Additional Information About the Funds
Additional Information About the Funds’ Investment Objectives
Since each Fund’s investment objective has been adopted as a non-fundamental investment policy, each Fund’s investment may be changed without a vote of shareholders upon 60 days’ written notice to shareholders.
Additional Information About the Currency Strategy and Fixed Income Funds
Additional Information About the Bloomberg U.S. Dollar Bullish Fund Strategy.
The Bloomberg U.S. Dollar Bullish Fund may invest in additional instruments and below is a brief description of these instruments:
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Futures contract – a standardized contract traded on a recognized exchange in which two parties agree to exchange either a specified financial asset or the cash equivalent of said asset of standardized quantity and quality for a price agreed to today (the futures price or the strike price) with delivery occurring at a specified future date. |
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Listed currency option – a call or put option on a foreign currency, either on an exchange or in the over-the-counter market, that gives the purchaser of the option the right to buy or sell, respectively, the foreign currency at the exercise price until the option expires. |
The Bloomberg U.S. Dollar Bullish Fund’s investments in listed options and futures contracts will be backed by investments in U.S.-issued money market securities, U.S. government securities or other liquid assets in an amount equal to the exposure of such contracts. The Fund may invest directly in foreign currencies in the form of bank and financial institution deposits, certificates of deposit, and bankers acceptances denominated in a specified non-U.S. currency and may enter into foreign currency exchange transactions. The Fund may also conduct its foreign currency exchange transactions on a spot (
, cash) basis at the spot rate prevailing in the foreign currency exchange market.
Although the Fund may invest in listed currency options, currency swaps and spot currencies, investments in such instruments are expected to be limited, in each case to not more than 20% of the Bloomberg U.S. Dollar Bullish Fund’s net assets.
Additional Information About the Chinese Yuan Strategy Fund.
The Fund may also invest in money market securities and other instruments, including forward currency contracts and swaps, denominated in Chinese yuan that trade and settle in Hong Kong and other markets outside of mainland China. The market for these yuan-denominated instruments is sometimes referred to as the “CNH market.” Eligible yuan-denominated investments include time deposits of commercial banks, short-term corporate debt, short-term debt issued by the government of China (including its agencies and instrumentalities), as well as short-term debt issued by supranational organizations (such as the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development). The Fund also may enter into repurchase agreements.
Additional Information About the Emerging Currency Strategy Fund.
The decision to secure investment exposure directly or indirectly will be a function of, among other things, market accessibility, credit exposure, and tax ramifications for foreign investors. If the Fund pursues direct investment, eligible investments include short- term securities issued by emerging market governments and their agencies or instrumentalities, bank debt obligations and time deposits, bankers’ acceptances, commercial paper, short-term corporate debt obligations, mortgage-backed securities, and asset-backed securities.
Additional Information About the Fixed Income Active Fund Strategies.
Emerging Markets Local Debt Fund, Emerging Markets Corporate Bond Fund, and Mortgage Plus Bond Fund may sometimes be referred to together as the “Fixed Income Active Fund.” The Emerging Markets Local Debt Fund intends to provide a broad-based exposure to local currency debt. The Emerging Markets Corporate Bond Fund intends to provide a broad-based exposure to emerging market corporate debt and therefore will invest in both investment grade and non- investment grade securities. The degree of credit risk for a particular security may be reflected in its credit rating. Investment grade debt securities are generally those rated Baa3 or higher by Moody’s Investors Services, Inc. (“Moody’s”), or equivalently rated by Standard and Poor’s Corporation (“S&P”) or Fitch, and typically subject to less credit risk than non-investment grade debt securities. The Emerging Markets Local Debt Fund and Emerging Markets Corporate Bond Fund generally do not expect to have more than 25% of their assets invested in non-investment grade securities, except the Emerging Markets Corporate Bond Fund, which expects to have 50% or more of its net assets invested in investment grade securities and not more than 50% of its net assets invested in non-investment grade securities. This may change from time to time, including to a higher percentage of non-investment grade securities, based on market conditions and the condition of specific issuers and securities. Within
the non-investment grade category, some issuers and instruments are considered to be of lower credit quality and at higher risk of default (commonly referred to as “junk bonds”).
The Mortgage Plus Bond Fund may invest in other investments that the Fund believes will help it achieve its investment objective, including cash and cash equivalents, as well as in shares of other investment companies (including affiliated investment companies, such as ETFs).
Additional Information About the Emerging Markets Corporate Bond Fund Strategy.
The Emerging Markets Corporate Bond Fund may invest in loan participation notes. A loan participation note is a type of short-term debt instrument. They typically are issued by an offshore special purpose vehicle for the purpose of funding a loan by the special purpose vehicle to an offshore corporation or other entity. Loan participation notes are sometimes used by companies in non-U.S. markets to raise money because tax regulations or other laws make it difficult or expensive for such companies to issue debt directly into the global bond market. If the company fails to repay the loan received from the special purpose vehicle, the special purpose vehicle generally will not be able to honor its obligation to repay the notes.
The decision to secure exposure through direct investment in Corporate Debt or indirectly through derivative transactions will be a function of, among other things, market accessibility, credit exposure, tax ramifications and regulatory requirements applicable to U.S. investment companies. If, subsequent to an investment, the Fund’s 80% requirement is no longer met, the Fund’s future investments will be made in a manner that will bring the Fund into compliance with this policy. The Trust will provide shareholders with sixty (60) days’ prior notice of any change to this policy for the Fund.
Additional Information About the Fixed Income Index Funds’ Strategies.
The Interest Rate Hedged U.S. Aggregate Bond Fund and Interest Rate Hedged High Yield Bond Fund may sometimes be referred to together as the “Duration Funds”. The Duration Funds, Floating Rate Treasury Fund, Yield Enhanced U.S. Aggregate Bond Fund and Yield Enhanced U.S. Short-Term Aggregate Bond Fund may sometimes be referred to together as the “Fixed Income Index Funds.”
WisdomTree Asset Management expects that, over time, the correlation between each Fixed Income Index Fund’s performance and that of its underlying Index, before fees and expenses, will be 95% or better. A number of factors may affect each Fixed Income Index Fund’s ability to achieve a high degree of correlation with its underlying Index, and there can be no guarantee that the Fund will achieve a high degree of correlation.
The quantity of holdings in each Fixed Income Index Fund using a representative sampling strategy will be based on a number of factors, including asset size of the Fund. In addition, from time to time, securities are added to or removed from each Fund’s underlying Index and consequently the attributes of the underlying Index may change. Each Fixed Income Index Fund may sell securities that are represented in its underlying Index, or purchase securities that are not yet represented in its underlying Index, in anticipation of their removal from or addition to the underlying Index or to reflect various other changes to the underlying Index.
