First
Trust Multi-Strategy Fund
A
series of Investment Managers Series Trust II (the “Trust”)
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1 | ||
MORE ABOUT THE FUND’S INVESTMENT OBJECTIVES, PRINCIPAL INVESTMENT STRATEGIES AND RISKS |
13 | |
30 | ||
34 | ||
36 | ||
50 | ||
51 | ||
53 | ||
APPENDIX A – WAIVERS AND DISCOUNTS AVAILABLE FROM INTERMEDIARIES |
56 | |
59 |
This Prospectus sets forth basic information about the Fund that you should know before investing. It should be read and retained for future reference. This Prospectus should not be considered a solicitation to purchase or as an offer to sell shares of the Fund in any jurisdiction where it would be unlawful to do so under the laws of that jurisdiction.
The
date of this Prospectus is
SUMMARY
SECTION — |
The primary investment objective of the First Trust Multi-Strategy Fund (the “Fund”) is to seek long-term capital appreciation by pursuing positive absolute returns across market cycles. In pursuing its objective, the Fund seeks to generate attractive long-term returns with low sensitivity to traditional equity and fixed-income indices.
This
table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy, hold and sell
shares of the Fund. You may pay other fees, such as brokerage commissions and
other fees to financial intermediaries, which are not reflected in the table and
example below.
Class A
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Class C
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Class I
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Shareholder Fees (fees paid directly from your investment) |
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Maximum sales charge (load) imposed on purchases (as a percentage of offering price) |
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Maximum deferred sales charge (load) (as a percentage of the lesser of the value redeemed or the amount invested) |
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Wire fee |
$ |
$ |
$ |
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Overnight check delivery fee |
$ |
$ |
$ |
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Retirement account fees (annual maintenance fee) |
$ |
$ |
$ |
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Annual Fund Operating Expenses (expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment) |
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Management fees |
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Distribution and service (Rule 12b-1) fees |
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Other expenses |
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Shareholder servicing fee |
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Dividends and interest expense on short sales |
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All other expenses |
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Acquired fund fees and expenses |
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Total annual fund operating expenses2 |
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1
2
1
This example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the Fund with the cost of investing in other mutual funds. The example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the Fund for the time periods indicated and then redeem all of your shares at the end of those periods. The example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year and that the Fund’s operating expenses remain the same.
Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:
One Year |
Three Years |
Five Years |
Ten Years | |
Class A |
$ |
$ |
$ |
$ |
Class C |
$ |
$ |
$ |
$ |
Class I |
$ |
$ |
$ |
$ |
One Year |
Three Years |
Five Years |
Ten Years | |
Class C |
$ |
$ |
$ |
$ |
The
Fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells
securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover 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
annual fund operating expenses or in the example above, affect the Fund’s
performance. During the most recent fiscal year, the portfolio turnover rate was
First Trust Capital Management L.P. (“FTCM” or the “Advisor”), the Fund’s advisor, seeks to achieve the Fund’s investment objective by delegating the management of a portion of Fund assets to a group of experienced investment managers that utilize a variety of investment strategies and styles (the “Sub-Advisors”). The Advisor will also manage a portion of the Fund’s assets directly. When appropriate, the terms “Advisor” or “Advisors” refer to FTCM and the Sub-Advisors. FTCM retains overall supervisory responsibility for the general management and investment of the Fund’s securities portfolio and is responsible for selecting and determining the percentage of Fund assets to allocate to itself and each Sub-Advisor. Each Advisor has complete discretion to invest its portion of the Fund’s assets as it deems appropriate, based on its particular philosophy, style, strategies and views. While each Sub-Advisor is subject to the oversight of the Advisor, the Advisor does not attempt to manage the day-to-day investments of the Sub-Advisors. At certain times, the Advisor may not allocate assets to all of the Sub-Advisors and therefore, certain investment strategies may not be employed.
In seeking to achieve the Fund’s investment objective, the Advisors implement both fundamentally and technically driven strategies. These strategies may include, without limitation, arbitrage and debt securities strategies that invest in different asset classes, securities, and derivative instruments, as discussed below. These strategies seek to target positive absolute returns and may exhibit different degrees of volatility, as well as exposure to equity, fixed income, currency, and interest rate markets. Certain strategies used by the Advisors may include exposure to different market risk factors including, but not limited to, value, growth, dividend yield, market cap and volatility.
Arbitrage. The typical merger-arbitrage strategies employed by the Advisor seek to generate returns by purchasing the stock of the company being acquired, which is commonly known as the target company (the “target”), at a discount to their expected value upon completion of the acquisition. The size of this discount, known as the arbitrage “spread,” may determine the Fund’s potential profit on such an investment. The Fund may employ a variety of strategies to set the “spread”, particularly in proposed transactions involving stock consideration, including shorting the stock of the company that proposes to acquire the target and/or the use of derivatives involving the purchase and sale of put and call options. The success of the merger-arbitrage strategy largely depends on the overall volume of merger activity, which has
2
historically been cyclical in nature, and the Advisor’s correct evaluation of the outcome of such merger or acquisition transactions, as the Advisor typically seeks to create a portfolio of uncorrelated investment positions that in the aggregate will benefit from such transaction’s completion. During periods of infrequent merger activity, it may be difficult for the Advisor to identify investment opportunities, and the Fund may hold a substantial amount in cash and cash equivalents.
Special Purpose Acquisition Companies. FTCM may also invest Fund assets in stock, warrants, and other securities of special purpose acquisition companies or similar special purpose entities (collectively, “SPACs”), which are collective investment structures that pool funds in order to seek potential acquisition opportunities. In selecting SPACs for investment, FTCM analyzes the attractiveness of the SPAC through the life of the SPAC from IPO to liquidation. FTCM evaluates pre- and post-merger announcements, the potential rate of return, the length of time until the proposed transaction closes or SPAC liquidates, and the potential risk to the Fund in the event the proposed acquisition/liquidation does not close on time and is extended. SPACs provide the opportunity for public shareholders to have some or all of their shares redeemed by the SPAC in connection with certain corporate events, such as an amendment to its charter or an acquisition. The Fund may sell its investments in SPACs at any time, but generally looks to sell/redeem prior to the completion of the acquisition or liquidation.
Secured Options. Vest Financial, LLC (“Vest”), one of the Fund’s current sub-advisors, under normal market circumstances, uses option writing strategies in an effort to obtain option premiums and reduce risk. Vest utilizes buy-write (covered call) and/or cash-secured put option strategies on index exchange-traded funds (“ETFs”), indices, and/or individual securities held by the Fund. Covered call and cash-secured put options are intended to reduce volatility, earn option premiums and provide more stable returns. Selling call options reduces the risk of owning securities by the receipt of the option premiums and selling put options reduces the purchase price of the underlying securities, but both strategies limit the opportunity to profit from an increase in the market value of the underlying security in exchange for up-front cash at the time of selling the call or put option. Vest’s strategy is referred to as “Secured Options” because the call and put options it writes will be covered by the Fund owning the security or ETF underlying the option, holding an offsetting option, segregating cash or other liquid assets at not less than the full value of the option or the exercise price, and/or using other permitted coverage methods. At any given time, the Fund’s assets may be subject to only calls or only puts, or a combination of both strategies. To the extent that the Fund’s assets are only subject to puts, in order to secure the puts, the assets will consist of cash, cash equivalents, or an offsetting set of options that have risk and return characteristics similar to cash equivalents. In that event, there may be few, if any, securities held by the Fund. To the extent that the Fund’s assets are only subject to covered calls on an index, the Fund may hold index ETFs instead of individual securities that replicate the movement of the index, in addition to the other permitted coverage methods.
Debt Securities. Palmer Square Capital Management, LLC (“Palmer Square”), one of the Fund’s current sub-advisors, under normal market circumstances, invests primarily in debt securities or income-producing securities. Palmer Square will invest in securities of any maturity and credit quality, including securities rated below investment grade and unrated securities. Investment grade securities are those rated in the Baa3 or higher categories by Moody’s Investors Service, Inc. (“Moody’s”), or in the BBB- or higher categories by Standard & Poor’s, a division of McGraw Hill Companies Inc. (“S&P”), or Fitch Ratings Ltd. (“Fitch”) or, if unrated by Moody’s, S&P, Fitch, or another Nationally Recognized Statistical Rating Organization (“NRSRO”), determined by Palmer Square to be of comparable credit quality. Securities rated below investment grade, such as high yield securities, generally have higher yields and higher risks than investment grade securities. High yield securities, commonly referred to as “junk bonds”, are rated below investment grade by at least one of Moody’s, S&P or Fitch (or if unrated, determined by Palmer Square to be of comparable credit quality high yield securities). The Fund may invest in collateralized debt obligations, including collateralized loan obligations (“CLOs”), and other similarly structured securities. A CLO is a trust typically collateralized by a pool of loans, which may include, among others, domestic and foreign senior secured loans, senior unsecured loans, and subordinate corporate loans, including loans that may be rated below investment grade or equivalent unrated loans. The loans generate cash flow that is allocated among one or more classes of securities (“tranches”) that vary in risk and yield. The most senior tranche has the best credit quality and the lowest yield compared to the other tranches. The equity tranche has the highest potential yield but also has the greatest risk. The Fund may invest in any tranche of a CLO. In pursuing the Fund’s investment objectives, Palmer Square uses a blend of top-down analysis, which includes macro analysis, cross-asset relative value analysis, and sector monitoring, and bottom-up analysis, which involves individual issuer and management analysis and security/transaction evaluation that seeks to identify debt securities that Palmer Square believes can provide highly competitive rate yields and total return over the long term with relatively mitigated credit risk.
3
General. The Fund invests, both long and short, in a wide range of U.S. and non-U.S. publicly traded securities including, but not limited to, equity securities, fixed-income securities, currencies and derivatives. The Fund’s allocation to these various security types and various asset classes will vary over time in response to changing market opportunities. The Fund may:
• Invest without limit in equity securities of issuers of any market capitalization including common stocks, and American Depositary Receipts (“ADRs”), European Depositary Receipts (“EDRs”) and Global Depositary Receipts (“GDRs”);
• Invest in shares of other registered investment companies and ETFs;
• Invest up to 80% of its net assets in fixed income securities of any maturity, including corporate bonds, debt issued by the U.S. government and its agencies and exchange-traded notes (“ETNs”). Such fixed income investments may include high-yield or “junk” bonds and may be of any maturity;
• Invest up to 60% of its net assets in CLOs. Such CLOs may hold loans of any credit quality, including loans rated below investment grade;
• Invest up to 85% of its net assets in derivatives including structured products, options, futures (including commodities futures), forward currency contracts and swaps, including credit-default swaps. These derivative instruments may be used for investment purposes or to modify or hedge the Fund’s exposure to a particular investment market related risk, as well as to manage the volatility of the Fund;
• Invest up to 60% of its net assets in currencies and forward currency contracts;
• Utilize leverage (by borrowing against a line of credit for investment purposes) of up to 10% of the Fund’s total assets as part of the portfolio management process;
• Invest a significant portion of its assets in the securities of companies in the same sector of the market; and
• Sell securities short with respect to 100% of its net assets. A short sale is the sale by the Fund of a security which it does not own in anticipation of purchasing the same security in the future at a lower price to close the short position.
For either investment or hedging purposes, or to manage the volatility of the Fund, the Advisors may invest substantially in a broad range of the derivatives instruments described above, particularly futures contracts. The Advisors may be highly dependent on the use of futures and other derivative instruments, and to the extent that they become unavailable, this may limit an Advisor from fully implementing its investment strategy.
There is no one ideal mix of these investment strategies and techniques; rather, the Advisors seek to allocate the Fund’s resources among the various strategies and techniques in response to changing market opportunities.
FTCM expects that the Fund will actively trade portfolio securities and will have a portfolio turnover significantly in excess of 100% on an annual basis.
The Advisors invest in the securities described above when they believe the securities have a strong appreciation potential (long investing, or actually owning a security) or potential to decline in value (short investing, or borrowing a security from a broker and selling it, with the understanding that it must later be bought back and returned to the broker).
4
The Fund sells (or closes a position in) a security when the Advisor or a Sub-Advisor determines that a particular security has achieved its investment expectations or the reasons for maintaining that position are no longer valid, including: (1) if the Advisor’s or Sub-Advisor’s view of the business fundamentals or management of the underlying company changes; (2) if the Advisor or Sub-Advisor believes a more attractive investment opportunity is found; (3) if general market conditions trigger a change in the Advisor’s or Sub-Advisor’s assessment criteria; or (4) for other portfolio management reasons, including to raise cash to meet redemption requests.
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7
8
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The Fund commenced operations and acquired the assets and liabilities of the Vivaldi Orinda Macro Opportunities Fund (the “Predecessor Fund”), a series of Advisors Series Trust, on December 16, 2016. As a result of the acquisition, the Fund is the accounting successor of the Predecessor Fund. Performance results shown in the bar chart and the performance table below for periods prior to December 16, 2016 reflect the performance of the Predecessor Fund.
Calendar-Year Total Return (before taxes) for Class I Shares
For each calendar year at NAV
Class I Shares | ||
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Quarter Ended |
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( |
Quarter Ended |
10
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One Year |
Five Years |
Ten Years |
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*
**
Investment Advisor and Sub-Advisors
First Trust Capital Management L.P. is the Fund’s Advisor. Palmer Square Capital Management, LLC and Vest Financial, LLC are the Fund’s Sub-Advisors.
Portfolio Managers
The portfolio management teams for the Advisor and Sub-Advisors are comprised of the individuals listed below. Messrs. Peck and Murphy are jointly and primarily responsible for the overall management of the Fund, including the determination of the allocation of the Fund’s assets to each Sub-Advisor. The portfolio managers within each team are jointly and primarily responsible for the day-to-day management of the portion of the Fund’s portfolio managed by the Advisor or applicable Sub-Advisor.
Investment Advisor |
Portfolio Managers |
Managed
the |
First Trust Capital Management L.P. |
Michael Peck, CFA, CEO, Co-CIO, PM |
2014 |
Brian Murphy, Co-CIO, PM |
2015 | |
Daniel Lancz, PM |
2015 |
Sub-Advisors |
Portfolio Managers |
Managed
the |
Palmer Square Capital Management, LLC |
Angie K. Long |
2023 |
Taylor R. Moore |
2023 | |
Vest Financial, LLC |
Howard Rubin |
2024 |
Karan Sood |
2024 |
11
Purchase and Sale of Fund Shares
To purchase shares of the Fund, you must invest at least the minimum amount.
Minimum Investments |
To
Open |
To
Add to |
Class A |
||
Direct Regular Accounts |
$5,000 |
None |
Direct Retirement Accounts |
$5,000 |
None |
Automatic Investment Plan |
$5,000 |
None |
Gift Account For Minors |
$5,000 |
None |
Class C |
||
Direct Regular Accounts |
$1,000 |
None |
Direct Retirement Accounts |
$1,000 |
None |
Automatic Investment Plan |
$1,000 |
None |
Gift Account For Minors |
$1,000 |
None |
Class I |
||
Direct Regular Accounts |
$100,000 |
None |
Direct Retirement Accounts |
$100,000 |
None |
Automatic Investment Plan |
$100,000 |
None |
Gift Account For Minors |
$100,000 |
None |
Fund shares are redeemable on any business day the New York Stock Exchange (the “NYSE”) is open for business, by written request or by telephone.
Tax Information
The Fund’s distributions are generally taxable, and will ordinarily be taxed as ordinary income, qualified dividend income or capital gains, unless you are investing through a tax-advantaged arrangement, such as a 401(k) plan or an individual retirement account. Shareholders investing through such tax-advantaged arrangements may be taxed later upon withdrawal of monies from those arrangements.
Payments to Broker-Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries
If you purchase shares of the Fund through a broker-dealer, registered investment advisor, bank or other financial intermediary (collectively, “intermediaries”), the Fund and its related companies may pay the intermediary for the sale of Fund shares and related services. These payments may create a conflict of interest by influencing the broker-dealer or other intermediary and your salesperson to recommend the Fund over another investment. Ask your salesperson or visit your financial intermediary’s website for more information.
12
MORE ABOUT THE FUND’S INVESTMENT OBJECTIVES, PRINCIPAL INVESTMENT STRATEGIES AND RISKS |
Investment Objective
The Fund seeks to achieve long-term capital appreciation by pursuing positive absolute returns across market cycles. In pursuing its objective, the Fund seeks to generate attractive long-term returns with low sensitivity to traditional equity and fixed-income indices. There is no assurance that the Fund will achieve its investment objectives.
The Fund’s investment objective is not fundamental and may be changed by the Board of Trustees without shareholder approval, upon at least 60 days’ prior written notice to shareholders. The Fund’s investment strategies and policies may be changed from time to time without shareholder approval or prior written notice, unless specifically stated otherwise in this Prospectus or the Statement of Additional Information (“SAI”).
Principal Investment Strategies
In seeking its investment objectives, the Fund invests in a wide range of U.S. and non-U.S. publicly traded securities including, but not limited to, equity securities, fixed-income securities, currencies and derivatives. The Fund’s allocation to these various security types and various asset classes will vary over time in response to changing market opportunities. The Fund may:
• Invest without limit in equity securities of issuers of any market capitalization, including common stocks, and ADRs, EDRs and GDRs;
• Invest in shares of other registered investment companies and ETFs;
• Invest without limit in foreign securities, including up to 50% of its net assets in securities of issuers located in emerging markets. The Advisor defines issuers located in emerging markets as those companies that have a majority of their assets located in, or derive a majority of their revenues from, emerging market countries;
• Invest up to 80% of its net assets in fixed income securities, including sovereign debt, corporate bonds, debt issued by the U.S. government and its agencies, and ETNs. Such fixed income investments may include high-yield or “junk” bonds and may be of any maturity;
• Invest up to 60% of its net assets in CLOs. Such CLOs may hold loans of any credit quality, including loans rated below investment grade;
• Invest up to 85% of its net assets in derivatives including structured products, options, futures (including commodities futures), forward currency contracts and swaps, including credit-default swaps. These derivative instruments may be used for investment purposes or to modify or hedge the Fund’s exposure to a particular investment market related risk, as well as to manage the volatility of the Fund;
• Invest up to 60% of its net assets in currencies and forward currency contracts;
• Utilize leverage (by borrowing against a line of credit for investment purposes) of no more than 10% of the Fund’s total assets as part of the portfolio management process;
• Invest a significant portion of its assets in the securities of companies in the same sector of the market; and
• Sell securities short with respect to 100% of its net assets.
