Fund’s foreign investments include developed and emerging markets. The Fund may invest in foreign securities (including investments in ADRs, and GDRs) and securities listed on local foreign exchanges. The Fund may invest up to 20% of its net assets in cash and cash equivalents.
In selecting companies that Esoterica believes are relevant to the 5G enabled digital economy, it seeks to identify companies that would benefit by expanding the accessible market for their products and services as a result of the adoption of 5G. Esoterica further believes that companies that are engaged in e-commerce or internet sales, for example, may especially benefit from the adoption of 5G technology due to 5G technology’s increased peak data rates, increased
55
speed of connectivity, and more efficient use of bandwidth such that the maximum amount of data can be transmitted with the fewest transmission errors, relative to existing technology. More efficient and accurate transmission of data may result in a larger available market.
Esoterica constructs the Fund’s portfolio. Esoterica’s process for identifying companies uses both ‘‘top down’’ (thematic research sizing the potential total available market and changes in the underlying technological cycle) and ‘‘bottom up’’ (valuation, fundamental and quantitative measures) approaches. Esoterica’s internal research and analysis utilizes insights from diverse sources, including external research, to develop and refine its investment themes and identify and take advantage of trends that it believes have ramifications for individual companies or entire industries. As part of Esoterica’s top down process, the universe of potential investments are categorized by Esoterica into one of the following groups:
● Group 1: Infrastructure
The company’s business activities, products or services are focused on or benefit from the development of new products or services, technological improvements and advancements in scientific research in the development of 5G communication infrastructure network, including core network, transmission, and radio access network, or cloud computing infrastructure.
● Group 2: Edge Devices
An edge device is a type of networking device that connects an internal local area network with an external wide area network or the internet. The edge device provides interconnectivity and traffic translation between different networks on their entering edges or the network boundaries. A Group 2 company’s business activities, products or services are focused on or benefit from the development of new products or services, technological improvements and advancements in scientific research in the access of 5G networks by end users, including the edge device itself, such as a cellular phone, or a key component within the edge device, such as a baseband processor.
● Group 3: Services
The company’s business activities, products or services are enabled by the proliferation of 5G infrastructure and edge devices, which can be further categorized eMBB, mMTC, and uRLLC. The possible products and services may include video streaming, cloud gaming, autonomous driving, AR/IoT, and remote surgery. Cloud gaming is a type of online gaming that aims to provide smooth and direct playability to end users of games across various devices. Such a service could include making available a host gaming server capable of executing a gaming engine and streaming the gaming data to the client device. IoT is a system of interrelated computing devices, mechanical and digital machines, objects, animals or people that are provided with unique identifiers and the ability to transfer data over a network without requiring human-to-human or human-to-computer interaction.
Esoterica selects investments for the Fund that represent its highest-conviction investment ideas within the above groups, are attractively valued and well-positioned, and which Esoterica believes offer the best risk-reward opportunities. The Fund has no set holding period for any security and actively trades its portfolio investments, which may result in a high portfolio turnover rate. Securities may be sold when they no longer meet Esoterica’s target risk/return profile or if the Fund requires cash to meet redemption requests. Esoterica attempts to control risk through various techniques, including scaling in or out of positions, using position limits and using stop orders.
In managing the Fund’s portfolio, Esoterica may engage in frequent transactions, resulting in a higher portfolio turnover rate. The Fund seeks to participate in gains in the U.S. and foreign markets in all market conditions and will attempt to minimize the impact of market losses during periods of extreme market stress.
When Esoterica believes that current market, economic, political or other conditions are unsuitable and would impair the pursuit of the Fund’s investment objective, Esoterica may invest some or all of the Fund’s assets in cash or cash equivalents, including but not limited to obligations of the U.S. government, money market fund shares, commercial
56
paper, certificates of deposit and/or bankers’ acceptances, as well as other interest bearing or discount obligations or debt instruments that carry an investment grade rating by a national rating agency. When the Fund takes a temporary defensive position, the Fund may not achieve its investment objective.
The Fund is classified as “non-diversified” under the 1940 Act, which means that it may invest more of its assets in a smaller number of issuers than “diversified” funds.
AXS First Priority CLO Bond ETF
The Fund is an actively managed ETF. The Fund’s primary investment strategies described in this prospectus are the strategies that the Advisor believes are most likely to be important in trying to achieve the Fund’s investment objective. You should note, however, that the Fund may use other non-principal strategies and invest in other securities not described in this prospectus, which are disclosed in detail in the Fund’s SAI. For a copy of the SAI please call toll free at 1-303-623-2577 or visit the Fund’s website at www.axsinvestments.com.
Under normal circumstances, the Fund invests at least 80% of its net assets (plus any borrowings for investment purposes) in AAA rated first priority debt tranches of U.S. dollar-dominated CLOs. The Fund will not change this investment policy unless it gives shareholders at least 60 days’ advance written notice.
The Fund principally invests in CLOs with the following criteria:
● |
Rated AAA or equivalent, at the time of purchase by the Fund, by a NRSRO such as Moody’s, S&P, or Fitch, After purchase, a CLO’s rating may decline below the minimum rating required by the Fund for purchase. In such cases, the Fund’s Sub-Advisor, will consider whether continuing to hold the CLO is in the best interest of the Fund. |
● |
The Fund will invest in BSL CLOs. A BSL CLO is a CLO that limits the amount of loan collateral whose offering size is typically less than $250 million to a maximum of approximately 5% of the portfolio. The underlying collateral pool for each CLO must be comprised primarily (typically 90%) of broadly syndicated senior-secured first lien loans. |
● |
The Fund will invest only in the senior-most tranches of CLOs. Senior tranches are paid from the cash flows of the underlying assets before the junior tranches and equity, or “first loss,” tranches. Senior tranches pay the lowest interest rates but are generally safer investments than more junior tranches because, should there be any default, senior tranches are typically paid first. For the avoidance of doubt, the CLOs that the Fund purchases will be the senior-most tranches, consisting of floating rate bonds that rank first in priority of payments, at the time the CLO is issued. The Fund will not purchase CLO tranches that have subsequently become the senior-most tranches due to amortization of previously more senior tranches. |
● |
The Fund will only invest in a CLO with a minimum initial total deal size of $300 million and minimum initial AAA tranche size of $150 million. |
● |
The Fund will not invest more than 5% of its total assets in any single security. |
● |
The Fund will not invest more than 10% of its total assets in any single CLO manager. |
● |
Each CLO will have a maximum WARF (the “Maximum WARF”), at the time of purchase, of less than the greater of: a) 3,000, and b) the median WARF value of all outstanding broadly syndicated CLOs (as determined by AAF). |
57
WARF is calculated by the trustee of a CLO on a monthly basis. It is a numerical representation of the aggregate credit risk of the underlying portfolio of loans. It is calculated as a weighted average of the Moody’s Rating Factor values for each of the individual loans in the CLO portfolio. The table below provides a mapping between Moody’s Rating Factors and Moody’s credit ratings of each loan.
Moody’s Rating |
Moody’s Rating Factor |
Aaa |
1 |
Aa1 |
10 |
Aa2 |
20 |
Aa3 |
40 |
A1 |
70 |
A2 |
120 |
A3 |
180 |
Baa1 |
260 |
Baa2 |
360 |
Baa3 |
610 |
Ba1 |
940 |
Ba2 |
1350 |
Ba3 |
1766 |
B1 |
2220 |
B2 |
2720 |
B3 |
3490 |
Caa1 |
4770 |
Caa2 |
6500 |
Caa3 |
8070 |
Ca-C |
10000 |
The Fund’s Maximum WARF constraint effectively imposes credit quality limitations on the CLOs that are eligible for inclusion in the Fund’s portfolio. While the Maximum WARF seeks to limit the Fund’s exposure to the risks of investing in lower-rated CLOs, such as CLOs with exceedingly large balances of low-rated (B3, Caa, Ca-C) loans, whether by design or due to credit migration, it also may limit the upside performance potential of the Fund’s investments in CLOs.
AXS Green Alpha ETF
The Fund is an actively managed ETF. The Fund’s primary investment strategies described in this prospectus are the strategies that the Advisor believes are most likely to be important in trying to achieve the Fund’s investment objective. You should note, however, that the Fund may use other non-principal strategies and invest in other securities not described in this prospectus, which are disclosed in detail in the Fund’s SAI. For a copy of the SAI please call toll free at 1-303-623-2577 or visit the Fund’s website at www.axsinvestments.com.
Under normal circumstances, the Fund will invest at least 80% of its net assets, plus borrowings for investment purposes, in sustainable companies. Sustainable companies are companies that are determined by Green Alpha that seek to mitigate global sustainable systemic risks. Such risks include, but are not limited to, the climate crisis, natural resource degradation and scarcity, and human disease burdens.
The Fund seeks investments in companies that in addition to seeking to address global sustainability systemic risks, Green Alpha believes have above-average growth potential and are reasonably valued at the time of purchase.
58
In selecting investments for the Fund, Green Alpha identifies the universe of investible companies as companies that Green Alpha believes are leading a transition to global stability in one or more of the following four pillars of sustainability:
1. |
Rapid, large economic productivity gains: Economic productivity gains are defined by Green Alpha as the ability of the economy to produce increasingly more goods and services for the same amount (or less) of inputs, including work as measured in person hours and/or energy required, capital required, or required consumed materials including natural resources. For an economy to continue to function indefinitely without succumbing to one of the system-level threats present today, economic productivity must increase such that current and growing levels of output can be maintained versus shrinking quantities of inputs. In the language of sustainability, this is sometimes referred to as economic “dematerialization.” |
2. |
Renewable energies: The efficient, innovative means of production must be powered entirely by renewable sources of energy, which Green Alpha defines as those with zero cost of fuel input, including wind, water, solar, and some forms of geothermal energy. |
3. |
Waste-to-value supply chains: Extraction of primary geological resources needs to be reduced dramatically, and ultimately halted altogether. Thus, life cycle product management and indefinite reuse of already economically functional material is important. |
4. |
More equitable distribution of wealth: This fourth pillar ties the first three together. Historically, education and productivity have been the most important influences on stability, economic growth, and social well-being. A high degree of social cohesion is required to address risks and achieve true sustainability, and conversely, sharply divided civilizations have often experienced collapse. If individuals believe they live in a fair system with equal access to opportunity, civil unrest and its attendant risks are greatly attenuated. |
Green Alpha’s selection process includes proprietary, multi-dimensional research and analysis methodologies. In order to qualify for potential investment by the Fund, a company’s business activities must be net contributing to one or more of the four pillars of sustainability that are described above. This is determined based on an evaluation of a company’s source of revenues and capital expenditure priorities. In particular, the company’s earning revenue generation must be majority derived from advancing one or more of the four pillars of sustainability, and similarly, the company’s capital expenditures must prioritize further investment addressing the sustainability pillar(s). If a company meets this initial qualification for potential investment, further analysis is then undertaken to determine the company’s commitment to sustainability utilizing metrics such as realized and planned efforts at decarbonization, electrification, dematerialization, and reductions in overall emissions. In particular, a company must have stated operational sustainability commitments and demonstrated adherence to such commitments. After this evaluation, further analysis is undertaken to determine relative social and governance merits of a company, such as diversity of leadership and workforce, employee well-being, and commitment to developing long-term shareholder value. If a company sufficiently passes the above-described evaluation process, it is put through fundamentals and valuation analysis, referred to as the “bottom-up process.” Fundamental factors considered in Green Alpha’s bottom-up process include, but are not limited to: revenue growth history and forward-looking expectations, track record of delivering margins and margin expansion, balance sheet health (emphasis on debt structure, levels and access to future capital, cost of capital), ability to service debt, and strong and expanding cash flows (or path to positive and expanding cash flows). Valuation factors considered in Green Alpha’s bottom-up process include but are not limited to: price-to-book ratio, price-to-sales ratio, price-to-cash flow ratio, market-share growth, addressable market growth, and revenue and earnings growth expectations relative to current price. Green Alpha applies its proprietary investment process to each equity investment opportunity.
Green Alpha’s proprietary research and analysis processes seek opportunities in all sectors and industries, regardless of which pillar(s) of sustainability a company may address. In addition, Green Alpha utilizes an active management approach to the strategy. As such, at any given time, the Fund’s portfolio may be more heavily weighted towards companies that address a particular pillar of sustainability. Green Alpha’s strategy may place additional emphasis on companies that seek to simultaneously address two or more pillars of sustainability, and/or solve for two or more system-level risks. For example, Green Alpha believes that electric, zero emissions transportation mitigates both human disease burdens, particularly in cities where tailpipe emissions are a major public health concern, and the climate crisis.
59
Green Alpha maintains a proprietary list of investible companies from which portfolio constituents are selected. The portfolio construction strategy requires consideration of each company’s business and its contributions to sustainability, before and in addition to evaluation of company fundamentals. Green Alpha selects each company in which the Fund invests for its objective or ability to address a systemic sustainability risk, and for its ability to grow and gain market share from other companies that are often the causes of these risks. Each company in which the Fund invests must successfully pass through two distinct evaluation methodologies: one to identify authentic membership in at least one of the pillars of sustainability described above, and a second to rigorously assess company fundamentals and stock-specific valuations. To qualify for portfolio inclusion, each issuer must qualify under both methodologies.
The Fund may invest in companies of all sizes and across economic sectors and geography. Although the Fund will attempt to invest as much of its assets as is practical in common stocks and ADRs, the Fund may maintain a reasonable (up to 20%) position in U.S. Treasury Bills and money market instruments to meet liquidity needs.
Green Alpha generally will consider selling securities from the Fund’s portfolio when it believes such securities are no longer consistent with the Fund’s investment objectives or desired valuation metrics, or other securities appear to offer more compelling opportunities.
Cash Equivalents and Short-Term Investments (AXS Astoria Inflation Sensitive ETF, AXS Green Alpha ETF, AXS First Priority CLO Bond ETF)
The Funds may invest in securities with maturities of less than two years or cash equivalents, or it may hold cash for temporary defensive purposes. The percentage of a Fund invested in such holdings varies and depends on several factors, including market conditions. For temporary defensive purposes and during periods of high cash inflows or outflows, a Fund may depart from its principal investment strategies and invest part or all of its assets in these securities or it may hold cash. During such periods, the Fund may not be able to achieve its investment objective. Each Fund may adopt a defensive strategy when the portfolio manager believes instruments in which the Fund normally invests have elevated risks due to political or economic factors and in other extraordinary circumstances.
Disclosure of Portfolio Holdings
A description of the Trust’s policies and procedures with respect to the disclosure of the Funds’ portfolio holdings is available in the Funds’ SAI, which is available at www.axsinvestments.com.
ADDITIONAL RISKS OF INVESTING IN THE FUNDS
Risk is inherent in all investing. Investing in the Funds involves risk, including the risk that you may lose all or part of your investment. There can be no assurance that a Fund will meet its stated objective. Before you invest, you should consider the following supplemental disclosure pertaining to the Principal Risks set forth above as well as additional Non-Principal Risks set forth below in this prospectus.
PRINCIPAL RISKS OF THE FUNDS
Market Risk (All Funds). The market price of a security or instrument may decline, sometimes rapidly or unpredictably, due to general market conditions that are not specifically related to a particular company, such as real or perceived adverse economic or political conditions throughout the world, changes in the general outlook for corporate earnings, changes in interest or currency rates, or adverse investor sentiment generally. In addition, local, regional or global events such as war, acts of terrorism, the spread of infectious illness or other public health issues, or other events could have a significant impact on a security or instrument. For example, the financial crisis that began in 2007 caused a significant decline in the value and liquidity of many securities; in particular, the values of some sovereign debt and of securities of issuers that invest in sovereign debt and related investments fell, credit became more scarce worldwide and there was significant uncertainty in the markets. More recently, higher inflation, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the COVID-19 pandemic have negatively affected the worldwide economy, as well as the economies of individual countries, the financial health of individual companies and the market in general in significant and unforeseen ways. Such environments could make identifying investment risks and opportunities especially difficult for the Advisor. In response to the crises, the United States and other governments have taken steps to support financial markets. The withdrawal of this support or failure of efforts in response to a crisis could negatively affect financial markets generally as well as the value and liquidity of certain securities. In addition, policy and legislative changes in the United States and in other countries are changing many aspects of financial regulation. The impact of these changes on the markets, and the practical implications for market participants, may not be fully known for some time. The market value of a security or instrument also may decline because of factors that affect a particular industry or industries, such as labor shortages or increased production costs and competitive conditions within an industry.
60
ETF Structure Risks (All Funds). Each Fund is an ETF, and, as a result of an ETF’s structure, it is exposed to the following risks:
Authorized Participant Concentration Risk. Only an authorized participant may engage in creation or redemption transactions directly with the Acquiring Fund. The Acquiring Fund has a limited number of institutions that act as authorized participants on an agency basis (i.e., on behalf of other market participants). To the extent that these institutions exit the business or are unable to proceed with creation and/or redemption orders with respect to the Acquiring Fund and no other authorized participant is able to step forward to create or redeem, in either of these cases, shares may trade at a discount to the Acquiring Fund’s net asset value and possibly face delisting.
Cash Transaction Risk. To the extent the Fund sells portfolio securities to meet some or all of a redemption request with cash, the Fund may incur taxable gains or losses that it might not have incurred had it made redemptions entirely in-kind. As a result, the Fund may pay out higher annual capital gain distributions than if the in-kind redemption process was used.
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 the spread 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 Acquiring Fund, asset swings in the Acquiring 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.
