2023-11-20EatonVanceFixed-IncomeETF_Pro485B
Parametric
Equity Premium Income ETF
Prospectus | January
28, 2024
|
| |
Portfolio |
Ticker
Symbol |
Exchange |
Parametric
Equity Premium Income
ETF |
PAPI |
NYSE
Arca |
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.
An
investment in the Fund is not a bank deposit and is not insured by the Federal
Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other
government agency. An investment in the Fund involves investment risks, and you
may lose money in the Fund.
PARMETEQTYPREINCETFPRO
1/24
Parametric | Fund
Summary
Parametric
Equity Premium Income ETF
Investment
Objective
Parametric
Equity Premium Income ETF (the “Fund”) seeks to provide consistent monthly
income while maintaining prospects for capital
appreciation.
Fees
and Expenses
The
table below describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy, hold
and sell shares of the Fund. You
may pay fees other
than the fees and expenses of the Fund, such as brokerage commissions and other
fees charged by financial intermediaries,
which are not reflected in the tables and examples
below.
Annual
Fund Operating Expenses1 (expenses
that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your
investment)
|
| |
Management
Fee1
|
% |
|
Other
Expenses2
|
% |
|
Total
Annual Fund Operating Expenses |
0.29% |
|
1 |
The
Fund’s management agreement provides that the Fund’s “Adviser,” Morgan
Stanley Investment Management Inc., will pay substantially all expenses
of
the Fund (including expenses of Morgan Stanley ETF Trust (the “Trust”)
relating to the Fund), except for the distribution fees, if any, brokerage
expenses,
acquired fund fees and expenses, taxes, interest, litigation expenses, and
other extraordinary expenses, including the costs of proxies, not
incurred
in the ordinary course of the Fund’s
business. |
2 |
Other
Expenses have been estimated for the current fiscal
year. |
Example
The
example below is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the Fund
with the cost of investing in other funds. The example
does not take into account brokerage commissions that you pay when purchasing or
selling shares of the Fund.
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 your investment has a 5% return each year and
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:
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 Fund shares are held in a taxable account.
These costs, which are not reflected in Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses or
in the example, affect the Fund’s performance.
Because the Fund had not yet commenced operations as of the most recent fiscal
year end, no portfolio turnover rate is available
for the Fund.
Principal
Investment Strategies
The
Fund is an actively managed exchange-traded fund (“ETF”). The investment
objective of the Fund is to seek to provide consistent
monthly income while maintaining prospects for capital appreciation. The Adviser
and Parametric Portfolio Associates LLC
(the “Sub-Adviser”) seek to fulfill the Fund’s objective by using two principal
strategies (1) creating an actively-managed portfolio
of dividend-paying equity securities that primarily include common stocks of
U.S. companies selected from the Russell 3000®
Index (the “long equity portfolio”); and (2) selling (writing) option contracts
on the SPDR S&P 500® ETF Trust (the “Underlying
ETF”) or on the S&P 500® Index (“Underlying Index”) to generate additional
yield.
Under
normal circumstances, the Fund invests at least 80% of its net assets (plus any
borrowings for investment purposes) in equity securities.
This policy may be changed without shareholder approval; however, shareholders
would be notified upon 60 days’ notice in
writing of any changes. Equity securities in which the Fund may invest include
common stocks.
The
Fund seeks to employ a top-down, disciplined, and systematic investment process
that emphasizes a diversified portfolio of quality
companies that over the prior 12 months have demonstrated high current income
and lower levels of risk on a sector relative basis.
Such companies may be referred to as durable dividend payers. This rules-based
strategy applies a series of durability rankings to
a broad universe of U.S. equity securities (i.e., equity securities of companies
included in the Russell 3000® Index). To achieve broad
diversification, each economic sector generally receives an equal weight. The
top-ranked securities within each sector based on the
Sub-Adviser’s yield and risk screening are also generally weighted equally. The
investment process is periodically re-evaluated and may
be adjusted to ensure that the process is consistent with the Fund’s investment
objective and strategies. The portfolio is rebalanced
periodically to maintain diversification and is reconstituted on an annual
basis. The portfolio managers seek to manage portfolio
risk by using a quantitative model to construct a diversified portfolio of
durable dividend paying companies.
Parametric | Fund
Summary
Parametric
Equity Premium Income ETF (Con’t)
The
Fund will systemically sell (write) out-of-the-money call option contracts,
which have an expiration date of approximately two weeks,
with an objective of generating incremental income. The Fund will sell such call
option contracts on the Underlying ETF or on
the Underlying Index. Flexible Exchange Options (“FLEX Options”) that reference
the Underlying ETF may be utilized. The Fund’s
derivative instruments are generally limited to its call option writing
strategy.
In
general, an option contract is an agreement between a buyer and a seller that
gives the purchaser of the option the right to purchase
(in the case of a call option) or sell (in the case of a put option) the
underlying asset (or deliver cash equal to the value of an underlying
index) at a specified price (“strike price”) within a specified time period or
at a specified future date. Selling a call option entitles
the seller to a premium equal to the value of the option at the time of the
trade. In the event the underlying asset declines in value,
the value of a call option will generally decrease (and may end up worthless).
Conversely, in the event the underlying asset appreciates
in value, the value of a call option will generally increase. FLEX Options are
customizable exchange-traded option contracts
guaranteed for settlement by the Options Clearing Corporation (the “OCC”).
Option terms that can be customized include
exercise price, exercise styles, and expiration
dates.
A
call option is considered “out-of-the-money” when the strike price of the option
at expiration exceeds the current price of the underlying
asset. By selling call options, the Fund will receive premiums but will give up
the opportunity to benefit from potential increases
in the value of the Underlying ETF or the Underlying Index above the
exercise prices of such options.
As
a result of writing call options, the Fund may forgo performance in market
environments with significant equity market appreciation
in which the Underlying ETF or Underlying Index exceeds the strike price of the
written call option. However, the Sub-Adviser
will seek to “ladder” the Fund’s written call option positions to mitigate this
risk. “Laddering” is an investment technique that
utilizes multiple option positions over multiple expiration dates to reduce the
concentration risk of a concentrated exposure to a single
option expiration and to create more opportunities to roll option positions
(i.e., one option position expires and a new option position
is opened in the same underlying security) during extended periods of market
appreciation. In this regard, the Sub-Adviser expects
to write more frequent, short-dated call options with two-week expirations in
tranches with such expirations being staggered approximately
every three to four trading days. The Sub-Adviser believes that this may provide
the opportunity for a more diversified options
portfolio with more consistent greater upside appreciation profile compared to a
written call option portfolio with a single position.
Additionally, the Sub-Adviser believes that the laddering of short-dated call
options may provide a more stable option premium
income for the portfolio, as each call option in the portfolio is expected to be
a short-dated call option with a two-week expiration
(either expiring worthless or with a liability) and, upon expiration, is
expected to be replaced with a new short-dated call option
with a two-week expiration.
The
Fund may incorporate certain tax optimization strategies within the long equity
portfolio in order to seek more tax-efficient distributions.
An example of such a strategy is harvesting losses in the long equity portfolio
to offset realized gains in the written options
portfolio and long equity portfolio. By offsetting gains through tax loss
harvesting, distributions which would otherwise be taxed
at short term capital gains rates may instead be classified as return of capital
and result in a more tax efficient distribution to shareholders.
Principal
Risks
There
is no assurance that the Fund will achieve its investment objective, and
you can lose money investing in this Fund.
The principal
risks of investing in the Fund include:
• |
Equity
Securities.
In general, prices of equity securities are more volatile than those of
fixed-income securities. The prices of equity securities
fluctuate, and sometimes widely fluctuate, in response to activities
specific to the issuer of the security as well as factors unrelated
to the fundamental condition of the issuer, including general market,
economic and political conditions. During periods when
equity securities experience heightened volatility, such as during periods
of market, economic or financial uncertainty or distress,
the Fund’s investments in equity securities may be subject to heightened
risks. |
|
The
value of equity securities and related instruments may decline in response
to adverse changes in the economy, the economic outlook
or the financial markets; deterioration in investor sentiment; interest
rate, currency, and commodity price fluctuations; adverse
geopolitical, social or environmental developments; issuer- and
sector-specific considerations; unexpected trading activity among
retail investors; and other factors. Market conditions may affect certain
types of stocks to a greater extent than other types of
stocks. If the stock market declines, the value of Fund shares will also
likely decline. |
• |
Income
Risk.
The Fund’s ability to distribute income to shareholders will depend on the
yield available on the common stocks held by
the Fund and the premiums received by the Fund with respect to its written
call options. Changes in the dividend policies of companies
held by the Fund could make it more difficult for the Fund to provide a
consistent monthly income. For example, if the
stocks held by the Fund reduce or stop paying dividends, the Fund’s
ability to generate income may be adversely affected. In addition,
the premiums received by the Fund with respect to its written call options
will vary over time and based on market conditions. |
Parametric | Fund
Summary
Parametric
Equity Premium Income ETF (Con’t)
|
The
Fund seeks to provide consistent monthly income while maintaining
prospects for capital appreciation. However, there is no guarantee
that the Fund will make monthly income payments to its shareholders or, if
made, that the Fund’s monthly income payments
to shareholders will remain consistent. For example, in the event the
value of the asset underlying a written call option exceeds
the strike price plus the premium received by the Fund with respect to the
option, the Fund’s ability to provide consistent monthly
income may be adversely impacted. The amount of the Fund’s distributions
for any period may exceed the amount of the
Fund’s income and gains for that period. In that case, some or all of the
Fund’s distributions may constitute a return of capital to
shareholders. |
• |
Liquidity.
The Fund may make investments that are illiquid or restricted or that may
become illiquid or less liquid in response to overall
economic conditions or adverse investor perceptions, and which may entail
greater risk than investments in other types of securities.
These investments may be more difficult to value or sell, particularly in
times of market turmoil, and there may be little trading
in the secondary market available for particular securities. If the Fund
is forced to sell an illiquid or restricted security to fund
redemptions or for other cash needs, it may be forced to sell the security
at a loss or for less than its fair value and may be unable
to sell the security at
all. |
|
In
the event that trading in the underlying FLEX Options is limited or
absent, the value of the Fund’s FLEX Options may decrease.
There is no guarantee that a liquid secondary trading market will exist
for the FLEX Options. The trading in FLEX Options
may be less deep and liquid than the market for certain other securities,
including certain non-customized option contracts.
In a less liquid market for the FLEX Options, terminating the FLEX Options
may require the payment of a premium or
acceptance of a discounted price and may take longer to complete.
Additionally, the liquidation of a large number of FLEX Options
may more significantly impact the price in a less liquid market. Further,
the Fund requires a sufficient number of participants
to facilitate the purchase and sale of options on an exchange to provide
liquidity to the Fund for its FLEX Option positions.
A less liquid trading market may adversely impact the value of the FLEX
Options and the value of your
investment. |
• |
Market
and Geopolitical Risk.
The value of your investment in the Fund is based on the values of the
Fund’s investments, which change
due to economic and other events that affect markets generally, as well as
those that affect particular regions, countries, industries,
companies or governments. These events may be sudden and unexpected, and
could adversely affect the liquidity of the Fund’s
investments, which may in turn impact valuation, the Fund’s ability to
sell securities and/or its ability to meet redemptions.
The risks associated with these developments may be magnified if certain
social, political, economic and other conditions
and events (such as war, natural disasters, epidemics and pandemics,
terrorism, conflicts, social unrest, recessions, inflation,
interest rate changes and supply chain disruptions) adversely interrupt
the global economy and financial markets. It is difficult
to predict when events affecting the U.S. or global financial
markets may occur, the effects that such events may have and the
duration of those effects (which may last for extended periods). These
events may negatively impact broad segments of businesses
and populations and have a significant and rapid negative impact on the
performance of the Fund’s investments, adversely
affect and increase the volatility of the Fund’s share price and
exacerbate pre-existing risks to the
Fund. |
• |
Derivatives.
Derivatives and other similar instruments that create synthetic exposure
often are subject to risks similar to those of the
underlying asset or instrument, including market risk, and may be subject
to additional risks, including imperfect correlation between
the value of the derivative and the underlying asset, risks of default by
the counterparty to certain transactions, magnification
of losses incurred due to changes in the market value of the securities,
instruments, indices or interest rates to which the
derivative instrument relates, risks that the transactions may not be
liquid, risks arising from margin and payment requirements,
risks arising from mispricing or valuation complexity and operational and
legal risks. Certain derivative transactions may
give rise to a form of leverage. Leverage magnifies the potential for gain
and the risk of
loss. |
• |
Call
Option Writing Risk.
Writing call options involves the risk that the Fund may be required to
sell the underlying security or instrument
(or settle in cash an amount of equal value) at a disadvantageous price or
below the market price of such underlying security
or instrument, at the time the option is exercised. As the writer of a
call option, the Fund forgoes, during the option’s life, the
opportunity to profit from increases in the market value of the underlying
security or instrument covering the option above the
sum of the premium and the exercise price, but retains the risk of loss
should the price of the underlying security or instrument
decline. Additionally, the Fund’s call option writing strategy may not
fully protect it against declines in the value of the
market. |
|
During
periods in which equity markets are generally unchanged or falling, or in
a modestly rising market where the income from premiums
exceeds the aggregate appreciation of the underlying security or
instrument over its exercise price, a diversified portfolio receiving
premiums from its call option writing strategy may outperform the same
portfolio without such an options strategy. However,
in rising markets where the aggregate appreciation of the underlying
security or instrument over its exercise price exceeds
the income from premiums, a portfolio with a call writing strategy could
significantly underperform the same portfolio without
such an options writing
strategy. |
|
The
Fund will also incur a form of economic leverage through its use of call
options, which could increase the volatility of the Fund’s
returns and may increase the risk of loss to the
Fund. |
Parametric | Fund
Summary
Parametric
Equity Premium Income ETF (Con’t)
|
There
are special risks associated with uncovered option writing which expose
the Fund to potentially significant loss. As the seller of
an uncovered call option, the Fund bears unlimited risk of loss should the
price of the underlying security increase above the exercise
price until the Fund covers its
exposure. |
• |
FLEX
Options.