Further, each Fixed Income Index Fund may overweight or underweight securities in its underlying Index, purchase or sell securities not in its underlying Index, or utilize various combinations of other available techniques, in seeking to track its underlying Index.
Each Fixed Income Index Fund may invest in other investments (generally up to 20% of its assets) that the Fund believes will help it track its Index, including cash and cash equivalents, and other fixed income securities, as well as in shares of other investment companies (including affiliated investment companies), forward contracts, futures contracts, options on futures contracts, options and swaps.
Additional Information About the Alternative Funds
Additional Information About the PutWrite Fund’s Investment Strategy.
WisdomTree Asset Management expects that, over time, the performance of the CBOE S&P 500 PutWrite Strategy Fund (the “PutWrite Fund”) and its Index, before fees and expenses, will be 95% or better. A number of factors may affect the Fund’s ability to achieve a high degree of correlation with its Index, and there can be no guarantee that the Fund will achieve a high degree
of correlation. The quantity of holdings in a Fund using a representative sampling strategy will be based on a number of factors, including asset size of the Fund.
The PutWrite Fund may invest in other investments that the Fund believes will help it track its Index, including cash and cash equivalents, as well as in shares of other investment companies (including affiliated investment companies), forward contracts, futures contracts, options on futures contracts, options and swaps.
The PutWrite Fund may also invest in short-term, high quality securities issued or guaranteed by non-U.S. governments, agencies and instrumentalities, repurchase agreements backed by U.S. government and non-U.S. government securities, money market mutual funds, deposits and other obligations of U.S. and non-U.S. banks and financial institutions (“Money Market Securities”). All Money Market Securities acquired by the Fund will be rated investment grade, except that the Fund may invest in unrated Money Market Securities that are deemed by the Adviser or Sub-Adviser to be of comparable quality to Money Market Securities rated investment grade. The term “investment grade,” for purposes of Money Market Securities only, is intended to mean securities rated A1 or A2 by one or more nationally recognized statistical rating organizations.
The PutWrite Fund may also invest up to 20% of its net assets (in aggregate) in one or more of the following derivative instruments or other investments not included in its Index, which the Adviser or Sub-Adviser believes will help the Fund to track its Index and whose collective performance is intended to correspond to its Index: (1) S&P 500 ETF put options, total return swaps on the S&P 500 Index, S&P 500 Index futures, and options on S&P 500 Index futures. For example, the Fund may invest in total return swaps that create positions equivalent to investments in SPX Puts and U.S. Treasury securities. The Fund’s investment in total return swap agreements will be backed by investments in U.S. government securities in an amount equal to the exposure of such contracts. The Fund may also invest up to 10% of its total assets in over-the-counter S&P 500 Index put options.
The PutWrite Fund may invest up to 20% of its net assets in other exchange traded products (“ETPs”), such as other ETFs, as well as in non-exchange-traded registered open-end investment companies (
, mutual funds). The Fund may invest in securities that have variable or floating interest rates which are readjusted on set dates in the case of variable rates or whenever a specified interest rate change occurs in the case of a floating rate instrument.
Additional Information About the Investment Strategy of the Managed Futures Strategy Fund.
The Fund will invest, under normal circumstances, at least 80% of its net assets, plus the amount of any borrowings for investment purposes, in “managed futures.” If, subsequent to an investment, the 80% requirement is no longer met, the Fund’s future investments will be made in a manner that will bring the Fund into compliance with this policy. The Trust will provide shareholders with sixty (60) days’ prior notice of any change to this policy for the Fund. The Fund may invest in other investments that the Fund believes will help it achieve its investment objective, including cash and cash equivalents, as well as in shares of other investment companies (including affiliated investment companies, such as ETFs).
Unlike the Fund, the WisdomTree Subsidiary is not an investment company registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940 (the “1940 Act”), and therefore may invest in commodities and commodity-linked derivatives to a greater extent than the Fund. The WisdomTree Subsidiary, however, is required to invest in commodity- linked derivatives in a manner consistent with the terms of its private letter ruling and certain provisions of the 1940 Act. The WisdomTree Subsidiary is otherwise subject to the same general investment policies and investment restrictions as the Fund.
Additional Information About the Investment Strategy of the Enhanced Commodity Strategy Fund.
The Fund will invest, under normal circumstances, at least 80% of its net assets, plus the amount of any borrowings for investment purposes, in commodity and commodity-related futures contracts, U.S. government securities and money market instruments that collectively will provide exposure to the commodities markets. If, subsequent to an investment, the 80% requirement is no longer met, the Fund’s future investments will be made in a manner that will bring the Fund into compliance with this policy. The Trust will provide shareholders with sixty (60) days’ prior notice of any change to this policy for the Fund.
The Fund may invest in other investments that the Fund believes will help it achieve its investment objective, including cash and cash equivalents, as well as in shares of other investment companies (including affiliated investment companies, such as Funds).
Unlike the Fund, the WisdomTree Subsidiary is not an investment company registered under the 1940 Act, and therefore may invest in commodities and commodity-linked derivatives to a greater extent than the Fund. The WisdomTree Subsidiary, however, is required to invest in commodity-linked derivatives in a manner consistent with
the terms of its private letter ruling and certain provisions of the 1940 Act. The WisdomTree Subsidiary is otherwise subject to the same general investment policies and investment restrictions as the Fund.
Additional Information About the Investment Strategy of the Alternative Income Fund.
Under normal circumstances, at least 80% of the Fund’s total assets (exclusive of collateral held from securities lending) will be invested in component securities of the underlying Index and investments that have economic characteristics that are substantially identical to the economic characteristics of such component securities, such as depositary receipts based on component securities. The Adviser expects that, over time, the correlation between the Fund’s performance and that of its Index, before fees and expenses, will be 95% or better. A number of factors may affect the Fund’s ability to achieve a high degree of correlation with its Index, and there can be no guarantee that the Fund will achieve a high degree of correlation.
The quantity of holdings in the Fund, by using a representative sampling strategy, will be based on a number of factors, including asset size of the Fund. In addition, from time to time, securities are added to or removed from the Index and consequently the attributes of the Index, such as sectors, industries or countries represented in the Index and weightings, may change. The Fund may sell securities that are represented in the Index, or purchase securities that are not yet represented in the Index, in anticipation of their removal from or addition to the Index or to reflect various corporate actions or other changes to the Index. Further, the Fund may overweight or underweight securities in the Index, purchase or sell securities not in the Index, or utilize various combinations of other available techniques, in seeking to track the Index.