Fluctuation of Net Asset Value Risk. As with all ETFs, shares may be bought and sold in the secondary market at market prices. Although it is expected that the market prices of shares will approximate the Acquiring Fund’s NAV, there may be times when the market prices of shares is more than the NAV (premium) or less than the NAV (discount). Differences in market price and NAV may be due, in large part, to the fact that supply and demand forces at work in the secondary trading market for shares will be closely related to, but not identical to, the same forces influencing the prices of the holdings of the Acquiring Fund trading individually or in the aggregate at any point in time. These differences can be especially pronounced during times of market volatility or stress. During these periods, the demand for Acquiring Fund shares may decrease considerably and cause the market price of Acquiring Fund shares to deviate significantly from the Acquiring Fund’s NAV.
Market Maker Risk. If the Fund has lower average daily trading volumes, it may rely on a small number of third-party market makers to provide a market for the purchase and sale of Acquiring Fund shares. Any trading halt or other problem relating to the trading activity of these market makers could result in a dramatic change in the spread between the Acquiring Fund’s NAV and the price at which the Acquiring Fund shares are trading on the Exchange, which could result in a decrease in value of the Acquiring Fund shares. In addition, decisions by market makers or authorized participants to reduce their role or step away from these activities in times of market stress could inhibit the effectiveness of the arbitrage process in maintaining the relationship between the underlying values of the Acquiring Fund’s portfolio securities and the Acquiring Fund’s market price. This reduced effectiveness could result in Acquiring Fund shares trading at a discount to NAV and also in greater than normal intra-day bid-ask spreads for Acquiring Fund shares.
Shares are Not Individually Redeemable. Shares are only redeemable by the Fund at NAV if they are tendered in Creation Units. Only Authorized Participants may engage in such creation and redemption transactions directly with the Fund. Individual Shares may be sold on a stock exchange at their current market prices, which may be less, more, or equal to their NAV.
61
Trading Issues Risk. Although the Acquiring Fund shares are listed for trading on the Exchange, there can be no assurance that an active trading market for such Acquiring Fund shares will develop or be maintained. Trading in Acquiring Fund shares on the Exchange may be halted due to market conditions or for reasons that, in the view of the Exchange, make trading in Acquiring Fund shares inadvisable. In addition, trading in Acquiring Fund shares on the Exchange is subject to trading halts caused by extraordinary market volatility pursuant to the Exchange “circuit breaker” rules. Market makers are under no obligation to make a market in the Acquiring Fund shares, and authorized participants are not obligated to submit purchase or redemption orders for Creation Units. There can be no assurance that the requirements of the Exchange necessary to maintain the listing of the Acquiring Fund will continue to be met or will remain unchanged. Initially, due to the small asset size of the Acquiring Fund, it may have difficulty maintaining its listings on the Exchange.
Recent Market Events (All Funds). Periods of market volatility may occur in response to market events and other economic, political, and global macro factors. The COVID-19 pandemic, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and higher inflation have resulted in extreme volatility in the financial markets, economic downturns around the world, and severe losses, particularly to some sectors of the economy and individual issuers, and reduced liquidity of certain instruments. These events have caused significant disruptions to business operations, including business closures; strained healthcare systems; disruptions to supply chains and employee availability; large fluctuations in consumer demand; large expansion of government deficits and debt as a result of government actions to mitigate the effects of such events; and widespread uncertainty regarding the long-term effects of such events.
Governments and central banks, including the Federal Reserve in the United States, took extraordinary and unprecedented actions to support local and global economies and the financial markets in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, including by keeping interest rates at historically low levels for an extended period. The Federal Reserve concluded its market support activities in 2022 and began to raise interest rates in an effort to fight inflation. The Federal Reserve may determine to raise interest rates further. This and other government intervention into the economy and financial markets to address the pandemic, inflation, or other significant events in the future, may not work as intended, particularly if the efforts are perceived by investors as being unlikely to achieve the desired results.
Such events could be prolonged and could adversely affect the value and liquidity of the Fund’s investments, impair the Fund’s ability to satisfy redemption requests, and negatively impact the Fund’s performance. Other market events may cause similar disruptions and effects.
Cybersecurity Risk (All Funds). Cybersecurity incidents may allow an unauthorized party to gain access to Fund assets, customer data (including private shareholder information), or proprietary information, or cause a Fund, the Advisor, the Sub-Advisor(s) and/or other service providers (including custodians, sub-custodians, transfer agents and financial intermediaries) to suffer data breaches, data corruption or loss of operational functionality. In an extreme case, a shareholder’s ability to exchange or redeem Fund shares may be affected. Issuers of securities in which the Fund invests are also subject to cybersecurity risks, and the value of those securities could decline if the issuers experience cybersecurity incidents.
5G Companies and Emerging Technologies Investment Risk (AXS Esoterica NextG Economy ETF). Companies across a wide variety of industries, primarily in the technology sector, are exploring the possible applications of 5G technologies. The extent of such technologies’ versatility has not yet been fully explored. Consequently, the Fund’s holdings will include equity securities of operating companies that focus on or have exposure to a wide variety of industries. The revenues of the companies held by the Fund are generally expected to be significantly tied to 5G technologies. Currently, there are few public companies for which 5G technologies represent an attributable and significant revenue or profit stream, and such technologies may not ultimately have a material effect on the economic returns of companies in which the Fund invests.
Risks Associated with China (AXS Esoterica NextG Economy ETF). Investments in Chinese issuers involve legal, regulatory, political, currency, and economic risks that are specific to China. The Chinese economy is generally considered an emerging market and can be significantly affected by economic and political conditions and policy in China and surrounding Asian countries. A relatively small number of Chinese companies represent a large portion
62
of China’s total market and thus may be more sensitive to adverse political or economic circumstances and market movements. The economy of China differs, often unfavorably, from the U.S. economy in such respects as structure, general development, government involvement, wealth distribution, rate of inflation, growth rate, allocation of resources and capital reinvestment, among others. Disclosure and regulatory standards in China are less stringent than U.S. standards, and there is substantially less publicly available information about Chinese issuers than there is about U.S. issuers. Under China’s political and economic system, the central government has historically exercised substantial control over virtually every sector of the Chinese economy through administrative regulation and/or state ownership. In addition, expropriation, including nationalization, confiscatory taxation, political, economic or social instability or other developments could adversely affect and significantly diminish the values of the Chinese companies in which the Fund invests. Moreover, the imposition of restrictions on repatriation of capital invested may have an adverse effect on the Fund’s performance and the Fund’s ability to meet redemption requests. International trade tensions may arise from time to time which can result in trade tariffs, embargoes, trade limitations, trade wars and other negative consequences. These consequences may trigger a reduction in international trade, the oversupply of certain manufactured goods, substantial price reductions of goods and possible failure of individual companies and/or large segments of China’s export industry with a potentially severe negative impact to the Fund. China’s currency, which historically has been managed in a tight range relative to the U.S. dollar, may in the future be subject to greater uncertainty as Chinese authorities change the policies that determine the exchange rate mechanism. From time to time, China has experienced outbreaks of infectious illnesses, and the country may be subject to other public health threats or similar issues in the future. Any spread of an infectious illness, public health threat or similar issue could reduce consumer demand or economic output, result in market closures, travel restrictions or quarantines, and generally have a significant impact on the Chinese economy. The Fund’s rights with respect to its investments in A-Shares, if any, will generally be governed by Chinese law. China operates under a civil law system in which court precedent is not binding, which means that there is no binding precedent to interpret existing statutes and thus there is uncertainty regarding the implementation of existing law. It may therefore be difficult or impossible for the Fund to enforce its rights as an investor under Chinese law.
Collateralized Loan Obligations Risk (AXS First Priority CLO Bond ETF). A CLO is a trust typically collateralized by a pool of credit-related assets, which may include, among others, domestic and foreign senior secured loans, senior unsecured loans, and subordinate corporate loans, including loans that may be rated below investment grade or equivalent unrated loans. The cash flows from the trust are split into two or more portions, called tranches, varying in risk and yield. The riskiest portion is the “equity” tranche, which bears the bulk of defaults from the bonds or loans in the trust and serves to protect the other, more senior tranches, including those in which the Fund intends to invest, from default in all but the most severe circumstances. Because it is partially protected from defaults, a senior tranche from a CLO trust typically has higher ratings and lower yields than its underlying securities, and can be rated investment grade. Despite the protection from the equity tranche, CLO tranches can experience substantial losses due to actual defaults, increased sensitivity to defaults due to collateral default and disappearance of protecting tranches, and market anticipation of defaults. CLO securities present risks similar to those of other types of credit investments, including default (credit), interest rate and prepayment risks, and the extent of these risks largely depends on the type of securities used as collateral and the class of the CLO in which the Fund invests. In addition, CLOs are often governed by a complex series of legal documents and contracts, which increases the risk of dispute over the interpretation and enforceability of such documents relative to other types of investments. There is also a risk that the trustee of a CLO does not properly carry out its duties to the CLO, potentially resulting in loss to the CLO. CLOs are also inherently leveraged vehicles and are subject to leverage risk. A CLO may be characterized as an illiquid security due to a limited market for the resale of such CLO or adverse market conditions affecting CLOs, generally.
Collateralized Loan Obligations Leveraging Risk (AXS First Priority CLO Bond ETF). CLOs are typically leveraged, and such leverage will magnify the loss on CLO investments, which may in turn magnify the loss experienced by the Fund. The cumulative effect of leverage with respect to any investments in a market that moves adversely to such investments could result in a substantial loss that would be greater than if the Fund’s investments were not leveraged. For example, a liquidity crisis in the global credit markets could cause substantial fluctuations in prices for leveraged loans and high-yield debt securities and limited liquidity for such instruments. In addition, loans underlying the CLOs
63
in which the Fund may invest may be made to finance highly leveraged corporate transactions. The highly leveraged capital structure of the borrowers in such transactions may make such loans especially vulnerable to adverse changes in economic or market conditions.
A CLO is subject to a “waterfall” or a set of rules that dictates how the principal and interest proceeds from the underlying portfolio of corporate loans will be allocated among the tranches. These proceeds are allocated first to the most senior tranches, then sequentially lower through the other tranches, and finally to the equity. Any potential losses in the underlying loan portfolio will be realized in reverse sequential order and absorbed first by the equity tranche, then the non-senior debt tranches, and finally the most senior bonds. In this sense, the non-senior tranches can be viewed as inherently leveraged since they are not first in priority of payments; in the same vein, the most senior tranche of a CLO (the target assets for the Fund) can be view as unlevered.
The Fund will invest in the most senior tranches of CLOs (those that are also AAA rated), floating rate bonds that rank first in priority of payments, only. So, while certain junior tranches of CLOs may be viewed as inherently leveraged, the Fund’s holdings generally will be less affected by the effects of leverage as they are protected from losses to some extent by the presence of junior tranches.
Commodities Risk (AXS Astoria Inflation Sensitive ETF). The Fund has exposure to commodities through investments in Underlying ETFs. Commodity prices can have significant volatility, and exposure to commodities can cause the value of the Fund’s shares to decline or fluctuate in a rapid and unpredictable manner. The values of commodities may be affected by changes in overall market movements, real or perceived inflationary trends, commodity index volatility, changes in interest rates or currency exchange rates, population growth and changing demographics, international economic, political and regulatory developments, and factors affecting a particular region, industry or commodity, such as drought, floods, or other weather conditions, livestock disease, changes in storage costs, trade embargoes, competition from substitute products, transportation bottlenecks or shortages, fluctuations in supply and demand, and tariffs. A liquid secondary market may not exist for certain commodity investments, which may make it difficult for the Fund to sell them at a desirable price or at the price at which it is carrying them. The commodity markets are subject to temporary distortions or other disruptions due to, among other factors, lack of liquidity, the participation of speculators, and government regulation and other actions.
Commodity-Linked Derivatives Risk (AXS Astoria Inflation Sensitive ETF). The value of a commodity-linked derivative instrument in which an Underlying ETF may invest typically is based upon the price movements of the underlying commodity or an economic variable linked to such price movements. The prices of commodity-related investments may fluctuate quickly and dramatically as a result of changes affecting a particular commodity and may not correlate to price movements in other asset classes, such as stocks, bonds and cash. Commodity-linked derivatives are subject to the risk that the counterparty to the transaction, the exchange or trading facility on which they trade, or the applicable clearing house may default or otherwise fail to perform. In addition, each exchange or trading facility on which the derivatives are traded has the right to suspend or limit trading in all futures or other instruments that it lists. An Underlying ETF’s use of commodity-linked derivatives may also have a leveraging effect on the Underlying ETF’s portfolio. Leverage generally magnifies the effect of a change in the value of an asset and creates a risk of loss of value on a larger pool of assets than the Fund would otherwise have had. An Underlying ETF is required to post margin in respect to its holdings in derivatives. Each of these factors and events could have a significant negative impact on the Fund.
Concentration Risk (AXS Brendan Wood TopGun Index ETF, AXS Change Finance ESG ETF, AXS Esoterica NextG Economy ETF). To the extent a Fund’s investments are concentrated in a particular industry or group of industries, the Fund may be susceptible to an increased risk of loss, including losses due to adverse occurrences affecting the Fund more than the market as a whole, to the extent that a Fund’s investments are concentrated in the securities of a particular issuer or issuers, country, group of countries, region, market, industry, group of industries, sector, or asset class.
● |
Computer Software/Services Companies Risk (AXS Esoterica NextG Economy ETF). Computer software/services companies can be significantly affected by competitive pressures, aggressive pricing, technological developments, changing domestic demand, the ability to attract and retain skilled employees and availability and price of components. The market for products produced by computer software/services companies is characterized by |
64
rapidly changing technology, rapid product obsolescence, cyclical market patterns, evolving industry standards and frequent new product introductions. The success of computer software/services companies depends in substantial part on the timely and successful introduction of new products and the ability to service such products. An unexpected change in one or more of the technologies affecting an issuer’s products or in the market for products based on a particular technology could have a material adverse effect on a participant’s operating results. Many computer software/services companies rely on a combination of patents, copyrights, trademarks and trade secret laws to establish and protect their proprietary rights in their products and technologies. There can be no assurance that the steps taken by computer software/services companies to protect their proprietary rights will be adequate to prevent misappropriation of their technology or that competitors will not independently develop technologies that are substantially equivalent or superior to such companies’ technology.
● |
Internet Companies Risk (AXS Esoterica NextG Economy ETF). Investments in internet industry companies may be volatile. Internet companies are subject to intense competition, the risk of product obsolescence, changes in consumer preferences and legal, regulatory and political changes. They are also especially at risk of hacking and other cybersecurity events. In addition, it can be difficult to adequately capture what qualifies as an Internet company. |
● |
Semiconductor Companies Risk (AXS Esoterica NextG Economy ETF). The Fund is subject to the risk that market or economic factors impacting semiconductor companies and companies that rely heavily on technological advances could have a major effect on the value of the Fund’s investments. The value of stocks of semiconductor companies and companies that rely heavily on technology is particularly vulnerable to rapid changes in product cycles, rapid product obsolescence, government regulation and competition, both domestically and internationally, including competition from foreign competitors with lower production costs. Semiconductor companies and companies that rely heavily on technology, especially those of smaller, less-seasoned companies, tend to be more volatile than the overall market. Additionally, semiconductor companies may face dramatic and often unpredictable changes in growth rates and competition for the services of qualified personnel. |
Credit Risk (AXS First Priority CLO Bond ETF). If an obligor (such as the issuer itself or a party offering credit enhancement) for a security held by the Fund fails to pay amounts due when required by the terms of the security, otherwise defaults, is perceived to be less creditworthy, becomes insolvent or files for bankruptcy, a security’s credit rating is downgraded or the credit quality or value of any underlying assets declines, the value of the Fund’s investment could decline. If the Fund enters into financial contracts (such as certain derivatives, repurchase agreements, reverse repurchase agreements, and when-issued, delayed delivery and forward commitment transactions), the Fund will be subject to the credit risk presented by the counterparties.
65
Currency Risk (AXS Astoria Inflation Sensitive ETF). The values of investments in securities denominated in foreign currencies increase or decrease as the rates of exchange between those currencies and the U.S. dollar change. Currency conversion costs and currency fluctuations could erase investment gains or add to investment losses. Currency exchange rates can be volatile and are affected by factors such as general economic conditions, the actions of the United States and foreign governments or central banks, the imposition of currency controls, and speculation.
Debt Securities Risk (AXS Astoria Inflation Sensitive ETF). The Fund may invest in debt securities. Investments in debt securities subject the holder to the credit risk of the issuer or other obligor. Credit risk refers to the possibility that the issuer of a security will not be able or willing to make payments of interest and principal when due. Generally, the value of debt securities will change inversely with changes in interest rates. To the extent that interest rates rise, certain underlying obligations may be paid off substantially slower than originally anticipated and the value of those securities may fall sharply. During periods of falling interest rates, the income received by the Fund may decline. If the principal on a debt security is prepaid before expected, the prepayments of principal may have to be reinvested in obligations paying interest at lower rates. Debt securities generally do not trade on a centralized securities exchange making them generally less liquid and more difficult to value than common stock. The values of debt securities may also increase or decrease as a result of market fluctuations, actual or perceived inability or unwillingness of issuers, guarantors or liquidity providers to make scheduled principal or interest payments or illiquidity in debt securities markets generally.