The Fund utilizes FLEX Options guaranteed for settlement by the OCC. The
FLEX Options traded by the Fund are
listed on the Chicago Board Options Exchange. Options positions are marked
to market daily. Although guaranteed for settlement
by the OCC, FLEX Options are still subject to counterparty risk with the
OCC and may be less liquid than more traditional
exchange-traded option contracts. The Fund bears the risk that the OCC
will be unable or unwilling to perform its obligations
under the FLEX Options contracts. In the unlikely event that the OCC
becomes insolvent or is otherwise unable to meet
its settlement obligations, the Fund could suffer significant losses. FLEX
Options are subject to the risk that they may be less liquid
than certain other securities, such as standardized options. In less
liquid markets, termination of FLEX Options may require the
payment of a premium or acceptance of a discounted price and may take
longer to complete and/or the liquidation of a large number
of options may significantly impact the price of the options and may
adversely impact the value of your investment. Additionally,
in connection with the creation and redemption of Fund shares, to the
extent market participants are not willing or able
to enter into FLEX Option transactions with the Fund at prices that
reflect the market price of Fund shares, the Fund’s NAV and,
in turn the share price of the Fund, could be negatively
impacted. |
|
As
an in-the-money FLEX Option approaches its expiration date, its value
typically will increasingly move with the value of the Underlying
ETF. However, the value of the FLEX Options prior to the expiration date
may vary because of related factors other than
the value of the Underlying ETF. The value of the FLEX Options will be
determined based upon market quotations or using other
recognized pricing methods. Factors that may influence the value of the
FLEX Options generally include interest rate changes,
dividends, the actual and implied volatility levels of the Underlying
ETF’s share price, and the remaining time until the FLEX
Options expire, among others. The value of the FLEX Options held by the
Fund typically do not increase or decrease at the same
rate as the Underlying ETF’s share price on a day-to-day basis due to
these factors (although they generally move in the same direction),
and, as a result, the Fund’s NAV may not increase or decrease at the same
rate as the Underlying ETF’s share price. The
Fund may experience losses from certain FLEX Option positions and certain
FLEX Option positions may expire with little to no
value. |
|
Authorized
Participant Concentration Risk.
Only an authorized participant may engage in creation or redemption
transactions directly
with the Fund. The Fund has a limited number of intermediaries that act as
authorized participants and none of these authorized
participants is or will be obligated to engage in creation or redemption
transactions. There can be no assurance that an active
trading market for the Fund’s shares will develop or be maintained. To the
extent that these intermediaries exit the business or
are unable to or choose not to proceed with creation and/or redemption
orders with respect to the Fund, such as during periods of
market stress, and no other authorized participant creates or redeems,
shares may trade at a discount to net asset value (“NAV”) and
possibly face trading halts and/or
delisting. |
|
Trading
Risk.
The market prices of shares are expected to fluctuate, in some cases
materially, in response to changes in the Fund’s NAV,
the intra-day value of the Fund’s holdings, and supply and demand for
shares. The Adviser
and/or Sub-Adviser cannot predict
whether shares will trade above, below or at their NAV. Disruptions to
creations and redemptions, the existence of significant
market volatility or potential lack of an active trading market for the
shares (including through a trading halt), as well as
other factors, may result in the shares trading significantly above (at a
premium) or below (at a discount) to NAV or to the intraday
value of the Fund’s holdings. You may pay significantly more or receive
significantly less than the Fund’s NAV per share during
periods when there is a significant premium or discount. Buying or selling
shares in the secondary market may require paying
brokerage commissions or other charges imposed by brokers as determined by
that broker. Brokerage commissions are often
a fixed amount and may be a significant proportional cost when seeking to
buy or sell relatively small amounts of shares. In addition,
the market price of shares, like the price of any exchange-traded
security, includes a “bid-ask spread” charged by the market
makers or other participants that trade the particular security. The
spread of the Fund’s shares varies over time based on the
Fund’s trading volume and market liquidity and may increase if the Fund’s
trading volume, the spread of the Fund’s underlying
securities, or market liquidity
decrease. |
• |
Active
Management Risk.
In pursuing the Fund’s investment objective, the Adviser and/or
Sub-Adviser has considerable leeway in deciding
which investments to buy, hold or sell on a day-to-day basis, and which
trading strategies to use. For example, the Adviser
or Sub-Adviser, in its discretion, may determine to use some permitted
trading strategies while not using others. The success
or failure of such decisions will affect the Fund’s performance. The
Sub-Adviser uses proprietary investment techniques and
analyses in making investment decisions for the Fund, seeking to achieve
its investment objective while minimizing exposure to
security-specific risk. The strategy seeks to take advantage of certain
quantitative and behavioral market characteristics identified
by the Sub-Adviser, utilizing a rules-based process and systematic
rebalancing. A systematic investment process is dependent
on the Sub-Adviser’s skill in developing and maintaining that process. The
Fund’s strategy has not been independently tested
or validated, and there can be no assurance that it will achieve the
desired results. In addition, in implementing this
rule- |
Parametric | Fund
Summary
Parametric
Equity Premium Income ETF (Con’t)
|
based
management process, the Fund may not necessarily sell or otherwise close a
position as a result of fundamental investment analysis
or adverse changes in a company’s financial position or
outlook. |
• |
Investment
Objective Risk.
There is no guarantee that the Adviser and/or Sub-Adviser will be
successful in managing the Fund to provide
consistent (monthly) distributable income combined with capital
appreciation through equity market exposure. The Fund may
underperform its benchmark, particularly in rising markets. In
addition, the Fund does not guarantee that distributions will always
be paid or will be paid at a relatively stable
level. |
• |
New
Fund Risk.
A new fund’s performance may not represent how the fund is expected to or
may perform in the long term. In addition,
new funds have limited operating histories for investors to evaluate and
new funds may not attract sufficient assets to achieve
investment and trading
efficiencies. |
• |
Correlation. As
an in-the-money FLEX Option approaches its expiration date, its value
typically will increasingly move with the value
of the Underlying ETF. However, the value of the FLEX Options may vary
prior to the expiration date because of related factors
other than the value of the Underlying ETF. The value of the FLEX Options
will be determined based upon market quotations
or using other recognized pricing methods. Factors that may influence the
value of the FLEX Options include interest rate
changes and implied volatility levels of the Underlying ETF, among others.
The value of the FLEX Options held by the Fund typically
do not increase or decrease at the same level as the Underlying ETF’s
share price on a day-to-day basis due to these factors
(although they generally move in the same
direction). |
• |
Clearing
Member Risk.
Transactions in some types of derivatives, including FLEX Options, are
required to be centrally cleared (“cleared
derivatives”). In a transaction involving cleared derivatives, the Fund’s
counterparty is a clearing house, such as the OCC,
rather than a bank or broker. Since the Fund is not a member of clearing
houses and only members of a clearing house (“clearing
members”) can participate directly in the clearing house, the Fund will
hold cleared derivatives through accounts at clearing
members. In cleared derivatives positions, the Fund will make payments to
and receive payments from a clearing house through
their accounts at clearing members. The Fund is also subject to the risk
that a limited number of clearing members are willing
to transact on the Fund’s behalf, which heightens the risks associated
with a clearing member’s default. If a clearing member
defaults, the Fund could lose some or all of the benefits of a transaction
entered into by the Fund with the clearing member.
The loss of a clearing member for the Fund to transact with could result
in increased transaction costs and other operational
issues that could impede the Fund’s ability to implement its investment
strategy. If the Fund cannot find a clearing member
to transact with on the Fund’s behalf, the Fund may be unable to
effectively implement its investment
strategy. |
• |
Counterparty.
Counterparty risk generally refers to the risk that a counterparty on a
derivatives transaction may not be willing or able
to perform its obligations under the derivatives contract, and the related
risks of having concentrated exposure to such a counterparty.
The OCC acts as guarantor and central counterparty with respect to FLEX
Options. As a result, the ability of the Fund
to meet its objective depends on the OCC being able to meet its
obligations. In the event an OCC clearing member that is a counterparty
of the Fund were to become insolvent, the Fund may have some or all of its
FLEX Options closed without its consent
or may experience delays or other difficulties in attempting to close or
exercise its affected FLEX Options positions, both of
which would impair the Fund’s ability to deliver on its investment
strategy. The OCC’s rules and procedures are designed to facilitate
the prompt settlement of options transactions and exercises, including for
clearing member insolvencies. However, there is
the risk that the OCC and its backup system will fail if clearing member
insolvencies are substantial or widespread. In the unlikely
event that the OCC becomes insolvent or is otherwise unable to meet its
settlement obligations, the Fund could suffer significant
losses. |
• |
Tax
Risk.
The Fund intends to limit the overlap between its stock holdings and the
stock holdings of the Underlying ETF or constituents
of the Underlying Index to less than 70% on an ongoing basis in an effort
to avoid being subject to the “straddle rules”
under federal income tax law. In general, investment positions will be
offsetting if there is a substantial diminution in the risk
of loss from holding one position by reason of holding one or more other
positions. The Fund expects that the option contracts
it writes will not be considered straddles because its stock holdings will
be sufficiently dissimilar from the stock holdings of
the Underlying ETF or Underlying Index under applicable guidance
established by the IRS. Under certain circumstances, however,
the Fund may enter into options transactions or certain other investments
that may constitute positions in a straddle. The
straddle rules may affect the character of gains (or losses) realized by
the Fund, and losses realized by the Fund on positions that
are part of a straddle may be deferred under the straddle rules, rather
than being taken into account in calculating taxable income
for the taxable year in which the losses are realized. In addition,
certain carrying charges (including interest expense) associated
with positions in a straddle may be required to be capitalized rather than
deducted currently. Certain elections that the Fund
may make with respect to its straddle positions may also affect the
amount, character and timing of the recognition of gains or
losses from the affected positions and may decrease the amount of the
Fund’s dividends that may be reported as qualified dividend
income. The tax consequences of such straddle transactions to the Fund are
not entirely clear in all situations under currently
available authority. The straddle rules may increase the amount of
short-term capital gain realized by the Fund, which is taxed
as ordinary income when distributed to U.S. shareholders in a non-
liquidating distribution. Because application of the straddle
rules may affect the character of gains or losses, defer losses and/or
accelerate the recognition of gains or losses from the affected
straddle positions, the amount which must be distributed to U.S.
shareholders as ordinary income may be increased or decreased
substantially as compared to a fund that did not engage in such
transactions. |
Parametric | Fund
Summary
Parametric
Equity Premium Income ETF (Con’t)
Shares
of the Fund are not bank deposits and are not guaranteed or insured by the
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other
government agency.
Performance
Information
As
of the date hereof, the Fund has not yet completed a full calendar year of
investment operations. Upon the completion of a full calendar
year of investment operations by the Fund, this section will include charts that
provide some indication of the risks of an investment
in the Fund, by showing the difference in annual total returns, highest and
lowest quarterly returns and average annual total
returns (before and after taxes) compared to the benchmark index selected for
the Fund. Performance information for the Fund will
be available online at www.eatonvance.com
or by calling toll-free 800-836-2414.
Fund
Management
Adviser.
Morgan Stanley Investment Management Inc.
Sub-Adviser.
Parametric Portfolio Associates LLC
Portfolio
Managers.
Information about the individuals jointly and primarily responsible for the
day-to-day management of the Fund is
shown below:
|
| |
Name |
Title
with Adviser or Sub-Adviser |
Date
Began Managing Fund |
Thomas
Seto |
Head
of Investment Management of the Sub-Adviser |
Since
Inception |
James
Reber |
Managing
Director of the Sub-Adviser |
Since
Inception |
Alex
Zweber, CFA, CAIA |
Managing
Director of the Sub-Adviser |
Since
Inception |
Michael
Zaslavsky, CFA, CAIA |
Senior
Investment Strategist of the Sub-Adviser |
Since
Inception |
Larry
Berman |
Managing
Director of the Sub-Adviser |
Since
Inception |
Mathew
Maillet |
Executive
Director of the Adviser |
Since
Inception |
Purchase
and Sale of Fund Shares
Individual
shares of the Fund may only be purchased and sold in secondary market
transactions through a broker or dealer at market price.
Because shares trade at market prices, rather than NAV, shares of the Fund may
trade at a price greater than NAV (i.e., a premium)
or less than NAV (i.e., a discount).
You
may incur costs attributable to the difference between the highest price a buyer
is willing to pay for shares (bid) and the lowest price
a seller is willing to accept for shares (ask) (the “bid-ask spread”) when
buying or selling shares in the secondary market.
Recent
information, including information about the Fund’s NAV, market price, premiums
and discounts, and bid-ask spreads (when
available), will be available on the Fund’s website at
www.eatonvance.com.
Tax
Information
The
Fund’s dividends and distributions may be taxed as ordinary income or capital
gains, unless you are investing through a tax-deferred
arrangement, such as a 401(k) plan or an individual retirement account. The
Fund’s distributions are expected to consist of ordinary
income, some of which may be eligible for treatment as qualified dividend
income. Shareholders may periodically receive distributions
which constitute a return of capital for tax purposes. It is not expected that
the fund’s distributions would typically consist
of long-term capital gains. Please see “Taxes” for a more detailed description
of the expected tax treatment of the Fund’s distributions.
Payments
to Broker-Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries
If
you purchase shares of the Fund through a broker-dealer or financial
intermediary (such as a bank), the Adviser and/or Foreside Fund
Services, LLC (the “Distributor”) may pay the financial intermediary for the
sale of Fund shares and related services. These payments,
which may be significant in amount, may create a conflict of interest by
influencing the financial intermediary and your salesperson
to recommend the Fund over another investment. Ask your salesperson or visit
your financial intermediary’s website for more
information.
