ck0001432353-20211130
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Global
X Alternative Income ETF
(formerly
known as Global X SuperDividend®
Alternatives
ETF)
NASDAQ:
ALTY |
Global
X MLP & Energy Infrastructure ETF NYSE
Arca: MLPX |
Global
X S&P 500®
Quality Dividend ETF NYSE
Arca: QDIV |
Global
X Conscious Companies ETF
NASDAQ:
KRMA |
Global
X U.S. Preferred ETF NYSE
Arca: PFFD |
Global
X Adaptive U.S. Factor ETF NYSE
Arca: AUSF |
Global
X Variable Rate Preferred ETF NYSE
Arca: PFFV |
Global
X Adaptive U.S. Risk Management ETF
NYSE
Arca:
ONOF |
Global
X MLP ETF NYSE
Arca: MLPA |
Global
X Founder-Run Companies ETF
Cboe
BZX: BOSS |
Prospectus
April 1,
2022
The
Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") has not approved or disapproved these
securities or passed upon the adequacy of this Prospectus. Any representation to
the contrary is a criminal offense.
Shares
in a Fund (defined below) are not guaranteed or insured by the Federal Deposit
Insurance Corporation or any other agency of the U.S. Government, nor are shares
deposits or obligations of any bank. Such shares in a Fund involve investment
risks, including the loss of principal.
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As
permitted by regulations adopted by the SEC, paper copies of the Funds’
shareholder reports will no longer be sent by mail, unless you
specifically request paper copies of the reports from your financial
intermediary (such as a broker-dealer or bank). Instead, shareholder
reports will be available on the Funds’ website (www.globalxetfs.com/explore),
and you will be notified by mail each time a report is posted and provided
with a website link to access the report. If you already elected to
receive shareholder reports electronically, you will not be affected by
this change and you need not take any action. You may elect to receive
shareholder reports and other communications from the Funds electronically
anytime by contacting your financial intermediary. You may elect to
receive all future Fund shareholder reports in paper free of charge.
Please contact your financial intermediary to inform them that you wish to
continue receiving paper copies of Fund shareholder reports and for
details about whether your election to receive reports in paper will apply
to all funds held with your financial
intermediary. |
TABLE
OF CONTENTS
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FUND
SUMMARIES |
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ADDITIONAL
INFORMATION ABOUT THE FUNDS |
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A
FURTHER DISCUSSION OF PRINCIPAL RISKS |
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A
FURTHER DISCUSSION OF OTHER RISKS |
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PORTFOLIO
HOLDINGS INFORMATION |
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FUND
MANAGEMENT |
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DISTRIBUTOR |
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BUYING
AND SELLING FUND SHARES |
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FREQUENT
TRADING |
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DISTRIBUTION
AND SERVICES PLAN |
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DIVIDENDS
AND DISTRIBUTIONS |
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INVESTMENTS
BY INVESTMENT COMPANIES |
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TAXES
FOR THE GLOBAL X MLP ETF |
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TAXES
FOR EACH FUND OTHER THAN THE GLOBAL X MLP ETF |
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DETERMINATION
OF NET ASSET VALUE |
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PREMIUM/DISCOUNT
AND SHARE INFORMATION |
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TOTAL
RETURN INFORMATION |
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INFORMATION
REGARDING THE INDICES AND THE INDEX PROVIDERS |
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OTHER
SERVICE PROVIDERS |
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FINANCIAL
HIGHLIGHTS |
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ADDITIONAL
INFORMATION |
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OTHER
INFORMATION |
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FUND
SUMMARIES
Global X Alternative Income
ETF
(formerly
known as the Global X SuperDividend®
Alternatives ETF)
Ticker:
ALTY Exchange: NASDAQ
INVESTMENT OBJECTIVE
The
Global X Alternative Income ETF (formerly known as the Global X
SuperDividend®
Alternatives ETF) ("Fund") seeks to track, before fees and expenses, the price
and yield performance of the Indxx SuperDividend®
Alternatives Index ("Underlying Index").
FEES AND EXPENSES
This table describes the fees
and expenses that you may pay if you buy, hold, and sell shares (“Shares”) of
the Fund. You may pay other fees, such as brokerage commissions and other fees
to financial intermediaries, which are not reflected in the table and examples
below.
Annual
Fund Operating Expenses
(expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your
investment):
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Management
Fees:1 |
0.50% |
Distribution
and Service (12b-1) Fees: |
None |
Other
Expenses:2 |
0.00% |
Total
Annual Fund Operating Expenses: |
0.50% |
1 Management fees have been
restated to reflect current fees.
2
“Other Expenses”
information has been restated from fiscal year amounts to reflect estimated fees
and expenses for the upcoming fiscal year.
Example:
The following example
is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the Fund with the cost
of investing in other funds. This example does not take into account customary
brokerage commissions that you pay when purchasing or selling Shares of the Fund
in the secondary market. The 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 the same. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on
these assumptions, your costs would be:
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One
Year |
Three
Years |
Five
Years |
Ten
Years |
$51 |
$160 |
$280 |
$628 |
Portfolio
Turnover:
The Fund pays transaction
costs, such as commissions, when it buys 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 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. For the most recent fiscal period, the
Fund's portfolio turnover rate was 86.85% of the average value of its
portfolio.
PRINCIPAL INVESTMENT
STRATEGIES
The
Fund invests at least 80% of its total assets in the securities of the Indxx
SuperDividend®
Alternatives Index (the "Underlying Index") and in American Depositary Receipts
("ADRs") and Global Depositary Receipts ("GDRs") based on the securities in the
Underlying Index. The Fund's 80% investment policy is non-fundamental and
requires 60 days prior written notice to shareholders before it can be changed.
The Fund may lend securities representing up to one-third of the value of the
Fund’s total assets (including the value of the collateral received).
The
Underlying Index is intended to provide exposure to five income-producing
categories: Master Limited Partnerships ("MLPs") and Infrastructure, Real
Estate, Preferreds, Emerging Market Bonds and Covered Calls. The MLPs and
Infrastructure categories primarily consist of units of MLPs and shares of
infrastructure companies. The Real Estate category provides exposure to global
real estate investment trusts ("REITs"), and gains this exposure through
investing directly in the Global X
SuperDividend®
REIT ETF. The Preferreds category provides exposure to U.S. preferred
securities, and gains this exposure through investing directly in the Global X
U.S. Preferred ETF. The Emerging Markets Bonds category provides exposure to
emerging markets debt, and gains this exposure through investing directly in the
Global X Emerging Markets Bond ETF. The Covered Call category provides exposure
to a covered call strategy, and gains this exposure through investing directly
in the Global X Nasdaq 100 Covered Call ETF. At the annual reconstitution, each
of the five categories is equally weighted at 20%. The Underlying Index may
rebalance quarterly if any one category deviates more than 3% from its target
weight, in which case each category is rebalanced back to equal weight of 20%.
The Fund's investment objective and Underlying Index may be changed without
shareholder approval.
The
Underlying Index is sponsored by Indxx, LLC (the “Index Provider”), which is an
organization that is independent of, and unaffiliated with, the Fund and Global
X Management Company LLC, the investment adviser for the Fund ("Adviser"). The
Index Provider determines the relative weightings of the securities in the
Underlying Index and publishes information regarding the market value of the
Underlying Index.
The
Adviser uses a "passive" or indexing approach to try to achieve the Fund's
investment objective. Unlike many investment companies, the Fund does not try to
"outperform" the Underlying Index and does not seek temporary defensive
positions when markets decline or appear overvalued.
The
Fund generally will use a replication strategy. A replication strategy is an
indexing strategy that involves investing in the securities of the Underlying
Index in approximately the same proportions as in the Underlying Index. However,
the Fund may utilize a representative sampling strategy with respect to the
Underlying Index when a replication strategy might be detrimental to
shareholders, such as when there are practical difficulties or substantial costs
involved in compiling a portfolio of equity securities to follow the Underlying
Index, in instances in which a security in the Underlying Index becomes
temporarily illiquid, unavailable or less liquid, or as a result of legal
restrictions or limitations (such as tax diversification requirements) that
apply to the Fund but not the Underlying Index.
The Adviser expects that, over time, the
correlation between the Fund's performance and that of the Underlying Index,
before fees and expenses, will exceed 95%. A correlation percentage of 100%
would indicate perfect correlation. If the Fund uses a replication strategy, it
can be expected to have greater correlation to the Underlying Index than if it
uses a representative sampling strategy. The Fund concentrates its investments
(i.e., hold 25% or more of its total assets) in a particular industry or group
of industries to approximately the same extent that the Underlying Index is
concentrated. As of January 31, 2022, the Underlying Index was not
concentrated in any industry.
SUMMARY OF PRINCIPAL RISKS
As with any investment, you could lose all or part of
your investment in the Fund, and the Fund’s performance could trail that of
other investments. There is no guarantee that the Fund will
achieve its investment objective. An investment in the Fund is not a
bank deposit and it is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit
Insurance Corporation or any other government agency, the Adviser or any of its
affiliates. The Fund is subject to the principal risks noted
below, any of which may adversely affect the Fund’s net asset value (“NAV”),
trading price, yield, total return and ability to meet its investment objective,
as well as other risks that are described in greater detail in the Additional
Information About the Funds
section of this Prospectus and in the Statement of Additional Information
(“SAI”). The order of the below risk factors does not indicate the significance
of any particular risk factor.
Asset
Class Risk:
Securities and other assets in the Underlying Index or otherwise held in the
Fund's portfolio may underperform in comparison to the general securities
markets, a particular securities market or other asset classes.
Actively
Managed Portfolios Investment Risk:
Certain of the Underlying Index constituents are actively managed portfolios,
and their success depends upon the investment skills and analytical abilities of
the investment adviser to that constituent to develop and effectively implement
strategies to achieve the Underlying Index constituent’s investment objective.
Subjective decisions made by the investment adviser may cause the Underlying
Index constituent to incur losses or to miss profit opportunities on which it
may otherwise have capitalized.
Bond
Investment Risk:
Investments in debt securities are generally affected by changes in prevailing
interest rates and the creditworthiness of the issuer. Prices of debt securities
fall when prevailing interest rates rise. The Fund’s yield on investments in
debt securities will fluctuate as the securities in the Fund are rebalanced and
reinvested in securities with different interest rates. Investments in bonds are
also subject to credit risk. Credit risk is the risk that an issuer of debt
securities will be unable to pay principal and interest when due, or that the
value of the security will suffer
because
investors believe the issuer is less able to make required principal and
interest payments. This is broadly gauged by the credit ratings of the debt
securities in which the Fund invests. However, credit ratings are only the
opinions of the rating agencies issuing them, do not purport to reflect the risk
of fluctuations in market value and are not absolute guarantees as to the
payment of interest and the repayment of principal.
Equity
Securities Risk:
Equity securities are subject to changes in value, and their values may be more
volatile than other asset classes, as a result of such factors as a company’s
business performance, investor perceptions, stock market trends and general
economic conditions.
ETF
Investment Risk:
While the risks of owning shares of an underlying ETF generally reflect the
risks of owning the underlying securities of the index the ETF is designed to
track, lack of liquidity in the underlying ETF can result in its value being
more volatile than the underlying portfolio securities. Because the value of an
underlying ETF's shares depends on the demand in the market, the Adviser may not
be able to liquidate the Fund’s holdings in those shares at the most optimal
time, thereby adversely affecting the Fund’s performance. An underlying ETF may
experience tracking error in relation to the index tracked by the underlying
ETF, which could contribute to tracking error for the Fund. In addition, an
underlying ETF's shares may trade at a premium or discount to NAV.
In
addition, investments in the securities of underlying ETFs may involve
duplication of advisory fees and certain other expenses. The Fund will pay
brokerage commissions in connection with the purchase and sale of shares of the
underlying ETFs, which could result in greater expenses to the Fund. By
investing in an underlying ETF, the Fund becomes a shareholder thereof. As a
result, Fund shareholders indirectly bear the Fund’s proportionate share of the
fees and expenses indirectly paid by shareholders of the underlying ETF, in
addition to the fees and expenses Fund shareholders indirectly bear in
connection with the Fund’s own operations.
If
the underlying ETF fails to achieve its investment objective, the value of the
Fund’s investment may decline, adversely affecting the Fund’s performance.
Additionally, some ETFs are not registered under the Investment Company Act of
1940 (“1940 Act”) and therefore, are not subject to the regulatory scheme and
investor protections of the 1940 Act.
Leveraged
Portfolios Investment Risk:
Certain of the Underlying Index components may engage in transactions that give
rise to leverage. Such transactions may include, among others, reverse
repurchase agreements, securities lending, forward commitment transactions,
short sales and certain derivative transactions. The use of leverage may cause
the Underlying Index components to liquidate portfolio positions when it may not
be advantageous to do so to satisfy its obligations or to meet segregation
requirements. Leverage may cause the Underlying Index component’s share price to
be more volatile than if it had not been leveraged, as certain types of leverage
may exaggerate the effect of any increase or decrease in the value of the
Underlying Index component’s portfolio securities. The loss on leveraged
investments may substantially exceed the initial investment.
Master
Limited Partnerships Investment Risk: Investments
in securities of an MLP involve 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, and cash flow risks. MLP common
units and other equity securities can be affected by changes in macro-economic
and other factors affecting the stock market in general, including changes in
growth, unemployment, and inflation rates, as well as expectations of interest
rates. MLP common units and other equity securities can also be affected by
investor sentiment towards MLPs or the energy sector, changes in a particular
issuer’s financial condition, or unfavorable or unanticipated poor performance
of a particular issuer (in the case of MLPs, generally measured in terms of
distributable cash flow). Prices of common units of individual MLPs and other
equity securities also can be affected by fundamentals unique to the partnership
or company, including earnings power and coverage ratios.
Mortgage
Real Estate Investment Trusts (Mortgage REITs) Investment Risk:
Mortgage REITs are exposed to the risks specific to the real estate market as
well as credit risk, interest rate risk, leverage risk and prepayment risk.
Non-Hedging
Foreign Currency Trading Exposure Risk:
Certain of the Underlying Index constituents may engage in forward foreign
currency transactions for speculative purposes. The Underlying Index
constituents' advisors may purchase or sell foreign currencies through the use
of forward contracts based on the applicable advisors’ judgment regarding the
direction of the market for a particular foreign currency or currencies. In
pursuing this strategy, the advisors seek to profit from anticipated movements
in currency rates by establishing “long” and/or “short” positions in forward
contracts on various foreign currencies. Foreign exchange rates can be extremely
volatile and a variance in the
degree
of volatility of the market or in the direction of the market from the advisors’
expectations may produce significant losses to the Underlying Index
constituent.
Option
Trading Strategies Exposure Risk:
Options are generally subject to volatile swings in price based on changes in
value of the underlying instrument, and the options written by an Underlying
Index constituent may be particularly subject to this risk because of the
volatility of the underlying stocks selected by an Underlying Index constituent.
An Underlying Index constituent may incur a form of economic leverage through
its use of options, which will increase the volatility of an Underlying Index
constituent’s returns and may increase the risk of loss to an Underlying Index
constituent. While an Underlying Index constituent will collect premiums on the
options it writes, an Underlying Index constituent’s risk of loss if one or more
of its options is exercised and expires in-the-money may substantially outweigh
the gains to an Underlying Index constituent from the receipt of such option
premiums. Moreover, the options sold by an Underlying Index constituent may have
imperfect correlation to the returns of their underlying stocks.
Real
Estate Stocks and Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) Investment
Risk:
The Fund may have exposure to companies that invest in real estate, such as
REITs, which exposes investors in the Fund to the risks of owning real estate
directly, as well as to risks that relate specifically to the way in which real
estate companies are organized and operated. Real estate is highly sensitive to
general and local economic conditions and developments and characterized by
intense competition and periodic overbuilding. Many real estate companies,
including REITs, utilize leverage (and some may be highly leveraged), which
increases risk and could adversely affect a real estate company's operations and
market value in periods of rising interest rates.
Associated
Risks Related to Investing in Infrastructure Companies:
Infrastructure companies may be subject to a variety of factors that could
adversely affect their business or operations, including high interest costs in
connection with capital construction programs, high degrees of leverage, costs
associated with governmental, environmental and other regulations, the level of
government spending on infrastructure projects, and other factors. The stock
prices of transportation companies may be affected by supply and demand for
their specific product, government regulation, world events and economic
conditions. The profitability of energy companies is related to worldwide energy
prices, exploration, and production spending. Utility companies face intense
competition, which may have an adverse effect on their profit margins, and the
rates charged by regulated utility companies are subject to review and
limitation by governmental regulatory commissions.
Capitalization
Risk:
Investing in issuers within the same market capitalization category carries the
risk that the category may be out of favor due to current market conditions or
investor sentiment.
Large-Capitalization
Companies Risk: Large-capitalization
companies may trail the returns of the overall stock market.
Large-capitalization stocks tend to go through cycles of doing better - or worse
- than the stock market in general. These periods have, in the past, lasted for
as long as several years.
Mid-Capitalization
Companies Risk: Mid-capitalization
companies may have greater price volatility, lower trading volume and less
liquidity than large-capitalization companies. In addition, mid-capitalization
companies may have smaller revenues, narrower product lines, less management
depth and experience, smaller shares of their product or service markets, fewer
financial resources and less competitive strength than large-capitalization
companies.
Small-Capitalization
Companies Risk:
Compared to mid- and large-capitalization companies, small-capitalization
companies may be less stable and more susceptible to adverse developments, and
their securities may be more volatile and less liquid.
Commodity
Exposure Risk:
To the extent that its Underlying Index has exposure to securities and markets
that are susceptible to fluctuations in certain commodity markets, any negative
changes in commodity markets could have a great impact on the Fund. Commodity
prices may be influenced or characterized by unpredictable factors, including,
where applicable, high volatility, changes in supply and demand relationships,
weather, agriculture, trade, changes in interest rates and monetary and other
governmental policies, action and inaction. Securities of companies held by the
Fund that are dependent on a single commodity, or are concentrated on a single
commodity sector, may typically exhibit even higher volatility attributable to
commodity prices.
Concentration
Risk:
To the extent that the Underlying Index concentrates in investments related to a
particular industry or group of industries, the Fund will also concentrate its
investments to approximately the same extent. Similarly, if the Underlying Index
has significant exposure to one or more sectors, the Fund’s investments will
likely have significant exposure to such sectors. In such event, the Fund’s
performance will be particularly susceptible to adverse events impacting such
industry
or sector, which may include, but are not limited to, the following: general
economic conditions or cyclical market patterns that could negatively affect
supply and demand; competition for resources; adverse labor relations; political
or world events; obsolescence of technologies; and increased competition or new
product introductions that may affect the profitability or viability of
companies in a particular industry or sector. As a result, the value of the
Fund’s investments may rise and fall more than the value of shares of a fund
that invests in securities of companies in a broader range of industries or
sectors.
Credit
Risk: Credit
risk refers to the possibility that the issuer of the security will not be able
to make principal and interest payments when due. Changes in an issuer’s credit
rating or the market’s perception of an issuer’s creditworthiness may also
affect the value of the Fund’s investment in that issuer. Securities rated in
the four highest categories by the rating agencies are considered investment
grade but they may also have some speculative characteristics. Investment grade
ratings do not guarantee that bonds will not lose value.
Currency
Risk:
The Fund may invest in securities denominated in foreign currencies. Because the
Fund's NAV is determined in U.S. dollars, the Fund's NAV could decline if
currencies of the underlying securities depreciate against the U.S. dollar or if
there are delays or limits on repatriation of such currencies. Currency exchange
rates can be very volatile and can change quickly and unpredictably. As a
result, the Fund's NAV may change quickly and without warning, which could have
a significant negative impact on the Fund.
Foreign
Financial Institution Risk:
Certain of the securities that comprise the Underlying Index, while traded on
U.S. exchanges, may be issued by foreign financial institutions. Therefore, the
Fund may be subject to the risks of investing in securities issued by foreign
companies, which may not be subject to the same regulations as companies
domiciled in the U.S. The health of many foreign financial institutions is often
tied closely with the financial stability of the local economy in which they are
domiciled, and therefore are subject to additional risks including but not
limited to: policy changes, slow or decelerating economic growth, and high
levels of debt.
Foreign
Securities Risk:
The Fund may invest, within U.S. regulations, in foreign securities. The Fund's
investments in foreign securities can be riskier than U.S. securities
investments. Investments in the securities of foreign issuers (including
investments in ADRs and GDRs) are subject to the risks associated with investing
in those foreign markets, such as heightened risks of inflation or
nationalization. The prices of foreign securities and the prices of U.S.
securities have, at times, moved in opposite directions. In addition, securities
of foreign issuers may lose value due to political, economic and geographic
events affecting a foreign issuer or market. During periods of social, political
or economic instability in a country or region, the value of a foreign security
traded on U.S. exchanges could be affected by, among other things, increasing
price volatility, illiquidity, or the closure of the primary market on which the
security (or the security underlying the ADR or GDR) is traded. You may lose
money due to political, economic and geographic events affecting a foreign
issuer or market.
Geographic
Risk: A
natural, biological or other disaster could occur in a geographic region in
which the Fund invests, which could affect the economy or particular business
operations of companies in the specific geographic region, causing an adverse
impact on the Fund’s investments in the affected region or in a region
economically tied to the affected region. The securities in which the Fund
invests and, consequently, the Fund are also subject to specific risks as a
result of their business operations, including, but not limited to:
Risk
of Investing in Developed Markets:
The Fund’s investment in a developed country issuer may subject the Fund to
regulatory, political, currency, security, economic and other risks associated
with developed countries. Developed countries tend to represent a significant
portion of the global economy and have generally experienced slower economic
growth than some less developed countries. Certain developed countries have
experienced security concerns, such as terrorism and strained international
relations. Incidents involving a country’s or region’s security may cause
uncertainty in its markets and may adversely affect its economy and the Fund’s
investments. In addition, developed countries may be impacted by changes to the
economic conditions of certain key trading partners, regulatory burdens, debt
burdens and the price or availability of certain commodities.
Risk
of Investing in Emerging Markets:
Investments in emerging markets may be subject to a greater risk of loss than
investments in developed markets. Securities markets of emerging market
countries are less liquid, subject to greater price volatility, have smaller
market capitalizations, have less government regulation, and are not subject to
as extensive and frequent accounting, financial, and other reporting
requirements as the securities markets of more developed countries, and there
may be greater risk associated with the custody of securities in emerging
markets. It may be difficult or impossible for the Fund to pursue claims against
an emerging market issuer in the courts of an emerging market
country.
There
may be significant obstacles to obtaining information necessary for
investigations into or litigation against emerging market companies and
shareholders may have limited legal rights and remedies.
Emerging
markets may be more likely to experience inflation, political turmoil and rapid
changes in economic conditions than more developed markets. Emerging market
economies’ exposure to specific industries, such as tourism, and lack of
efficient or sufficient health care systems, could make these economies
especially vulnerable to global crises, including but not limited to, pandemics
such as the global COVID-19 pandemic. Certain emerging market countries may have
privatized, or have begun the process of privatizing, certain entities and
industries. Privatized entities may lose money or be
re-nationalized.
Risk
of Investing in the United States:
A decrease in imports or exports, changes in trade regulations and/or an
economic recession in the U.S. may have a material adverse effect on the U.S.
economy.
High
Dividend Yield Stocks Risk:
High-yielding stocks are often speculative, high risk investments. These
companies may be paying out more than they can support and may reduce their
dividends or stop paying dividends at any time, which could have a material
adverse effect on the stock price of these companies and the Fund’s performance.
Securities that pay dividends, as a group, can fall out of favor with the
market, potentially during periods of rising interest rates, causing such
companies to underperform companies that do not pay dividends.
High
Yield Securities Risk:
Securities that are rated below investment grade (commonly referred to as "junk
bonds", including those bonds rated lower than "BBB-" by Standard &
Poor’s®
(a division of the McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.) ("S&P") and Fitch, Inc.
("Fitch"), "Baa3" by Moody’s®
Investors Service, Inc. ("Moody’s"), or "BBBL" by Dominion Bond Rating Service
Limited ("Dominion")), or are unrated but may be judged to be of comparable
quality, at the time of purchase, may be more volatile than higher-rated
securities of similar maturity. Investing in junk bonds is speculative.
Income
Risk:
Income
risk is the risk that the Fund’s income will decline because of falling interest
rates.
Interest
Rate Risk: Interest
rate risk is the risk that prices of fixed income securities generally increase
when interest rates decline and decrease when interest rates increase. The Fund
may lose money if short-term or long-term interest rates rise
sharply.
Issuer
Risk:
Fund performance depends on the performance of individual companies in which the
Fund invests. Changes to the financial condition of any of those companies may
cause the value of such company's securities to decline.
Market
Risk:
Turbulence in the financial markets and reduced liquidity may negatively affect
issuers, which could have an adverse effect on the Fund. If the securities held
by the Fund experience poor liquidity, the Fund may be unable to transact at
advantageous times or prices, which may decrease the Fund’s returns. In
addition, there is a risk that policy changes by central governments and
governmental agencies, including the U.S. Federal Reserve or the European
Central Bank, which could include increasing interest rates, could cause
increased volatility in financial markets and lead to higher levels of Fund
redemptions from Authorized Participants, which could have a negative impact on
the Fund. Furthermore, local, regional or global events such as war, acts of
terrorism, the spread of infectious illness or other public health issues,
recessions, or other events could have a significant impact on the Fund and its
investments and trading of its Shares. For example, at the start of 2022,
expectations for higher policy interest rates and the removal of monetary policy
support resulted in elevated market volatility and a weak start to January as
markets rotated away from companies with weaker fundamentals and/or higher
valuations. Sustained elevated inflation, global supply chain bottlenecks and
labor shortages encouraged a U.S. Federal Reserve policy shift to increase
interest rates. With central bankers needing to reflect that they remain ahead
of the curve on inflation, there are concerns that monetary policy may provide
less support should economic growth slow. The slowing growth of gross domestic
product in China may weigh on global economic growth, while the COVID-19
pandemic remains a risk to both global economic growth and supply chain
normalization. Market risk factors may result in increased volatility and/or
decreased liquidity in the securities markets. The Fund’s NAV could decline over
short periods due to short-term market movements and over longer periods during
market downturns.
MLP
Tax Risk:
Subject to the application of the partnership audit rules, MLPs that elect to be
taxed as partnerships do not pay U.S. federal income tax at the partnership
level. Rather, each partner is allocated a share of the partnership’s income,
gains, losses, deductions and expenses. A change in current tax law, or a change
in the underlying business mix of a given MLP, could result in an MLP that
previously elected to be taxed as a partnership being treated as a corporation
for U.S. federal income tax purposes, which would result in such MLP being
required to pay U.S. federal income tax on its taxable income. The
classification of an MLP as a corporation for U.S. federal income tax purposes
would have the effect of reducing the amount of cash available for distribution
by the MLP. Thus, to the extent that any of the MLPs to which the Fund has
exposure are treated as a corporation for U.S. federal income tax purposes, it
could result in a reduction in the value of the Fund’s investment and lower the
Fund’s income. The Fund may also invest in MLPs that elect to be taxed as
corporations, which taxes would have the effect of reducing the amount of cash
available for distribution by the MLP. Additionally, as a result of the Fund's
exposure to
MLPs
taxed as partnerships, a portion of the Fund’s distributions are expected to be
treated as a return of capital for tax purposes. Return of capital distributions
are not taxable income to you, but reduce your tax basis in your Fund Shares.