Depositary Receipts Risk (AXS Astoria Inflation Sensitive ETF, AXS Brendan Wood TopGun Index ETF, AXS Green Alpha ETF, AXS Esoterica NextG Economy ETF). A Fund may invest in depositary receipts. Depositary receipts may be subject to certain of the risks associated with direct investments in the securities of foreign companies, such as currency, political, economic and market risks, because their values depend on the performance of the non-dollar denominated underlying foreign securities. Certain countries may limit the ability to convert depositary into the underlying foreign securities and vice versa, which may cause the securities of the foreign company to trade at a discount or premium to the market price of the related depositary receipts. Depositary receipts may be purchased through “sponsored” or “unsponsored” facilities. A sponsored facility is established jointly by a depositary and the issuer of the underlying security. A depositary may establish an unsponsored facility without participation by the issuer of the deposited security. Unsponsored receipts may involve higher expenses and may be less liquid. Holders of unsponsored depositary receipts generally bear all the costs of such facilities, and the depositary of an unsponsored facility frequently is under no obligation to distribute shareholder communications received from the issuer of the deposited security or to pass through voting rights to the holders of such receipts in respect of the deposited securities.
Emerging Markets Risk (AXS Esoterica NextG Economy ETF). Many of the risks with respect to foreign investments are more pronounced for investments in issuers in developing or emerging market countries. Emerging market countries tend to have more government exchange controls, more volatile interest and currency exchange rates, less market regulation, and less developed and less stable economic, political and legal systems than those of more developed countries. There may be less publicly available and reliable information about issuers in emerging markets than is available about issuers in more developed capital markets, and such issuers may not be subject to regulatory, accounting, auditing, and financial reporting and recordkeeping standards comparable to those to which U.S. companies are subject. The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (“PCAOB”), which regulates auditors of U.S. public companies, for example, may be unable to inspect audit work and practices in certain countries. If the PCAOB is unable to oversee the operations of accounting firms in such countries, inaccurate or incomplete financial records of an issuer’s operations may not be detected, which could negatively impact a Fund’s investment in such companies. In addition, emerging market countries may experience high levels of inflation and may have less liquid securities markets and less efficient trading and settlement systems. Their economies also depend heavily upon international trade and may be adversely affected by protective trade barriers and the economic conditions of their trading partners. Emerging market countries may have fixed or managed currencies that are not free-floating against the U.S. dollar and may not be traded internationally. Some countries with emerging securities markets have experienced high rates of inflation for many years. Inflation and rapid fluctuations in inflation rates have had and may continue to have negative effects on the economies and securities markets of certain countries. Emerging markets typically have substantially less volume than U.S. markets, securities in these markets are less liquid, and their prices often are more volatile than those of comparable U.S. companies. Securities markets in emerging markets may also be susceptible to manipulation or other fraudulent trade practices, which could
66
disrupt the functioning of these markets or adversely affect the value of investments traded in these markets, including investments of the Fund. The Fund’s rights with respect to its investments in emerging markets, if any, will generally be governed by local law, which may make it difficult or impossible for the Fund to pursue legal remedies or to obtain and enforce judgments in local courts. Delays may occur in settling securities transactions in emerging market countries, which could adversely affect the Fund’s ability to make or liquidate investments in those markets in a timely fashion. In addition, it may not be possible for the Fund to find satisfactory custodial services in an emerging market country, which could increase the Fund’s costs and cause delays in the transportation and custody of its investments. There may also be restrictions on imports from certain countries, such as Russia, and dealings with certain state-sponsored entities. For example, following Russia’s large-scale invasion of Ukraine, the President of the United States signed an Executive Order in February 2022 prohibiting U.S. persons from entering into transactions with the Central Bank of Russia, and Executive Orders in March 2022 prohibiting U.S. persons from importing oil and gas from Russia as well as other popular Russian exports, such as diamonds, seafood and vodka. There may also be restrictions on investments in Chinese companies. For example, the President of the United States signed an Executive Order in June 2021 affirming and expanding the U.S. policy prohibiting U.S. persons from purchasing or investing in publicly-traded securities of companies identified by the U.S. Government as “Chinese Military-Industrial Complex Companies.” The list of such companies can change from time to time, and as a result of forced selling or an inability to participate in an investment the Advisor otherwise believes is attractive, the Fund may incur losses. Any of these factors may adversely affect the Fund’s performance or the Fund’s ability to pursue its investment objective.
Environmental Investing Risk (AXS Green Alpha ETF). The universe of acceptable investments for the Fund may be limited as compared to other funds due to the Sub-Advisor’s proprietary research process. This may affect the Fund’s exposure to certain companies or industries and may adversely impact the Fund’s performance depending on whether such companies or industries are in or out of favor in the market. The Fund’s performance may be lower than other funds that do not seek to invest in companies based on environmental factors and/or remove certain companies or industries from its selection process.
Equity Risk (AXS Brendan Wood TopGun Index ETF, AXS Change Finance ESG ETF, AXS Green Alpha ETF, AXS Esoterica NextG Economy ETF). The value of the equity securities held by the Fund may fall due to general market and economic conditions, perceptions regarding the industries in which the issuers of securities held by the Fund participate, or factors relating to specific companies in which the Fund invests. The price of common stock of an issuer in the Fund’s portfolio may decline if the issuer fails to make anticipated dividend payments because, among other reasons, the financial condition of the issuer declines. Common stock is subordinated to preferred stocks, bonds and other debt instruments in a company’s capital structure in terms of priority with respect to corporate income, and therefore will be subject to greater dividend risk than preferred stocks or debt instruments of such issuers. In addition, while broad market measures of common stocks have historically generated higher average returns than fixed income securities, common stocks have also experienced significantly more volatility in those returns.
Equity Securities Risk (AXS Astoria Inflation Sensitive ETF). The value of the equity securities the underlying security or underlying ETF holds may fall due to general market and economic conditions, perceptions regarding the industries in which the issuers of securities the underlying security or underlying ETF holds participate or factors relating to specific companies in which the underlying security or underlying ETF invests. These can include stock movements, purchases or sales of securities by the underlying security or underlying ETF, government policies, litigation and changes in interest rates, inflation, the financial condition of the securities’ issuer or perceptions of the issuer, or economic conditions in general or specific to the issuer. Equity securities may also be particularly sensitive to general movements in the stock market, and a decline in the broader market may affect the value of the underlying security or underlying ETF’s equity investments.
Extension Risk (AXS First Priority CLO Bond ETF). When interest rates rise, repayments of fixed income securities may occur more slowly than anticipated, extending the effective duration of these fixed income securities at below market interest rates and causing their market prices to decline more than they would have declined due to the rise in interest rates alone.
67
Fixed Income Securities Risk (AXS First Priority CLO Bond ETF). The prices of fixed income securities respond to economic developments, particularly interest rate changes, as well as to changes in an issuer’s credit rating or market perceptions about the creditworthiness of an issuer. Prices of fixed income securities tend to move inversely with changes in interest rates. Generally fixed income securities decrease in value if interest rates rise and increase in value if interest rates fall, with lower rated securities more volatile than higher rated securities. The longer the effective maturity and duration of the Fund’s portfolio, the more the Fund’s share price is likely to react to changes in interest rates. (Duration is a weighted measure of the length of time required to receive the present value of future payments, both interest and principal, from a fixed income security.) Some fixed income securities give the issuer the option to call, or redeem, the securities before their maturity dates. If an issuer calls its security during a time of declining interest rates, the Fund might have to reinvest the proceeds in an investment offering a lower yield, and therefore might not benefit from any increase in value of the security as a result of declining interest rates. During periods of market illiquidity or rising interest rates, prices of callable issues are subject to increased price fluctuation. In addition, the Fund may be subject to extension risk, which occurs during a rising interest rate environment because certain obligations may be paid off by an issuer more slowly than anticipated, causing the value of those securities held by the Fund to fall.
Floating Rate Notes Risk (AXS First Priority CLO Bond ETF). Securities with floating or variable interest rates can be less sensitive to interest rate changes than securities with fixed interest rates, but may decline in value if their interest rates do not rise as much, or as quickly, as interest rates in general. Conversely, floating rate securities will not generally increase in value if interest rates decline. A decline in interest rates may result in a reduction of income received from floating rate securities held by the Fund and may adversely affect the value of the Fund’s shares. Generally, floating rate securities carry lower yields than fixed notes of the same maturity. The interest rate for a floating rate note resets or adjusts periodically by reference to a benchmark interest rate. The impact of interest rate changes on floating rate investments is typically mitigated by the periodic interest rate reset of the investments. Securities with longer durations tend to be more sensitive to interest rate changes, usually making them more volatile than securities with shorter durations. Floating rate notes generally are subject to legal or contractual restrictions on resale, may trade infrequently, and their value may be impaired when the Fund needs to liquidate such loans. Benchmark interest rates, such as the LIBOR, may not accurately track market interest rates.
Foreign Securities Risk (AXS Astoria Inflation Sensitive ETF, AXS Brendan Wood TopGun Index ETF). Investments in the securities of non-U.S. issuers involve risks beyond those associated with investments in U.S. securities. These additional risks include greater market volatility, the availability of less reliable financial information, higher transactional and custody costs, taxation by foreign governments, decreased market liquidity and political instability. Some countries and regions have experienced security concerns, war or threats of war and aggression, terrorism, economic uncertainty, natural and environmental disasters and/or systemic market dislocations that have led, and in the future may lead, to increased short-term market volatility and may have adverse long-term effects on the U.S. and world economies and markets generally. Foreign issuers are often subject to less stringent requirements regarding accounting, auditing, financial reporting and record keeping than are U.S. issuers, and therefore not all material information will be available. Securities exchanges or foreign governments may adopt rules or regulations that may negatively impact a Fund’s ability to invest in foreign securities or may prevent a Fund from repatriating its investments. Less developed securities markets are more likely to experience problems with the clearing and settling of trades, as well as the holding of securities by local banks, agents and depositories. The less developed a country’s securities market is, the greater the likelihood of custody problems.
Foreign Investment Risk (AXS Esoterica NextG Economy ETF, AXS Green Alpha ETF). Investments in foreign securities are affected by risk factors generally not thought to be present in the United States. The prices of foreign securities may be more volatile than the prices of securities of U.S. issuers because of economic and social conditions abroad, political developments, and changes in the regulatory environments of foreign countries. Special risks associated with investments in foreign markets include less liquidity, less developed or less efficient trading markets, lack of comprehensive company information, less government supervision of exchanges, brokers and issuers, greater risks associated with counterparties and settlement, and difficulty in enforcing contractual obligations. Changes in exchange rates and interest rates, and the imposition of foreign taxes, sanctions, confiscations, trade restrictions (including tariffs) and other government restrictions by the United States and/or other governments may adversely affect the values of a
68
Fund’s foreign investments. Foreign companies are generally subject to different legal and accounting standards than U.S. companies, and foreign financial intermediaries may be subject to less supervision and regulation than U.S. financial firms. A Fund’s investments in depositary receipts (including ADRs) are subject to these risks, even if denominated in U.S. dollars, because changes in currency and exchange rates affect the values of the issuers of depositary receipts. In addition, the underlying issuers of certain depositary receipts, particularly unsponsored or unregistered depositary receipts, are under no obligation to distribute shareholder communications to the holders of such receipts, or to pass through to them any voting rights with respect to the deposited securities. Many of the risks with respect to foreign investments are more pronounced for investments in developing or emerging market countries. Emerging markets tend to be more volatile than the markets of more mature economies and generally have less diverse and less mature economic structures and less stable political systems than those of developed countries.
Futures Contracts Risk (AXS Astoria Inflation Sensitive ETF). The Fund expects that certain of the Underlying ETFs in which it invests will utilize futures contracts for its commodities investments. Futures contracts are typically exchange-traded contracts that call for the future delivery of an asset by one party to another at a certain price and date, or cash settlement of the terms of the contract. The risk of a position in a futures contract may be very large compared to the relatively low level of margin an Underlying ETF is required to deposit. In many cases, a relatively small price movement in a futures contract may result in immediate and substantial loss or gain to the investor relative to the size of a required margin deposit. The ability to establish and close out positions in futures contracts is subject to the development and maintenance of a liquid secondary market. There is no assurance that a liquid secondary market on an exchange will exist for any particular futures contract at any particular time. If an Underlying ETF uses futures contracts for hedging purposes, there is a risk of imperfect correlation between movements in the prices of the derivatives and movements in the securities or index underlying the derivatives or movements in the prices of the Underlying ETF’s investments that are the subject of such hedge. The prices of futures contracts, for a number of reasons, may not correlate perfectly with movements in the securities or index underlying them. For example, participants in the futures markets are subject to margin deposit requirements less onerous than margin requirements in the securities markets in general. As a result, futures markets may attract more speculators than the securities markets. Increased participation by speculators in those markets may cause temporary price distortions. Due to the possibility of price distortion, even a correct forecast of general market trends by an Underlying ETF’s portfolio managers still may not result in a successful derivatives activity over a very short time period. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the various exchanges have established limits referred to as “speculative position limits” on the maximum net long or net short positions that any person and certain affiliated entities may hold or control in a particular futures contract. It is possible that, as a result of such limits, an Underlying ETF will be precluded from taking positions in certain futures contracts it might have otherwise taken to the disadvantage of shareholders.
Geographic Investment Risk (AXS Astoria Inflation Sensitive ETF). The Fund may invest a substantial amount of its assets in securities of issuers located in a single country or geographic region. As a result, any changes to the regulatory, political, social or economic conditions in such country or geographic region will generally have greater impact on the Fund than such changes would have on a more geographically diversified fund and may result in increased volatility and greater losses. This risk may be especially pronounced to the extent the Fund invests in countries and regions experiencing, or likely to experience, security concerns, war, threats of war, terrorism, economic uncertainty and natural disasters. The Fund may have significant risks with respect to the following geographic regions:
Asia Risk. Investments in securities of issuers in certain Asian countries involve risks that are specific to Asia, including certain legal, regulatory, political and economic risks. Certain Asian countries have experienced expropriation and/or nationalization of assets, confiscatory taxation, political instability, armed conflict and social instability as a result of religious, ethnic, socio-economic and/or political unrest. In particular, escalated tensions involving North Korea and any outbreak of hostilities involving North Korea, or even the threat of an outbreak of hostilities, could have a severe adverse effect on Asian economies. Some economies in this region are dependent on a range of commodities, are strongly affected by international commodity prices and are particularly vulnerable to price changes for these products. The market for securities in this region may also be directly influenced by the flow of international capital and by the economic and market conditions of neighboring countries. Some Asian economies are highly dependent on trade; economic conditions in other countries within and outside of Asia can impact these economies.
69
Canada Risk. The Fund is subject to certain risks specifically associated with investments in the securities of Canadian issuers. The Canadian economy is heavily dependent on the demand for natural resources and agricultural products. Canada is a major producer of commodities such as forest products, metals, agricultural products, and energy related products like oil, gas, and hydroelectricity. Accordingly, a change in the supply and demand of these resources, both domestically and internationally, can have a significant effect on Canadian market performance. Canada is a top producer of zinc and uranium and a global source of many other natural resources, such as gold, nickel, aluminum, and lead. Conditions that weaken demand for such products worldwide could have a negative impact on the Canadian economy as a whole. Changes to the U.S. economy may significantly affect the Canadian economy because the U.S. is Canada’s largest trading partner and foreign investor. These and other factors could have a negative impact on the Fund and its investments in Canada.
Europe Risk. Most developed countries in Western Europe are members of the EU, and many are also members of the EMU, which requires compliance with restrictions on inflation rates, deficits and debt levels. Unemployment in certain European nations is historically high and several countries face significant debt problems. These conditions can significantly affect every country in Europe. The euro is the official currency of the EU and, accordingly, the Fund’s investment in European securities may lead to significant exposure to the euro and events affecting it. Recent market events affecting several EU member countries have adversely affected the sovereign debt issued by those countries, and ultimately may lead to a decline in the value of the euro. A significant decline in the value of the euro, or the exit of a country from the EU or EMU, may produce unpredictable effects on trade and commerce generally and could lead to increased volatility in financial markets worldwide. Political or economic disruptions in European countries, even in countries in which the Fund is not invested, may adversely affect security values and thus the Fund’s holdings. In particular, Russia’s large-scale invasion of Ukraine and the economic and diplomatic responses by the United States, EU, United Kingdom and other countries, including heavy sanctions on the Russian economy, have led to increased volatility and uncertainty in European and global financial markets and could negatively impact regional and global economies for the foreseeable future. Also, the Fund’s investments in the United Kingdom and other European countries may be significantly impacted by Brexit. Brexit has introduced significant uncertainty and may have a negative impact on the economy and currency of the United Kingdom and European countries, including increased market volatility and illiquidity and potentially lower economic growth.
Health Care Sector Risk (AXS Change Finance ESG ETF). Companies in the health care sector are subject to extensive government regulation and their profitability can be significantly affected by restrictions on government reimbursement for medical expenses, rising costs of medical products and services, pricing pressure (including price discounting), limited product lines, litigation, obsolescence of technology, and an increased emphasis on the delivery of health care through outpatient services. The business operations and profitability of companies in the pharmaceuticals and biotechnology industry can be significantly affected by, among other things, government approval of products and services, government regulation and reimbursement rates, product liability claims, patent expirations and protection, and intense competition.