Parametric | Details
of the Fund
Parametric
Equity Premium Income ETF
Investment
Objective
The
Fund seeks to provide consistent monthly income while maintaining prospects for
capital appreciation.
The
Fund’s investment objective may be changed by the Trust’s Board of Trustees
without shareholder approval, but no change is anticipated.
If the Fund’s investment objective changes, the Fund will notify shareholders
and shareholders should consider whether the
Fund remains an appropriate investment in light of the change.
Approach
The
Fund is an actively managed exchange-traded fund (“ETF”). The investment
objective of the Fund is to seek to provide consistent
monthly income while maintaining prospects for capital appreciation. The Adviser
and the Sub-Adviser seek to fulfill the Fund’s
objective by using two principal strategies (1) creating an actively-managed
portfolio of dividend-paying equity securities that primarily
include common stocks of U.S. companies selected from the Russell 3000® Index
(the “long equity portfolio”); and (2) selling
(writing) option contracts on the SPDR S&P 500® ETF Trust (the “Underlying
ETF”) or on the S&P 500® Index (the “Underlying
Index”) to generate additional yield.
Under
normal circumstances, the Fund invests at least 80% of its net assets (plus any
borrowings for investment purposes) in equity securities.
This policy may be changed without shareholder approval; however, shareholders
would be notified upon 60 days’ notice in
writing of any changes. Equity securities in which the Fund may invest include
common stocks.
Process
The
Fund seeks to employ a top-down, disciplined, and systematic investment process
that emphasizes a diversified portfolio of quality
companies that over the prior 12 months have demonstrated high current income
and lower levels of risk on a sector relative basis.
Such companies may be referred to as durable dividend payers. This rules-based
strategy applies a series of durability rankings to
a broad universe of U.S. equity securities (i.e., equity securities of companies
included in the Russell 3000® Index). To achieve broad
diversification, each economic sector generally receives an equal weight. The
top-ranked securities within each sector based on the
“Sub-Adviser’s yield and risk screening are also generally weighted equally. The
investment process is periodically re-evaluated and
may be adjusted to ensure that the process is consistent with the Fund’s
investment objective and strategies. The portfolio is rebalanced
periodically to maintain diversification and is reconstituted on an annual
basis. The portfolio managers seek to manage portfolio
risk by using a quantitative model to construct a diversified portfolio of
durable dividend paying companies.
The
Fund will systemically sell (write) out-of-the-money call option contracts,
which have an expiration date of approximately two weeks,
with an objective of generating incremental income. The Fund will sell such call
option contracts on the Underlying ETF or on
the Underlying Index. Flexible Exchange Options (“FLEX Options”) that
reference the Underlying ETF may be utilized. The Fund’s
derivative instruments are generally limited to its call option writing
strategy.
In
general, an option contract is an agreement between a buyer and a seller that
gives the purchaser of the option the right to purchase
(in the case of a call option) or sell (in the case of a put option) the
underlying asset (or deliver cash equal to the value of an underlying
index) at a specified price (“strike price”) within a specified time period or
at a specified future date. Selling a call option entitles
the seller to a premium equal to the value of the option at the time of the
trade. In the event the underlying asset declines in value,
the value of a call option will generally decrease (and may end up worthless).
Conversely, in the event the underlying asset appreciates
in value, the value of a call option will generally increase. FLEX Options are
customizable exchange-traded option contracts
guaranteed for settlement by the Options Clearing Corporation (the “OCC”).
Option terms that can be customized include
exercise price, exercise styles, and expiration dates.
A
call option is considered “out-of-the-money” when the strike price of the option
at expiration exceeds the current price of the underlying
asset. By selling call options, the Fund will receive premiums but will give up
the opportunity to benefit from potential increases
in the value of the Underlying ETF or the Underlying Index above the
exercise prices of such options.
As
a result of writing call options, the Fund may forgo performance in market
environments with significant equity market appreciation
in which the Underlying ETF or Underlying Index exceeds the strike price
of the written call option. However, the Sub-Adviser
will seek to “ladder” the Fund’s written call option positions to mitigate this
risk. “Laddering” is an investment technique that
utilizes multiple option positions over multiple expiration dates to reduce the
concentration risk of a concentrated exposure to a single
option expiration and to create more opportunities to roll option positions
(i.e., one option position expires and a new option position
is opened in the same underlying security) during extended periods of market
appreciation. In this regard, the Sub-Adviser expects
to write more frequent, short-dated call options with two-week expirations in
tranches with such expirations being staggered approximately
every three to four trading days. The Sub-Adviser believes that this may provide
the opportunity for a more diversified options
portfolio with more consistent greater upside appreciation profile compared to a
written call option portfolio with a single position.
Additionally, the Sub-Adviser believes that the laddering of short-dated call
options may provide a more stable option premium
income for the portfolio, as each call option in the portfolio is expected to be
a short-dated call option with a two-week expiration
(either expiring worthless or with a liability) and, upon expiration, is
expected to be replaced with a new short-dated call option
with a two-week expiration.
Parametric | Details
of the Fund
Parametric
Equity Premium Income ETF (Con’t)
The
Fund may incorporate certain tax optimization strategies within the long equity
portfolio in order to seek more tax-efficient distributions.
An example of such a strategy is harvesting losses in the long equity portfolio
to offset realized gains in the written options
portfolio and long equity portfolio. By offsetting gains through tax loss
harvesting, distributions which would otherwise be taxed
at short term capital gains rates may instead be classified as return of capital
and result in a more tax efficient distribution to shareholders.
Parametric
|
Additional
Information About Fund Investment Strategies and Related Risks
Additional
Information About Fund Investment Strategies and Related
Risks
|
| |
This
section discusses additional information relating to Fund investment
strategies, other types of investments that the Fund
may make and related risk factors. In addition, references to the
“Adviser” under “Additional Information About Fund Investment
Strategies and Related Risks” refer to the Adviser and/or Sub-Adviser.
Fund investment practices and limitations are
described in more detail in the Statement of Additional Information
(“SAI”), which is incorporated by reference and legally
is a part of this Prospectus. For details on how to obtain a copy of the
SAI and other reports and information, see the back
cover of this Prospectus. |
Economies
and financial markets worldwide have recently experienced periods of increased
volatility, uncertainty, distress, government
spending, inflation and disruption to consumer demand, economic output and
supply chains. To the extent these conditions
continue, the risks associated with an investment in the Fund, including those
described below, could be heightened and the
Fund’s investments (and thus a shareholder’s investment in the Fund) may be
particularly susceptible to sudden and substantial losses,
reduced yield or income or other adverse developments. The occurrence, duration
and extent of these or other types of adverse economic
and market conditions and uncertainty over the long term cannot be reasonably
projected or estimated at this time.
The
Fund may be more significantly affected by purchases and redemptions of its
Creation Units (as defined below) than a fund with relatively
greater assets under management would be affected by purchases and redemptions
of its shares. As compared to a larger fund,
the Fund is more likely to sell a comparatively large portion of its portfolio
to meet significant Creation Unit redemptions or invest
a comparatively large amount of cash to facilitate Creation Unit purchases, in
each case when the Fund otherwise would not seek
to do so. Such transactions may cause the Fund to make investment decisions at
inopportune times or prices or miss attractive investment
opportunities. Such transactions may also accelerate the realization of taxable
income if sales of securities resulted in gains and
the Fund redeems Creation Units for cash, or otherwise cause the Fund to perform
differently than intended. While such risks may
apply to funds of any size, such risks are heightened in funds with fewer assets
under management.
Equity
Securities
Equity
securities may include common and preferred stocks, convertible securities and
equity-linked securities, rights and warrants to purchase
common stocks, depositary receipts, shares of investment companies, limited
partnership interests and other specialty securities
having equity features. Many factors affect the value of equity securities,
including earnings, earnings forecasts, corporate events
and factors impacting the issuer’s industry and the market generally. The Fund
may invest in equity securities that are publicly traded
on securities exchanges or over-the-counter (“OTC”) or in equity securities that
are not publicly traded. Securities that are not publicly
traded may be more difficult to value or sell and their value may fluctuate more
dramatically than other securities. The prices of
convertible securities are affected by changes similar to those of equity and
fixed-income securities.
The
value of equity securities and related instruments may decline in response to
adverse changes in the economy or the economic outlook;
deterioration in investor sentiment; interest rate, currency, and commodity
price fluctuations; adverse geopolitical, social or environmental
developments; issuer- and sector-specific considerations; unexpected trading
activity among retail investors; and other factors.
Market conditions may affect certain types of stocks to a greater extent than
other types of stocks. If the stock market declines,
the value of Fund shares will also likely decline. Although stock prices can
rebound, there is no assurance that values will return
to previous levels.
During
periods when equity securities experience heightened volatility, such as during
periods of market, economic or financial uncertainty
or distress, the Fund’s investments in equity securities may be subject to
heightened risks.
Depositary
Receipts
A
depositary receipt is generally issued by a bank or financial institution and
represents the common stock or other equity securities of
a foreign company. Depositary receipts involve many of the same risks as those
associated with direct investment in foreign securities.
In addition, the underlying issuers of certain depositary receipts, particularly
unsponsored or unregistered depositary receipts,
are under no obligation to distribute shareholder communications to the holders
of such receipts, or to pass through to them any
voting rights with respect to the deposited securities.
Income
Risk
The
Fund’s ability to distribute income to shareholders will depend on the yield
available on the common stocks held by the Fund and
the premiums received by the Fund with respect to its written call options.
Changes in the dividend policies of companies held by
the Fund could make it more difficult for the Fund to provide a consistent
monthly income. For example, if the stocks held by the Fund
reduce or stop paying dividends, the Fund’s ability to generate income may be
adversely affected. In addition, the premiums received
by the Fund with respect to its written call options will vary over time and
based on market conditions.
The
Fund seeks to provide consistent monthly income while maintaining prospects for
capital appreciation. However, there is no guarantee
that the Fund will make monthly income payments to its shareholders or, if made,
that the Fund’s monthly income payments
to shareholders will remain consistent as the amounts distributed to
shareholders may not be the same each month and
Parametric
|
Additional
Information About Fund Investment Strategies and Related Risks
Additional
Information About Fund Investment Strategies and Related Risks (Con’t)
could
vary (potentially significantly) based on the market or economic environment and
other factors. For example, in the event the value
of the asset underlying a written call option exceeds the strike price plus the
premium received by the Fund with respect to the option,
the Fund’s ability to provide consistent monthly income may be adversely
impacted. The amount of the Fund’s distributions for
any period may exceed the amount of the Fund’s income and gains for that period.
In that case, some or all of the Fund’s distributions
may constitute a return of capital to shareholders. A distribution constituting
a return of capital is not a distribution of income
or capital gains earned by the Fund, and should not be confused with the Fund’s
“yield” or “income.” A return of capital, which
for tax purposes is treated as a return of your investment, reduces a
shareholder’s basis in its shares, thus reducing any loss or increasing
any gain on a subsequent taxable disposition of shares. Shareholders who receive
periodic distributions consisting of a return
of capital may be under the impression that they are receiving net profits when
they are not because a return of capital is a distribution
from the shareholder’s investment principal, rather than net profits from the
Fund’s returns. Shareholders should not assume
that the source of a distribution from the Fund is net profit.
Market
and Geopolitical Risk
The
value of your investment in the Fund is based on the values of the Fund’s
investments, which may change due to economic and other
events that affect markets generally, as well as those that affect particular
regions, countries, industries, companies or governments.
Price movements, sometimes called volatility, may be greater or less depending
on the types of securities the Fund owns and
the markets in which the securities trade. Volatility and disruption in
financial markets and economies may be sudden and unexpected,
expose the Fund to greater risk, including risks associated with reduced market
liquidity and fair valuation, and adversely affect
the Fund’s operations. For example, the Adviser potentially will be prevented
from executing investment decisions at an advantageous
time or price as a result of any domestic or global market disruptions and
reduced market liquidity may impact the Fund’s
ability to sell securities to meet redemptions.
The
increasing interconnectivity between global economies and markets increases the
likelihood that events or conditions in one region
or market may adversely impact other companies and issuers in a different
country, region, sector, industry, market or with respect
to one company may adversely impact issuers in a different country, region,
sector, industry, or market. For example, adverse developments
in the banking or financial services sector could impact companies operating in
various sectors or industries and adversely
impact the Fund’s investments. Securities in the Fund’s portfolio
may underperform due to inflation (or expectations for inflation),
interest rates, global demand for particular products or resources, natural
disasters and extreme weather events, health emergencies
(such as epidemics and pandemics), terrorism, regulatory events and governmental
or quasi-governmental actions. The occurrence
of global events, such as terrorist attacks around the world, natural disasters,
health emergencies, social and political (including
geopolitical) discord and tensions or debt crises and downgrades, among others,
may result in market volatility and may have
long term effects on both the U.S. and global financial markets. Inflation
rates may change frequently and significantly because of
various factors, including unexpected shifts in the domestic or global economy
and changes in monetary or economic policies (or expectations
that these policies may change). Changes in expected inflation rates may
adversely affect market and economic conditions,
the Fund’s investments and an investment in the Fund. The market price of debt
securities generally falls as inflation increases
because the purchasing power of the future income and repaid principal is
expected to be worth less when received by the Fund.
The risk of inflation is greater for debt instruments with longer maturities and
especially those that pay a fixed rather than variable
interest rate. Other financial, economic and other global market and social
developments or disruptions may result in similar adverse
circumstances, and it is difficult to predict when similar events affecting the
U.S. or global financial markets may occur, the effects
that such events may have and the duration of those effects (which may last for
extended periods). In general, the securities or other
instruments that the Adviser believes represent an attractive investment
opportunity or in which the Fund seeks to invest may be
unavailable entirely or in the specific quantities sought by the Fund. As a
result, the Fund may need to obtain the desired exposure through
a less advantageous investment, forgo the investment at the time or seek to
replicate the desired exposure through a derivative
transaction or investment in another investment vehicle. Any such event(s) could
have a significant adverse impact on the value
and risk profile of the Fund’s portfolio. There is a risk that you may lose
money by investing in the Fund.