Such a reduction in tax basis will result in larger taxable gains and/or lower
tax losses on a subsequent sale of Fund Shares. Shareholders who sell their
Shares for less than they bought them may still recognize a gain due to the
reduction in tax basis. Shareholders who periodically receive the payment of
dividends or other distributions consisting of a return of capital may be under
the impression that they are receiving net profits from the Fund when, in fact,
they are not. Shareholders should not assume that the source of the
distributions is from the net profits of the Fund. To the extent that the
distributions paid to you constitute a return of capital, the Fund's assets will
decline. A decline in the Fund's assets may also result in an increase in the
portion of a Fund's expense ratio that is not subject to a unitary fee or any
other form of contractual cap, and over time the distributions paid in excess of
net distributions received could work to erode the Fund's net asset value.
Operational
Risk:
The Fund is exposed to operational risk 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. Additionally,
cyber security failures or breaches of the electronic systems of the Fund, the
Adviser, and the Fund's other service providers, market makers, Authorized
Participants or the issuers of securities in which the Fund invests have the
ability to cause disruptions and negatively impact the Fund's business
operations, potentially resulting in financial losses to the Fund and its
shareholders. The Fund and the Adviser seek to reduce these operational risks
through controls and procedures. However, these measures do not address every
possible risk and may be inadequate for those risks that they are intended to
address.
Passive
Investment Risk:
The Fund is not actively managed, and the Adviser does not attempt to take
defensive positions in declining markets. Unlike many investment companies, the
Fund does not seek to outperform its Underlying Index. Therefore, it would not
necessarily buy or sell a security unless that security is added or removed,
respectively, from the Underlying Index, even if that security generally is
underperforming. Additionally, if a constituent of the Underlying Index were
removed, even outside of a regular rebalance of the Underlying Index, the
Adviser anticipates that the Fund would sell such security. Maintaining
investments in securities regardless of market conditions or the performance of
individual securities could cause the Fund’s return to be lower than if the Fund
employed an active strategy.
Index-Related
Risk:
There is no guarantee that the Fund will achieve a high degree of correlation to
the Underlying Index and therefore achieve its investment objective. Market
disruptions and regulatory restrictions could have an adverse effect on the
Fund’s ability to adjust its exposure to the required levels in order to track
the Underlying Index. Errors in index data, index computations and/or the
construction of the Underlying Index in accordance with its methodology 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, which may have an adverse impact on the
Fund and its shareholders.
Management
Risk:
The Fund may not fully replicate its Underlying Index and may hold securities
not included in its Underlying Index. The Adviser’s investment strategy, the
implementation of which is subject to a number of constraints, may cause the
Fund to underperform the market or its relevant benchmark or adversely affect
the ability of the Fund to achieve its investment objective.
Tracking
Error Risk:
Tracking error may occur because of differences between the instruments held in
the Fund's portfolio and those included in the Underlying Index, pricing
differences, transaction costs incurred by the Fund, the Fund's holding of
uninvested cash, size of the Fund, differences in timing of the accrual of or
the valuation of dividends or interest, tax gains or losses, changes to the
Underlying Index or the costs to the Fund of complying with various new or
existing regulatory requirements. This risk may be heightened during times of
increased market volatility or other unusual market conditions. Tracking error
also may result because the Fund incurs fees and expenses, while the Underlying
Index does not. ETFs that track indices with significant weight in emerging
markets issuers may experience higher tracking error than other ETFs that do not
track such indices.
Risks
Associated with Exchange-Traded Funds:
As an ETF, the Fund is subject to the following risks:
Authorized
Participants Concentration Risk:
The Fund has a limited number of financial institutions that may act as
Authorized Participants and engage in creation or redemption transactions
directly with the Fund, and none of those Authorized Participants is obligated
to engage in creation and/or redemption transactions. To the extent that those
Authorized Participants exit the business or are unable to process creation
and/or redemption orders, Shares may be more likely to trade at a premium or
discount to NAV, and possibly face trading halts and/or delisting from an
exchange. Authorized Participants Concentration Risk may be heightened because
the Fund invests in non-U.S. securities.
Large
Shareholder Risk: Redemptions
by large shareholders could have a significant negative impact on the Fund. If a
large shareholder were to redeem all, or a large portion, of its Shares, there
is no guarantee that the Fund will be able to maintain sufficient assets to
continue operations in which case the Board of Trustees may determine to
liquidate the Fund. In addition, transactions by large shareholders may account
for a large percentage of the trading volume on a national securities exchange
and may, therefore, have a material upward or downward effect on the market
price of the Shares.
Listing
Standards Risk: The
Fund is required to comply with listing requirements adopted by the listing
exchange. Non-compliance with such requirements may result in the Fund's shares
being delisted by the listing exchange. Any resulting liquidation of the Fund
could cause the Fund to incur elevated transaction costs and could result in
negative tax consequences for its shareholders.
Market
Trading Risks and Premium/Discount Risks:
Shares of the Fund are publicly traded on a national securities exchange, which
may subject shareholders to numerous market trading risks. Disruptions to
creations and redemptions, the existence of extreme market volatility or
potential lack of assets in the Fund or an active trading market for Shares may
result in Shares trading at a significant premium or discount to NAV. If a
shareholder purchases Shares at a time when the market price is at a premium to
the NAV or sells Shares at a time when the market price is at a discount to the
NAV, the shareholder may sustain losses. The NAV of the Fund is calculated at
the end of each business day and fluctuates with changes in the market value of
the Fund’s holdings. The trading price of the Fund’s shares fluctuates, in some
cases materially, throughout trading hours in response to changes in the Fund’s
NAV.
Securities
Lending Risk:
Securities lending involves a risk of loss because the borrower may fail to
return the securities in a timely manner or at all. If the Fund is not able to
recover the securities loaned, it may sell the collateral and purchase a
replacement security in the market. Lending securities entails a risk of loss to
the Fund if and to the extent that the market value of the loaned securities
increases and the collateral is not increased accordingly. Additionally, the
Fund will bear any loss on the investment of cash collateral it receives. These
events could also trigger adverse tax consequences for the Fund. As securities
on loan may not be voted by the Fund, there is a risk that the Fund may not be
able to recall the securities in sufficient time to vote on material proxy
matters.
Trading
Halt Risk:
An exchange or market may close or issue trading halts on specific securities,
or the ability to buy or sell certain securities or financial instruments may be
restricted, which may result in the Fund being unable to buy or sell certain
securities or financial instruments. In such circumstances, the Fund may be
unable to rebalance its portfolio, may be unable to accurately price its
investments and/or may incur substantial trading
losses.
Valuation
Risk: The sales price the Fund could receive for
a security may differ from the Fund’s valuation of the security and may differ
from the value used by the Underlying Index, particularly for securities that
trade in low value or volatile markets or that are valued using a fair value
methodology (such as during trading halts). The value of the securities in
the Fund's portfolio may change on days when shareholders will not be able to
purchase or sell the Fund's Shares.
PERFORMANCE
INFORMATION
The bar chart
and table that follow show how the Fund performed on a calendar year basis and
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 the Fund's average
annual total returns for the indicated periods compared with the Fund's
benchmark index and a broad measure of market performance.
The Fund's past performance
(before and after taxes) is not necessarily indicative of how the Fund will
perform in the future. Updated performance information is
available online at
www.globalxetfs.com.
Annual Total Returns (Years Ended December
31)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Best
Quarter: |
6/30/2020 |
25.60% |
Worst
Quarter: |
3/31/2020 |
-39.48% |
Average Annual Total Returns (for the Periods
Ended December 31, 2021)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
One
Year Ended December 31, 2021 |
Five
Years Ended December 31, 2021 |
Since
Inception (07/13/2015) |
Global
X Alternative Income ETF: |
|
|
|
·Return before
taxes |
23.50% |
6.30% |
6.70% |
·Return
after taxes on distributions1 |
21.25% |
3.97% |
4.31% |
·Return
after taxes on distributions and sale of Fund Shares1 |
14.10% |
4.21% |
4.45% |
Indxx
SuperDividend®
Alternatives Index (net)
(Index returns do not
reflect deduction for fees, expenses, or
taxes) |
23.87% |
6.65% |
7.16% |
S&P
500®
Index
(Index
returns do not reflect deductions for fees, expenses, or
taxes) |
28.71% |
18.47% |
15.70% |
1
After-tax returns are
calculated using the historical highest individual U.S. federal marginal income
tax rates and do not reflect the impact of state and local
taxes. Your actual after-tax returns
will depend on your specific tax situation and may differ from those shown
above. After-tax returns are not relevant to investors who hold Shares of the
Fund through tax-advantaged arrangements, such as 401(k) plans or individual
retirement accounts (IRAs).
FUND
MANAGEMENT
Investment
Adviser:
Global X Management Company LLC.
Portfolio
Managers: The
professionals primarily responsible for the day-to-day management of the Fund
are Nam To, CFA; Wayne Xie; Kimberly Chan; Vanessa Yang; William Helm, CFA; and
Sandy Lu, CFA (“Portfolio Managers”). Mr. To has
been
a Portfolio Manager of the Fund since March 1, 2018. Mr. Xie has been a
Portfolio Manager of the Fund since March 1, 2019. Ms. Chan has been a Portfolio
Manager of the Fund since June 10, 2019. Ms. Yang has been a Portfolio Manager
of the Fund since December 2020. Messrs. Helm and Lu have been Portfolio
Managers of the Fund since April 2022.
PURCHASE
AND SALE OF FUND SHARES
Shares
of the Fund are or will be listed and traded at market prices on a national
securities exchange. Shares may only be purchased and sold on the exchange
through a broker-dealer. The price of Shares is based on market price, and
because ETF shares trade at market prices rather than at NAV, Shares may trade
at a price greater than NAV (a premium) or less than NAV (a discount). Only
“Authorized Participants” (as defined in the SAI) who have entered into
agreements with the Fund’s distributor, SEI Investments Distribution Co.
(“Distributor”), may engage in creation or redemption transactions directly with
the Fund. The Fund will only issue or redeem Shares that have been aggregated
into blocks called Creation Units. The Fund will issue or redeem Creation Units
in return for a basket of cash and/or securities that the Fund specifies any day
that the national securities exchanges are open for business (“Business Day”).
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”). To
access information regarding the Fund’s net asset value, market price, premiums
and discounts, and bid-ask spreads, please go to https://www.globalxetfs.com.
TAX
INFORMATION
The
Fund intends to make distributions that may be taxable to you as ordinary income
or capital gains, unless you are investing through a tax-advantaged arrangement,
such as a 401(k) plan or an individual retirement account ("IRA"), in which case
distributions from such tax-advantaged arrangement may be taxable to you.
PAYMENTS
TO BROKER-DEALERS AND OTHER FINANCIAL INTERMEDIARIES
The
Adviser and its related companies may pay broker-dealers or other financial
intermediaries (such as a bank) for the sale of Fund Shares and related
services. These payments may create a conflict of interest by influencing your
broker-dealer, sales persons or other intermediary or its employees or
associated persons to recommend the Fund over another investment. Ask your
financial adviser or visit your financial intermediary’s website for more
information.
Global
X S&P 500®
Quality Dividend ETF
Ticker:
QDIV Exchange: NYSE Arca
INVESTMENT OBJECTIVE
The
Global X S&P 500®
Quality Dividend ETF ("Fund") seeks to provide investment results that
correspond generally to the price and yield performance, before fees and
expenses, of the S&P
500®
Quality
High Dividend Index ("Underlying Index").
FEES AND EXPENSES
This table describes the fees
and expenses that you may pay if you buy, hold, and sell shares (“Shares”) of
the Fund. You may pay other fees, such as brokerage commissions and other fees
to financial intermediaries, which are not reflected in the table and examples
below.
Annual
Fund Operating Expenses
(expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your
investment):
|
|
|
|
|
|
Management
Fees: |
0.20% |
Distribution
and Service (12b-1) Fees: |
None |
Other
Expenses: |
0.00% |
Total
Annual Fund Operating Expenses: |
0.20% |
Example:
The following example
is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the Fund with the cost
of investing in other funds. This example does not take into account customary
brokerage commissions that you pay when purchasing or selling Shares of the Fund
in the secondary market. The 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 the same. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on
these assumptions, your costs would be:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
One
Year |
Three
Years |
Five
Years |
Ten
Years |
$20 |
$64 |
$113 |
$255 |
Portfolio
Turnover:
The Fund pays transaction
costs, such as commissions, when it buys 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 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. For the most recent fiscal period, the
Fund's portfolio turnover rate was 70.66% of the average value of its
portfolio.
PRINCIPAL INVESTMENT
STRATEGIES
The
Fund invests at least 80% of its total assets in the securities of the
S&P
500®
Quality
High Dividend Index ("Underlying Index"). The Fund's 80% investment policy is
non-fundamental and requires 60 days prior written notice to shareholders before
it can be changed.
The
Underlying Index is designed to provide exposure to U.S. equity securities
included in the S&P 500®
Index that exhibit high quality and dividend yield characteristics, as
determined by Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC, the provider of the
Underlying Index (the "Index Provider"). All constituents of the Underlying
Index are members of the S&P 500®
Index and follow the eligibility criteria for that index. From this starting
universe, eligible constituents are screened to include only securities that
rank within the top 200 of the S&P 500®
Index universe by both quality score and dividend yield. The Underlying Index is
equal weighted and is reconstituted and rebalanced semi-annually. At each
semi-annual rebalance, a sector capping methodology is applied to reduce sector
concentration and increase diversification of the Underlying Index. The Fund's
investment objective and Underlying Index may be changed without shareholder
approval.
The
Underlying Index is sponsored by the Index Provider, which is an organization
that is independent of, and unaffiliated with, the Fund and Global X Management
Company LLC, the investment adviser for the Fund ("Adviser"). The Index Provider
determines the relative weightings of the securities in the Underlying Index and
publishes information regarding the market value of the Underlying Index. As of
January 31, 2022, the Underlying Index had 72
constituents.
The
Adviser uses a "passive" or indexing approach to try to achieve the Fund's
investment objective. Unlike many investment companies, the Fund does not try to
outperform the Underlying Index and does not seek temporary defensive positions
when markets decline or appear overvalued.
The
Fund generally will use a replication strategy. A replication strategy is an
indexing strategy that involves investing in the securities of the Underlying
Index in approximately the same proportions as in the Underlying Index. However,
the Fund may utilize a representative sampling strategy with respect to the
Underlying Index when a replication strategy might be detrimental or
disadvantageous to shareholders, such as when there are practical difficulties
or substantial costs involved in compiling a portfolio of equity securities to
replicate the Underlying Index, in instances in which a security in the
Underlying Index becomes temporarily illiquid, unavailable or less liquid, or as
a result of legal restrictions or limitations (such as tax diversification
requirements) that apply to the Fund but not the Underlying Index.
The
Adviser expects that, over time, the correlation between the Fund's performance
and that of the Underlying Index, before fees and expenses, will exceed 95%. A
correlation percentage of 100% would indicate perfect correlation. If the Fund
uses a replication strategy, it can be expected to have greater correlation to
the Underlying Index than if it uses a representative sampling
strategy.
The Fund concentrates its investments
(i.e., holds 25% or more of its total assets) in a particular industry or group
of industries to approximately the same extent that the Underlying Index is
concentrated. As of January 31, 2022, the Underlying Index was not
concentrated in any industry.
SUMMARY OF PRINCIPAL RISKS
As with any investment, you could lose all or part of
your investment in the Fund, and the Fund’s performance could trail that of
other investments. There is no guarantee that the Fund will
achieve its investment objective. An investment in the Fund is not a
bank deposit and it is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit
Insurance Corporation or any other government agency, the Adviser or any of its
affiliates. The Fund is subject to the principal risks noted
below, any of which may adversely affect the Fund’s net asset value (“NAV”),
trading price, yield, total return and ability to meet its investment objective,
as well as other risks that are described in greater detail in the Additional
Information About the Funds
section of this Prospectus and in the Statement of Additional Information
(“SAI”). The order of the below risk factors does not indicate the significance
of any particular risk factor.
Asset
Class Risk:
Securities and other assets in the Underlying Index or otherwise held in the
Fund's portfolio may underperform in comparison to the general securities
markets, a particular securities market or other asset classes.
Equity
Securities Risk:
Equity securities are subject to changes in value, and their values may be more
volatile than other asset classes, as a result of such factors as a company’s
business performance, investor perceptions, stock market trends and general
economic conditions.
Capitalization
Risk:
Investing in issuers within the same market capitalization category carries the
risk that the category may be out of favor due to current market conditions or
investor sentiment.
Large-Capitalization
Companies Risk: Large-capitalization
companies may trail the returns of the overall stock market.
Large-capitalization stocks tend to go through cycles of doing better - or worse
- than the stock market in general. These periods have, in the past, lasted for
as long as several years.
Concentration
Risk:
To the extent that the Underlying Index concentrates in investments related to a
particular industry or group of industries, the Fund will also concentrate its
investments to approximately the same extent. Similarly, if the Underlying Index
has significant exposure to one or more sectors, the Fund’s investments will
likely have significant exposure to such sectors. In such event, the Fund’s
performance will be particularly susceptible to adverse events impacting such
industry or sector, which may include, but are not limited to, the following:
general economic conditions or cyclical market patterns that could negatively
affect supply and demand; competition for resources; adverse labor relations;
political or world events; obsolescence of technologies; and increased
competition or new product introductions that may affect the profitability or
viability of companies in a particular industry or sector. As a result, the
value of the Fund’s investments may rise and fall more than the value of shares
of a fund that invests in securities of companies in a broader range of
industries or sectors.
Dividend-Paying
Stock Risk:
The Fund’s emphasis on dividend-paying stocks involves the risk that such stocks
may fall out of favor with investors and underperform the broader market. Also,
a company may reduce or eliminate its dividend, and dividends may become the
subject of scrutiny from central governments.
Geographic
Risk: A
natural, biological or other disaster could occur in a geographic region in
which the Fund invests, which could affect the economy or particular business
operations of companies in the specific geographic region, causing an adverse
impact on the Fund’s investments in the affected region or in a region
economically tied to the affected region. The securities in which the Fund
invests and, consequently, the Fund are also subject to specific risks as a
result of their business operations, including, but not limited to:
Risk
of Investing in Developed Markets:
The Fund’s investment in a developed country issuer may subject the Fund to
regulatory, political, currency, security, economic and other risks associated
with developed countries. Developed countries tend to represent a significant
portion of the global economy and have generally experienced slower economic
growth than some less developed countries. Certain developed countries have
experienced security concerns, such as terrorism and strained international
relations. Incidents involving a country’s or region’s security may cause
uncertainty in its markets and may adversely affect its economy and the Fund’s
investments. In addition, developed countries may be impacted by changes to the
economic conditions of certain key trading partners, regulatory burdens, debt
burdens and the price or availability of certain commodities.
Risk
of Investing in the United States:
A decrease in imports or exports, changes in trade regulations and/or an
economic recession in the U.S. may have a material adverse effect on the U.S.
economy.
Issuer
Risk:
Fund performance depends on the performance of individual companies in which the
Fund invests. Changes to the financial condition of any of those companies may
cause the value of such company's securities to decline.
Market
Risk:
Turbulence in the financial markets and reduced liquidity may negatively affect
issuers, which could have an adverse effect on the Fund. If the securities held
by the Fund experience poor liquidity, the Fund may be unable to transact at
advantageous times or prices, which may decrease the Fund’s returns. In
addition, there is a risk that policy changes by central governments and
governmental agencies, including the U.S. Federal Reserve or the European
Central Bank, which could include increasing interest rates, could cause
increased volatility in financial markets and lead to higher levels of Fund
redemptions from Authorized Participants, which could have a negative impact on
the Fund. Furthermore, local, regional or global events such as war, acts of
terrorism, the spread of infectious illness or other public health issues,
recessions, or other events could have a significant impact on the Fund and its
investments and trading of its Shares. For example, at the start of 2022,
expectations for higher policy interest rates and the removal of monetary policy
support resulted in elevated market volatility and a weak start to January as
markets rotated away from companies with weaker fundamentals and/or higher
valuations. Sustained elevated inflation, global supply chain bottlenecks and
labor shortages encouraged a U.S. Federal Reserve policy shift to increase
interest rates. With central bankers needing to reflect that they remain ahead
of the curve on inflation, there are concerns that monetary policy may provide
less support should economic growth slow. The slowing growth of gross domestic
product in China may weigh on global economic growth, while the COVID-19
pandemic remains a risk to both global economic growth and supply chain
normalization. Market risk factors may result in increased volatility and/or
decreased liquidity in the securities markets. The Fund’s NAV could decline over
short periods due to short-term market movements and over longer periods during
market downturns.
Operational
Risk:
The Fund is exposed to operational risk 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. Additionally,
cyber security failures or breaches of the electronic systems of the Fund, the
Adviser, and the Fund's other service providers, market makers, Authorized
Participants or the issuers of securities in which the Fund invests have the
ability to cause disruptions and negatively impact the Fund's business
operations, potentially resulting in financial losses to the Fund and its
shareholders. The Fund and the Adviser seek to reduce these operational risks
through controls and procedures. However, these measures do not address every
possible risk and may be inadequate for those risks that they are intended to
address.
Passive
Investment Risk:
The Fund is not actively managed, and the Adviser does not attempt to take
defensive positions in declining markets. Unlike many investment companies, the
Fund does not seek to outperform its Underlying Index. Therefore, it would not
necessarily buy or sell a security unless that security is added or removed,
respectively, from the Underlying Index, even if that security generally is
underperforming. Additionally, if a constituent of the Underlying Index were
removed, even outside of a regular rebalance of the Underlying Index, the
Adviser anticipates that the Fund would sell such security. Maintaining
investments in securities regardless of market conditions or the performance of
individual securities could cause the Fund’s return to be lower than if the Fund
employed an active strategy.
Index-Related
Risk:
There is no guarantee that the Fund will achieve a high degree of correlation to
the Underlying Index and therefore achieve its investment objective. Market
disruptions and regulatory restrictions could have an
adverse
effect on the Fund’s ability to adjust its exposure to the required levels in
order to track the Underlying Index. Errors in index data, index computations
and/or the construction of the Underlying Index in accordance with its
methodology 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, which may have an adverse
impact on the Fund and its shareholders.
Management
Risk:
The Fund may not fully replicate its Underlying Index and may hold securities
not included in its Underlying Index. The Adviser’s investment strategy, the
implementation of which is subject to a number of constraints, may cause the
Fund to underperform the market or its relevant benchmark or adversely affect
the ability of the Fund to achieve its investment objective.
Tracking
Error Risk:
Tracking error may occur because of differences between the instruments held in
the Fund's portfolio and those included in the Underlying Index, pricing
differences, transaction costs incurred by the Fund, the Fund's holding of
uninvested cash, size of the Fund, differences in timing of the accrual of or
the valuation of dividends or interest, tax gains or losses, changes to the
Underlying Index or the costs to the Fund of complying with various new or
existing regulatory requirements. This risk may be heightened during times of
increased market volatility or other unusual market conditions. Tracking error
also may result because the Fund incurs fees and expenses, while the Underlying
Index does not.
Risks
Associated with Exchange-Traded Funds:
As an ETF, the Fund is subject to the following risks:
Authorized
Participants Concentration Risk:
The Fund has a limited number of financial institutions that may act as
Authorized Participants and engage in creation or redemption transactions
directly with the Fund, and none of those Authorized Participants is obligated
to engage in creation and/or redemption transactions. To the extent that those
Authorized Participants exit the business or are unable to process creation
and/or redemption orders, Shares may be more likely to trade at a premium or
discount to NAV, and possibly face trading halts and/or delisting from an
exchange.
Large
Shareholder Risk: Redemptions
by large shareholders could have a significant negative impact on the Fund. If a
large shareholder were to redeem all, or a large portion, of its Shares, there
is no guarantee that the Fund will be able to maintain sufficient assets to
continue operations in which case the Board of Trustees may determine to
liquidate the Fund. In addition, transactions by large shareholders may account
for a large percentage of the trading volume on a national securities exchange
and may, therefore, have a material upward or downward effect on the market
price of the Shares.
Listing
Standards Risk: The
Fund is required to comply with listing requirements adopted by the listing
exchange. Non-compliance with such requirements may result in the Fund's shares
being delisted by the listing exchange. Any resulting liquidation of the Fund
could cause the Fund to incur elevated transaction costs and could result in
negative tax consequences for its shareholders.
Market
Trading Risks and Premium/Discount Risks:
Shares of the Fund are publicly traded on a national securities exchange, which
may subject shareholders to numerous market trading risks. Disruptions to
creations and redemptions, the existence of extreme market volatility or
potential lack of assets in the Fund or an active trading market for Shares may
result in Shares trading at a significant premium or discount to NAV. If a
shareholder purchases Shares at a time when the market price is at a premium to
the NAV or sells Shares at a time when the market price is at a discount to the
NAV, the shareholder may sustain losses. The NAV of the Fund is calculated at
the end of each business day and fluctuates with changes in the market value of
the Fund’s holdings. The trading price of the Fund’s shares fluctuates, in some
cases materially, throughout trading hours in response to changes in the Fund’s
NAV.
Trading
Halt Risk:
An exchange or market may close or issue trading halts on specific securities,
or the ability to buy or sell certain securities or financial instruments may be
restricted, which may result in the Fund being unable to buy or sell certain
securities or financial instruments. In such circumstances, the Fund may be
unable to rebalance its portfolio, may be unable to accurately price its
investments and/or may incur substantial trading
losses.
Valuation
Risk: The sales price the Fund could receive for
a security may differ from the Fund’s valuation of the security and may differ
from the value used by the Underlying Index, particularly for securities that
trade in low value or volatile markets or that are valued using a fair value
methodology (such as during trading halts). The value of the securities in
the Fund's portfolio may change on days when shareholders will not be able to
purchase or sell the Fund's Shares.
PERFORMANCE
INFORMATION
The bar chart
and table that follow show how the Fund performed on a calendar year basis and
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 the Fund's average
annual total returns for the indicated periods compared with the Fund's
benchmark index and a broad measure of market performance.
The Fund's past performance
(before and after taxes) is not necessarily indicative of how the Fund will
perform in the future. Updated performance information is
available online at
www.globalxetfs.com.