Index Provider Risk (AXS Brendan Wood TopGun Index ETF, AXS Change Finance ESG ETF). There is no assurance that the Index Provider, or any agents that act on its behalf, will compile the Index accurately, or that the Index will be determined, maintained, constructed, reconstituted, rebalanced, composed, calculated or disseminated accurately. The Index Provider and its agents do not provide any representation or warranty in relation to the quality, accuracy or completeness of data in the Index, and do not guarantee that the Index will be calculated in accordance with its stated methodology. The Advisor’s mandate as described in this Prospectus is to manage the Fund consistently with the Index provided by the Index Provider. The Advisor relies upon the Index provider and its agents to accurately compile, maintain, construct, reconstitute, rebalance, compose, calculate and disseminate the Index accurately. Therefore, losses or costs associated with any Index Provider or agent errors generally will be borne by the Fund and its shareholders. To correct any such error, the Index Provider or its agents may carry out an unscheduled rebalance of the Index or other modification of Index constituents or weightings. When the Fund in turn rebalances its portfolio, any transaction costs and market exposure arising from such portfolio rebalancing will be borne by the Fund and its shareholders. Unscheduled rebalances also expose the Fund to additional tracking error risk. Errors in respect of the quality, accuracy and completeness of the data used to compile the Index may occur from time to time and may not be identified and corrected by the Index Provider for a period of time or at all, particularly where the Index is less commonly used as a benchmark by funds or advisors. For example, during a period where the Index contains incorrect constituents, the
70
Fund tracking the Index would have market exposure to such constituents and would be underexposed to the Index’s other constituents. Such errors may negatively impact the Fund and its shareholders. The Index Provider and its agents rely on various sources of information to assess the criteria of issuers included in the Index, including information that may be based on assumptions and estimates. Neither the Fund nor the Advisor can offer assurances that the Index’s calculation methodology or sources of information will provide an accurate assessment of included issuers. Unusual market conditions may cause the Index Provider to postpone a scheduled rebalance, which could cause the Index to vary from its normal or expected composition. The postponement of a scheduled rebalance in a time of market volatility could mean that constituents that would otherwise be removed at rebalance due to changes in market capitalizations, issuer credit ratings, or other reasons may remain, causing the performance and constituents of the Index to vary from those expected under normal conditions. Apart from scheduled rebalances, the Index Provider or its agents may carry out additional ad hoc rebalances to the Index due to unusual market conditions or in order, for example, to correct an error in the selection of index constituents.
Information Technology Sector Risk (AXS Change Finance ESG ETF, AXS Esoterica NextG Economy ETF). Information technology companies produce and provide hardware, software and information technology systems and services. Information technology companies are generally subject to the following risks: rapidly changing technologies and existing product obsolescence; short product life cycles; fierce competition; aggressive pricing and reduced profit margins; the loss of patent, copyright and trademark protections; cyclical market patterns; evolving industry standards; and frequent new product introductions and new market entrants. Information technology companies may be smaller and less experienced companies, with limited product lines, markets or financial resources and fewer experienced management or marketing personnel. Information technology company stocks, particularly those involved with the internet, have experienced extreme price and volume fluctuations that are often unrelated to their operating performance. In addition, information technology companies are particularly vulnerable to federal, state and local government regulation, and competition and consolidation, both domestically and internationally, including competition from foreign competitors with lower production costs. Information technology companies also face competition for services of qualified personnel and heavily rely on patents and intellectual property rights and the ability to enforce such rights to maintain a competitive advantage.
Interest Rate Risk (AXS First Priority CLO Bond ETF). Prices of fixed income securities tend to move inversely with changes in interest rates. Generally fixed income securities decrease in value if interest rates rise and increase in value if interest rates fall, with longer-term securities being more sensitive than shorter-term securities. For example, the price of a security with a three-year duration would be expected to drop by approximately 3% in response to a 1% increase in interest rates. Duration is a weighted measure of the length of time required to receive the present value of future payments, both interest and principal, from a fixed income security. Generally, the longer the maturity and duration of a bond or fixed rate loan, the more sensitive it is to this risk. Falling interest rates also create the potential for a decline in the Fund’s income. Changes in governmental policy, rising inflation rates, and general economic developments, among other factors, could cause interest rates to increase and could have a substantial and immediate effect on the values of the Fund’s investments. These risks are greater during periods of rising inflation. In addition, a potential rise in interest rates may result in periods of volatility and increased redemptions that might require the Fund to liquidate portfolio securities at disadvantageous prices and times.
Large-Cap Company Risk (AXS Brendan Wood TopGun Index ETF). Larger, more established companies may be unable to attain the high growth rates of successful, smaller companies during periods of economic expansion. In addition, large-capitalization companies may be unable to respond quickly to new competitive challenges, such as changes in technology and consumer tastes, and may be more prone to global economic risks.
LIBOR Risk (AXS First Priority CLO Bond ETF). Many financial instruments, financings or other transactions to which the Fund may be a party use or may use a floating rate based on LIBOR. In July 2017, the Financial Conduct Authority, the United Kingdom’s financial regulatory body, announced that after 2021 it would cease its active encouragement of banks to provide the quotations needed to sustain LIBOR. The publication of LIBOR on a representative basis ceased for the one-week and two-month U.S. dollar LIBOR settings immediately after December 31, 2021, and it is expected to cease for the remaining U.S. dollar LIBOR settings immediately after June 30, 2023. Actions by regulators have resulted in the establishment of alternative reference rates to LIBOR in most major currencies. The U.S. Federal
71
Reserve, based on the recommendations of the New York Federal Reserve’s Alternative Reference Rate Committee, is now publishing the Secured Overnight Financing Rate (“SOFR”), which is intended to replace U.S. dollar LIBOR. Alternative reference rates for other currencies have also been announced or have begun publication. Markets are slowly developing in response to these new rates. Any potential effects of the transition away from LIBOR on the Fund or on certain instruments in which the Fund invests can be difficult to determine, and they may vary depending on factors that include, but are not limited to, (i) existing fallback or termination provisions in individual contracts and (ii) whether, how, and when industry participants develop and adopt new reference rates and fallback provisions for both legacy and new products and instruments. The transition process may involve, among other things, increased volatility or illiquidity in markets for instruments that currently rely on LIBOR, and there may be a reduction in the value of certain instruments held by the Fund.
Liquidity Risk (AXS First Priority CLO Bond ETF). In certain circumstances, it may be difficult for the Fund to purchase and sell particular portfolio investments due to infrequent trading in such investments. The prices of such securities may experience significant volatility, make it more difficult for the Fund to transact significant amounts of such securities without an unfavorable impact on prevailing market prices, or make it difficult for a sub-advisor to dispose of such securities at a fair price at the time the sub- advisor believes it is desirable to do so. The Fund’s investments in such securities may restrict the Fund’s ability to take advantage of other market opportunities and adversely affect the value of the Fund’s portfolio holdings. The Fund’s investments also may be subject to trading halts caused by extraordinary market volatility pursuant to “circuit breaker” rules.
Limited Operating History (AXS Brendan Wood TopGun Index ETF, AXS Green Alpha ETF). Each Fund is recently organized and has a limited operating history. As a result, prospective investors have a limited track record or history on which to base their investment decisions.
Management and Strategy Risk (AXS Astoria Inflation Sensitive ETF, AXS Esoterica NextG Economy ETF, AXS First Priority CLO Bond ETF). The value of your investment depends on the judgment of the Advisor and Sub-Advisor about the quality, relative yield, value or market trends affecting a particular security, industry, sector or region, which may prove to be incorrect. Investment strategies employed by the Sub-Advisor in selecting investments for the Fund may not result in an increase in the value of your investment or in overall performance equal to other investments.
Market Capitalization Risk (AXS Change Finance ESG ETF, AXS Esoterica NextG Economy ETF). Larger, more established companies may be unable to attain the high growth rates of successful, smaller companies during periods of economic expansion. In addition, large-capitalization companies may be unable to respond quickly to new competitive challenges, such as changes in technology and consumer tastes and may be more prone to global economic risks. The securities of small-capitalization and mid-capitalization companies may be subject to more abrupt or erratic market movements and may have lower trading volumes or more erratic trading than securities of larger, more established companies or market averages in general. In addition, such companies typically are more likely to be adversely affected than large capitalization companies by changes in earning results, business prospects, investor expectations or poor economic or market conditions.
MLP Risk (AXS Astoria Inflation Sensitive ETF, AXS Change Finance ESG ETF). Investment in securities of an MLP involves risks that differ from investments in common stock, including risks related to limited control and limited rights to vote on matters affecting the MLP, risks related to potential conflicts of interest between the MLP and the MLP’s general partner, cash flow risks, dilution risks and risks related to the general partner’s right to require unit-holders to sell their common units at an undesirable time or price. Certain MLP securities may trade in lower volumes due to their smaller capitalizations. Accordingly, those MLPs may be subject to more abrupt or erratic price movements and may lack sufficient market liquidity to enable the Fund to effect sales at an advantageous time or without a substantial drop in price. MLPs are generally considered interest-rate sensitive investments. During periods of interest rate volatility, these investments may not provide attractive returns.
MLPs may incur environmental costs and liabilities due to the nature of their businesses and the substances they handle. Changes in existing laws, regulations or enforcement policies governing the energy sector could significantly increase the compliance costs of MLPs. Certain MLPs could, from time to time, be held responsible for implementing remediation
72
measures, the cost of which may not be recoverable from insurance. A Fund will select its investments in MLPs from the current small pool of issuers. Demand for investment opportunities in MLPs that operate energy-related businesses may exceed supply, which could make it difficult to operate the Fund.
Non-Diversification Risk (AXS Astoria Inflation Sensitive ETF, AXS Brendan Wood TopGun Index ETF, AXS Esoterica NextG Economy ETF). Each Fund is classified as “non-diversified,” which means the Fund may invest a larger percentage of its assets in the securities of a smaller number of issuers than a diversified fund. Investment in securities of a limited number of issuers exposes the Fund to greater market risk and potential losses than if its assets were diversified among the securities of a greater number of issuers.
Operational Risk (AXS Astoria Inflation Sensitive ETF, AXS Brendan Wood TopGun Index ETF, AXS Change Finance ESG ETF, AXS Green Alpha ETF, AXS First Priority CLO Bond ETF). Each Fund is exposed to operational risks arising from a number of factors, including, but not limited to, human error, processing and communication errors, errors of a Fund’s service providers, counterparties or other third-parties, failed or inadequate processes and technology or systems failures. Each Fund and the Advisor seek to reduce these operational risks through controls and procedures. However, these measures do not address every possible risk and may be inadequate to address these risks.
Passive Investment Risk (AXS Brendan Wood TopGun Index ETF, AXS Change Finance ESG ETF). Each Fund is not actively managed. The Fund invests in securities included in or representative of its Index regardless of investment merit. The Fund generally will not attempt to take defensive positions in declining markets. In the event that the Index is no longer calculated, the Index license is terminated or the identity or character of the Index is materially changed, the Fund will seek to engage a replacement index.
Preferred Stock Risk (AXS Change Finance ESG ETF). Preferred stock represents an equity interest in a company that generally entitles the holder to receive, in preference to the holders of other stocks such as common stock, dividends and a fixed share of the proceeds resulting from a liquidation of the company. The market value of preferred stock is subject to company-specific and market risks applicable generally to equity securities and is also sensitive to changes in the company’s creditworthiness, the ability of the company to make payments on the preferred stock, and changes in interest rates, typically declining in value if interest rates rise.
Prepayment or Call Risk (AXS First Priority CLO Bond ETF). If the Fund holds a fixed income security subject to prepayment or call risk, it may not benefit fully from the increase in value that other fixed income securities generally experience when interest rates fall. Upon prepayment of the security, the Fund may be forced to reinvest the proceeds in securities with lower yields. In addition, the Fund may lose the amount of the premium paid in the event of prepayment.
Private Placements and Restricted Securities Risk (AXS First Priority CLO Bond ETF). Private placement securities are securities that have been privately placed and are not registered under the Securities Act. They are eligible for sale only to certain eligible investors. Private placements often may offer attractive opportunities for investment not otherwise available on the open market. Private placement and other “restricted” securities often cannot be sold to the public without registration under the Securities Act or an exemption from registration (such as Rules 144 or 144A).
Real Assets Risk (AXS Astoria Inflation Sensitive ETF). The Fund’s investments in securities linked to real assets, such as precious metals, commodities, land, equipment and natural resources, involve significant risks, including financial, operating, and competitive risks. Investments in securities linked to real assets may expose the Fund to adverse macroeconomic conditions, such as changes and volatility in commodity prices, a rise in interest rates or a downturn in the economy in which the asset is located. Changes in inflation rates or in the market’s inflation expectations may adversely affect the market value of equities linked to real assets.
REIT Risk (AXS Change Finance ESG ETF). The Fund’s investments in REITs will subject the Fund to risks similar to those associated with direct ownership of real estate, including losses from casualty or condemnation, and changes in local and general economic conditions, supply and demand, interest rates, zoning laws, regulatory limitations on rents, property taxes and operating expenses. Investment in REITs is subject to additional risks, such as poor performance by the manager of the REIT, adverse changes to the tax laws or failure by the REIT to qualify for the favorable tax treatment
73
generally available to REITs under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended. In addition, some REITs have limited diversification because they invest in a limited number of properties, a narrow geographic area, or a single type of property.
Risks Related to Investing in Canada (AXS Brendan Wood TopGun Index ETF). The Canadian economy is reliant on the sale of natural resources and commodities, which can pose risks such as the fluctuation of prices and the variability of demand for exportation of such products. Changes in spending on Canadian products by other countries or changes in the other countries’ economies may cause a significant impact on the Canadian economy. In particular, the Canadian economy is heavily dependent on relationships with certain key trading partners, including the United States and China. The United States is Canada’s largest trading and investment partner, and the Canadian economy is significantly affected by developments in the U.S. economy. Any downturn in the U.S. or Chinese economic activity is likely to have an adverse impact on the Canadian economy.
Risk of Investing in ESG Companies (AXS Change Finance ESG ETF). The universe of acceptable investments for the Fund may be limited as compared to other funds due to the Index methodology’s ESG investment screening. This may affect the Fund’s exposure to certain companies or industries and may adversely impact the Fund’s performance depending on whether such companies or industries are in or out of favor in the market. The Fund’s performance may be lower than other funds that do not seek to invest in companies based on ESG factors and/or remove certain companies or industries from its selection process. The Index methodology seeks to identify companies that meet certain ESG standards and scores, but investors may differ in their views of ESG characteristics. As a result, the Fund may invest in companies that do not reflect the beliefs and values of any particular investor. Additionally, the Index methodology incorporates ESG information provided by third-party data providers, which may be incomplete, inaccurate or unavailable for certain issuers. In addition, ESG information across third-party data providers, indexes and other funds may differ and/or be incomplete.
Royalty Trusts Risk (AXS Astoria Inflation Sensitive ETF). The Fund may invest in publicly traded royalty trusts. Royalty trusts are special purpose vehicles organized as investment trusts created to make investments in operating companies or their cash flows. A royalty trust generally acquires an interest in natural resource companies and distributes the income it receives to the investors of the royalty trust. A sustained decline in demand for the royalty trust’s underlying commodity could adversely affect income and royalty trust revenues and cash flows. Factors that could lead to a decrease in market demand include a recession or other adverse economic conditions, rising interest rates, an increase in the market price of the underlying commodity, higher taxes or other regulatory actions that increase costs, or a shift in consumer demand for the products.
Sector Focus Risk (AXS Astoria Inflation Sensitive ETF, AXS Brendan Wood TopGun Index ETF, AXS Esoterica NextG Economy ETF). The Fund may invest a larger portion of its assets in one or more sectors than many other mutual funds, and thus will be more susceptible to negative events affecting those sectors. The prices of securities of issuers in a particular sector may be more susceptible to fluctuations due to changes in economic or business conditions, government regulations or monetary and fiscal policies, market sentiment and expectations, availability of basic resources or supplies, or other events that affect that sector more than securities of issuers in other sectors. At times the performance of the Fund’s investments may lag the performance of other sectors or the broader market as a whole. Such underperformance may continue for extended periods of time.