The Index is an equal-weighted index that tracks the performance of 35 publicly-traded closed-end funds (“CEFs”), business development companies (“BDCs”), and real estate investment trusts (“REITs”) (CEFs, BDCs, and REITs are collectively referred to as “Vehicles”) selected because of their individual exposure to a range of U.S. alternative credit sectors. The Vehicles in the Index are classified based on their investment holdings into one of the six alternative credit sectors defined in the table below:
Alternative Credit Sector
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Primary Alternative Credit Investments
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Private Corporate Lending |
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Private loans made to middle market corporations and/or any other type of private middle market corporate lending or financing |
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High yield bonds (“junk bonds”), broadly syndicated loans and/or collateralized loan obligations (“CLOs”) |
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Commercial Real Estate Lending |
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Commercial real estate-backed loans, non-agency commercial mortgage-backed securities, and/or commercial real estate CLOs |
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Agency residential mortgage-backed securities (including mortgage servicing rights) and/or agency commercial mortgage-backed securities |
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Non-Agency Real Estate Debt |
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Real estate-backed debt including residential and commercial real estate loans and/or non-agency mortgage-backed securities |
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Multi-Sector Alternative Credit |
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Combination of investments in the above-referenced five sectors |
Sector reclassifications of Vehicles occur annually and reclassification with respect to a Vehicle generally occurs only if the Vehicle has less than 63.75% exposure to the applicable sector (75% with respect to non-agency real estate debt), among other factors, for the last two reclassification cycles.
Under the 1940 Act, the Fund's investments in BDCs and CEFs are subject to the aggregate limits contained in Section 12(d)(1)(A)(iii). In order for the Fund’s investment strategy to be fully implemented, the Fund intends to
rely on either Section 12(d)(1)(F) of the 1940 Act or Rule 12d1-4 under the 1940 Act to permit the Fund to invest in BDCs and/or CEFs in excess of this limitation in the 1940 Act, subject to certain conditions.
Non-Principal Information About the Funds' Investment Strategies
Temporary Defensive Strategies.
Each of the Fixed Income Active Funds, the Enhanced Commodity Strategy Fund and the Managed Futures Strategy Fund (together, the “Actively Managed Funds”) reserves the right to invest in U.S. government securities, money market instruments, and cash, without limitation, as determined by the Adviser or Sub-Adviser in response to adverse market, economic, political or other conditions. Each Actively Managed Fund also may “hedge” or minimize its exposure to one or more foreign currencies in response to such conditions. In the event that an Actively Managed Fund engages in temporary defensive strategies that are inconsistent with its investment strategies, the Actively Managed Fund’s ability to achieve its investment objective may be limited.
Each Fund may lend its portfolio securities in an amount not to exceed one third (33 1/3%) of the value of its total assets via a securities lending program through its securities lending agent, State Street Bank and Trust Company, to brokers, dealers and other financial institutions desiring to borrow securities to complete transactions and for other purposes. A securities lending program allows a Fund to receive a portion of the income generated by lending its securities and investing the respective collateral. A Fund will receive collateral for each loaned security which is at least equal to the market value of that security, marked to market each trading day. In the securities lending program, the borrower generally has the right to vote the loaned securities; however, a Fund may call loans to vote proxies if a material issue affecting the Fund’s economic interest in the investment is to be voted upon. Security loans may be terminated at any time by a Fund.
Additional Principal Risk Information About the Funds
This section provides additional information regarding the principal risks described under “Principal Risks of Investing in the Fund” in the Fund Summaries. Risk information may not be applicable to each Fund. Please consult each Fund's Summary sections to determine which risks are applicable to a particular Fund. Each of the factors below could have a negative impact on Fund performance and trading prices.
All of the Actively Managed Funds are actively managed using proprietary investment strategies and processes. Each Actively Managed Fund is subject to active management or security-selection risk and its performance therefore will reflect, in part, the ability of the Sub-Adviser to select investments and to make investment decisions that are suited to achieving a Fund’s investment objective. The Sub-Adviser’s assessment of a particular investment, company, sector or country and/or assessment of broader economic, financial or other macro views, may prove incorrect, including because of factors that were not adequately foreseen, and the selection of investments may not perform as well as expected when those investments were purchased or as well as the markets generally, resulting in Fund losses or underperformance. There can be no guarantee that these strategies and processes will produce the intended results and no guarantee that the Actively Managed Funds will achieve their investment objectives or outperform other investment strategies over the short- or long-term market cycles. This risk is exacerbated when an investment or multiple investments made as a result of such decisions are significant relative to an Actively Managed Fund’s net assets.
Agency Mortgage-Backed Securities Risk
Fixed income securities issued by U.S. government agencies, government-sponsored entities, or government corporations, including, among others, FNMA and FHLMC, are generally backed only by the general creditworthiness and reputation of the U.S. government agency, government-sponsored entity, or government corporation issuing the security and are not guaranteed by the U.S. Treasury or backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government. As a result, there is uncertainty as to the current status of many obligations of FNMA, FHLMC and other agencies that are placed under conservatorship of the U.S. government. Ginnie Mae securities are generally backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government. Some U.S. government agencies, including FNMA and FHLMC, purchase and guarantee residential mortgages and form mortgage-backed securities that they issue to the market. These securities are subject to more credit risk than U.S. government securities that are supported by the full faith and credit of the U.S. (
., U.S. Treasury bonds). If a U.S. government agency that is the issuer of securities in which a Fund invests is unable to meet its obligations or ceases to exist and no plan is made for repayment of securities, the performance of the Fund will be adversely impacted. Defaults on, or low credit quality or liquidity of the underlying assets of the mortgage-backed securities may impair the value of these securities and result in losses. These securities also present a higher degree of prepayment and extension risk and interest rate risk than do other types of debt instruments. Because of prepayment risk and extension risk, small movements in interest rates (both increases and decreases) may quickly and significantly reduce the value of
mortgage-backed securities. The value of longer-term securities generally changes more in response to changes in market interest rates than shorter term securities. These securities may be significantly affected by government regulation, market interest rates, market perception of the creditworthiness of an issuer servicer, and loan-to-value ratio of the underlying mortgages. During an economic downturn, the mortgages may experience an increase in defaults as borrowers experience difficulties in repaying their loans which may cause the valuation of such securities to be more volatile and may reduce the value of such securities.
Asset-Backed Securities Risk
Movements in interest rates (both increases and decreases) may quickly and significantly reduce the value of certain types of asset-backed securities. Asset-backed securities can also be subject to the risk of default on the underlying assets. Asset-backed securities are subject to fluctuations in yield due to prepayment rates that may be faster or slower than expected.
