Prospectus

 

 

January 31, 2022

 

 

Gadsden Dynamic Multi-Asset ETF

Ticker Symbol: GDMA

 

 

Listed on NYSE Arca, Inc.

 

 

 

These securities have not been approved or disapproved by the Securities and Exchange Commission nor has the Securities and Exchange Commission passed upon the accuracy or adequacy of this Prospectus. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal offense.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

TABLE OF CONTENTS

 

    Page
Gadsden Dynamic Multi-Asset ETF   1
Additional Information About The Fund   10
How is the Fund Different from A Mutual Fund?   10
Additional Information about the Fund’s Investment Objective and Strategies   11
Additional Information about the Fund’s Risks   11
Fund Management   23
Approval of Advisory Agreement & Investment Sub-Advisory Agreement   24
Portfolio Manager   24
Other Service Providers   25
The Exchange   26
Buying and Selling Fund Shares   26
Buying and Selling Shares on the Secondary Market   26
Active Investors and Market Timing   28
Distribution and Service Plan   28
Net Asset Value   28
Fund Website and Disclosure of Portfolio Holdings   29
Investments by Other Investment Companies   29
Dividends, Distributions, and Taxes   29
Financial Highlights   32

 

 

 

 

Gadsden Dynamic Multi-Asset ETF

 

Fund Summary

 

 

Investment Objective

 

Gadsden Dynamic Multi-Asset ETF (the “Fund”) seeks total return.

 

Fees And Expenses

This table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy, hold, and sell shares of the Fund (“Shares”). You may also pay brokerage commissions on the purchase and sale of Shares, which are not reflected in the table and example below.

 

Annual Fund Operating Expenses (expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment) 

       
Management Fee   0.59%  
Distribution and/or Service (12b-1) Fees   0.00%  
Other Expenses   0.00%  
Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses1   0.28%  
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses   0.87%  

 

1 Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses do not correlate to the ratio of expenses to average net assets provided in the Financial Highlights section of the Prospectus, which reflects only the operating expenses of the Fund and does not include acquired fund fees and expenses.

 

Example

 

The following example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the Fund with the cost of investing in other funds. The example assumes that you invest $10,000 for the time periods indicated and then redeem all of your Shares at the end of those periods. The example also assumes that the Fund provides a return of 5% a year and that operating expenses remain the same. You may also pay brokerage commissions on the purchase and sale of Shares, which are not reflected in the example. 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:  
  $89 $278 $482 $1,073  

 

Portfolio Turnover

 

The Fund may pay transaction costs, including commissions when it buys and sells securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes when Shares are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in annual fund operating expenses or in the example, affect the Fund’s performance. During the Fund’s fiscal period November 2, 2020 through September 30, 2021, the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate was 99% of the average value of its portfolio.

 

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Principal Investment Strategies

 

The Fund is an actively managed exchange-traded fund (“ETF”) that seeks to achieve its investment objective by investing in asset classes that the Fund’s portfolio managers believe offer the most attractive combined risk/return opportunities. The term “asset classes” generally includes, among others, U.S. equities, foreign securities, currencies, bonds, and real estate investment trusts (REITs). Generally, Gadsden (defined below) selects investments for the Fund’s portfolio based on its long-term view of macroeconomic factors. That is considered a “strategic” approach. Through that approach, the Fund’s portfolio will generally have exposure to a variety of asset classes, geographies, and market capitalizations. Additionally, for a portion of the Fund’s portfolio, Gadsden may seek to change the Fund’s investment portfolio based on its short-term view of the markets, which is referred to as a “tactical” approach.

 

The Fund’s risk or return is not managed relative to any securities index or securities benchmark. Rather, the portfolio managers make allocation decisions based on their view of the projected investment environment, attractiveness, and future return for a particular asset class or securities. The Fund may invest globally in any asset class or security and may at times have significant exposure to a single asset class. The Fund may focus its investments in particular asset classes, sectors, regions, or countries, and in companies of any market capitalization, which allocations may change over time. Additionally, the Fund may invest in assets classes that are considered lower-risk (e.g., inflation-linked bonds or fixed income securities), higher-risk (e.g., equities or REITs), or a mix of both groups.