● |
Communications Services Sector Risk (AXS Esoterica NextG Economy ETF). The Fund is generally expected to invest significantly in companies in the communications services sector, and therefore the performance of the Fund could be negatively impacted by events affecting this sector. Communications services companies are subject to extensive government regulation. The costs of complying with governmental regulations, delays or failure to receive required regulatory approvals, or the enactment of new adverse regulatory requirements may adversely affect the business of such companies. Companies in the communications services sector can also be significantly affected by intense competition, including competition with alternative technologies such as wireless communications (including with 5G and other technologies), product compatibility, consumer preferences, rapid product obsolescence, and research and development of new products. Technological innovations may make the products and services of such companies obsolete. |
74
● |
Consumer Discretionary Sector Risk (AXS Astoria Inflation Sensitive ETF, AXS Esoterica NextG Economy ETF). Consumer discretionary companies are companies that provide non-essential goods and services, such as retailers, media companies and consumer services. These companies manufacture products and provide discretionary services directly to the consumer, and the success of these companies is tied closely to the performance of the overall domestic and international economy, interest rates, competition and consumer confidence. |
● |
Energy Sector Risk (AXS Astoria Inflation Sensitive ETF). Companies in the energy sector may be adversely affected by, among other things, supply and demand both for their specific product or service and for energy products in general, changes in prices of energy, exploration and production spending, government regulation, world events, exchange rates, economic conditions and energy conservation efforts. Revenues for energy companies may come significantly from a relatively limited number of customers, including governmental entities and utilities. As a result, governmental budget constraints may have a significant impact on energy companies. Energy companies also face a significant threat from accidents resulting in injury, pollution or other environmental concerns and natural disasters. |
● |
Financials Sector Risk (AXS Astoria Inflation Sensitive ETF, AXS Brendan Wood TopGun Index ETF, AXS Esoterica NextG Economy ETF). Performance of companies in the financials sector may be adversely impacted by many factors, including, among others, government regulations, economic conditions, credit rating downgrades, changes in interest rates, and decreased liquidity in credit markets. The impact of more stringent capital requirements, recent or future regulation of any individual financial company, or recent or future regulation of the financials sector as a whole cannot be predicted. |
● |
Industrials Sector Risk (AXS Astoria Inflation Sensitive ETF). Performance of companies in the industrials sector may be affected by, among other things, supply and demand for their specific product or service and for industrials sector products in general. Moreover, government regulation, world events, exchange rates and economic conditions, technological developments, fuel prices, labor agreements, insurance costs, and liabilities for environmental damage and general civil liabilities will likewise affect the performance of these companies. |
● |
Information Technology Sector Risk (AXS Esoterica NextG Economy ETF). Information technology companies produce and provide hardware, software and information technology systems and services. These companies may be adversely affected by rapidly changing technologies, short product life cycles, fierce competition, aggressive pricing and reduced profit margins, the loss of patent, copyright and trademark protections, cyclical market patterns, evolving industry standards and frequent new product introductions. In addition, information technology companies are particularly vulnerable to federal, state and local government regulation, and competition and consolidation, both domestically and internationally, including competition from foreign competitors with lower production costs. Information technology companies also heavily rely on intellectual property rights and may be adversely affected by the loss or impairment of those rights. |
● |
Materials Sector Risk (AXS Astoria Inflation Sensitive ETF, AXS Esoterica NextG Economy ETF). Performance of companies in the materials sector can be significantly impacted by the level and volatility of commodity prices, the exchange value of the dollar, import and export controls, increased competition, liability for environmental damage, depletion of resources, and mandated expenditures for safety and pollution controls. |
● |
Mining Sector Risk (AXS Brendan Wood TopGun Index ETF). The exploration and development of mineral deposits involve significant financial risks over a significant period of time, which even a combination of careful evaluation, experience and knowledge may not eliminate. Few properties which are explored are ultimately developed into producing mines. Major expenditures may be required to establish reserves by drilling and to construct mining and processing facilities at a site. In addition, mineral exploration companies typically operate at a loss and are dependent on securing equity and/or debt financing, which might be more difficult to secure for an exploration company than for a more established counterpart. |
● |
Real Estate Sector Risk (AXS Brendan Wood TopGun Index ETF). An investment in the real estate sector may be subject to risks similar to those associated with direct ownership of real estate, including, by way of example, the possibility of declines in the value of real estate, losses from casualty or condemnation, and changes in local and general economic conditions, supply and demand, interest rates, environmental liability, zoning laws, regulatory |
75
limitations on rents, property taxes, and operating expenses. Some companies in the real estate sector have limited diversification because they invest in a limited number of properties, a narrow geographic area, or a single type of property.
Securities Exchange Companies Risk (AXS Astoria Inflation Sensitive ETF). The Fund’s investments in the securities in the financial sector may include securities issued by a securities exchange. The business and financial performance of a securities exchange can be impacted by a number of factors, including general economic conditions, market volatility, changes in investment patterns and priorities, preferences for services offered by competing exchanges and other service providers, technology developments and regulatory constraints. A substantial portion of a securities exchange’s revenues are derived from data services fees and fees for transactions executed and cleared in its markets. Data subscriptions and trading volumes could decline substantially if market participants reduce their level of spending or trading activities. A reduction in overall trading volume could also render a securities exchange less attractive to market participants as a source of liquidity, which could result in further loss of trading volume and associated transaction-based revenues and in the demand for data and other services. Further, a decline in the initial public offering market, or issuers choosing to list on alternative venues, could have an adverse effect on the revenues of a securities exchange. A securities exchange may not be successful in offering new products or technologies or in identifying opportunities, which could reduce long-term customer demand for services provided by a securities exchange.
Small-Cap and Mid-Cap Company Risk (AXS Astoria Inflation Sensitive ETF, AXS Green Alpha ETF). Investing in small-capitalization and mid-capitalization companies generally involves greater risks than investing in large-capitalization companies. Small- or mid-cap companies may have limited product lines, markets or financial resources or may depend on the expertise of a few people and may be subject to more abrupt or erratic market movements than securities of larger, more established companies or market averages in general. Many small capitalization companies may be in the early stages of development. Since equity securities of smaller companies may lack sufficient market liquidity and may not be regularly traded, it may be difficult or impossible to sell securities at an advantageous time or a desirable price.
Tax Risk (AXS Astoria Inflation Sensitive ETF). If for any taxable year, the Fund does not qualify as a regulated investment company, all of its taxable income (including its net capital gain) for that year would be subject to tax at regular corporate rates without any deduction for distributions to its shareholders, and such distributions would be taxable to its shareholders as dividend income to the extent of the Fund’s current and accumulated earnings and profits. In order to qualify for favorable U.S. federal income tax treatment accorded to regulated investment company, the Fund must derive at least 90% of its gross income in each taxable year from certain categories of income (“qualifying income”) and must satisfy certain asset diversification requirements. Certain of the Fund’s investments, including certain investments in MLPs and royalty trusts, may generate income that is not qualifying income. The Fund will seek to restrict its income from such investments that do not generate qualifying income to a maximum of 10% of its gross income (when combined with its other investments that produce non-qualifying income) to comply with the qualifying income requirement for the Fund to qualify as a regulated investment company under the Code. However, the Fund may generate more non-qualifying income than anticipated, may not be able to generate qualifying income in a particular taxable year at levels sufficient to meet the qualifying income requirement, or may not be able to accurately predict the non-qualifying income from these investments. Accordingly, the extent to which the Fund invests certain assets may be limited by the qualifying income requirement, which the Fund must continue to satisfy its status as a regulated investment company. Failure to comply with the qualifying income requirement would have significant negative tax consequences to Fund shareholders. Under certain circumstances the Fund may be able to cure a failure to meet the qualifying income requirements, but in order to do so the Fund may incur significant Fund-level taxes, which would effectively reduce (and could eliminate) the Fund’s returns.
Third-Party Data Risk (AXS Change Finance ESG ETF). The composition of the Index is heavily dependent on Third-Party Data. When Third-Party Data prove to be incorrect or incomplete, any decisions made in reliance thereon may lead to the inclusion or exclusion of securities from the Index that would have been excluded or included had the Third-Party Data been correct and complete. If the composition of the Index reflects such errors, the Fund’s portfolio can be expected to reflect the errors, too.
76
Tracking Error Risk (AXS Brendan Wood TopGun Index ETF, AXS Change Finance ESG ETF). As with all index funds, the performance of the Fund and the Index may differ from each other for a variety of reasons. For example, the Fund incurs operating expenses and portfolio transaction costs not incurred by the Index. In addition, the Fund may not be fully invested in the securities of the Index at all times or may hold securities not included in the Index.
Transactions in Cash Risk (AXS First Priority CLO Bond ETF). The Fund intends to effect its creations and redemptions primarily for cash, rather than in-kind securities. Paying redemption proceeds in cash rather than through in- kind delivery of portfolio securities may require the Fund to dispose of or sell portfolio investments at an inopportune time to obtain the cash needed to pay redemption proceeds. This may cause the Fund to incur certain costs such as brokerage costs, and to recognize gains or losses that it might not have incurred if it had paid redemption proceeds in-kind. As a result, the Fund may pay out higher or lower annual capital gains distributions than ETFs that redeem in-kind. In addition, the costs imposed on the Fund will decrease the Funds' NAV unless the costs are offset by a transaction fee payable by an authorized participant.
Underlying ETF Risk (AXS Astoria Inflation Sensitive ETF). The Fund expects to invest in Underlying ETFs. Many Underlying ETFs use a “passive” investment strategy and seek to replicate the performance of a market index. Such Underlying ETFs do not take defensive positions in volatile or declining markets their shares may trade below net asset value. While some Underlying ETFs seek to achieve the same return as a particular market index, the performance of the Underlying ETF may diverge from the performance of the index. Some Underlying ETFs are actively managed ETFs and do not track a particular index which indirectly subjects an investor to active management risk. An active secondary market in an Underlying ETF’s shares may not develop or be maintained and may be halted or interrupted due to actions by its listing exchange, unusual market conditions or other reasons. There can be no assurance that an Underlying ETF’s shares will continue to be listed on an active exchange. In addition, shareholders bear both their proportionate share of an Underlying Fund’s expenses and, indirectly, the Underlying ETF’s expenses, incurred through the Fund’s ownership of the Underlying ETF. Because the expenses and costs of an Underlying ETF are shared by its investors, redemptions by other investors in the Underlying ETF could result in decreased economies of scale and increased operating expenses for such Underlying ETF. These transactions might also result in higher brokerage, tax or other costs for the Underlying ETF. This risk may be particularly important when one investor owns a substantial portion of the Underlying ETF. There is a risk that Underlying ETFs in which the Fund invests may terminate due to extraordinary events. For example, any of the service providers to Underling ETFs, such as the trustee or sponsor, may close or otherwise fail to perform their obligations to the Underlying ETF, and the Underlying ETF may not be able to find a substitute service provider. Also, certain Underlying ETFs may be dependent upon licenses to use various indexes as a basis for determining their compositions and/or otherwise to use certain trade names. If these licenses are terminated, the Underlying ETFs may also terminate. In addition, an Underlying ETF may terminate if its net assets fall below a certain amount.
U.S. Treasury Obligations and TIPS Risk (AXS Astoria Inflation Sensitive ETF). U.S. Treasury obligations, including TIPS, may differ from other securities in their interest rates, maturities, times of issuance and other characteristics. TIPS are income-generating instruments whose interest and principal are adjusted for inflation. The inflation adjustment, which is typically applied monthly to the principal of the bond, follows a designated inflation index, the Consumer Price Index (CPI), and TIPS’ principal payments are adjusted according to changes in the CPI. While this may provide a hedge against inflation, the returns may be relatively lower than those of other securities. Similar to other issuers, changes to the financial condition or credit rating of the U.S. government may cause the value of the Fund’s exposure to U.S. Treasury obligations to decline.
Warrants and Rights Risk (AXS Change Finance ESG ETF). Warrants and rights may lack a liquid secondary market for resale. The prices of warrants and rights may fluctuate as a result of speculation or other factors. Warrants and rights can provide a greater potential for profit or loss than an equivalent investment in the underlying security. Prices of warrants and rights do not necessarily move in tandem with the prices of their underlying securities and are highly volatile and speculative investments. If a warrant or right expires without being exercised, the Fund will lose any amount paid for the warrant or right.
Each Fund is a series of Investment Managers Series Trust II, an investment company registered under the 1940 Act. Each Fund is treated as a separate fund with its own investment objectives and policies. The Trust is organized as a Delaware statutory trust. The Board is responsible for the overall management and direction of the Trust. The Board elects the Trust’s officers and approves all significant agreements, including those with the Advisor, Sub-Advisor, custodian and fund administrative and accounting agent.
77
Investment Advisor
AXS Investments LLC, a Delaware limited liability company, serves as the Funds’ advisor pursuant to an investment management agreement. The principal office of the Advisor is located at 181 Westchester Ave, Suite 402, Port Chester, New York 10573. The Advisor has approximately $1.38 billion in assets under management as of March 31, 2023.
In its capacity as Advisor, AXS manages the Fund’s investments subject to the supervision of the Board. The Advisor also arranges for sub-advisory, transfer agency, custody, fund administration, distribution and all other services necessary for the Fund to operate. Further, the Advisor continuously reviews, supervises, and administers the Fund’s investment program.
Pursuant to an investment advisory agreement (the “Unitary Advisory Agreement”) between the Advisor and the Trust, on behalf of the AXS Astoria Inflation Sensitive ETF, AXS Change Finance ESG ETF, AXS Brendan Wood TopGun Index ETF, AXS First Priority CLO Bond ETF, and AXS Green Alpha ETF (each a “Unitary Fund”), each Unitary Fund has agreed to pay an annual unitary management fee as listed below of its average daily net assets. This unitary management fee is designed to pay each Unitary Fund’s expenses and to compensate the Advisor for the services it provides to the Unitary Funds. Out of the unitary management fee, the Advisor pays substantially all expenses of the Unitary Fund, including the cost of transfer agency, custody, fund administration, legal, audit and other service and license fees. However, the Advisor is not responsible for advisory fee, interest, 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, extraordinary expenses, and distribution fees and expenses paid by each Unitary Fund under any distribution plan adopted pursuant to Rule 12b-1 under the 1940 Act.
Pursuant to an investment sub-advisory agreement (the “Esoterica Sub-Advisory Agreement” and, together with the Unitary Advisory Agreement, the “Investment Advisory Agreements”) between the Advisor and the Trust, on behalf of the AXS Esoterica NextG Economy ETF, for its services, the Advisor is entitled to receive an annual management fee 0.75% of the AXS Esoterica NextG Economy ETF’s average daily net assets, calculated daily and payable monthly.
Fund |
Contractual
Unitary Fees |
AXS Astoria Inflation Sensitive ETF |
0.70% |
AXS Change Finance ESG ETF |
0.49% |
AXS Brendan Wood TopGun Index ETF |
0.98% |
AXS First Priority CLO Bond ETF |
0.25% |
AXS Green Alpha ETF |
1.00% |
Sub-Advisors
Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC is an SEC registered investment advisor with its offices at 500 7th Avenue, 9th Floor, New York, New York 10018. The Trust, on behalf of the AXS Astoria Inflation Sensitive ETF, and the Advisor have engaged Astoria to serve as the Fund’s investment sub-advisor pursuant to an investment sub-advisory agreement (the “Astoria Sub-Advisory Agreement”). In this capacity, Astoria has overall responsibility for selecting and continuously monitoring the Fund’s investments. As compensation for its services, the Advisor has agreed to pay Astoria an annual sub-advisory fee based upon the Fund’s average daily net assets. The Advisor is responsible for paying the entire amount of Astoria’s sub-advisory fee. The Fund does not directly pay Astoria. The Fund’s SAI provides additional information about these fees paid to the Advisor and Sub-Advisor. As of March 31, 2023, Astoria had $410.9 million in assets under management.
Change Finance, PBC, located at 705 Grand View Drive, Alexandria, Virginia 22305, serves as the investment sub-advisor and index provider for the AXS Change Finance ESG ETF. Change Finance is a registered investment adviser and provides investment sub-advisory services to ETFs. The Advisor has entered into an investment sub-advisory agreement with Change Finance (the “Change Finance Sub-Advisory Agreement”). Change Finance is responsible for the day-to-
78
day management of the Index’s portfolio, selection of the Index portfolio constituents and supervision of the Fund’s portfolio with respect to the Index, subject to the general oversight of the Board and the Advisor. Change Finance is responsible for proxy voting and shareholder engagement for the Fund. For its services, Change Finance is paid a fee by the Advisor. As of March 31, 2023, Change Finance had $116.9 million in assets under management.
Alternative Access Funds, LLC, located at 840 Apollo Street, Suite 100, El Segundo, California 90245, serves as the investment sub-advisor to the AXS First Priority CLO Bond ETF. The Advisor has entered into an investment sub-advisory agreement with AAF (the “AAF Sub-Advisory Agreement”). AAF is responsible for managing the day-to-day investment of the Fund’s assets, subject to the supervision of the Advisor and the Board. For its services, the AAF is paid a fee by the Advisor from the fees the Advisor earns as investment advisor to the Fund. As of March 31, 2023, AAF had $7.3 million in assets under management.
Esoterica Capital LLC, located at 675 W. 59th St., Suite 903, New York, New York, 10069, serves as the Fund’s investment sub-advisor. Esoterica is registered with the SEC as an investment adviser under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, as amended. Under the Esoterica Sub-Advisory Agreement, Esoterica is responsible for the selection of the Fund’s portfolio investments subject to the general oversight of the Board and the Advisor. As of March 31, 2023, the Esoterica had $32.5 million in assets under management. The Advisor compensates Esoterica from the management fee it receives from the Fund.
Green Alpha Advisors, LLC, with its principal place of business at 287 Century Circle, Suite 201, Louisville, Colorado 80027, serves as the Fund’s Sub-Advisor. Green Alpha was founded in June 2007 and is registered investment advisor with the SEC. The Advisor has entered into an investment sub-advisory agreement with Green Alpha (the “Green Alpha Sub-Advisory Agreement”). Green Alpha is responsible for the day-to-day management of the Fund’s portfolio, selection of the Fund’s portfolio investments and supervision of its portfolio transactions subject to the general oversight of the Board and the Advisor. As of March 31, 2023, Green Alpha had $334 million in assets under management. The Advisor compensates Green Alpha from the management fee it receives from the Fund.
A discussion regarding the basis for the Board’s approval of the Advisory and Sub-Advisory Agreements is available in the:
● |
Annual Report to shareholders dated March 31, 2023, for the AXS Astoria Inflation Sensitive ETF, AXS Brendan Wood TopGun Index ETF, and AXS Esoterica NextG Economy ETF; |
● |
Annual Report to shareholders dated July 31, 2022, for the AXS Change Finance ESG ETF; |
● |
Semi-annual Report to shareholders dated January 31, 2023, for the AXS First Priority CLO Bond ETF; and |
● |
Semi-annual Report to shareholders dated September 30, 2022, for the AXS Green Alpha ETF. |
Portfolio Managers
AXS
Parker Binion, Portfolio Manager of the Advisor, serves as a portfolio manager for the AXS Brendan Wood TopGun Index ETF, AXS Esoterica NextG Economy ETF and AXS Green Alpha ETF. Mr. Binion joined AXS in January 2021. Prior to joining AXS, Mr. Binion was a portfolio manager of Kerns Capital Management, Inc. since September 2014, and was responsible for managing the firm’s separately managed account strategies and hedging/net exposure strategies. Prior to 2014, Mr. Binion was an investment advisor representative with Heritage Capital from 2012 to 2014. He holds an A.B. in political science with a concentration in economics from Duke University and a J.D. with honors from the University of Texas at Austin.