Capital Controls and Sanctions Risk
Economic conditions, such as volatile currency exchange rates and interest rates, political events, military action and other conditions, may, without prior warning, lead to government intervention (including intervention by the U.S. government with respect to foreign governments, economic sectors, foreign companies and related securities and interests) and the imposition of capital controls and/or sanctions, which may also include retaliatory actions of one government against another government, such as seizure of assets. Capital controls and/or sanctions include the prohibition of, or restrictions on, the ability to own or transfer currency, securities or other assets, which may potentially include derivative instruments related thereto. Levies may be placed on profits repatriated by foreign entities (such as the Funds). Capital controls and/or sanctions may also impact the ability of a Fund to buy, sell, transfer, receive, deliver or otherwise obtain exposure to, foreign securities or currency, negatively impact the value and/or liquidity of such instruments, adversely affect the trading market and price for shares of a Fund, and cause a Fund to decline in value.
When a Fund redeems shares for cash or otherwise includes cash as part of its redemption proceeds, it may be required to sell or unwind portfolio investments in order to obtain the cash needed to distribute redemption proceeds. This may cause a Fund to recognize capital gains that it might not have recognized if it had made a redemption in-kind (
, distribute securities as payment of redemption proceeds). As a result, the Funds may pay out higher annual capital gain distributions than if the in-kind redemption process was used. Additionally, the sale of non-U.S. denominated securities by the Fixed Income Funds triggered by such redemptions may generate realized foreign exchange losses that could impact the income distributions paid by such Funds.
CEF and BDC Investing Risk
The value of the underlying securities held by a CEF could decrease or the portfolio could become illiquid. CEFs may issue senior securities (including preferred stock and debt obligations) for the purpose of leveraging the CEF’s common shares in an attempt to enhance the current return to such CEF’s common shareholders. The Fund’s investment in the common shares of CEFs that are financially leveraged may create an opportunity for greater total return, but with more volatility than other investments, and greater potential for loss. CEFs are also able to utilize leverage to a greater degree than other investment companies, such as mutual funds or ETFs. As a result, the Fund may be exposed indirectly to leverage through an investment in CEFs, which may expose the Fund to higher volatility in the market value of such securities and the possibility that the Fund’s long-term returns may be lower. Shares of CEFs frequently trade at a discount from their NAV. There can be no assurance that the market discount on shares of any CEF purchased by the Fund will ever decrease. In fact, it is possible that this market discount may increase, and the Fund may suffer realized or unrealized capital losses due to further decline in the market price of the securities of such CEF, thereby adversely affecting the Fund’s NAV.
There are certain risks inherent in investing in BDCs, whose principal business is to invest in and lend capital to privately held companies. The 1940 Act imposes certain restraints upon the operations of a BDC. For example, BDCs are required to invest at least 70% of their total assets primarily in securities of private companies or thinly traded U.S. public companies, cash, cash equivalents, U.S. government securities and high-quality debt investments that mature in one year or less. With investments in debt instruments, there is a risk that the issuer may default on its payments or declare bankruptcy.
Additionally, a BDC may incur indebtedness only in amounts such that the BDC’s asset coverage equals at least 200% after such incurrence. BDCs generally invest in less mature private companies, which involve greater risk than well-established, publicly traded companies. Investments made by BDCs generally are less liquid than publicly
traded securities. The illiquidity of these investments may make it difficult to sell such investments, and the Fund may realize a loss on its investments. BDCs may have relatively concentrated investment portfolios, consisting of a relatively small number of holdings. A consequence of this limited number of investments is that the aggregate returns realized may be disproportionately impacted by the investment performance of a small number of investments, or even a single investment. Market disruptions, including a downturn in capital markets in general, or a downgrade of the credit rating of a BDC held by the Fund may increase the cost of borrowing to that company, thereby adversely impacting the Fund’s returns. Credit downgrades also may result in requirements on a company to provide additional support in the form of letters of credit or cash or other collateral to various counterparties.
Since many of the assets of BDCs do not have readily ascertainable market values, such assets are most often recorded at fair value, in good faith, in accordance with valuation procedures adopted by such companies. Due to the absence of a readily ascertainable market value, and because of the inherent uncertainty of fair valuation, fair value of a BDC’s investments may differ significantly from the values that would be reflected if the securities were traded in an established market, potentially resulting in material differences between a BDC’s NAV per share and its market value. As a result, shares of BDCs may trade at a discount from their NAV. There can be no assurance that the market discount on shares of any BDC purchased by the Fund will ever decrease. In fact, it is possible that this market discount may increase, and the Fund may suffer realized or unrealized capital losses due to further decline in the market price of the securities of such BDC, thereby adversely affecting the Fund’s NAV.
Investment advisers to BDCs may be entitled to compensation based on the BDC’s performance, which may result in riskier or more speculative investments in an effort to maximize incentive compensation and higher fees.
The value of commodities and commodity-linked derivative instruments typically is based upon the price movements of a physical commodity or an economic variable linked to such price movements. Therefore, the value of commodities and commodity-linked derivative instruments may be affected by, for example, changes in overall market movements, economic conditions, changes in interest rates, or factors affecting a particular commodity or industry, such as production, supply, demand, drought, floods, weather, political, economic and regulatory developments. The prices of commodities and commodity-related investments may fluctuate quickly and dramatically and may not correlate to price movements in other asset classes, such as stocks, bonds and cash. An active trading market may not exist for certain commodities. These factors may impair the ability of a Fund to sell its portfolio holdings quickly or for full value. Commodity derivatives, such as commodity-linked swaps and notes, are subject to the risk that the counterparty to the transaction may default or otherwise fail to perform. Each of these factors and events could have a significant negative impact on the Managed Futures Strategy and Enhanced Commodity Strategy Funds.