Social,
political, economic and other conditions and events, such as war, natural
disasters, health emergencies (e.g., the novel coronavirus
outbreak, epidemics and other pandemics), terrorism, conflicts, social unrest,
recessions, inflation, interest rate changes and
supply chain disruptions could reduce consumer demand or economic output, result
in market closures, travel restrictions or quarantines,
and generally have a significant impact on the economies and financial markets
and the Adviser’s investment advisory activities
and services of other service providers, which in turn could adversely affect
the Fund’s investments and other operations.
Government
and other public debt, including municipal obligations in which the Fund may
invest, can be adversely affected by changes
in local and global economic conditions that result in increased debt levels.
Although high levels of government and other public
debt do not necessarily indicate or cause economic problems, high levels of debt
may create certain systemic risks if sound debt management
practices are not implemented. A high debt level may increase market pressures
to meet an issuer’s funding needs, which
may increase borrowing costs and cause a government or public or municipal
entity to issue additional debt, thereby increasing the
risk of refinancing. A high debt level also raises concerns that the issuer may
be unable or unwilling to repay the principal or interest
on its debt, which may adversely impact instruments held by the Fund that rely
on such payments.
Parametric
|
Additional
Information About Fund Investment Strategies and Related Risks
Additional
Information About Fund Investment Strategies and Related Risks (Con’t)
Governmental
and quasi-governmental responses to certain economic or other conditions may
lead to increasing government and other
public debt, which heighten these risks. Unsustainable debt levels can lead to
declines in the value of currency, and can prevent a
government from implementing effective counter-cyclical fiscal policy during
economic downturns, can generate or contribute to an
economic downturn or cause other adverse economic or market developments, such
as increases in inflation or volatility. Increasing
government and other public debt may adversely affect issuers, obligors,
guarantors or instruments across a variety of asset classes.
Global
events may negatively impact broad segments of businesses and populations, cause
a significant negative impact on the performance
of the Fund’s investments, adversely affect and increase the volatility of the
Fund’s share price, exacerbate pre-existing political,
social and economic risks to the Fund. The Fund’s operations may be interrupted
as a result, which may contribute to the negative
impact on investment performance. In addition, governments, their regulatory
agencies, or self-regulatory organizations may take
actions that affect the instruments in which the Fund invests, or the issuers of
such instruments, in ways that could have a significant
negative impact on the Fund’s investment performance. In addition, government
actions (such as changes to interest rates) could
have unintended economic and market consequences that adversely affect the
Fund’s investments.
Liquidity
The
Fund may make investments that are illiquid or restricted or that may become
illiquid or less liquid in response to, among other developments,
overall economic conditions or adverse investor perceptions, and which may
entail greater risk than investments in other
types of securities. Illiquidity can also be caused by, among other things, a
drop in overall market trading volume, an inability to
find a willing buyer, or legal restrictions on the securities’ resale. These
investments may be more difficult to value or sell, particularly
in times of market turmoil, and there may be little trading in the secondary
market available for particular securities. If the
Fund is forced to sell an illiquid or restricted security to fund redemptions or
for other cash needs, it may be forced to sell the security
at a loss or for less than its fair value and may be unable to sell the security
at all.
Small
and Mid Cap Companies
The
Fund’s investments in small and mid cap companies carry more risk than
investments in larger companies. While some of the Fund’s
holdings in these companies may be listed on a national securities exchange,
such securities are more likely to be traded in the OTC
market. The low market liquidity of these securities may have an adverse impact
on the Fund’s ability to sell certain securities at
favorable prices and may also make it difficult for the Fund to obtain market
quotations based on actual trades for purposes of valuing
the Fund’s securities. Investing in lesser-known, small and mid cap companies
involves greater risk of volatility of the Fund’s net
asset value per share (“NAV”) than is customarily associated with larger,
more established companies. In addition, at times, small and
mid cap growth-oriented equity securities may underperform relative to the
overall market. Growth stocks may trade at higher multiples
of current earnings compared to other styles of investing (e.g., “value”),
leading to inflated prices and thus potentially greater
declines in value. Often small and mid cap companies and the industries in which
they are focused are still evolving and, while
this may offer better growth potential than larger, more established companies,
it also may make them more sensitive to changing
market conditions. The shares of small and micro cap companies may be thinly
traded and may be at risk of delisting from a
securities exchange, making it difficult for the Fund to buy and sell shares of
a particular small and micro cap company.
Derivatives
The Fund may,
but is not
required to, use derivatives and other similar instruments for a variety of
purposes, including hedging, risk management,
portfolio management or to seek to earn income. Derivative instruments used by
the
Fund may be counted towards the Fund’s
exposure in the types of securities listed herein to the extent they have
economic characteristics similar to such securities. A derivative
is a financial instrument whose value is based, in part, on the value of an
underlying asset, interest rate, index or financial instrument.
Prevailing interest rates and volatility levels, among other things, also affect
the value of derivative instruments. Derivatives
and other similar instruments that create synthetic exposure often are subject
to risks similar to those of the underlying asset
or instrument and may be subject to additional risks, including imperfect
correlation between the value of the derivative and the underlying
asset, risks of default by the counterparty to certain transactions,
magnification of losses incurred due to changes in the market
value of the securities, instruments, indices or interest rates to which the
derivative instrument relates, risks that the transactions
may not be liquid, risks arising from margin and payment requirements, risks
arising from mispricing or valuation complexity
and operational and legal risks. The use of derivatives involves risks that are
different from, and possibly greater than, the risks
associated with other portfolio investments. Derivatives may involve the use of
highly specialized instruments that require investment
techniques and risk analyses different from those associated with other
portfolio investments.
Certain
derivative transactions may give rise to a form of leverage. Leverage magnifies
the potential for gain and the risk of loss. Leverage
associated with derivative transactions may cause the
Fund to liquidate portfolio positions when it may not be advantageous
to
do so, or may cause the
Fund to be more volatile than if the Fund had not been leveraged. Although the
Adviser seeks to use derivatives
to further the
Fund’s investment objective, there is no assurance that the use of derivatives
will achieve this result.
The
derivative instruments and techniques that the Fund may use
include:
Parametric
|
Additional
Information About Fund Investment Strategies and Related Risks
Additional
Information About Fund Investment Strategies and Related Risks (Con’t)
Options. If
the Fund buys an option, it buys a legal contract giving it the right to buy or
sell a specific amount of the underlying instrument,
foreign currency or contract, such as a swap agreement, or futures contract, on
the underlying instrument or foreign currency,
at an agreed-upon price during a period of time or on a specified date typically
in exchange for a premium paid by the Fund.
If the Fund sells an option, it sells to another person the right to buy from or
sell to the Fund a specific amount of the underlying
instrument, swap, foreign currency, or futures contract on the underlying
instrument or foreign currency at an agreed-upon
price during a period of time or on a specified date typically in exchange for a
premium received by the Fund. When options are
purchased OTC, the Fund bears the risk that the counterparty that wrote the
option will be unable or unwilling to perform its obligations
under the option contract. Options may also be illiquid and the Fund may have
difficulty closing out its position. A decision
as to whether, when and how to use options involves the exercise of skill and
judgment and even a well-conceived option transaction
may be unsuccessful because of market behavior or unexpected events. The prices
of options can be highly volatile and the
use of options can lower total returns.
Call
Option Writing Risk
There
are several risks associated with transactions in options on an underlying
security or instrument used in connection with the Fund’s
option writing strategy. There are significant differences between the
securities and options markets that could result in an imperfect
correlation between these markets, causing a given transaction not to achieve
its objectives. A decision as to whether, when and
how to use options involves the exercise of skill and judgment, and even a
well-conceived transaction may be unsuccessful to some
degree because of market behavior or unexpected events.
Writing
call options involves the risk that the Fund may be required to sell the
underlying security or instrument (or settle in cash an amount
of equal value) at a disadvantageous price or below the market price of such
underlying security or instrument, at the time the
option is exercised. As the writer of a call option, the Fund forgoes, during
the option’s life, the opportunity to profit from increases
in the market value of the underlying security or instrument covering the option
above the sum of the premium and the exercise
price but retains the risk of loss should the price of the underlying security
or instrument decline. Additionally, the Fund’s call
option writing strategy may not fully protect it against declines in the value
of the market.
During
periods in which equity markets are generally unchanged or falling, or in a
modestly rising market where the income from premiums
exceeds the aggregate appreciation of the underlying security or instrument over
its exercise price, a diversified portfolio receiving
premiums from its call option writing strategy may outperform the same portfolio
without such an options strategy. However,
in rising markets where the aggregate appreciation of the underlying security or
instrument over its exercise price exceeds the
income from premiums, a portfolio with a call writing strategy could
significantly underperform the same portfolio without such an
options writing strategy.
The
Fund will also incur a form of economic leverage through its use of call
options, which may increase the volatility of the Fund’s returns
and may increase the risk of loss to the Fund.
There
are special risks associated with uncovered option writing which expose the Fund
to potentially significant loss. As the seller of an
uncovered call option, the Fund bears unlimited risk of loss should the price of
the underlying security increase above the exercise price
until the Fund covers its exposure.
Unusual
market conditions or the lack of a ready market for any particular option at a
specific time may reduce the effectiveness of the
Fund’s call option writing strategy. There can be no assurance that a liquid
market will exist when the Fund seeks to enter or close
out an option position. The value of the call options may be adversely affected
if the market for the options becomes less liquid or
smaller. In addition, the premiums the Fund receives for writing call options
may decrease as a result of a number of factors, including
a reduction in interest rates generally, a decline in stock market volumes or a
decrease in the price volatility of an underlying
security or instrument.
The
use of options will also increase the Fund’s transaction costs.
Exchange-Traded
Funds
The
Fund may invest in exchange-traded funds (“ETFs”). ETFs seek to track the
performance of various portions or segments of the equity
and fixed-income markets. Shares of ETFs have many of the same risks as direct
investments in common stocks or bonds. In addition,
the market value of ETF shares may differ from their NAV because the supply and
demand in the market for ETF shares at any
point in time is not always identical to the supply and demand in the market for
the underlying securities. Also, ETFs that track particular
indices typically will be unable to match the performance of the index exactly
due to, among other things, the ETF’s operating
expenses and transaction costs. ETFs typically incur fees that are separate from
those fees incurred directly by the Fund. Therefore,
as a shareholder in an ETF, the Fund would bear its ratable share of that
entity’s expenses. At the same time, the Fund would
continue to pay its own investment management fees and other expenses. As a
result, shareholders will directly bear the expenses
of their investment in the Fund and indirectly bear the expenses of the Fund’s
investments in ETFs with respect to investments
in ETFs. The Fund and its shareholders will be subject to the risks of the
purchased investment company and its portfolio
of securities.
Parametric
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Additional
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Additional
Information About Fund Investment Strategies and Related Risks (Con’t)
Large
Shareholder Transactions Risk
The Fund
may experience adverse effects when certain shareholders, or shareholders
collectively, purchase or redeem large amounts of shares
of the
Fund. In addition, a third party investor, the Adviser, or an affiliate of the
Adviser, an authorized participant, a lead market
maker, or another entity (i.e., a seed investor) may invest in the Fund and hold
its investment solely to facilitate commencement
of the Fund or to facilitate the Fund’s achieving a specified size or scale. Any
such investment may be held for a limited
period of time. There can be no assurance that any large shareholder would not
redeem its investment, that the size of the Fund
would be maintained at such levels or that the Fund would continue to meet
applicable listing requirements. Such larger than normal
redemptions may cause the
Fund to sell portfolio securities at times when it would not otherwise do so,
which may negatively impact
the Fund’s NAV and liquidity. Similarly, large Fund share purchases may
adversely affect the Fund’s performance to the extent
that the
Fund is delayed in investing new cash and is required to maintain a larger cash
position than it ordinarily would. Large
shareholder transactions may also accelerate the realization of taxable income
to shareholders if such sales of investments resulted
in gains, and may also increase transaction costs. In addition, a large
redemption could result in the Fund’s current expenses being
allocated over a smaller asset base, leading to an increase in the Fund’s
expense ratio. Although large shareholder transactions may
be more frequent under certain circumstances, the
Fund is generally subject to the risk that shareholders can purchase or redeem
a
significant percentage of Fund shares at any time. In addition, transactions by
large shareholders may account for a large percentage of
the trading volume on NYSE
Arca and may, therefore, have a material upward or downward effect on the
market price of the shares.
Clearing
Member
Transactions
in some types of derivatives, including FLEX Options, are required to be
centrally cleared (“cleared derivatives”). In a transaction
involving cleared derivatives, the Fund’s counterparty is a clearing house, such
as the OCC, rather than a bank or broker. Since
the Fund is not a member of clearing houses and only members of a clearing house
(“clearing members”) can participate directly
in the clearing house, the Fund will hold cleared derivatives through accounts
at clearing members. In cleared derivatives positions,
the Fund will make payments to and receive payments from a clearing house
through their accounts at clearing members. The
Fund is also subject to the risk that a limited number of clearing members are
willing to transact on the Fund’s behalf, which heightens
the risks associated with a clearing member’s default. If a clearing member
defaults, the Fund could lose some or all of the benefits
of a transaction entered into by the Fund with the clearing member. The loss of
a clearing member for the Fund to transact with
could result in increased transaction costs and other operational issues that
could impede the Fund’s ability to implement its investment
strategy. If the Fund cannot find a clearing member to transact with on the
Fund’s behalf, the Fund may be unable to effectively
implement its investment strategy.