For either investment or hedging purposes, or to manage the volatility of the Fund, the Advisors may invest substantially in a broad range of the derivatives instruments described above, particularly futures contracts. The Advisors may be highly dependent on the use of futures and other derivative instruments, and to the extent that they become unavailable, this may limit an Advisor from fully implementing its investment strategy.
FTCM expects that the Fund will have a portfolio turnover significantly in excess of 100% on an annual basis.
13
Portfolio Management
The Advisor seeks to achieve the Fund’s investment objective by delegating the management of a portion of Fund assets to a group of experienced Sub-Advisors that utilize a variety of investment strategies and styles. The Advisor will also manage a portion of the Fund’s assets directly. The Advisor selects Sub-Advisors who satisfy a stringent selection process which may include, but is not limited to: ability to produce attractive long-term, risk-adjusted investment results; ability to manage risks; ability to perform well in markets where investment conditions are difficult; and operational competence. The Advisor also considers additional criteria including, but not limited to: relevant investment management experience; the degree to which a specific Sub-Advisor’s investment style complements and balances the Fund’s portfolio with respect to the strategies employed by the Advisor or Sub-Advisors; the quality of the Sub-Advisor’s organization; and the ability of a Sub-Advisor to consistently and effectively apply its investment approach.
The Advisors invest in the securities described above based upon their respective investment strategies. Each Advisor has complete discretion to invest its portion of the Fund’s assets as it deems appropriate, based on its particular philosophy, style, strategies and views. While each Sub-Advisor is subject to the oversight of the Advisor, the Advisor does not attempt to manage the day-to-day investments of the Sub-Advisors. At certain times, the Advisor may not allocate assets to all of the Sub-Advisors and therefore, certain investment strategies may not be employed.
When selecting individual securities for the Fund, the Advisors implement both fundamentally and technically driven strategies, including, but not limited to, the following:
Arbitrage. FTCM may seek to take advantage of inefficient pricing in the markets by engaging in certain arbitrage strategies. The typical merger-arbitrage strategies employed by the Advisor seek to generate returns by purchasing the stock of the company being acquired, which is commonly known as the target company (the “target”), at a discount to their expected value upon completion of the acquisition. The size of this discount, known as the arbitrage “spread,” may determine the Fund’s potential profit on such an investment. The Fund may employ a variety of strategies to set the “spread”, particularly in proposed transactions involving stock consideration, including shorting the stock of the company that proposes to acquire the target and/or the use of derivatives involving the purchase and sale of put and call options. The success of the merger-arbitrage strategy largely depends on the overall volume of merger activity, which has historically been cyclical in nature, and the Advisor’s correct evaluation of the outcome of such merger or acquisition transactions, as the Advisor typically seeks to create a portfolio of uncorrelated investment positions that will in the aggregate benefit from such transaction’s completion. During periods of infrequent merger activity, it may be difficult for the Advisor to identify investment opportunities, and the Fund may hold a substantial amount in cash and cash equivalents.
Special Purpose Acquisition Companies. FTCM may also invest Fund assets in stock, warrants, and other securities of SPACs, which are collective investment structures that pool funds in order to seek potential acquisition opportunities. In selecting SPACs for investment, FTCM analyzes the attractiveness of the SPAC through the life of the SPAC from IPO to liquidation. FTCM evaluates pre- and post-merger announcements, the potential rate of return, the length of time until the proposed transaction closes or SPAC liquidates, and the potential risk to the Fund in the event the proposed acquisition/liquidation does not close on time and is extended. SPACs provide the opportunity for public shareholders to have some or all of their shares redeemed by the SPAC in connection with certain corporate events, such as an amendment to its charter or an acquisition. The Fund may sell its investments in SPACs at any time, but generally looks to sell/redeem prior to the completion of the acquisition or liquidation.
Secured Options. Vest, one of the Fund’s current sub-advisors, under normal market circumstances, uses option writing strategies in an effort to obtain option premiums and reduce risk. Vest utilizes buy-write (covered call) and/or cash-secured put option strategies on index ETFs, indices, and/or individual securities held by the Fund. Covered call and cash-secured put options are intended to reduce volatility, earn option premiums and provide more stable returns. Selling call options reduces the risk of owning securities by the receipt of the option premiums and selling put options reduces the purchase price of the underlying securities, but both strategies limit the opportunity to profit from an increase in the market value of the underlying security in exchange for up-front cash at the time of selling the call or put option. Vest’s strategy is referred to as “Secured Options” because the call and put options it writes will be covered by the Fund owning the security or ETF underlying the option, holding an offsetting option,
14
segregating cash or other liquid assets at not less than the full value of the option or the exercise price, and/or using other permitted coverage methods. At any given time, the Fund’s assets may be subject to only calls or only puts, or a combination of both strategies. To the extent that the Fund’s assets are only subject to puts, in order to secure the puts, the assets will consist of cash, cash equivalents, or an offsetting set of options that have risk and return characteristics similar to cash equivalents. In that event, there may be few, if any, securities held by the Fund. To the extent that the Fund’s assets are only subject to covered calls on an index, the Fund may hold index ETFs instead of individual securities that replicate the movement of the index, in addition to the other permitted coverage methods.
Debt Securities. Palmer Square, one of the Fund’s current sub-advisors, under normal market circumstances, invests primarily in debt securities or income-producing securities. Palmer Square will invest in securities of any maturity and credit quality, including securities rated below investment grade and unrated securities. The Fund may invest in collateralized debt obligations, including CLOs, and other similarly structured securities. A CLO is a trust typically collateralized by a pool of loans, which may include, among others, domestic and foreign senior secured loans, senior unsecured loans, and subordinate corporate loans, including loans that may be rated below investment grade or equivalent unrated loans. The loans generate cash flow that is allocated among one or more classes of securities (“tranches”) that vary in risk and yield. The most senior tranche has the best credit quality and the lowest yield compared to the other tranches. The equity tranche has the highest potential yield but also has the greatest risk. The Fund may invest in any tranche of a CLO. When making investment decisions for the Fund, Palmer Square employs a blend of top-down and bottom-up analysis. The top-down approach has three components: (1) macro analysis whereby Palmer Square’s investment team undertakes frequent discussions regarding macro items, including the economic outlook, financial and credit markets, new and secondary issues, regulatory changes, the mergers and acquisitions environment, and valuation levels; (2) cross-asset relative value analysis, which consists of analyzing the credit spectrum for strong relative value opportunities (e.g., analysis of valuation metrics across loans, bonds, convertibles, CLOs and mortgage credits to identify and monitor optimal risk/reward opportunities); and (3) active monitoring by the investment team of the major sectors within the credit universe. With regard to the bottom-up approach, Palmer Square’s investment team undertakes frequent discussions regarding key analyses, including items such as determining an issuer’s ability to service debt, measuring past performance and understanding the approach of the manager’s team and their ability to meet goals, deal structure model analysis, document analysis, and other financial modeling and scenario testing. Finally, the bottom-up approach includes trade refinement. For example, within the credit spectrum, the investment team also seeks to evaluate many trade specifics with respect to an issuer including, without limitation, liquidity, position size, upside/downside capture, and relative versus absolute value.
Additionally, these strategies may involve investment techniques, including, but not limited to, the following:
• Fundamental Analysis. Advisors using fundamental analysis seek to obtain their return objectives by utilizing current information or insightful analysis of the current financial position and anticipated future performance of individual companies. Fundamental analysis may include both growth and value orientations.
• Growth Orientation. Growth-oriented advisors emphasize investment in companies that demonstrate or hold out the promise of earnings growth superior to market expectations.
• Value Orientation. Value-oriented advisors emphasize investment in companies that appear inexpensive based on financial ratios, such as price to earnings, price to book value, or other financial analysis, that establishes a value not yet recognized by the market at large.
• Technical Analysis. Advisors using technical analysis seek to discern and evaluate patterns of price change in individual equities, market segments, or markets in general. The recurrence of certain patterns, or changes in those patterns, may suggest a course of action for an advisor.
• Quantitative Analysis. Quantitative investment techniques include various statistical and mathematical methods for estimating the expected return of a security and for measuring the risk characteristics of a portfolio.
15
• Event Driven. Involves attempting to capture price movements generated by anticipated corporate events such as investing in companies involved in special situations, including, but not limited to, mergers, acquisitions, asset sales, spin-offs, balance sheet restructuring, bankruptcy and other situations. When using this technique, an advisor may take a long position in the company being acquired and a short position in the acquiring company or the reverse.
• Risk Arbitrage. Involves arbitrage in securities that are the subject of tender offers, exchange offers or mergers, liquidations, reorganizations, bankruptcies and other extraordinary corporate transactions. This technique may also include the purchase of creditors’ claims against companies in bankruptcy or financial distress at less than face value. The success or failure of this technique depends on whether the Advisor accurately predicts the outcome of a proposed merger, tender offer, financial restructuring or other extraordinary transaction.
• Market Neutral. Involves investing in a diversified basket of stocks that the Advisor selects as undervalued and selling short a diversified basket of stocks that the Advisor believes are overvalued. The two baskets are chosen to maximize return and minimize expected risk. This technique tends to have a low correlation with movements in the equity and fixed income markets.
• Convertible and Diversified Hedging. Involves buying long positions in convertible bonds or preferred stocks and selling short the corresponding common stock or call option. This technique includes option hedging, option spreading, commodity option hedging, international risk arbitrage, and interest rate spreading.
• Futures and Options Investing. Investing in a diversified portfolio of financial, currency and commodity options and futures (but only if and to the extent the Fund and the Advisors meet the requirements of the Commodity Exchange Act and the rules and regulations of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission).
Although the Advisors may engage from time-to-time in some or all of the activities described above, there is no one ideal mix of these investment strategies and techniques; rather, the Advisors seek to allocate the Fund’s resources among the various strategies and techniques in response to changing market opportunities. In addition to the strategies and techniques described above, the Advisors may also take advantage of opportunities presented by the development of new investment strategies and techniques to the extent they are consistent with the Fund’s investment objective.
FTCM expects that the Fund will actively trade portfolio securities and will have a portfolio turnover significantly in excess of 100% on an annual basis.
The Fund sells (or closes a position in) a security when the Advisor or a Sub-Advisor determines that a particular security has achieved its investment expectations or the reasons for maintaining that position are no longer valid, including: (1) if the Advisor’s or Sub-Advisor’s view of the business fundamentals or management of the underlying company changes; (2) if the Advisor or Sub-Advisor believes a more attractive investment opportunity is found; (3) if general market conditions trigger a change in the Advisor’s or Sub-Advisor’s assessment criteria; or (4) for other portfolio management reasons, including to raise cash to meet redemption requests.
Temporary Defensive Strategy
When adverse market, economic, political or other conditions dictate a more defensive investment strategy, the Fund may, on a temporary basis, hold cash or invest a portion or all of its assets in money market instruments including obligations of the U.S. government, its agencies or instrumentalities, obligations of foreign sovereignties, or other high-quality debt securities, including prime commercial paper, repurchase agreements and bank obligations, such as bankers’ acceptances and certificates of deposit. Under normal market conditions, the potential for capital appreciation on these securities will tend to be lower than the potential for capital appreciation on other securities that may be owned by the Fund. In taking such a defensive position, the Fund would temporarily not be pursuing its principal investment strategies and may not achieve its investment objective.
Please refer to the SAI for more information about the Fund’s investment policies and restrictions.
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Principal Risks of Investing
The Fund’s principal risks are set forth below. Before you decide whether to invest in the Fund, carefully consider these risk factors and special considerations associated with investing in the Fund, each of which may cause you to lose money.
• Market risk. The market price of a security or instrument may decline, sometimes rapidly or unpredictably, due to general market conditions that are not specifically related to a particular company, such as real or perceived adverse economic, political, or geopolitical conditions throughout the world, changes in the general outlook for corporate earnings, changes in interest or currency rates, or adverse investor sentiment generally. The market value of a security or instrument also may decline because of factors that affect a particular industry or industries, such as labor shortages or increased production costs and competitive conditions within an industry. In addition, local, regional or global events such as war, acts of terrorism, international conflicts, the spread of infectious illness or other public health issues, or other events could have a significant impact on a security or instrument. For example, the financial crisis that began in 2007 caused a significant decline in the value and liquidity of many securities; in particular, the values of some sovereign debt and of securities of issuers that invest in sovereign debt and related investments fell, credit became more scarce worldwide and there was significant uncertainty in the markets. More recently, higher inflation, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the COVID-19 pandemic have negatively affected the worldwide economy, as well as the economies of individual countries, the financial health of individual companies and the market in general in significant and unforeseen ways. Such environments could make identifying investment risks and opportunities especially difficult for the Advisors. In response to certain crises, the United States and other governments have taken steps to support financial markets. The withdrawal of this support or failure of efforts in response to a crisis could negatively affect financial markets generally as well as the value and liquidity of certain securities. In addition, policy and legislative changes in the United States and in other countries are changing many aspects of financial regulation. The impact of these changes on the markets, and the practical implications for market participants, may not be fully known for some time. The increasing interconnectivity between global economies and financial markets increases the likelihood that events or conditions in one region or financial market may adversely impact issuers in a different country, region or financial market.
• Multi-style management risk. Because portions of the Fund’s assets are managed independently by different advisors using different styles, the Fund could enter into overlapping securities transactions. For example, one advisor may be purchasing securities at the same time another advisor may be selling those same securities, which may lead to higher transaction expenses than a fund managed by one advisor.
• Management and strategy risk. The value of your investment depends on the judgment of the Advisors about the quality, relative yield, value or market trends affecting a particular security, industry, sector or region, which may prove to be incorrect. Investment strategies employed by the Advisors in selecting investments for the Fund may not result in an increase in the value of your investment or in overall performance equal to other investments.
• Merger and other arbitrage transactions risk. The Fund’s merger-arbitrage strategy depends on the overall volume of merger activity. During periods of infrequent merger activity, it may be difficult to identify opportunities for profit or to identify a sufficient number of such opportunities to provide diversification among potential merger transactions, and the Fund may hold a substantial amount in cash and cash equivalents. If the Advisor determines that a proposed acquisition or other corporate event is likely to be consummated, the Fund may purchase the target company’s securities at prices often below the value expected to be paid or exchanged for such securities upon completion of the transaction (and often substantially above the prices at which such securities traded immediately prior to the announcement of the proposed transaction). If a transaction appears unlikely to be consummated, or in fact is not consummated or is delayed, the market price of the target’s securities may decline sharply. Similarly, if the Fund has sold short the acquiror’s securities, the failure of the transaction to be consummated may force the Fund to cover its short position in the open market at a price higher than that at which it sold short, with a resulting loss. In addition, if the Fund purchases the target’s securities at prices above the offer price because the Advisor determines that the offer is likely to be increased or a different and higher offer made, such purchases may be subject to a greater degree of risk.
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The consummation of mergers, exchange offers, cash tender offers and other change of control events can be prevented or delayed by a variety of factors, including: (i) regulatory and antitrust restrictions; (ii) political motivations; (iii) industry weakness; (iv) stock specific events; (v) failed financings and (vi) general market declines. Offers for tender or exchange offers and merger proposals customarily reserve the right to cancel such transactions in a variety of circumstances, including an insufficient response from shareholders or material adverse change at the target company. Even if the defensive activities of a target company or the actions of regulatory authorities fail to defeat such events, they may result in significant delays, during which the Fund’s capital will be committed to the transaction and interest charges may be incurred on funds borrowed to finance its arbitrage activities in connection with the transaction.
Exchange offers or cash tender offers are often made for less than all of the outstanding securities of an issuer, with the provision that, if a greater number is tendered, securities will be accepted on a pro rata basis. Thus, after the completion of a tender offer, and at a time when the market price of the securities has declined below their cost, the Fund may have returned to it, and be forced to sell at a loss, a portion of the securities it had previously tendered.
The risks of investing in securities related to a merger or acquisition transaction include the risk that the transaction is renegotiated, the risk that the transaction takes longer to complete than originally planned, and the risk that the transaction is never completed. These risks may be realized for a variety of reasons, such as the inability of the acquiring company to finance the transaction, lack of regulatory approval from the applicable state, federal or international regulatory agencies or failure of shareholders of the party companies to approve the transaction. If a merger is not completed, the Fund could incur a loss. The risk of loss associated with investing in securities related to a merger or acquisition transaction is typically greater than the payout which may be achieved as a result of such investment — in particular, the losses that can occur in the event of deal break-ups can far exceed the gains to be had if deals close successfully. In addition, the market price of a portfolio security held by the Fund may fall and such loss, though unrealized because the Fund continues to hold the security, would be reflected in the Fund’s books at the new market price (resulting in a mark-to-market loss) even if a particular deal is not breaking-up. Such losses may or may not be recouped upon successful consummation of the relevant transaction. In certain transactions, the Fund’s investment may not be hedged against market fluctuations or, in liquidation situations, the Fund may not accurately value the assets of the company being liquidated. This can result in losses, even if the proposed transaction is consummated.