In addition to the factors set forth above, each commodity has risks that are inherent in the investment in such commodity:
Price movements in commodity futures held by the Fund in metals commodities such as gold, silver, platinum and copper are affected by many specific additional factors. Some of these metal specific factors include, but are not limited to:
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A change in economic conditions, such as a recession, can adversely affect the price of both industrial and precious metals. An economic downturn may have a negative impact on the usage and demand of metals, which may result in a loss for the Fund. |
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A sudden shift in political conditions of the world’s leading metal producers may have a negative effect on the global pricing of metals. |
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An increase in the hedging of precious metals may result in a decline in the price of precious metals. |
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Changes in global supply and demand for industrial and precious metals. |
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The price and quantity of imports and exports of industrial and precious metals. |
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Technological advances in the processing and mining of industrial and precious metals. |
Agricultural Commodities:
Price movements in commodity futures held by the Fund in agricultural commodities, such as wheat, corn and soybeans, are affected by many factors. Some of these agricultural specific factors include, but are not limited to:
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Farmer planting decisions, and general economic, market and regulatory factors all influence the price of agricultural commodities. |
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Weather conditions, including hurricanes, tornadoes, storms and droughts, may have a material adverse effect on crops, live cattle, live hogs and lumber, which may result in significant fluctuations in prices in such commodities. |
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Changes in global supply and demand for agriculture products. |
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The price and quantity of imports and exports of agricultural commodities. |
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Political conditions, including embargoes and war, in or affecting agricultural production, imports and exports. |
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Technological advances in agricultural production. |
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The price and availability of alternative agricultural commodities. |
Price movements in commodity futures held by the Fund in energy commodities, such as crude oil, heating oil and natural gas, are subject to risks due to frequent and often substantial fluctuations in energy commodity prices. In the past, the prices of natural gas and crude oil have been extremely volatile, and volatility is expected to continue. The markets and prices for energy commodities are affected by many factors. Some of those factors include, but are not limited to:
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Changes in global supply and demand for oil and natural gas. By way of example, the oil market has recently experienced fluctuations in supply and demand, significantly impacting the price and volatility of oil, |
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The price and quantity of imports and exports of oil and natural gas. |
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Political conditions, including embargoes and war, in or affecting other oil producing activities. |
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The level of global oil and natural gas exploration, inventories, production or pricing. |
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Technological advances effecting energy consumption. |
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The price and availability of alternative fuels. |
Bitcoin is a relatively new innovation and the market for bitcoin is subject to rapid price swings, changes and uncertainty. Bitcoin’s lack of a physical form, reliance on technology for its creation, existence and transactional validation and its decentralization may subject its integrity to the threat of malicious attacks and technological obsolescence. Bitcoin is subject to the risk of fraud, theft, manipulation or security failures, operational or other problems that impact bitcoin trading venues. In particular, the market for bitcoin futures is relatively new and commenced trading on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange in December 2017. As a result, the market for bitcoin futures may be less developed, and potentially less liquid and more volatile, than more established futures markets. These factors may increase the likelihood that the price of bitcoin futures will be volatile and/or will deviate from the price of bitcoin. Bitcoin futures may experience significant price volatility. Exchange-specified collateral for bitcoin futures is substantially higher than for most other futures contracts, and collateral may be set as a percentage of the value of the contract, which means that collateral requirements for long positions can increase if the price of the contract rises. While the bitcoin futures market has grown substantially since the futures commenced trading, there can be no assurance that it will continue to grow. This may increase the chance that the Fund will experience increased trading costs when it sells bitcoin futures that are near expiration and purchases bitcoin futures that are further from expiration (a process known as “rolling”).
None of these specific commodity factors can be controlled in managing a Fund. Even if current and correct information as to substantially all factors are known or thought to be known, prices still will not always react as predicted.
Counterparty and Issuer Credit Risk
To the extent that each Fund engages in investment transactions or enters into derivative or other contracts with third parties (
, “counterparties”) then each Fund bears the risk that the counterparty to such contracts may default on its obligations or otherwise fail to honor its obligations or be perceived (whether by market participants, rating agencies, pricing services or otherwise) as being in such situations. If a counterparty defaults on its payment obligations a Fund will lose money and the value of an investment in Fund shares may decrease. In addition, a Fund may engage in such investment transactions with a limited number of counterparties, which may increase a Fund’s exposure to counterparty credit risk. Listed futures contracts can be traded on futures exchanges without material
counterparty credit. After a trade is cleared, the exchange is the ultimate counterparty for all contracts, so the counterparty risk on a listed futures contract ultimately is the creditworthiness of the exchange’s clearing corporation.
The financial condition of an issuer of a debt security or other issuer may cause it to default or become unable to pay interest or principal due on the security. A Fund cannot collect interest and principal payments on a security if the issuer defaults. Recent events in the financials sector have resulted in increased concerns about credit risk and exposure. Well-known financial institutions have experienced significant liquidity and other problems and have defaulted on their debt. The degree of credit risk for a particular debt security or other issuer may be reflected in its credit rating. A credit rating is a measure of a bond issuer’s ability to make timely payments of interest and principal. Rating agencies (such as Moody’s, S&P, or Fitch) assign letter designations typically ranging from AAA to A- (lower default risk) through CCC to C (higher default risk) or D (in default). A credit rating of BBB- or higher generally is considered “investment grade.” Credit ratings are subjective, do not remove market risk, and represent the opinions of the rating agencies as to the quality of the securities they rate. Credit ratings can change quickly and may not accurately reflect the risk of an issuer. Generally, investment risk and price volatility increase as the credit rating of a security declines. The value of securities of smaller, less well-known issuers can be more volatile than that of larger issuers. The value of an investment in a Fund may change quickly and without warning in response to issuer defaults, changes in the credit ratings of the Fund’s portfolio investments and/or perceptions related thereto.
Currency Exchange Rate Risk
Changes in currency exchange rates and the relative value of non-U.S. currencies will affect the value of a Fund’s investments and the value of a Fund’s shares. Because each Fund’s NAV is determined on the basis of U.S. dollars, the U.S. dollar value of your investment in a Fund may go down if the value of the local currency of the non-U.S. markets in which the Fund invests depreciates against the U.S. dollar. This is true even if the local currency value of securities in the Fund’s holdings goes up. Conversely, the dollar value of your investment in the Fund may go up if the value of the local currency appreciates against the U.S. dollar.
The value of the U.S. dollar measured against other currencies is influenced by a variety of factors. These factors include interest rates, national debt levels and trade deficits, changes in balances of payments and trade, domestic and foreign interest and inflation rates, global or regional political, economic or financial events, monetary policies of governments, actual or potential government intervention, and global energy prices. Political instability, the possibility of government intervention and restrictive or opaque business and investment policies may also reduce the value of a country’s currency. Government monetary policies and the buying or selling of currency by a country’s government may also influence exchange rates. Currency exchange rates can be very volatile and can change quickly and unpredictably. As a result, the value of an investment in a Fund may change quickly, unpredictably, and without warning, and you may lose money.
The Funds and their service providers may be susceptible to operational and information security risks resulting from a breach in cybersecurity, including cyber-attacks. A breach in cybersecurity, intentional or unintentional, may adversely impact the Funds in many ways, including, but not limited to, disruption of a Fund’s operational capacity, loss of proprietary information, theft or corruption of data maintained online or digitally, denial-of-service attacks on websites or network resources, and the unauthorized release of confidential information. Cyber-attacks affecting a Fund’s third-party service providers, including the Adviser, Sub-Adviser, administrator, custodian, and transfer agent, may subject a Fund to many of the same risks associated with direct cybersecurity breaches and adversely impact the Fund. For instance, cyber-attacks may impact a Fund’s ability to calculate its NAV, cause the release of confidential business information, impede trading, cause a Fund to incur additional compliance costs associated with corrective measures, subject a Fund to regulatory fines or other financial losses, and/or cause reputational damage to a Fund. Cybersecurity breaches of market makers, Authorized Participants, or the issuers of securities in which a Fund invests could also have material adverse consequences on a Fund’s business operations and cause financial losses for a Fund and its shareholders. While the Funds and their service providers have established business continuity plans and risk management systems designed to address cybersecurity risks, prevent cyber-attacks and mitigate the impact of cybersecurity breaches, there are inherent limitations on such plans and systems. In addition, the Funds have no control over the cybersecurity protections put in place by their service providers or any other third parties whose operations may affect the Funds or their shareholders.
