market’s
ability to absorb utility debt. In addition, taxes, government regulation,
international politics, price and supply fluctuations,
volatile interest rates and energy conservation may cause difficulties for these
companies. Such issuers have been experiencing certain of these problems in
varying degrees.
Certain
energy infrastructure companies are involved in the production of electrical
equipment and components. General risks of these
companies include the general state of the economy, exchange rates, commodity
prices, intense competition, consolidation, domestic and international politics,
government regulation, import controls, excess capacity, consumer demand and
spending trends. In addition, the companies may also be significantly affected
by overall capital spending levels, economic cycles, rapid technological
changes, delays in modernization, labor relations, environmental liabilities,
governmental and product liability and e-commerce
initiatives.
EQUITY
SECURITIES RISK. The value of the
Fund’s shares will fluctuate with changes in the value of the equity securities
in which it invests. Equity securities prices fluctuate for several reasons,
including changes in investors’ perceptions of the financial condition of an
issuer or the general condition of the relevant equity market, such as market
volatility, or when political or economic events affecting an issuer occur.
Common stock prices may be particularly sensitive to rising interest rates, as
the cost of capital rises and borrowing costs increase. Equity securities may
decline significantly in price over short or extended periods of time, and such
declines may occur in the equity market as a whole, or they may occur in only a
particular country, company, industry or sector of the
market.
INDEX
OR MODEL CONSTITUENT RISK. The Fund may be a
constituent of one or more indices or ETF models. As a result, the Fund may be
included in one or more index-tracking exchange-traded funds or mutual funds.
Being a component security of such a vehicle could greatly affect the trading
activity involving the Fund’s shares, the size of the Fund and the market
volatility of the Fund. Inclusion in an index could increase demand for the Fund
and removal from an index could result in outsized selling activity in a
relatively short period of time. As a result, the Fund’s net asset value could
be negatively impacted and the Fund’s market price may be below the Fund’s net
asset value during certain periods. In addition, index rebalances may
potentially result in increased trading activity in the Fund's
shares.
INFLATION
RISK.
Inflation risk is the risk that the value of assets or income from investments
will be less in the future as inflation decreases the value of money. As
inflation increases, the present value of the Fund’s assets and distributions
may decline.
MANAGEMENT
RISK.
The Fund is subject to management risk because it is an actively managed
portfolio. In managing the Fund’s investment portfolio, the portfolio managers
will apply investment techniques and risk analyses that may not produce the
desired result. There can be no guarantee that the Fund will meet its investment
objective.
MARKET
MAKER RISK. The Fund faces
numerous market trading risks, including the potential lack of an active market
for Fund shares due to a limited number of market markers. 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. The Fund may
rely on a small number of third-party market makers to provide a market for the
purchase and sale of 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 and the price at which the Fund’s
shares are trading on the Exchange, which could result in a decrease in value of
the Fund’s shares. This reduced effectiveness could result in Fund shares
trading at a discount to net asset value and also in greater than normal
intraday bid-ask spreads for Fund shares.
MARKET
RISK.
Market risk is the risk that a particular security, or shares of the Fund in
general, may fall in value. Securities are subject to market fluctuations caused
by such factors as economic, political, regulatory or market developments,
changes in interest rates and perceived trends in securities prices. Shares of
the Fund could decline in value or underperform other investments. In addition,
local, regional or global events such as war, acts of terrorism, spread of
infectious diseases or other public health issues, recessions, or other events
could have a significant negative impact on the Fund and its investments. For
example, the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) global pandemic and the ensuing
policies enacted by governments and central banks have caused and may continue
to cause significant volatility and uncertainty in global financial markets,
negatively impacting global growth prospects. While the U.S. has resumed
“reasonably” normal business activity, many countries continue to impose
lockdown measures. Additionally, there is no guarantee that vaccines will be
effective against emerging variants of the disease. As this global pandemic
illustrated, such events may affect certain geographic regions, countries,
sectors and industries more significantly than others. These events also
adversely affect the prices and liquidity of the Fund’s portfolio securities or
other instruments and could result in disruptions in the trading markets. Any of
such circumstances could have