The Index is
rebalanced and reconstituted on a semi-annual basis, as of the close of the last
business day of May and November. The
optimization process described above is applied in connection with the
semi-annual Index review. During the
semi-annual Index review, in the event the Index-level constraints are not met
through the optimization process, certain
target diversification constraints will be relaxed until the Index-level
constraints are achieved.
As of [November 30,
2022], a significant portion of the Fund comprised companies in the
[technology and financial sectors], although
this may change from time to time. As of [November 30, 2022], countries
represented in the Fund included [Australia,
Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Czech Republic,
Denmark, Egypt, Finland, France,
Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan,
Kuwait, Malaysia, Mexico, the Netherlands, New
Zealand, Norway, Peru, the Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Russia, Saudi
Arabia, Singapore, South
Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, the
United Arab Emirates, the United
Kingdom and the United States]. As of [November 30, 2022], a significant portion
of the Fund comprised companies
located in the [United States], although this may change from time to time. As
of [November 30, 2022], the Index
comprised [ ] securities.
The Index is
sponsored by MSCI, Inc. (the “Index
Provider”), which is not
affiliated with the Fund or the Adviser. The Index Provider
determines the composition of the Index, relative weightings of the securities
in the Index and publishes information
regarding the market value of the Index.
Principal
Risks of Investing in the Fund
As with all
investments, there are certain risks of investing in the Fund. Fund Shares will
change in value, and you could lose money by
investing in the Fund. An investment in the Fund is not insured or guaranteed by
the Federal Deposit Insurance
Corporation or any other government agency.
Market
Risk:
The Fund's investments are subject to changes in general economic conditions,
general market fluctuations and the
risks inherent in investment in securities markets. Investment markets can be
volatile and prices of
investments can change substantially due to various factors including, but not
limited to, economic growth or recession,
changes in interest rates, inflation, changes in the actual or perceived
creditworthiness of issuers, and general market
liquidity. The Fund is subject to the risk that geopolitical events will disrupt
securities markets and adversely affect
global economies and markets. Local, regional or global events such as war,
military conflicts, acts of terrorism,
natural disasters, the spread of infectious illness or other public health
issues, or other events could have a
significant impact on the Fund and its investments.
Equity
Investing Risk: The market prices
of equity securities owned by the Fund may go up or down, sometimes rapidly or
unpredictably. The value of a security may decline for a number of reasons that
may directly relate to the issuer and also may
decline due to general industry or market conditions that are not specifically
related to a particular company.
In addition, equity markets tend to move in cycles, which may cause stock prices
to fall over short or extended
periods of time.
Non-U.S.
Securities Risk: Non-U.S.
securities (including depositary receipts) are subject to political,
regulatory, and economic risks
not present in domestic investments. There may be less information publicly
available about a non-U.S. entity than
about a U.S. entity, and many non-U.S. entities are not subject to accounting,
auditing, legal and financial report
standards comparable to those in the United States. Further, such entities
and/or their securities may be
subject to risks associated with currency controls; expropriation; changes in
tax policy; greater market volatility;
differing securities market structures; higher transaction costs; and various
administrative difficulties, such
as delays in clearing and settling portfolio transactions or in receiving
payment of dividends. To the extent
underlying securities held by the Fund trade on foreign exchanges that are
closed when the exchange on which the Fund's
shares trade is open, there may be deviations between the current price of an
underlying security and the
last quoted price for the underlying security on the closed foreign market.
These deviations could result in the Fund
experiencing premiums or discounts greater than those of ETFs that invest in
domestic securities.
Securities traded on foreign markets may be less liquid (harder to sell) than
securities traded domestically.
Foreign governments may impose restrictions on the repatriation of capital to
the U.S. In addition, to the extent
that the Fund buys securities denominated in a foreign currency, there are
special risks such as changes in currency
exchange rates and the risk that a foreign government could regulate foreign
exchange transactions. In
addition, to the extent investments are made in a limited number of countries,
events in those countries will have
a more significant impact on the Fund. Investments in depositary receipts may be
less liquid and more volatile
than the underlying shares in their primary trading market.
ESG
Investing Risk: The Index's
incorporation of ESG considerations in its methodology may cause the Fund to
make
different investments than funds that do not incorporate such considerations in
their strategy or investment processes. Under
certain economic conditions, this could cause the Fund's investment performance
to be worse