Derivatives are financial instruments that derive their performance from an underlying reference asset, such as a commodity, index, interest rate or currency exchange rate. Derivatives are subject to a number of risks described elsewhere in this Prospectus, such as counterparty and issuer credit risk, interest rate risk, market risk and issuer-specific risk. They also involve the risk that changes in the value of the derivative may not correlate perfectly with the underlying asset, rate or index, or that the counterparty to a derivative contract might default on its obligations. Derivatives can be volatile and may be less liquid than other securities. As a result, the value of an investment in a Fund may change quickly and without warning, and you may lose money. Derivatives include forward currency contracts, futures contracts and swaps.
Forward Currency Contracts
A forward currency contract is an agreement to buy or sell a specific currency at a future date at a price set at the time of the contract. A non-deliverable forward currency contract is a contract where there is no physical settlement of two currencies at maturity. Rather, based on the movement of the currencies, a net cash settlement will be made by one party to the other. The risks of forward currency contracts include but are not limited to the risk that the counterparty will default on its obligations.
A futures contract may generally be described as an agreement for the future sale by one party and the purchase by another of a specified security or instrument at a specified price and time. A currency futures contract is a contract to exchange one currency for another at a specified date in the future at an agreed upon exchange rate. The risks of futures contracts include but are not limited to: (1) the success of the adviser’s and sub-adviser’s ability to predict movements in the prices of individual currencies or securities, fluctuations in markets and movements in interest rates; (2) an imperfect or no correlation between the changes in market value of the currencies or securities and the prices of futures contracts; and (3) no guarantee that an active market will exist for the contracts at any particular time.
In addition, for the WisdomTree Enhanced Commodity Strategy Fund, as the Fund’s futures contracts near expiration, they are replaced by contracts that have a later expiration. For example, a contract purchased and held in December 2020 may specify a February 2021 expiration. As that contract nears expiration, it may be replaced by selling the February 2021 contract and purchasing the contract expiring in April 2021. This process is referred to as “rolling.” Historically, the prices of crude oil and heating oil have frequently been higher for contracts with shorter-term expirations than for contracts with longer-term expirations, which is referred to as “backwardation.” In these circumstances, absent other factors, the sale of the February 2021 contract would take place at a price that is higher than the price at which the April 2021 contract is purchased, thereby creating a gain in connection with rolling. While crude oil and heating oil have historically exhibited consistent periods of backwardation, backwardation will likely not exist in these markets at all times. For instance, in May 2020, futures for oil to be delivered in June 2020 traded at times at approximately half of the value of futures for oil to be delivered in January 2021 – or in “contango”, as further described below. The absence of backwardation in crude oil and heating oil could adversely affect the value of a Fund.
Conversely, gold, corn, soybeans and wheat historically exhibit “contango” markets rather than backwardation. Contango markets are those in which the prices of contracts are higher in the distant delivery months than in the nearer delivery months due to the costs of long-term storage of a physical commodity prior to delivery or other factors. Although gold, corn, soybeans and wheat have historically exhibited consistent periods of contango, contango will likely not exist in these markets at all times. The persistence of contango in gold, corn, soybeans and wheat could adversely affect the value of a Fund.
A currency swap is an agreement between two parties to exchange one currency for another at a future rate. An interest rate swap typically involves the exchange of a floating interest rate payment for a fixed interest payment. A total return swap is an agreement between two parties in which one party agrees to make payments of the total return of a reference asset in return for payments equal to a rate of interest on another reference asset. The risks of swaps include but are not limited to the potential to increase or decrease the overall volatility of the Fund’s investments and its share price.
The Floating Rate Treasury Fund invests primarily in floating rate notes. Securities with floating rates can be less sensitive to interest rate changes than securities with fixed interest rates, but may decline in value and negatively impact the Fund’s NAV, particularly if changes in prevailing interest rates are more frequent or sudden than the
rate changes for the Floating Rate Notes, which only occur periodically. This risk is also heightened because floating rate Treasury obligations are new issuances for which a deep and liquid market has not yet developed.
Investments in non-U.S. securities and instruments involve political, regulatory, and economic risks that may not be present in U.S. securities. For example, investments in non-U.S. securities may be subject to risk of loss due to foreign currency fluctuations, political or economic instability, or geographic events that adversely impact issuers of foreign securities. There may be less information publicly available about a non-U.S. issuer than a U.S. issuer. Non-U.S. issuers may be subject to different accounting, auditing, financial reporting and investor protection standards than U.S. issuers. Investments in non-U.S. securities may be subject to withholding or other taxes and may be subject to additional trading, settlement, custodial, and operational risks. With respect to certain countries, there is the possibility of government intervention and expropriation or nationalization of assets. Because legal systems differ, there is also the possibility that it will be difficult to obtain or enforce legal judgments in certain countries. Since foreign exchanges may be open on days when a Fund does not price its shares, the value of the securities in a Fund’s portfolio may change on days when shareholders will not be able to purchase or sell a Fund’s shares. Conversely, Fund shares may trade on days when foreign exchanges are closed. Each of these factors can make investments in a Fund more volatile and potentially less liquid than other types of investments and may be heightened in connection with investments in developing or emerging markets countries. Foreign securities also include American Depositary Receipts (“ADRs”), which are U.S. dollar-denominated receipts representing shares of foreign-based corporations. ADRs are issued by U.S. banks or trust companies and entitle the holder to all dividends and capital gains that are paid out on the underlying foreign shares. Global Depositary Receipts (“GDRs”), which are similar to ADRs, represent shares of foreign-based corporations and are generally issued by international banks in one or more markets around the world. Investments in ADRs and GDRs may be less liquid and more volatile than underlying shares in their primary trading markets.
The WisdomTree Enhanced Commodity Strategy Fund invests in or has exposure to commodities futures contracts and is subject to costs associated with and risks related to “rolling.” The contractual obligations of a buyer or seller holding a futures contract to expiration may be satisfied by settling in cash as designated in the contract specifications. Alternatively, futures contracts may be closed out prior to expiration by making an offsetting sale or purchase of an identical futures contract on the same or linked exchange before the designated date of settlement. Once this date is reached, the futures contract “expires.” As the futures contracts held by the Fund near expiration, they are generally closed out and replaced by contracts with a later expiration. This process is referred to as “rolling.”