Travis Trampe, Portfolio Manager of the Advisor, serves as a portfolio manager for AXS Brendan Wood TopGun Index ETF, AXS Change Finance ESG ETF, AXS Esoterica NextG Economy ETF and AXS Green Alpha ETF. Mr. Trampe joined AXS in 2022. Prior to joining AXS, Mr. Trampe was a portfolio manager with ETF issuers and asset management firms for over 15 years, where he was responsible for managing ETFs, mutual funds, UCITS and other fund vehicles.
79
Mr. Trampe’s asset management tenure includes longtime experience in portfolio management, trade execution and fund operations in U.S. and global securities markets. Mr. Trampe holds a B.S. in finance and mathematics from Nebraska Wesleyan University.
Astoria (AXS Astoria Inflation Sensitive ETF)
John Davi, founder and Chief Investment Officer of Astoria, is the portfolio manager responsible for the day-to-day management of the Fund’s portfolio. Mr. Davi has over 20 years of experience in portfolio management, including macro-ETF strategies, quantitative research and portfolio construction. Prior to Astoria, Mr. Davi served as head of Morgan Stanley’s institutional ETF content, advising private funds and asset managers on ETF portfolio construction and commenced his portfolio management career at Merrill Lynch’s Global Equity Derivatives group.
Change Finance (AXS Change Finance ESG ETF)
Andrew Rodriguez, Chief Executive Officer and Chief Investment Officer at Change Finance, is the AXS Change Finance ESG ETF’s index manager and a longtime asset management and portfolio management executive focused on sustainability investment portfolios. Prior to co-founding Change Finance in 2016, Mr. Rodriguez was responsible for ESG research and analysis for the Highwater Global Fund, designed clean investment portfolios for the Keel Asset Management, and developed and managed ESG portfolios at Principium. Mr. Rodriguez is widely regarded as an expert in ESG, SRI, and fossil fuel free portfolios available to the broader investing public. Mr. Rodriguez holds an MBA in Sustainable Systems and Impact Investing from Bainbridge Graduate Institute, the first “Green MBA” program.
AAF (AXS First Priority CLO Bond ETF)
Peter Coppa, Managing Partner and Chief Compliance Officer of AAF, has more than 19 years of experience in the asset management business, running corporate debt hedge funds and CLOs. Prior to joining the AAF, Mr. Coppa spent 14 years as Managing Director at Marathon Asset Management (“MAM”). He has experience in value and event-driven distressed investing, dynamic hedging and portfolio management, corporate financial analysis, and macro-economic research. From 2009 to 2017, Mr. Coppa was a portfolio manager for MAM’s distressed and credit opportunities fund. He has invested in dozens of special credit opportunities throughout his career, in sectors including, but not limited to, airlines, telecommunications, metals and mining, energy and power, and a variety of sovereigns. Prior to 2009, Mr. Coppa was an analyst and trader for MAM’s credit opportunities, structured credit and convertible arbitrage funds. He began his career as a credit analyst at Delaware Investments. Mr. Coppa received a B.S. in economics from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.
Esoterica (AXS Esoterica NextG Economy ETF)
Qindong (Bruce) Liu, Portfolio Manager of Esoterica, previously served as a portfolio manager and a partner of Phase Capital, managing its Global Macro strategy and active high yield ETF (HYLD) as well as leading the firm’s investment research from April 2017 to March 2019. Prior to Phase Capital, Mr. Liu was an equity strategist at WisdomTree Asset Management from June 2015 to April 2017, spearheading the firm’s effort to build out “Modern Alpha” active ETF strategies and products, including the firm’s first multi factor US equity fund (USMF) and first active managed futures strategy (WTMF). Prior to that, Mr. Liu was a sell side equity strategist at Sanford Bernstein from October 2013 to March 2015, authoring the firm’s flagship global equity portfolio strategy research. Mr. Liu was a portfolio manager and research analyst at Dow Chemical Portfolio Investments from December 2010 to September 2013, managing $25 billion global pension and insurance assets. He received his Ph.D. in Business Administration from the University of Connecticut and holds the Chartered Financial Analyst designation.
Yang Ren, Portfolio Manager of Esoterica and the Fund, started his investment career in January 2014 at AllianceBernstein, LP, global asset management firm, covering semiconductors. After moving from the United States back to China, he was senior analyst at Beijing-based hedge fund Heircastle Asset Management from May 2018 through April 2019, and was a senior analyst at CITIC Private Equity Funds Management Co., Ltd., from May 2019 through July 2020, covering global Technology, Media and Telecommunications. Mr. Ren received his B.A. in Economics from Peking University and his M.A. in Financial Engineering from the University of Michigan.
80
Green Alpha (AXS Green Alpha ETF)
Garvin Jabusch. Mr. Jabusch co-founded Green Alpha Advisors in 2007 and he serves as the Chief Investment Officer of Green Alpha Advisors. Mr. Jabusch holds an MBA in international management and finance from the American Graduate School of International Management. Mr. Jabusch earned a BS in Anthropology from the University of Utah.
Jeremy Deems. Mr. Deems co-founded Green Alpha Advisors in 2007. Mr. Deems holds an MBA in Finance from Saint Mary’s College of California. Mr. Deems earned a BS in business administration, honors concentration in financial services and Minor in accounting from Saint Mary’s College of California. Mr. Deems was an active CPA and member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants from 2001 to 2016.
The Funds’ SAI provides additional information about the compensation structure for each portfolio manager, other accounts that each portfolio manager manages and the ownership of Shares by each portfolio manager.
Manager of Managers Structure
The Advisor and the Trust have received an exemptive order from the SEC which allows the Advisor to operate the Funds under a “manager of managers” structure (the “Order”). Pursuant to the Order, the Advisor may, subject to the approval of the Board, hire or replace sub-advisors and modify any existing or future agreement with such sub-advisors without obtaining shareholder approval.
Pursuant to the Order, the Advisor, with the approval of the Board, has the discretion to terminate any sub-advisor and allocate and reallocate a Fund’s assets among the Advisor and any other sub-advisor. The Advisor has the ultimate responsibility, subject to the oversight and supervision by the Board, to oversee any sub-advisor for a Fund and to recommend, for approval by the Board, the hiring, termination and replacement of sub-advisors for a Fund. In evaluating a prospective sub-advisor, the Advisor will consider, among other things, the proposed sub-advisor’s experience, investment philosophy and historical performance. the Advisor remains ultimately responsible for supervising, monitoring and evaluating the performance of any sub-advisor retained to manage a Fund. Within 90 days after hiring any new sub-advisor, the respective Fund’s shareholders will receive information about any new sub-advisory relationships.
Use of the “manager of managers” structure does not diminish the Advisor’s responsibilities to the Funds under its Advisory Agreement. the Advisor has overall responsibility, subject to oversight by the Board, to oversee the sub-advisors and recommend their hiring, termination and replacement. Specifically, the Advisor will, subject to the review and approval of the Board: (a) set a Fund’s overall investment strategy; (b) evaluate, select and recommend sub-advisors to manage all or a portion of a Fund’s assets; and (c) implement procedures reasonably designed to ensure that each sub-advisor complies with the respective Fund’s investment goal, policies and restrictions. Subject to the review by the Board, the Advisor will: (a) when appropriate, allocate and reallocate a Fund’s assets among multiple sub-advisors; and (b) monitor and evaluate the performance of the sub-advisors. Replacement of the Advisor or the imposition of material changes to the Advisory Agreement would continue to require prior shareholder approval.
Fund Expenses
The AXS Esoterica NextG Economy ETF is responsible for its own operating expenses (all of which will be borne directly or indirectly by the Fund’s shareholders), including among others, legal fees and expenses of counsel to the Fund and the Fund’s independent trustees; insurance (including trustees’ and officers’ errors and omissions insurance); auditing and accounting expenses; taxes and governmental fees; listing fees; fees and expenses of the Fund’s custodians, administrators, transfer agents, registrars and other service providers; expenses for portfolio pricing services by a pricing agent, if any; expenses in connection with the issuance and offering of shares; brokerage commissions and other costs of acquiring or disposing of any portfolio holding of the Fund and any litigation expenses.
The Advisor has contractually agreed to waive fees and/or pay for operating expenses of the Fund to ensure that the total annual fund operating expenses (excluding any taxes, leverage interest, brokerage commissions, dividend and interest expenses on short sales, acquired fund fees and expenses (as determined in accordance with Form N-1A), expenses incurred in connection with any merger or reorganization, and extraordinary expenses such as litigation expenses) do not exceed 0.75% of the average daily net assets of the Fund. This agreement is in effect through December 16, 2024, and may be terminated before that date only by the Trust’s Board of Trustees. The Advisor is permitted to seek reimbursement
81
from the Fund, subject to certain limitations, of fees waived or payments made by the Advisor, for a period of three years after the date of the waiver or payment. Reimbursement may be requested from the Fund if the reimbursement will not cause the Fund’s annual expense ratio to exceed the lesser of (a) the expense limitation in effect at the time such fees were waived or payments made, or (b) the expense limitation in effect at the time of the reimbursement. Reimbursements of fees waived or payments made will be made on a “first in, first out” basis so that the oldest fees waived or payments are satisfied first. Any such reimbursement is contingent upon the Board’s subsequent review of the reimbursed amounts and no reimbursement may cause the total operating expenses paid by the Fund in a fiscal year to exceed the applicable limitation on Fund expenses. The Fund must pay current ordinary operating expenses before the Advisor is also entitled to any reimbursement of fees and/or Fund expenses.
Prior Performance for Similar Accounts Managed by Green Alpha
Next Economy Select Composite
The following table sets forth performance data relating to the historical performance of all advisory accounts, including private accounts and a registered investment company, managed by Green Alpha for the periods indicated that have investment objectives, policies, and strategies substantially similar to those of the Fund (the “Next Economy Select Composite”). The data is provided to illustrate the past performance of Green Alpha in managing substantially similar accounts as measured against a market index and does not represent the performance of the Fund. You should not consider this performance data as an indication of future performance of the Fund.
The private accounts that are included in the performance data set forth below are not subject to the same types of expenses to which the Fund is subject, or to the diversification requirements, specific tax restrictions and investment limitations imposed on the Fund by the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “1940 Act”), or Subchapter M of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended. Consequently, the performance results for these private accounts could have been adversely affected if the private accounts had been regulated as investment companies under the federal securities laws.
The Next Economy Select Composite returns below were calculated in accordance with recognized industry standards which are calculated differently than the SEC method for calculating performance for registered investment companies. Monthly returns of the Next Economy Select Composite combine the individual accounts’ returns (calculated on a time-weighted rate of return basis) by asset weighting each account’s asset value as of the beginning of the month. Annual returns are calculated by geometrically linking (i.e., calculating the product of) the monthly returns and does not reflect reinvestment of dividends and interests. The SEC standardized total return is calculated using a standard formula that uses the average annual total return assuming reinvestment of dividends and distributions.
Average
Annual Total Returns
For the Period Ended December 31, 2022
One
|
Five
|
Since
| |
Next Economy Select Composite |
|||
Net Returns, after fees/expenses* |
(28.06)% |
12.80% |
13.14% |
Gross Returns |
(27.40)% |
14.12% |
14.54% |
MSCI All Country World Investable Market Index (“ACWI IMI”) |
(18.03)% |
5.43% |
7.95% |
* |
The net returns for the Next Economy Select Composite are shown net of all actual fees and expenses. The fees and expenses of accounts included in the Next Economy Select Composite are higher than the anticipated operating expenses of the Fund and accordingly, the performance results of the Next Economy Select Composite are lower than what the Fund’s performance would have been. |
82
The gross returns were calculated on a time weighted basis, including all dividends and interest, accrual income, and realized and unrealized gains or losses, are net of all brokerage commissions and execution costs, and do not give effect to investment advisory fees, which would reduce such returns. The gross returns are also presented gross of foreign tax withholding and taxes on dividends and capital gains. For comparative purposes, the Next Economy Select Composite’s net returns and the ACWI IMI’s returns are presented net of foreign withholding taxes on dividends and capital gains. The U.S. dollar is the currency used to express performance.
Green Alpha is an investment advisor registered with the SEC pursuant to the Investment Advisers Act of 1940.
The Next Economy Select Composite was created in 2013 and includes all discretionary accounts managed by Green Alpha with a comparable strategy. The Next Economy Select Composite’s portfolio objective is capital appreciation. The Next Economy Select Composite portfolio seeks to achieve its objective through investments in high-conviction, market-leading companies that seek to mitigate global sustainability systemic risks like the climate crisis, natural resource degradation and scarcity, and human disease burdens. Green Alpha seeks a diverse portfolio of sustainability leaders that have above-average growth potential and are reasonably valued at the time of purchase.
The ACWI IMI is designed to represent performance of the full opportunity set of large- and mid-cap stocks across 23 developed and 24 emerging markets.
BUYING AND SELLING FUND SHARES
Fund shares are listed for trading on the Exchange. When you buy or sell the Funds’ shares on the secondary market, you will pay or receive the market price. You may incur customary brokerage commissions and charges and may pay some or all of the spread between the bid and the offered price in the secondary market on each leg of a round trip (purchase and sale) transaction. The shares of the Funds will trade on the Exchange at prices that may differ to varying degrees from the daily NAV of such shares. A “Business Day” with respect to the Funds is any day on which the Exchange is open for business. The Exchange is generally open Monday through Friday and is closed on weekends and the following holidays: New Year’s Day, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, Presidents’ Day, Good Friday, Memorial Day, Juneteenth National Independence Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day.
Each Fund’s NAV is calculated as of 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time, the normal close of regular trading on the NYSE, on each day the NYSE is open for trading. If for example, the NYSE closes at 1:00 p.m. New York time, the Funds’ NAVs would still be determined as of 4:00 p.m. New York time. In this example, portfolio securities traded on the NYSE would be valued at their closing prices unless the Advisor determines that a “fair value” adjustment is appropriate due to subsequent events. The NAV is determined by dividing the value of a Fund’s portfolio securities, cash and other assets (including accrued interest), less all liabilities (including accrued expenses), by the total number of outstanding shares. A Fund’s NAV may be calculated earlier if permitted by the SEC. The NYSE is closed on weekends and most U.S. national holidays. However, foreign securities listed primarily on non-U.S. markets may trade on weekends or other days on which the Fund does not value its shares, which may significantly affect a Fund’s NAV on those days.
Each Fund’s securities generally are valued at market price. Securities are valued at fair value when market quotations are not readily available. The Board has designated the Advisor as each Fund’s valuation designee (the “Valuation Designee”) to make all fair value determinations with respect to the Fund’s portfolio investments, subject to the Board’s oversight. As the Valuation Designee, the Advisor has adopted and implemented policies and procedures to be followed when a Fund must utilize fair value pricing, including when reliable market quotations are not readily available, when a Fund’s pricing service does not provide a valuation (or provides a valuation that, in the judgment of the Advisor, does not represent the security’s fair value), or when, in the judgment of the Advisor, events have rendered the market value unreliable (see, for example, the discussion of fair value pricing of foreign securities in the paragraph below). Valuing securities at fair value involves reliance on the judgment of the Advisor, and may result in a different price being used in the calculation of a Fund’s NAV from quoted or published prices for the same securities. Fair value determinations are made by the Advisor, in good faith, in accordance with procedures approved by the Board. There can be no assurance that a Fund will obtain the fair value assigned to a security if it sells the security.
83
In certain circumstances, the Advisor employs fair value pricing to ensure greater accuracy in determining a Fund’s daily NAV and to prevent dilution by frequent traders or market timers who seek to exploit temporary market anomalies. Fair value pricing may be applied to foreign securities held by a Fund upon the occurrence of an event after the close of trading on non-U.S. markets but before the close of trading on the NYSE when a Fund’s NAV is determined. If the event may result in a material adjustment to the price of a Fund’s foreign securities once non-U.S. markets open on the following business day (such as, for example, a significant surge or decline in the U.S. market), the Advisor may value such foreign securities at fair value, taking into account the effect of such event, in order to calculate the Fund’s NAV.
Other types of portfolio securities that the Advisor may fair value include, but are not limited to: (1) investments that are illiquid or traded infrequently, including “restricted” securities and private placements for which there is no public market; (2) investments for which, in the judgment of the Advisor, the market price is stale; (3) securities of an issuer that has entered into a restructuring; (4) securities for which trading has been halted or suspended; and (5) fixed income securities for which there is not a current market value quotation.
Frequent Purchases and Redemptions of Fund Shares
The Funds do not impose any restrictions on the frequency of purchases and redemptions of Creation Units; however, the Funds reserve the right to reject or limit purchases at any time as described in the SAI. When considering that no restriction or policy was necessary, the Board evaluated the risks posed by arbitrage and market timing activities, such as whether frequent purchases and redemptions would interfere with the efficient implementation of the Funds’ investment strategies, or whether they would cause a Fund to experience increased transaction costs. The Board considered that, unlike traditional mutual funds, shares of the Funds are issued and redeemed only in large quantities of shares known as Creation Units available only from the Funds directly to Authorized Participants, and that most trading in the Funds occurs on the Exchange at prevailing market prices and does not involve the Funds directly. Given this structure, the Board determined that it is unlikely that trading due to arbitrage opportunities or market timing by shareholders would result in negative impact to the Funds or their shareholders. In addition, frequent trading of shares of the Funds done by Authorized Participants and arbitrageurs is critical to ensuring that the market price remains at or close to NAV.