The Fund’s strategies also depend on the overall volume of merger activity for success, which has historically been cyclical in nature. During periods when merger activity is low, it may be difficult to identify opportunities for profit or to identify a sufficient number of such opportunities to provide diversification among potential merger transactions. The Fund’s strategies are also subject to the risk of overall market movements. To the extent that a general increase or decline in equity market values affects the stocks involved in a merger arbitrage position differently, the position may be exposed to loss. At any given time, arbitrageurs can become improperly hedged by accident or in an effort to maximize risk-adjusted returns. This can lead to market-related losses.
• Collateralized loan obligations risk. The risks of an investment in a CLO largely depend on the type of underlying collateral securities and the tranche in which the Fund invests. While CLOs are subject to the typical risks associated with debt instruments (i.e., interest rate risk and credit risk), additional risks of CLOs include the possibility that distributions from collateral securities will be insufficient to make interest or other payments, the potential for a decline in the quality of the collateral, and the possibility that the Fund may invest in a subordinate tranche of a CLO. In addition, due to the complex nature of a CLO, an investment in a CLO may not perform as expected. An investment in a CLO also is subject to the risk that the issuer and the investors may interpret the terms of the instrument differently, giving rise to disputes. In addition, the Fund is subject to the following risks as a result of its investments in CLOs:
Asset Manager Risk. A CLO’s performance is linked to the expertise of the CLO manager and its ability to manage the CLO portfolio. The experience of a CLO manager plays an important role in the rating and risk assessment of CLO debt securities. One of the primary risks to investors of a CLO is the potential change in CLO manager, over which the Fund will have no control.
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Legal and Regulatory Risk. The Fund may be adversely affected by new (or revised) laws or regulations that may be imposed by government regulators or self-regulatory organizations that supervise the financial markets. These agencies are empowered to promulgate a variety of rules pursuant to financial reform legislation in the United States. Changes in the regulation of CLOs may adversely affect the value of the investments held by the Fund and the ability of the Fund to execute one of its investment strategies.
Limited Recourse Risk. CLO debt securities are limited recourse obligations of their issuers. CLO debt is payable solely from the proceeds of its underlying assets. Consequently, CLO investors must rely solely on distributions from the underlying assets for payments on the CLO debt they hold. No party or entity other than the issuer will be obligated to make payments on CLO debt. CLO debt is not guaranteed by the issuer or any other party or entity involved in the organization and management of a CLO. If income from the underlying loans is insufficient to make payments on the CLO debt, no other assets will be available for payment.
Redemption Risk. CLO debt securities may be subject to redemption. For example, certain tranches of CLO debt may be redeemed if the CLO manager is unable to identify assets suitable for investment during the period when it has the ability to reinvest the principal proceeds from the sale of assets, scheduled redemptions and prepayments in additional assets (the “Reinvestment Period”). Additionally, holders of subordinated CLO debt may cause the redemption of senior CLO debt. In the event of an early redemption, holders of the CLO debt being redeemed will be repaid earlier than the stated maturity of the debt. The timing of redemptions may adversely affect the returns on CLO debt.
Reinvestment Risk. The CLO manager may not find suitable assets in which to invest during the Reinvestment Period or to replace assets that the manager has determined are no longer suitable for investment (for example, if a security has been downgraded by a rating agency). Additionally, the reinvestment period is a pre-determined finite period of time; however, there is a risk that the reinvestment period may terminate early if, for example, the CLO defaults on payments on the securities which it issues or if the CLO manager determines that it can no longer reinvest in underlying assets. Early termination of the Reinvestment Period could adversely affect a CLO investment.
Liquidity Risk. The CLO debt securities in which the Fund invests are restricted securities (securities with limited transferability under the securities laws). CLOs are not registered under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and are subject to restrictions on resale. They are eligible for sale only to certain qualified institutional buyers and are not sold on a trading market or exchange. Because such securities are available to few buyers, they may be both difficult to sell and to value. Because of the potential for a limited market, the Fund may find it difficult to sell the securities when it finds it advisable to do so and, to the extent such securities are sold in private negotiations, they may be sold for less than the price for which they were purchased or less than their fair market value. However, an active dealer market may exist for CLOs allowing a CLO to qualify for transactions pursuant to Rule 144A under the Securities Act and to be deemed liquid.
Structured Products Risks. The CLOs in which the Fund may invest are structured products. Holders of structured products bear risks of the underlying assets and are subject to issuer repayment or counterparty risk. Certain structured products may be thinly traded or have a limited trading market and as a result may be characterized by the Fund as illiquid securities.
• SPACs risk. Unless and until an acquisition is completed, a SPAC generally invests its assets (less a portion retained to cover expenses) in U.S. government securities, money market fund securities and cash. To the extent the SPAC is invested in cash or similar securities, this may impact the Fund’s ability to meet its investment objective. If an acquisition that meets the requirements for the SPAC is not completed within a pre-established period of time, the invested funds are returned to the entity’s shareholders, less certain permitted expenses, and any warrants issued by the SPAC will expire worthless. Therefore, the Fund may suffer a complete loss of its investment in a SPAC’s warrants. As SPACs and similar entities generally have no operating history or ongoing business other than seeking acquisitions, the value of their securities is particularly dependent on the ability of the entity’s management to identify and complete a profitable acquisition. Certain SPACs may
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pursue acquisitions only within certain industries or regions, which may increase the volatility of their prices. In addition, these securities, which are typically traded in the over-the-counter market, may be considered illiquid and/or subject to restrictions on resale. An investment in a SPAC is subject to a variety of additional risks, including that (i) any proposed merger or acquisition may be unable to obtain the requisite approval, if any, of SPAC shareholders; (ii) an acquisition or merger, once effected, may prove unsuccessful and an investment in the SPAC may lose value; (iii) the Fund may be delayed in receiving any redemption or liquidation proceeds from a SPAC to which it is entitled; (iv) an investment in a SPAC may be diluted by additional later offerings of interests in the SPAC or by other investors exercising existing rights to purchase shares of the SPAC; (v) only a thinly traded market for shares of or interests in a SPAC may develop, or there may be no market at all, leaving the Fund unable to sell its interest in a SPAC or to sell its interest only at a price below what the Fund believes is the SPAC interest’s intrinsic value; and (vi) the values of investments in SPACs may be highly volatile and may depreciate significantly over time.
• Leveraging risk. The use of leverage, such as entering into futures contracts, options, and short sales, may magnify the Fund’s gains or losses. Because many derivatives have a leverage component, adverse changes in the value or level of the underlying instrument can result in a loss substantially greater than the amount invested in the derivative itself. Certain derivatives have the potential for unlimited loss, regardless of the size of the initial investment.
• Equity risk. The value of equity securities held by the Fund may fall due to general market and economic conditions, perceptions regarding the industries in which the issuers of securities held by the Fund participate, or factors relating to specific companies in which the Fund invests. The price of common stock of an issuer in the Fund’s portfolio may decline if the issuer fails to make anticipated dividend payments because, among other reasons, the financial condition of the issuer declines. Common stock is subordinated to preferred stocks, bonds and other debt instruments in a company’s capital structure in terms of priority with respect to corporate income, and therefore will be subject to greater dividend risk than preferred stocks or debt instruments of such issuers. In addition, while broad market measures of common stocks have historically generated higher average returns than fixed income securities, common stocks have also experienced significantly more volatility in those returns.
• Short sales risk. A short sale is a transaction in which the Fund sells a security it does not own in anticipation that the market price of that security will decline. In connection with a short sale of a security or other instrument, the Fund is subject to the risk that instead of declining, the price of the security or other instrument sold short will rise. If the price of the security or other instrument sold short increases between the date of the short sale and the date on which the Fund replaces the security or other instrument borrowed to make the short sale, the Fund will experience a loss, which is theoretically unlimited since there is a theoretically unlimited potential for the market price of a security or other instrument sold short to increase. By investing the proceeds received from selling securities short, the Fund is employing leverage, which creates special risks. Furthermore, until the Fund replaces a security borrowed, or sold short, it must pay to the lender amounts equal to any dividends that accrue during the period of the short sale. In addition, the Fund will incur certain transaction fees associated with short selling.
• Fixed income securities risk. The prices of fixed income securities respond to economic developments, particularly interest rate changes, as well as to changes in an issuer’s credit rating or market perceptions about the creditworthiness of an issuer. Prices of fixed income securities tend to move inversely with changes in interest rates. Generally fixed income securities decrease in value if interest rates rise and increase in value if interest rates fall, with lower rated securities more volatile than higher rated securities. The longer the effective maturity and duration of the Fund’s portfolio, the more the Fund’s share price is likely to react to changes in interest rates. (Duration is a weighted measure of the length of time required to receive the present value of future payments, both interest and principal, from a fixed income security.) Some fixed income securities give the issuer the option to call, or redeem, the securities before their maturity dates. If an issuer calls its security during a time of declining interest rates, the Fund might have to reinvest the proceeds in an investment offering a lower yield, and therefore might not benefit from any increase in value of the security as a result of declining interest rates. During periods of market illiquidity or rising interest rates, prices of callable issues are subject to increased price fluctuation. In addition, the Fund may be subject to extension risk, which occurs during a rising interest rate environment because certain obligations may be paid off by an issuer more slowly than anticipated, causing the value of those securities held by the Fund to fall.
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• Interest rate risk. Prices of fixed income securities tend to move inversely with changes in interest rates. Generally fixed income securities decrease in value if interest rates rise and increase in value if interest rates fall. For example, the price of a security with a three-year duration would be expected to drop by approximately 3% in response to a 1% increase in interest rates. Duration is a weighted measure of the length of time required to receive the present value of future payments, both interest and principal, from a fixed income security. Generally, the longer the maturity and duration of a bond or fixed rate loan, the more sensitive it is to this risk. Falling interest rates also create the potential for a decline in the Fund’s income. Changes in governmental policy and general economic developments, among other factors, could cause interest rates to increase and could have a substantial and immediate effect on the values of the Fund’s investments. These risks are greater during periods of rising inflation. In addition, a potential rise in interest rates may result in periods of volatility and increased redemptions that might require the Fund to liquidate portfolio securities at disadvantageous prices and times.
• Credit risk. If an obligor (such as the issuer itself or a party offering credit enhancement) for a security held by the Fund fails to pay amounts due when required by the terms of the security, otherwise defaults, is perceived to be less creditworthy, becomes insolvent or files for bankruptcy, a security’s credit rating is downgraded or the credit quality or value of any underlying assets declines, the value of the Fund’s investment could decline. If the Fund enters into financial contracts (such as certain derivatives, repurchase agreements, reverse repurchase agreements, and when-issued, delayed delivery and forward commitment transactions), the Fund will be subject to the credit risk presented by the counterparties. Credit risk is broadly gauged by the credit ratings of the securities in which the Fund invests.
• High yield (“junk”) bond risk. High yield bonds (often called “junk bonds”) are speculative, involve greater risks of default or downgrade, are more volatile and tend to be less liquid than investment-grade securities. High yield bonds involve a greater risk of price declines than investment-grade securities due to actual or perceived changes in an issuer’s creditworthiness. Companies issuing high yield fixed-income securities are less financially strong, are more likely to encounter financial difficulties, and are more vulnerable to adverse market events and negative sentiments than companies with higher credit ratings. These factors could affect such companies’ abilities to make interest and principal payments and ultimately could cause such companies to stop making interest and/or principal payments. In such cases, payments on the securities may never resume, which would result in the securities owned by the Fund becoming worthless. The market prices of junk bonds are generally less sensitive to interest rate changes than higher rated investments, but more sensitive to adverse economic or political changes or individual developments specific to the issuer.
• Derivatives risk. Derivatives include instruments and contracts that are based on and valued in relation to one or more underlying securities, financial benchmarks, indices, or other reference obligations or measures of value. Major types of derivatives include futures, options, swaps and forward contracts. Depending on how the Fund uses derivatives and the relationship between the market value of the derivative and the underlying instrument, the use of derivatives could increase or decrease the Fund’s exposure to the risks of the underlying instrument. Using derivatives exposes the Fund to additional or heightened risks, including leverage risk, liquidity risk, valuation risk, market risk, counterparty risk, and credit risk. A small investment in derivatives could have a potentially large impact on the Fund’s performance. Derivatives transactions can be highly illiquid and difficult to unwind or value, they can increase Fund volatility, and changes in the value of a derivative held by the Fund may not correlate with the value of the underlying instrument or the Fund’s other investments. Many of the risks applicable to trading the instruments underlying derivatives are also applicable to derivatives trading. However, derivatives are subject to additional risks such as operational risk (such as documentation issues and settlement issues) and legal risk (such as insufficient documentation, insufficient capacity or authority of a counterparty, and issues with the legality or enforceability of a contract). For derivatives that are required to be cleared by a regulated clearinghouse, other risks may arise from the Fund’s relationship with a brokerage firm through which it submits derivatives trades for clearing, including some cases from other clearing customers of the brokerage firm. The Fund would also be exposed to counterparty risk with respect to the clearinghouse. Financial reform laws have changed many aspects of financial regulation applicable to derivatives. Once implemented, new regulations, including margin, clearing, and trade execution requirements, may make investment in derivatives more costly, may limit their availability, may present different risks or may otherwise adversely affect the value or performance of these instruments. The extent and impact of these regulations are not yet fully known and may not be known for some time.
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In October 2020, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) adopted Rule 18f-4 under the 1940 Act (the “Derivatives Rule”), which provides a comprehensive regulatory framework for the use of derivatives by registered investment companies, such as the Fund, and sets an outer limit on leverage based on value-at-risk (or “VaR”). The effect of the Derivatives Rule could, among other things, make investment in derivatives more costly, limit the availability or reduce the liquidity of derivatives, or otherwise adversely affect the value or performance of derivatives. Any such adverse future developments could impair the effectiveness or raise the costs of the Fund’s derivative transactions, impede the employment of the Fund’s derivatives strategies, or adversely affect the Fund’s performance.
Certain risks relating to various types of derivatives in which the Fund may invest are described below.
Hedging Transactions. The Fund may employ hedging techniques that involve a variety of derivative transactions, including futures contracts, swaps, exchange-listed and over-the-counter put and call options on securities or on financial indices, and various interest rate and foreign-exchange transactions (collectively, “Hedging Instruments”). Hedging techniques involve risks different than those of underlying investments. In particular, the variable degree of correlation between price movements of Hedging Instruments and price movements in the position being hedged means that losses on the hedge may be greater than gains in the value of the Fund’s positions, or that there may be losses on both parts of a transaction. In addition, certain Hedging Instruments and markets may not be liquid in all circumstances. As a result, in volatile markets, the Fund may not be able to close out a transaction in certain of these instruments without incurring losses. The Advisors may use Hedging Instruments to minimize the risk of total loss to the Fund by offsetting an investment in one security with a comparable investment in a contrasting security. However, such use may limit any potential gain that might result from an increase in the value of the hedged position. Whether the Fund hedges successfully will depend on an Advisor’s ability to predict pertinent market movements. In addition, it is not possible to hedge fully or perfectly against currency fluctuations affecting the value of securities denominated in foreign currencies, because the value of those securities is likely to fluctuate as a result of independent factors not related to currency fluctuations. The daily variation margin requirements in futures contracts might create greater financial risk than would options transactions, where the exposure is limited to the cost of the initial premium and transaction costs paid by the Fund.
Forward Contracts. The Fund may enter into forward contracts that are not traded on exchanges and may not be regulated. There are no limitations on daily price moves of forward contracts. Banks and other dealers with which the Fund maintains accounts may require that the Fund deposit margin with respect to such trading. The Fund’s counterparties are not required to continue making markets in such contracts. There have been periods during which certain counterparties have refused to continue to quote prices for forward contracts or have quoted prices with an unusually wide spread (the difference between the price at which the counterparty is prepared to buy and that at which it is prepared to sell). Arrangements to trade forward contracts may be made with only one or a few counterparties, and liquidity problems therefore might be greater than if such arrangements were made with numerous counterparties. The imposition of credit controls by governmental authorities might limit such forward trading to less than the amount that the Advisors would otherwise recommend, to the possible detriment of the Fund.
Futures Contracts. The Fund may invest in futures that trade on either an exchange or over-the-counter. A futures contract obligates the seller to deliver (and the purchaser to take delivery of) the specified security, commodity or currency underlying the contract on the expiration date of the contract at an agreed upon price. An index futures contract obligates the seller to deliver (and the purchaser to take) an amount of cash equal to a specific dollar amount multiplied by the difference between the value of a specific index at the close of the last trading day of the contract and the price at which the agreement is made. No physical delivery of the underlying securities in the index is made. Generally, these futures contracts are closed out prior to the expiration date of the contracts. The value of a futures contract tends to increase and decrease in correlation with the value of the underlying instrument. Risks of futures contracts may arise from an imperfect correlation between movements in the price of the instruments and the price of the underlying securities. The Fund’s use of futures contracts (and related options) exposes the Fund to leverage risk because of the small margin requirements relative to the value of the futures contract. A relatively small
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market movement will have a proportionately larger impact on the funds that the Fund has deposited or will have to deposit with a broker to maintain its futures position. Leverage can lead to large losses as well as gains. While futures contracts are generally liquid instruments, under certain market conditions they may become illiquid. Futures exchanges may impose daily or intraday price change limits and/or limit the volume of trading. Additionally, government regulation may further reduce liquidity through similar trading restrictions. As a result, the Fund may be unable to close out its futures contracts at a time that is advantageous. The price of futures can be highly volatile; using them could lower total return, and the potential loss from futures can exceed the Fund’s initial investment in such contracts.