Annual Total Returns (Years Ended December
31)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Best
Quarter: |
12/31/2020 |
19.86% |
Worst
Quarter: |
3/31/2020 |
-31.00% |
Average Annual Total Returns (for the Periods
Ended December 31, 2021)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
One
Year Ended December 31, 2021 |
Since
Inception (07/13/2018) |
Global
X S&P 500®
Quality Dividend ETF: |
|
|
·Return before
taxes |
28.54% |
11.52% |
·Return
after taxes on distributions1 |
27.70% |
10.67% |
·Return
after taxes on distributions and sale of Fund Shares1 |
17.34% |
8.82% |
S&P
500®
Quality
High Dividend Index
(Index returns do not
reflect deductions for fees, expenses, or
taxes) |
28.93% |
11.86% |
S&P
500®
Index
(Index
returns do not reflect deductions for fees, expenses, or
taxes) |
28.71% |
18.65% |
1
After-tax returns are
calculated using the historical highest individual U.S. federal marginal income
tax rates and do not reflect the impact of state and local
taxes. Your actual after-tax returns
will depend on your specific tax situation and may differ from those shown
above. After-tax returns are not relevant to investors who hold Shares of the
Fund through tax-advantaged arrangements, such as 401(k) plans or individual
retirement accounts (IRAs).
FUND
MANAGEMENT
Investment
Adviser:
Global X Management Company LLC.
Portfolio
Managers:
The professionals primarily responsible for the day-to-day management of the
Fund are Nam To, CFA; Wayne Xie; Kimberly Chan; Vanessa Yang; William Helm, CFA;
and Sandy Lu, CFA (“Portfolio Managers”). Mr. To has been a Portfolio Manager of
the Fund since the Fund's inception. Mr. Xie has been a Portfolio Manager of the
Fund since March 1, 2019. Ms. Chan has been a Portfolio Manager of the Fund
since June 10, 2019. Ms. Yang has been a Portfolio Manager of the Fund since
December 2020. Messrs. Helm and Lu have been Portfolio Managers of the Fund
since April 2022.
PURCHASE
AND SALE OF FUND SHARES
Shares
of the Fund are or will be listed and traded at market prices on a national
securities exchange. Shares may only be purchased and sold on the exchange
through a broker-dealer. The price of Shares is based on market price, and
because ETF shares trade at market prices rather than at NAV, Shares may trade
at a price greater than NAV (a premium) or less than NAV (a discount). Only
“Authorized Participants” (as defined in the SAI) who have entered into
agreements with the Fund’s distributor, SEI Investments Distribution Co.
(“Distributor”), may engage in creation or redemption transactions directly with
the Fund. The Fund will only issue or redeem Shares that have been aggregated
into blocks called Creation Units. The Fund will issue or redeem Creation Units
in return for a basket of cash and/or securities that the Fund specifies any day
that the national securities exchanges are open for business (“Business Day”).
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”). To
access information regarding the Fund’s net asset value, market price, premiums
and discounts, and bid-ask spreads, please go to https://www.globalxetfs.com.
TAX
INFORMATION
The
Fund intends to make distributions that may be taxable to you as ordinary income
or capital gains, unless you are investing through a tax-advantaged arrangement,
such as a 401(k) plan or an individual retirement account ("IRA"), in which case
distributions from such tax-advantaged arrangement may be taxable to you.
PAYMENTS
TO BROKER-DEALERS AND OTHER FINANCIAL INTERMEDIARIES
The
Adviser and its related companies may pay broker-dealers or other financial
intermediaries (such as a bank) for the sale of Fund Shares and related
services. These payments may create a conflict of interest by influencing your
broker-dealer, sales persons or other intermediary or its employees or
associated persons to recommend the Fund over another investment. Ask your
financial adviser or visit your financial intermediary’s website for more
information.
Global X U.S. Preferred
ETF
Ticker:
PFFD Exchange: NYSE Arca
INVESTMENT OBJECTIVE
The Global X U.S. Preferred
ETF ("Fund") seeks to provide investment results that correspond generally to
the price and yield performance, before fees and expenses, of the ICE BofA
Diversified Core U.S. Preferred Securities Index ("Underlying
Index").
FEES AND EXPENSES
This table describes the fees
and expenses that you may pay if you buy, hold, and sell shares (“Shares”) of
the Fund. You may pay other fees, such as brokerage commissions and other fees
to financial intermediaries, which are not reflected in the table and examples
below.
Annual
Fund Operating Expenses
(expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your
investment):
|
|
|
|
|
|
Management
Fees: |
0.23% |
Distribution
and Service (12b-1) Fees: |
None |
Other
Expenses: |
0.00% |
Total
Annual Fund Operating Expenses: |
0.23% |
Example:
The following example
is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the Fund with the cost
of investing in other funds. This example does not take into account customary
brokerage commissions that you pay when purchasing or selling Shares of the Fund
in the secondary market. The 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 the same. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on
these assumptions, your costs would be:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
One
Year |
Three
Years |
Five
Years |
Ten
Years |
$24 |
$74 |
$130 |
$293 |
Portfolio
Turnover:
The Fund pays transaction
costs, such as commissions, when it buys 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 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. For the most recent fiscal period, the
Fund's portfolio turnover rate was 47.89% of the average value of its
portfolio.
PRINCIPAL INVESTMENT
STRATEGIES
The
Fund invests at least 80% of its total assets in the securities of the ICE BofA
Diversified Core U.S. Preferred Securities Index ("Underlying Index"). The Fund
also invests at least 80% of its total assets in preferred securities that are
domiciled in, principally traded in or whose revenues are primarily from the
U.S. The Fund's 80% investment policies are non-fundamental and require 60 days
prior written notice to shareholders before they can be changed. The Fund may
lend securities representing up to one-third of the value of the Fund’s total
assets (including the value of the collateral received).
The
Underlying Index is designed to track the broad-based performance of the U.S.
preferred securities market. The Underlying Index includes different categories
of preferred stock, such as floating, variable and fixed-rate preferreds,
cumulative and non-cumulative preferreds, and trust preferreds. Qualifying
preferred securities must be listed on a U.S. exchange, denominated in U.S.
dollars, and have a minimum amount outstanding of $50 million. Qualifying
securities must meet minimum price, liquidity, maturity and other requirements
as determined by ICE Data Indices, LLC (the "Index Provider").
Constituents
in the Underlying Index are capitalization-weighted based on their current
amount outstanding times the market price plus accrued interest. A weighting cap
of 10% is applied at the issuer level to limit the aggregate weight of a single
issuer to 10% at each rebalance. The Underlying Index may include large-, mid-
or small-capitalization companies. Components of
the
Underlying Index primarily include financials, real estate, telecommunications
and utility companies. The Underlying Index is rebalanced quarterly. The Fund's
investment objective and Underlying Index may be changed without shareholder
approval.
The
Underlying Index is sponsored by the Index Provider, which is an organization
that is independent of, and unaffiliated with, the Fund and Global X Management
Company LLC, the investment adviser for the Fund ("Adviser"). The Index Provider
determines the relative weightings of the securities in the Underlying Index and
publishes information regarding the market value of the Underlying
Index.
The
Adviser uses a "passive" or indexing approach to try to achieve the Fund's
investment objective. Unlike many investment companies, the Fund does not try to
outperform the Underlying Index and does not seek temporary defensive positions
when markets decline or appear overvalued.
The
Fund generally uses a representative sampling strategy with respect to the
Underlying Index. "Representative sampling" is an indexing strategy that
involves investing in a representative sample of securities that collectively
has an investment profile similar to the Underlying Index in terms of key risk
factors, performance attributes and other characteristics. These include country
weightings, market capitalization and other financial characteristics of
securities. The Fund may or may not hold all of the securities in the Underlying
Index.
The
Adviser expects that, over time, the correlation between the Fund's performance
and that of the Underlying Index, before fees and expenses, will exceed 95%. A
correlation percentage of 100% would indicate perfect correlation.
The Fund concentrates its investments
(i.e., holds 25% or more of its total assets) in a particular industry or group
of industries to approximately the same extent that the Underlying Index is
concentrated. As of January 31, 2022, the Underlying Index was concentrated
in the banking industry and had significant exposure to the financials
sector.
SUMMARY OF PRINCIPAL RISKS
As with any investment, you could lose all or part of
your investment in the Fund, and the Fund’s performance could trail that of
other investments. There is no guarantee that the Fund will
achieve its investment objective. An investment in the Fund is not a
bank deposit and it is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit
Insurance Corporation or any other government agency, the Adviser or any of its
affiliates. The Fund is subject to the principal risks noted
below, any of which may adversely affect the Fund’s net asset value (“NAV”),
trading price, yield, total return and ability to meet its investment objective,
as well as other risks that are described in greater detail in the Additional
Information About the Funds
section of this Prospectus and in the Statement of Additional Information
(“SAI”). The order of the below risk factors does not indicate the significance
of any particular risk factor.
Asset
Class Risk:
Securities and other assets in the Underlying Index or otherwise held in the
Fund's portfolio may underperform in comparison to the general securities
markets, a particular securities market or other asset classes.
Equity
Securities Risk:
Equity securities are subject to changes in value, and their values may be more
volatile than other asset classes, as a result of such factors as a company’s
business performance, investor perceptions, stock market trends and general
economic conditions.
Fixed-to-Floating
Rate Securities Risk:
The Fund invests in fixed-to-floating rate preferred securities, which are
securities that have an initial term with a fixed dividend rate and following
this initial term bear a floating dividend rate. Securities which include a
floating or variable interest rate component 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. Although floating rate preferred securities can be less sensitive to
interest rate risk than fixed-rate preferred securities, they are subject to the
risks applicable to preferred securities more generally.
Hybrid
Securities Investment Risk:
Hybrid securities are subject to the risks of equity securities and risks of
debt securities. The claims of holders of hybrid securities of an issuer are
generally subordinated to those of holders of traditional debt securities in
bankruptcy, and thus hybrid securities may be more volatile and subject to
greater risk than traditional debt securities and may, in certain circumstances,
even be more volatile than traditional equity securities. At the same time,
hybrid securities may not fully participate in gains of their issuer and thus
potential returns of such securities are generally more limited than traditional
equity securities, which would participate in such gains.
LIBOR
Transition Risk: The
Fund invests in financial instruments that utilize London Interbank Offered Rate
(“LIBOR”) as the reference or benchmark rate for variable interest rate
calculations. On July 27, 2017, the head of the United Kingdom’s Financial
Conduct Authority ("FCA") announced a desire to phase out the use of LIBOR by
the end of 2021. In March 2021, the FCA and LIBOR's administrator, ICE Benchmark
Administration, announced that most LIBOR settings will no longer be published
after the end of 2021 and a selection of widely used U.S. dollar LIBOR rates
will continue to be published until June 2023 in order to assist with the
transition. There remains uncertainty regarding the effect of the LIBOR
transition process and therefore any impact of a transition away from LIBOR on
the Fund or the instruments in which the Fund invests cannot yet be determined.
There is no assurance that the composition or characteristics of any alternative
reference rate (e.g., the Secured Overnight Financing Rate (“SOFR”), which is
intended to replace the U.S. dollar LIBOR) will be similar to or produce the
same value or economic equivalence as LIBOR or that instruments using an
alternative rate will have the same volume or liquidity. As a result, the
transition process might lead to increased volatility and reduced liquidity in
markets that currently rely on LIBOR to determine interest rates; a reduction in
the value of some LIBOR-based investments; increased difficulty in borrowing or
refinancing and diminished effectiveness of any applicable hedging strategies
against instruments whose terms currently include LIBOR; and/or costs incurred
in connection with temporary borrowings and closing out positions and entering
into new agreements. Any such effects of the transition away from LIBOR and the
adoption of alternative reference rates could result in losses to the Fund.
Preferred
Stock Investment Risk:
Preferred stock may be subordinated to bonds or other debt instruments in an
issuer’s capital structure, meaning that an issuer’s preferred stock generally
pays dividends only after the issuer makes required payments to holders of its
bonds and other debt. Additionally, in certain situations, an issuer may call or
redeem its preferred stock or convert it to common stock. Preferred stock may be
less liquid than many other types of securities, such as common stock, and
generally provides no voting rights with respect to the issuer. Preferred stock
is subject to many of the risks associated with debt securities, including
interest rate risk. As interest rates rise, the value of the preferred stocks
held by the Fund are likely to decline.
Capitalization
Risk:
Investing in issuers within the same market capitalization category carries the
risk that the category may be out of favor due to current market conditions or
investor sentiment.
Large-Capitalization
Companies Risk: Large-capitalization
companies may trail the returns of the overall stock market.
Large-capitalization stocks tend to go through cycles of doing better - or worse
- than the stock market in general. These periods have, in the past, lasted for
as long as several years.
Mid-Capitalization
Companies Risk: Mid-capitalization
companies may have greater price volatility, lower trading volume and less
liquidity than large-capitalization companies. In addition, mid-capitalization
companies may have smaller revenues, narrower product lines, less management
depth and experience, smaller shares of their product or service markets, fewer
financial resources and less competitive strength than large-capitalization
companies.
Concentration
Risk:
To the extent that the Underlying Index concentrates in investments related to a
particular industry or group of industries, the Fund will also concentrate its
investments to approximately the same extent. Similarly, if the Underlying Index
has significant exposure to one or more sectors, the Fund’s investments will
likely have significant exposure to such sectors. In such event, the Fund’s
performance will be particularly susceptible to adverse events impacting such
industry or sector, which may include, but are not limited to, the following:
general economic conditions or cyclical market patterns that could negatively
affect supply and demand; competition for resources; adverse labor relations;
political or world events; obsolescence of technologies; and increased
competition or new product introductions that may affect the profitability or
viability of companies in a particular industry or sector. As a result, the
value of the Fund’s investments may rise and fall more than the value of shares
of a fund that invests in securities of companies in a broader range of
industries or sectors.
Risks
Related to Investing in the Banking Industry:
The performance of stocks in the banking industry may be affected by extensive
governmental regulation which may limit both the amounts and types of loans and
other financial commitments they can make, and the interest rates and fees they
can charge and the amount of capital they must maintain. Profitability is
largely dependent on the availability and cost of capital funds and can
fluctuate significantly when interest rates change. Credit losses resulting from
financial difficulties of borrowers can negatively impact banking companies.
Banks may also be subject to severe price competition. Competition is high among
banking companies and failure to maintain or increase market share may result in
lost market value. The impact of changes in capital requirements and recent or
future regulation of any individual banking company, or of the financials sector
as a whole, cannot be predicted. In recent years, cyberattacks and technology
malfunctions and failures have become increasingly frequent in this sector and
have caused significant losses to companies in this sector, which may negatively
impact the Fund.
Risks
Related to Investing in the Financials Sector: 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. This sector has experienced significant losses in the past, and the
impact of more stringent capital requirements and of current or future
regulation on any individual financial company or on the sector as a whole
cannot be predicted. In recent years, cyber-attacks and technology malfunctions
and failures have become increasingly frequent in this sector and have caused
significant losses to companies in this sector, which may negatively impact the
Fund.
Credit
Risk: Credit
risk refers to the possibility that the issuer of the security will not be able
to make principal and interest payments when due. Changes in an issuer’s credit
rating or the market’s perception of an issuer’s creditworthiness may also
affect the value of the Fund’s investment in that issuer. Securities rated in
the four highest categories by the rating agencies are considered investment
grade but they may also have some speculative characteristics. Investment grade
ratings do not guarantee that bonds will not lose value.
Foreign
Financial Institution Risk:
Certain of the securities that comprise the Underlying Index, while traded on
U.S. exchanges, may be issued by foreign financial institutions. Therefore, the
Fund may be subject to the risks of investing in securities issued by foreign
companies, which may not be subject to the same regulations as companies
domiciled in the U.S. The health of many foreign financial institutions is often
tied closely with the financial stability of the local economy in which they are
domiciled, and therefore are subject to additional risks including but not
limited to: policy changes, slow or decelerating economic growth, and high
levels of debt.
Foreign
Securities Risk:
The Fund may invest, within U.S. regulations, in foreign securities. The Fund's
investments in foreign securities can be riskier than U.S. securities
investments. Investments in the securities of foreign issuers (including
investments in ADRs and GDRs) are subject to the risks associated with investing
in those foreign markets, such as heightened risks of inflation or
nationalization. The prices of foreign securities and the prices of U.S.
securities have, at times, moved in opposite directions. In addition, securities
of foreign issuers may lose value due to political, economic and geographic
events affecting a foreign issuer or market. During periods of social, political
or economic instability in a country or region, the value of a foreign security
traded on U.S. exchanges could be affected by, among other things, increasing
price volatility, illiquidity, or the closure of the primary market on which the
security (or the security underlying the ADR or GDR) is traded. You may lose
money due to political, economic and geographic events affecting a foreign
issuer or market.
Geographic
Risk: A
natural, biological or other disaster could occur in a geographic region in
which the Fund invests, which could affect the economy or particular business
operations of companies in the specific geographic region, causing an adverse
impact on the Fund’s investments in the affected region or in a region
economically tied to the affected region. The securities in which the Fund
invests and, consequently, the Fund are also subject to specific risks as a
result of their business operations, including, but not limited to:
Risk
of Investing in Developed Markets:
The Fund’s investment in a developed country issuer may subject the Fund to
regulatory, political, currency, security, economic and other risks associated
with developed countries. Developed countries tend to represent a significant
portion of the global economy and have generally experienced slower economic
growth than some less developed countries. Certain developed countries have
experienced security concerns, such as terrorism and strained international
relations. Incidents involving a country’s or region’s security may cause
uncertainty in its markets and may adversely affect its economy and the Fund’s
investments. In addition, developed countries may be impacted by changes to the
economic conditions of certain key trading partners, regulatory burdens, debt
burdens and the price or availability of certain commodities.
Risk
of Investing in the United States:
A decrease in imports or exports, changes in trade regulations and/or an
economic recession in the U.S. may have a material adverse effect on the U.S.
economy.
High
Yield Securities Risk:
Securities that are rated below investment grade (commonly referred to as "junk
bonds", including those bonds rated lower than "BBB-" by Standard &
Poor’s®
(a division of the McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.) ("S&P") and Fitch, Inc.
("Fitch"), "Baa3" by Moody’s®
Investors Service, Inc. ("Moody’s"), or "BBBL" by Dominion Bond Rating Service
Limited ("Dominion")), or are unrated but may be judged to be of comparable
quality, at the time of purchase, may be more volatile than higher-rated
securities of similar maturity. Investing in junk bonds is speculative.
Income
Risk:
Income
risk is the risk that the Fund’s income will decline because of falling interest
rates.
Interest
Rate Risk: Interest
rate risk is the risk that prices of fixed income securities generally increase
when interest rates decline and decrease when interest rates increase. The Fund
may lose money if short-term or long-term interest rates rise
sharply.
Issuer
Risk:
Fund performance depends on the performance of individual companies in which the
Fund invests. Changes to the financial condition of any of those companies may
cause the value of such company's securities to decline.
Market
Risk:
Turbulence in the financial markets and reduced liquidity may negatively affect
issuers, which could have an adverse effect on the Fund. If the securities held
by the Fund experience poor liquidity, the Fund may be unable to transact at
advantageous times or prices, which may decrease the Fund’s returns. In
addition, there is a risk that policy changes by central governments and
governmental agencies, including the U.S. Federal Reserve or the European
Central Bank, which could include increasing interest rates, could cause
increased volatility in financial markets and lead to higher levels of Fund
redemptions from Authorized Participants, which could have a negative impact on
the Fund. Furthermore, local, regional or global events such as war, acts of
terrorism, the spread of infectious illness or other public health issues,
recessions, or other events could have a significant impact on the Fund and its
investments and trading of its Shares. For example, at the start of 2022,
expectations for higher policy interest rates and the removal of monetary policy
support resulted in elevated market volatility and a weak start to January as
markets rotated away from companies with weaker fundamentals and/or higher
valuations. Sustained elevated inflation, global supply chain bottlenecks and
labor shortages encouraged a U.S. Federal Reserve policy shift to increase
interest rates. With central bankers needing to reflect that they remain ahead
of the curve on inflation, there are concerns that monetary policy may provide
less support should economic growth slow. The slowing growth of gross domestic
product in China may weigh on global economic growth, while the COVID-19
pandemic remains a risk to both global economic growth and supply chain
normalization. Market risk factors may result in increased volatility and/or
decreased liquidity in the securities markets. The Fund’s NAV could decline over
short periods due to short-term market movements and over longer periods during
market downturns.
Operational
Risk:
The Fund is exposed to operational risk 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. Additionally,
cyber security failures or breaches of the electronic systems of the Fund, the
Adviser, and the Fund's other service providers, market makers, Authorized
Participants or the issuers of securities in which the Fund invests have the
ability to cause disruptions and negatively impact the Fund's business
operations, potentially resulting in financial losses to the Fund and its
shareholders. The Fund and the Adviser seek to reduce these operational risks
through controls and procedures. However, these measures do not address every
possible risk and may be inadequate for those risks that they are intended to
address.
Passive
Investment Risk:
The Fund is not actively managed, and the Adviser does not attempt to take
defensive positions in declining markets. Unlike many investment companies, the
Fund does not seek to outperform its Underlying Index. Therefore, it would not
necessarily buy or sell a security unless that security is added or removed,
respectively, from the Underlying Index, even if that security generally is
underperforming. Additionally, if a constituent of the Underlying Index were
removed, even outside of a regular rebalance of the Underlying Index, the
Adviser anticipates that the Fund would sell such security. Maintaining
investments in securities regardless of market conditions or the performance of
individual securities could cause the Fund’s return to be lower than if the Fund
employed an active strategy.
Index-Related
Risk:
There is no guarantee that the Fund will achieve a high degree of correlation to
the Underlying Index and therefore achieve its investment objective. Market
disruptions and regulatory restrictions could have an adverse effect on the
Fund’s ability to adjust its exposure to the required levels in order to track
the Underlying Index. Errors in index data, index computations and/or the
construction of the Underlying Index in accordance with its methodology 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, which may have an adverse impact on the
Fund and its shareholders.
Management
Risk:
The Fund may not fully replicate its Underlying Index and may hold securities
not included in its Underlying Index. The Adviser’s investment strategy, the
implementation of which is subject to a number of constraints, may cause the
Fund to underperform the market or its relevant benchmark or adversely affect
the ability of the Fund to achieve its investment objective.
Tracking
Error Risk:
Tracking error may occur because of differences between the instruments held in
the Fund's portfolio and those included in the Underlying Index, pricing
differences, transaction costs incurred by the Fund, the Fund's holding of
uninvested cash, size of the Fund, differences in timing of the accrual of or
the valuation of dividends or interest, tax gains or losses, changes to the
Underlying Index or the costs to the Fund of complying with various new or
existing regulatory requirements. This risk may be heightened during times of
increased market
volatility
or other unusual market conditions. Tracking error also may result because the
Fund incurs fees and expenses, while the Underlying Index does not.
Risks
Associated with Exchange-Traded Funds:
As an ETF, the Fund is subject to the following risks:
Authorized
Participants Concentration Risk:
The Fund has a limited number of financial institutions that may act as
Authorized Participants and engage in creation or redemption transactions
directly with the Fund, and none of those Authorized Participants is obligated
to engage in creation and/or redemption transactions. To the extent that those
Authorized Participants exit the business or are unable to process creation
and/or redemption orders, Shares may be more likely to trade at a premium or
discount to NAV, and possibly face trading halts and/or delisting from an
exchange. Authorized Participants Concentration Risk may be heightened because
the Fund invests in non-U.S. securities.
Large
Shareholder Risk: Redemptions
by large shareholders could have a significant negative impact on the Fund. If a
large shareholder were to redeem all, or a large portion, of its Shares, there
is no guarantee that the Fund will be able to maintain sufficient assets to
continue operations in which case the Board of Trustees may determine to
liquidate the Fund. In addition, transactions by large shareholders may account
for a large percentage of the trading volume on a national securities exchange
and may, therefore, have a material upward or downward effect on the market
price of the Shares.
Listing
Standards Risk: The
Fund is required to comply with listing requirements adopted by the listing
exchange. Non-compliance with such requirements may result in the Fund's shares
being delisted by the listing exchange. Any resulting liquidation of the Fund
could cause the Fund to incur elevated transaction costs and could result in
negative tax consequences for its shareholders.
Market
Trading Risks and Premium/Discount Risks:
Shares of the Fund are publicly traded on a national securities exchange, which
may subject shareholders to numerous market trading risks. Disruptions to
creations and redemptions, the existence of extreme market volatility or
potential lack of assets in the Fund or an active trading market for Shares may
result in Shares trading at a significant premium or discount to NAV. If a
shareholder purchases Shares at a time when the market price is at a premium to
the NAV or sells Shares at a time when the market price is at a discount to the
NAV, the shareholder may sustain losses. The NAV of the Fund is calculated at
the end of each business day and fluctuates with changes in the market value of
the Fund’s holdings. The trading price of the Fund’s shares fluctuates, in some
cases materially, throughout trading hours in response to changes in the Fund’s
NAV.
Securities
Lending Risk:
Securities lending involves a risk of loss because the borrower may fail to
return the securities in a timely manner or at all. If the Fund is not able to
recover the securities loaned, it may sell the collateral and purchase a
replacement security in the market. Lending securities entails a risk of loss to
the Fund if and to the extent that the market value of the loaned securities
increases and the collateral is not increased accordingly. Additionally, the
Fund will bear any loss on the investment of cash collateral it receives. These
events could also trigger adverse tax consequences for the Fund. As securities
on loan may not be voted by the Fund, there is a risk that the Fund may not be
able to recall the securities in sufficient time to vote on material proxy
matters.
Trading
Halt Risk:
An exchange or market may close or issue trading halts on specific securities,
or the ability to buy or sell certain securities or financial instruments may be
restricted, which may result in the Fund being unable to buy or sell certain
securities or financial instruments. In such circumstances, the Fund may be
unable to rebalance its portfolio, may be unable to accurately price its
investments and/or may incur substantial trading
losses.
Valuation
Risk: The sales price the Fund could receive for
a security may differ from the Fund’s valuation of the security and may differ
from the value used by the Underlying Index, particularly for securities that
trade in low value or volatile markets or that are valued using a fair value
methodology (such as during trading halts). The value of the securities in
the Fund's portfolio may change on days when shareholders will not be able to
purchase or sell the Fund's Shares.
PERFORMANCE
INFORMATION
The bar chart
and table that follow show how the Fund performed on a calendar year basis and
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 the Fund's average
annual total returns for the indicated periods compared with the Fund's
benchmark index and a broad measure of market performance.
The Fund's past performance
(before and after taxes) is not necessarily indicative of how the Fund will
perform in the future. Updated performance information is
available online at
www.globalxetfs.com.
Annual Total Returns (Years Ended December
31)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Best
Quarter: |
6/30/2020 |
8.71% |
Worst
Quarter: |
3/31/2020 |
-11.89% |
Average Annual Total Returns (for the Periods
Ended December 31, 2021)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
One
Year Ended December 31, 2021 |
Since
Inception (09/11/2017) |
Global
X U.S. Preferred ETF: |
|
|
·Return before
taxes |
4.91% |
6.32% |
·Return
after taxes on distributions1 |
3.40% |
4.53% |
·Return
after taxes on distributions and sale of Fund Shares1 |
3.52% |
4.37% |
ICE
BofA Diversified Core U.S. Preferred Securities Index
(Index returns do not
reflect deductions for fees, expenses, or
taxes)
|
5.28% |
6.54% |
S&P
500®
Index
(Index
returns do not reflect deductions for fees, expenses, or
taxes) |
28.71% |
18.41% |
1
After-tax returns are
calculated using the historical highest individual U.S. federal marginal income
tax rates and do not reflect the impact of state and local
taxes. Your actual after-tax returns
will depend on your specific tax situation and may differ from those shown
above. After-tax returns are not relevant to investors who hold Shares of the
Fund through tax-advantaged arrangements, such as 401(k) plans or individual
retirement accounts (IRAs).