 

The Fund’s investment adviser, Empowered Funds, LLC (the “Adviser”) has engaged Gadsden, LLC (“Gadsden”) as investment sub-adviser to support management of the Fund. Gadsden will perform its services as a non-discretionary sub-adviser, which means that Gadsden will not be responsible for selecting brokers or placing the Fund’s trades. Rather, Gadsden will provide trade recommendations to Empowered and, in turn, Empowered will be responsible for selecting brokers and placing the Fund’s trades. It is anticipated that the Adviser will generally adhere to Gadsden’s recommendations.

 

Regardless of whether the portfolio managers are using a tactical approach or a strategic approach, the portfolios managers evaluate potential investments using both fundamental analyses and quantitative methods. A fundamental analysis is a method of measuring a security’s intrinsic value. Through a fundamental analysis, the portfolio managers seek out securities priced below their real worth. Gadsden also uses a proprietary investment model that generates signals based on a quantitative analysis, which together with the results of the Sub-Adviser’s fundamental analysis, is then used to determine in which securities to buy, sell, or hold. The Sub-Adviser’s model is based on whether the model anticipates a market advance, correction, or decline. The Adviser will generally sell securities or other instruments when, based on Gadsden’s recommendations, better opportunities have become available.

 

The Fund’s portfolio construction typically includes investments across a variety of global asset classes, including corporate, government (U.S. or foreign), inflation-linked, and high-yield debt instruments (also known as “junk” bonds); cash and cash equivalents; commodity interests (including foreign currencies, precious metals, and other physical or nonphysical commodities); and REITs. The Fund’s investments in fixed income instruments may include those of any maturity or credit quality. The Fund’s portfolio may also utilize inverse, leveraged, and inverse leveraged exchange-traded vehicles (such as ETFs) to obtain exposure to one or more asset classes.

 

For each asset class in which the Fund invests, Gadsden will recommend to the Adviser whether the Fund should invest directly in securities or other instruments of that asset class or indirectly through one or more pooled vehicles that seeks to track the performance of the asset class (including ETFs, exchange-traded notes, and exchange-traded commodities). Consequently, the Fund’s investments in other exchange-traded vehicles may range from 0% to 100% of the Fund’s portfolio.

 

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The Fund may invest in futures contracts to gain long or short exposure to one or more asset classes. Investments in derivative instruments, like futures, have the economic effect of creating financial leverage in the Fund’s portfolio because those investments may give rise to losses that exceed the amount the Fund has invested in those instruments. Financial leverage will magnify, sometimes significantly, the Fund’s exposure to any increase or decrease in prices associated with a particular reference asset resulting in increased volatility in the value of the Fund’s portfolio. To the extent the Fund invests in derivative instruments, the value of the Fund’s portfolio is likely to experience greater volatility over short-term periods. While financial leverage has the potential to produce greater gains, it also may result in greater losses, which in some cases may cause the Fund to liquidate other portfolio investments at a loss to comply with limits on leverage and asset segregation requirements imposed by the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “1940 Act”) or to meet redemption requests.

 

Principal Risks

 

An investment in the Fund involves risk, including those described below. There is no assurance that the Fund will achieve its investment objective. An investor may lose money by investing in the Fund. An investment in the Fund is not a bank deposit and is not insured or guaranteed by the FDIC or any government agency. More complete risk descriptions are set forth below under the heading “Additional Information About the Fund’s Risks”.

 

Each risk summarized below is considered a “principal risk” of investing in the Fund, regardless of the order in which it appears. As with any investment, there is a risk you could lose all or a portion of your investment in the Fund. Some or all of these risks may adversely affect the Fund’s NAV, trading price, yield, total return and/or ability to meet its objectives.

 

Equity Investing Risk. An investment in the Fund involves risks similar to those of investing in any fund holding equity securities, such as market fluctuations, changes in interest rates and perceived trends in stock prices. The values of equity securities could decline generally or could underperform other investments. In addition, securities may decline in value due to factors affecting a specific issuer, market or securities markets generally.