Foreign Futures Transactions. Foreign futures transactions involve the execution and clearing of trades on a foreign exchange. This is the case even if the foreign exchange is formally “linked” to a domestic exchange, whereby a trade executed on one exchange liquidates or establishes a position on the other exchange. No domestic organization regulates the activities of a foreign exchange, including the execution, delivery, and clearing of transactions on such an exchange, and no domestic regulator has the power to compel enforcement of the rules of the foreign exchange or the laws of the foreign country. Moreover, such laws or regulations will vary depending on the foreign country in which the transaction occurs. For these reasons, the Fund may not be afforded certain of the protections that apply to domestic transactions. With respect to transactions on a foreign exchange that is formally linked to a domestic exchange, certain domestic disclosure and anti-fraud provisions may apply. In addition, the price of any foreign futures or option contract may be affected by any fluctuation in the foreign exchange rate between the time the order is placed and the foreign futures contract is liquidated or the foreign option contract is liquidated or exercised.
Liquidity of Futures Contracts. In connection with the Fund’s use of futures, the Advisors will determine and pursue all steps that are necessary and advisable to ensure compliance with the Commodity Exchange Act and the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder. Under certain market conditions, the Fund may find it difficult or impossible to liquidate a position. Futures positions may be illiquid because certain commodity exchanges limit fluctuations in certain futures contract prices during a single day (each a “daily limit”). Under such daily limits, during a single trading day no trades may be executed at prices beyond the daily limits. Once the price of a particular futures contract has increased or decreased by an amount equal to the daily limit, positions in that contract can neither be entered into nor liquidated unless traders are willing to effect trades at or within the limit. Futures prices have occasionally moved beyond the daily limits for several consecutive days with little or no trading. Over-the-counter instruments generally are not as liquid as instruments traded on recognized exchanges. These constraints could prevent the Fund from promptly liquidating unfavorable positions, thereby subjecting the Fund to substantial losses. In addition, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and various exchanges limit the number of positions that the Fund may indirectly hold or control in particular commodities.
Swaps. The Fund may enter into swaps. A swap is a commitment between two parties to make or receive payments based on agreed upon terms, and whose value and payments are derived by changes in the value of an underlying financial instrument. Swaps can take many different forms and are known by a variety of names. Depending on their structure, swaps may increase or decrease the Fund’s exposure to long-term or short-term interest rates, foreign currency values, corporate borrowing rates, or other factors such as security prices, values of baskets of securities, or inflation rates. Interest rate swaps are contracts involving the exchange between two contracting parties of their respective commitments to pay or receive interest (e.g., an exchange of floating rate payments for fixed rate payments). Credit default swaps are contracts whereby one party makes periodic payments to a counterparty in exchange for the right to receive from the counterparty a payment equal to the par (or other agreed-upon) value of an underlying debt obligation in the event of default by the issuer of the debt security. Total return swaps are contracts in which one party agrees to make periodic payments based on the change in market value of the underlying assets, which may include a specified security, basket of securities or security indexes during the specified period, in return for periodic payments based on a fixed or variable interest rate of the total return from other underlying assets. Depending on how they are used, swaps may increase or decrease the overall volatility of the Fund’s portfolio. The most significant factor in the performance of a swap is the change in the specific interest rate, currency, individual equity values or other factors that determine the amounts of payments due to and from the Fund.
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Options Risk. If a put or call option purchased by the Fund expires without being sold or exercised, the Fund would lose the premium it paid for the option. The seller (writer) of a call option which is covered (e.g., for which the writer holds the underlying security) assumes the risk of a decline in the market price of the underlying security below the purchase price of the underlying security less the premium received, and gives up the opportunity for gain on the underlying security above the exercise price of the option. Writing a covered call option also involves liquidity risk because if the Fund is unable to close out the option transaction, the Fund would not be able to sell the underlying security until the option expires or is exercised. The seller of an uncovered call option assumes the risk of a theoretically unlimited increase in the market price of the underlying security above the exercise price of the option. The buyer of a call option assumes the risk of losing its entire investment in the call option. However, if the buyer of the call sells short the underlying security, the loss on the call will be offset in whole or in part by the gain on the short sale of the underlying security. The seller (writer) of a put option which is covered (e.g., the writer holds or has a short position in the underlying security) assumes the risk of an increase in the market price of the underlying security above the exercise price of the option plus the premium received, and gives up the opportunity for gain on the underlying security above the exercise price of the option. The seller of an uncovered put option assumes the risk of an increase in the market price of the underlying security above the exercise price of the option plus the premium received. The buyer of a put option assumes the risk of losing its entire investment in the put option. Purchasing and writing put and call options are highly specialized activities and entail greater than ordinary investment risks. To the extent that the Fund invests in over-the-counter options, the Fund may be exposed to credit risk with regard to parties with which it trades and may also bear the risk of settlement default. These risks may differ materially from those entailed in exchange-traded transactions, which generally are backed by clearing organization guarantees, daily marking-to-market and settlement, and segregation and minimum capital requirements applicable to intermediaries. Transactions entered directly between two counterparties generally do not benefit from such protections and expose the parties to the risk of counterparty default.
Over-the-Counter, Non-Cleared Derivatives Transactions. The Fund may enter into derivatives that are not traded on an exchange or other organized facility or contract market. Many of these instruments are also not required to be cleared or are not cleared on a voluntary basis. The risk of nonperformance by the obligor on such an instrument may be greater than the risk associated with an instrument traded on an exchange or other organized trading facility and centrally cleared. In addition, the Fund may not be able to dispose of, or enter into a closing transaction with respect to, such an instrument as easily as in the case of an instrument traded on an exchange or other organized trading facility. Significant disparities may exist between “bid” and “asked” prices for derivative instruments that are not traded on an exchange or other organized facility. Derivatives not traded on exchanges or other organized facilities may be subject to less regulation than exchange-traded and on-facility instruments, and many of the protections afforded to participants on an exchange or other organized facility may not be available with respect to these instruments. In situations where the Fund is required to post margin or other collateral with a counterparty, the counterparty may fail to segregate the collateral or may commingle the collateral with the counterparty’s own assets. As a result, in the event of the counterparty’s bankruptcy or insolvency, the Fund’s collateral may be subject to the conflicting claims of the counterparty’s creditors and the Fund may be exposed to the risk of being treated as a general unsecured creditor of the counterparty, rather than as the owner of the collateral.
Over-the-counter derivatives trading has become subject to increased regulation under recent financial reform laws, and further proposed measures — such as margin requirements for non-cleared transactions — may offer market participants additional protections once implemented. Nonetheless, the Fund will not be fully protected from risks that are present in an over-the-counter, non-cleared trading environment.
Cleared Derivatives Transactions. Transactions in certain derivatives, including some classes of swaps, that are traded on exchanges or other organized regulated trading facilities must be settled (“cleared”) by a regulated clearinghouse. For cleared derivatives transactions, the Fund will be subject to risks that may arise from its relationship with a brokerage firm through which it submits derivatives trades for clearing, including counterparty risk. A brokerage firm typically imposes margin requirements with respect to open derivatives positions, and it is generally able to require termination of those positions in specified circumstances. These margin requirements and termination provisions may adversely affect the Fund’s ability to trade derivatives.
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The Fund may not be able to recover the full amount of its margin from a brokerage firm if the firm were to go into bankruptcy. The Fund would also be exposed to the credit risk of the clearinghouse. In addition, it is possible that the Fund would not be able to enter into a swap that is required to be cleared if no clearinghouse will accept the swap for clearing.
On-Facility Trading of Swaps. Swaps that are required to be cleared must be traded on a regulated swap execution facility or contract market that makes them available for trading. Other swaps may be traded through such a facility or contact market on a voluntarily basis. The transition from entering into swaps bilaterally to trading them on a facility or contract market may not result in swaps being easier to trade or value and may present certain execution risks if the facilities and contract markets do not operate properly. On-facility trading of swaps is also expected to lead to greater standardization of contract terms. It is possible that the Fund may not be able to enter into swaps that fully meet its investment or hedging needs, or that the costs of entering into customized swaps, including any applicable margin requirements, will be significant.
Illiquidity. Derivatives, especially when traded in large amounts, may not always be liquid. In such cases, in volatile markets the Fund may not be able to close out a position without incurring a loss. Daily limits on price fluctuations and speculative position limits on exchanges on which the Fund may conduct its transactions in derivatives may prevent profitable liquidation of positions, subjecting the Fund to potentially greater losses.
Counterparty Credit Risk. Many purchases, sales, financing arrangements, and derivative transactions in which the Fund may engage involve instruments that are not traded on an exchange. Rather, these instruments are traded between counterparties based on contractual relationships. As a result, the Fund is subject to the risk that a counterparty will not perform its obligations under the related contract. Although the Fund expects to enter into transactions only with counterparties believed by the Advisors to be creditworthy, there can be no assurance that a counterparty will not default and that the Fund will not sustain a loss on a transaction as a result.
In situations where the Fund is required to post margin or other collateral with a counterparty, the counterparty may fail to segregate the collateral or may commingle the collateral with the counterparty’s own assets. As a result, in the event of the counterparty’s bankruptcy or insolvency, the Fund’s collateral may be subject to the conflicting claims of the counterparty’s creditors and the Fund may be exposed to the risk of being treated as a general unsecured creditor of the counterparty, rather than as the owner of the collateral.
The Fund is subject to the risk that issuers of the instruments in which it invests and trades may default on their obligations, and that certain events may occur that have an immediate and significant adverse effect on the value of those instruments. There can be no assurance that an issuer will not default, or that an event that has an immediate and significant adverse effect on the value of an instrument will not occur, and that the Fund will not sustain a loss on a transaction as a result.
• Foreign investment risk. Investments in foreign securities are affected by risk factors generally not thought to be present in the United States. The prices of foreign securities may be more volatile than the prices of securities of U.S. issuers because of economic and social conditions abroad, political developments, and changes in the regulatory environments of foreign countries. Special risks associated with investments in foreign markets include less liquidity, less developed or less efficient trading markets, lack of comprehensive company information, less government supervision of exchanges, brokers and issuers, greater risks associated with counterparties and settlement, and difficulty in enforcing contractual obligations. Changes in exchange rates and interest rates, and the imposition of foreign taxes, sanctions, confiscations, trade restrictions (including tariffs) and other government restrictions by the United States and/or other governments may adversely affect the values of the Fund’s foreign investments. Foreign companies are generally subject to different legal and accounting standards than U.S. companies, and foreign financial intermediaries may be subject to less supervision and regulation than U.S. financial firms. The Fund’s investments in depositary receipts (including ADRs) are subject to these risks, even if denominated in U.S. dollars, because changes in currency and exchange rates affect the values of the issuers of depositary receipts. 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.
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• Emerging markets risk. Many of the risks with respect to foreign investments are more pronounced for investments in issuers in developing or emerging market countries. Emerging market countries tend to have more government exchange controls, more volatile interest and currency exchange rates, less market regulation, and less developed and less stable economic, political and legal systems than those of more developed countries. There may be less publicly available and reliable information about issuers in emerging markets than is available about issuers in more developed capital markets, and such issuers may not be subject to regulatory, accounting, auditing, and financial reporting and recordkeeping standards comparable to those to which U.S. companies are subject. The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (“PCAOB”), which regulates auditors of U.S. public companies, for example, may be unable to inspect audit work and practices in certain countries. If the PCAOB is unable to oversee the operations of accounting firms in such countries, inaccurate or incomplete financial records of an issuer’s operations may not be detected, which could negatively impact the Fund’s investment in such company. In addition, emerging market countries may experience high levels of inflation and may have less liquid securities markets and less efficient trading and settlement systems. Their economies also depend heavily upon international trade and may be adversely affected by protective trade barriers and the economic conditions of their trading partners. Emerging market countries may have fixed or managed currencies that are not free-floating against the U.S. dollar and may not be traded internationally. Some countries with emerging securities markets have experienced high rates of inflation for many years. Inflation and rapid fluctuations in inflation rates have had and may continue to have negative effects on the economies and securities markets of certain countries. Emerging markets typically have substantially less volume than U.S. markets, securities in these markets are less liquid, and their prices often are more volatile than those of comparable U.S. companies. Securities markets in emerging markets may also be susceptible to manipulation or other fraudulent trade practices, which could disrupt the functioning of these markets or adversely affect the value of investments traded in these markets, including investments of the Fund. The Fund’s rights with respect to its investments in emerging markets, if any, will generally be governed by local law, which may make it difficult or impossible for the Fund to pursue legal remedies or to obtain and enforce judgments in local courts. Delays may occur in settling securities transactions in emerging market countries, which could adversely affect the Fund’s ability to make or liquidate investments in those markets in a timely fashion. In addition, it may not be possible for the Fund to find satisfactory custodial services in an emerging market country, which could increase the Fund’s costs and cause delays in the transportation and custody of its investments. There may also be restrictions on imports from certain countries, such as Russia, and dealings with certain state-sponsored entities. For example, following Russia’s large-scale invasion of Ukraine, the President of the United States signed an Executive Order in February 2022 prohibiting U.S. persons from entering into transactions with the Central Bank of Russia, and Executive Orders in March 2022 prohibiting U.S. persons from importing oil and gas from Russia as well as other popular Russian exports, such as diamonds, seafood and vodka. There may also be restrictions on investments in Chinese companies. For example, the President of the United States signed an Executive Order in June 2021 affirming and expanding the U.S. policy prohibiting U.S. persons from purchasing or investing in publicly-traded securities of companies identified by the U.S. Government as “Chinese Military-Industrial Complex Companies.” The list of such companies can change from time to time, and as a result of forced selling or an inability to participate in an investment the Advisor otherwise believes is attractive, the Fund may incur losses. Any of these factors may adversely affect the Fund’s performance or the Fund’s ability to pursue its investment objective.
• Sector focus risk. The Fund may invest a larger portion of its assets in one or more sectors than many other mutual funds and thus will be more susceptible to negative events affecting those sectors. The prices of securities of issuers in a particular sector may be more susceptible to fluctuations due to changes in economic or business conditions, government regulations or monetary and fiscal policies, market sentiment and expectations, availability of basic resources or supplies, or other events that affect that sector more than securities of issuers in other sectors. At times the performance of the Fund’s investments may lag the performance of other sectors or the broader market as a whole. Such underperformance may continue for extended periods of time.
• Portfolio turnover risk. Active and frequent trading of the Fund’s securities may lead to higher transaction costs and may result in a greater number of taxable transactions, which could negatively affect the Fund’s performance. A high rate of portfolio turnover is 100% or more.
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• ETF risk. Investing in an ETF will provide the Fund with exposure to the securities comprising the index on which the ETF is based and will expose the Fund to risks similar to those of investing directly in those securities. Shares of ETFs typically trade on securities exchanges and may at times trade at a premium or discount to their net asset values. In addition, an ETF may not replicate exactly the performance of the benchmark index it seeks to track for a number of reasons, including transaction costs incurred by the ETF, the temporary unavailability of certain index securities in the secondary market or discrepancies between the ETF and the index with respect to the weighting of securities or the number of securities held. Investing in ETFs, which are investment companies, involves duplication of advisory fees and certain other expenses. The Fund will pay brokerage commissions in connection with the purchase and sale of shares of ETFs.
• Futures risk. The value of a futures contract tends to increase and decrease in correlation with the value of the underlying instrument. Risks of futures contracts may arise from an imperfect correlation between movements in the price of the futures and the price of the underlying instrument. The Fund’s use of futures contracts (and related options) exposes the Fund to leverage risk because of the small margin requirements relative to the value of the futures contract. A relatively small market movement will have a proportionately larger impact on the funds that the Fund has deposited or will have to deposit with a broker to maintain its futures position. Leverage can lead to large losses as well as gains. While futures contracts are generally liquid instruments, under certain market conditions they may become illiquid. Futures exchanges may impose daily or intraday price change limits and/or limit the volume of trading. Additionally, government regulation may further reduce liquidity through similar trading restrictions. As a result, the Fund may be unable to close out its futures contracts at a time that is advantageous. The price of futures can be highly volatile; using them could lower total return, and the potential loss from futures could exceed the Fund’s initial investment in such contracts.
• Fund distributions risk. The Fund seeks to make distributions once per month based on a pre-determined rate. It is possible for the Fund to suffer substantial investment losses and simultaneously experience additional asset reductions as a result of its distributions to shareholders under this distribution policy. Moreover, even if the Fund’s capital grows over short, intermediate, or long periods of time, it is possible that such growth will be insufficient to enable the Fund to maintain the amount of its distributions without returning capital to shareholders. A return of capital is a return of all or part of a shareholder’s original investment in the Fund. In general, a return of capital is not immediately taxable to a shareholder. Rather, it reduces a shareholder’s cost basis in Fund shares and is not taxable to a shareholder until his or her cost basis has been reduced to zero. The amount of the Fund’s quarterly income payments could vary substantially from one year to the next, during the course of a year, and over time depending on several factors, including the performance of the financial markets in which the Fund invests, the allocation of Fund assets across different asset classes and investments, the performance of the Fund’s investment strategies, and the amount and timing of prior distributions by the Fund. The Fund is not guaranteed to provide a fixed or stable level of distributions at any time or over any period of time.
• Prepayment or call risk. Many fixed income securities give the issuer the option to repay or call the security prior to its maturity date. Issuers often exercise this right when interest rates fall. Accordingly, if the Fund holds a fixed income security subject to prepayment or call risk, it may not benefit fully from the increase in value that other fixed income securities generally experience when interest rates fall. Upon prepayment of the security, the Fund would also be forced to reinvest the proceeds at then current yields, which would be lower than the yield of the security that was paid off. In addition, if the Fund purchases a fixed income security at a premium (at a price that exceeds its stated par or principal value), the Fund may lose the amount of the premium paid in the event of prepayment.
• Subordinated securities risk. Holders of securities that are subordinated or “junior” to more senior securities of an issuer are entitled to payment after holders of more senior securities of the issuer. Subordinated securities are more likely to suffer a credit loss than non-subordinated securities of the same issuer, any loss incurred by the subordinated securities is likely to be proportionately greater, and any recovery of interest or principal may take more time. As a result, even a perceived decline in creditworthiness of the issuer is likely to have a greater impact on the market value of these securities. Subordinated loans generally have greater price volatility than senior loans and may be less liquid. The risks associated with subordinated unsecured loans, which are not backed by a security interest in any specific collateral, are higher than those for comparable loans that are secured by specific collateral.