Counterparty
Risk
A
financial institution or other counterparty with whom the Fund does business
(such as trading, securities lending or as a derivatives counterparty),
or that underwrites, distributes or guarantees any instruments that the Fund
owns or is otherwise exposed to, may decline
in financial condition and become unable to honor its commitments. This could
cause the value of Fund shares to decline or could
delay the return or delivery of collateral or other assets to the Fund.
Counterparty risk is increased for contracts with longer maturities.
Counterparty risk also includes the related risk of having concentrated exposure
to such a counterparty.
ETF
Structure Risks
Authorized
Participant Concentration Risk
Only
an authorized participant may engage in creation or redemption transactions
directly with the Fund. The Fund has a limited number
of intermediaries that act as authorized participants and none of these
authorized participants is or will be obligated to engage
in creation or redemption transactions. There can be no assurance that an active
trading market for the Fund’s shares will develop
or be maintained. To the extent that these intermediaries exit the business or
are unable to or choose not to proceed with creation
and/or redemption orders with respect to the Fund, such as during periods of
market stress, and no other authorized participant
creates or redeems, shares may trade at a discount to net asset value (“NAV”)
and possibly face trading halts and/or delisting.
Trading
Risk
Shares
are listed for trading on NYSE Arca and are bought and sold in the secondary
market at market prices. The market prices of shares
are expected to fluctuate, in some cases materially, in response to changes in
the Fund’s NAV, the intra-day value of the Fund’s holdings,
and supply and demand for shares. The Adviser cannot predict whether shares will
trade above, below or at their NAV. Disruptions
to creations and redemptions, the existence of significant market volatility or
potential lack of an active trading market for
the shares (including through a trading halt), as well as other factors, may
result in the shares trading significantly above (at a premium)
or below (at a discount) to NAV or to the intraday value of the Fund’s holdings.
You may pay significantly more or receive significantly
less than the Fund’s NAV per share during periods when there is a significant
premium or discount. During such periods,
you may incur significant losses if you sell your shares.
Buying
or selling shares in the secondary market may require paying brokerage
commissions or other charges imposed by brokers as determined
by that broker. Brokerage commissions are often a fixed amount and may be a
significant proportional cost when seeking to
buy or sell relatively small amounts of shares. In addition, the market price of
shares, like the price of any exchange-traded security,
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Additional
Information About Fund Investment Strategies and Related Risks
Additional
Information About Fund Investment Strategies and Related Risks (Con’t)
includes
a “bid-ask spread” charged by the market makers or other participants that trade
the particular security. The spread of the Fund’s
shares varies over time based on the Fund’s trading volume and market liquidity
and may increase if the Fund’s trading volume,
the spread of the Fund’s underlying securities, or market liquidity
decrease.
Trading
in shares on NYSE Arca may be halted due to market conditions or for reasons
that, in the view of NYSE Arca, make trading
in shares inadvisable. In addition, trading in shares on NYSE Arca is subject to
trading halts caused by extraordinary market volatility
pursuant to NYSE Arca “circuit breaker” rules. If a trading halt or
unanticipated closing of the exchange occurs, a shareholder
may be unable to purchase or sell shares. There can be no assurance that the
requirements of NYSE Arca necessary to maintain
the listing of the Fund will continue to be met or will remain
unchanged.
FLEX
Options
The
Fund utilizes FLEX Options guaranteed for settlement by the OCC. The FLEX
Options traded by the Fund are listed on the Chicago
Board Options Exchange. Options positions are marked to market daily. Although
guaranteed for settlement by the OCC, FLEX
Options are still subject to counterparty risk with the OCC and may be less
liquid than more traditional exchange-traded option
contracts. The Fund bears the risk that the OCC will be unable or unwilling to
perform its obligations under the FLEX Options
contracts. In the unlikely event that the OCC becomes insolvent or is otherwise
unable to meet its settlement obligations, the
Fund could suffer significant losses. FLEX Options are subject to the risk that
they may be less liquid than certain other securities,
such as standardized options. In less liquid markets, termination of FLEX
Options may require the payment of a premium or
acceptance of a discounted price and may take longer to complete and/or the
liquidation of a large number of options may significantly
impact the price of the options and may adversely impact the value of your
investment. Additionally, in connection with the
creation and redemption of Fund shares, to the extent market participants are
not willing or able to enter into FLEX Option transactions
with the Fund at prices that reflect the market price of Fund shares, the Fund’s
NAV and, in turn the share price of the Fund,
could be negatively impacted.
As
an in-the-money FLEX Option approaches its expiration date, its value typically
will increasingly move with the value of the Underlying
ETF. However, the value of the FLEX Options prior to the expiration date may
vary because of related factors other than the
value of the Underlying ETF. The value of the FLEX Options will be determined
based upon market quotations or using other recognized
pricing methods. Factors that may influence the value of the FLEX Options
generally include interest rate changes, dividends,
the actual and implied volatility levels of the Underlying ETF’s share price,
and the remaining time until the FLEX Options
expire, among others. The value of the FLEX Options held by the Fund typically
do not increase or decrease at the same rate
as the Underlying ETF’s share price on a day-to-day basis due to these factors
(although they generally move in the same direction),
and, as a result, the Fund’s NAV may not increase or decrease at the same rate
as the Underlying ETF’s share price. The Fund
may experience losses from certain FLEX Option positions and certain FLEX Option
positions may expire with little to no value.
The Fund may experience substantial downside from specific FLEX Option
positions.
Correlation
As
an in-the-money FLEX Option approaches its expiration date, its value typically
will increasingly move with the value of the Underlying
ETF. However, the value of the FLEX Options may vary prior to the expiration
date because of related factors other than the
value of the Underlying ETF. The value of the FLEX Options will be determined
based upon market quotations or using other recognized
pricing methods. Factors that may influence the value of the FLEX Options
include interest rate changes and implied volatility
levels of the Underlying ETF, among others. The value of the FLEX Options held
by the Fund typically do not increase or decrease
at the same level as the Underlying ETF’s share price on a day-to-day basis due
to these factors (although they generally move
in the same direction). Errors in the construction or calculation of the
Underlying ETF’s Index may occur from time to time and
may not be identified and corrected for some period of time, which may have an
adverse impact on the Underlying ETF and thus
the Fund.
Cybersecurity
Risk
With
the increased use of technologies such as the internet to conduct business, the
Fund, the Adviser, authorized participants, service
providers and the relevant listing exchange are susceptible to operational,
information security and related “cyber” risks both directly
and through the service providers. Similar types of cybersecurity risks are also
present for issuers of securities in which the Fund
invests, which could result in material adverse consequences for such issuers
and may cause the Fund’s investment in such issuers
to lose value. In general, cyber incidents can result from deliberate attacks or
unintentional events. Cyber incidents include, but
are not limited to, gaining unauthorized access to digital systems (e.g.,
through “hacking” or malicious software coding) for purposes
of misappropriating assets or sensitive information, corrupting data, or causing
operational disruption. Cyberattacks may also
be carried out in a manner that does not require gaining unauthorized access,
such as causing denial-of-service attacks on websites
(i.e., efforts to make network services unavailable to intended users).
Recently, geopolitical tensions may have increased the scale
and sophistication of deliberate attacks, particularly those from nation-states
or from entities with nation-state backing.
Cybersecurity
failures by, or breaches of, the systems of the Adviser, distributor and other
service providers (including, but not limited
to, index and benchmark providers, fund accountants, custodians, transfer agents
and administrators), exchanges, market participants,
market makers, authorized participants or the issuers of securities in which the
Fund invests have the ability to cause
Parametric
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Additional
Information About Fund Investment Strategies and Related Risks
Additional
Information About Fund Investment Strategies and Related Risks (Con’t)
disruptions
and impact business operations, potentially resulting in: financial losses,
interference with the Fund’s ability to calculate its
NAV, disclosure of confidential trading information, impediments to trading,
submission of erroneous trades or erroneous creation
or redemption orders, the inability of the Fund or its service providers to
transact business, violations of applicable privacy and
other laws, regulatory fines, penalties, reputational damage, reimbursement or
other compensation costs, or additional compliance
costs. In addition, cyberattacks may render records of Fund assets and
transactions, shareholder ownership of Fund shares,
and other data integral to the functioning of the Fund inaccessible, inaccurate
or incomplete. Substantial costs may be incurred
by the Fund in order to resolve or prevent cyber incidents in the future. While
the Fund has established business continuity plans
in the event of, and risk management systems to prevent, such cyber incidents,
there are inherent limitations in such plans and systems,
including the possibility that certain risks have not been identified, that
prevention and remediation efforts will not be successful
or that cyberattacks will go undetected. Furthermore, the Fund cannot control
the cybersecurity plans and systems put in place
by service providers to the Fund, issuers in which the Fund invests, market
makers or authorized participants. The Fund and its shareholders
could be negatively impacted as a result.
Active
Management Risk
In
pursuing the Fund’s investment objective, the Adviser and Sub-Adviser have
considerable leeway in deciding which investments to buy,
hold or sell on a day-to-day basis, and which trading strategies to use. For
example, the Adviser and/or Sub-Adviser, in its discretion,
may determine to use some permitted trading strategies while not using others.
The success or failure of such decisions will
affect the Fund’s performance. In addition, it is expected that confidential or
material non-public information regarding an investment
or potential investment opportunity may become available to the Adviser and/or
Sub-Adviser. If such information becomes
available, the Adviser and/or Sub-Adviser may be precluded (including by
applicable law or internal policies or procedures) from
pursuing an investment or disposition opportunity with respect to such
investment or investment opportunity and the Adviser and/or
Sub-Adviser may be restricted in its ability to cause the Fund to buy or sell
securities of an issuer for substantial periods of time
when the Fund otherwise could realize profit or avoid loss. This may adversely
affect the Fund’s flexibility with respect to buying
or selling securities and may impair the Fund’s liquidity.
The
Sub-Adviser uses proprietary investment techniques and analyses in making
investment decisions for the Fund, seeking to achieve
its investment objective while minimizing exposure to security-specific risk.
The strategy seeks to take advantage of certain quantitative
and behavioral market characteristics identified by the Sub-Adviser, utilizing a
rules-based process and systematic rebalancing.
A systematic investment process is dependent on the Sub-Adviser’s skill in
developing and maintaining that process.
The Fund’s strategy has not been independently tested or validated, and there
can be no assurance that it will achieve the desired
results. In addition, in implementing this rule-based management process, the
Fund may not necessarily sell or otherwise close
a position as a result of fundamental investment analysis or adverse changes in
a company’s financial position or outlook.
Tax
Risk
The
Fund intends to limit the overlap between its stock holdings and the stock
holdings of the Underlying ETF or constituents of the
Underlying Index to less than 70% on an ongoing basis in an effort to avoid
being subject to the “straddle rules” under federal income
tax law. In general, investment positions will be offsetting if there is a
substantial diminution in the risk of loss from holding one
position by reason of holding one or more other positions. The Fund expects that
the option contracts it writes will not be considered
straddles because its stock holdings will be sufficiently dissimilar from the
stock holdings of the Underlying ETF or Underlying
Index under applicable guidance established by the IRS. Under certain
circumstances, however, the Fund may enter into options
transactions or certain other investments that may constitute positions in a
straddle. The straddle rules may affect the character
of gains (or losses) realized by the Fund, and losses realized by the Fund on
positions that are part of a straddle may be deferred
under the straddle rules, rather than being taken into account in calculating
taxable income for the taxable year in which the losses
are realized. In addition, certain carrying charges (including interest expense)
associated with positions in a straddle may be required
to be capitalized rather than deducted currently. Certain elections that the
Fund may make with respect to its straddle positions
may also affect the amount, character and timing of the recognition of gains or
losses from the affected positions and may decrease
the amount of the Fund’s dividends that may be reported as qualified dividend
income. The tax consequences of such straddle
transactions to the Fund are not entirely clear in all situations under
currently available authority. The straddle rules may increase
the amount of short-term capital gain realized by the Fund, which is taxed as
ordinary income when distributed to U.S. shareholders
in a non- liquidating distribution. Because application of the straddle rules
may affect the character of gains or losses, defer
losses and/or accelerate the recognition of gains or losses from the affected
straddle positions, the amount which must be distributed
to U.S. shareholders as ordinary income may be increased or decreased
substantially as compared to a fund that did not engage
in such transactions.
Securities
Lending
The
Fund may lend its portfolio securities to broker-dealers and other institutional
borrowers. During the existence of a loan, the Fund
will continue to receive the equivalent of the interest paid by the issuer on
the securities loaned, or all or a portion of the interest
on investment of the collateral, if any. The Fund may pay lending fees to such
borrowers. Loans will only be made to firms that
have been approved by the Adviser, and the Adviser or the securities lending
agent will periodically monitor the financial condition
of such firms while such loans are outstanding. Securities loans will only be
made when the Adviser believes that the
Parametric
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Additional
Information About Fund Investment Strategies and Related Risks
Additional
Information About Fund Investment Strategies and Related Risks (Con’t)
expected
returns, net of expenses, justify the attendant risks. Securities loans
currently are required to be secured continuously by collateral
in cash, cash equivalents (such as money market instruments) or other liquid
securities held by the custodian and maintained
in an amount at least equal to the market value of the securities loaned. The
Fund may engage in securities lending to seek
to generate income. Upon return of the loaned securities, the Fund would be
required to return the related collateral to the borrower
and may be required to liquidate portfolio securities in order to do so. The
Fund may lend up to one-third of the value of its
total assets or such other amount as may be permitted by law.
As
with other extensions of credit, there are risks of delay in recovery or even
loss of rights in the securities loaned if the borrower of the
securities fails financially. To the extent that the portfolio securities
acquired with such collateral have decreased in value, it may result
in the Fund realizing a loss at a time when it would not otherwise do so. As
such, securities lending may introduce leverage into the
Fund. The Fund also may incur losses if the returns on securities that it
acquires with cash collateral are less than the applicable rebate
rates paid to borrowers and related administrative costs.