When the market for these contracts is such that the prices are higher in the more distant delivery months than in the nearer delivery months, the sale during the course of the “rolling process” of the more nearby contract would take place at a price that is lower than the price of the more distant contract. This pattern of higher futures prices for longer expiration futures contracts is often referred to as “contango.” Alternatively, when the market for these contracts is such that the prices are higher in the nearer months than in the more distant months, the sale during the course of the “rolling process” of the more nearby contract would take place at a price that is higher than the price of the more distant contract. This pattern of higher futures prices for shorter expiration futures contracts is referred to as “backwardation.” The presence of contango in the relevant futures contracts at the time of rolling would be expected to adversely affect the Fund. Similarly, the presence of backwardation in certain futures contracts at the time of rolling such contracts would be expected to positively affect the Fund.
There have been extended periods in which contango or backwardation has existed in the futures contracts markets, and such periods can be expected to occur in the future. These extended periods can cause significant losses for the Fund.
Additionally, because of the frequency with which the Fund expects to roll its futures contracts, the impact of such contango or backwardation may be greater than the impact would be if the Fund experienced less portfolio turnover.
Geographic Investment Risk
To the extent that a Fund invests a significant portion of its assets in the securities of companies of a single country or region, it is more likely to be impacted by events or conditions affecting that country or region. For example, political and economic conditions and changes in regulatory, tax, or economic policy in a country could significantly affect the market in that country and in surrounding or related countries and have a negative impact
on the Fund’s performance. Currency developments or restrictions, political and social instability, and changing economic conditions have resulted in significant market volatility.
Investments in securities and instruments traded in developing or emerging markets, or that provide exposure to such securities or markets, can involve additional risks relating to political, economic, or regulatory conditions not associated with investments in U.S. securities and instruments or investments in more developed international markets. For example, emerging markets may be subject to (i) greater market volatility, (ii) lower trading volume and liquidity, (iii) greater social, political and economic uncertainty, (iv) governmental controls on foreign investments, market manipulation concerns, and limitations on repatriation of invested capital, (v) lower disclosure, corporate governance, accounting, auditing, financial reporting and recordkeeping standards, (vi) fewer protections of property rights, (vii) limited investor rights and legal or practical remedies available to the Fund against portfolio companies, (viii) restrictions on the transfer of securities or currency or payment of dividends and (ix) settlement and trading practices that differ from U.S. markets. Each of these factors may impact a Fund’s ability to buy, sell, transfer, receive, deliver or otherwise obtain exposure to, emerging market securities or currency, negatively impact the value and/or liquidity of such instruments, adversely affect the trading market and price for shares of the Fund and cause a Fund to decline in value. The volatility of emerging markets may be heightened by the actions (such as significant buying and selling) of a few major investors. For example, substantial increases or decreases in cash flows of funds investing in these markets could significantly affect local securities’ prices and cause Fund share prices to decline. For these and other reasons, investments in emerging markets are often considered speculative.
Geographic Concentration in China
Although the Chinese economy has grown rapidly during recent years and the Chinese government has implemented significant economic reforms to liberalize trade policy, promote foreign investment, and reduce government control of the economy, there can be no guarantee that economic growth or these reforms will continue. Economic liberalization in China may also result in disparities of wealth that lead to social disorder, including violence and labor unrest. The Chinese economy may also experience slower growth if global or domestic demand for Chinese goods decreases significantly and/or key trading partners apply trade tariffs or implement other protectionist measures. The Chinese economy is also susceptible to rising rates of inflation, economic recession, market inefficiency, volatility, and pricing anomalies that may be connected to governmental influence, a lack of publicly-available information and/or political and social instability. Strained relationships with neighboring countries, including any military conflicts in response to such confrontations, may negatively impact China’s economic development and destabilize the region. The government of China maintains strict currency controls in order to achieve economic, trade and political objectives and regularly intervenes in the currency market. The Chinese government places strict regulation on the Renminbi and Hong Kong dollar and manages the Renminbi and Hong Kong dollar so that they have historically traded in a tight range relative to the U.S. dollar. The Chinese government has been under pressure to manage the currency in a less restrictive fashion so that it is less correlated to the U.S. dollar. It is expected that such action would increase the value of the Renminbi and the Hong Kong dollar relative to the U.S. dollar. Of course, there can be no guarantee that this will occur, or that the Renminbi or the Hong Kong dollar will move in relation to the U.S. dollar as expected. The Chinese government also plays a major role in the country’s economic policies regarding foreign investments. Foreign investors are subject to the risk of loss from expropriation or nationalization of their investment assets and property, governmental restrictions on foreign investments and the repatriation of capital invested. In addition, the Chinese government may enact laws and regulations that interfere with the operations of Chinese companies listed abroad, including U.S.-listed Chinese companies. China’s authoritarian government has also used force in the past to suppress civil dissent, and China’s foreign and domestic policies remain in conflict with those of Hong Kong as well as nationalist and religious groups in Xinjiang and Tibet. These and other factors could have a negative impact on the Chinese economy as a whole.
Independent market quotations for the Chinese securities held by a Fund may not be readily available, and such securities may be fair valued. Fair valuation is subjective and different market participants may assign different prices to the same security. As a result, there is a risk that a Fund may not be able to sell a security at the price assigned to the security by the Fund. In addition, the securities in which a Fund invests may trade on days that the Fund does not price its shares; as a result, the value of Fund shares may change on days when investors cannot purchase or sell their Fund shares.
Most developed countries in Western Europe are members of the European Union (“EU”), many are also members of the European Economic and Monetary Union (“EMU”), and most EMU members are part of the euro zone, a group of EMU countries that share the euro as their common currency. Members of the EMU must comply with restrictions on inflation rates, deficits, debt levels, and fiscal and monetary controls. The implementation of any of these EMU restrictions or controls, as well as any of the following events in Europe, may have a significant impact on the economies of some or all European countries: (i) the default or threat of default by an EU member country on its sovereign debt, (ii) economic recession in an EU member country, (iii) changes in EU or governmental regulations on trade, (iv) substantial changes in currency exchange rates of the euro, the British pound, and other European currencies, (v) significant changes in the supply and demand for European imports or exports, and (vi) high unemployment rates.