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• Valuation risk. Many factors may influence the price at which the Fund could sell any particular portfolio investment. The sales price may well differ — higher or lower — from the Fund’s last valuation, and such differences could be significant, particularly for illiquid securities and securities that trade in relatively thin markets and/or markets that experience extreme volatility. If market conditions make it difficult to value some investments, the Advisor may value these investments using more subjective methods, such as fair value methodologies. Investors who purchase or redeem Fund shares on days when the Fund is holding fair-valued securities may receive fewer or more shares, or lower or higher redemption proceeds, than they would have received if the Advisor had not fair-valued the securities or had used a different valuation methodology. The value of foreign securities, certain fixed income securities, and currencies may be materially affected by events after the close of the market on which they are valued but before the Fund determines its net asset value.
• Value-oriented investment strategies risk. Value stocks are those that are believed to be undervalued in comparison to their peers due to adverse business developments or other factors. Value investing carries the risk that the market will not recognize a security’s inherent value for a long time or at all, or that a stock judged to be undervalued may actually be appropriately priced or overvalued. In addition, during some periods (which may be extensive) value stocks generally may be out of favor in the markets. Therefore, the Fund is most suitable for long-term investors who are willing to hold their shares for extended periods of time through market fluctuations and the accompanying changes in share prices.
• Market capitalization risk. Investing in micro-capitalization, small-capitalization and mid-capitalization companies generally involves greater risks than investing in large-capitalization companies. Micro-, small- or mid-cap companies may have limited product lines, markets or financial resources or may depend on the expertise of a few people and may be subject to more abrupt or erratic market movements and may have lower trading volumes or more erratic trading than securities of larger, more established companies or market averages in general. Many small capitalization companies may be in the early stages of development. Given that equity securities of smaller companies may lack sufficient market liquidity and may not be regularly traded, it may be difficult or impossible to sell securities at an advantageous time or a desirable price. Larger, more established companies may be unable to attain the high growth rates of successful, smaller companies during periods of economic expansion. In addition, large-capitalization companies may be unable to respond quickly to new competitive challenges, such as changes in technology and consumer tastes, and may be more prone to global economic risks.
• Growth-oriented investment strategies risk. Growth funds generally focus on stocks of companies believed to have above-average potential for growth in revenue and earnings. Growth securities typically are very sensitive to market movements because their market prices frequently reflect projections of future earnings or revenues, and when it appears that those expectations will not be met the prices of growth securities typically fall. Prices of these companies’ securities may be more volatile than those of other securities, particularly over the short term.
• Government-sponsored entities risk. The Fund’s investment in U.S. government obligations may include securities issued or guaranteed as to principal and interest by the U.S. government, or its agencies or instrumentalities. Payment of principal and interest on U.S. government obligations may be backed by the full faith and credit of the United States or may be backed solely by the issuing or guaranteeing agency or instrumentality itself. There can be no assurance that the U.S. government would provide financial support to its agencies or instrumentalities (including government-sponsored enterprises) when it is not obligated to do so.
• Extension risk. When interest rates rise, repayments of fixed income securities, particularly asset- and mortgage-backed securities, may occur more slowly than anticipated, extending the effective duration of these fixed income securities at below market interest rates and causing their market prices to decline more than they have declined due to the rise in interest rates alone. This may cause the Fund’s share price to be more volatile.
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• Recent market events. Periods of market volatility may occur in response to market events and other economic, political, and global macro factors. The COVID-19 pandemic, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and higher inflation have resulted in extreme volatility in the financial markets, economic downturns around the world, and severe losses, particularly to some sectors of the economy and individual issuers, and reduced liquidity of certain instruments. These events have caused significant disruptions to business operations, including business closures; strained healthcare systems; disruptions to supply chains and employee availability; large fluctuations in consumer demand; large expansion of government deficits and debt as a result of government actions to mitigate the effects of such events; and widespread uncertainty regarding the long-term effects of such events.
Governments and central banks, including the Federal Reserve in the United States, took extraordinary and unprecedented actions to support local and global economies and the financial markets in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, including by keeping interest rates at historically low levels for an extended period. The Federal Reserve concluded its market support activities in 2022 and began to raise interest rates in an effort to fight inflation. The Federal Reserve may determine to raise interest rates further. This and other government intervention into the economy and financial markets to address the pandemic, inflation, or other significant events in the future, may not work as intended, particularly if the efforts are perceived by investors as being unlikely to achieve the desired results.
Such events could be prolonged and could adversely affect the value and liquidity of the Fund’s investments, impair the Fund’s ability to satisfy redemption requests, and negatively impact the Fund’s performance. Other market events may cause similar disruptions and effects.
• Cybersecurity risk. Cybersecurity incidents may allow an unauthorized party to gain access to Fund assets, customer data (including private shareholder information), or proprietary information, or cause the Fund, the Advisor, the Sub-Advisors and/or other service providers (including custodians, sub-custodians, transfer agents and financial intermediaries) to suffer data breaches, data corruption or loss of operational functionality. A cybersecurity incident may disrupt the processing of shareholder transactions, impact the Fund’s ability to calculate its net asset value, and prevent shareholders from redeeming their shares. Issuers of securities in which the Fund invests are also subject to cybersecurity risks, and the value of those securities could decline if the issuers experience cybersecurity incidents.
• Currency risk. The values of investments in securities denominated in foreign currencies increase or decrease as the rates of exchange between those currencies and the U.S. dollar change. Currency conversion costs and currency fluctuations could erase investment gains or add to investment losses. Currency exchange rates can be volatile and are affected by factors such as general economic conditions, the actions of the United States and foreign governments or central banks, the imposition of currency controls, and speculation.
Portfolio Holdings Information
A description of the Fund’s policies and procedures with respect to the disclosure of the Fund’s portfolio securities is available in the Fund’s SAI. Currently, disclosure of the Fund’s holdings is required to be made quarterly within sixty (60) days of the end of each fiscal quarter in the Fund’s Annual Report and Semi-Annual Report to Fund shareholders, and in its monthly holdings report on Form N-PORT.
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MANAGEMENT OF THE FUND |
Investment Advisor and Sub-Advisors
First Trust Capital Management L.P. (“FTCM”, formerly known as Vivaldi Asset Management, LLC), a Delaware limited partnership which maintains its principal offices at 225 West Wacker Drive, 21st Floor, Chicago, Illinois 60606, acts as the investment advisor to the Fund pursuant to an investment advisory agreement (the “Advisory Agreement”) with the Trust. The Advisor is an investment advisor registered with the SEC and provides investment advice to open-end and closed-end funds. The Advisor has approximately $5.3 billion in assets under management as of December 31, 2023.
Pursuant to the Advisory Agreement, the Fund pays the Advisor an annual advisory fee of 1.20% of the Fund’s average daily net assets for the services and facilities it provides, payable on a monthly basis. For the fiscal year ended September 30, 2023, the Advisor received advisory fees of 1.20% of the Fund’s average daily net assets. Pursuant to a sub-advisory agreement, the Advisor pays a portion of its advisory fee to the Sub-Advisors. The Fund’s SAI provides additional information about these fees paid to the Advisor and the Sub-Advisors.
Pursuant to an exemptive order received from the SEC, the Fund’s Advisor is permitted, subject to Board approval, to enter into or materially amend sub-advisory agreements with existing or new sub-advisors for the Fund without approval of Fund shareholders (“Exemptive Relief”). The Fund is required to notify shareholders of the retention of a new sub-advisor within 90 days of the hiring of the new sub-advisor. In addition, the Exemptive Relief permits the Fund to make modified disclosures regarding its sub-advisory fees.
Palmer Square Capital Management, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company located at 1900 Shawnee Mission Parkway, Suite 315, Mission Woods, Kansas 66205, serves as a Fund Sub-Advisor. Palmer Square is an SEC-registered investment advisor that services pooled investment vehicles, investment companies, high net worth individuals and institutions. As of December 31, 2023, Palmer Square had approximately $29.5 billion in assets under management.
Vest Financial, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company located at 8350 Broad Street, McLean, Virginia 22102, serves as a Fund Sub-Advisor. Vest is an SEC-registered investment advisor that provides services to mutual funds, variable insurance trusts, ETFs, collective investment trusts, and unit investment trusts. As of December 31, 2023, Vest had approximately $21.7 billion in assets under management.
The Advisor has engaged the Sub-Advisors to make the day-to-day investment decisions for portions of the Fund. While a Sub-Advisor makes the day-to-day investment decisions for its portion of the Fund, the Advisor retains ultimate responsibility (subject to the Board of Trustees’ oversight) for overseeing each Sub-Advisor and evaluating the Fund’s needs and the Sub-Advisor’s skills and performance on an ongoing basis. Based on its evaluation, the Advisor may recommend to the Board of Trustees that the Fund: (i) change, add or terminate a Sub-Advisor; (ii) continue to retain a Sub-Advisor even though the Sub-Advisor’s ownership or corporate structure has changed; or (iii) materially change a sub-advisory agreement with a Sub-Advisor. In addition to the oversight of the Fund’s Sub-Advisors, the Advisor is responsible for managing a portion of the Fund’s assets and for determining the allocation of the Fund’s assets to each Sub-Advisor. Messrs. Peck and Murphy are jointly and primarily responsible for the overall management of the Fund, including the determination of the allocation of the Fund’s assets to each Sub-Advisor.
A discussion regarding the basis for the Board’s approval of the Advisory Agreement and Sub-Advisory Agreement with Palmer Square is available in the Fund’s Annual Report to shareholders dated as of September 30, 2023. A discussion regarding the basis for the Board’s approval of the Sub-Advisory Agreement with Vest Financial, LLC will be available in the Fund’s Semi-Annual Report to shareholders dated as of March 31, 2024.
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Portfolio Managers
The portfolio management teams for the Advisor and Sub-Advisors are comprised of the individuals listed below. The portfolio managers within each team are jointly and primarily responsible for the day-to-day management of the portion of the Fund’s portfolio managed by the applicable Advisor or Sub-Advisor.
Investment Advisor |
Portfolio Managers |
Managed
the |
|
First Trust Capital Management L.P. |
Michael Peck,
CFA, CEO, Co-CIO, PM |
2014 |
Sub-Advisors |
Portfolio Managers |
Managed
the |
|
Palmer Square Capital Management, LLC |
Angie K.
Long |
2023 |
|
Vest Financial, LLC |
Howard
Rubin |
2024 |
Mr. Michael Peck, CFA, joined the Advisor in February 2012 and is currently Chief Executive Officer and Co-Chief Investment Officer. Prior to joining the Advisor, Mr. Peck was a Portfolio Manager at Coe Capital, LLC, a Chicago-based registered investment advisor, from March 2010 to December 2011. From June 2007 through March 2009, Mr. Peck was a paid consultant at various real estate and investment companies. From 2006 to 2008, Mr. Peck was a Senior Financial Analyst/Risk Manager at The Bond Companies. Mr. Peck graduated from Lehigh University with a Bachelor of Science in Accounting. Mr. Peck also holds a M.A. in Finance and a M.B.A. (Real Estate Analysis and Financial Analysis) from DePaul University.
Mr. Brian Murphy joined the Advisor in March 2014 as a Senior Research Analyst and currently serves as Co-Chief Investment Officer and portfolio manager to the Fund. Prior to joining the Advisor, Mr. Murphy was a Director at Voyager Management, LLC (“Voyager Management”), a fund of hedge fund firm, from 2010 to 2014. Prior to working for Voyager Management, from 2009 to 2010, Mr. Murphy was Derivatives Product Specialist at Analytic Investors, specializing in quantitative derivative hedge fund strategies. Mr. Murphy was also an Analyst at Iron Partners, LLC, a fund of hedge fund firm, from 2007 to 2009, where he was primarily responsible for covering hedged equity, equity trading, derivative and structured product services. Mr. Murphy graduated from Miami University with a B.S. in Finance.
Mr. Daniel Lancz has been a Portfolio Manager with the Advisor since December 2014. Prior to joining the Advisor, Mr. Lancz served as Director of Research for Glenfinnen since 2003, where he oversaw the investment research for two merger arbitrage hedge funds. Prior to joining Glenfinnen, Mr. Lancz was the Director of Research of a merger arbitrage hedge fund, Augusta Capital Management. Mr. Lancz earned a B.S. from Miami University, located in Oxford, Ohio.
Ms. Angie K. Long, CFA, is a portfolio manager of the Fund’s Debt Securities strategy. Ms. Long has been the Chief Investment Officer of Palmer Square since February 2011. She has key responsibilities for all investment-related activities with a particular focus on portfolio construction and risk management. Prior to joining Palmer Square, Ms. Long worked for J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. in New York from 1998 to 2011. There, she held a variety of management and trading roles, including Deputy Head of Credit Trading for North America, Head of High Yield Trading, and Head of Credit Derivatives Trading. She has been a trader and investor within many products and strategies including high yield bonds, high yield credit derivatives, distressed debt, capital structure arbitrage and structured credit. Among other career achievements, Ms. Long is credited with creating the High Yield Debt Index, the first liquid credit trading index.
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She was named a managing director of J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. at age 29. She was responsible for building J.P. Morgan’s High Yield Credit Derivatives business and Credit Options business. She received an AB degree in Economics from Princeton University in 1997 and is a CFA® charterholder.
Mr. Taylor R. Moore, CFA, is a portfolio manager of the Fund’s Debt Securities strategy. Mr. Moore is Managing Director, Portfolio Manager and Head of Structured Credit Trading at Palmer Square. Mr. Moore joined Palmer Square in 2013. Prior to joining Palmer Square, Taylor worked at JPMorgan Chase & Co. in New York and Delaware. Mr. Moore was an integral part of the firm’s North American foreign exchange business serving as Associate Product Controller. Mr. Moore played a key role in all financial operations and management of JPMorgan’s Forward and Spot foreign exchange trading desks. He began his career at JPMorgan as part of the firm’s Corporate Development Program, a two year selective leadership development program. Prior to JPMorgan Chase & Co., Mr. Moore worked at Frontier Investment Bank, a boutique investment bank based out of Kansas City. Mr. Moore received a BA in Economics from Cornell University and is a CFA® charterholder.
Mr. Howard Rubin is a portfolio manager of the Fund’s Options strategy. Mr. Rubin has over 25 years of experience as a Portfolio Manager. Mr. Rubin joined Vest in 2017. Prior to joining Vest, Mr. Rubin has served as Director of Portfolio Management at ProShare Advisors LLC from December 2007 to September 2013. Mr. Rubin has served as Senior Portfolio Manager of ProFund Advisors LLC since November 2004 and Portfolio Manager of ProFund Advisors LLC from April 2000 through November 2004. Mr. Rubin holds the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation. Mr. Rubin received a master’s degree in finance from George Washington University. He also holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from Wharton School of Finance, University of Pennsylvania.
Mr. Karan Sood is a portfolio manager of the Fund’s Options strategy. Mr. Sood has over ten years of experience in derivative based investment strategy design and trading. Mr. Sood joined Vest in 2012. Prior to joining Vest, Mr. Sood worked as a senior manager in new product development at ProShares Advisors LLC. Prior to ProShares, Mr. Sood worked as a Vice President at Barclays Capital. Last based in New York, he was responsible for using derivatives to design structured investment strategies and solutions for the firm’s institutional clients in the Americas. Prior to his role in New York, Mr. Sood worked in similar capacity in London with Barclays Capital’s European clients. Mr. Sood received a master’s degree in Decision Sciences & Operations Research from London School of Economics & Political Science, London. He also holds a bachelor’s degree in engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi.
The SAI provides additional information about the portfolio managers’ methods of compensation, other accounts managed by the portfolio managers and the portfolio managers’ ownership of Fund securities.
Other Service Providers
First Trust Portfolios L.P. (the “Distributor”) is the principal underwriter for the Fund and acts as the Fund’s distributor in connection with the offering of Fund shares. The Distributor may enter into agreements with banks, broker-dealers, or other financial intermediaries through which investors may purchase or redeem shares. The Distributor is affiliated with the Advisor, but it is not affiliated with the Sub-Advisors or any other service provider for the Fund.
Fund Expenses
The Fund is responsible for its own operating expenses (all of which will be borne directly or indirectly by the Fund’s shareholders), including among others, legal fees and expenses of counsel to the Fund and the Fund’s independent trustees; insurance (including trustees’ and officers’ errors and omissions insurance); auditing and accounting expenses; taxes and governmental fees; listing fees; fees and expenses of the Fund’s custodians, administrators, transfer agents, registrars and other service providers; expenses for portfolio pricing services by a pricing agent, if any; expenses in connection with the issuance and offering of shares; brokerage commissions and other costs of acquiring or disposing of any portfolio holding of the Fund; and any litigation expenses.
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The Advisor has contractually agreed to waive its fees and/or pay for operating expenses of the Fund to ensure that the total annual fund operating expenses (excluding any taxes, leverage interest, brokerage commissions, dividend and interest expenses on short sales, acquired fund fees and expenses (as determined in accordance with Form N-1A), expenses incurred in connection with any merger or reorganization, and extraordinary expenses such as litigation expenses) do not exceed the percentage stated below:
Class |
Expense Limit as a
|
Class A |
1.85% |
Class C |
2.60% |
Class I |
1.55% |
This agreement is in effect until January 31, 2025, and it may be terminated before that date only by the Trust’s Board of Trustees.