Temporary
Investments
Under
adverse or unstable market conditions or abnormal circumstances or when the
Adviser believes that changes in market, economic,
political or other conditions warrant, the Fund may, in the discretion of the
Adviser, take temporary positions that are inconsistent
with the Fund’s principal investment strategies in attempting to respond to such
conditions or circumstances. For example,
the Fund may invest without limit in cash, cash equivalents or other
fixed-income instruments, derivatives, repurchase agreements
or securities of other investment companies, including money market funds, for
temporary purposes. If the Adviser incorrectly
predicts the effects of these changes, such temporary investments may adversely
affect the Fund’s performance and the Fund
may not achieve its investment objective.
Investment
Objective Risk
There
is no guarantee that the Adviser will be successful in managing the Fund to
provide consistent (monthly) distributable income combined
with capital appreciation through equity market exposure. The Fund may
underperform its benchmark, particularly in rising
markets. In addition, the Fund does not guarantee that distributions will always
be paid or will be paid at a relatively stable level.
Regulatory
and Legal Risk
U.S.
and non-U.S. governmental agencies and other regulators regularly implement
additional regulations and legislators pass new laws
that affect the investments held by the Fund, the strategies used by the Fund or
the level of regulation or taxation applying to the
Fund (such as regulations related to investments in derivatives and other
transactions). These regulations and laws impact the investment
strategies, performance, costs and operations of the Fund or taxation of
shareholders.
The
SEC has recently proposed amendments to Rule 22e-4 of the 1940 Act that, if
adopted, would result in changes to the Fund’s liquidity
classification framework and could potentially increase the percentage of the
Fund’s investments classified as illiquid. In addition,
the Fund’s operations and investment strategies may be adversely impacted if the
proposed amendments are adopted.
New
Fund Risk
A
new fund’s performance may not represent how the fund is expected to or may
perform in the long term. In addition, new funds have
limited operating histories for investors to evaluate and new funds may not
attract sufficient assets to achieve investment and trading
efficiencies. Moreover, a new fund may not be able to fully implement its
investment strategy immediately upon commencing
investment operations, which could reduce investment
performance.
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Fund
Management
Adviser
Morgan
Stanley Investment Management Inc., with principal offices at 1585 Broadway, New
York, NY 10036, conducts a worldwide
portfolio management business and provides a broad range of portfolio management
services to customers in the United States
and abroad. Morgan Stanley (NYSE: “MS”) is the parent of the Adviser. Morgan
Stanley is a preeminent global financial services
firm engaged in securities trading and brokerage activities, as well as
providing investment banking, research and analysis, financing
and financial advisory services. As of December 31, 2023, the Adviser, together
with its affiliated asset management companies,
had approximately $1.5 trillion in assets under management or
supervision.
A
discussion regarding the basis for the Board of Trustees’ approval of the
Management Agreement and the Sub-Advisory Agreement will
be available in the Fund’s semi-annual report to shareholders for the period
ending March 31, 2024.
The
Adviser, Sub-Adviser and/or their affiliates may make payments to one or more
investors that contribute seed capital to the Fund.
Such payments may continue for a specified period of time and/or until a
specified dollar amount is reached. Those payments will
be made from the assets of the Adviser, Sub-Adviser and/or such affiliates (and
not the Fund). Seed investors may contribute all or
a majority of the assets in the Fund. There is a risk that such seed investors
may redeem their investments in the Fund. As with redemptions
by other large shareholders, such redemptions could have a significant negative
impact on the Fund.
Sub-Adviser
The
Adviser has entered into a Sub-Advisory Agreement with Parametric Portfolio
Associates LLC, located at 800 Fifth Avenue, Suite
2800, Seattle, Washington 98104. The Sub-Adviser is a wholly owned subsidiary of
Morgan Stanley. The Sub-Adviser provides the
Fund with investment advisory services subject to the overall supervision of the
Adviser and the Trust’s officers and Trustees. The Adviser
pays the Sub-Adviser on a monthly basis a portion of the net advisory fees the
Adviser receives from the Fund.
Management
Fees
The
Adviser receives a fee for management services equal to 0.29% of the average
daily net assets of the Fund.
Under
the Management Agreement, the Adviser will pay substantially all the expenses of
the Fund (including expenses of the Trust relating
to the Fund), except for the distribution fees, if any, brokerage expenses,
acquired fund fees and expenses, taxes, interest, litigation
expenses, and other extraordinary expenses, including the costs of proxies, not
incurred in the ordinary course of the Fund’s business.
Portfolio
Management
The
Fund is managed by a team of portfolio managers who are jointly and primarily
responsible for the day-to-day management of the
Fund.
From
the Adviser, the Fund is managed by Mathew Maillet. Mr. Maillet has been an
Executive Director of the Adviser since 2022 and
was associated with Goldman Sachs Asset Management, L.P. from 2014 until he
joined Morgan Stanley.
From
the Sub-Adviser, the portfolio managers who are primarily responsible for the
day-to-day management of the Fund are Thomas Seto;
James Reber; Alex Zweber, CFA, CAIA; Michael Zaslavsky, CFA, CAIA and Larry
Berman. Mr. Seto, Head of Investment Management,
has been with the Sub-Adviser since 1998 and was previously Director of
Portfolio Management. Mr. Seto also manages
Eaton Vance funds. Mr. Reber, Managing Director, Portfolio Management, has been
with the Sub-Adviser since 2004. Mr. Zweber,
Managing Director of Investment Strategy, joined The Clifton Group in 2006,
which was acquired by the Sub-Adviser in 2012.
Mr. Zaslavsky, Senior Investment Strategist, joined the Sub-Adviser in 2015. Mr.
Berman, Managing Director, Investment Management,
joined the Sub-Adviser in 2006.
The
Fund’s SAI provides additional information about the portfolio managers’
compensation structure, other accounts managed by the
portfolio managers and the portfolio managers’ ownership of securities in the
Fund.
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Shareholder
Information
Distribution
of Fund Shares
The
Distributor is the exclusive distributor of Creation Units of the Fund. The
Distributor or its agent distributes Creation Units for the
Fund on an agency basis. The Distributor does not maintain a secondary market in
shares of the Fund. The Distributor has no role
in determining the investment policies of the Fund or the securities that are
purchased or sold by the Fund. The Distributor’s principal
address is 3 Canal Plaza Suite 100, Portland, ME 04101.
The
Board of Trustees of the Trust has adopted a distribution and service plan
(“Plan”) pursuant to Rule 12b-1 under the 1940 Act. Under
the Plan, the Fund is authorized to pay distribution fees in connection with the
sale and distribution of its shares and pay service
fees in connection with the provision of ongoing services to shareholders of the
Fund and the maintenance of shareholder accounts
in an amount up to 0.25% of its average daily net assets each year.
No
Rule 12b-1 fees are currently paid by the Fund, and there are no current plans
to impose these fees. However, in the event Rule 12b-1
fees are charged in the future, because these fees are paid out of the Fund’s
assets on an ongoing basis, these fees will increase the
cost of your investment in the Fund. By purchasing shares subject to
distribution fees and service fees, you may pay more over time
than you would by purchasing shares with other types of sales charge
arrangements. Long-term shareholders may pay more than the
economic equivalent of the maximum front-end sales charge permitted by the rules
of FINRA. The net income attributable to shares
will be reduced by the amount of distribution fees and service fees and other
expenses of the Fund.
About
Net Asset Value
The
Fund’s NAV per share is determined by dividing the total of the value of the
Fund’s investments and other assets, less any liabilities
attributable to the Fund, by the total number of outstanding shares of the Fund.
In making this calculation, the Fund generally
values its portfolio securities and other assets at market price.
When
no market quotations are readily available for a security or other asset,
including circumstances under which the Adviser determines
that a market quotation is not accurate, fair value for the security or other
asset will be determined in good faith using methods
approved by the Board of Trustees. The Adviser, consistent with its procedures
and applicable regulatory guidance, may (but
need not) determine to make an adjustment to the previous closing prices of
either domestic or foreign securities in light of significant
events, to reflect what it believes to be the fair value of the securities at
the time of determining the Fund’s NAV. In these cases,
the Fund’s NAV will reflect certain portfolio securities’ fair value rather than
their market price. In addition, the securities held by
the Fund may be traded in markets that close at a different time than the
exchange on which the Fund’s shares are listed. Accordingly,
during the time when the Fund’s listing exchange is open but after the
applicable market closes, bid-ask spreads may widen
and Fund shares may trade at a premium or discount to NAV. To the extent the
Fund invests in open-end management companies
(other than ETFs) that are registered under the 1940 Act, the Fund’s NAV is
calculated based in relevant part upon the NAV
of such funds. The prospectuses for such funds explain the circumstances under
which they will use fair value pricing and its effects.
Fair
value pricing involves subjective judgments and it is possible that the fair
value determined for a security or other asset is materially
different than the value that could be realized upon the sale of that security
or other asset. With respect to securities that are
primarily listed on foreign exchanges, the values of the Fund’s portfolio
securities may change on days when you will not be able to
purchase or sell your shares. The NAV of the Fund is based on the value of the
Fund’s portfolio securities or other assets.
The
Fund relies on various sources to calculate its NAV. The ability of the Fund’s
provider of administrative services to calculate the NAV
per share of the Fund is subject to operational risks associated with processing
or human errors, systems or technology failures, cyber
attacks and errors caused by third party service providers, data sources, or
trading counterparties. Such failures may result in delays
in the calculation of the Fund’s NAV and/or the inability to calculate NAV over
extended time periods. The Fund may be unable
to recover any losses associated with such failures. In addition, if the third
party service providers and/or data sources upon which
the Fund directly or indirectly relies to calculate its NAV or price individual
securities are unavailable or otherwise unable to calculate
the NAV correctly, it may be necessary for alternative procedures to be utilized
to price the securities at the time of determining
the Fund’s NAV.
The
Fund’s NAV per share is subject to various investment and other risks. Please
refer to the “Additional Information About Fund Investment
Strategies and Related Risks” and “Investment Strategies and Techniques”
sections of the Prospectus and SAI, respectively,
for more information regarding risks associated with an investment in the
Fund.
Book
Entry
The
Depository Trust Company (“DTC”) serves as securities depository for the shares.
The shares may be held only in book-entry form;
stock certificates will not be issued. DTC, or its nominee, is the record or
registered owner of all outstanding shares. Beneficial ownership
of shares will be shown on the records of DTC or its participants (described
below). Beneficial owners of shares are not entitled
to have shares registered in their names, will not receive or be entitled to
receive physical delivery of certificates in definitive form
and are not considered the registered holder thereof. Accordingly, to exercise
any rights of a holder of shares, each beneficial owner
must rely on the procedures of: (i) DTC; (ii) “DTC Participants,” i.e.,
securities brokers and dealers, banks, trust companies,
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Shareholder
Information
Shareholder
Information (Con’t)
clearing
corporations and certain other organizations, some of whom (and/or their
representatives) own DTC; and (iii) “Indirect Participants,”
i.e., brokers, dealers, banks and trust companies that clear through or maintain
a custodial relationship with a DTC Participant,
either directly or indirectly, through which such beneficial owner holds its
interests. The Trust understands that under existing
industry practice, in the event the Trust requests any action of holders of
shares, or a beneficial owner desires to take any action
that DTC, as the record owner of all outstanding shares, is entitled to take,
DTC would authorize the DTC Participants to take
such action and that the DTC Participants would authorize the Indirect
Participants and beneficial owners acting through such DTC
Participants to take such action and would otherwise act upon the instructions
of beneficial owners owning through them. As described
above, the Trust recognizes DTC or its nominee as the owner of all shares for
all purposes.
Buying
and Selling Shares
Shares
of the Fund may be acquired or redeemed directly from the Fund at NAV only in
Creation Units or multiples thereof, as discussed
in the “Creations and Redemptions” section of the Prospectus. Only an Authorized
Participant (as defined in the “Creations
and Redemptions” section below) may engage in creation or redemption
transactions directly with the Fund. Once created,
shares of the Fund generally trade in the secondary market in amounts less than
a Creation Unit.
Shares
of the Fund are listed for trading on a national securities exchange during the
trading day. Shares can be bought and sold throughout
the trading day at market price like shares of other publicly traded companies.
However, there can be no guarantee that an
active trading market will develop or be maintained, or that the Fund shares
listing will continue or remain unchanged. The Trust does
not impose any minimum investment for shares of the Fund purchased on an
exchange. Buying or selling the Fund’s shares involves
certain costs that apply to all securities transactions. When buying or selling
shares of the Fund through a financial intermediary,
you may incur a brokerage commission or other charges determined by your
financial intermediary. Due to these brokerage
costs, if any, frequent trading may detract significantly from investment
returns. In addition, you may also incur the cost of the
spread (the difference between the bid price and the ask price). The commission
is frequently a fixed amount and may be a significant
cost for investors seeking to buy or sell small amounts of shares. The spread
varies over time for shares of the Fund based on
its trading volume and market liquidity, and is generally less if the Fund has
more trading volume and market liquidity and more if
the Fund has less trading volume and market liquidity.
The
Fund’s primary listing exchange is NYSE Arca. NYSE Arca is open for trading
Monday through Friday and is closed on the following
holidays: New Year’s Day, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, Presidents’ Day, Good
Friday, Memorial Day, Juneteenth National
Independence Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day and Christmas
Day.
A
“business day” with respect to the Fund is each day the New York Stock Exchange,
NYSE Arca, and the Trust are open and includes
any day that the Fund is required to be open under Section 22(e) of the 1940
Act. Orders from authorized participants to create
or redeem Creation Units will only be accepted on a business day. On days when
NYSE Arca closes earlier than normal, the Fund
may require orders to create or redeem Creation Units to be placed earlier in
the day. See the SAI for more information.