 

Foreign Investment Risk. Returns on investments in foreign securities could be more volatile than, or trail the returns on, investments in U.S. securities. Investments in or exposures to foreign securities are subject to special risks, including risks associated with foreign securities generally. Those special risks may arise due to differences in information available about issuers of securities and investor protection standards applicable in other jurisdictions; capital controls risks, including the risk of a foreign jurisdiction imposing restrictions on the ability to repatriate or transfer currency or other assets; currency risks; political, diplomatic and economic risks; regulatory risks; and foreign market and trading risks, including the costs of trading and risks of settlement in foreign jurisdictions.

 

Fixed Income Securities Risk. Changes in interest rates generally will cause the value of fixed-income and bond instruments held by the Fund to vary inversely to those changes. Prices of longer-term fixed-income instruments generally fluctuate more than the prices of shorter-term fixed income instruments as interest rates change. Fixed-income instruments that are fixed-rate are generally more susceptible than floating rate loans to price volatility related to changes in prevailing interest rates. The prices of floating rate fixed-income instruments tend to have less fluctuation in response to changes in interest rates, but will have some fluctuation, particularly when the next interest rate adjustment on the security is further away in time or adjustments are limited in amount over time.

 

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The Fund may invest in short-term securities that, when interest rates decline, affect the Fund’s value as these securities mature or are sold and the Fund purchases new short-term securities with lower yields. An obligor’s willingness and ability to pay interest or to repay principal due in a timely manner may be affected by, among other factors, its cash flow.

 

In addition, the Fund may invest in various fixed income and floating rate securities, including high-yield (junk) bond securities, inflation-linked securities, Sovereign debt securities, and U.S. Government obligations) that are subject to additional risks. Those risks may be material and the risks differ for each of the types of underlying investments. An overview of some of the fixed income and floating rate risks is under the heading - Additional Information about the Fund’s Investment Objective and Strategies.

 

Investment Risk. When you sell your Shares of the Fund, they could be worth less than what you paid for them. The Fund could lose money due to short-term market movements and over longer periods during market downturns. Securities may decline in value due to factors affecting securities markets generally or particular asset classes or industries represented in the markets. The value of a security may decline due to general market conditions, economic trends or events that are not specifically related to the issuer of the security or to factors that affect a particular industry or group of industries. During a general downturn in the securities markets, multiple asset classes may be negatively affected. Therefore, you may lose money by investing in the Fund.

 

Sector Risk. To the extent the Fund invests more heavily in particular sectors of the economy, its performance will be especially sensitive to developments that significantly affect those sectors.

 

Commodities Risk. If the Fund invests in physical commodities, those investments will subject the Fund to greater volatility than investments in traditional securities, like stocks and bonds. Investing in physical commodities, including through exchange-traded commodities (“ETCs”) or indirectly through commodity-linked derivative instruments, such as commodity-linked futures, forwards, and swaps, is speculative and can be extremely volatile. The commodities markets may fluctuate rapidly based on a variety of factors, including overall market movements; economic events and policies; changes in interest rates or inflation rates; changes in monetary and exchange control programs; war; acts of terrorism; natural disasters; and technological developments. Variables like disease, drought, floods, weather, trade, embargoes, tariffs, and other political events may have a larger impact on commodity prices than on traditional securities. The prices of commodities can also fluctuate widely due to supply and demand disruptions in major producing or consuming regions.

 

Because some commodities may be produced in a limited number of countries and may be controlled by a small number of producers, political, economic, and supply-related events in those countries could have a disproportionate impact on the prices of those commodities. These factors may affect the value of the Fund in varying ways, and different factors may cause the value and the volatility of the Fund to move in inconsistent directions at inconsistent rates. The current or “spot” prices of physical commodities may also affect, in a volatile and inconsistent manner, the prices of futures contracts in respect of the relevant commodity. The Fund’s exposure to physical commodities, ETCs, and other commodity-related investments presents tax risks because income and gains from these investments are treated as non-qualifying income for purposes of the Fund’s qualification as a regulated investment company, the Fund might fail to qualify as a regulated investment company, and be subject to federal income tax at the Fund level.