Availability of Information
Each Business Day, the following information will be available at www.axsinvestments.com with respect to each Fund: (i) information for each portfolio holding that will form the basis of the next calculation of a Fund’s net asset value per share; (ii) a Fund’s net asset value per share, market price, and premium or discount, each as of the end of the prior Business Day; (iii) a table showing the number of days a Fund’s shares traded at a premium or discount during the most recently completed calendar year and the most recently completed calendar quarter since that year; (iv) a line graph showing Fund share premiums or discounts for the most recently completed calendar year and the most recently completed calendar quarter since that year; (v) a Fund’s median bid-ask spread over the last thirty calendar days; and (vi) if during the past year a Fund’s premium or discount was greater than 2% for more than seven consecutive trading days, a statement that a Fund’s premium or discount, as applicable, was greater than 2% and a discussion of the factors that are reasonably believed to have materially contributed to the premium or discount.
DIVIDENDS, DISTRIBUTIONS AND TAXES
Fund Distributions
The AXS First Priority CLO Bond ETF will make distributions of net investment income monthly. The AXS Astoria Inflation Sensitive ETF and the AXS Green Alpha ETF will make distributions of net investment income quarterly. The AXS Brendan Wood TopGun Index ETF, the AXS Change Finance ESG ETF and the AXS Esoterica NextG Economy ETF will make distributions of net investment income annually. Each Fund distributes its net capital gains, if any, to investors at least annually, typically in December. Each Fund may make additional payments of dividends or distributions if it deems it desirable at any other time during the year.
84
Dividend Reinvestment Service
Brokers may make available to their customers who own shares of the Funds the Depository Trust Company book-entry dividend reinvestment service. If this service is available and used, dividend distributions of both income and capital gains will automatically be reinvested in additional whole shares of the Fund purchased on the secondary market. Without this service, investors would receive their distributions in cash. To determine whether the dividend reinvestment service is available and whether there is a commission or other charge for using this service, consult your broker. Brokers may require the Fund’s shareholders to adhere to specific procedures and timetables.
Federal Income Tax Consequences
The following discussion is very general and does not address investors subject to special rules, such as investors who hold Fund shares through an IRA, 401(k) plan or other tax-advantaged account. The Statement of Information contains further information about taxes. Because each Shareholder’s circumstances are different and special tax rules may apply, you should consult your tax advisor about your investment in a Fund.
You will generally have to pay federal income taxes, as well as any state or local taxes, on distributions received from a Fund, whether paid in cash or reinvested in additional shares. If you sell Fund shares, it is generally considered a taxable event. Distributions of net investment income, other than “qualified dividend income,” and distributions of net short-term capital gains, are taxable for federal income tax purposes at ordinary income tax rates. Distributions from a Fund’s net capital gain (i.e., the excess of its net long-term capital gain over its net short-term capital loss) are taxable for federal income tax purposes as long-term capital gain, regardless of how long the shareholder has held Fund shares.
Dividends paid by a Fund (but none of a Fund’s capital gain distributions) may qualify in part for the dividends-received deduction available to corporate shareholders, provided certain holding period and other requirements are satisfied. Distributions of investment income that a Fund reports as “qualified dividend income” may be eligible to be taxed to non-corporate shareholders at the reduced rates applicable to long-term capital gain if derived from the Fund’s qualified dividend income and if certain other requirements are satisfied. “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 a 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.
You may want to avoid buying shares of a Fund just before it declares a distribution (on or before the record date), because such a distribution will be taxable to you even though it may effectively be a return of a portion of your investment.
Although distributions are generally taxable when received, dividends declared in October, November or December to shareholders of record as of a date in such month and paid during the following January are treated as if received on December 31 of the calendar year when the dividends were declared.
Information on the federal income tax status of dividends and distributions is provided annually.
Dividends and distributions from a Fund and net gain from sales of Fund shares will generally be taken into account in determining a shareholder’s “net investment income” for purposes of the Medicare contribution tax applicable to certain individuals, estates and trusts.
If you do not provide your Fund with your correct taxpayer identification number and any required certifications, you will be subject to backup withholding on your dividends and other distributions. The backup withholding rate is currently 24%.
Dividends and certain other payments made by a Fund to a non-U.S. shareholder are subject to withholding of federal income tax at the rate of 30% (or such lower rate as may be determined in accordance with any applicable treaty). Dividends that are reported by a Fund as “interest-related dividends” or “short-term capital gain dividends” are generally exempt from such withholding. In general, a Fund may report interest-related dividends to the extent of its net income
85
derived from U.S.-source interest and a Fund may report short-term capital gain dividends to the extent its net short-term capital gain for the taxable year exceeds its net long-term capital loss. Backup withholding will not be applied to payments that have been subject to the 30% withholding tax described in this paragraph.
Under legislation commonly referred to as “FATCA,” unless certain non-U.S. entities that hold shares comply with IRS requirements that will generally require them to report information regarding U.S. persons investing in, or holding accounts with, such entities, a 30% withholding tax may apply to Fund distributions payable to such entities. A non-U.S. shareholder may be exempt from the withholding described in this paragraph under an applicable intergovernmental agreement between the United States and a foreign government, provided that the shareholder and the applicable foreign government comply with the terms of the agreement.
Some of a Fund’s investment income may be subject to foreign income taxes that are withheld at the country of origin. Tax treaties between certain countries and the United States may reduce or eliminate such taxes, but there can be no assurance that a Fund will qualify for treaty benefits.
An Authorized Participant who exchanges securities for Creation Units generally will recognize a gain or a loss. The gain or loss will be equal to the difference between the market value of the Creation Units at the time and the sum of the exchanger’s aggregate basis in the securities surrendered plus the amount of any cash paid for such Creation Units. A person who redeems Creation Units will generally recognize a gain or loss equal to the difference between the exchanger’s basis in the Creation Units and the sum of the aggregate market value of any securities received plus the amount of any cash received for such Creation Units. The IRS, however, may assert that a loss realized upon an exchange of securities for Creation Units cannot be deducted currently under the rules governing “wash sales,” or on the basis that there has been no significant change in economic position.
Any gain or loss realized upon a creation of Creation Units will be treated as capital gain or loss if the Authorized Participant holds the securities exchanged therefor as capital assets, and otherwise will be ordinary income or loss. Similarly, any gain or loss realized upon a redemption of Creation Units will be treated as capital gain or loss if the Authorized Participant holds the shares of a Fund comprising the Creation Units as capital assets, and otherwise will be ordinary income or loss. Any capital gain or loss realized upon the creation of Creation Units will generally be treated as long-term capital gain or loss if the securities exchanged for such Creation Units have been held for more than one year, and otherwise will be short-term capital gain or loss. Any capital gain or loss realized upon the redemption of Creation Units will generally be treated as long-term capital gain or loss if the shares of a Fund comprising the Creation Units have been held for more than one year, and otherwise, will generally be short-term capital gain or loss. Any capital loss realized upon a redemption of Creation Units held for 6 months or less will be treated as a long-term capital loss to the extent of any amounts treated as distributions to the applicable Authorized Participant of long-term capital gains with respect to the Creation Units (including any amounts credited to the Authorized Participant as undistributed capital gains).
Each Fund has the right to reject an order for Creation Units if the purchaser (or a group of purchasers) would, upon obtaining the shares of the Fund so ordered, own 80% or more of the outstanding shares of the Fund and if, pursuant to Section 351 of the Code, the Fund would have a basis in any securities different from the market value of such securities on the date of deposit. Each Fund also has the right to require information necessary to determine beneficial share ownership for purposes of the 80% determination. If a Fund does issue Creation Units to a purchaser (or a group of purchasers) that would, upon obtaining the shares of the Fund so ordered, own 80% or more of the outstanding shares of the Fund, the purchaser (or a group of purchasers) may not recognize gain or loss upon the exchange of securities for Creation Units.
Persons purchasing or redeeming Creation Units should consult their own tax advisors with respect to the tax treatment of any creation or redemption transaction.
ALPS Distributors, Inc. (the “Distributor”) serves as the distributor of Creation Units for the Funds on an agency basis. The Distributor does not maintain a secondary market in Shares.
86
The Board has adopted a Distribution and Service Plan pursuant to Rule 12b-1 under the 1940 Act. In accordance with its Rule 12b-1 plan, the each of the Funds, except for the AXS Green Alpha ETF, is authorized to pay an amount up to 0.25% of its average daily net assets each year to reimburse the Distributor for amounts expended to finance activities primarily intended to result in the sale of Creation Units or the provision of investor services. The Distributor may also use this amount to compensate securities dealers or other persons that are APs for providing distribution assistance, including broker-dealer and shareholder support and educational and promotional services. The Fund does not and has no current intention of paying 12b-1 fees. However, in the event 12b-1 fees are charged in the future, because these fees are paid out of the Funds’ assets, over time these fees will increase the cost of your investment and may cost you more than certain other types of sales charges.
Co-Administrators. UMB Fund Services, Inc. (“UMBFS”), 235 West Galena Street, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53212, and Mutual Fund Administration, LLC (“MFAC”), 2220 E. Route 66, Suite 226, Glendora, California 91740 (collectively the “Co-Administrators”), act as co-administrators for the Funds. Pursuant to the Co-Administration Agreement, the Co-Administrators receive a fee for administration services based on each Fund’s average daily net assets, which is paid by the Advisor.
Transfer Agent. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co., 50 Post Office Square, Boston, Massachusetts 02110, serves as the Funds’ transfer agent. The transfer agent provides record keeping and shareholder services.
Custodian. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co., 50 Post Office Square, Boston, Massachusetts 02110, serves as the Funds’ custodian. The custodian holds the securities, cash and other assets of the Fund.
Fund Accounting Agent. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co., 50 Post Office Square, Boston, Massachusetts 02110, serves as the fund accounting agent for the Funds. The fund accounting agent calculates each Fund’s daily NAV.
Legal Counsel. Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP (“Morgan Lewis”), 600 Anton Boulevard, Suite 1800, Costa Mesa, California 92626, serves as legal counsel to the Trust and the Independent Trustees.
Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm. Tait, Weller & Baker LLP (“Tait Weller”), located at Two Liberty Place, 50 South 16th Street, Suite 2900, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 19102-2529, serves as the Funds’ independent registered public accounting firm and is responsible for auditing the annual financial statements of each Fund.
Investments by Other Registered Investment Companies
For purposes of the 1940 Act, the Funds are treated as a registered investment company. Section 12(d)(1) of the 1940 Act restricts investments by investment companies in the securities of other investment companies, including shares of the Funds. Rule 12d1-4 under the 1940 Act permits registered investment companies to invest in exchange-traded funds offered by the Trust, including the Funds, beyond the limits of Section 12(d)(1) subject to certain terms and conditions, including that such registered investment companies enter into an agreement with the Trust.
Continuous Offering
The method by which Creation Units are purchased and traded may raise certain issues under applicable securities laws. Because new Creation Units are issued and sold by each Fund on an ongoing basis, at any point a “distribution,” as such term is used in the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”), may occur. Broker-dealers and other persons are cautioned that some activities on their part may, depending on the circumstances, result in their being deemed participants in a distribution in a manner which could render them statutory underwriters and subject them to the Prospectus delivery and liability provisions of the Securities Act.
87
For example, a broker-dealer firm or its client may be deemed a statutory underwriter if it takes Creation Units after placing an order with the transfer agent, breaks them down into individual shares, and sells such shares directly to customers, or if it chooses to couple the creation of a supply of new shares with an active selling effort involving solicitation of secondary market demand for shares. A determination of whether one is an underwriter for purposes of the Securities Act must take into account all the facts and circumstances pertaining to the activities of the broker-dealer or its client in the particular case, and the examples mentioned above should not be considered a complete description of all the activities that could lead to categorization as an underwriter.
Broker-dealer firms should also note that dealers who are not “underwriters” but are effecting transactions in shares of the Funds, whether or not participating in the distribution of shares of the Funds, are generally required to deliver a prospectus. This is because the prospectus delivery exemption in Section 4(a)(3) of the Securities Act is not available with respect to such transactions as a result of Section 24(d) of the 1940 Act. As a result, broker-dealer-firms should note that dealers who are not underwriters but are participating in a distribution (as contrasted with ordinary secondary market transactions) and thus dealing with shares of the Funds that are part of an unsold allotment within the meaning of Section 4(a)(3)(C) of the Securities Act would be unable to take advantage of the prospectus delivery exemption provided by Section 4(a)(3) of the Securities Act. Firms that incur a prospectus delivery obligation with respect to shares of the Funds are reminded that under Rule 153 under the Securities Act, a prospectus delivery obligation under Section 5(b)(2) of the Securities Act owed to an exchange member in connection with a sale on the Exchange is satisfied by the fact that the Funds’ Prospectus is available on the SEC’s electronic filing system. The prospectus delivery mechanism provided in Rule 153 is only available with respect to transactions on an exchange.
88
The following tables are intended to help you understand each Fund’s financial performance, including each Predecessor Fund’s financial performance for the period of the Predecessor Funds’ operations. Certain information reflects financial results for a single Fund share or a single Predecessor Fund share, as applicable. The total return figures represent the percentage that an investor in each Fund and each Predecessor Fund would have earned (or lost) on an investment in the Fund and Predecessor Fund, as applicable (assuming reinvestment of all dividends and distributions). The financial information shown below for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2023, has been audited by Tait, Weller & Baker LLP, an independent registered public accounting firm whose report, along with each Fund’s financial statements, is included in the Funds’ annual report, which is available upon request (see back cover). The financial information with respect to the AXS Astoria Inflation Sensitive ETF for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2022 and prior, with respect to the AXS Change Finance ESG ETF and AXS First Priority CLO Bond ETF for the fiscal year ended July 31 2022 and prior, and with respect to the AXS Esoterica NextG Economy ETF for the fiscal year ended October 31, 2022 and prior, were audited by each Predecessor Fund’s independent registered public accounting firm, whose report, along with the Predecessor Funds’ financial statements, is included in each Predecessor Fund’s annual report, which is available upon request (see back cover).
89
AXS Astoria Inflation Sensitive ETF
Per
share operating performance.
For a capital share outstanding throughout each
period.
|
For
the |
For
the |
||||||
Net asset value, beginning of period |
$ | 28.49 | $ | 25.00 | ||||
Income from Investment Operations: |
||||||||
Net investment income (loss)1 |
0.90 | 0.17 | ||||||
Net realized and unrealized gain (loss) |
(3.45 | ) | 3.32 | |||||
Total from investment operations |
(2.55 | ) | 3.49 | |||||
Less Distributions: |
||||||||
From net investment income |
(0.85 | ) | — | |||||
Total distributions |
(0.85 | ) | — | |||||
Net asset value, end of period |
$ | 25.09 | $ | 28.49 | ||||
Total return2,3 |
(8.72 | )% | 13.96 | %4 | ||||
Total return at market price2,5 |
(9.06 | )% | 14.20 | %4 | ||||
Ratios and Supplemental Data: |
||||||||
Net assets, end of period (in thousands) |
$ | 68,988 | $ | 61,963 | ||||
Ratio of expenses to average net assets6 |
0.70 | % | 0.70 | %7 | ||||
Ratio of net investment income (loss) to average net assets |
3.50 | % | 2.51 | %7 | ||||
Portfolio turnover rate8 |
81 | % | 11 | %4 |
* |
The Fund commenced operations on December 29, 2021. |
1 |
Based on average shares outstanding during the period. |
2 |
Total returns do not reflect the deduction of taxes that a shareholder would pay on the Fund distributions or redemption of Fund shares. |
3 |
Net asset value total return is calculated assuming an initial investment made at the net asset value at the beginning of the period, reinvestment of all dividends and distributions at net asset value during the period, if any, and redemption on the last day of the period at net asset value. This percentage is not an indication of the performance of a shareholder’s investment in the Fund based on market value due to the differences between the market price of the shares and the net asset value per share of the Fund. |
4 |
Not annualized. |
5 |
Market value total return is calculated assuming an initial investment made at market value at the beginning of the period, reinvestment of all dividends and distributions at net asset value during the period, if any, and redemption on the last day of the period at market value. Market value is determined by the composite closing price. Composite closing security price is defined as the last reported sale price on the NYSE Arca. The composite closing price is the last reported sale, regardless of volume, and not an average price, and may have occurred on a date prior to the close of the reporting period. Market value may be greater or less than net asset value, depending on the Fund’s closing price on the NYSE Arca. |
6 |
If interest expense had been excluded, the expense ratios would have remained unchanged for year ended March 31, 2023. For the period ended March 31, 2022, the ratios would have remained unchanged. |
7 |
Annualized. |
8 |
Excludes the impact of in-kind transactions related to the processing of capital share transactions in Creation Units. |
90
AXS Brendan Wood TopGun Index ETF
Per
share operating performance.