The
Trust’s Board of Trustees has not adopted a policy of monitoring for frequent
purchases and redemptions of Fund shares (“frequent
trading”) that appear to attempt to take advantage of potential arbitrage
opportunities presented by a lag between a change in
the value of the Fund’s portfolio securities after the close of the primary
markets for the Fund’s portfolio securities and the reflection
of that change in the Fund’s NAV (“market timing”). The Trust believes this is
appropriate because ETFs, such as the Fund,
are intended to be attractive to arbitrageurs, as trading activity is critical
to ensuring that the market price of Fund shares remains
at or close to NAV. Since the Fund issues and redeems Creation Units at NAV plus
applicable transaction fees, and the Fund’s
shares may be purchased and sold on NYSE Arca at prevailing market prices, the
risks of frequent trading are limited.
Section
12(d)(1) of the 1940 Act generally restricts investments by investment
companies, including foreign and unregistered investment
companies, in the securities of other investment companies. For example, a
registered investment company (the “Acquired
Fund”), such as the Fund, may not knowingly sell or otherwise dispose of any
security issued by the Acquired Fund to any investment
company (the “Acquiring Fund”) or any company or companies controlled by the
Acquiring Fund if, immediately after such
sale or disposition: (i) more than 3% of the total outstanding voting stock of
the Acquired Fund is owned by the Acquiring Fund
and any company or companies controlled by the Acquiring Fund, or (ii) more than
10% of the total outstanding voting stock of
the Acquired Fund is owned by the Acquiring Fund and other investment companies
and companies controlled by them. However,
registered investment companies are permitted to invest in the Fund beyond the
limits set forth in Section 12(d)(1), subject
to certain terms and conditions set forth in SEC rules. In order for a
registered investment company to invest in shares of the Fund
beyond the limitations of Section 12(d)(1) in reliance on Rule 12d1-4 under the
1940 Act, the registered investment company must,
among other things, enter into an agreement with the Trust. Foreign investment
companies are permitted to invest in the Fund
only up to the limits set forth in Section 12(d)(1), subject to any applicable
SEC Staff no-action relief.
The
Fund and the Distributor will have the sole right to accept orders to purchase
shares and reserve the right to reject any purchase order
in whole or in part.
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Creations
and Redemptions
Prior
to trading in the secondary market, shares of the Fund are “created” at NAV by
market makers, large investors and institutions only
in block-size Creation Units or multiples thereof. Each “creator” or authorized
participant (an “Authorized Participant”) enters into
an authorized participant agreement with the Fund’s Distributor. An Authorized
Participant is a member or participant of a clearing
agency registered with the SEC, which has a written agreement with the Fund or
one of its service providers that allows such member
or participant to place orders for the purchase and redemption of Creation
Units.
A
creation transaction, which is subject to acceptance by JPMorgan Chase Bank
N.A., as the Trust’s transfer agent, generally takes place
when an Authorized Participant deposits into the Fund a designated portfolio of
securities (including any portion of such securities
for which cash may be substituted) and a specified amount of cash in exchange
for a specified number of Creation Units.
Similarly,
shares can be redeemed only in Creation Units, generally for a designated
portfolio of securities (including any portion of such
securities for which cash may be substituted) held by the Fund and a specified
amount of cash. Except when aggregated in Creation
Units, shares are not redeemable by the Fund.
The
prices at which creations and redemptions occur are based on the next
calculation of NAV after a creation or redemption order is received
in an acceptable form under the authorized participant agreement.
Only
an Authorized Participant may create or redeem Creation Units directly with the
Fund.
In
the event of a system failure or other interruption, including disruptions at
market makers or authorized participants, orders to purchase
or redeem Creation Units either may not be executed according to the Fund’s
instructions or may not be executed at all, or the
Fund may not be able to place or change orders.
To
the extent the Fund engages in in-kind transactions, the Fund intends to comply
with the U.S. federal securities laws in accepting securities
for deposit and satisfying redemptions with redemption securities by, among
other means, assuring that any securities accepted
for deposit and any securities used to satisfy redemption requests will be sold
in transactions that would be exempt from registration
under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”). Further, an
Authorized Participant that is not a “qualified
institutional buyer,” as such term is defined under Rule 144A of the Securities
Act, will not be able to receive restricted securities
eligible for resale under Rule 144A.
The
in-kind arrangements are intended to protect ongoing shareholders from adverse
effects on the Fund’s portfolio that could arise from
frequent cash creation and redemption transactions and generally will not lead
to a tax event for the Fund or its ongoing shareholders.
Creations
and redemptions must be made through a firm that is either a member of the
Continuous Net Settlement System of the National
Securities Clearing Corporation or a DTC Participant and has executed an
agreement with the Distributor with respect to creations
and redemptions of Creation Unit aggregations. Information about the procedures
regarding creation and redemption of Creation
Units (including the cut-off times for receipt of creation and redemption
orders) and the applicable transaction fees is included
in the Fund’s SAI.
Portfolio
Holdings
A
description of the Trust’s policies and procedures with respect to the
disclosure of the Fund’s portfolio securities is available in the Trust’s
SAI.
Inactive
Accounts and Risk of Escheatment
In
accordance with state “unclaimed property” laws, your Fund shares may legally be
considered abandoned and required to be transferred
to the relevant state (also known as “escheatment”) under various circumstances.
These circumstances, which vary by state,
can include inactivity (e.g., no owner-initiated contact for a certain period),
returned mail (e.g., when mail sent to a shareholder is
returned by the post office as undeliverable), uncashed checks or a combination
of these. An incorrect address may cause a shareholder’s
account statements and other mailings to be returned to the Fund or your
Financial Intermediary. Since states’ statutory
requirements regarding inactivity differ, it is important to regularly contact
your Financial Intermediary or the Fund’s transfer
agent. The process described above, and the application of state escheatment
laws, may vary by state and/or depending on how
shareholders hold their shares in the Fund.
It
is your responsibility to ensure that you maintain a valid mailing address for
your account, keep your account active by contacting your
Financial Intermediary or the Fund’s transfer agent (e.g., by mail or
telephone), and promptly cash all checks for dividends, capital
gains and redemptions. Neither the Fund nor the Adviser will be liable to
shareholders or their representatives for good faith compliance
with escheatment laws.
For
more information, please contact us at 800-836-2414.
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Dividends
and Distributions
General
Policies
Dividends
from net investment income, if any, generally are declared and paid monthly by
the Fund. Distributions of net realized securities
gains, if any, generally are declared and paid once a year, but the Trust may
make distributions on a more frequent basis for the
Fund. The Trust reserves the right to declare special distributions if, in its
reasonable discretion, such action is necessary or advisable
to preserve its status as a regulated investment company or to avoid imposition
of income or excise taxes on undistributed income
or realized gains. Dividends and other distributions on shares of the Fund are
distributed on a pro rata basis to beneficial owners
of such shares. Dividend payments are made through DTC participants and indirect
participants to beneficial owners then of record
with proceeds received from the Fund.
Dividend
Reinvestment Service
No
dividend reinvestment service is provided by the Trust. Broker-dealers may make
available the DTC book-entry dividend reinvestment
service for use by beneficial owners of the Fund for reinvestment of their
dividend distributions. Beneficial owners should
contact their broker to determine the availability and costs of the service and
the details of participation therein. Brokers may require
beneficial owners to adhere to specific procedures and timetables. If this
service is available and used, dividend distributions of both
income and realized gains will be automatically reinvested in additional whole
shares of the Fund purchased in the secondary market.
Taxes
As
with any investment, you should consider how your Fund investment will be taxed.
The tax information in this Prospectus is provided
as general information. You should consult your own tax professional about the
tax consequences of an investment in the Fund.
Unless your investment in the Fund is through a tax deferred retirement account,
such as a 401(k) plan or IRA, you need to be aware
of the possible tax consequences when the Fund makes distributions and when you
sell shares.
Taxation
of Distributions.
Your distributions normally are subject to federal and state income tax when
they are paid, whether you take
them in cash or reinvest them in Fund shares. A distribution also may be subject
to local income tax. Any income dividend distributions
and any short-term capital gain distributions are taxable to you as ordinary
income. Any long-term capital gain distributions
are taxable as long-term capital gains, no matter how long you have owned shares
in the Fund. Based on the Fund’s strategy,
it is anticipated that the Fund will not make significant long-term capital gain
distributions.
If
certain holding period requirements are met with respect to your shares, a
portion of the income dividends you receive may be taxed
at the same rates as long-term capital gains. However, even if income received
in the form of income dividends is taxed at the same
rates as long-term capital gains, such income will not be considered long-term
capital gains for other federal income tax purposes.
For example, you will not be permitted to offset income dividends with capital
losses. Short term capital gain distributions will
continue to be taxed as ordinary income taxes.
The
shareholders may periodically receive distributions which constitute a return of
capital for tax purposes. A return of capital is not taxable,
but it reduces the shareholder’s basis in its shares, which reduces the loss (or
increases the gain) on a subsequent taxable disposition
by such shareholder of the shares.
The
Fund’s transactions in derivatives (including the Fund’s option writing
strategy) will be subject to special tax rules, the effect of which
may be to accelerate income to the Fund, defer losses to the Fund, cause
adjustments in the holding periods of the Fund’s securities,
and convert short-term capital losses into long-term capital losses. These rules
could therefore affect the amount, timing and
character of distributions to shareholders. A Fund’s use of these types of
transactions may result in the Fund realizing more short-term
capital gain and ordinary income subject to tax at ordinary income tax rates
than it would if it did not engage in such transactions.
In
general, the Fund’s investment positions will be offsetting and subject to
“straddle rules” under federal income tax law if there is a substantial
diminution in the risk of loss from holding one position by reason of holding
one or more other positions. The Fund expects
that the call option contracts it writes will not be considered straddles
because its stock holdings will be sufficiently dissimilar from
the components of the Underlying ETF or Underlying Index under applicable
guidance established by the IRS.
If
certain holding period requirements are met, corporate shareholders may be
entitled to a dividends-received deduction for the portion
of dividends they receive which are attributable to dividends received by the
Fund from U.S. corporations.
The
options included in the Fund’s portfolio are exchange-traded options. Under
Section 1256 of the Internal Revenue Code, certain
types of exchange-traded options are treated as if they were sold (i.e., “marked
to market”) at the end of each year. The Fund does
not intend to treat certain options that reference the Underlying ETF as being
subject to Section 1256, which means that such positions
will not be marked to market, and disposition of such positions will likely
result in short-term capital gains or losses to the Fund.
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If
you buy shares of the Fund before a distribution, you may be subject to tax on
the entire amount of the taxable distribution you receive.
Distributions are taxable to you even if they are paid from income or gain
earned by the Fund before your investment (and thus
were included in the price you paid for your Fund shares).
Investment
income received by the Fund from sources within foreign countries may be subject
to foreign income, withholding, and other
taxes. Tax conventions between certain countries and the U.S. may reduce or
eliminate such taxes.
You
will be sent a statement (Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) Form 1099-DIV) by
February of each year showing the taxable distributions
paid to you in the previous year. The statement provides information on your
dividends and any capital gains for tax purposes.
Taxation
of Sales.
Your sale of Fund shares normally is subject to federal and state income tax and
may result in a taxable gain or loss to
you. A sale also may be subject to local income tax. When you sell your shares,
you will generally recognize a capital gain or loss in an
amount equal to the difference between your adjusted tax basis in the shares and
the amount received. Generally, this capital gain or
loss is long-term or short-term depending on whether your holding period exceeds
one year, except that any loss realized on shares held
for six months or less will be treated as a long-term capital loss to the extent
of any long-term capital gain dividends that were received
on the shares. Additionally, any loss realized on a sale, exchange or redemption
of Shares of the Fund may be disallowed under
“wash sale” rules to the extent the shares disposed of are replaced with other
shares of the Fund within a period of 61 days beginning
30 days before and ending 30 days after the date of disposition, such as
pursuant to a dividend reinvestment in Fund shares.
If disallowed, the loss will be reflected in an adjustment to the basis of the
shares acquired.
Creations
and Redemptions.
A person who exchanges securities for Creation Units generally will recognize a
gain or loss. The gain or loss
will be equal to the difference between the market value of the Creation Units
at the time of exchange and the sum of the exchanger’s
aggregate basis in the securities surrendered and the amount of any cash paid
for such Creation Units. A person who exchanges
Creation Units for securities will generally recognize a gain or loss equal to
the difference between the exchanger’s basis in the
Creation Units and the sum of the aggregate market value of the securities
received. The IRS, however, may assert that a loss realized
upon an exchange of primarily securities for Creation Units cannot be deducted
currently under the rules governing “wash sales,”
or on the basis that there has been no significant change in economic position.
Persons exchanging securities for Creation Units
or redeeming Creation Units should consult their own tax adviser with respect to
whether wash sale rules apply and when a loss might
be deductible and the tax treatment of any creation or redemption
transaction.
Under
current U.S. federal income tax laws, any capital gain or loss realized upon a
redemption (or creation) of Creation Units is generally
treated as long-term capital gain or loss if the Fund shares (or securities
surrendered) have been held for more than one year and
as a short-term capital gain or loss if the Fund shares (or securities
surrendered) have been held for one year or less.
Other
Information.
An additional 3.8% Medicare tax is imposed on certain net investment income
(including ordinary dividends and capital
gain distributions received from the Fund and net gains from redemptions or
other taxable dispositions of Fund shares) of U.S.
individuals, estates and trusts to the extent that such person’s “modified
adjusted gross income” (in the case of an individual) or “adjusted
gross income” (in the case of an estate or trust) exceeds certain threshold
amounts.
You
may be subject to backup withholding at a rate of 24% with respect to taxable
distributions if you do not provide your correct taxpayer
identification number, or certify that it is correct, or if you have been
notified by the IRS that you are subject to backup withholding.