 

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U.S. Government Obligations Risk. Obligations of U.S. Government agencies and authorities receive varying levels of support and may not be backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. Government, which could affect the Fund’s ability to recover should they default. No assurance can be given that the U.S. Government will provide financial support to its agencies and authorities if it is not obligated by law to do so. Additionally, market prices and yields of securities supported by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government or other countries may decline or be negative for short or long periods of time.

 

Cash and Cash Equivalents Risk. Holding cash or cash equivalents rather than securities or other instruments in which the Fund primarily invests, even for short periods, may cause the Fund to risk losing opportunities to participate in market appreciation, and may cause the Fund to experience potentially lower returns than the Fund’s benchmark or other funds that remain fully invested. In rising markets, holding cash or cash equivalents will negatively affect the Fund’s performance relative to its benchmark.

 

Commodity-Linked Derivatives Tax Risk. The tax treatment of commodity-linked derivative instruments is currently uncertain and may be adversely affected by changes in legislation, regulations, or other legally binding authority. As a regulated investment company (“RIC”), the Fund must derive at least 90% of its gross income each taxable year from certain qualifying sources of income under the U.S. Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”).

 

On May 1, 2017 the Internal Revenue Service (the “IRS”) published a series of revocations of private letter rulings that had been issued to RICs. In each of the revocations, at least one of the rulings requested in the original private letter ruling was that the income from a commodity-linked note was qualified income for the purposes of 90% gross income test. Although the original rulings were favorable, the IRS indicated in the revocations that the rulings were not in accord with the current views of the IRS. If, as a result of any adverse future legislation, U.S. Treasury regulations, and/or guidance issued by the IRS, the income of the Fund from certain commodity-linked derivatives were treated as non-qualifying income, the Fund may fail to qualify as RIC and/or be subject to federal income tax at the Fund level. The uncertainty surrounding the treatment of certain derivative instruments under the qualification tests for a RIC may limit the Fund’s use of those types of derivative instruments.

 

Currency Risk. Changes in currency exchange rates and the relative value of non-U.S. currencies may affect the value of the Fund’s foreign investments and the value of your Shares. Currency exchange rates can be very volatile and can change quickly and unpredictably. As a result, the value of an investment in the Fund may change quickly and without warning and you may lose money.

 

Derivatives Risk. Derivative investments have risks, including the imperfect correlation between the value of the instruments and the underlying assets or index; the loss of principal, including the potential loss of amounts greater than the initial amount invested in the derivative instrument; the possible default of the other party to the transaction; and illiquidity of the derivative investments. If a counterparty becomes bankrupt or otherwise fails to perform its obligations under a derivative contract due to financial difficulties, the Fund may experience significant delays in obtaining any recovery under the derivative contract in a bankruptcy or other reorganization proceeding. The derivatives used by the Fund may give rise to a form of leverage. The use of leverage may exaggerate any increase or decrease in the net asset value, causing the Fund to be more volatile. The use of leverage may also increase expenses and increase the impact of the Fund’s other risks. The use of leverage may cause the Fund to liquidate portfolio positions to satisfy its obligations or to meet collateral segregation requirements or regulatory requirements when it may not be advantageous to liquidate the positions, resulting in increased volatility of returns. Certain of the Fund’s transactions in derivatives could also affect the amount, timing, and character of distributions to shareholders, which may result in the Fund realizing more short-term capital gain and ordinary income subject to tax at ordinary income tax rates than it would if it did not engage in the transactions, which may adversely impact the Fund’s after-tax returns.

 

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Geopolitical/Natural Disaster Risks. The Fund’s investments are subject to geopolitical and natural disaster risks, such as war, terrorism, trade disputes, political or economic dysfunction within some nations, public health crises and related geopolitical events, as well as environmental disasters, epidemics and/or pandemics, which may add to instability in world economies and volatility in markets. The impact may be short-term or may last for extended periods.

 

Emerging Markets Risk. The Fund may invest in companies organized in emerging market nations. Investments in securities and instruments traded in developing or emerging markets, or that provide exposure to those securities or markets, can involve additional risks relating to political, economic, or regulatory conditions not associated with investments in U.S. securities and instruments or investments in more developed international markets. Those conditions may impact the ability of the Fund to buy, sell or otherwise transfer securities, adversely affect the trading market and price for Fund shares and cause the Fund to decline in value.