For a capital share outstanding throughout each
period.
|
For
the |
|||
Net asset value, beginning of period |
$ | 30.00 | ||
Income from Investment Operations: |
||||
Net investment income (loss)1 |
0.09 | |||
Net realized and unrealized gain (loss) |
(0.35 | ) | ||
Total from investment operations |
(0.26 | ) | ||
Less Distributions: |
||||
From net investment income |
(0.08 | ) | ||
Total distributions |
(0.08 | ) | ||
Net asset value, end of period |
$ | 29.66 | ||
Total return2,3 |
(0.86 | )%4 | ||
Total return at market price2,5 |
(0.69 | )%4 | ||
Ratios and Supplemental Data: |
||||
Net assets, end of period (in thousands) |
$ | 1,780 | ||
Ratio of expenses to average net assets |
1.73 | %6,7 | ||
Ratio of net investment income (loss) to average net assets |
0.75 | %6 | ||
Portfolio turnover rate8 |
51 | %4 |
* |
The Fund commenced operations on November 8, 2022.
|
1 |
Based on average shares outstanding during the period.
|
2 |
Total returns do not reflect the deduction of taxes that a shareholder would pay on the Fund distributions or redemption of Fund shares.
|
3 |
Net asset value total return is calculated assuming an initial investment made at the net asset value at the beginning of the period, reinvestment of all dividends and distributions at net asset value during the period, if any, and redemption on the last day of the period at net asset value. This percentage is not an indication of the performance of a shareholder’s investment in the Fund based on market value due to the differences between the market price of the shares and the net asset value per share of the Fund.
|
4 |
Not annualized.
|
5 |
Market value total return is calculated assuming an initial investment made at market value at the beginning of the period, reinvestment of all dividends and distributions at net asset value during the period, if any, and redemption on the last day of the period at market value. Market value is determined by the composite closing price. Composite closing security price is defined as the last reported sale price on NYSE Arca, Inc. The composite closing price is the last reported sale, regardless of volume, and not an average price, and may have occurred on a date prior to the close of the reporting period. Market value may be greater or less than net asset value, depending on the Fund’s closing price on NYSE Arca, Inc.
|
6 |
Annualized.
|
7 |
If interest expense had been excluded, the expense ratio would have been lowered by 0.75% for the period ended March 31, 2023.
|
8 |
Excludes the impact of in-kind transactions related to the processing of capital share transactions in Creation Units. |
91
AXS Change Finance ESG ETF^
Per
share operating performance.
For a capital share outstanding throughout each
period.
|
For
the |
For
the |
For
the |
For
the |
For
the |
For
the |
||||||||||||||||||
Net asset value, beginning of period |
$ | 28.69 | $ | 34.06 | $ | 24.44 | $ | 21.88 | $ | 19.66 | $ | 18.00 | ||||||||||||
Income from Investment Operations: |
||||||||||||||||||||||||
Net investment income (loss)1 |
0.22 | 0.29 | 0.25 | 0.29 | 0.30 | 0.17 | ||||||||||||||||||
Net realized and unrealized gain (loss) |
0.25 | (5.46 | ) | 9.54 | 2.47 | 2.13 | 1.55 | |||||||||||||||||
Net increase from payments by non-affiliate (Note 3) |
0.02 | — | — | — | — | — | ||||||||||||||||||
Total from investment operations |
0.49 | (5.17 | ) | 9.79 | 2.76 | 2.43 | 1.72 | |||||||||||||||||
Less Distributions: |
||||||||||||||||||||||||
From net investment income |
(0.30 | ) | (0.20 | ) | (0.17 | ) | (0.20 | ) | (0.21 | ) | (0.06 | ) | ||||||||||||
Total distributions |
(0.30 | ) | (0.20 | ) | (0.17 | ) | (0.20 | ) | (0.21 | ) | (0.06 | ) | ||||||||||||
Net asset value, end of period |
$ | 28.88 | $ | 28.69 | $ | 34.06 | $ | 24.44 | $ | 21.88 | $ | 19.66 | ||||||||||||
Total return2,3 |
1.78 | %4,5 | (15.29 | )% | 40.19 | % | 12.69 | % | 12.63 | % | 9.53 | %5 | ||||||||||||
Total return at market price2,6 |
1.74 | %5 | (15.32 | )% | 40.44 | % | 12.34 | % | 12.72 | % | 10.26 | %5 | ||||||||||||
Ratios and Supplemental Data: |
||||||||||||||||||||||||
Net assets, end of period (in thousands) |
$ | 116,957 | $ | 103,281 | $ | 80,042 | $ | 19,551 | $ | 8,750 | $ | 3,932 | ||||||||||||
Ratio of expenses to average net assets |
0.49 | %7 | 0.49 | % | 0.49 | % | 0.49 | % | 0.49 | % | 0.64 | %7,8 | ||||||||||||
Ratio of net investment income (loss) to average net assets |
1.17 | %7 | 0.94 | % | 0.82 | % | 1.33 | % | 1.48 | % | 1.14 | %7 | ||||||||||||
Portfolio turnover rate9 |
41 | %5 | 162 | % | 85 | % | 120 | % | 46 | % | 70 | %5 |
^ |
Financial information from October 9, 2017 through March 18, 2022 is for the Change Finance ESG ETF, which was reorganized into the AXS Change Finance ESG ETF as of the close of business on March 18, 2022. |
* |
Fiscal year end changed to March 31, effective February 1, 2023. |
** |
The Fund commenced operations on October 9, 2017. |
1 |
Based on average shares outstanding during the period. |
2 |
Total returns do not reflect the deduction of taxes that a shareholder would pay on the Fund distributions or redemption of Fund shares. |
3 |
Net asset value total return is calculated assuming an initial investment made at the net asset value at the beginning of the period, reinvestment of all dividends and distributions at net asset value during the period, if any, and redemption on the last day of the period at net asset value. This percentage is not an indication of the performance of a shareholder’s investment in the Fund based on market value due to the differences between the market price of the shares and the net asset value per share of the Fund. |
92
4 |
Non-affiliate reimbursed the Fund $72,000 for errors during processing. The reimbursement had a 0.07% impact to the Fund’s performance. |
5 |
Not annualized. |
6 |
Market value total return is calculated assuming an initial investment made at market value at the beginning of the period, reinvestment of all dividends and distributions at net asset value during the period, if any, and redemption on the last day of the period at market value. Market value is determined by the composite closing price. Composite closing security price is defined as the last reported sale price on the NYSE Arca. The composite closing price is the last reported sale, regardless of volume, and not an average price, and may have occurred on a date prior to the close of the reporting period. Market value may be greater or less than net asset value, depending on the Fund’s closing price on the NYSE Arca. |
7 |
Annualized. |
8 |
Effective April 13, 2018, the adviser reduced its management fee from 0.75% to 0.49%. |
9 |
Excludes the impact of in-kind transactions related to the processing of capital share transactions in Creation Units. |
93
AXS Esoterica NextG Economy ETF^
Per
share operating performance.
For a capital share outstanding throughout each
period.
|
For
the |
For
the |
For
the |
For
the |
||||||||||||
Net asset value, beginning of period |
$ | 32.88 | $ | 63.33 | $ | 43.22 | $ | 25.60 | ||||||||
Income from Investment Operations: |
||||||||||||||||
Net investment income (loss)1 |
(0.03 | ) | (0.18 | ) | (0.20 | ) | (0.07 | ) | ||||||||
Net realized and unrealized gain (loss) |
6.74 | (30.28 | ) | 20.28 | 17.69 | |||||||||||
Total from investment operations |
6.71 | (30.46 | ) | 20.08 | 17.62 | |||||||||||
Transaction fees1 |
— | 0.01 | 0.03 | — | 2 | |||||||||||
Net asset value, end of period |
$ | 39.59 | $ | 32.88 | $ | 63.33 | $ | 43.22 | ||||||||
Total return3,4 |
20.41 | %5 | (48.08 | )% | 46.53 | % | 68.85 | %5 | ||||||||
Total return at market price3,6 |
20.26 | %5 | (48.05 | )% | 46.27 | % | 68.80 | %5 | ||||||||
Ratios and Supplemental Data: |
||||||||||||||||
Net assets, end of period (in thousands) |
$ | 19,827 | $ | 16,467 | $ | 45,962 | $ | 11,918 | ||||||||
Ratio of expenses to average net assets: |
||||||||||||||||
Before fees waived and expenses absorbed/recovered |
2.13 | %7 | 2.01 | % | 1.55 | % | 3.90 | %7 | ||||||||
After fees waived and expenses absorbed/recovered |
0.75 | %7 | 0.75 | % | 0.75 | % | 0.75 | %7 | ||||||||
Ratio of net investment income (loss) to average net assets: |
||||||||||||||||
Before fees waived and expenses absorbed/recovered |
(1.62 | )%7 | (1.62 | )% | (1.16 | )% | (3.44 | )%7 | ||||||||
After fees waived and expenses absorbed/recovered |
(0.24 | )%7 | (0.36 | )% | (0.36 | )% | (0.29 | )%7 | ||||||||
Portfolio turnover rate8 |
16 | %5 | 31 | % | 29 | % | 130 | %5 |
^ |
Financial information from March 30, 2020through December 16, 2022 is for the Esoterica NextG Economy ETF, which was reorganized into the AXS Esoterica NextG Economy ETF as of the close of business on December 16, 2022. |
* |
Fiscal year end changed to March 31, effective February 1, 2023. |
** |
The Fund commenced operations on March 30, 2020. |
1 |
Based on average shares outstanding during the period. |
2 |
Amount represents less than $0.01 per share. |
3 |
Total return would have been lower had fees not been waived or absorbed by the Advisor. These returns do not reflect the deduction of taxes that a shareholder would pay on the Fund distributions or redemption of Fund shares. |
4 |
Net asset valuetotal return is calculated assuming an initial investment made at the net asset value at the beginning of the period, reinvestment of all dividends and distributions at net asset value during the period, if any, and redemption on the last day of the period at net asset value. This percentage is not an indication of the performance of a shareholder’s investment in the Fund based on market value due to the differences between the market price of the shares and the net asset value per share ofthe Fund. |
5 |
Not annualized. |
6 |
Market value total return is calculated assuming an initial investment made at market value at the beginning of the period, reinvestment of all dividends and distributions at net asset value during the period, if any, and redemption on the last day of the period at market value. Market value is determined by the composite closing price. Composite closing security price is defined as the last reported sale price on Cboe BZX Exchange, Inc. The composite closing price is the last reported sale, regardless of volume, and not an average price, and may have occurred on a date prior to the close of the reporting period. Market value may be greater or less than net asset value, depending on the Fund’s closing price on Cboe BZX Exchange, Inc. |
7 |
Annualized. |
8 |
Excludes the impact of in-kind transactions related to the processing of capital share transactions in Creation Units. |
94
AXS First Priority CLO Bond ETF^
Per
share operating performance.
For a capital share outstanding throughout each
period.
|
For
the |
For
the |
For
the |
|||||||||
Net asset value, beginning of period |
$ | 24.39 | $ | 25.08 | $ | 25.00 | ||||||
Income from Investment Operations: |
||||||||||||
Net investment income (loss)1 |
0.79 | 0.32 | 0.25 | |||||||||
Net realized and unrealized gain (loss) |
0.17 | (0.74 | ) | 0.02 | 2 | |||||||
Total from investment operations |
0.96 | (0.42 | ) | 0.27 | ||||||||
Less Distributions: |
||||||||||||
From net investment income |
(0.85 | ) | (0.29 | ) | (0.22 | ) | ||||||
From net realized gain |
— | — | 3 | — | ||||||||
Total distributions |
(0.85 | ) | (0.29 | ) | (0.22 | ) | ||||||
Transaction fees1 |
— | 0.02 | 0.03 | |||||||||
Net asset value, end of period |
$ | 24.50 | $ | 24.39 | $ | 25.08 | ||||||
Total return4,5 |
4.02 | %6 | (1.60 | )% | 1.21 | %6 | ||||||
Total return at market price4,7 |
4.28 | %6 | (1.73 | )% | 0.98 | %6 | ||||||
Ratios and Supplemental Data: |
||||||||||||
Net assets, end of period (in thousands) |
$ | 7,351 | $ | 7,317 | $ | 10,033 | ||||||
Ratio of expenses to average net assets |
0.25 | %8 | 0.25 | % | 0.25 | %8 | ||||||
Ratio of net investment income (loss) to average net assets |
4.84 | %8 | 1.29 | % | 1.11 | %8 | ||||||
Portfolio turnover rate9 |
8 | %6 | 73 | % | 34 | %6 |
^ |
Financial information from September 8, 2020 through October 14, 2022 is for the First Priority CLO Bond ETF, which was reorganized into the AXS First Priority CLO Bond ETF as ofthe close of business on October 14, 2022. |
* |
Fiscal year end changed to March 31, effective February 1, 2023. |
** |
The Fund commenced operations on September 8, 2020. |
1 |
Based on average shares outstanding during the period. |
2 |
Due to timing of capital share transactions, the per share amount of net realized and unrealized gain (loss) on investments varies from the amounts shown in the Statement of Operations. |
3 |
Amount represents less than $0.01 per share. |
4 |
Total returns do not reflect the deduction of taxes that a shareholder would pay on the Fund distributions or redemption of Fund shares. |
5 |
Net asset value total return is calculated assuming an initial investment made at the net asset value at the beginning of the period, reinvestment of all dividends and distributions at net asset value during the period, if any, and redemption on the last day of the period at net asset value. This percentage is not an indication of the performance of a shareholder’s investment in the Fund based on market value due to the differences between the market price of the shares and the net asset value per share of the Fund. |
6 |
Not annualized. |
7 |
Market value total return is calculated assuming an initial investment made at market value at the beginning of the period, reinvestment of all dividends and distributions at net asset value during the period, if any, and redemption on the last day of the period at market value. Market value is determined by the composite closing price. Composite closing security price is defined as the last reported sale price on NYSE Arca, Inc. The composite closing price is the last reported sale, regardless of volume, and not an average price, and may have occurred on a date prior to the close of the reporting period. Market value may be greater or less than net asset value, depending on the Fund’s closing price on NYSE Arca, Inc. |
8 |
Annualized. |
9 |
Excludes the impact of in-kind transactions related to the processing of capital share transactions in Creation Units. |
95
AXS Green Alpha ETF
Per
share operating performance.
For a capital share outstanding throughout each
period.
|
For
the |
|||
Net asset value, beginning of period |
$ | 30.00 | ||
Income from Investment Operations: |
||||
Net investment income (loss)1 |
0.11 | |||
Net realized and unrealized gain (loss) |
1.86 | |||
Total from investment operations |
1.97 | |||
Less Distributions: |
||||
From net investment income |
(0.04 | ) | ||
Total distributions |
(0.04 | ) | ||
Net asset value, end of period |
$ | 31.93 | ||
Total return2,3 |
6.57 | %4 | ||
Total return at market price2,5 |
6.80 | %4 | ||
Ratios and Supplemental Data: |
||||
Net assets, end of period (in thousands) |
$ | 69,935 | ||
Ratio of expenses to average net assets6 |
1.00 | %7 | ||
Ratio of net investment income (loss) to average net assets |
0.68 | %7 | ||
Portfolio turnover rate8 |
2 | %4 |
* |
The Fund commenced operations on September 27, 2022.
|
1 |
Based on average shares outstanding during the period.
|
2 |
Total returns do not reflect the deduction of taxes that a shareholder would pay on the Fund distributions or redemption of Fund shares.
|
3 |
Net asset value total return is calculated assuming an initial investment made at the net asset value at the beginning of the period, reinvestment of all dividends and distributions at net asset value during the period, if any, and redemption on the last day of the period at net asset value. This percentage is not an indication of the performance of a shareholder’s investment in the Fund based on market value due to the differences between the market price of the shares and the net asset value per share of the Fund.
|
4 |
Not annualized.
|
5 |
Market value total return is calculated assuming an initial investment made at market value at the beginning of the period, reinvestment of all dividends and distributions at net asset value during the period, if any, and redemption on the last day of the period at market value. Market value is determined by the composite closing price. Composite closing security price is defined as the last reported sale price on the NYSE Arca. The composite closing price is the last reported sale, regardless of volume, and not an average price, and may have occurred on a date prior to the close of the reporting period. Market value may be greater or less than net asset value, depending on the Fund’s closing price on the NYSE Arca.
|
6 |
If interest expense had been excluded, the expense ratios would have remained unchanged for the period ended March 31, 2023.
|
7 |
Annualized.
|
8 |
Excludes the impact of in-kind transactions related to the processing of capital share transactions in Creation Units. |
96
THIS PAGE INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK
AXS
Astoria Inflation Sensitive ETF
AXS Brendan Wood TopGun Index ETF
AXS
Change Finance ESG ETF
AXS Esoterica NextG Economy ETF
AXS First Priority
CLO Bond ETF
AXS Green Alpha ETF
Each a series
of Investment Managers Series Trust II
FOR MORE INFORMATION
Statement of Additional Information (SAI)
The SAI provides additional details about the investments and techniques of the Funds and certain other additional information. The SAI is on file with the SEC and is incorporated into this Prospectus by reference. This means that the SAI is legally considered a part of this Prospectus even though it is not physically within this Prospectus.
Shareholder Reports
Additional information about each Fund’s investments will be available in the Fund’s annual and semi-annual reports to shareholders. In each Fund’s annual report, you will find a discussion of the market conditions and investment strategies that significantly affected the Fund’s performance during its most recent fiscal year.
The Funds’ SAI is available and annual and semi-annual reports will be available, free of charge, on the Funds’ website at www.axsinvestments.com. You can also obtain a free copy of the Funds’ SAI or annual and semi-annual reports, request other information, or inquire about a Fund by contacting a broker that sells shares of the Funds, by calling the Funds (toll-free) at 303-623-2577 or by writing to the Funds’ distributor, ALPS Distributors, Inc. at 1290 Broadway, Suite 1000, Denver, Colorado 80203.
Reports and other information about the Fund are also available:
● |
Free of charge, on the SEC’s EDGAR Database on the SEC’s Internet site at http://www.sec.gov; or |
● |
For a duplication fee, by electronic request at the following e-mail address: [email protected]. |
SEC
File Nos. 333-191476
811-22894
98