Any reduction in advisory fees or payment of the Fund’s expenses made by the Advisor in a fiscal year may be reimbursed by the Fund for a period ending three full fiscal years after the date of reduction or payment if the Advisor so requests. This reimbursement may be requested from the Fund if the reimbursement will not cause the Fund’s annual expense ratio to exceed the lesser of (a) the expense limitation in effect at the time such fees were waived or payments made, or (b) the expense limitation in effect at the time of the reimbursement. However, the reimbursement amount may not exceed the total amount of fees waived and/or Fund expenses paid by the Advisor and will not include any amounts previously reimbursed to the Advisor by the Fund. Any such reimbursement is contingent upon the Board’s subsequent review of the reimbursed amounts. The Fund must pay current ordinary operating expenses before the Advisor is entitled to any reimbursement of fees and/or Fund expenses.
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DISTRIBUTION AND SHAREHOLDER SERVICE PLAN |
Distribution and Service (Rule 12b-1) Fees (For Class A Shares and Class C Shares)
The Trust has adopted a plan on behalf of the Fund pursuant to Rule 12b-1 of the 1940 Act (the “12b-1 Plan”), which allows the Fund to pay distribution fees for the sale and distribution of its Class A shares and Class C shares and/or shareholder liaison service fees in connection with the provision of personal services to shareholders of Class A shares and Class C shares and the maintenance of their shareholder accounts.
The 12b-1 Plan provides for the payment of such fees at the annual rate of up to 0.25% of average daily net assets attributable to Class A shares. For Class C shares, the maximum annual fees payable to the Distributor for distribution services and shareholder liaison services are 0.75% and 0.25%, respectively, of the average daily net assets of such shares. Because these fees are paid out of the Fund’s assets attributable to the Fund’s Class A shares and Class C shares, respectively, these fees will increase the cost of your investment and, over time, may cost you more than paying other types of sales charges. The net income attributable to Class A shares and Class C shares will be reduced by the amount of distribution and shareholder liaison service fees and other expenses of the Fund associated with that class of shares.
To promote the sale of the Fund’s Class C shares and to pay for certain shareholder liaison services, the Distributor may pay broker-dealers up to 1.00% of the amount invested by their clients in the Class C shares of the Fund at the time the Shares are purchased (which includes prepayment of the first year’s 0.25% shareholder liaison service fee).
Class I shares are not subject to any distribution fees under the 12b-1 Plan.
To assist investors in comparing classes of shares, the table under the Prospectus heading “Fees and Expenses of the Fund” provides a summary of expenses and an example of the sales charges and expenses of the Fund applicable to each class of shares offered in this Prospectus.
Because the Fund pays distribution fees on an ongoing basis, your investment cost over time will increase and may be higher than paying other types of sales charges.
Shareholder Service Fee
The Fund may pay a fee at an annual rate of up to 0.15%, 0.15% and 0.10% of its average daily net assets attributable to Class A shares, Class C shares, and Class I shares, respectively, to shareholder servicing agents. Shareholder servicing agents provide non-distribution administrative and support services to their customers, which may include establishing and maintaining accounts and records relating to shareholders, processing dividend and distribution payments from the Fund on behalf of shareholders, forwarding communications from the Fund, providing sub-accounting with respect to Fund shares, and other similar services.
Additional Payments to Broker-Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries
The Advisor, Sub-Advisors and/or Distributor and their affiliates may pay service fees to intermediaries such as banks, broker-dealers, financial advisors or other financial institutions, some of which may be affiliates, for sub-administration, sub-transfer agency and other shareholder services associated with shareholders whose shares are held of record in omnibus accounts, other group accounts or accounts traded through registered securities clearing agents.
The Advisor, Sub-Advisor and/or Distributor and their affiliates, out of their own resources, and without additional cost to the Fund or its shareholders, may provide additional cash payments or non-cash compensation to broker-dealers or intermediaries that sell shares of the Fund. These additional cash payments are generally made to intermediaries that provide shareholder servicing, marketing support and/or access to sales meetings, sales representatives and management representatives of the intermediary. The Advisor and/or Distributor and their affiliates may pay cash compensation for inclusion of the Fund on a sales list, including a preferred or select sales list, or in other sales programs, or may pay an expense reimbursement in cases where the intermediary provides shareholder services to the Fund’s shareholders. The Distributor may also pay cash compensation in the form of finder’s fees that vary depending on the dollar amount of the shares sold.
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The Distributor may reallow all or a portion of the sales load to broker-dealers or other financial intermediaries. Similarly, the Distributor may reallow all or a portion of the distribution and/or service fees to the financial intermediary or other third party; however, the Distributor shall not be obligated to make such payments to the financial intermediaries or other parties unless the Distributor has received a corresponding payment from the Fund. The Distributor may also make payments to financial intermediaries from its own resources, subject to the following conditions: (a) any such payments shall not create any obligation for or recourse against the Fund or Class thereof, and (b) the terms and conditions of any such payments are consistent with the Fund’s Prospectus and applicable federal and state securities laws, and such payments are disclosed in the Fund’s Prospectus or SAI to the extent such laws require. See “Management of the Fund — Additional Payment to Financial Intermediaries” in the SAI.
35
YOUR ACCOUNT WITH THE FUND |
Share Price
The offering price of each class of the Fund’s shares is the net asset value per share (“NAV”) of that class (plus any sales charges, as applicable). The difference among the classes’ NAVs reflects the daily expense accruals of the distribution fees applicable to Class A shares and Class C shares and the differences in shareholder service fees. The Fund’s NAVs are calculated as of 4:00 p.m. Eastern time, the normal close of regular trading on the NYSE on each day the NYSE is open for trading. If for example, the NYSE closes at 1:00 p.m. New York time, the Fund’s NAVs would still be determined as of 4:00 p.m. New York time. In this example, portfolio securities traded on the NYSE would be valued at their closing prices unless the Valuation Designee, as defined below, determines that a “fair value” adjustment is appropriate due to subsequent events. The NAV for each class is determined by dividing the value of the Fund’s portfolio securities, cash and other assets (including accrued interest) allocable to such class, less all liabilities (including accrued expenses) allocable to such class, by the total number of outstanding shares of such class. The Fund’s NAVs may be calculated earlier if permitted by the SEC. The NYSE is closed on weekends and most U.S. national holidays. However, foreign securities listed primarily on non-U.S. markets may trade on weekends or other days on which the Fund does not value its shares, which may significantly affect the Fund’s NAVs on days when you are not able to buy or sell Fund shares.
The Fund’s securities generally are valued at market price. Securities are valued at fair value when market quotations are not readily available. The Board has designated the Advisor as the Fund’s valuation designee (the “Valuation Designee”) to make all fair value determinations with respect to the Fund’s portfolio investments, subject to the Board’s oversight. As the Valuation Designee, the Advisor adopted and implemented policies and procedures to be followed when the Fund must utilize fair value pricing, including when reliable market quotations are not readily available, when the Fund’s pricing service does not provide a valuation (or provides a valuation that, in the judgment of the Valuation Designee, does not represent the security’s fair value), or when, in the judgment of the Valuation Designee, events have rendered the market value unreliable (see, for example, the discussion of fair value pricing of foreign securities in the paragraph below). Valuing securities at fair value involves reliance on the judgment of the Valuation Designee, and may result in a different price being used in the calculation of the Fund’s NAVs from quoted or published prices for the same securities. The Distributor does not have any responsibility or obligation to verify the valuation determinations made for the Fund’s investments. Moreover, in no event is the Distributor responsible for any errors or inaccuracies with the Fund’s NAV in connection with its distribution of the Fund’s shares or in connection with any other purpose. Fair value determinations are made by the Valuation Designee, in good faith, in accordance with procedures approved by the Board. There can be no assurance that the Fund will obtain the fair value assigned to a security if it sells the security.
In certain circumstances, the Valuation Designee employs fair value pricing to ensure greater accuracy in determining the Fund’s daily NAVs and to prevent dilution by frequent traders or market timers who seek to exploit temporary market anomalies. Fair value pricing may be applied to foreign securities held by the Fund upon the occurrence of an event after the close of trading on non-U.S. markets but before the close of trading on the NYSE when the Fund’s NAVs are determined. If the event may result in a material adjustment to the price of the Fund’s foreign securities once non-U.S. markets open on the following business day (such as, for example, a significant surge or decline in the U.S. market), the Valuation Designee may value such foreign securities at fair value, taking into account the effect of such event, in order to calculate the Fund’s NAVs.
Other types of portfolio securities that the Valuation Designee may fair value include, but are not limited to: (1) investments that are illiquid or traded infrequently, including “restricted” securities and private placements for which there is no public market; (2) investments for which, in the judgment of the Advisor, the market price is stale; (3) securities of an issuer that has entered into a restructuring; (4) securities for which trading has been halted or suspended; and (5) fixed income securities for which there is no current market value quotation.
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Pricing services generally value debt securities assuming orderly transactions of an institutional round lot size, but such securities may be held or transactions may be conducted in such securities in smaller, odd lot sizes. Odd lots often trade at lower prices than institutional round lots.
Purchase of Shares
This Prospectus offers three classes of shares of the Fund, designated as Class A, Class C and Class I shares.
• Class A shares generally incur sales loads at the time of purchase and are subject to annual distribution and shareholder service fees. Class A shares also incur a CDSC on certain redemptions of such shares within 12 months of purchase to the extent a finder’s fee was paid.
• Class C shares generally incur a CDSC on any shares sold within 12 months of purchase and are subject to annual distribution and shareholder service fees.
• Class I shares are not subject to any sales loads and do not incur distribution fees, but may incur shareholder service fees.
By offering multiple classes of shares, the Fund permits each investor to choose the class of shares that is most beneficial given the type of investor, the amount to be invested and the length of time the investor expects to hold the shares.
Before you invest, you should compare the features of each share class, so that you can choose the class that is right for you. When selecting a share class, you should consider the following:
• which share classes are available to you;
• how long you expect to own your shares;
• how much you intend to invest;
• total costs and expenses associated with a particular share class; and
• whether you qualify for any reduction or waiver of sales charges.
Class A shares and Class C shares are generally available to all investors; however, share class availability depends upon your financial intermediary’s policies and procedures. Class I shares are subject to different eligibility requirements, fees and expenses, and have a different minimum investment requirement. For eligible investors, Class I shares may be more suitable than Class A shares or Class C shares. You should consult with your financial advisor for more information to determine which share class is most appropriate for your situation.
Each class of shares generally has the same rights, except for the distribution fees, and related expenses associated with each class of shares, and the exclusive voting rights by each class with respect to any distribution plan or service plan for such class of shares. Please see the specific features available to each class of shares as discussed below.
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To purchase shares of the Fund, you must invest at least the minimum amount indicated in the following table.
Minimum Investments |
To
Open |
To
Add to |
Class A |
||
Direct Regular Accounts |
$5,000 |
None |
Direct Retirement Accounts |
$5,000 |
None |
Automatic Investment Plan |
$5,000 |
None |
Gift Account For Minors |
$5,000 |
None |
Class C |
||
Direct Regular Accounts |
$1,000 |
None |
Direct Retirement Accounts |
$1,000 |
None |
Automatic Investment Plan |
$1,000 |
None |
Gift Account For Minors |
$1,000 |
None |
Class I |
||
Direct Regular Accounts |
$100,000 |
None |
Direct Retirement Accounts |
$100,000 |
None |
Automatic Investment Plan |
$100,000 |
None |
Gift Account For Minors |
$100,000 |
None |
Shares of the Fund may be purchased by check, by wire transfer of funds via a bank or through an approved financial intermediary (i.e., a supermarket, investment advisor, financial planner or consultant, broker, dealer or other investment professional and their agents) authorized by the Fund to receive purchase orders. Financial intermediaries may provide varying arrangements for their clients to purchase and redeem shares, which may include different sales charges as described in this Prospectus, additional fees and different investment minimums. In addition, from time to time, a financial intermediary may modify or waive the initial and subsequent investment minimums. In addition, from time to time, a financial intermediary may modify or waive the initial and subsequent investment minimums. Your financial intermediary may receive different compensation for selling Class A shares and Class C shares due to different sales charges among the share classes. Please see the section titled “Class A Shares — Sales Charge Schedule”, “Class C Shares — Class C Shares Purchase Programs”, and “Appendix A — Waivers and Discounts Available from Intermediaries” of this Prospectus. The share classes your financial intermediary sells may depend on, among other things, the type of investor account and the policies, procedures and practices adopted by your financial intermediary. You should review these arrangements with your financial intermediary.
You may make an initial investment in an amount greater than the minimum amounts shown in the preceding table and the Fund may, from time to time, reduce or waive the minimum initial investment amounts. The minimum initial investment amount is automatically waived for Fund shares purchased by Trustees of the Trust and current or retired directors and employees of the Advisor and its affiliates.
To the extent allowed by applicable law, the Fund reserves the right to discontinue offering shares at any time or to cease operating entirely.
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Class A Shares
Class A shares of the Fund are sold at the public offering price, which is the NAV plus an initial maximum sales charge which varies with the amount you invest as shown in the following chart. This means that part of your investment in the Fund will be used to pay the sales charge.
Class A Shares — Sales Charge Schedule | |||
Your Investment |
Front-End
Sales |
Front-End
Sales |
Dealer
Reallowance |
Less than $24,999 |
4.50% |
4.71% |
3.75% |
$25,000 – $49,999 |
3.50% |
3.63% |
2.75% |
$50,000 – $99,999 |
2.50% |
2.56% |
2.00% |
$100,000 – $249,999 |
2.00% |
2.04% |
1.50% |
$250,000 and above |
See below** |
See below** |
See below** |
* The offering price includes the sales charge.
** There is no initial sales charge on purchases of Class A shares in an account or accounts with an accumulated value of $250,000 or more, but to the extent a finder’s fee was paid, a CDSC of 0.50% will be imposed in the event of certain redemptions within 12 months of the date of purchase. See the “Large Order Net Asset Value Purchase Privilege” section.
Because of rounding in the calculation of front-end sales charges, the actual front-end sales charge paid by an investor may be higher or lower than the percentages noted above. No sales charge is imposed on Class A shares received from reinvestment of dividends or capital gain distributions.
Class A Shares Purchase Programs
Eligible purchasers of Class A shares also may be entitled to reduced sales charges through certain purchase the Quantity Discounts program offered by the Fund as discussed below. Eligible purchasers of Class A shares also may be entitled to waived sales charges as discussed below under “Net Asset Value Purchases”. The availability of certain sales charge waivers and discounts will depend on whether you purchase your shares directly from the Fund or through a financial intermediary. As described in Appendix A to this Prospectus, financial intermediaries may have different policies and procedures regarding the availability of front-end sales load waivers. In all instances, it is the purchaser’s responsibility to notify the Fund or the purchaser’s financial intermediary at the time of purchase of any relationship or other facts qualifying the purchaser for sales charge waivers or discounts. For waivers and discounts not available through a particular intermediary, purchasers will have to purchase Fund shares directly from the Fund or through another intermediary to receive these waivers or discounts. Please see “Appendix A — Waivers and Discounts Available from Intermediaries” of the Prospectus for a description of waivers or discounts available through certain intermediaries.
Quantity Discounts
When purchasing Class A shares, if the dollar amount of your purchase reaches a specified level, known as a breakpoint, you are entitled to pay a discounted initial sales charge. For example, a purchase of up to $24,999 of Class A shares of the Fund would pay an initial charge of 4.50%, while a purchase of $25,000 would pay an initial charge of 3.50%. There are several breakpoints for the Fund, as shown in the “Class A Shares — Sales Charge Schedule” table above. The greater the investment, the greater the sales charge discount.
You may lower your Class A sales charges if:
• you assure the Fund in writing that you intend to invest at least $25,000 in Class A shares of the Fund over the next thirteen (13) months in exchange for a reduced sales charge (“Letter of Intent”) (see below); or
• the amount of Class A shares you already own in the Fund plus the amount you intend to invest in Class A shares is at least $25,000 (“Cumulative Discount”) (see below).
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By signing a Letter of Intent you can purchase shares of the Fund at a lower sales charge level. Your individual purchases will be made at the applicable sales charge based on the amount you intend to invest over a 13-month period as stated in the Letter of Intent. Any shares purchased within ninety (90) days prior to the date you sign the Letter of Intent may be used as credit toward completion of the stated amount, but the reduced sales charge will only apply to new purchases made on or after the date of the Letter of Intent. Purchases resulting from the reinvestment of dividends and capital gains do not apply toward fulfillment of the Letter of Intent. Shares equal to 4.50% of the amount stated in the Letter of Intent will be held in escrow during the 13-month period. If, at the end of the period, the total net amount invested is less than the amount stated in the Letter of Intent, you will be required to pay the difference between the reduced sales charge and the sales charge applicable to the individual net amounts invested had the Letter of Intent not been in effect. This amount will be obtained from redemption of the escrowed shares. Any remaining escrowed shares after payment to the Fund of the difference in applicable sales charges will be released to you. If you establish a Letter of Intent with the Fund, you can aggregate your accounts as well as the accounts of your immediate family members. You will need to provide written instructions with respect to the other accounts whose purchases should be considered in fulfillment of the Letter of Intent.
The Letter of Intent and Cumulative Discount are intended to let you combine investments made at other times for purposes of calculating your present sales charge. Any time you can use any of these quantity discounts to “move” your investment into a lower sales charge level, it is generally beneficial for you to do so.
For purposes of determining whether you are eligible for a reduced Class A sales charge, you and your immediate family members (i.e., your spouse or domestic partner and your children or stepchildren age 21 or younger) may aggregate your investments in the Fund. This includes, for example, investments held in a retirement account, an employee benefit plan, or through a financial advisor other than the one handling your current purchase. These combined investments will be valued at their current offering price to determine whether your current investment amount qualifies for a reduced sales charge.
You must notify the Fund or an approved financial intermediary at the time of purchase whenever a quantity discount is applicable to purchases and you may be required to provide the Fund, or an approved financial intermediary, with certain information or records to verify your eligibility for a quantity discount. Such information or records may include account statements or other records regarding the shares of the Fund held in all accounts (e.g., retirement accounts) by you and other eligible persons, which may include accounts held at the Fund or at other approved financial intermediaries. Upon such notification, you will pay the sales charge at the lowest applicable sales charge level. You should retain any records necessary to substantiate the purchase price of the Fund’s shares, as the Fund and approved financial intermediaries may not retain this information.