FUND
MANAGEMENT
Investment
Adviser:
Global X Management Company LLC.
Portfolio
Managers:
The professionals primarily responsible for the day-to-day management of the
Fund are Nam To, CFA; Wayne Xie; Kimberly Chan; Vanessa Yang; William Helm, CFA;
and Sandy Lu, CFA (“Portfolio Managers”). Mr. To has been a Portfolio Manager of
the Fund since March 1, 2018. Mr. Xie has been a Portfolio Manager of the Fund
since March 1,
2019.
Ms. Chan has been a Portfolio Manager of the Fund since June 10, 2019. Ms. Yang
has been a Portfolio Manager of the Fund since December 2020. Messrs. Helm and
Lu have been Portfolio Managers of the Fund since April 2022.
PURCHASE
AND SALE OF FUND SHARES
Shares
of the Fund are or will be listed and traded at market prices on a national
securities exchange. Shares may only be purchased and sold on the exchange
through a broker-dealer. The price of Shares is based on market price, and
because ETF shares trade at market prices rather than at NAV, Shares may trade
at a price greater than NAV (a premium) or less than NAV (a discount). Only
“Authorized Participants” (as defined in the SAI) who have entered into
agreements with the Fund’s distributor, SEI Investments Distribution Co.
(“Distributor”), may engage in creation or redemption transactions directly with
the Fund. The Fund will only issue or redeem Shares that have been aggregated
into blocks called Creation Units. The Fund will issue or redeem Creation Units
in return for a basket of cash and/or securities that the Fund specifies any day
that the national securities exchanges are open for business (“Business Day”).
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”). To
access information regarding the Fund’s net asset value, market price, premiums
and discounts, and bid-ask spreads, please go to https://www.globalxetfs.com.
TAX
INFORMATION
The
Fund intends to make distributions that may be taxable to you as ordinary income
or capital gains, unless you are investing through a tax-advantaged arrangement,
such as a 401(k) plan or an individual retirement account ("IRA"), in which case
distributions from such tax-advantaged arrangement may be taxable to you.
PAYMENTS
TO BROKER-DEALERS AND OTHER FINANCIAL INTERMEDIARIES
The
Adviser and its related companies may pay broker-dealers or other financial
intermediaries (such as a bank) for the sale of Fund Shares and related
services. These payments may create a conflict of interest by influencing your
broker-dealer, sales persons or other intermediary or its employees or
associated persons to recommend the Fund over another investment. Ask your
financial adviser or visit your financial intermediary’s website for more
information.
Global X Variable Rate Preferred
ETF
Ticker:
PFFV Exchange: NYSE Arca
INVESTMENT OBJECTIVE
The Global X Variable Rate
Preferred ETF ("Fund") seeks to provide investment results that correspond
generally to the price and yield performance, before fees and expenses, of the
ICE U.S. Variable Rate Preferred Securities Index ("Underlying
Index").
FEES AND EXPENSES
This table describes the fees
and expenses that you may pay if you buy, hold, and sell shares (“Shares”) of
the Fund. You may pay other fees, such as brokerage commissions and other fees
to financial intermediaries, which are not reflected in the table and examples
below.
Annual
Fund Operating Expenses
(expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your
investment):
|
|
|
|
|
|
Management
Fees: |
0.25% |
Distribution
and Service (12b-1) Fees: |
None |
Other
Expenses: |
0.00% |
Total
Annual Fund Operating Expenses: |
0.25% |
Example:
The following example
is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the Fund with the cost
of investing in other funds. This example does not take into account customary
brokerage commissions that you pay when purchasing or selling Shares of the Fund
in the secondary market. The 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 the same. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on
these assumptions, your costs would be:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
One
Year |
Three
Years |
Five
Years |
Ten
Years |
$26 |
$80 |
$141 |
$318 |
Portfolio
Turnover:
The Fund pays transaction
costs, such as commissions, when it buys 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 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. For the most recent fiscal period, the
Fund's portfolio turnover rate was 26.17% of the average value of its
portfolio.
PRINCIPAL INVESTMENT
STRATEGIES
The
Fund invests at least 80% of its total assets, plus borrowings for investments
purposes (if any), in the securities of the ICE U.S. Variable Rate Preferred
Securities Index ("Underlying Index") and in American Depositary Receipts
("ADRs") and Global Depositary Receipts ("GDRs") based on the securities in the
Underlying Index. The Fund's 80% investment policy is non-fundamental and
requires 60 days prior written notice to shareholders before it can be changed.
The Fund may lend securities representing up to one-third of the value of the
Fund’s total assets (including the value of the collateral
received).
The
Underlying Index is designed to track the broad-based performance of the
U.S.-listed variable rate preferred securities market. Qualifying preferred
securities must be listed on a U.S. exchange, denominated in U.S. dollars, have
floating or variable dividends or coupons, and have a minimum amount outstanding
of $50 million. Qualifying preferred securities may, however, be issued by
non-U.S. companies. Qualifying securities must be issued in $25, $50, $100, or
$1000 par/liquidation preference increments, must have a traded market value of
greater than $6 million in each of the previous three calendar months, and must
have at least one year remaining to maturity, as determined by ICE Data Indices,
LLC (the "Index Provider").
Constituents
in the Underlying Index are capitalization-weighted based on their current
amount outstanding times the market price plus accrued interest. A weighting cap
of 10% is applied at the issuer level to limit the aggregate weight of a single
issuer
to
10% at each rebalance. The Underlying Index may include large-, mid- or
small-capitalization companies. Components of the Underlying Index primarily
include financials companies. The Underlying Index is rebalanced quarterly. The
Underlying Index may include securities that are rated below investment grade or
that are unrated but may be deemed to be of a comparable quality. The Fund's
investment objective and Underlying Index may be changed without shareholder
approval.
The
Underlying Index is sponsored by the Index Provider, which is an organization
that is independent of, and unaffiliated with, the Fund and Global X Management
Company LLC, the investment adviser for the Fund ("Adviser"). The Index Provider
determines the relative weightings of the securities in the Underlying Index and
publishes information regarding the market value of the Underlying
Index.
The
Adviser uses a "passive" or indexing approach to try to achieve the Fund's
investment objective. Unlike many investment companies, the Fund does not try to
outperform the Underlying Index and does not seek temporary defensive positions
when markets decline or appear overvalued.
The
Fund generally uses a representative sampling strategy with respect to the
Underlying Index. "Representative sampling" is an indexing strategy that
involves investing in a representative sample of securities that collectively
has an investment profile similar to the Underlying Index in terms of key risk
factors, performance attributes and other characteristics. These include country
weightings, market capitalization and other financial characteristics of
securities. The Fund may or may not hold all of the securities in the Underlying
Index.
The
Adviser expects that, over time, the correlation between the Fund's performance
and that of the Underlying Index, before fees and expenses, will exceed 95%. A
correlation percentage of 100% would indicate perfect correlation. If the Fund
uses a replication strategy, it can be expected to have greater correlation to
the Underlying Index than if it uses a representative sampling
strategy.
The Fund concentrates its investments
(i.e., holds 25% or more of its total assets) in a particular industry or group
of industries to approximately the same extent that the Underlying Index is
concentrated. As of January 31, 2022, the Underlying Index was concentrated
in the banking industry and had significant exposure to the financials
sector.
SUMMARY OF PRINCIPAL RISKS
As with any investment, you could lose all or part of
your investment in the Fund, and the Fund’s performance could trail that of
other investments. There is no guarantee that the Fund will
achieve its investment objective. An investment in the Fund is not a
bank deposit and it is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit
Insurance Corporation or any other government agency, the Adviser or any of its
affiliates. The Fund is subject to the principal risks noted
below, any of which may adversely affect the Fund’s net asset value (“NAV”),
trading price, yield, total return and ability to meet its investment objective,
as well as other risks that are described in greater detail in the Additional
Information About the Funds
section of this Prospectus and in the Statement of Additional Information
(“SAI”). The order of the below risk factors does not indicate the significance
of any particular risk factor.
Asset
Class Risk:
Securities and other assets in the Underlying Index or otherwise held in the
Fund's portfolio may underperform in comparison to the general securities
markets, a particular securities market or other asset classes.
Equity
Securities Risk:
Equity securities are subject to changes in value, and their values may be more
volatile than other asset classes, as a result of such factors as a company’s
business performance, investor perceptions, stock market trends and general
economic conditions.
Fixed-to-Floating
Rate Securities Risk:
The Fund invests in fixed-to-floating rate preferred securities, which are
securities that have an initial term with a fixed dividend rate and following
this initial term bear a floating dividend rate. Securities which include a
floating or variable interest rate component 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. Although floating rate preferred securities can be less sensitive to
interest rate risk than fixed-rate preferred securities, they are subject to the
risks applicable to preferred securities more generally.
Hybrid
Securities Investment Risk:
Hybrid securities are subject to the risks of equity securities and risks of
debt securities. The claims of holders of hybrid securities of an issuer are
generally subordinated to those of holders of traditional debt securities in
bankruptcy, and thus hybrid securities may be more volatile and subject to
greater risk than traditional debt securities and may, in certain circumstances,
even be more volatile than traditional equity securities. At the same time,
hybrid securities may not fully participate in gains of their issuer and thus
potential
returns
of such securities are generally more limited than traditional equity
securities, which would participate in such gains.
LIBOR
Transition Risk: The
Fund invests in financial instruments that utilize London Interbank Offered Rate
(“LIBOR”) as the reference or benchmark rate for variable interest rate
calculations. On July 27, 2017, the head of the United Kingdom’s Financial
Conduct Authority ("FCA") announced a desire to phase out the use of LIBOR by
the end of 2021. In March 2021, the FCA and LIBOR's administrator, ICE Benchmark
Administration, announced that most LIBOR settings will no longer be published
after the end of 2021 and a selection of widely used U.S. dollar LIBOR rates
will continue to be published until June 2023 in order to assist with the
transition. There remains uncertainty regarding the effect of the LIBOR
transition process and therefore any impact of a transition away from LIBOR on
the Fund or the instruments in which the Fund invests cannot yet be determined.
There is no assurance that the composition or characteristics of any alternative
reference rate (e.g., the Secured Overnight Financing Rate (“SOFR”), which is
intended to replace the U.S. dollar LIBOR) will be similar to or produce the
same value or economic equivalence as LIBOR or that instruments using an
alternative rate will have the same volume or liquidity. As a result, the
transition process might lead to increased volatility and reduced liquidity in
markets that currently rely on LIBOR to determine interest rates; a reduction in
the value of some LIBOR-based investments; increased difficulty in borrowing or
refinancing and diminished effectiveness of any applicable hedging strategies
against instruments whose terms currently include LIBOR; and/or costs incurred
in connection with temporary borrowings and closing out positions and entering
into new agreements. Any such effects of the transition away from LIBOR and the
adoption of alternative reference rates could result in losses to the Fund.
Preferred
Stock Investment Risk:
Preferred stock may be subordinated to bonds or other debt instruments in an
issuer’s capital structure, meaning that an issuer’s preferred stock generally
pays dividends only after the issuer makes required payments to holders of its
bonds and other debt. Additionally, in certain situations, an issuer may call or
redeem its preferred stock or convert it to common stock. Preferred stock may be
less liquid than many other types of securities, such as common stock, and
generally provides no voting rights with respect to the issuer. Preferred stock
is subject to many of the risks associated with debt securities, including risks
associated with floating rate debt.
Variable
and Floating Rate Securities Risk: During
periods of increasing interest rates, changes in the coupon rates of variable or
floating rate securities may lag behind the changes in market rates or may have
limits on the maximum increases in coupon rates. Alternatively, during periods
of declining interest rates, the coupon rates on such securities will typically
readjust downward resulting in a lower yield. Floating rate securities may trade
infrequently, and their value may be impaired when the Fund needs to liquidate
such securities. A downward adjustment in coupon rates may decrease the Fund's
income as a result of its investment in variable or floating rate
securities.
Capitalization
Risk:
Investing in issuers within the same market capitalization category carries the
risk that the category may be out of favor due to current market conditions or
investor sentiment.
Large-Capitalization
Companies Risk: Large-capitalization
companies may trail the returns of the overall stock market.
Large-capitalization stocks tend to go through cycles of doing better - or worse
- than the stock market in general. These periods have, in the past, lasted for
as long as several years.
Mid-Capitalization
Companies Risk: Mid-capitalization
companies may have greater price volatility, lower trading volume and less
liquidity than large-capitalization companies. In addition, mid-capitalization
companies may have smaller revenues, narrower product lines, less management
depth and experience, smaller shares of their product or service markets, fewer
financial resources and less competitive strength than large-capitalization
companies.
Concentration
Risk
To the extent that the Underlying Index concentrates in investments related to a
particular industry or group of industries, the Fund will also concentrate its
investments to approximately the same extent. Similarly, if the Underlying Index
has significant exposure to one or more sectors, the Fund’s investments will
likely have significant exposure to such sectors. In such event, the Fund’s
performance will be particularly susceptible to adverse events impacting such
industry or sector, which may include, but are not limited to, the following:
general economic conditions or cyclical market patterns that could negatively
affect supply and demand; competition for resources; adverse labor relations;
political or world events; obsolescence of technologies; and increased
competition or new product introductions that may affect the profitability or
viability of companies in a particular industry or sector. As a result, the
value of the Fund’s investments may rise and fall more than the value of shares
of a fund that invests in securities of companies in a broader range of
industries or sectors.
Risks
Related to Investing in the Banking Industry:
The performance of stocks in the banking industry may be affected by extensive
governmental regulation which may limit both the amounts and types of loans and
other financial
commitments
they can make, and the interest rates and fees they can charge and the amount of
capital they must maintain. Profitability is largely dependent on the
availability and cost of capital funds and can fluctuate significantly when
interest rates change. Credit losses resulting from financial difficulties of
borrowers can negatively impact banking companies. Banks may also be subject to
severe price competition. Competition is high among banking companies and
failure to maintain or increase market share may result in lost market value.
The impact of changes in capital requirements and recent or future regulation of
any individual banking company, or of the financials sector as a whole, cannot
be predicted. In recent years, cyberattacks and technology malfunctions and
failures have become increasingly frequent in this sector and have caused
significant losses to companies in this sector, which may negatively impact the
Fund.
Risks
Related to Investing in the Financials Sector: 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. This sector has experienced significant losses in the past, and the
impact of more stringent capital requirements and of current or future
regulation on any individual financial company or on the sector as a whole
cannot be predicted. In recent years, cyber-attacks and technology malfunctions
and failures have become increasingly frequent in this sector and have caused
significant losses to companies in this sector, which may negatively impact the
Fund.
Credit
Risk: Credit
risk refers to the possibility that the issuer of the security will not be able
to make principal and interest payments when due. Changes in an issuer’s credit
rating or the market’s perception of an issuer’s creditworthiness may also
affect the value of the Fund’s investment in that issuer. Securities rated in
the four highest categories by the rating agencies are considered investment
grade but they may also have some speculative characteristics. Investment grade
ratings do not guarantee that bonds will not lose value.
Foreign
Financial Institution Risk:
Certain of the securities that comprise the Underlying Index, while traded on
U.S. exchanges, may be issued by foreign financial institutions. Therefore, the
Fund may be subject to the risks of investing in securities issued by foreign
companies, which may not be subject to the same regulations as companies
domiciled in the U.S. The health of many foreign financial institutions is often
tied closely with the financial stability of the local economy in which they are
domiciled, and therefore are subject to additional risks including but not
limited to: policy changes, slow or decelerating economic growth, and high
levels of debt.
Foreign
Securities Risk:
The Fund may invest, within U.S. regulations, in foreign securities. The Fund's
investments in foreign securities can be riskier than U.S. securities
investments. Investments in the securities of foreign issuers (including
investments in ADRs and GDRs) are subject to the risks associated with investing
in those foreign markets, such as heightened risks of inflation or
nationalization. The prices of foreign securities and the prices of U.S.
securities have, at times, moved in opposite directions. In addition, securities
of foreign issuers may lose value due to political, economic and geographic
events affecting a foreign issuer or market. During periods of social, political
or economic instability in a country or region, the value of a foreign security
traded on U.S. exchanges could be affected by, among other things, increasing
price volatility, illiquidity, or the closure of the primary market on which the
security (or the security underlying the ADR or GDR) is traded. You may lose
money due to political, economic and geographic events affecting a foreign
issuer or market.
Geographic
Risk: A
natural, biological or other disaster could occur in a geographic region in
which the Fund invests, which could affect the economy or particular business
operations of companies in the specific geographic region, causing an adverse
impact on the Fund’s investments in the affected region or in a region
economically tied to the affected region. The securities in which the Fund
invests and, consequently, the Fund are also subject to specific risks as a
result of their business operations, including, but not limited to:
Risk
of Investing in Developed Markets:
The Fund’s investment in a developed country issuer may subject the Fund to
regulatory, political, currency, security, economic and other risks associated
with developed countries. Developed countries tend to represent a significant
portion of the global economy and have generally experienced slower economic
growth than some less developed countries. Certain developed countries have
experienced security concerns, such as terrorism and strained international
relations. Incidents involving a country’s or region’s security may cause
uncertainty in its markets and may adversely affect its economy and the Fund’s
investments. In addition, developed countries may be impacted by changes to the
economic conditions of certain key trading partners, regulatory burdens, debt
burdens and the price or availability of certain commodities.
Risk
of Investing in the United States:
A decrease in imports or exports, changes in trade regulations and/or an
economic recession in the U.S. may have a material adverse effect on the U.S.
economy.
High
Yield Securities Risk:
Securities that are rated below investment grade (commonly referred to as "junk
bonds", including those bonds rated lower than "BBB-" by Standard &
Poor’s®
(a division of the McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.) ("S&P") and Fitch, Inc.
("Fitch"), "Baa3" by Moody’s®
Investors Service, Inc. ("Moody’s"), or "BBBL" by Dominion Bond Rating Service
Limited ("Dominion")), or are unrated but may be judged to be of comparable
quality, at the time of purchase, may be more volatile than higher-rated
securities of similar maturity. Investing in junk bonds is
speculative.
Interest
Rate Risk: Variable
and floating rate securities generally are less sensitive to interest rate
changes than fixed rate securities but may decline in value if their interest
rates do not rise as much, or as quickly, as interest rates in general. When the
Fund holds variable or floating rate securities, a decrease in market interest
rates will adversely affect the income received from such securities, which may
also impact the net asset value of the Fund’s Shares.
Issuer
Risk:
Fund performance depends on the performance of individual companies in which the
Fund invests. Changes to the financial condition of any of those companies may
cause the value of such company's securities to decline.
Market
Risk:
Turbulence in the financial markets and reduced liquidity may negatively affect
issuers, which could have an adverse effect on the Fund. If the securities held
by the Fund experience poor liquidity, the Fund may be unable to transact at
advantageous times or prices, which may decrease the Fund’s returns. In
addition, there is a risk that policy changes by central governments and
governmental agencies, including the U.S. Federal Reserve or the European
Central Bank, which could include increasing interest rates, could cause
increased volatility in financial markets and lead to higher levels of Fund
redemptions from Authorized Participants, which could have a negative impact on
the Fund. Furthermore, local, regional or global events such as war, acts of
terrorism, the spread of infectious illness or other public health issues,
recessions, or other events could have a significant impact on the Fund and its
investments and trading of its Shares. For example, at the start of 2022,
expectations for higher policy interest rates and the removal of monetary policy
support resulted in elevated market volatility and a weak start to January as
markets rotated away from companies with weaker fundamentals and/or higher
valuations. Sustained elevated inflation, global supply chain bottlenecks and
labor shortages encouraged a U.S. Federal Reserve policy shift to increase
interest rates. With central bankers needing to reflect that they remain ahead
of the curve on inflation, there are concerns that monetary policy may provide
less support should economic growth slow. The slowing growth of gross domestic
product in China may weigh on global economic growth, while the COVID-19
pandemic remains a risk to both global economic growth and supply chain
normalization. Market risk factors may result in increased volatility and/or
decreased liquidity in the securities markets. The Fund’s NAV could decline over
short periods due to short-term market movements and over longer periods during
market downturns.
New
Fund Risk: The
Fund is a new fund, with a limited operating history, which may result in
additional risks for investors in the Fund. There can be no assurance that the
Fund will grow to or maintain an economically viable size, in which case the
Board of Trustees may determine to liquidate the Fund. While shareholder
interests will be the paramount consideration, the timing of any liquidation may
not be favorable to certain individual shareholders. New funds are also subject
to Large Shareholder Risk.
Non-Diversification
Risk: The Fund is classified as a
“non-diversified” investment company under the Investment Company Act of 1940
("1940 Act"). As a result, the Fund is subject to the risk that it may be more
volatile than a diversified fund because the Fund may invest its assets in a
smaller number of issuers or may invest a larger proportion of its assets in a
single issuer. As a result, the gains and losses on a single investment may have
a greater impact on the Fund’s NAV and may make the Fund more volatile than more
diversified funds.
Operational
Risk:
The Fund is exposed to operational risk 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. Additionally,
cyber security failures or breaches of the electronic systems of the Fund, the
Adviser, and the Fund's other service providers, market makers, Authorized
Participants or the issuers of securities in which the Fund invests have the
ability to cause disruptions and negatively impact the Fund's business
operations, potentially resulting in financial losses to the Fund and its
shareholders. The Fund and the Adviser seek to reduce these operational risks
through controls and procedures. However, these measures do not address every
possible risk and may be inadequate for those risks that they are intended to
address.
Passive
Investment Risk:
The Fund is not actively managed, and the Adviser does not attempt to take
defensive positions in declining markets. Unlike many investment companies, the
Fund does not seek to outperform its Underlying Index. Therefore, it would not
necessarily buy or sell a security unless that security is added or removed,
respectively, from the Underlying Index, even if that security generally is
underperforming. Additionally, if a constituent of the Underlying Index were
removed, even outside of a regular rebalance of the Underlying Index, the
Adviser anticipates that the Fund would sell such security.
Maintaining
investments in securities regardless of market conditions or the performance of
individual securities could cause the Fund’s return to be lower than if the Fund
employed an active strategy.
Index-Related
Risk:
There is no guarantee that the Fund will achieve a high degree of correlation to
the Underlying Index and therefore achieve its investment objective. Market
disruptions and regulatory restrictions could have an adverse effect on the
Fund’s ability to adjust its exposure to the required levels in order to track
the Underlying Index. Errors in index data, index computations and/or the
construction of the Underlying Index in accordance with its methodology 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, which may have an adverse impact on the
Fund and its shareholders.
Management
Risk:
The Fund may not fully replicate its Underlying Index and may hold securities
not included in its Underlying Index. The Adviser’s investment strategy, the
implementation of which is subject to a number of constraints, may cause the
Fund to underperform the market or its relevant benchmark or adversely affect
the ability of the Fund to achieve its investment objective.
Tracking
Error Risk:
Tracking error may occur because of differences between the instruments held in
the Fund's portfolio and those included in the Underlying Index, pricing
differences, transaction costs incurred by the Fund, the Fund's holding of
uninvested cash, size of the Fund, differences in timing of the accrual of or
the valuation of dividends or interest, tax gains or losses, changes to the
Underlying Index or the costs to the Fund of complying with various new or
existing regulatory requirements. This risk may be heightened during times of
increased market volatility or other unusual market conditions. Tracking error
also may result because the Fund incurs fees and expenses, while the Underlying
Index does not.
Risks
Associated with Exchange-Traded Funds:
As an ETF, the Fund is subject to the following risks:
Authorized
Participants Concentration Risk:
The Fund has a limited number of financial institutions that may act as
Authorized Participants and engage in creation or redemption transactions
directly with the Fund, and none of those Authorized Participants is obligated
to engage in creation and/or redemption transactions. To the extent that those
Authorized Participants exit the business or are unable to process creation
and/or redemption orders, Shares may be more likely to trade at a premium or
discount to NAV, and possibly face trading halts and/or delisting from an
exchange. Authorized Participants Concentration Risk may be heightened because
the Fund invests in non-U.S. securities.
Large
Shareholder Risk: Redemptions
by large shareholders could have a significant negative impact on the Fund. If a
large shareholder were to redeem all, or a large portion, of its Shares, there
is no guarantee that the Fund will be able to maintain sufficient assets to
continue operations in which case the Board of Trustees may determine to
liquidate the Fund. In addition, transactions by large shareholders may account
for a large percentage of the trading volume on a national securities exchange
and may, therefore, have a material upward or downward effect on the market
price of the Shares.
Listing
Standards Risk: The
Fund is required to comply with listing requirements adopted by the listing
exchange. Non-compliance with such requirements may result in the Fund's shares
being delisted by the listing exchange. Any resulting liquidation of the Fund
could cause the Fund to incur elevated transaction costs and could result in
negative tax consequences for its shareholders.
Market
Trading Risks and Premium/Discount Risks:
Shares of the Fund are publicly traded on a national securities exchange, which
may subject shareholders to numerous market trading risks. Disruptions to
creations and redemptions, the existence of extreme market volatility or
potential lack of assets in the Fund or an active trading market for Shares may
result in Shares trading at a significant premium or discount to NAV. If a
shareholder purchases Shares at a time when the market price is at a premium to
the NAV or sells Shares at a time when the market price is at a discount to the
NAV, the shareholder may sustain losses. The NAV of the Fund is calculated at
the end of each business day and fluctuates with changes in the market value of
the Fund’s holdings. The trading price of the Fund’s shares fluctuates, in some
cases materially, throughout trading hours in response to changes in the Fund’s
NAV.
Securities
Lending Risk:
Securities lending involves a risk of loss because the borrower may fail to
return the securities in a timely manner or at all. If the Fund is not able to
recover the securities loaned, it may sell the collateral and purchase a
replacement security in the market. Lending securities entails a risk of loss to
the Fund if and to the extent that the market value of the loaned securities
increases and the collateral is not increased accordingly. Additionally, the
Fund will bear any loss on the investment of cash collateral it receives. These
events could also trigger adverse tax consequences for the Fund. As securities
on
loan
may not be voted by the Fund, there is a risk that the Fund may not be able to
recall the securities in sufficient time to vote on material proxy
matters.
Trading
Halt Risk:
An exchange or market may close or issue trading halts on specific securities,
or the ability to buy or sell certain securities or financial instruments may be
restricted, which may result in the Fund being unable to buy or sell certain
securities or financial instruments. In such circumstances, the Fund may be
unable to rebalance its portfolio, may be unable to accurately price its
investments and/or may incur substantial trading
losses.