 

ETF Risks

 

Authorized Participants, Market Makers and Liquidity Providers Concentration Risk. The Fund has a limited number of financial institutions that may act as Authorized Participants (“APs”). In addition, there may be a limited number of market makers and/or liquidity providers in the marketplace. To the extent either of the following events occur, Shares may trade at a material discount to NAV and possibly face delisting: (i) APs exit the business or otherwise become unable to process creation and/or redemption orders and no other APs step forward to perform these services, or (ii) market makers and/or liquidity providers exit the business or significantly reduce their business activities and no other entities step forward to perform their functions.

 

Premium-Discount Risk. The Shares may trade above or below their net asset value (“NAV”). The market prices of Shares will generally fluctuate in accordance with changes in NAV as well as the relative supply of, and demand for, Shares on the NYSE, Inc. (the “Exchange”) or other securities exchanges. The trading price of Shares may deviate significantly from NAV during periods of market volatility or limited trading activity in Shares.

 

Cost of Trading Risk. Investors buying or selling Shares in the secondary market will pay brokerage commissions or other charges imposed by brokers as determined by that broker. Brokerage commissions are often a fixed amount and may be a significant proportional cost for investors seeking to buy or sell relatively small amounts of Shares.

 

Trading Risk. Although the Shares are listed on the Exchange, there can be no assurance that an active or liquid trading market for them will be maintained. In addition, trading in Shares on the Exchange may be halted. In stressed market conditions, the liquidity of the Fund’s Shares may begin to mirror the liquidity of its underlying portfolio holdings, which can be significantly less liquid than the Fund’s Shares, potentially causing the market price of the Fund’s Shares to deviate from its NAV.

 

Underlying Fund Risk. The risks of owning interests of other exchange-traded investment vehicles (“Underlying Funds”) generally reflect the same risks as owning the underlying securities or other instruments that each Underlying Fund holds at the particular time. The shares of some Underlying Funds may trade at a premium or discount to their intrinsic value, which means an Underlying Fund’s market value may differ from the net asset value of its shares. For example, supply and demand for shares of an Underlying Fund or market disruptions may cause the market price of the Underlying Fund to deviate from the value of its investments, which may be emphasized in less liquid markets.

 

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With respect to an Underlying Fund that is an exchange-traded note, its value may drop due to a downgrade in the issuer’s credit rating.

 

By investing in an Underlying Fund, the Fund indirectly bears the proportionate share of any fees and expenses of the Underlying Fund in addition to Fund’s direct fees and expenses. Additionally, trading in an Underlying Fund may be halted by the exchange on which it trades.

 

Geographic Investment Risk. To the extent the Fund invests a significant portion of its assets in the securities of companies of a single country or region, it is more likely to be impacted by events or conditions affecting that country or region.

 

High Portfolio Turnover Risk. The Fund’s investment strategy results in higher turnover rates. This may increase the Fund’s brokerage commission costs, which could negatively impact the performance of the Fund. Rapid portfolio turnover also exposes shareholders to a higher current realization of short-term capital gains, distributions of which would generally be taxed to you as ordinary income and thus cause you to pay higher taxes.

 

High-Yield Securities Risk. High-yield securities (also known as “junk bonds”) carry a greater degree of risk and are considered speculative by the major credit rating agencies. High-yield securities may be issued by companies that are restructuring, are smaller and less creditworthy, or are more highly indebted than other companies. This means that they may have more difficulty making scheduled payments of principal and interest. Changes in the value of high-yield securities are influenced more by changes in the financial and business position of the issuing company than by changes in interest rates when compared to investment grade securities. High-yield securities have greater volatility because there is less certainty that principal and interest payments will be made as scheduled. The Fund’s investments in high-yield securities expose it to a substantial degree of credit risk. These investments are considered speculative under traditional investment standards. Prices of high-yield securities will rise and fall primarily in response to actual or perceived changes in the issuer’s financial health, although changes in market interest rates also will affect prices. High-yield securities may experience reduced liquidity and sudden and substantial decreases in price.