Information about sales charges can be found on the Fund’s website https://www.FirstTrustCapital.com or you can consult with your financial representative.
Net Asset Value Purchases
Class A shares are available for purchase without a sales charge when you are:
• reinvesting dividends or distributions;
• making additional investments for your 401(k) or other retirement or direct accounts;
• participating in an investment advisory or agency commission program under which you pay a fee to an investment advisor or other firm for portfolio management or brokerage services;
• a financial intermediary purchasing on behalf of its clients that: (i) is compensated by clients on a fee-only basis, including but not limited to investment advisors, financial planners, and bank trust departments; or (ii) has entered into an agreement with the Fund to offer Class A shares through a no-load network or platform (please see Appendix A for a list of financial intermediaries that have these arrangements);
• a current Trustee of the Trust; or
40
• an employee (including the employee’s spouse, domestic partner, children, grandchildren, parents, grandparents, siblings and any dependent of the employee, as defined in Section 152 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended) of the Advisor, the Sub-Advisors or of a broker-dealer authorized to sell shares of the Fund.
Your financial advisor or the Fund’s transfer agent (the “Transfer Agent”) can answer your questions and help you determine if you are eligible.
Large Order Net Asset Value Purchase Privilege
There is no initial sales charge on purchases of Class A shares in an account or accounts with an accumulated value of $250,000 or more, but to the extent a finder’s fee was paid, a CDSC of 0.50% will be imposed in the event of certain redemptions within 12 months of the date of purchase. From its own profits and resources, the Distributor may pay a finder’s fee of 0.50% to financial intermediaries that initiate or are responsible for purchases of $250,000 or more of Class A shares of the Fund. Please contact your financial intermediary to determine whether a finder’s fee was paid in connection with your investment in the Fund.
A CDSC will be waived in the following circumstances:
• if you are a current Trustee of the Trust; or
• if you are an employee (including the employee’s spouse, domestic partner, children, grandchildren, parents, grandparents, siblings and any dependent of the employee, as defined in Section 152 of the Internal Revenue Code) of the Advisor, a Sub-Advisor or their affiliates, or of a broker-dealer authorized to sell shares of the Fund.
Your financial advisor or the Transfer Agent can answer your questions and help you determine if you are eligible.
Class C Shares
Under the 12b-1 Plan, a distribution fee at an annual rate of 1.00% of average daily net assets is deducted from the assets of the Fund’s Class C Shares.
Class C Shares of the Fund are sold at NAV and are subject to a CDSC of 1.00% on any shares you sell within 12 months of purchasing them.
The CDSC is assessed on an amount equal to the lesser of the then current market value of the shares or the historical cost of the shares (which is the amount actually paid for the shares at the time of purchase) being redeemed. Accordingly, no CDSC is imposed on increases in the NAV above the initial purchase price. You should retain any records necessary to substantiate the historical cost of your shares, as the Fund and authorized dealers may not retain this information. In addition, no CDSC is assessed on shares received from reinvestment of dividends or capital gain distributions.
In determining whether a CDSC applies to a redemption, the Fund assumes that the shares being redeemed first are any shares in your account that are not subject to a CDSC, followed by shares held the longest in your account.
Information on sales charges can also be found on the Fund’s website at https://www.FirstTrustCapital.com, or obtained by calling the Fund at 1-877-779-1999, or consulting with your financial advisor.
Class C Shares Purchase Programs
The availability of certain sales charge waivers and discounts will depend on whether you purchase your shares directly from the Fund or through a financial intermediary. As described in Appendix A to this Prospectus, financial intermediaries may have different policies and procedures regarding the availability of CDSC waivers. In all instances, it is the purchaser’s responsibility to notify the Fund or the purchaser’s financial intermediary at the time of purchase of any relationship or other facts qualifying the purchaser for sales charge waivers or discounts. For waivers and discounts not available through a particular intermediary, shareholders will have to purchase Fund shares directly from the Fund or through another intermediary to receive these waivers or discounts. Please see “Appendix A — Waivers and Discounts Available from Intermediaries” of the Prospectus for a description of waivers or discounts available through certain intermediaries.
41
As described below, eligible purchasers of Class C shares may be entitled to the elimination of CDSC. You may be required to provide the Fund, or its authorized dealer, with certain information or records to verify your eligibility.
A CDSC will not be applied in the following cases:
• upon the conversion of Class C shares into another Class of shares of the Fund;
• the death or disability of an account owner (including a joint owner). This waiver applies only under certain conditions. Your financial representative or the Fund’s transfer agent must be contacted to determine if the conditions exist;
• withdrawals made through an automatic withdrawal plan. Such withdrawals may be made up to a maximum of 12% of the net asset value of the account on the date of the withdrawal;
• withdrawals related to certain retirement or benefit plans; or
• redemptions for certain loan advances, hardship provisions or returns of excess contributions from retirement plans.
Your financial advisor or the Fund’s transfer agent can answer questions and help determine if you are eligible.
Information on sales charges can also be found on the Fund’s website at https://www.FirstTrustCapital.com, or obtained by calling the Fund at 1-877-779-1999, or consulting with your financial advisor.
Class I Shares
To purchase Class I shares of the Fund, you generally must invest at least $100,000. Class I shares are not subject to any initial sales charge.
Class I shares are available for purchase by clients of financial intermediaries who charge such clients an ongoing fee for advisory, investment, consulting or similar services. Such clients may include individuals, corporations, endowments and foundations.
In-Kind Purchases and Redemptions
The Fund reserves the right to accept payment for shares in the form of securities that are permissible investments for the Fund. The Fund also reserves the right to pay redemptions by an “in-kind” distribution of portfolio securities (instead of cash) from the Fund. In-kind purchases and redemptions are generally taxable events and may result in the recognition of gain or loss for federal income tax purposes. See the SAI for further information about the terms of these purchases and redemptions.
Additional Investments
Additional subscriptions in the Fund generally may be made by investing at least the minimum amount shown in the table above. Exceptions may be made at the Fund’s discretion. You may purchase additional shares of the Fund by sending a check together with the investment stub from your most recent account statement to the Fund at the applicable address listed in the table below. Please ensure that you include your account number on the check. If you do not have the investment stub from your account statement, list your name, address and account number on a separate sheet of paper and include it with your check. You may also make additional investments in the Fund by wire transfer of funds or through an approved financial intermediary. The minimum additional investment amount is automatically waived for shares purchased by Trustees of the Trust and current or retired directors and employees of the Advisor and its affiliates. Please follow the procedures described in this Prospectus.
Dividend Reinvestment
You may reinvest dividends and capital gains distributions in shares of the Fund. Such shares are acquired at NAV (without a sales charge) on the applicable payable date of the dividend or capital gain distribution. Unless you instruct otherwise, dividends and distributions on Fund shares are automatically reinvested in shares of the same class of the Fund
42
paying the dividend or distribution. This instruction may be made by writing to the Transfer Agent or by telephone by calling 1-877-779-1999. You may, on the account application form or prior to any declaration, instruct that dividends and/or capital gain distributions be paid in cash or be reinvested in the Fund at the next determined NAV. If you elect to receive dividends and/or capital gain distributions in cash and the U.S. Postal Service cannot deliver the check, or if a check remains outstanding for six (6) months or more, the Fund reserves the right to reinvest the distribution check in your account at the Fund’s current NAV and to reinvest all subsequent distributions.
Customer Identification Information
To help the government fight the funding of terrorism and money laundering activities, federal law requires all financial institutions to obtain, verify and record information that identifies each person who opens an account. When you open an account, you will be asked for your name, date of birth (for a natural person), your residential address or principal place of business, and mailing address, if different, as well as your Social Security Number or Taxpayer Identification Number. Additional information is required for corporations, partnerships and other entities including the name, residential address, date of birth and Social Security Number of the underlying beneficial owners and authorized control persons of entity owners. Applications without such information will not be considered in good order. The Fund reserves the right to deny any application if the application is not in good order.
This Prospectus should not be considered a solicitation to purchase or as an offer to sell shares of the Fund in any jurisdiction where it would be unlawful to do so under the laws of that jurisdiction. Please note that the value of your account may be transferred to the appropriate state if no activity occurs in the account within the time period specified by state law.
Timing and Nature of Requests
The purchase price you will pay for the Fund’s shares will be the next NAV (plus any sales charge, as applicable) calculated after the Transfer Agent or your authorized financial intermediary receives your request in good order. “Good order” means that your purchase request includes: (1) the name of the Fund, (2) the dollar amount of shares to be purchased, (3) your purchase application or investment stub, and (4) a check payable to the First Trust Multi-Strategy Fund. All requests received in good order before 4:00 p.m. (Eastern Time) on any business day will be processed on that same day. Requests received at or after 4:00 p.m. (Eastern Time) will be transacted at the next business day’s NAV. All purchases must be made in U.S. dollars and drawn on U.S. financial institutions.
Methods of Buying
Through a
broker- |
The Fund is offered through certain approved financial intermediaries (and their agents). The Fund is also offered directly. A purchase order placed with a financial intermediary or its authorized agent is treated as if such order was placed directly with the Fund, and will be deemed to have been received by the Fund when the financial intermediary or its authorized agent received the order and will be executed at the next NAV (plus any sales charge, as applicable) calculated by the Fund. Your financial intermediary will hold your shares in a pooled account in its (or its agent’s) name. The Fund may pay your financial intermediary (or its agent) to maintain your individual ownership information, maintain required records, and provide other shareholder services. A financial intermediary which offers shares may charge its individual clients transaction fees which may be in addition to those described in this Prospectus. If you invest through your financial intermediary, its policies and fees may be different than those described in this Prospectus. For example, the financial intermediary may charge transaction fees or set different minimum investments. Your financial intermediary is responsible for processing your order correctly and promptly, keeping you advised of the status of your account, confirming your transactions and ensuring that you receive copies of the Fund’s Prospectus. Please contact your financial intermediary to determine whether it is an approved financial intermediary of the Fund or for additional information. |
43
By mail |
The Fund will not accept payment in cash, including cashier’s checks. Also, to prevent check fraud, the Fund will not accept third party checks, Treasury checks, credit card checks, traveler’s checks, money orders or starter checks for the purchase of shares. All checks must be made in U.S. dollars and drawn on U.S. financial institutions. | |
To buy shares directly from the Fund by mail, complete an account application and send it together with your check for the amount you wish to invest to the Fund at the address indicated below. To make additional investments once you have opened your account, write your account number on the check and send it to the Fund together with the most recent confirmation statement received from the Transfer Agent. If your check is returned for insufficient funds, your purchase will be canceled and a $25 fee will be assessed against your account by the Transfer Agent. | ||
Regular
Mail |
Overnight
Delivery | |
The Fund does not consider the U.S. Postal Service or other independent delivery services to be its agents. | ||
By telephone |
To make additional investments by telephone, you must authorize telephone purchases on your account application. If you have given authorization for telephone transactions and your account has been open for at least fifteen (15) days, call the Transfer Agent toll-free at 1-877-779-1999 and you will be allowed to move money in amounts of at least $100, but not greater than $50,000, from your bank account to the Fund’s account upon request. Only bank accounts held at U.S. institutions that are ACH members may be used for telephone transactions. If your order is placed before 4:00 p.m. (Eastern Time) on a business day shares will be purchased in your account at the NAV (plus any sales charge, as applicable) calculated on that day. Orders received at or after 4:00 p.m. (Eastern Time) will be transacted at the next business day’s NAV. For security reasons, requests by telephone will be recorded. | |
By wire |
To open an account by wire, a completed account application form must be received by the Fund before your wire can be accepted. You may mail or send by overnight delivery your account application form to the Transfer Agent. Upon receipt of your completed account application form, an account will be established for you. The account number assigned to you will be required as part of the wiring instruction that should be provided to your bank to send the wire. Your bank must include the name of the Fund, the account number, and your name so that monies can be correctly applied. Your bank should transmit monies by wire to: | |
UMB
Bank, n.a. For
credit to First Trust Multi-Strategy
Fund |
44
For
further credit to: Before sending your wire, please contact the Transfer Agent at 1-877-779-1999 to notify it of your intention to wire funds. This will ensure prompt and accurate credit upon receipt of your wire. Your bank may charge a fee for its wiring service. Wired funds must be received prior to 4:00 p.m. (Eastern Time) on a business day to be eligible for same day pricing. The Fund and UMB Bank, n.a. are not responsible for the consequences of delays resulting from the banking or Federal Reserve wire system, or from incomplete wiring instructions. |
Selling (Redeeming) Fund Shares
Through a
broker- |
If you purchased your shares through an approved financial intermediary, your redemption order must be placed through the same financial intermediary. Such financial intermediaries are authorized to designate other financial intermediaries to receive purchase and redemption orders on the Fund’s behalf. The Fund will be deemed to have received a redemption order when a financial intermediary (or its authorized agent) receives the order. The financial intermediary must receive your redemption order prior to 4:00 p.m. (Eastern Time) on a business day for the redemption to be processed at the current day’s NAV. Orders received at or after 4:00 p.m. (Eastern Time) on a business day or on a day when the Fund does not value its shares will be transacted at the next business day’s NAV. Please keep in mind that your financial intermediary may charge additional fees for its services. In the event your approved financial intermediary is no longer available or in operation, you may place your redemption order directly with the Fund as described below. | |
By mail |
You may redeem shares purchased directly from the Fund by mail. Send your written redemption request to First Trust Multi-Strategy Fund at the address indicated below. Your request must be in good order and contain the Fund name, the name(s) on the account, your account number and the dollar amount or the number of shares to be redeemed. The redemption request must be signed by all shareholders listed on the account. Additional documents are required for certain types of shareholders, such as corporations, partnerships, executors, trustees, administrators, or guardians (i.e., corporate resolutions dated within sixty (60) days, or trust documents indicating proper authorization). | |
Regular
Mail |
Overnight
Delivery |
45
A Medallion signature guarantee must be included if any of the following situations apply: • You wish to redeem more than $50,000 worth of shares; • When redemption proceeds are sent to any person, address or bank account not on record; • If a change of address was received by the Transfer Agent within the last fifteen (15) days; • If ownership is changed on your account; or • When establishing or modifying certain services on your account. | ||
By telephone |
To redeem shares by telephone, call the Fund at 1-877-779-1999 and specify the amount of money you wish to redeem. You may have a check sent to the address of record, or, if previously established on your account, you may have proceeds sent by wire or electronic funds transfer through the ACH network directly to your bank account. Wire transfers are subject to a $20 fee paid by the shareholder and your bank may charge a fee to receive wired funds. Checks sent via overnight delivery are subject to a $25 charge. You do not incur any charge when proceeds are sent via the ACH network; however, credit may not be available for two to three business days. | |
If you are authorized to perform telephone transactions (either through your account application form or by subsequent arrangement in writing with the Fund), you may redeem shares worth up to $50,000, by instructing the Fund by phone at 1-877-779-1999. Unless noted on the initial account application, a Medallion signature guarantee is required of all shareholders in order to qualify for or to change telephone redemption privileges. | ||
Note: The Fund and all of its service providers will not be liable for any loss or expense in acting upon instructions that are reasonably believed to be genuine. To confirm that all telephone instructions are genuine, the caller must verify the following: | ||
• The Fund account number; • The name in which his or her account is registered; • The Social Security Number or Taxpayer Identification Number under which the account is registered; and • The address of the account holder, as stated in the account application form. |
Medallion Signature Guarantee
In addition to the situations described above, the Fund reserves the right to require a Medallion signature guarantee in other instances based on the circumstances relative to the particular situation.
Shareholders redeeming more than $50,000 worth of shares by mail should submit written instructions with a Medallion signature guarantee from an eligible institution acceptable to the Transfer Agent, such as a domestic bank or trust company, broker, dealer, clearing agency or savings association, or from any participant in a Medallion program recognized by the Securities Transfer Association. The three currently recognized Medallion programs are Securities Transfer Agents Medallion Program, Stock Exchanges Medallion Program and New York Stock Exchange, Inc. Medallion Signature
46
Program. Signature guarantees that are not part of these programs will not be accepted. Participants in Medallion programs are subject to dollar limitations which must be considered when requesting their guarantee. The Transfer Agent may reject any signature guarantee if it believes the transaction would otherwise be improper. A notary public cannot provide a signature guarantee.
Payment of Redemption Proceeds
You may redeem shares of the Fund at a price equal to the NAV next determined after the Transfer Agent and/or authorized agent receives your redemption request in good order. Generally your redemption request cannot be processed on days the NYSE is closed. Redemption proceeds for requests received in good order by the Transfer Agent and/or authorized agent before the close of the regular trading session of the NYSE (generally 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time) will usually be sent on the following business day to the address of record or the bank you indicate or wired using the wire instructions on record. Payment of redemption proceeds may take longer than typically expected, but will be sent within seven (7) calendar days after the Fund receives your redemption request, except as specified below.
If you purchase shares using a check and request a redemption before the check has cleared, the Fund may postpone payment of your redemption proceeds up to fifteen (15) calendar days while the Fund waits for the check to clear. Furthermore, the Fund may suspend the right to redeem shares or postpone the date of payment upon redemption for more than seven (7) calendar days: (1) for any period during which the NYSE is closed (other than customary weekend or holiday closings) or trading on the NYSE is restricted; (2) for any period during which an emergency exists affecting the sale of the Fund’s securities or making such sale or the fair determination of the value of the Fund’s net assets not reasonably practicable; or (3) for such other periods as the SEC may permit for the protection of the Fund’s shareholders.