Valuation
Risk: The sales price the Fund could receive for
a security may differ from the Fund’s valuation of the security and may differ
from the value used by the Underlying Index, particularly for securities that
trade in low value or volatile markets or that are valued using a fair value
methodology (such as during trading halts). The value of the securities in
the Fund's portfolio may change on days when shareholders will not be able to
purchase or sell the Fund's Shares.
PERFORMANCE
INFORMATION
The bar chart
and table that follow show how the Fund performed on a calendar year basis and
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 the Fund's average
annual total returns for the indicated periods compared with the Fund's
benchmark index and a broad measure of market performance.
The Fund's past performance
(before and after taxes) is not necessarily indicative of how the Fund will
perform in the future. Updated performance information is
available online at
www.globalxetfs.com.
Annual Total Returns (Years Ended December
31)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Best
Quarter: |
6/30/2021 |
4.17% |
Worst
Quarter: |
9/30/2021 |
0.32% |
Average Annual Total Returns (for the Periods
Ended December 31, 2021)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
One
Year Ended December 31, 2021 |
Since
Inception (06/22/2020) |
Global
X Variable Rate Preferred ETF: |
|
|
·Return before
taxes |
6.59% |
13.32% |
·Return
after taxes on distributions1 |
5.18% |
11.80% |
·Return
after taxes on distributions and sale of Fund Shares1 |
4.51% |
9.97% |
ICE
U.S. Variable Rate Preferred Securities Index
(Index returns do not
reflect deductions for fees, expenses, or
taxes) |
6.85% |
13.59% |
S&P
500®
Index
(Index
returns do not reflect deductions for fees, expenses, or
taxes) |
28.71% |
34.05% |
1
After-tax returns are
calculated using the historical highest individual U.S. federal marginal income
tax rates and do not reflect the impact of state and local
taxes. Your actual after-tax returns
will depend on your specific tax situation and may differ from those shown
above. After-tax returns are not relevant to investors who hold Shares of the
Fund through tax-advantaged arrangements, such as 401(k) plans or individual
retirement accounts (IRAs).
FUND
MANAGEMENT
Investment
Adviser:
Global X Management Company LLC.
Portfolio
Managers:
The professionals primarily responsible for the day-to-day management of the
Fund are Nam To, CFA; Wayne Xie; Kimberly Chan; Vanessa Yang; William Helm, CFA;
and Sandy Lu, CFA (“Portfolio Managers”). Messrs. To and Xie and Ms. Chan have
been Portfolio Managers of the Fund since the Fund's inception. Ms. Yang has
been a Portfolio Manager of the Fund since December 2020. Messrs. Helm and Lu
have been Portfolio Managers of the Fund since April 2022.
PURCHASE
AND SALE OF FUND SHARES
Shares
of the Fund are or will be listed and traded at market prices on a national
securities exchange. Shares may only be purchased and sold on the exchange
through a broker-dealer. The price of Shares is based on market price, and
because ETF shares trade at market prices rather than at NAV, Shares may trade
at a price greater than NAV (a premium) or less than NAV (a discount). Only
“Authorized Participants” (as defined in the SAI) who have entered into
agreements with the Fund’s distributor, SEI Investments Distribution Co.
(“Distributor”), may engage in creation or redemption transactions directly with
the Fund. The Fund will only issue or redeem Shares that have been aggregated
into blocks called Creation Units. The Fund will issue or redeem Creation Units
in return for a basket of cash and/or securities that the Fund specifies any day
that the national securities exchanges are open for business (“Business Day”).
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”). To
access information regarding the Fund’s net asset value, market price, premiums
and discounts, and bid-ask spreads, please go to
https://www.globalxetfs.com.
TAX
INFORMATION
The
Fund intends to make distributions that may be taxable to you as ordinary income
or capital gains, unless you are investing through a tax-advantaged arrangement
such as a 401(k) plan or an individual retirement account ("IRA"), in which case
distributions from such tax-advantaged arrangement may be taxable to you.
PAYMENTS
TO BROKER-DEALERS AND OTHER FINANCIAL INTERMEDIARIES
The
Adviser and its related companies may pay broker-dealers or other financial
intermediaries (such as a bank) for the sale of Fund Shares and related
services. These payments may create a conflict of interest by influencing your
broker-dealer, sales persons or other intermediary or its employees or
associated persons to recommend the Fund over another investment. Ask your
financial adviser or visit your financial intermediary's website for more
information.
Global X MLP ETF
Ticker:
MLPA Exchange: NYSE Arca
INVESTMENT OBJECTIVE
The Global X MLP ETF ("Fund")
seeks to provide investment results that correspond generally to the price and
yield performance, before fees and expenses, of the Solactive MLP Infrastructure
Index ("Underlying Index").
FEES AND EXPENSES
This table describes the fees
and expenses that you may pay if you buy, hold, and sell shares (“Shares”) of
the Fund. You may pay other fees, such as brokerage commissions and other fees
to financial intermediaries, which are not reflected in the table and examples
below.
Annual
Fund Operating Expenses
(expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your
investment):
|
|
|
|
|
|
Management
Fees: |
0.45% |
Distribution
and Service (12b-1) Fees: |
None |
Other
Expenses (Deferred Income Tax Expense and/or Franchise Tax
Expense):1,
2 |
0.00% |
Total
Annual Fund Operating Expenses: |
0.45% |
1
The Fund is classified for
federal income tax purposes as a taxable regular corporation or so-called
Subchapter ''C'' corporation. As a ''C'' corporation, the Fund accrues deferred
tax liability for its future tax liability associated with the capital
appreciation of its investments and the distributions received by the Fund on
equity securities of master limited partnerships considered to be a return of
capital and for any net operating gains. The Fund's accrued deferred tax
liability, if any, is reflected each day in the Fund's net asset value per
share. The deferred income tax expense/(benefit) represents an estimate of the
Fund's potential tax expense/(benefit) if it were to recognize the unrealized
gains/(losses) in the portfolio. An estimate of deferred income tax
expense/(benefit) is dependent upon the Fund's net investment income/(loss) and
realized and unrealized gains/(losses) on investments and such expenses may vary
greatly from year to year and from day to day depending on the nature of the
Fund's investments, the performance of those investments and general market
conditions. Therefore, any estimate of deferred income tax expense/(benefit)
cannot be reliably predicted from year to year. The Fund also accrues state
franchise tax liability. State franchise taxes are separate and distinct from
state income taxes. State franchise taxes are imposed on a corporation for the
right to conduct business in the state and typically are based off the net worth
or capital apportioned to a state. Due to the nature of the Fund's investments,
the Fund may be required to file franchise state returns in several
states.
2 Other Expenses are based
on estimated amounts for the current fiscal
year.
Example:
The following example
is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the Fund with the cost
of investing in other funds. This example does not take into account customary
brokerage commissions that you pay when purchasing or selling Shares of the Fund
in the secondary market. The 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 the same. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on
these assumptions, your costs would be:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
One Year |
Three Years |
Five Years |
Ten Years |
$46 |
$144 |
$252 |
$567 |
Portfolio
Turnover:
The Fund pays transaction
costs, such as commissions, when it buys 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 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. For the most recent fiscal period, the
Fund's portfolio turnover rate was 33.79% of the average value of its
portfolio.
PRINCIPAL INVESTMENT
STRATEGIES
The
Fund invests at least 80% of its total assets in the securities of the Solactive
MLP Infrastructure Index ("Underlying Index"). Moreover, at least 80% of the
Fund's total assets will be invested in securities that have economic
characteristics of the Master Limited Partnership ("MLP") asset class. The
Fund's 80% investment policies are non-fundamental and require 60 days prior
written notice to shareholders before they can be changed.
The
Underlying Index is intended to give investors a means of tracking the
performance of the energy infrastructure MLP asset class in the United States.
As of January 31, 2022, the Underlying Index was comprised of 21 MLPs
engaged in the transportation, storage, and processing of natural resources
("Midstream MLPs"). The Fund's investment objective and Underlying Index may be
changed without shareholder approval.
The
Underlying Index is sponsored by Solactive AG, the provider of the Underlying
Index ("Index Provider"), which is an organization that is independent of, and
unaffiliated with, the Fund and Global X Management Company LLC, the investment
adviser for the Fund ("Adviser"). The Index Provider determines the relative
weightings of the securities in the Underlying Index and publishes information
regarding the market value of the Underlying Index.
The
Adviser uses a "passive" or indexing approach to try to achieve the Fund's
investment objective. Unlike many investment companies, the Fund does not try to
outperform the Underlying Index and does not seek temporary defensive positions
when markets decline or appear overvalued.
The
Fund generally will use a replication strategy. A replication strategy is an
indexing strategy that involves investing in the securities of the Underlying
Index in approximately the same proportions as in the Underlying Index. However,
the Fund may utilize a representative sampling strategy with respect to the
Underlying Index when a replication strategy might be detrimental or
disadvantageous to shareholders, such as when there are practical difficulties
or substantial costs involved in compiling a portfolio of equity securities to
replicate the Underlying Index, in instances in which a security in the
Underlying Index becomes temporarily illiquid, unavailable or less liquid, or as
a result of legal restrictions or limitations that apply to the Fund but not the
Underlying Index.
Midstream
MLPs are publicly traded partnerships engaged in the transportation, storage and
processing of natural resources. By confining their operations to these specific
activities, the interests, or units, of MLPs that elect to be taxed as a
partnership are able to trade on public securities exchanges exactly like the
shares of a corporation, without entity level taxation. The Fund may also invest
in MLPs that elect to be taxed as corporations.
To
refrain from being taxed as a corporation, a partnership must receive at least
90% of its income from qualifying sources as set forth in Section 7704(d) of the
Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the "Code"). These qualifying sources
include interest, dividends, real estate rents, gain from the sale or
disposition of real property, income and gain from mineral or natural resources
activities, income and gain from the transportation or storage of certain fuels,
gain from the sale or disposition of a capital asset held for the production of
income described in the foregoing, and, in certain circumstances, income and
gain from commodities or futures, forwards and options with respect to
commodities.
MLPs
generally have two classes of owners, the general partner and limited partners.
The general partner of an MLP is typically owned by a major energy company, an
investment fund, or the direct management of the MLP, or is an entity owned by
one or more of such parties. The general partner may be structured as a private
or publicly traded corporation or other entity. The general partner typically
controls the operations and management of the MLP through an up to 2% equity
interest in the MLP plus, in many cases, ownership of common units and
subordinated units. Limited partners typically own the remainder of the
partnership, through ownership of common units, and have a limited role in the
partnership's operations and management. MLPs are typically structured such that
common units and general partner interests have first priority to receive
quarterly cash distributions up to an established minimum amount ("minimum
quarterly distributions" or "MQD"). Common and general partner interests also
accrue arrearages in distributions to the extent the MQD is not paid. Once
common and general partner interests have been paid, subordinated units receive
distributions of up to the MQD; however, subordinated units do not accrue
arrearages. Distributable cash in excess of the MQD is paid to both common and
subordinated units and is distributed to both common and subordinated units
generally on a pro rata basis. The general partner is also eligible to receive
incentive distributions if the general partner operates the business in a manner
which results in distributions paid per common unit surpassing specified target
levels. As the general partner increases cash distributions to the limited
partners, the general partner receives an increasingly higher percentage of the
incremental cash distributions.
Due
to the nature of the Fund's investments, the Fund will not qualify as a
regulated investment company under the Code. As a result, the Fund will be taxed
as a regular corporation ("C" corporation) for federal income tax
purposes.
The
Adviser seeks a correlation over time of 95% or better between the Fund's
performance, before fund fees, expenses and taxes, and the performance of the
Underlying Index. A correlation percentage of 100% would indicate perfect
correlation. If the Fund uses a replication strategy, it can be expected to have
greater correlation to the Underlying Index than if it uses a representative
sampling strategy.
The
Fund concentrates its investments (i.e.,
hold 25% or more of its total assets) in a particular industry or group of
industries to approximately the same extent that the Underlying Index is
concentrated. As of January 31, 2022, the Underlying Index was concentrated
in the oil, gas and consumable fuels industry and had significant exposure to
the energy sector.
SUMMARY OF PRINCIPAL RISKS
As with any investment, you could lose all or part of
your investment in the Fund, and the Fund’s performance could trail that of
other investments. There is no guarantee that the Fund will
achieve its investment objective. An investment in the Fund is not a
bank deposit and it is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit
Insurance Corporation or any other government agency, the Adviser or any of its
affiliates. The Fund is subject to the principal risks noted
below, any of which may adversely affect the Fund’s net asset value (“NAV”),
trading price, yield, total return and ability to meet its investment objective,
as well as other risks that are described in greater detail in the Additional
Information About the Funds
section of this Prospectus and in the Statement of Additional Information
(“SAI”). The order of the below risk factors does not indicate the significance
of any particular risk factor.
Asset
Class Risk:
Securities and other assets in the Underlying Index or otherwise held in the
Fund's portfolio may underperform in comparison to the general securities
markets, a particular securities market or other asset classes.
Equity
Securities Risk:
Equity securities are subject to changes in value, and their values may be more
volatile than other asset classes, as a result of such factors as a company’s
business performance, investor perceptions, stock market trends and general
economic conditions.
Master
Limited Partnerships Investment Risk: Investments
in securities of an MLP involve 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, and cash flow risks. MLP common
units and other equity securities can be affected by changes in macro-economic
and other factors affecting the stock market in general, including changes in
growth, unemployment, and inflation rates, as well as expectations of interest
rates. MLP common units and other equity securities can also be affected by
investor sentiment towards MLPs or the energy sector, changes in a particular
issuer’s financial condition, or unfavorable or unanticipated poor performance
of a particular issuer (in the case of MLPs, generally measured in terms of
distributable cash flow). Prices of common units of individual MLPs and other
equity securities also can be affected by fundamentals unique to the partnership
or company, including earnings power and coverage ratios.
Midstream
MLPs Investment Risk:
MLPs that operate midstream assets are subject to supply and demand fluctuations
in the markets they serve, which may be impacted by a wide range of factors,
including fluctuating commodity prices, weather, increased conservation or use
of alternative fuel sources, increased governmental or environmental regulation,
depletion, rising interest rates, declines in domestic or foreign production,
accidents or catastrophic events, increasing operating expenses and economic
conditions, among others. Midstream MLPs may be particularly susceptible to
large drops in energy prices, which have the ability to impact more drastically
production in the oil and gas fields that they serve. Further, MLPs that operate
gathering and processing assets are subject to natural declines in the
production of the oil and gas fields they serve. In addition, some gathering and
processing contracts subject the owner of such assets to direct commodity price
risk.
Associated
Risks Related to Investing in Energy Infrastructure Companies:
The Fund invests primarily in energy infrastructure companies. Energy
infrastructure companies are subject to risks specific to the industry they
serve, including, but not limited to, the following:
•
reduced volumes of natural gas or other energy commodities available for
transporting, processing or storing;
•
new construction and acquisition risk, which can limit growth potential;
•
a sustained reduced demand for crude oil, natural gas and refined petroleum
products resulting from a recession or an increase in market price or higher
taxes;
•
changes in the regulatory environment;
•
extreme weather;
•
rising interest rates, which could result in a higher cost of capital and drive
investors into other investment opportunities; and
•
threats of attack by terrorists.
Capitalization
Risk:
Investing in issuers within the same market capitalization category carries the
risk that the category may be out of favor due to current market conditions or
investor sentiment.
Large-Capitalization
Companies Risk: Large-capitalization
companies may trail the returns of the overall stock market.
Large-capitalization stocks tend to go through cycles of doing better - or worse
- than the stock market in general. These periods have, in the past, lasted for
as long as several years.
Mid-Capitalization
Companies Risk: Mid-capitalization
companies may have greater price volatility, lower trading volume and less
liquidity than large-capitalization companies. In addition, mid-capitalization
companies may have smaller revenues, narrower product lines, less management
depth and experience, smaller shares of their product or service markets, fewer
financial resources and less competitive strength than large-capitalization
companies.
Small-Capitalization
Companies Risk:
Compared to mid- and large-capitalization companies, small-capitalization
companies may be less stable and more susceptible to adverse developments, and
their securities may be more volatile and less liquid.
Cash
Transaction Risk:
Unlike most exchange-traded funds ("ETFs"), the Fund intends to effect a
significant portion of creations and redemptions for cash, rather than in-kind
securities. As a result, an investment in the Fund may be less tax-efficient
than an investment in a more conventional ETF. Moreover, cash transactions may
have to be carried out over several days if the securities market is relatively
illiquid and may involve considerable brokerage fees and taxes. These factors
may result in wider spreads between the bid and the offered prices of the Fund’s
Shares than for more conventional ETFs.
Commodity
Exposure Risk:
To the extent that its Underlying Index has exposure to securities and markets
that are susceptible to fluctuations in certain commodity markets, any negative
changes in commodity markets could have a great impact on the Fund. Commodity
prices may be influenced or characterized by unpredictable factors, including,
where applicable, high volatility, changes in supply and demand relationships,
weather, agriculture, trade, changes in interest rates and monetary and other
governmental policies, action and inaction. Securities of companies held by the
Fund that are dependent on a single commodity, or are concentrated on a single
commodity sector, may typically exhibit even higher volatility attributable to
commodity prices.
Concentration
Risk:
To the extent that the Underlying Index concentrates in investments related to a
particular industry or group of industries, the Fund will also concentrate its
investments to approximately the same extent. Similarly, if the Underlying Index
has significant exposure to one or more sectors, the Fund’s investments will
likely have significant exposure to such sectors. In such event, the Fund’s
performance will be particularly susceptible to adverse events impacting such
industry or sector, which may include, but are not limited to, the following:
general economic conditions or cyclical market patterns that could negatively
affect supply and demand; competition for resources; adverse labor relations;
political or world events; obsolescence of technologies; and increased
competition or new product introductions that may affect the profitability or
viability of companies in a particular industry or sector. As a result, the
value of the Fund’s investments may rise and fall more than the value of shares
of a fund that invests in securities of companies in a broader range of
industries or sectors.
Risks
Related to Investing in the Energy Sector:
The value of securities issued by companies in the energy sector may decline for
many reasons, including, without limitation, changes in energy prices;
international politics; energy conservation; the success of exploration
projects; natural disasters or other catastrophes; changes in exchange rates,
interest rates, or economic conditions; changes in demand for energy products
and services; and tax and other government regulatory policies. Actions taken by
central governments may dramatically impact supply and demand forces that
influence energy prices, resulting in sudden decreases in value for companies in
the energy sector.
Risks
Related to Investing in the Oil, Gas and Consumable Fuels Industry:
The oil, gas and consumable fuels industry is cyclical and highly dependent on
the market price of fuel. The market value of companies in the oil, gas and
consumable fuels industry are strongly affected by the levels and volatility of
global commodity prices, supply and demand, capital expenditures on exploration
and production, energy conservation efforts, the prices of alternative fuels,
exchange rates and technological advances. Companies in this sector are subject
to substantial government regulation and contractual fixed pricing, which may
increase the cost of business and limit these companies’ earnings. Actions taken
by central governments may dramatically impact supply and demand forces that
influence the market price of fuel, resulting in sudden decreases in value for
companies in the oil, gas and consumable fuels industry. A
significant
portion of their revenues depends on a relatively small number of customers,
including governmental entities and utilities. As a result, governmental budget
restraints may have a material adverse effect on the stock prices of companies
in the industry.
Geographic
Risk: A
natural, biological or other disaster could occur in a geographic region in
which the Fund invests, which could affect the economy or particular business
operations of companies in the specific geographic region, causing an adverse
impact on the Fund’s investments in the affected region or in a region
economically tied to the affected region. The securities in which the Fund
invests and, consequently, the Fund are also subject to specific risks as a
result of their business operations, including, but not limited to:
Risk
of Investing in Developed Markets:
The Fund’s investment in a developed country issuer may subject the Fund to
regulatory, political, currency, security, economic and other risks associated
with developed countries. Developed countries tend to represent a significant
portion of the global economy and have generally experienced slower economic
growth than some less developed countries. Certain developed countries have
experienced security concerns, such as terrorism and strained international
relations. Incidents involving a country’s or region’s security may cause
uncertainty in its markets and may adversely affect its economy and the Fund’s
investments. In addition, developed countries may be impacted by changes to the
economic conditions of certain key trading partners, regulatory burdens, debt
burdens and the price or availability of certain commodities.
Risk
of Investing in the United States:
A decrease in imports or exports, changes in trade regulations and/or an
economic recession in the U.S. may have a material adverse effect on the U.S.
economy.
Investable
Universe of Companies Risk:
The investable universe of companies in which the Fund may invest may be
limited. If a company no longer meets the Index Provider’s criteria for
inclusion in the Underlying Index, the Fund may need to reduce or eliminate its
holdings in that company. The reduction or elimination of the Fund’s holdings in
the company may have an adverse impact on the liquidity of the Fund’s overall
portfolio holdings and on Fund performance.
Issuer
Risk:
Fund performance depends on the performance of individual companies in which the
Fund invests. Changes to the financial condition of any of those companies may
cause the value of such company's securities to decline.
Market
Risk:
Turbulence in the financial markets and reduced liquidity may negatively affect
issuers, which could have an adverse effect on the Fund. If the securities held
by the Fund experience poor liquidity, the Fund may be unable to transact at
advantageous times or prices, which may decrease the Fund’s returns. In
addition, there is a risk that policy changes by central governments and
governmental agencies, including the U.S. Federal Reserve or the European
Central Bank, which could include increasing interest rates, could cause
increased volatility in financial markets and lead to higher levels of Fund
redemptions from Authorized Participants, which could have a negative impact on
the Fund. Furthermore, local, regional or global events such as war, acts of
terrorism, the spread of infectious illness or other public health issues,
recessions, or other events could have a significant impact on the Fund and its
investments and trading of its Shares. For example, at the start of 2022,
expectations for higher policy interest rates and the removal of monetary policy
support resulted in elevated market volatility and a weak start to January as
markets rotated away from companies with weaker fundamentals and/or higher
valuations. Sustained elevated inflation, global supply chain bottlenecks and
labor shortages encouraged a U.S. Federal Reserve policy shift to increase
interest rates. With central bankers needing to reflect that they remain ahead
of the curve on inflation, there are concerns that monetary policy may provide
less support should economic growth slow. The slowing growth of gross domestic
product in China may weigh on global economic growth, while the COVID-19
pandemic remains a risk to both global economic growth and supply chain
normalization. Market risk factors may result in increased volatility and/or
decreased liquidity in the securities markets. The Fund’s NAV could decline over
short periods due to short-term market movements and over longer periods during
market downturns.
MLP
Tax Risk:
Subject to the application of the partnership audit rules, MLPs that elect to be
taxed as partnerships do not pay U.S. federal income tax at the partnership
level. Rather, each partner is allocated a share of the partnership’s income,
gains, losses, deductions and expenses. A change in current tax law, or a change
in the underlying business mix of a given MLP, could result in an MLP that
previously elected to be taxed as a partnership being treated as a corporation
for U.S. federal income tax purposes, which would result in such MLP being
required to pay U.S. federal income tax on its taxable income. The
classification of an MLP as a corporation for U.S. federal income tax purposes
would have the effect of reducing the amount of cash available for distribution
by the MLP. Thus, to the extent that any of the MLPs to which the Fund has
exposure are treated as a corporation for U.S. federal income tax purposes, it
could result in a reduction in the value of the Fund’s investment and lower the
Fund’s income. The Fund may also invest in MLPs that elect to be taxed as
corporations, which taxes would have the effect of reducing the amount of cash
available for distribution by the MLP. Additionally, as a result of the Fund's
exposure to MLPs taxed as partnerships, a portion of the Fund’s distributions
are expected to be treated as a return of capital for tax
purposes.
Return of capital distributions are not taxable income to you, but reduce your
tax basis in your Fund Shares. Such a reduction in tax basis will result in
larger taxable gains and/or lower tax losses on a subsequent sale of Fund
Shares. Shareholders who sell their Shares for less than they bought them may
still recognize a gain due to the reduction in tax basis. Shareholders who
periodically receive the payment of dividends or other distributions consisting
of a return of capital may be under the impression that they are receiving net
profits from the Fund when, in fact, they are not. Shareholders should not
assume that the source of the distributions is from the net profits of the Fund.
To the extent that the distributions paid to you constitute a return of capital,
the Fund's assets will decline. A decline in the Fund's assets may also result
in an increase in the portion of a Fund's expense ratio that is not subject to a
unitary fee or any other form of contractual cap, and over time the
distributions paid in excess of net distributions received could work to erode
the Fund's net asset value.
Non-Diversification
Risk: The Fund is classified as a
“non-diversified” investment company under the Investment Company Act of 1940
("1940 Act"). As a result, the Fund is subject to the risk that it may be more
volatile than a diversified fund because the Fund may invest its assets in a
smaller number of issuers or may invest a larger proportion of its assets in a
single issuer. As a result, the gains and losses on a single investment may have
a greater impact on the Fund’s NAV and may make the Fund more volatile than more
diversified funds.
Operational
Risk:
The Fund is exposed to operational risk 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. Additionally,
cyber security failures or breaches of the electronic systems of the Fund, the
Adviser, and the Fund's other service providers, market makers, Authorized
Participants or the issuers of securities in which the Fund invests have the
ability to cause disruptions and negatively impact the Fund's business
operations, potentially resulting in financial losses to the Fund and its
shareholders. The Fund and the Adviser seek to reduce these operational risks
through controls and procedures. However, these measures do not address every
possible risk and may be inadequate for those risks that they are intended to
address.
Passive
Investment Risk:
The Fund is not actively managed, and the Adviser does not attempt to take
defensive positions in declining markets. Unlike many investment companies, the
Fund does not seek to outperform its Underlying Index. Therefore, it would not
necessarily buy or sell a security unless that security is added or removed,
respectively, from the Underlying Index, even if that security generally is
underperforming. Additionally, if a constituent of the Underlying Index were
removed, even outside of a regular rebalance of the Underlying Index, the
Adviser anticipates that the Fund would sell such security. Maintaining
investments in securities regardless of market conditions or the performance of
individual securities could cause the Fund’s return to be lower than if the Fund
employed an active strategy.
Index-Related
Risk:
There is no guarantee that the Fund will achieve a high degree of correlation to
the Underlying Index and therefore achieve its investment objective. Market
disruptions and regulatory restrictions could have an adverse effect on the
Fund’s ability to adjust its exposure to the required levels in order to track
the Underlying Index. Errors in index data, index computations and/or the
construction of the Underlying Index in accordance with its methodology 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, which may have an adverse impact on the
Fund and its shareholders.
Management
Risk:
The Fund may not fully replicate its Underlying Index and may hold securities
not included in its Underlying Index. The Adviser’s investment strategy, the
implementation of which is subject to a number of constraints, may cause the
Fund to underperform the market or its relevant benchmark or adversely affect
the ability of the Fund to achieve its investment objective.