 

Inflation-Linked Securities Risk. Inflation-linked securities have a tendency to react to changes in real interest rates. Real interest rates represent nominal (stated) interest rates lowered by the anticipated effect of inflation. In general, the price of an inflation-linked security decreases when real interest rates increase, and increases when real interest rates decrease. Income from the Fund’s investments in these securities is likely to fluctuate more than the income distributions of its investments in more traditional fixed income securities.

 

Leveraged, Inverse, and Inverse-Leveraged ETF Risk. Leveraged, inverse, and inverse-leveraged ETFs expose the Fund to all of the risks that traditional ETFs present (see “ETF Risks” above). Leveraged ETFs seek to provide investment results that match a multiple of the performance of an underlying index (e.g., three times the performance). Inverse ETFs seek to provide investment results that match a negative (i.e., the opposite) of the performance of an underlying index. Leveraged inverse ETFs seek to provide investment results that match a negative multiple of the performance of an underlying index. All those types of ETFs rely to some degree, often extensively, on derivatives to achieve their objectives and, thus, the Fund is indirectly exposed to derivatives risk through its investments in these ETFs. Further, investments in leveraged, inverse, or inverse-leveraged ETFs are subject to the risk that the performance of the ETF will not correlate with the underlying index as intended. Leveraged, inverse, and inverse leveraged ETFs often “reset” daily, meaning that they are designed to achieve their stated objectives on a daily basis. Due to the effect of compounding, their performance over longer periods of time can differ significantly from the performance (or inverse of the performance) of their underlying index or benchmark during the same period of time. This effect can be magnified in volatile markets. Consequently, these investment vehicles may be extremely volatile and can potentially expose the Fund to complete loss of its investment.

 

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Management Risk. The Fund is actively-managed and may not meet its investment objective based on the Adviser’s or Gadsden’s success or failure to implement investment strategies for the Fund. For example, Gadsden’s evaluations and assumptions regarding asset classes and direct investments may not successfully achieve the Fund’s investment objective given actual market trends.

 

Absent unusual circumstances (e.g., the Adviser determines a different ETF has a lower cost but offers a similar investment profile as a recommended ETF), the Adviser will generally follow Gadsden’s investment recommendations to buy, hold, and sell securities and financial instruments.

 

Quantitative Security Selection Risk. Data for some companies may be less available and/or less current than data for companies in other markets. Gadsden uses quantitative models, and its processes could be adversely affected if erroneous or outdated data is utilized. In addition, securities selected using a quantitative model could perform differently from the financial markets as a whole as a result of the characteristics used in the analysis, the weight placed on each characteristic and changes in the characteristic’s historical trends.

 

REIT Risk. A REIT is a company that owns or finances income-producing real estate. Through its investments in REITs, the Fund is subject to the risks of investing in the real estate market, including decreases in property revenues, increases in interest rates, increases in property taxes and operating expenses, legal and regulatory changes, a lack of credit or capital, defaults by borrowers or tenants, environmental problems and natural disasters. REITs are subject to additional risks, including those related to adverse governmental actions; declines in property value and the real estate market; the potential failure to qualify for tax-free pass through of income; and exemption from registration as an investment company. REITs are dependent upon specialized management skills and may invest in relatively few properties, a small geographic area, or a small number of property types. As a result, investments in REITs may be volatile. To the extent the Fund invests in REITs concentrated in specific geographic areas or property types, the Fund may be subject to a greater loss as a result of adverse developments affecting those area or property types. REITs are pooled investment vehicles with their own fees and expenses and the Fund will indirectly bear a proportionate share of those fees and expenses.

 

Small- and Mid-Capitalization Companies Risk. Investing in securities of small- and medium- capitalization companies involves greater risk than customarily is associated with investing in larger, more established companies. These companies’ securities may be more volatile and less liquid than those of more established companies. Often small- and medium-capitalization companies and the industries in which they focus are still evolving and, as a result, they may be more sensitive to changing market conditions.