Shareholders who are not citizens or residents of the United States and certain
foreign entities will generally be subject to
withholding of U.S. tax of 30% on distributions made by the Fund of investment
income and short-term capital gains.
Withholding
of U.S. tax is required (at a 30% rate) on payments of taxable dividends made to
certain non-U.S. entities that fail to comply
(or be deemed compliant) with extensive reporting and withholding requirements
designed to inform the U.S. Department of
the Treasury of U.S.-owned foreign investment accounts. Shareholders may be
requested to provide additional information to the Fund
to enable the Fund to determine whether withholding is required.
Reporting
to you and the IRS is required annually on Form 1099-B with respect to not only
the gross proceeds of Fund shares you sell
or redeem but also their cost basis. Shareholders should contact their
intermediaries with respect to reporting of cost basis and available
elections with respect to their accounts. You should carefully review the cost
basis information provided by the applicable intermediary
and make any additional basis, holding period or other adjustments that are
required when reporting these amounts on your
federal income tax returns.
Because
each investor’s tax circumstances are unique and the tax laws may change, you
should consult your tax advisor about your investment.
Tax-Advantaged
Product Structure
Unlike
interests in many conventional mutual funds, the Fund’s shares are traded
throughout the day on a national securities exchange,
whereas mutual fund interests are typically only bought and sold at closing
NAVs. The Fund’s shares have been designed
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to
be tradable in the secondary market on a national securities exchange on an
intra-day basis, and to be created and redeemed in Creation
Units at each day’s next calculated NAV. Fund shares are created and redeemed
principally in kind (but cash may be substituted
in lieu of certain securities). The in-kind arrangements are designed to protect
ongoing shareholders from adverse effects on
the Fund’s portfolio that could arise from frequent cash creation and redemption
transactions. In a conventional mutual fund, redemptions
can have an adverse tax impact on taxable shareholders because the mutual fund
may need to sell portfolio securities to obtain
cash to meet fund redemptions. These sales may generate taxable gains for the
shareholders of the mutual fund, whereas the shares’
in-kind redemption mechanism generally will not lead to a tax event for the Fund
or its ongoing shareholders. To the extent the
Fund substitutes cash in lieu of certain portfolio securities for redemption
transactions, the Fund may be required to sell portfolio securities
and subsequently recognize gains on such sales that the Fund might not have
recognized if it were to distribute such portfolio
securities in-kind.
Potential
Conflicts of Interest
As
a diversified global financial services firm, Morgan Stanley, the parent company
of the Adviser, engages in a broad spectrum of activities,
including financial advisory services, investment management activities,
lending, commercial banking, sponsoring and managing
private investment funds, engaging in broker-dealer transactions and principal
securities, commodities and foreign exchange
transactions, research publication and other activities. In the ordinary course
of its business, Morgan Stanley is a full-service investment
banking and financial services firm and therefore engages in activities where
Morgan Stanley’s interests or the interests of its
clients may conflict with the interests of the Fund. Morgan Stanley advises
clients and sponsors, manages or advises other investment
funds and investment programs, accounts and businesses (collectively, together
with any new or successor funds, programs,
accounts or businesses, the ‘‘Affiliated Investment Accounts’’) with a wide
variety of investment objectives that in some instances
may overlap or conflict with the Fund’s investment objectives and present
conflicts of interest. In addition, Morgan Stanley may
also from time to time create new or successor Affiliated Investment Accounts
that may compete with the Fund and present similar
conflicts of interest. The discussion below enumerates certain actual, apparent
and potential conflicts of interest. There is no assurance
that conflicts of interest will be resolved in favor of Fund shareholders and,
in fact, they may not be. Conflicts of interest not
described below may also exist. References to the Adviser, when used in this
section, include the Sub-Adviser unless otherwise noted.
For
more information about conflicts of interest, see the section entitled
“Potential Conflicts of Interest” in the SAI.
Material
Nonpublic Information.
It is expected that confidential or material nonpublic information regarding an
investment or potential
investment opportunity may become available to the Adviser. If such information
becomes available, the Adviser may be precluded
(including by applicable law or internal policies or procedures) from pursuing
an investment or disposition opportunity with
respect to such investment or investment opportunity. Morgan Stanley has
established certain information barriers and other policies
to address the sharing of information between different businesses within Morgan
Stanley. In limited circumstances, however,
including for purposes of managing business and reputational risk, and subject
to policies and procedures and any applicable
regulations, personnel, including personnel of the Adviser, on one side of an
information barrier may have access to information
and personnel on the other side of the information barrier through “wall
crossings.” The Adviser faces conflicts of interest
in determining whether to engage in such wall crossings. Information obtained in
connection with such wall crossings may limit
or restrict the ability of the Adviser to engage in or otherwise effect
transactions on behalf of the Fund (including purchasing or selling
securities that the Adviser may otherwise have purchased or sold for the Fund in
the absence of a wall crossing).
Investments
by Morgan Stanley and its Affiliated Investment Accounts.
In serving in multiple capacities to Affiliated Investment Accounts,
Morgan Stanley, including the Adviser and the investment team, may have
obligations to other clients or investors in Affiliated
Investment Accounts, the fulfillment of which may not be in the best interests
of the Fund or its shareholders. The Fund’s investment
objectives may overlap with the investment objectives of certain Affiliated
Investment Accounts. As a result, the members of
an investment team may face conflicts in the allocation of investment
opportunities among the Fund and other investment funds, programs,
accounts and businesses advised by or affiliated with the Adviser. Certain
Affiliated Investment Accounts may provide for higher
management or incentive fees or greater expense reimbursements or overhead
allocations, all of which may contribute to this conflict
of interest and create an incentive for the Adviser to favor such other
accounts. To seek to reduce potential conflicts of interest
and to attempt to allocate such investment opportunities in a fair and equitable
manner, the Adviser has implemented allocation
policies and procedures. These policies and procedures are intended to give all
clients of the Adviser, including the Fund, fair
access to investment opportunities consistent with the requirements of
organizational documents, investment strategies, applicable
laws and regulations, and the fiduciary duties of the Adviser.
Payments
to Broker-Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries.
(For purposes of this section, “Adviser” refers to Morgan Stanley Investment
Management Inc. only) The Adviser and/or the Distributor may pay compensation,
out of their own funds and not as an expense
of the Fund, to certain Financial Intermediaries (which may include affiliates
of the Adviser and Distributor), including recordkeepers
and administrators of various deferred compensation plans, in connection with
the sale, distribution, marketing and retention
of shares of the Fund and/or shareholder servicing. The prospect of receiving,
or the receipt of, additional compensation, as described
above, by Financial Intermediaries may provide such Financial Intermediaries and
their financial advisors and other salespersons
with an incentive to favor sales of shares of the Fund over other investment
options with respect to which these Financial
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Intermediaries
do not receive additional compensation (or receives lower levels of additional
compensation). These payment arrangements,
however, will not change the price that an investor pays for shares of the Fund
or the amount that the Fund receives to invest
on behalf of an investor. Investors may wish to take such payment arrangements
into account when considering and evaluating any
recommendations relating to Fund shares and should review carefully any
disclosures provided by Financial Intermediaries as to their
compensation. In addition, in certain circumstances, the Adviser restricts,
limits or reduces the amount of the Fund’s investment,
or restricts the type of governance or voting rights it acquires or exercises,
where the Fund (potentially together with Morgan
Stanley) exceeds a certain ownership interest, or possesses certain degrees of
voting or control or has other interests.
Morgan
Stanley Trading and Principal Investing Activities.
Notwithstanding anything to the contrary herein, Morgan Stanley will
generally
conduct its sales and trading businesses, publish research and analysis, and
render investment advice without regard for the Fund’s
holdings, although these activities could have an adverse impact on the value of
one or more of the Fund’s investments, or could
cause Morgan Stanley to have an interest in one or more portfolio investments
that is different from, and potentially adverse to,
that of the Fund.
Morgan
Stanley’s Investment Banking and Other Commercial Activities.
Morgan Stanley advises clients on a variety of mergers, acquisitions,
restructuring, bankruptcy and financing transactions. Morgan Stanley may act as
an advisor to clients, including other investment
funds that may compete with the Fund and with respect to investments that the
Fund may hold. Morgan Stanley may give
advice and take action with respect to any of its clients or proprietary
accounts that may differ from the advice given, or may involve
an action of a different timing or nature than the action taken, by the Fund.
Morgan Stanley may give advice and provide recommendations
to persons competing with the Fund and/or any of the Fund’s investments that are
contrary to the Fund’s best interests
and/or the best interests of any of its investments. Morgan Stanley’s activities
on behalf of its clients (such as engagements as an
underwriter or placement agent) may restrict or otherwise limit investment
opportunities that may otherwise be available to the Fund.
Morgan
Stanley may be engaged to act as a financial advisor to a company in connection
with the sale of such company, or subsidiaries
or divisions thereof, may represent potential buyers of businesses through its
mergers and acquisition activities and may provide
lending and other related financing services in connection with such
transactions. Morgan Stanley’s compensation for such activities
is usually based upon realized consideration and is usually contingent, in
substantial part, upon the closing of the transaction.
Under these circumstances, the Fund may be precluded from participating in a
transaction with or relating to the company
being sold or participating in any financing activity related to a merger or an
acquisition.
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Financial
Highlights
No
financial information is provided for the Fund because it had not yet commenced
operations as of the most recent fiscal year end. Financial
information will be provided in the first shareholder report after commencement
of operations.
Parametric | Premium/Discount
Information
Premium/Discount
Information
Information
regarding how often the closing trading price of the shares of the
Fund was above (i.e., at a premium) or below (i.e., at a discount)
the NAV of the shares of the Fund for the most recently completed calendar year
and the most recently completed calendar quarter(s)
since that year (or the life of the Fund, if shorter) can be found at
www.eatonvance.com.
Parametric | Continuous
Offering Information
Continuous
Offering Information
The
method by which Creation Units are created and traded may raise certain issues
under applicable securities laws. Because new Creation
Units are issued and sold by the Trust on an ongoing basis, a “distribution,” as
such term is used in the Securities Act may occur
at any point. Broker dealers and other persons are cautioned that some
activities on their part may, depending on the circumstances,
result in their being deemed participants in a distribution in a manner which
could render them statutory underwriters
and subject them to the prospectus delivery and liability provisions of the
Securities Act.
For
example, a broker dealer firm or its client may be deemed a statutory
underwriter if it takes Creation Units after placing an order with
the Distributor, breaks them down into constituent shares, and sells such shares
directly to customers, or if it chooses to couple the
creation of a supply of new shares with an active selling effort involving
solicitation of secondary market demand for shares. A determination
of whether one is an underwriter for purposes of the Securities Act must take
into account all the facts and circumstances
pertaining to the activities of the broker dealer or its client in the
particular case, and the examples mentioned above should
not be considered a complete description of all the activities that could lead
to a categorization as an underwriter.
Broker
dealers who are not “underwriters” but are participating in a distribution (as
contrasted to ordinary secondary trading transactions),
and thus dealing with shares that are part of an “unsold allotment” within the
meaning of Section 4(a)(3)(C) of the Securities
Act, would be unable to take advantage of the prospectus delivery exemption
provided by Section 4(a)(3) of the Securities Act.
This is because the prospectus delivery exemption in Section 4(a)(3) of the
Securities Act is not available in respect of such transactions
as a result of Section 24(d) of the 1940 Act. As a result, broker dealer firms
should note that dealers who are not underwriters
but are participating in a distribution (as contrasted with ordinary secondary
market transactions) and thus dealing with the
shares that are part of an overallotment within the meaning of Section
4(a)(3)(A) of the Securities Act would be unable to take advantage
of the prospectus delivery exemption provided by Section 4(a)(3) of the
Securities Act. Firms that incur a prospectus delivery
obligation with respect to shares are reminded that, under Rule 153 of the
Securities Act, a prospectus delivery obligation under
Section 5(b)(2) of the Securities Act owed to an exchange member in connection
with a sale on the Exchange is satisfied by the fact
that the prospectus is available at the Exchange upon request. The prospectus
delivery mechanism provided in Rule 153 is only available
with respect to transactions on an exchange.
In
addition, certain affiliates of the Fund and the Adviser and/or Sub-Adviser may
purchase and resell Fund shares pursuant to this Prospectus.
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Where
to Find Additional Information
In
addition to this Prospectus, the Fund has an SAI, dated January
28, 2024 (as may be supplemented from time to time), which contains
additional, more detailed information about the Trust and the Fund. The SAI is
incorporated by reference into this Prospectus
and, therefore, legally forms a part of this Prospectus. Certain affiliates of
the Fund and the Adviser may purchase and resell
Fund shares pursuant to this Prospectus.
The
Trust publishes Annual and Semi-Annual Reports (“Shareholder Reports”) that
contain additional information about the Fund’s investments.
In the Fund’s Annual Report to Shareholders (once available), you will find a
discussion of the market conditions and the
investment strategies that significantly affected the Fund’s performance during
the last fiscal year. For additional Trust information,
including information regarding the investments comprising the Fund, please call
the toll-free number below.
You
may obtain the SAI and Shareholder Reports without charge by contacting the
Trust at the toll-free number below or on its website
at: www.eatonvance.com. If you purchased shares through a Financial
Intermediary, you may also obtain these documents, without
charge, by contacting your Financial Intermediary.
Shareholder
Reports and other information about the Fund are available on the EDGAR Database
on the SEC’s website at http://www.sec.gov,
and copies of this information may be obtained, after paying a duplicating fee,
by electronic request at the following e-mail
address: [email protected].
Morgan
Stanley ETF Trust
c/o
Morgan Stanley Investment Management Inc.
1585
Broadway
New
York, New York 10036
For
Shareholder Inquiries,
call
toll-free 800-836-2414
Prices
and Investment Results are available at www.eatonvance.com.
The
Trust’s 1940 Act registration number is 811-23820.
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