Tracking
Error Risk:
Tracking error may occur because of differences between the instruments held in
the Fund's portfolio and those included in the Underlying Index, pricing
differences, transaction costs incurred by the Fund, the Fund's holding of
uninvested cash, size of the Fund, differences in timing of the accrual of or
the valuation of dividends or interest, tax gains or losses, changes to the
Underlying Index or the costs to the Fund of complying with various new or
existing regulatory requirements. This risk may be heightened during times of
increased market volatility or other unusual market conditions. Tracking error
also may result because the Fund incurs fees and expenses, while the Underlying
Index does not.
Potential
Substantial After-Tax Tracking Error From Index Performance Risk:
The Fund will be subject to taxation on its taxable income. The NAV of Shares
will also be reduced by the accrual of any deferred tax liabilities. The
Underlying Index, however, is calculated without any deductions for taxes. As a
result, the Fund’s performance could differ significantly from the Underlying
Index even if the pretax performance of the Fund and the performance of the
Underlying Index are closely correlated. The performance of the Fund may diverge
from that of the Underlying Index.
Risks
Associated with Exchange-Traded Funds:
As an ETF, the Fund is subject to the following risks:
Authorized
Participants Concentration Risk:
The Fund has a limited number of financial institutions that may act as
Authorized Participants and engage in creation or redemption transactions
directly with the Fund, and none of those Authorized Participants is obligated
to engage in creation and/or redemption transactions. To the extent that those
Authorized Participants exit the business or are unable to process creation
and/or redemption orders, Shares may be more likely to trade at a premium or
discount to NAV, and possibly face trading halts and/or delisting from an
exchange.
Large
Shareholder Risk: Redemptions
by large shareholders could have a significant negative impact on the Fund. If a
large shareholder were to redeem all, or a large portion, of its Shares, there
is no guarantee that the Fund will be able to maintain sufficient assets to
continue operations in which case the Board of Trustees may determine to
liquidate the Fund. In addition, transactions by large shareholders may account
for a large percentage of the trading volume on a national securities exchange
and may, therefore, have a material upward or downward effect on the market
price of the Shares.
Listing
Standards Risk: The
Fund is required to comply with listing requirements adopted by the listing
exchange. Non-compliance with such requirements may result in the Fund's shares
being delisted by the listing exchange. Any resulting liquidation of the Fund
could cause the Fund to incur elevated transaction costs and could result in
negative tax consequences for its shareholders.
Market
Trading Risks and Premium/Discount Risks:
Shares of the Fund are publicly traded on a national securities exchange, which
may subject shareholders to numerous market trading risks. Disruptions to
creations and redemptions, the existence of extreme market volatility or
potential lack of assets in the Fund or an active trading market for Shares may
result in Shares trading at a significant premium or discount to NAV. If a
shareholder purchases Shares at a time when the market price is at a premium to
the NAV or sells Shares at a time when the market price is at a discount to the
NAV, the shareholder may sustain losses. The NAV of the Fund is calculated at
the end of each business day and fluctuates with changes in the market value of
the Fund’s holdings. The trading price of the Fund’s shares fluctuates, in some
cases materially, throughout trading hours in response to changes in the Fund’s
NAV.
Taxable
Fund Risk:
Tax risks associated with the Fund's structure include, but are not limited to,
the following:
Deferred
Tax Liability.
Cash distributions from an MLP to the Fund that exceed the Fund’s allocable
share of such MLP’s net taxable income are considered a tax-deferred return of
capital that will reduce the Fund’s adjusted tax basis in the equity securities
of the MLP. These reductions in the Fund’s adjusted tax basis in the MLP equity
securities will increase the amount of gain (or decrease the amount of loss)
recognized by the Fund on a subsequent sale of the securities. The Fund will
accrue deferred income taxes for any future tax liability associated with (i)
that portion of MLP distributions considered to be a tax-deferred return of
capital as well as (ii) capital appreciation of its investments. Upon the sale
of an MLP security, the Fund may be liable for previously deferred taxes. The
Fund’s accrued deferred tax liability will be reflected each day in the Fund’s
NAV. Increases in deferred tax liability will decrease the Fund's NAV.
Conversely, decreases in deferred tax liability will increase the Fund's NAV.
The Fund will rely to some extent on information provided by the MLPs in which
it invests, which is not necessarily timely, to estimate deferred tax liability
for purposes of financial statement reporting and determining the Fund's NAV.
From time to time, the Adviser will modify the estimates or assumptions
regarding the Fund’s deferred tax liability as new information becomes
available. The Fund’s estimates regarding its deferred tax liability are made in
good faith. However, the daily estimate of the Fund’s deferred tax liability
used to calculate the Fund’s NAV could vary significantly from the Fund’s actual
tax liability. The Fund will generally compute deferred income taxes based on
the federal income tax rate applicable to corporations (currently 21%) and an
assumed rate attributable to state taxes. To the extent that the distributions
paid to you constitute a return of capital, the Fund's assets will decline. A
decline in the Fund's assets may also result in an increase in the portion of a
Fund's expense ratio that is not subject to a unitary fee or any other form of
contractual cap, and over time the distributions paid in excess of net
distributions received could work to erode the Fund's net asset value.
Tax
Status of the Fund.
The Fund is taxed as a regular corporation ("C" corporation) for federal income
tax purposes. This differs from most investment companies, which elect to be
treated as regulated investment companies under the Code in order to avoid
paying entity level income taxes. Under current law, the Fund is not eligible to
elect treatment as a regulated investment company due to its investments
primarily in MLPs invested in energy assets. As a result, the Fund will be
obligated to pay applicable federal and state corporate income taxes on its
taxable income as opposed to most investment companies which are not so
obligated. The Fund expects that a portion of the distributions it receives from
MLPs may be treated as a tax-deferred return of capital, thus reducing the
Fund’s current tax liability. However, the amount of taxes currently paid by the
Fund
will vary depending on the amount of income and gains derived from investments
and/or sales of MLP interests and such taxes may reduce your return from an
investment in the Fund.
Trading
Halt Risk:
An exchange or market may close or issue trading halts on specific securities,
or the ability to buy or sell certain securities or financial instruments may be
restricted, which may result in the Fund being unable to buy or sell certain
securities or financial instruments. In such circumstances, the Fund may be
unable to rebalance its portfolio, may be unable to accurately price its
investments and/or may incur substantial trading losses.
Valuation
Risk:
The sales price the Fund could receive for a security may differ from the Fund’s
valuation of the security and may differ from the value used by the Underlying
Index, particularly for securities that trade in low value or volatile markets
or that are valued using a fair value methodology (such as during trading
halts). The value of the securities in the Fund's portfolio may change on
days when shareholders will not be able to purchase or sell the Fund's
Shares.
PERFORMANCE
INFORMATION
The bar chart
and table that follow show how the Fund performed on a calendar year basis and
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 the Fund's average
annual total returns for the indicated periods compared with the Fund's
benchmark index and a broad measure of market performance. On or
around March 30, 2015, there was a change in the Fund's Underlying Index from
Solactive MLP Composite Index to Solactive MLP Infrastructure Index.
The Fund's past performance
(before and after taxes) is not necessarily indicative of how the Fund will
perform in the future. Updated performance information is
available online at
www.globalxetfs.com.
Annual Total Returns (Years Ended December
31)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Best
Quarter: |
6/30/2020 |
47.60% |
Worst
Quarter: |
3/31/2020 |
-58.62% |
Average Annual Total Returns (for the Periods
Ended December 31, 2021)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
One
Year Ended December 31, 2021 |
Five
Years Ended December 31, 2021 |
Since
Inception (04/18/2012) |
Global
X MLP ETF: |
|
|
|
·Return before
taxes |
39.96% |
-4.36% |
-1.75% |
·Return
after taxes on distributions1 |
39.96% |
-4.39% |
-1.93% |
·Return
after taxes on distributions and sale of Fund Shares1 |
23.66% |
-3.26% |
-1.30% |
Hybrid
Solactive MLP Infrastructure Index (gross)2
(Index returns do not
reflect deduction for fees, expenses, or
taxes) |
40.69% |
-4.02% |
-0.34% |
S&P
500®
Index
(Index
returns do not reflect deduction for fees, expenses, or
taxes) |
28.71% |
18.47% |
15.85% |
1
After-tax returns are
calculated using the historical highest individual U.S. federal marginal income
tax rates and do not reflect the impact of state and local
taxes. Your actual after-tax returns
will depend on your specific tax situation and may differ from those shown
above. After-tax returns are not relevant to investors who hold Shares of the
Fund through tax-advantaged arrangements, such as 401(k) plans or individual
retirement accounts (IRAs).
2 Hybrid Index performance
reflects the performance of the Solactive MLP Composite Index through March 31,
2015 and the Solactive MLP Infrastructure Index thereafter.
FUND
MANAGEMENT
Investment
Adviser:
Global X Management Company LLC.
Portfolio
Managers:
The professionals primarily responsible for the day-to-day management of the
Fund are Nam To, CFA; Wayne Xie; Kimberly Chan; Vanessa Yang; William Helm, CFA;
and Sandy Lu, CFA (“Portfolio Managers”). Mr. To has been a Portfolio Manager of
the Fund since March 1, 2018. Mr. Xie has been a Portfolio Manager of the Fund
since March 1, 2019. Ms. Chan has been a Portfolio Manager of the Fund since
June 10, 2019. Ms. Yang has been a Portfolio Manager of the Fund since December
2020. Messrs. Helm and Lu have been Portfolio Managers of the Fund since April
2022.
PURCHASE
AND SALE OF FUND SHARES
Shares
of the Fund are or will be listed and traded at market prices on a national
securities exchange. Shares may only be purchased and sold on the exchange
through a broker-dealer. The price of Shares is based on market price, and
because ETF shares trade at market prices rather than at NAV, Shares may trade
at a price greater than NAV (a premium) or less than NAV (a discount). Only
“Authorized Participants” (as defined in the SAI) who have entered into
agreements with the Fund’s distributor, SEI Investments Distribution Co.
(“Distributor”), may engage in creation or redemption transactions directly with
the Fund. The Fund will only issue or redeem Shares that have been aggregated
into blocks called Creation Units. The Fund will issue or redeem Creation Units
in return for a basket of cash and/or securities that the Fund specifies any day
that the national securities exchanges are open for business (“Business Day”).
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”). To
access information regarding the Fund’s net asset value, market price, premiums
and discounts, and bid-ask spreads, please go to https://www.globalxetfs.com.
TAX
INFORMATION
The
Fund intends to make distributions that may be taxable to you as ordinary income
or capital gains, unless you are investing through a tax-advantaged arrangement,
such as a 401(k) plan or an individual retirement account ("IRA"), in which case
distributions from such tax-advantaged arrangement may be taxable to you. A
portion of the Fund's distributions is also expected to be treated as a return
of capital for tax purposes. Return of capital distributions are not taxable to
you, but reduce your tax basis in your Shares.
PAYMENTS
TO BROKER-DEALERS AND OTHER FINANCIAL INTERMEDIARIES
The
Adviser and its related companies may pay broker-dealers or other financial
intermediaries (such as a bank) for the sale of Fund Shares and related
services. These payments may create a conflict of interest by influencing your
broker-dealer, sales persons or other intermediary or its employees or
associated persons to recommend the Fund over another investment. Ask your
financial adviser or visit your financial intermediary’s website for more
information.
Global X MLP & Energy Infrastructure
ETF
Ticker:
MLPX Exchange: NYSE Arca
INVESTMENT OBJECTIVE
The Global X MLP & Energy
Infrastructure ETF ("Fund") seeks to provide investment results that correspond
generally to the price and yield performance, before fees and expenses, of the
Solactive MLP & Energy Infrastructure Index ("Underlying
Index").
FEES AND EXPENSES
This table describes the fees
and expenses that you may pay if you buy, hold, and sell shares (“Shares”) of
the Fund. You may pay other fees, such as brokerage commissions and other fees
to financial intermediaries, which are not reflected in the table and examples
below.
Annual
Fund Operating Expenses (expenses
that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your
investment):
|
|
|
|
|
|
Management
Fees: |
0.45% |
Distribution
and Service (12b-1) Fees: |
None |
Other
Expenses: |
0.00% |
Total
Annual Fund Operating Expenses: |
0.45% |
Example: The following example
is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the Fund with the cost
of investing in other funds. This example does not take into account customary
brokerage commissions that you pay when purchasing or selling Shares of the Fund
in the secondary market. The 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 the same. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on
these assumptions, your costs would be:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
One
Year |
Three
Years |
Five
Years |
Ten
Years |
$46 |
$144 |
$252 |
$567 |
Portfolio
Turnover:
The Fund pays transaction
costs, such as commissions, when it buys 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 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. For the most recent fiscal period, the
Fund's portfolio turnover rate was 16.88% of the average value of its
portfolio.
PRINCIPAL INVESTMENT
STRATEGIES
The
Fund invests at least 80% of its total assets in the securities of the Solactive
MLP & Energy Infrastructure Index ("Underlying Index"). The Fund also
invests at least 80% of its total assets in securities of master limited
partnerships ("MLPs") and energy infrastructure corporations. The Fund's 80%
investment policies are non-fundamental and require 60 days prior written notice
to shareholders before they can be changed. The Fund may lend securities
representing up to one-third of the value of the Fund’s total assets (including
the value of the collateral received).
The
Underlying Index tracks the performance of midstream energy infrastructure MLPs
and corporations. Midstream energy infrastructure MLPs and corporations
principally own and operate assets used in energy logistics, including, but not
limited to, pipelines, storage facilities and other assets used in transporting,
storing, gathering, and processing natural gas, natural gas liquids, crude oil
or refined products. The Underlying Index limits its exposure to partnerships in
order to comply with applicable tax diversification rules. Securities must be
publicly traded in the United States. As of January 31, 2022, the
Underlying Index was comprised of 24 securities. The Fund's investment objective
and Underlying Index may be changed without shareholder approval.
The
Underlying Index is sponsored by Solactive AG, the provider of the Underlying
Index ("Index Provider"), which is an organization that is independent of, and
unaffiliated with, the Fund and Global X Management Company LLC, the investment
adviser
for the Fund ("Adviser"). The Index Provider determines the relative weightings
of the securities in the Underlying Index and publishes information regarding
the market value of the Underlying Index.
The
Adviser will use a "passive" or indexing approach to try to achieve the Fund's
investment objective. Unlike many investment companies, the Fund does not try to
outperform the Underlying Index and does not seek temporary defensive positions
when markets decline or appear overvalued.
The
Fund generally will use a replication strategy. A replication strategy is an
indexing strategy that involves investing in the securities of the Underlying
Index in approximately the same proportions as in the Underlying Index. However,
the Fund may utilize a representative sampling strategy with respect to the
Underlying Index when a replication strategy might be detrimental or
disadvantageous to shareholders, such as when there are practical difficulties
or substantial costs involved in compiling a portfolio of equity securities to
replicate the Underlying Index, in instances in which a security in the
Underlying Index becomes temporarily illiquid, unavailable or less liquid, or as
a result of legal restrictions or limitations (such as tax diversification
requirements) that apply to the Fund but not the Underlying Index.
MLPs,
including midstream energy infrastructure MLPs, are publicly traded partnerships
engaged in the transportation, storage, processing, refining, marketing,
exploration, production, and mining of natural resources. By confining their
operations to these specific activities, their interests, or units, are able to
trade on public securities exchanges exactly like the shares of a corporation,
without entity level taxation.
To
qualify as a MLP and not to be taxed as a corporation, a partnership must
receive at least 90% of its income from qualifying sources as set forth in
Section 7704(d) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the "Code").
These qualifying sources include interest, dividends, real estate rents, gain
from the sale or disposition of real property, income and gain from mineral or
natural resources activities, income and gain from the transportation or storage
of certain fuels, gain from the sale or disposition of a capital asset held for
the production of income described in the foregoing, and, in certain
circumstances, income and gain from commodities or futures, forwards and options
with respect to commodities.
MLPs
generally have two classes of owners, the general partner and limited partners.
The general partner of an MLP is typically owned by a major energy company, an
investment fund, or the direct management of the MLP, or is an entity owned by
one or more of such parties. The general partner may be structured as a private
or publicly traded corporation or other entity. The general partner typically
controls the operations and management of the MLP through an up to 2% equity
interest in the MLP plus, in many cases, ownership of common units and
subordinated units. Limited partners typically own the remainder of the
partnership, through ownership of common units, and have a limited role in the
partnership's operations and management. MLPs are typically structured such that
common units and general partner interests have first priority to receive
quarterly cash distributions up to an established minimum amount ("minimum
quarterly distributions" or "MQD"). Common and general partner interests also
accrue arrearages in distributions to the extent the MQD is not paid. Once
common and general partner interests have been paid, subordinated units receive
distributions of up to the MQD; however, subordinated units do not accrue
arrearages. Distributable cash in excess of the MQD is paid to both common and
subordinated units and is distributed to both common and subordinated units
generally on a pro rata basis. The general partner is also eligible to receive
incentive distributions if the general partner operates the business in a manner
which results in distributions paid per common unit surpassing specified target
levels. As the general partner increases cash distributions to the limited
partners, the general partner receives an increasingly higher percentage of the
incremental cash distributions.
The
Adviser seeks a correlation over time of 95% or better between the Fund's
performance, before fund fees, expenses and taxes, and the performance of the
Underlying Index. A correlation percentage of 100% would indicate perfect
correlation. If the Fund uses a replication strategy, it can be expected to have
greater correlation to the Underlying Index than if it uses a representative
sampling strategy.
The Fund will concentrate its
investments (i.e., hold 25% or more of its total assets) in a particular
industry or group of industries to approximately the same extent that the
Underlying Index is concentrated. As of January 31, 2022, the Underlying
Index was concentrated in the oil, gas and consumable fuels industry and had
significant exposure to the energy
sector.
SUMMARY OF PRINCIPAL RISKS
As with any investment, you could lose all or part of
your investment in the Fund, and the Fund’s performance could trail that of
other investments. There is no guarantee that the Fund will
achieve its investment objective. An investment in the Fund is not a
bank deposit and it is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit
Insurance Corporation or any other government agency, the Adviser or any of its
affiliates. The Fund is subject to the principal risks noted
below, any of which may adversely affect the Fund’s net asset value (“NAV”),
trading price, yield, total return and ability to meet its investment objective,
as well
as
other risks that are described in greater detail in the Additional
Information About the Funds
section of this Prospectus and in the Statement of Additional Information
(“SAI”). The order of the below risk factors does not indicate the significance
of any particular risk factor.
Asset
Class Risk:
Securities and other assets in the Underlying Index or otherwise held in the
Fund's portfolio may underperform in comparison to the general securities
markets, a particular securities market or other asset classes.
Equity
Securities Risk:
Equity securities are subject to changes in value, and their values may be more
volatile than other asset classes, as a result of such factors as a company’s
business performance, investor perceptions, stock market trends and general
economic conditions.
Master
Limited Partnerships Investment Risk: Investments
in securities of an MLP involve 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, and cash flow risks. MLP common
units and other equity securities can be affected by changes in macro-economic
and other factors affecting the stock market in general, including changes in
growth, unemployment, and inflation rates, as well as expectations of interest
rates. MLP common units and other equity securities can also be affected by
investor sentiment towards MLPs or the energy sector, changes in a particular
issuer’s financial condition, or unfavorable or unanticipated poor performance
of a particular issuer (in the case of MLPs, generally measured in terms of
distributable cash flow). Prices of common units of individual MLPs and other
equity securities also can be affected by fundamentals unique to the partnership
or company, including earnings power and coverage ratios.
Midstream
MLPs Investment Risk:
MLPs that operate midstream assets are subject to supply and demand fluctuations
in the markets they serve, which may be impacted by a wide range of factors,
including fluctuating commodity prices, weather, increased conservation or use
of alternative fuel sources, increased governmental or environmental regulation,
depletion, rising interest rates, declines in domestic or foreign production,
accidents or catastrophic events, increasing operating expenses and economic
conditions, among others. Midstream MLPs may be particularly susceptible to
large drops in energy prices, which have the ability to impact more drastically
production in the oil and gas fields that they serve. Further, MLPs that operate
gathering and processing assets are subject to natural declines in the
production of the oil and gas fields they serve. In addition, some gathering and
processing contracts subject the owner of such assets to direct commodity price
risk.
Associated
Risks Related to Investing in Energy Infrastructure Companies: The
Fund invests primarily in energy infrastructure companies. Energy infrastructure
companies are subject to risks specific to the industry they serve, including,
but not limited to, the following:
•
reduced volumes of natural gas or other energy commodities available for
transporting, processing or storing;
•
new construction and acquisition risk, which can limit growth potential;
•
a sustained reduced demand for crude oil, natural gas and refined petroleum
products resulting from a recession or an increase in market price or higher
taxes;
•
changes in the regulatory environment;
•
extreme weather;
•
rising interest rates, which could result in a higher cost of capital and drive
investors into other investment opportunities; and
•
threats of attack by terrorists.
Capitalization
Risk:
Investing in issuers within the same market capitalization category carries the
risk that the category may be out of favor due to current market conditions or
investor sentiment.
Large-Capitalization
Companies Risk: Large-capitalization
companies may trail the returns of the overall stock market.
Large-capitalization stocks tend to go through cycles of doing better - or worse
- than the stock market in general. These periods have, in the past, lasted for
as long as several years.
Mid-Capitalization
Companies Risk: Mid-capitalization
companies may have greater price volatility, lower trading volume and less
liquidity than large-capitalization companies. In addition, mid-capitalization
companies may have smaller revenues, narrower product lines, less management
depth and experience, smaller shares of their product or service markets, fewer
financial resources and less competitive strength than large-capitalization
companies.
Cash
Transaction Risk:
Unlike most exchange-traded funds ("ETFs"), the Fund intends to effect a
significant portion of creations and redemptions for cash, rather than in-kind
securities. As a result, an investment in the Fund may be less tax-efficient
than an investment in a more conventional ETF. Moreover, cash transactions may
have to be carried out over several days if the securities market is relatively
illiquid and may involve considerable brokerage fees and taxes. These factors
may result in wider spreads between the bid and the offered prices of the Fund’s
Shares than for more conventional ETFs.
Commodity
Exposure Risk:
To the extent that its Underlying Index has exposure to securities and markets
that are susceptible to fluctuations in certain commodity markets, any negative
changes in commodity markets could have a great impact on the Fund. Commodity
prices may be influenced or characterized by unpredictable factors, including,
where applicable, high volatility, changes in supply and demand relationships,
weather, agriculture, trade, changes in interest rates and monetary and other
governmental policies, action and inaction. Securities of companies held by the
Fund that are dependent on a single commodity, or are concentrated on a single
commodity sector, may typically exhibit even higher volatility attributable to
commodity prices.
Concentration
Risk:
To the extent that the Underlying Index concentrates in investments related to a
particular industry or group of industries, the Fund will also concentrate its
investments to approximately the same extent. Similarly, if the Underlying Index
has significant exposure to one or more sectors, the Fund’s investments will
likely have significant exposure to such sectors. In such event, the Fund’s
performance will be particularly susceptible to adverse events impacting such
industry or sector, which may include, but are not limited to, the following:
general economic conditions or cyclical market patterns that could negatively
affect supply and demand; competition for resources; adverse labor relations;
political or world events; obsolescence of technologies; and increased
competition or new product introductions that may affect the profitability or
viability of companies in a particular industry or sector. As a result, the
value of the Fund’s investments may rise and fall more than the value of shares
of a fund that invests in securities of companies in a broader range of
industries or sectors.
Risks
Related to Investing in the Energy Sector:
The value of securities issued by companies in the energy sector may decline for
many reasons, including, without limitation, changes in energy prices;
international politics; energy conservation; the success of exploration
projects; natural disasters or other catastrophes; changes in exchange rates,
interest rates, or economic conditions; changes in demand for energy products
and services; and tax and other government regulatory policies. Actions taken by
central governments may dramatically impact supply and demand forces that
influence energy prices, resulting in sudden decreases in value for companies in
the energy sector.
Risks
Related to Investing in the Oil, Gas and Consumable Fuels Industry:
The oil, gas and consumable fuels industry is cyclical and highly dependent on
the market price of fuel. The market value of companies in the oil, gas and
consumable fuels industry are strongly affected by the levels and volatility of
global commodity prices, supply and demand, capital expenditures on exploration
and production, energy conservation efforts, the prices of alternative fuels,
exchange rates and technological advances. Companies in this sector are subject
to substantial government regulation and contractual fixed pricing, which may
increase the cost of business and limit these companies’ earnings. Actions taken
by central governments may dramatically impact supply and demand forces that
influence the market price of fuel, resulting in sudden decreases in value for
companies in the oil, gas and consumable fuels industry. A significant portion
of their revenues depends on a relatively small number of customers, including
governmental entities and utilities. As a result, governmental budget restraints
may have a material adverse effect on the stock prices of companies in the
industry.
Foreign
Securities Risk:
The Fund may invest, within U.S. regulations, in foreign securities. The Fund's
investments in foreign securities can be riskier than U.S. securities
investments. Investments in the securities of foreign issuers (including
investments in ADRs and GDRs) are subject to the risks associated with investing
in those foreign markets, such as heightened risks of inflation or
nationalization. The prices of foreign securities and the prices of U.S.
securities have, at times, moved in opposite directions. In addition, securities
of foreign issuers may lose value due to political, economic and geographic
events affecting a foreign issuer or market. During periods of social, political
or economic instability in a country or region, the value of a foreign security
traded on U.S. exchanges could be affected by, among other things, increasing
price volatility, illiquidity, or the closure of the primary market on which the
security (or the security underlying the ADR or GDR) is traded. You may lose
money due to political, economic and geographic events affecting a foreign
issuer or market.
Geographic
Risk: A
natural, biological or other disaster could occur in a geographic region in
which the Fund invests, which could affect the economy or particular business
operations of companies in the specific geographic region, causing an adverse
impact on the Fund’s investments in the affected region or in a region
economically tied to the affected region. The securities in which the Fund
invests and, consequently, the Fund are also subject to specific risks as a
result of their business operations, including, but not limited to:
Risk
of Investing in Canada:
The Canadian economy is highly dependent on the demand for and price of natural
resources. As a result, the Canadian market is relatively concentrated in
issuers involved in the production and distribution of natural resources and any
changes in these sectors could have an adverse impact on the Canadian economy.
The Canadian economy is heavily dependent on relationships with certain key
trading partners, including the United States and China. Developments in the
United States, including renegotiation of the North American Free Trade
Agreement (“NAFTA”) and ratification of the successor United
States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (“USMCA”), which went into effect on July 1,
2020, as well as the imposition of additional tariffs by the United States, may
have implications for the trade arrangements between the United States and
Canada, which could negatively affect the value of securities held by the Fund.
Risk
of Investing in Developed Markets:
The Fund’s investment in a developed country issuer may subject the Fund to
regulatory, political, currency, security, economic and other risks associated
with developed countries. Developed countries tend to represent a significant
portion of the global economy and have generally experienced slower economic
growth than some less developed countries. Certain developed countries have
experienced security concerns, such as terrorism and strained international
relations. Incidents involving a country’s or region’s security may cause
uncertainty in its markets and may adversely affect its economy and the Fund’s
investments. In addition, developed countries may be impacted by changes to the
economic conditions of certain key trading partners, regulatory burdens, debt
burdens and the price or availability of certain commodities.