Other Redemption Information
IRA and retirement plan redemptions from accounts for which UMB Bank, n.a. is the custodian must be completed on an IRA Distribution Form or other acceptable form approved by UMB Bank, n.a. Shareholders who hold shares of the Fund through an IRA or other retirement plan must indicate on their redemption requests whether to withhold federal income tax. Such redemption requests will generally be subject to a 10% federal income tax withholding unless a shareholder elects not to have taxes withheld. An IRA owner with a foreign residential address may not elect to forgo the 10% withholding. In addition, if you are a resident of certain states, state income tax also applies to non-Roth IRA distributions when federal withholding applies. Please consult with your tax professional.
The Fund generally pays sale (redemption) proceeds in cash. The Fund typically expects to satisfy redemption requests by selling portfolio assets or by using holdings of cash or cash equivalents. On a less regular basis, the Fund may also satisfy redemption requests by drawing on a line of credit and/or utilizing a temporary overdraft facility offered through its custodian, UMB Bank, n.a., in order to assist the Fund in meeting redemption requests. The Fund uses these methods during both normal and stressed market conditions. During conditions that make the payment of cash unwise and/or in order to protect the interests of the Fund’s remaining shareholders, the Fund may pay all or part of a shareholder’s redemption proceeds in portfolio securities with a market value equal to the redemption price (redemption-in-kind) in lieu of cash. The Fund may redeem shares in kind during both normal and stressed market conditions. Generally, in-kind redemptions will be effected through a pro rata distribution of the Fund’s portfolio securities. If the Fund redeems your shares in kind, you will bear any market risks associated with investment in these securities, and you will be responsible for the costs (including brokerage charges) of converting the securities to cash.
The Fund may redeem all of the shares held in your account if your balance falls below the Fund’s minimum initial investment amount due to your redemption activity. In these circumstances, the Fund will notify you in writing and request that you increase your balance above the minimum initial investment amount within thirty (30) days of the date of the notice. If, within thirty (30) days of the Fund’s written request, you have not increased your account balance, your
47
shares will be automatically redeemed at the current NAV. The Fund will not require that your shares be redeemed if the value of your account drops below the investment minimum due to fluctuations of the Fund’s NAV.
Cost Basis Information
Federal tax law requires that regulated investment companies, such as the Fund, report their shareholders’ cost basis, gain/loss, and holding period to the Internal Revenue Service on the shareholders’ Consolidated Form 1099s when “covered” shares of the regulated investment companies are sold. Covered shares are any shares acquired (including pursuant to a dividend reinvestment plan) on or after January 1, 2012.
The Fund has chosen “first-in, first-out” as its standing (default) tax lot identification method for all shareholders, which means this is the method the Fund will use to determine which specific shares are deemed to be sold when there are multiple purchases on different dates at differing net asset values and the entire position is not sold at one time. The Fund’s standing tax lot identification method is the method it will use to report the sale of covered shares on your Consolidated Form 1099 if you do not select a specific tax lot identification method. Redemptions are taxable and you may realize a gain or a loss upon the sale of your shares. Certain shareholders may be subject to backup withholding.
Subject to certain limitations, you may choose a method other than the Fund’s standing method at the time of your purchase or upon the sale of covered shares. Please refer to the appropriate Treasury regulations or consult your tax advisor with regard to your personal circumstances.
Tools to Combat Frequent Transactions
The Trust’s Board of Trustees has adopted policies and procedures with respect to frequent purchases and redemptions of Fund shares by Fund shareholders. The Trust discourages excessive, short-term trading and other abusive trading practices that may disrupt portfolio management strategies and harm the Fund’s performance. The Trust takes steps to reduce the frequency and effect of these activities on the Fund. These steps may include monitoring trading activity and using fair value pricing. In addition, the Trust may take action, which may include using its best efforts to restrict a shareholder from making additional purchases in the Fund, if that shareholder has engaged in four (4) or more “round trips” in the Fund during a 12-month period. Although these efforts (which are described in more detail below) are designed to discourage abusive trading practices, these tools cannot eliminate the possibility that such activity may occur. Further, while the Trust makes efforts to identify and restrict frequent trading, the Trust receives purchase and sale orders through financial intermediaries and cannot always know or detect frequent trading that may be facilitated by the use of intermediaries or the use of group or omnibus accounts by those intermediaries. The Trust seeks to exercise its judgment in implementing these tools to the best of its ability in a manner that the Trust believes is consistent with the interests of Fund shareholders.
Monitoring
Trading |
The Trust may monitor trades in Fund shares in an effort to detect short-term trading activities. If, as a result of this monitoring, the Trust believes that a shareholder of the Fund has engaged in excessive short-term trading, it may, in its discretion, ask the shareholder to stop such activities or refuse to process purchases in the shareholder’s accounts. In making such judgments, the Trust seeks to act in a manner that it believes is consistent with the best interest of Fund shareholders. Due to the complexity and subjectivity involved in identifying abusive trading activity, there can be no assurance that the Trust’s efforts will identify all trades or trading practices that may be considered abusive. |
General Transaction Policies
Some of the following policies are mentioned above. In general, the Fund reserves the right to:
• vary or waive any minimum investment requirement;
48
• refuse, change, discontinue, or temporarily suspend account services, including purchase or telephone redemption privileges (if redemption by telephone is not available, you may send your redemption order to the Fund via regular or overnight delivery), for any reason;
• reject any purchase request for any reason (generally the Fund does this if the purchase is disruptive to the efficient management of the Fund due to the timing of the investment or an investor’s history of excessive trading);
• delay paying redemption proceeds for up to seven (7) calendar days after receiving a request, if an earlier payment could adversely affect the Fund;
• reject any purchase or redemption request that does not contain all required documentation; and
• subject to applicable law and with prior notice, adopt other policies from time to time requiring mandatory redemption of shares in certain circumstances.
If you elect telephone privileges on the account application or in a letter to the Fund, you may be responsible for any fraudulent telephone orders as long as the Fund and/or its service providers have taken reasonable precautions to verify your identity. In addition, once you place a telephone transaction request, it cannot be canceled or modified.
During periods of significant economic or market change, telephone transactions may be difficult to complete. If you are unable to contact the Fund by telephone, you may also mail your request to the Fund at the address listed under “Methods of Buying.”
Your broker or other financial intermediary may establish policies that differ from those of the Fund. For example, the organization may charge transaction fees, set higher minimum investments, or impose certain limitations on buying or selling shares in addition to those identified in this Prospectus. Contact your broker or other financial intermediary for details.
Please note that the value of your account may be transferred to the appropriate state if no activity occurs in the account within the time period specified by state law.
Exchange Privilege
You may exchange Class A and Class I shares of the Fund for the same class of shares of the First Trust Merger Arbitrage Fund, a series of the Trust managed by the Advisor which is offered in a separate prospectus. Please contact the Fund at 1-877-779-1999 to receive the prospectus for the First Trust Merger Arbitrage Fund. The amount of the exchange must be equal to or greater than the required minimum initial investment of the other fund, as stated in that fund’s prospectus (see “Minimum Investment” table). You may realize either a gain or loss on those shares and will be responsible for paying any applicable taxes. If you exchange shares through a broker, the broker may charge you a transaction fee. You may exchange shares by sending a written request to the Fund or by telephone. Be sure that your written request includes the dollar amount or number of shares to be exchanged, the name(s) on the account and the account number(s), and is signed by all shareholders on the account. In order to limit expenses, the Fund reserves the right to limit the total number of exchanges you can make in any year. There are no sales charges for exchanges of Class A shares and Class I shares.
Conversion of Shares
A share conversion is a transaction in which shares of one class of the Fund are exchanged for shares of another class of the Fund. Share conversions can occur between Class A, Class C and Class I shares of the Fund. Generally, share conversions occur when a shareholder becomes eligible for another share class of the Fund or no longer meets the eligibility criteria of the share class owned by the shareholder (and another class exists for which the shareholder would be eligible). Please note that a share conversion is generally a non-taxable event, but you should consult with your personal tax advisor on your particular circumstances. Please also note, all share conversion requests must be approved by the Advisor.
A request for a share conversion will not be processed until it is received in “good order” (as defined above) by the Fund or your financial intermediary. To receive the NAV of the new class calculated that day, conversion requests must be received
49
in good order by the Fund or your financial intermediary before 4:00 p.m., Eastern Time or the financial intermediary’s earlier applicable deadline. Please note that, because the NAV of each class of the Fund will generally vary from the NAV of the other class due to differences in expenses, you will receive a number of shares of the new class that is different from the number of shares that you held of the old class, but the total value of your holdings will remain the same.
The Fund’s frequent trading policies will not be applicable to share conversions. If you hold your shares through a financial intermediary, please contact the financial intermediary for more information on share conversions. Please note that certain financial intermediaries may not permit all types of share conversions. The Fund reserves the right to terminate, suspend or modify the share conversion privilege for any shareholder or group of shareholders.
The Fund reserves the right to automatically convert shareholders from one class to another if they either no longer qualify as eligible for their existing class or if they become eligible for another class. Such mandatory conversions may be as a result of a change in value of an account due to market movements, exchanges or redemptions. The Fund will notify affected shareholders in writing prior to any mandatory conversion.
Availability of Information
Information regarding sales charges of the Fund and the applicability and availability of discounts from sales charges is available free of charge on the Fund’s website at https://www.FirstTrustCapital.com. The Prospectus and SAI are also available on the website.
Prospectus and Shareholder Report Mailings
In order to reduce the amount of mail you receive and to help reduce expenses, we generally send a single copy of any shareholder report and Prospectus to each household. If you do not want the mailing of these documents to be combined with those of other members of your household, please contact your authorized dealer or the Transfer Agent.
Additional Information
The Fund enters into contractual arrangements with various parties, including among others the Fund’s Advisor, who provide services to the Fund. Shareholders are not parties to, or intended (or “third party”) beneficiaries of, those contractual arrangements.
The Prospectus and the SAI provide information concerning the Fund that you should consider in determining whether to purchase shares of the Fund. The Fund may make changes to this information from time to time. Neither this Prospectus nor the SAI is intended to give rise to any contract rights or other rights in any shareholder, other than any rights conferred by federal or state securities laws that may not be waived.
DIVIDENDS AND DISTRIBUTIONS |
The Fund will make distributions of net investment income, if any, monthly and of net capital gains, if any, at least annually, typically in December. In so doing, the Fund seeks to make distributions once per month based on a pre-determined rate. A portion of the distributions made by the Fund may be treated as return of capital for tax purposes. Shareholders who receive a payment of a distribution consisting of a return of capital may be under the impression that they are receiving net profits when, in fact, they are not. Shareholders should not assume that the source of a distribution from the Fund is net profit. The Fund may make additional payments of dividends or distributions if it deems it desirable at any other time during the year.
All dividends and distributions will be reinvested in Fund shares unless you choose one of the following options: (1) to receive net investment income dividends in cash, while reinvesting capital gain distributions in additional Fund shares; or (2) to receive all dividends and distributions in cash. If you wish to change your distribution option, please write to the Transfer Agent before the payment date of the distribution.
If you elect to receive distributions in cash and the U.S. Postal Service cannot deliver your check, or if your distribution check has not been cashed for six months, the Fund reserves the right to reinvest the distribution check in your account at the Fund’s then current NAV and to reinvest all subsequent distributions.
50
FEDERAL INCOME TAX CONSEQUENCES |
The following discussion is very general and does not address investors subject to special rules, such as investors who hold Fund shares through an IRA, 401(k) plan or other tax-advantaged account. The SAI contains further information about taxes. Because each shareholder’s circumstances are different and special tax rules may apply, you should consult your tax advisor about your investment in the Fund.
You will generally have to pay federal income taxes, as well as any state or local taxes, on distributions received from the Fund, whether paid in cash or reinvested in additional shares. If you sell Fund shares, it is generally considered a taxable event. If you exchange shares of the Fund for shares of another fund, the exchange will generally be treated as a sale of the Fund’s shares and any gain on the transaction may be subject to federal income tax.
Distributions of net investment income, other than distributions the Fund reports as “qualified dividend income,” are taxable for federal income tax purposes at ordinary income tax rates. Distributions of net short-term capital gains are also generally taxable at ordinary income tax rates. Distributions from the Fund’s net capital gain (i.e., the excess of its net long-term capital gain over its net short-term capital loss) are taxable for federal income tax purposes as long-term capital gain, regardless of how long the shareholder has held Fund shares.
Dividends paid by the Fund (but none of the Fund’s capital gain distributions) may qualify in part for the dividends-received deduction available to corporate shareholders, provided certain holding period and other requirements are satisfied. Distributions that the Fund reports as “qualified dividend income” may be eligible to be taxed to non-corporate shareholders at the reduced rates applicable to long-term capital gain if derived from the Fund’s qualified dividend income and/or if certain other requirements are satisfied. “Qualified dividend income” generally is income derived from dividends paid by U.S. corporations or certain foreign corporations that are either incorporated in a U.S. possession or eligible for tax benefits under certain U.S. income tax treaties. In addition, dividends that the Fund receives in respect of stock of certain foreign corporations may be qualified dividend income if that stock is readily tradable on an established U.S. securities market.
Distributions from the Fund in excess of earnings and profits will, as to each shareholder, be treated as a tax-free return of capital to the extent of the shareholder’s basis in his or her Fund shares. A distribution treated as a return of capital will reduce the shareholder’s basis in his or her shares, which will result in an increase in the amount of gain (or a decrease in the amount of loss) that will be recognized by the shareholder for tax purposes on a later sale of such shares. After the shareholder’s basis is reduced to zero, any distributions in excess of earnings and profits will be treated as a capital gain, assuming the shareholder holds his or her shares as capital assets.
You may want to avoid buying shares of the Fund just before it declares a distribution (on or before the record date), because such a distribution will be taxable to you even though it may effectively be a return of a portion of your investment.
Although distributions are generally taxable when received, dividends declared in October, November or December to shareholders of record as of a date in such month and paid during the following January are treated as if received on December 31 of the calendar year when the dividends were declared.
Information on the federal income tax status of dividends and distributions is provided annually.
Dividends and distributions from the Fund and net gain from redemptions of Fund shares will generally be taken into account in determining a shareholder’s “net investment income” for purposes of the 3.8% Medicare contribution tax applicable to certain individuals, estates and trusts.
If you do not provide the Fund with your correct taxpayer identification number and any required certifications, you will be subject to backup withholding on your redemption proceeds, dividends and other distributions. The backup withholding rate is currently 24%.
51
Dividends and certain other payments made by the Fund to a non-U.S. shareholder are subject to withholding of federal income tax at the rate of 30% (or such lower rate as may be determined in accordance with any applicable treaty). Dividends that are reported by the Fund as “interest-related dividends” or “short-term capital gain dividends” are generally exempt from such withholding. In general, the Fund may report interest-related dividends to the extent of its net income derived from U.S.-source interest and the Fund may report short-term capital gain dividends to the extent its net short-term capital gain for the taxable year exceeds its net long-term capital loss. Backup withholding will not be applied to payments that have been subject to the 30% withholding tax described in this paragraph.
Under legislation commonly referred to as “FATCA,” unless certain non-U.S. entities that hold shares comply with requirements that will generally require them to report information regarding U.S. persons investing in, or holding accounts with, such entities, a 30% withholding tax may apply to dividends payable to such entities. A non-U.S. shareholder may be exempt from the withholding described in this paragraph under an applicable intergovernmental agreement between the United States and a foreign government, provided that the shareholder and the applicable foreign government comply with the terms of the agreement.
Some of the Fund’s investment income may be subject to foreign income taxes that are withheld at the country of origin. Tax treaties between certain countries and the United States may reduce or eliminate such taxes, but there can be no assurance that the Fund will qualify for treaty benefits.
52
FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS |
The following tables are intended to help you understand the Fund’s financial performance. Certain information reflects financial results for a single Fund share. The total return figures represent the percentage that an investor in the Fund would have earned (or lost) on an investment in the Fund (assuming reinvestment of all dividends and distributions). The financial information for the periods shown has been audited by Tait, Weller & Baker LLP, an independent registered public accounting firm, whose report, along with the Fund’s financial statements, is included in the Fund’s annual report, which is available upon request (see back cover).
First
Trust Multi-Strategy Fund
Class A
Per
share operating performance.
For a capital share outstanding throughout each
period.
For the Year Ended September 30, | ||||||||||||||||||||
2023 |
2022 |
2021 |
2020 |
2019 | ||||||||||||||||
Net asset value, beginning of period |
$ |
23.20 |
|
$ |
25.84 |
|
$ |
23.90 |
|
$ |
27.08 |
|
$ |
25.62 |
| |||||
Income from Investment Operations: |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| ||||||||||
Net investment income (loss)1 |
|
0.27 |
|
|
0.36 |
|
|
0.86 |
|
|
0.35 |
|
|
0.41 |
| |||||
Net realized and unrealized gain (loss) |
|
1.28 |
|
|
(1.82 |
) |
|
2.34 |
|
|
(0.98 |
) |
|
1.72 |
| |||||
Net increase from payments by affiliates |
|
— |
|
|
— |
|
|
—2,3 |
|
|
— |
|
|
— |
| |||||
Total from investment operations |
|
1.55 |
|
|
(1.46 |
) |
|
3.20 |
|
|
(0.63 |
) |
|
2.13 |
| |||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |||||||||||
Less Distributions: |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| ||||||||||
From net investment income |
|
(0.54 |
) |
|
(0.24 |
) |
|
(0.89 |
) |
|
(0.58 |
) |
|
(0.67 |
) | |||||
From net realized gain |
|
— |
|
|
— |
|
|
— |
|
|
(1.62 |
) |
|
— |
| |||||
From return of capital |
|
(0.65 |
) |
|
(0.94 |
) |
|
(0.37 |
) |
|
(0.35 |
) |
|
— |
| |||||
Total distributions |
|
(1.19 |
) |
|
(1.18 |
) |