In June 2016, the United Kingdom voted in a referendum to leave the EU. As a result of the referendum, S&P downgraded the United Kingdom’s credit rating from “AAA” to “AA” and the EU’s credit rating from “AA+” to “AA” in the days that followed the vote. Other credit ratings agencies have taken similar actions. On March 29, 2017, the United Kingdom invoked article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty, notifying the European Council of the United Kingdom’s intention to withdraw from the EU by March 29, 2019. However, after two years of negotiating the United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the EU, this date was extended until October 31, 2019 and subsequently extended until January 31, 2020, on which date the United Kingdom formally exited the EU. During an 11-month transition period, the United Kingdom, including its businesses and people, continued to abide by applicable EU rules, honor the United Kingdom’s trade relationships with EU countries, and prepare for the new post-Brexit rules to take effect on January 1, 2021. Effective January 1, 2021, the United Kingdom left the EU single market and customs union under the terms of a new trade agreement. The trade agreement governs the relationship between the United Kingdom and EU with respect to trading goods and services, but critical aspects of the relationship remain unresolved and subject to further negotiation and agreement. Brexit may also impact markets of the United Kingdom and the EU, as well as global markets, should it lead to the creation of divergent national laws and regulations that produce new legal regimes and unpredictable tax consequences. As a result of the uncertain consequences of Brexit, the economies of the United Kingdom and Europe as well as the broader global economy could be significantly impacted, which may result in increased volatility and illiquidity, and potentially lower economic growth on markets in the United Kingdom, Europe and globally. Any or all of these consequences could potentially have an adverse effect on the value of the Fund’s investments.
Some countries and regions in which the Fund invests have experienced security concerns, war, threats of war, aggression and/or conflict, terrorism, economic uncertainty, sanctions or the threat of sanctions, natural and environmental disasters, the spread of infectious illness, widespread disease or other public health issues and/or systemic market dislocations (including due to events outside of such countries or regions) 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. Such geopolitical and other events may also disrupt securities markets and, during such market disruptions, a Fund’s exposure to the other risks described herein will likely increase. For example, a market disruption may adversely affect the orderly functioning of the securities markets. Each of the foregoing may negatively impact the Fund’s investments.
The Duration Funds are subject to hedging risk. The short positions in U.S. Treasuries contained in each Duration Fund’s underlying Index, as well as the Duration Funds' holdings to obtain such exposure, are not intended to mitigate credit risk or mitigate changes in bond values associated with investor perceptions regarding, or premiums placed on, credit risk (
, credit risk premiums) or otherwise mitigate risks associated with other factors influencing the price of such bonds, which may have a greater impact than rising or falling interest rates.
The underlying Index of each Duration Fund seeks to mitigate the potential negative impact of rising U.S. Treasury rates on the performance of bonds in the long portfolio of the Index. There is no guarantee that the short positions will completely eliminate the interest rate risk of the long bond positions.
Each Duration Fund’s underlying Index’s short positions also may fail to provide the targeted duration in light of changes in the shape of the U.S. Treasury curve. The interest rate profile between the long and short exposures of an index and fund could also evolve significantly between monthly rebalancing. This could lead to temporary dislocations between a Fund’s intended and actual sensitivity to interest rates, which could impact performance.
There may also be significant differences between the bond markets and U.S. Treasury markets (including futures markets for U.S. Treasuries) that could result in a Fund’s short positions performing ineffectively, exacerbating losses or causing greater tracking error. In addition, when interest rates fall, an unhedged investment in the same long portfolio of bonds will outperform the Fund.
High Yield Securities Risk
The Interest Rate Hedged High Yield Bond Fund invests primarily in high yield securities, rated lower than Baa3 by Moody’s, or equivalently rated by S&P or Fitch. Such securities are sometimes referred to as “high yield securities” or “junk bonds.” In addition, each Fixed Income Active ETF may invest a limited portion of their assets in securities rated lower than Baa3 by Moody’s, or equivalently rated by S&P or Fitch. Investing in these securities involves special risks in addition to the risks associated with investments in higher-rated fixed income securities. While offering a greater potential for capital appreciation and higher yields, high yield securities typically entail higher price volatility and may be less liquid than securities with higher ratings. High yield securities may be regarded as predominantly speculative with respect to the issuer’s continuing ability to meet principal and interest payments. Issuers of securities in default may fail to resume principal or interest payments, in which case the Fund may lose its entire investment.
Illiquid Investments Risk
Illiquid investments may be difficult to sell at an acceptable price, they may be subject to greater volatility and may result in a loss to the Fund. Investments acquired by the Fund that are liquid at the time of purchase may subsequently become illiquid due to events relating to the issuer of the securities, market events, economic conditions and/or investor perception.
When the PutWrite Fund sells a SPX Put, the Fund gains the amount of premium it receives; however, the Fund also incurs a liability that represents the value of the SPX Put it has sold until the SPX Put is exercised or expires. The value of the SPX Puts in which the Fund invests is partly based on the volatility used by market participants to price such options (
, implied volatility). Consequently, increases in the implied volatility of the SPX Puts will cause the value of such options to increase (even if the prices of the S&P 500 stocks do not change), which will result in a corresponding increase in the liabilities of the Fund under the SPX Puts and thus decrease the Fund’s NAV. The Fund is therefore exposed to implied volatility risk before the SPX Puts expire or are struck at-the-money. The implied volatility of the SPX Puts sold by the Fund may increase due to general market and economic conditions, perceptions regarding the industries in which the issuers of S&P 500 stocks participate or factors relating to specific S&P 500 companies.
The Funds that employ a “passive management” – or indexing – investment approach (the Fixed Income Index Funds, PutWrite Fund and Alternative Income Fund, together the “Index Funds”) are not “actively” managed and seek to track the price and yield performance, before fees and expenses, of the applicable Index. The Index Provider has the right to make adjustments to the Indexes or to cease making the Indexes available without regard to the particular interests of the Funds or the Funds' shareholders. While the Index Provider provides a rules-based methodology that describes what each Index is designed to achieve within a particular set of rules, neither the Index Provider, its agents nor data providers provide any warranty or accept any liability in relation to the quality, accuracy or completeness of the applicable Index, its calculation, valuation or its related data, and they do not guarantee that the applicable Index will be in line with the Index Provider’s methodology, regardless of whether or not the Index Provider is affiliated with the Adviser. The composition of the Index is dependent on data from one or more third parties and/or the application of such data within the rules of the Index methodology, which may be based on assumptions or estimates. If the computers or other facilities of the Index Provider, Index calculation agent, data providers and/or relevant stock exchange malfunction for any reason, calculation and dissemination of Index values may be delayed and trading in Fund shares may be suspended for a period of time. Errors in Index data, Index computations and/or the construction of the Indexes may occur from time to time and may not be identified and/or corrected by the Index Provider, Index calculation agent or other applicable party for a period of time or at all, which may have an adverse impact on the Funds and their shareholders. The potential risk of continuing error may be particularly heightened in the case of the Indexes, which are generally not used as benchmarks by other funds or managers. Any of the foregoing may lead to the inclusion of securities in an Index, exclusion of securities from an Index or the weighting of securities in an Index that would have been different had data or other information been correct or complete, which may lead to a different investment outcome than would have been the case had such events not occurred. The Adviser, through a Sub-Adviser, seeks to manage each Fund