Risk
of Investing in the United States:
A decrease in imports or exports, changes in trade regulations and/or an
economic recession in the U.S. may have a material adverse effect on the U.S.
economy.
Investable
Universe of Companies Risk:
The investable universe of companies in which the Fund may invest may be
limited. If a company no longer meets the Index Provider’s criteria for
inclusion in the Underlying Index, the Fund may need to reduce or eliminate its
holdings in that company. The reduction or elimination of the Fund’s holdings in
the company may have an adverse impact on the liquidity of the Fund’s overall
portfolio holdings and on Fund performance.
Issuer
Risk:
Fund performance depends on the performance of individual companies in which the
Fund invests. Changes to the financial condition of any of those companies may
cause the value of such company's securities to decline.
Market
Risk:
Turbulence in the financial markets and reduced liquidity may negatively affect
issuers, which could have an adverse effect on the Fund. If the securities held
by the Fund experience poor liquidity, the Fund may be unable to transact at
advantageous times or prices, which may decrease the Fund’s returns. In
addition, there is a risk that policy changes by central governments and
governmental agencies, including the U.S. Federal Reserve or the European
Central Bank, which could include increasing interest rates, could cause
increased volatility in financial markets and lead to higher levels of Fund
redemptions from Authorized Participants, which could have a negative impact on
the Fund. Furthermore, local, regional or global events such as war, acts of
terrorism, the spread of infectious illness or other public health issues,
recessions, or other events could have a significant impact on the Fund and its
investments and trading of its Shares. For example, at the start of 2022,
expectations for higher policy interest rates and the removal of monetary policy
support resulted in elevated market volatility and a weak start to January as
markets rotated away from companies with weaker fundamentals and/or higher
valuations. Sustained elevated inflation, global supply chain bottlenecks and
labor shortages encouraged a U.S. Federal Reserve policy shift to increase
interest rates. With central bankers needing to reflect that they remain ahead
of the curve on inflation, there are concerns that monetary policy may provide
less support should economic growth slow. The slowing growth of gross domestic
product in China may weigh on global economic growth, while the COVID-19
pandemic remains a risk to both global economic growth and supply chain
normalization. Market risk factors may result in increased volatility and/or
decreased liquidity in the securities markets. The Fund’s NAV could decline over
short periods due to short-term market movements and over longer periods during
market downturns.
MLP
Tax Risk:
Subject to the application of the partnership audit rules, MLPs that elect to be
taxed as partnerships do not pay U.S. federal income tax at the partnership
level. Rather, each partner is allocated a share of the partnership’s income,
gains, losses, deductions and expenses. A change in current tax law, or a change
in the underlying business mix of a given MLP, could result in an MLP that
previously elected to be taxed as a partnership being treated as a corporation
for U.S. federal income tax purposes, which would result in such MLP being
required to pay U.S. federal income tax on its taxable income. The
classification of an MLP as a corporation for U.S. federal income tax purposes
would have the effect of reducing the amount of cash available for distribution
by the MLP. Thus, to the extent that any of the MLPs to which the Fund has
exposure are treated as a corporation for U.S. federal income tax purposes, it
could result in a reduction in the value of the Fund’s investment and lower the
Fund’s income. The Fund may also invest in MLPs that elect to be taxed as
corporations, which taxes would have the effect of reducing the amount of cash
available for distribution by the MLP. Additionally, as a result of the Fund's
exposure to MLPs taxed as partnerships, a portion of the Fund’s distributions
are expected to be treated as a return of capital for tax
purposes.
Return of capital distributions are not taxable income to you, but reduce your
tax basis in your Fund Shares. Such a reduction in tax basis will result in
larger taxable gains and/or lower tax losses on a subsequent sale of Fund
Shares. Shareholders who sell their Shares for less than they bought them may
still recognize a gain due to the reduction in tax basis. Shareholders who
periodically receive the payment of dividends or other distributions consisting
of a return of capital may be under the impression that they are receiving net
profits from the Fund when, in fact, they are not. Shareholders should not
assume that the source of the distributions is from the net profits of the Fund.
To the extent that the distributions paid to you constitute a return of capital,
the Fund's assets will decline. A decline in the Fund's assets may also result
in an increase in the portion of a Fund's expense ratio that is not subject to a
unitary fee or any other form of contractual cap, and over time the
distributions paid in excess of net distributions received could work to erode
the Fund's net asset value.
Non-Diversification
Risk:
The Fund is classified as a “non-diversified” investment company under the
Investment Company Act of 1940 ("1940 Act"). As a result, the Fund is subject to
the risk that it may be more volatile than a diversified fund because the Fund
may invest its assets in a smaller number of issuers or may invest a larger
proportion of its assets in a single issuer. As a result, the gains and losses
on a single investment may have a greater impact on the Fund’s NAV and may make
the Fund more volatile than more diversified funds.
Operational
Risk:
The Fund is exposed to operational risk 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. Additionally,
cyber security failures or breaches of the electronic systems of the Fund, the
Adviser, and the Fund's other service providers, market makers, Authorized
Participants or the issuers of securities in which the Fund invests have the
ability to cause disruptions and negatively impact the Fund's business
operations, potentially resulting in financial losses to the Fund and its
shareholders. The Fund and the Adviser seek to reduce these operational risks
through controls and procedures. However, these measures do not address every
possible risk and may be inadequate for those risks that they are intended to
address.
Passive
Investment Risk:
The Fund is not actively managed, and the Adviser does not attempt to take
defensive positions in declining markets. Unlike many investment companies, the
Fund does not seek to outperform its Underlying Index. Therefore, it would not
necessarily buy or sell a security unless that security is added or removed,
respectively, from the Underlying Index, even if that security generally is
underperforming. Additionally, if a constituent of the Underlying Index were
removed, even outside of a regular rebalance of the Underlying Index, the
Adviser anticipates that the Fund would sell such security. Maintaining
investments in securities regardless of market conditions or the performance of
individual securities could cause the Fund’s return to be lower than if the Fund
employed an active strategy.
Index-Related
Risk:
There is no guarantee that the Fund will achieve a high degree of correlation to
the Underlying Index and therefore achieve its investment objective. Market
disruptions and regulatory restrictions could have an adverse effect on the
Fund’s ability to adjust its exposure to the required levels in order to track
the Underlying Index. Errors in index data, index computations and/or the
construction of the Underlying Index in accordance with its methodology 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, which may have an adverse impact on the
Fund and its shareholders.
Management
Risk:
The Fund may not fully replicate its Underlying Index and may hold securities
not included in its Underlying Index. The Adviser’s investment strategy, the
implementation of which is subject to a number of constraints, may cause the
Fund to underperform the market or its relevant benchmark or adversely affect
the ability of the Fund to achieve its investment objective.
Tracking
Error Risk:
Tracking error may occur because of differences between the instruments held in
the Fund's portfolio and those included in the Underlying Index, pricing
differences, transaction costs incurred by the Fund, the Fund's holding of
uninvested cash, size of the Fund, differences in timing of the accrual of or
the valuation of dividends or interest, tax gains or losses, changes to the
Underlying Index or the costs to the Fund of complying with various new or
existing regulatory requirements. This risk may be heightened during times of
increased market volatility or other unusual market conditions. Tracking error
also may result because the Fund incurs fees and expenses, while the Underlying
Index does not.
Risks
Associated with Exchange-Traded Funds:
As an ETF, the Fund is subject to the following risks:
Authorized
Participants Concentration Risk:
The Fund has a limited number of financial institutions that may act as
Authorized Participants and engage in creation or redemption transactions
directly with the Fund, and none of those Authorized Participants is obligated
to engage in creation and/or redemption transactions. To the extent that those
Authorized Participants exit the business or are unable to process creation
and/or redemption orders, Shares may be
more
likely to trade at a premium or discount to NAV, and possibly face trading halts
and/or delisting from an exchange. Authorized Participants Concentration Risk
may be heightened because the Fund invests in non-U.S. securities.
Large
Shareholder Risk: Redemptions
by large shareholders could have a significant negative impact on the Fund. If a
large shareholder were to redeem all, or a large portion, of its Shares, there
is no guarantee that the Fund will be able to maintain sufficient assets to
continue operations in which case the Board of Trustees may determine to
liquidate the Fund. In addition, transactions by large shareholders may account
for a large percentage of the trading volume on a national securities exchange
and may, therefore, have a material upward or downward effect on the market
price of the Shares.
Listing
Standards Risk: The
Fund is required to comply with listing requirements adopted by the listing
exchange. Non-compliance with such requirements may result in the Fund's shares
being delisted by the listing exchange. Any resulting liquidation of the Fund
could cause the Fund to incur elevated transaction costs and could result in
negative tax consequences for its shareholders.
Market
Trading Risks and Premium/Discount Risks:
Shares of the Fund are publicly traded on a national securities exchange, which
may subject shareholders to numerous market trading risks. Disruptions to
creations and redemptions, the existence of extreme market volatility or
potential lack of assets in the Fund or an active trading market for Shares may
result in Shares trading at a significant premium or discount to NAV. If a
shareholder purchases Shares at a time when the market price is at a premium to
the NAV or sells Shares at a time when the market price is at a discount to the
NAV, the shareholder may sustain losses. The NAV of the Fund is calculated at
the end of each business day and fluctuates with changes in the market value of
the Fund’s holdings. The trading price of the Fund’s shares fluctuates, in some
cases materially, throughout trading hours in response to changes in the Fund’s
NAV.
Securities
Lending Risk:
Securities lending involves a risk of loss because the borrower may fail to
return the securities in a timely manner or at all. If the Fund is not able to
recover the securities loaned, it may sell the collateral and purchase a
replacement security in the market. Lending securities entails a risk of loss to
the Fund if and to the extent that the market value of the loaned securities
increases and the collateral is not increased accordingly. Additionally, the
Fund will bear any loss on the investment of cash collateral it receives. These
events could also trigger adverse tax consequences for the Fund. As securities
on loan may not be voted by the Fund, there is a risk that the Fund may not be
able to recall the securities in sufficient time to vote on material proxy
matters.
Trading
Halt Risk:
An exchange or market may close or issue trading halts on specific securities,
or the ability to buy or sell certain securities or financial instruments may be
restricted, which may result in the Fund being unable to buy or sell certain
securities or financial instruments. In such circumstances, the Fund may be
unable to rebalance its portfolio, may be unable to accurately price its
investments and/or may incur substantial trading
losses.
Valuation
Risk: The sales price the Fund could receive for
a security may differ from the Fund’s valuation of the security and may differ
from the value used by the Underlying Index, particularly for securities that
trade in low value or volatile markets or that are valued using a fair value
methodology (such as during trading halts). The value of the securities in
the Fund's portfolio may change on days when shareholders will not be able to
purchase or sell the Fund's Shares.
PERFORMANCE
INFORMATION
The bar chart
and table that follow show how the Fund performed on a calendar year basis and
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 the Fund's average
annual total returns for the indicated periods compared with the Fund's
benchmark index and a broad measure of market performance.
The Fund's past performance
(before and after taxes) is not necessarily indicative of how the Fund will
perform in the future. Updated performance information is
available online at
www.globalxetfs.com.
Annual Total Returns (Years Ended December
31)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Best
Quarter: |
6/30/2020 |
37.87% |
Worst
Quarter: |
3/31/2020 |
-48.88% |
Average Annual Total Returns (for the Periods
Ended December 31, 2021)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
One
Year Ended December 31, 2021 |
Five
Years Ended December 31, 2021 |
Since
Inception (08/06/2013) |
Global
X MLP & Energy Infrastructure ETF: |
|
|
|
·Return before
taxes |
39.48% |
1.35% |
2.16% |
·Return
after taxes on distributions1 |
38.09% |
-0.10% |
0.90% |
·Return
after taxes on distributions and sale of Fund Shares1 |
23.68% |
0.58% |
1.29% |
Solactive
MLP & Energy Infrastructure Index
(Index returns do not
reflect deduction for fees, expenses, or
taxes) |
40.40% |
2.00% |
2.81% |
S&P
500®
Index
(Index returns do not
reflect deduction for fees, expenses, or
taxes) |
28.71% |
18.47% |
15.30% |
1
After-tax returns are
calculated using the historical highest individual U.S. federal marginal income
tax rates and do not reflect the impact of state and local
taxes. Your actual after-tax returns
will depend on your specific tax situation and may differ from those shown
above. After-tax returns are not relevant to investors who hold Shares of the
Fund through tax-advantaged arrangements, such as 401(k) plans or individual
retirement accounts (IRAs).
FUND
MANAGEMENT
Investment
Adviser:
Global X Management Company LLC.
Portfolio
Managers:
The professionals primarily responsible for the day-to-day management of the
Fund are Nam To, CFA; Wayne Xie; Kimberly Chan; Vanessa Yang; William Helm, CFA;
and Sandy Lu, CFA (“Portfolio Managers”). Mr. To has been a Portfolio Manager of
the Fund since March 1, 2018. Mr. Xie has been a Portfolio Manager of the Fund
since March 1,
2019.
Ms. Chan has been a Portfolio Manager of the Fund since June 10, 2019. Ms. Yang
has been a Portfolio Manager of the Fund since December 2020. Messrs. Helm and
Lu have been Portfolio Managers of the Fund since April 2022.
PURCHASE
AND SALE OF FUND SHARES
Shares
of the Fund are or will be listed and traded at market prices on a national
securities exchange. Shares may only be purchased and sold on the exchange
through a broker-dealer. The price of Shares is based on market price, and
because ETF shares trade at market prices rather than at NAV, Shares may trade
at a price greater than NAV (a premium) or less than NAV (a discount). Only
“Authorized Participants” (as defined in the SAI) who have entered into
agreements with the Fund’s distributor, SEI Investments Distribution Co.
(“Distributor”), may engage in creation or redemption transactions directly with
the Fund. The Fund will only issue or redeem Shares that have been aggregated
into blocks called Creation Units. The Fund will issue or redeem Creation Units
in return for a basket of cash and/or securities that the Fund specifies any day
that the national securities exchanges are open for business (“Business Day”).
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”). To
access information regarding the Fund’s net asset value, market price, premiums
and discounts, and bid-ask spreads, please go to https://www.globalxetfs.com.
TAX
INFORMATION
The
Fund intends to make distributions that may be taxable to you as ordinary income
or capital gains, unless you are investing through a tax-advantaged arrangement,
such as a 401(k) plan or an individual retirement account ("IRA"), in which case
distributions from such tax-advantaged arrangement may be taxable to you.
PAYMENTS
TO BROKER-DEALERS AND OTHER FINANCIAL INTERMEDIARIES
The
Adviser and its related companies may pay broker-dealers or other financial
intermediaries (such as a bank) for the sale of Fund Shares and related
services. These payments may create a conflict of interest by influencing your
broker-dealer, sales persons or other intermediary or its employees or
associated persons to recommend the Fund over another investment. Ask your
financial adviser or visit your financial intermediary’s website for more
information.
Global X Conscious Companies
ETF
Ticker:
KRMA Exchange: NASDAQ
INVESTMENT OBJECTIVE
The Global X Conscious
Companies ETF ("Fund") seeks to provide investment results that correspond
generally to the price and yield performance, before fees and expenses, of the
Concinnity Conscious Companies Index ("Underlying
Index").
FEES AND EXPENSES
This table describes the fees
and expenses that you may pay if you buy, hold, and sell shares (“Shares”) of
the Fund. You may pay other fees, such as brokerage commissions and other fees
to financial intermediaries, which are not reflected in the table and examples
below.
Annual
Fund Operating Expenses
(expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your
investment):
|
|
|
|
|
|
Management
Fees: |
0.43% |
Distribution
and Service (12b-1) Fees: |
None |
Other
Expenses: |
0.00% |
Total
Annual Fund Operating Expenses: |
0.43% |
Example:
The following example
is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the Fund with the cost
of investing in other funds. This example does not take into account customary
brokerage commissions that you pay when purchasing or selling Shares of the Fund
in the secondary market. The 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 the same. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on
these assumptions, your costs would be:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
One
Year |
Three
Years |
Five
Years |
Ten
Years |
$44 |
$138 |
$241 |
$542 |
Portfolio
Turnover:
The Fund pays transaction
costs, such as commissions, when it buys 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 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. For the most recent fiscal period, the
Fund's portfolio turnover rate was 22.92% of the average value of its
portfolio.
PRINCIPAL INVESTMENT
STRATEGIES
The
Fund invests at least 80% of its total assets in the securities of the
Concinnity Conscious Companies Index ("Underlying Index"). The Fund's 80%
investment policy is non-fundamental and requires 60 days prior written notice
to shareholders before it can be changed.
The
Underlying Index is designed to provide exposure to companies listed in the U.S.
that operate their businesses in a sustainable and responsible manner, as
measured by their ability to achieve positive outcomes that are consistent with
a multi-stakeholder operating system ("MsOS"), as defined by Concinnity Advisors
LP, the provider of the Underlying Index ("Index Provider"). The MsOS is a
corporate governance structure that seeks to account for the multiple
stakeholders that are critical for the ongoing success of the business, and
incorporate the considerations of these stakeholders into the corporate
decision-making and problem-solving process. The Index Provider conducts its
analysis based on the following five key stakeholder groups: (1) Customers, (2)
Employees, (3) Suppliers, (4) Stock and Debt Holders, and (5) Communities in
which the companies operate.
The
universe of companies eligible for inclusion in the Underlying Index is
comprised of companies listed in the United States. with a market capitalization
greater than $2 billion. From this initial universe, the Index Provider applies
a proprietary, three-step analysis to select companies for the Underlying Index.
In the first step, the Index Provider utilizes approximately forty information
sources and public rankings to identify and evaluate companies based on their
demonstrated ability to achieve positive outcomes across all five stakeholder
groups. Positive outcomes vary by stakeholder group, but include metrics that
assess
areas such as employee productivity, customer loyalty and corporate governance.
These information sources are vetted annually by the Index Provider and
evaluated based on stakeholder focus, research methodology and third party or
in-house analysis of a source's potential as a leading indicator of corporate
and/or stock performance. Companies are scored by the Index Provider based on
their appearance and performance in these sources and rankings. Of the
approximately 1,100 - 1,400 companies that typically make up the eligible
universe, approximately 600-700 are generally selected by the Index Provider for
further analysis and potential inclusion in the Underlying Index.
In
the second step of the research process, the Index Provider uses a composite
analysis to apply a deeper evaluation on the remaining companies. The composite
analysis is a process that assesses various MsOS criteria by combining ratings
data from multiple research entities that specialize in various stakeholder
assessment categories. Companies are evaluated through a series of scoring
lenses that combine to form a composite score, which is underpinned by several
hundred MsOS criteria. Composite analysis MsOS criteria include, but are not
limited to: employee engagement, executive integrity, customer relationship
quality, labor and human rights, and quality of financial reporting. Various
modeling techniques are then used by the Index Provider to combine qualitative
and quantitative data into a single score for each company. This score reflects
the degree to which a company operates its business using the MsOS approach, as
defined by the research process. The approximately 300-350 highest scoring
companies ultimately comprise the MsOS investable universe for the purposes of
constructing the Underlying Index.
In
the final step, the Index Provider applies a screen for consistent achievement
to the MsOS investable universe of the approximately 300-350 highest scoring
companies. In order to be included in the Underlying Index, a company must have
qualified for inclusion in the MsOS investable universe for at least three
consecutive years. The Underlying Index is equal-weighted. The Underlying Index
may include large- or mid-capitalization companies, and will generally provide
exposure to all major sectors. As of January 31, 2022, the Underlying Index
had 181 constituents, with no single sector having an allocation greater than
25%. The three largest sectors represented in the Underlying Index as of
January 31, 2022, were information technology, health care and consumer
discretionary. The Fund's investment objective and Underlying Index may be
changed without shareholder approval.
The
Underlying Index is sponsored by the Index Provider, which is an organization
that is independent of, and unaffiliated with, the Fund and Global X Management
Company LLC, the investment adviser for the Fund ("Adviser"). The Index Provider
determines the relative weightings of the securities in the Underlying Index and
publishes information regarding the market value of the Underlying
Index.
The
Adviser uses a "passive" or indexing approach to try to achieve the Fund's
investment objective. Unlike many investment companies, the Fund does not try to
outperform the Underlying Index and does not seek temporary defensive positions
when markets decline or appear overvalued.
The
Fund generally will use a replication strategy. A replication strategy is an
indexing strategy that involves investing in the securities of the Underlying
Index in approximately the same proportions as in the Underlying Index. However,
the Fund may utilize a representative sampling strategy with respect to the
Underlying Index when a replication strategy might be detrimental or
disadvantageous to shareholders, such as when there are practical difficulties
or substantial costs involved in compiling a portfolio of equity securities to
replicate the Underlying Index, in instances in which a security in the
Underlying Index becomes temporarily illiquid, unavailable or less liquid, or as
a result of legal restrictions or limitations (such as tax diversification
requirements) that apply to the Fund but not the Underlying Index.
The
Adviser expects that, over time, the correlation between the Fund's performance
and that of the Underlying Index, before fees and expenses, will exceed 95%. A
correlation percentage of 100% would indicate perfect correlation. If the Fund
uses a replication strategy, it can be expected to have greater correlation to
the Underlying Index than if it uses a representative sampling
strategy.
The Fund concentrates its investments
(i.e., holds 25% or more of its total assets) in a particular industry or group
of industries to approximately the same extent that the Underlying Index is
concentrated. As of January 31, 2022, the Underlying Index had significant
exposure to the information technology
sector.
SUMMARY OF PRINCIPAL RISKS
As with any investment, you could lose all or part of
your investment in the Fund, and the Fund’s performance could trail that of
other investments. There is no guarantee that the Fund will
achieve its investment objective. An investment in the Fund is not a
bank deposit and it is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit
Insurance Corporation or any other government agency, the Adviser or any of its
affiliates. The Fund is subject to the principal risks noted
below, any of which may adversely
affect
the Fund’s net asset value (“NAV”), trading price, yield, total return and
ability to meet its investment objective, as well as other risks that are
described in greater detail in the Additional
Information About the Funds
section of this Prospectus and in the Statement of Additional Information
(“SAI”). The order of the below risk factors does not indicate the significance
of any particular risk factor.
Asset
Class Risk:
Securities and other assets in the Underlying Index or otherwise held in the
Fund's portfolio may underperform in comparison to the general securities
markets, a particular securities market or other asset classes.
Equity
Securities Risk:
Equity securities are subject to changes in value, and their values may be more
volatile than other asset classes, as a result of such factors as a company’s
business performance, investor perceptions, stock market trends and general
economic conditions.
Associated
Risks Related to Socially Responsible Investments:
Certain social responsibility investment criteria limit the types of securities
that can be included in the Underlying Index. This could cause the Underlying
Index to underperform other benchmark indices, and could cause the Fund to
underperform other funds that do not have a social responsibility
focus.
Capitalization
Risk:
Investing in issuers within the same market capitalization category carries the
risk that the category may be out of favor due to current market conditions or
investor sentiment.
Large-Capitalization
Companies Risk: Large-capitalization
companies may trail the returns of the overall stock market.
Large-capitalization stocks tend to go through cycles of doing better - or worse
- than the stock market in general. These periods have, in the past, lasted for
as long as several years.
Concentration
Risk:
To the extent that the Underlying Index concentrates in investments related to a
particular industry or group of industries, the Fund will also concentrate its
investments to approximately the same extent. Similarly, if the Underlying Index
has significant exposure to one or more sectors, the Fund’s investments will
likely have significant exposure to such sectors. In such event, the Fund’s
performance will be particularly susceptible to adverse events impacting such
industry or sector, which may include, but are not limited to, the following:
general economic conditions or cyclical market patterns that could negatively
affect supply and demand; competition for resources; adverse labor relations;
political or world events; obsolescence of technologies; and increased
competition or new product introductions that may affect the profitability or
viability of companies in a particular industry or sector. As a result, the
value of the Fund’s investments may rise and fall more than the value of shares
of a fund that invests in securities of companies in a broader range of
industries or sectors.
Risks
Related to Investing in the Information Technology Sector: Companies
in the information technology sector are subject to rapid changes in technology
product cycles; rapid product obsolescence; government regulation; and increased
competition, both domestically and internationally, including competition from
foreign competitors with lower production costs. Information technology
companies and companies that rely heavily on technology tend to be more volatile
than the overall market and also are heavily dependent on patent and
intellectual property rights. In addition, information technology companies may
have limited product lines, markets, financial resources or
personnel.
Geographic
Risk: A
natural, biological or other disaster could occur in a geographic region in
which the Fund invests, which could affect the economy or particular business
operations of companies in the specific geographic region, causing an adverse
impact on the Fund’s investments in the affected region or in a region
economically tied to the affected region. The securities in which the Fund
invests and, consequently, the Fund are also subject to specific risks as a
result of their business operations, including, but not limited to:
Risk
of Investing in Developed Markets:
The Fund’s investment in a developed country issuer may subject the Fund to
regulatory, political, currency, security, economic and other risks associated
with developed countries. Developed countries tend to represent a significant
portion of the global economy and have generally experienced slower economic
growth than some less developed countries. Certain developed countries have
experienced security concerns, such as terrorism and strained international
relations. Incidents involving a country’s or region’s security may cause
uncertainty in its markets and may adversely affect its economy and the Fund’s
investments. In addition, developed countries may be impacted by changes to the
economic conditions of certain key trading partners, regulatory burdens, debt
burdens and the price or availability of certain commodities.
Risk
of Investing in the United States:
A decrease in imports or exports, changes in trade regulations and/or an
economic recession in the U.S. may have a material adverse effect on the U.S.
economy.
Issuer
Risk:
Fund performance depends on the performance of individual companies in which the
Fund invests. Changes to the financial condition of any of those companies may
cause the value of such company's securities to decline.
Market
Risk:
Turbulence in the financial markets and reduced liquidity may negatively affect
issuers, which could have an adverse effect on the Fund. If the securities held
by the Fund experience poor liquidity, the Fund may be unable to transact at
advantageous times or prices, which may decrease the Fund’s returns. In
addition, there is a risk that policy changes by central governments and
governmental agencies, including the U.S. Federal Reserve or the European
Central Bank, which could include increasing interest rates, could cause
increased volatility in financial markets and lead to higher levels of Fund
redemptions from Authorized Participants, which could have a negative impact on
the Fund. Furthermore, local, regional or global events such as war, acts of
terrorism, the spread of infectious illness or other public health issues,
recessions, or other events could have a significant impact on the Fund and its
investments and trading of its Shares. For example, at the start of 2022,
expectations for higher policy interest rates and the removal of monetary policy
support resulted in elevated market volatility and a weak start to January as
markets rotated away from companies with weaker fundamentals and/or higher
valuations. Sustained elevated inflation, global supply chain bottlenecks and
labor shortages encouraged a U.S. Federal Reserve policy shift to increase
interest rates. With central bankers needing to reflect that they remain ahead
of the curve on inflation, there are concerns that monetary policy may provide
less support should economic growth slow. The slowing growth of gross domestic
product in China may weigh on global economic growth, while the COVID-19
pandemic remains a risk to both global economic growth and supply chain
normalization. Market risk factors may result in increased volatility and/or
decreased liquidity in the securities markets. The Fund’s NAV could decline over
short periods due to short-term market movements and over longer periods during
market downturns.
Operational
Risk:
The Fund is exposed to operational risk 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. Additionally,
cyber security failures or breaches of the electronic systems of the Fund, the
Adviser, and the Fund's other service providers, market makers, Authorized
Participants or the issuers of securities in which the Fund invests have the
ability to cause disruptions and negatively impact the Fund's business
operations, potentially resulting in financial losses to the Fund and its
shareholders. The Fund and the Adviser seek to reduce these operational risks
through controls and procedures. However, these measures do not address every
possible risk and may be inadequate for those risks that they are intended to
address.
Passive
Investment Risk:
The Fund is not actively managed, and the Adviser does not attempt to take
defensive positions in declining markets. Unlike many investment companies, the
Fund does not seek to outperform its Underlying Index. Therefore, it would not
necessarily buy or sell a security unless that security is added or removed,
respectively, from the Underlying Index, even if that security generally is
underperforming. Additionally, if a constituent of the Underlying Index were
removed, even outside of a regular rebalance of the Underlying Index, the
Adviser anticipates that the Fund would sell such security. Maintaining
investments in securities regardless of market conditions or the performance of
individual securities could cause the Fund’s return to be lower than if the Fund
employed an active strategy.
Index-Related
Risk:
There is no guarantee that the Fund will achieve a high degree of correlation to
the Underlying Index and therefore achieve its investment objective. Market
disruptions and regulatory restrictions could have an adverse effect on the
Fund’s ability to adjust its exposure to the required levels in order to track
the Underlying Index. Errors in index data, index computations and/or the
construction of the Underlying Index in accordance with its methodology 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, which may have an adverse impact on the
Fund and its shareholders.
Management
Risk:
The Fund may not fully replicate its Underlying Index and may hold securities
not included in its Underlying Index. The Adviser’s investment strategy, the
implementation of which is subject to a number of constraints, may cause the
Fund to underperform the market or its relevant benchmark or adversely affect
the ability of the Fund to achieve its investment objective.
Tracking
Error Risk:
Tracking error may occur because of differences between the instruments held in
the Fund's portfolio and those included in the Underlying Index, pricing
differences, transaction costs incurred by the Fund, the Fund's holding of
uninvested cash, size of the Fund, differences in timing of the accrual of or
the valuation of dividends or interest, tax gains or losses, changes to the
Underlying Index or the costs to the Fund of complying with various new or
existing regulatory requirements. This risk may be heightened during times of
increased market volatility or other unusual market conditions. Tracking error
also may result because the Fund incurs fees and expenses, while the Underlying
Index does not.
Risks
Associated with Exchange-Traded Funds:
As an ETF, the Fund is subject to the following risks:
Authorized
Participants Concentration Risk:
The Fund has a limited number of financial institutions that may act as
Authorized Participants and engage in creation or redemption transactions
directly with the Fund, and none of those Authorized Participants is obligated
to engage in creation and/or redemption transactions. To the extent that those
Authorized Participants exit the business or are unable to process creation
and/or redemption orders, Shares may be more likely to trade at a premium or
discount to NAV, and possibly face trading halts and/or delisting from an
exchange.
Large
Shareholder Risk: Redemptions
by large shareholders could have a significant negative impact on the Fund. If a
large shareholder were to redeem all, or a large portion, of its Shares, there
is no guarantee that the Fund will be able to maintain sufficient assets to
continue operations in which case the Board of Trustees may determine to
liquidate the Fund. In addition, transactions by large shareholders may account
for a large percentage of the trading volume on a national securities exchange
and may, therefore, have a material upward or downward effect on the market
price of the Shares.
Listing
Standards Risk: The
Fund is required to comply with listing requirements adopted by the listing
exchange. Non-compliance with such requirements may result in the Fund's shares
being delisted by the listing exchange. Any resulting liquidation of the Fund
could cause the Fund to incur elevated transaction costs and could result in
negative tax consequences for its shareholders.
Market
Trading Risks and Premium/Discount Risks:
Shares of the Fund are publicly traded on a national securities exchange, which
may subject shareholders to numerous market trading risks. Disruptions to
creations and redemptions, the existence of extreme market volatility or
potential lack of assets in the Fund or an active trading market for Shares may
result in Shares trading at a significant premium or discount to NAV. If a
shareholder purchases Shares at a time when the market price is at a premium to
the NAV or sells Shares at a time when the market price is at a discount to the
NAV, the shareholder may sustain losses. The NAV of the Fund is calculated at
the end of each business day and fluctuates with changes in the market value of
the Fund’s holdings. The trading price of the Fund’s shares fluctuates, in some
cases materially, throughout trading hours in response to changes in the Fund’s
NAV.
Trading
Halt Risk:
An exchange or market may close or issue trading halts on specific securities,
or the ability to buy or sell certain securities or financial instruments may be
restricted, which may result in the Fund being unable to buy or sell certain
securities or financial instruments. In such circumstances, the Fund may be
unable to rebalance its portfolio, may be unable to accurately price its
investments and/or may incur substantial trading
losses.
Valuation
Risk: The sales price the Fund could receive for
a security may differ from the Fund’s valuation of the security and may differ
from the value used by the Underlying Index, particularly for securities that
trade in low value or volatile markets or that are valued using a fair value
methodology (such as during trading halts). The value of the securities in
the Fund's portfolio may change on days when shareholders will not be able to
purchase or sell the Fund's Shares.
PERFORMANCE
INFORMATION
The bar chart
and table that follow show how the Fund performed on a calendar year basis and
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 the Fund's average
annual total returns for the indicated periods compared with the Fund's
benchmark index and a broad measure of market performance.
The Fund's past performance
(before and after taxes) is not necessarily indicative of how the Fund will
perform in the future. Updated performance information is
available online at
www.globalxetfs.com.
Annual Total Returns (Years Ended December
31)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Best
Quarter: |
6/30/2020 |
21.51% |
Worst
Quarter: |
3/31/2020 |
-22.43% |
Average Annual Total Returns (for the Periods
Ended December 31, 2021)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
One
Year Ended December 31, 2021 |
Five
Years Ended December 31, 2021 |
Since
Inception (07/11/2016) |
Global
X Conscious Companies ETF: |
|
|
|
·Return before
taxes |
27.82% |
18.32% |
17.94% |
·Return
after taxes on distributions1 |
27.48% |
17.94% |
17.55% |
·Return
after taxes on distributions and sale of Fund Shares1 |
16.69% |
14.81% |
14.57% |
Concinnity
Conscious Companies Index
(Index returns do not
reflect deduction for fees, expenses, or
taxes) |
28.22% |
18.84% |
18.42% |
S&P
500®
Index
(Index returns do not
reflect deduction for fees, expenses, or
taxes) |
28.71% |
18.47% |
17.95% |
1
After-tax returns are
calculated using the historical highest individual U.S. federal marginal income
tax rates and do not reflect the impact of state and local
taxes. Your actual after-tax returns
will depend on your specific tax situation and may differ from those shown
above. After-tax returns are not relevant to investors who hold Shares of the
Fund through tax-advantaged arrangements, such as 401(k) plans or individual
retirement accounts (IRAs).
FUND
MANAGEMENT
Investment
Adviser:
Global X Management Company LLC.
Portfolio
Managers:
The professionals primarily responsible for the day-to-day management of the
Fund are Nam To, CFA; Wayne Xie; Kimberly Chan; Vanessa Yang; William Helm, CFA;
and Sandy Lu, CFA (“Portfolio Managers”). Mr. To has been a Portfolio Manager of
the Fund since March 1, 2018. Mr. Xie has been a Portfolio Manager of the Fund
since March 1, 2019. Ms. Chan has been a Portfolio Manager of the Fund since
June 10, 2019. Ms. Yang has been a Portfolio Manager of the Fund since December
2020. Messrs. Helm and Lu have been Portfolio Managers of the Fund since April
2022.
PURCHASE
AND SALE OF FUND SHARES
Shares
of the Fund are or will be listed and traded at market prices on a national
securities exchange. Shares may only be purchased and sold on the exchange
through a broker-dealer. The price of Shares is based on market price, and
because ETF shares trade at market prices rather than at NAV, Shares may trade
at a price greater than NAV (a premium) or less than NAV (a discount). Only
“Authorized Participants” (as defined in the SAI) who have entered into
agreements with the Fund’s distributor, SEI Investments Distribution Co.
(“Distributor”), may engage in creation or redemption transactions directly with
the Fund. The Fund will only issue or redeem Shares that have been aggregated
into blocks called Creation Units. The Fund will issue or redeem Creation Units
in return for a basket of cash and/or securities that the Fund specifies any day
that the national securities exchanges are open for business (“Business Day”).
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”). To
access information regarding the Fund’s net asset value, market price, premiums
and discounts, and bid-ask spreads, please go to https://www.globalxetfs.com.
TAX
INFORMATION
The
Fund intends to make distributions that may be taxable to you as ordinary income
or capital gains, unless you are investing through a tax-advantaged arrangement,
such as a 401(k) plan or an individual retirement account ("IRA"), in which case
distributions from such tax-advantaged arrangement may be taxable to you.
PAYMENTS
TO BROKER-DEALERS AND OTHER FINANCIAL INTERMEDIARIES
The
Adviser and its related companies may pay broker-dealers or other financial
intermediaries (such as a bank) for the sale of Fund Shares and related
services. These payments may create a conflict of interest by influencing your
broker-dealer, sales persons or other intermediary or its employees or
associated persons to recommend the Fund over another investment. Ask your
financial adviser or visit your financial intermediary’s website for more
information.
Global X Adaptive U.S. Factor
ETF
Ticker:
AUSF Exchange: NYSE Arca
INVESTMENT OBJECTIVE
The Global X Adaptive U.S.
Factor ETF ("Fund") seeks to provide investment results that correspond
generally to the price and yield performance, before fees and expenses, of the
Adaptive Wealth Strategies U.S. Factor Index ("Underlying
Index").
FEES AND EXPENSES
This table describes the fees
and expenses that you may pay if you buy, hold, and sell shares (“Shares”) of
the Fund. You may pay other fees, such as brokerage commissions and other fees
to financial intermediaries, which are not reflected in the table and examples
below.
Annual
Fund Operating Expenses
(expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your
investment):
|
|
|
|
|
|
Management
Fees: |
0.27% |
Distribution
and Service (12b-1) Fees: |
None |
Other
Expenses: |
0.00% |
Total
Annual Fund Operating Expenses: |
0.27% |
Example:
The following example
is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the Fund with the cost
of investing in other funds. This example does not take into account customary
brokerage commissions that you pay when purchasing or selling Shares of the Fund
in the secondary market. The 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 the same. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on
these assumptions, your costs would be:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
One
Year |
Three
Years |
Five
Years |
Ten
Years |
$28 |
$87 |
$152 |
$343 |
Portfolio
Turnover:
The Fund pays transaction
costs, such as commissions, when it buys 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 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. For the most recent fiscal period, the
Fund's portfolio turnover rate was 96.21% of the average value of its
portfolio.
PRINCIPAL INVESTMENT
STRATEGIES
The
Fund invests at least 80% of its total assets in the securities of the Adaptive
Wealth Strategies U.S. Factor Index ("Underlying Index"). The Fund's 80%
investment policy is non-fundamental and requires 60 days prior written notice
to shareholders before it can be changed.
The
Underlying Index is owned and was developed by NorthCrest Asset Management (the
"Index Provider"). The Index is calculated and maintained by Solactive AG (the
"Calculation Agent"). The Underlying Index is designed to dynamically allocate
across three sub-indices that provide exposure to U.S. equities that exhibit
characteristics of one of three primary factors: value, momentum and low
volatility. Each factor is represented by a sub-index that is derived from the
Solactive U.S. Large & Mid Cap Index, which is designed to measure the 1,000
largest companies, by free float market capitalization, that are exchange-listed
in the United States:
•Solactive
U.S. Large & Mid Cap Value 100 Index TR
– This index is designed to measure the performance of the 100 stocks in the
Solactive U.S. Large & Mid Cap Index that exhibit the greatest exposure to
the value factor.
•Solactive
U.S. Large & Mid Cap Momentum 100 Index TR
– This index is designed to measure the performance of the 100 stocks in the
Solactive U.S. Large & Mid Cap Index that exhibit the highest degree of
relative performance.
•Solactive
U.S. Large & Mid Cap Minimum Downside Volatility 100 Index TR
– This index is designed to measure the performance of the 100 stocks in the
Solactive U.S. Large & Mid Cap Index that exhibit the lowest degree of
downside volatility.
The
Underlying Index is rebalanced quarterly. At each rebalance, the Underlying
Index allocates weight to the three sub-indices based on the relative
performance of each sub-index since the last rebalance of the Underlying Index.
The Underlying Index is designed to always be fully allocated to at least two of
the three sub-indices described above. The Fund's investment objective and
Underlying Index may be changed without shareholder approval.
The
Underlying Index is sponsored by the Index Provider,which is an organization
that is independent of, and unaffiliated with, the Fund and Global X Management
Company LLC, the investment adviser for the Fund ("Adviser"). As of
January 31, 2022, the Underlying Index had 189 constituents.
The
Adviser uses a "passive" or indexing approach to try to achieve the Fund's
investment objective. Unlike many investment companies, the Fund does not try to
outperform the Underlying Index and does not seek temporary defensive positions
when markets decline or appear overvalued.
The
Fund generally will use a replication strategy. A replication strategy is an
indexing strategy that involves investing in the securities of the Underlying
Index in approximately the same proportions as in the Underlying Index. However,
the Fund may utilize a representative sampling strategy with respect to the
Underlying Index when a replication strategy might be detrimental or
disadvantageous to shareholders, such as when there are practical difficulties
or substantial costs involved in compiling a portfolio of equity securities to
replicate the Underlying Index, in instances in which a security in the
Underlying Index becomes temporarily illiquid, unavailable or less liquid, or as
a result of legal restrictions or limitations (such as tax diversification
requirements) that apply to the Fund but not the Underlying Index.
The
Adviser expects that, over time, the correlation between the Fund's performance
and that of the Underlying Index, before fees and expenses, will exceed 95%. A
correlation percentage of 100% would indicate perfect correlation. If the Fund
uses a replication strategy, it can be expected to have greater correlation to
the Underlying Index than if it uses a representative sampling
strategy.
The Fund concentrates its investments
(i.e., holds 25% or more of its total assets) in a particular industry or group
of industries to approximately the same extent that the Underlying Index is
concentrated. As of January 31, 2022, the Underlying Index was not
concentrated in any industry.
SUMMARY OF PRINCIPAL RISKS
As with any investment, you could lose all or part of
your investment in the Fund, and the Fund’s performance could trail that of
other investments. There is no guarantee that the Fund will
achieve its investment objective. An investment in the Fund is not a
bank deposit and it is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit
Insurance Corporation or any other government agency, the Adviser or any of its
affiliates. The Fund is subject to the principal risks noted
below, any of which may adversely affect the Fund’s net asset value (“NAV”),
trading price, yield, total return and ability to meet its investment objective,
as well as other risks that are described in greater detail in the Additional
Information About the Funds
section of this Prospectus and in the Statement of Additional Information
(“SAI”). The order of the below risk factors does not indicate the significance
of any particular risk factor.
Asset
Class Risk:
Securities and other assets in the Underlying Index or otherwise held in the
Fund's portfolio may underperform in comparison to the general securities
markets, a particular securities market or other asset classes.
Equity
Securities Risk:
Equity securities are subject to changes in value, and their values may be more
volatile than other asset classes, as a result of such factors as a company’s
business performance, investor perceptions, stock market trends and general
economic conditions.
Capitalization
Risk:
Investing in issuers within the same market capitalization category carries the
risk that the category may be out of favor due to current market conditions or
investor sentiment.
Large-Capitalization
Companies Risk: Large-capitalization
companies may trail the returns of the overall stock market.
Large-capitalization stocks tend to go through cycles of doing better - or worse
- than the stock market in general. These periods have, in the past, lasted for
as long as several years.
Mid-Capitalization
Companies Risk: Mid-capitalization
companies may have greater price volatility, lower trading volume and less
liquidity than large-capitalization companies. In addition, mid-capitalization
companies may have smaller revenues, narrower product lines, less management
depth and experience, smaller shares of their product or service markets, fewer
financial resources and less competitive strength than large-capitalization
companies.
Concentration
Risk:
To the extent that the Underlying Index concentrates in investments related to a
particular industry or group of industries, the Fund will also concentrate its
investments to approximately the same extent. Similarly, if the Underlying Index
has significant exposure to one or more sectors, the Fund’s investments will
likely have significant exposure to such sectors. In such event, the Fund’s
performance will be particularly susceptible to adverse events impacting such
industry or sector, which may include, but are not limited to, the following:
general economic conditions or cyclical market patterns that could negatively
affect supply and demand; competition for resources; adverse labor relations;
political or world events; obsolescence of technologies; and increased
competition or new product introductions that may affect the profitability or
viability of companies in a particular industry or sector. As a result, the
value of the Fund’s investments may rise and fall more than the value of shares
of a fund that invests in securities of companies in a broader range of
industries or sectors.
Geographic
Risk: A
natural, biological or other disaster could occur in a geographic region in
which the Fund invests, which could affect the economy or particular business
operations of companies in the specific geographic region, causing an adverse
impact on the Fund’s investments in the affected region or in a region
economically tied to the affected region. The securities in which the Fund
invests and, consequently, the Fund are also subject to specific risks as a
result of their business operations, including, but not limited to:
Risk
of Investing in Developed Markets:
The Fund’s investment in a developed country issuer may subject the Fund to
regulatory, political, currency, security, economic and other risks associated
with developed countries. Developed countries tend to represent a significant
portion of the global economy and have generally experienced slower economic
growth than some less developed countries. Certain developed countries have
experienced security concerns, such as terrorism and strained international
relations. Incidents involving a country’s or region’s security may cause
uncertainty in its markets and may adversely affect its economy and the Fund’s
investments. In addition, developed countries may be impacted by changes to the
economic conditions of certain key trading partners, regulatory burdens, debt
burdens and the price or availability of certain commodities.
Risk
of Investing in the United States:
A decrease in imports or exports, changes in trade regulations and/or an
economic recession in the U.S. may have a material adverse effect on the U.S.
economy.
Issuer
Risk:
Fund performance depends on the performance of individual companies in which the
Fund invests. Changes to the financial condition of any of those companies may
cause the value of such company's securities to decline.
Market
Risk:
Turbulence in the financial markets and reduced liquidity may negatively affect
issuers, which could have an adverse effect on the Fund. If the securities held
by the Fund experience poor liquidity, the Fund may be unable to transact at
advantageous times or prices, which may decrease the Fund’s returns. In
addition, there is a risk that policy changes by central governments and
governmental agencies, including the U.S. Federal Reserve or the European
Central Bank, which could include increasing interest rates, could cause
increased volatility in financial markets and lead to higher levels of Fund
redemptions from Authorized Participants, which could have a negative impact on
the Fund. Furthermore, local, regional or global events such as war, acts of
terrorism, the spread of infectious illness or other public health issues,
recessions, or other events could have a significant impact on the Fund and its
investments and trading of its Shares. For example, at the start of 2022,
expectations for higher policy interest rates and the removal of monetary policy
support resulted in elevated market volatility and a weak start to January as
markets rotated away from companies with weaker fundamentals and/or higher
valuations. Sustained elevated inflation, global supply chain bottlenecks and
labor shortages encouraged a U.S. Federal Reserve policy shift to increase
interest rates. With central bankers needing to reflect that they remain ahead
of the curve on inflation, there are concerns that monetary policy may provide
less support should economic growth slow. The slowing growth of gross domestic
product in China may weigh on global economic growth, while the COVID-19
pandemic remains a risk to both global economic growth and supply chain
normalization. Market risk factors may result in increased volatility and/or
decreased liquidity in the securities markets. The Fund’s NAV could decline over
short periods due to short-term market movements and over longer periods during
market downturns.
Model
Portfolio Risk:
The Underlying Index utilizes a proprietary methodology to determine its
allocations to the securities in which the Fund invests. Investments selected
using a proprietary methodology (i.e.,
quantitative model) may perform differently from the market as a whole or from
their expected performance. There can be no assurance that use of a quantitative
model will enable the Fund to achieve positive returns or outperform the market.
Operational
Risk:
The Fund is exposed to operational risk 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. Additionally,
cyber security failures or breaches of the electronic systems of the Fund, the
Adviser, and the Fund's other service providers, market makers, Authorized
Participants or the issuers of securities in which the Fund invests have the
ability to cause disruptions and negatively impact the Fund's business
operations, potentially resulting in financial losses to the Fund and its
shareholders. The Fund and the Adviser seek to reduce these operational risks
through controls and procedures. However, these measures do not address every
possible risk and may be inadequate for those risks that they are intended to
address.
Passive
Investment Risk:
The Fund is not actively managed, and the Adviser does not attempt to take
defensive positions in declining markets. Unlike many investment companies, the
Fund does not seek to outperform its Underlying Index. Therefore, it would not
necessarily buy or sell a security unless that security is added or removed,
respectively, from the Underlying Index, even if that security generally is
underperforming. Additionally, if a constituent of the Underlying Index were
removed, even outside of a regular rebalance of the Underlying Index, the
Adviser anticipates that the Fund would sell such security. Maintaining
investments in securities regardless of market conditions or the performance of
individual securities could cause the Fund’s return to be lower than if the Fund
employed an active strategy.
Index-Related
Risk:
There is no guarantee that the Fund will achieve a high degree of correlation to
the Underlying Index and therefore achieve its investment objective. Market
disruptions and regulatory restrictions could have an adverse effect on the
Fund’s ability to adjust its exposure to the required levels in order to track
the Underlying Index. Errors in index data, index computations and/or the
construction of the Underlying Index in accordance with its methodology 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, which may have an adverse impact on the
Fund and its shareholders.
Management
Risk:
The Fund may not fully replicate its Underlying Index and may hold securities
not included in its Underlying Index. The Adviser’s investment strategy, the
implementation of which is subject to a number of constraints, may cause the
Fund to underperform the market or its relevant benchmark or adversely affect
the ability of the Fund to achieve its investment objective.
Tracking
Error Risk:
Tracking error may occur because of differences between the instruments held in
the Fund's portfolio and those included in the Underlying Index, pricing
differences, transaction costs incurred by the Fund, the Fund's holding of
uninvested cash, size of the Fund, differences in timing of the accrual of or
the valuation of dividends or interest, tax gains or losses, changes to the
Underlying Index or the costs to the Fund of complying with various new or
existing regulatory requirements. This risk may be heightened during times of
increased market volatility or other unusual market conditions. Tracking error
also may result because the Fund incurs fees and expenses, while the Underlying
Index does not.
Reliance
on Trading Partners Risk: The
United States is dependent upon trading with key partners. Any reduction in this
trading, including as a result of adverse economic conditions in a trading
partner's economy, may cause an adverse impact on the economy in which the Fund
invests. Through its portfolio companies' trading partners, the Fund is
specifically exposed to Asian
Economic Risk, European Economic Risk, Latin American Economic Risk, Middle East
Economic Risk and
North
American Economic Risk.
Risks
Associated with Exchange-Traded Funds:
As an ETF, the Fund is subject to the following risks:
Authorized
Participants Concentration Risk:
The Fund has a limited number of financial institutions that may act as
Authorized Participants and engage in creation or redemption transactions
directly with the Fund, and none of those Authorized Participants is obligated
to engage in creation and/or redemption transactions. To the extent that those
Authorized Participants exit the business or are unable to process creation
and/or redemption orders, Shares may be more likely to trade at a premium or
discount to NAV, and possibly face trading halts and/or delisting from an
exchange.
Large
Shareholder Risk: Redemptions
by large shareholders could have a significant negative impact on the Fund. If a
large shareholder were to redeem all, or a large portion, of its Shares, there
is no guarantee that the Fund will be able to maintain sufficient assets to
continue operations in which case the Board of Trustees may determine to
liquidate the Fund. In addition, transactions by large shareholders may account
for a large percentage of the trading volume on a national securities exchange
and may, therefore, have a material upward or downward effect on the market
price of the Shares.
Listing
Standards Risk: The
Fund is required to comply with listing requirements adopted by the listing
exchange. Non-compliance with such requirements may result in the Fund's shares
being delisted by the listing exchange. Any resulting liquidation of the Fund
could cause the Fund to incur elevated transaction costs and could result in
negative tax consequences for its shareholders.
Market
Trading Risks and Premium/Discount Risks:
Shares of the Fund are publicly traded on a national securities exchange, which
may subject shareholders to numerous market trading risks. Disruptions to
creations and redemptions, the existence of extreme market volatility or
potential lack of assets in the Fund or an active trading market for Shares may
result in Shares trading at a significant premium or discount to NAV. If a
shareholder purchases Shares at a time when the market price is at a premium to
the NAV or sells Shares at a time when the market price is at a discount to the
NAV, the shareholder may sustain losses. The NAV of the Fund is calculated at
the end of each business day and fluctuates with changes in the market value of
the Fund’s holdings. The trading price of the Fund’s shares fluctuates, in some
cases materially, throughout trading hours in response to changes in the Fund’s
NAV.
Trading
Halt Risk:
An exchange or market may close or issue trading halts on specific securities,
or the ability to buy or sell certain securities or financial instruments may be
restricted, which may result in the Fund being unable to buy or sell certain
securities or financial instruments. In such circumstances, the Fund may be
unable to rebalance its portfolio, may be unable to accurately price its
investments and/or may incur substantial trading losses.
Turnover
Risk: The
Fund may engage in frequent and active trading, which may significantly increase
the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate. At
times, the Fund may have a portfolio turnover rate substantially greater than
100%. For example, a portfolio turnover rate of 300%
is equivalent to the Fund buying and selling all of its securities three times
during the course of a year. A
high portfolio turnover rate would result in
high brokerage costs for the Fund, may result in higher taxes when shares are
held in a taxable account and lower Fund performance.
Valuation
Risk: The sales price the Fund could receive for
a security may differ from the Fund’s valuation of the security and may differ
from the value used by the Underlying Index, particularly for securities that
trade in low value or volatile markets or that are valued using a fair value
methodology (such as during trading halts). The value of the securities in
the Fund's portfolio may change on days when shareholders will not be able to
purchase or sell the Fund's Shares.
PERFORMANCE
INFORMATION
The bar chart
and table that follow show how the Fund performed on a calendar year basis and
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 the Fund's average
annual total returns for the indicated periods compared with the Fund's
benchmark index and a broad measure of market performance.
The Fund's past performance
(before and after taxes) is not necessarily indicative of how the Fund will
perform in the future. Updated performance information is
available online at
www.globalxetfs.com.
Annual Total Returns (Years Ended December
31)
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Best
Quarter: |
6/30/2020 |
20.38% |
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