 

PERFORMANCE

 

The following performance information provides some indication of the risks of investing in the Fund. The bar chart and table reflect changes in the Fund’s performance from year to year over the periods indicated and show how the Fund’s average annual total returns for the periods indicated compare to those of a relevant market index. Updated performance information is also available on the Fund’s website at www.gadsdenfunds.com.

 

Prior to the commencement of the Fund’s operations on November 2, 2020, the Fund operated as the Gadsden Dynamic Multi-Asset ETF, a series of ETF Series Solutions (the “Predecessor Fund”), an open-end investment company registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940 (the “1940 Act”) that had the same investment objective and substantially the same strategies as the Fund since the Predecessor Fund’s inception on November 14, 2018. The Fund assumed the NAV and performance history of the Predecessor Fund. Performance shown in the bar chart and table for periods prior to November 2, 2020 is that of the Predecessor Fund and is not the performance of the Fund. The Fund’s objectives is the same as the Predecessor Funds, and it policies, guidelines, and restrictions are substantially similar to those of the Predecessor Fund, which was created for reasons entirely unrelated to the establishment of a performance record. The Predecessor Fund was reorganized into the Fund at the inception of the Fund.

 

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The Predecessor Fund’s past performance is not necessarily an indication of how the Fund will perform in the future.

 

Calendar Year Total Return as of December 31, 2021

 

Years

 

During the period of time shown in the bar chart, the highest quarterly return was 13.88%% for the quarter ended June 30, 2020, and the lowest quarterly return was -11.15% for the quarter ended March 31, 2020.

 

Average Annual Total Returns

For the Period Ended December 31, 2021

 

Gadsden Dynamic Multi-Asset ETF   1 Year Since
Inception
(11/14/2018)
Return Before Taxes   4.24% 10.30%
Return After Taxes on Distributions   3.55% 9.51%
Return After Taxes on Distributions and Sale of Fund Shares   2.67% 7.72%
60% Dow Jones Global Index/40% BofA Merrill Lynch 3-Month U.S. Treasury Bill Index (reflects no deduction for fees, expenses, or taxes)   10.66% 10.84%

BofA Merrill Lynch 3-Month U.S. Treasury Bill Index (reflects no deduction for fees, expenses, or taxes)

  0.05% 0.99%

 

After-tax returns are calculated using the highest historical individual federal marginal income tax rates during the period covered by the table above and do not reflect the impact of state and local taxes. Actual after-tax returns depend on an investor’s tax situation and may differ from those shown. After-tax returns shown are not relevant to investors who hold their Shares through tax-deferred arrangements such as an individual retirement account (“IRA”) or other tax-advantaged accounts.

 

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Investment Adviser

 

Investment Adviser: Empowered Funds, LLC (“Adviser”)
Investment Sub-Adviser: Gadsden, LLC (“Gadsden”)

 

Portfolio Managers

 

Kevin R. Harper, MBA, Chief Investment Officer and Portfolio Manager of Gadsden; and James W. Judge, MBA, CFA, Senior Director and Portfolio Manager of Gadsden, have been primarily and jointly responsible for the day-to-day management of the Fund since its inception. Messrs. Harper and Judge provide their recommendations to Messrs. Brandon Koepke and Richard Shaner, Portfolio Managers of the Adviser, who, since 2020 and 2022, respectively, are also primarily and jointly responsible for the day-to-day management of the Fund.

 

Summary Information about Purchases, Sales, Taxes, and Financial Intermediary Compensation

 

Purchase And Sale Of Fund Shares

 

The Fund issues and redeems Shares on a continuous basis only in large blocks of Shares, typically 10,000 Shares, called “Creation Units,” and only APs (typically, broker-dealers) may purchase or redeem Creation Units. Creation Units generally are issued and redeemed ‘in-kind’ for securities and partially in cash. Individual Shares may only be purchased and sold in secondary market transactions through brokers. Once created, individual Shares generally trade in the secondary market at market prices that change throughout the day. Market prices of Shares may be greater or less than their NAV. Except when aggregated in Creation Units, the Fund’s shares are not redeemable securities.

 

Tax Information

 

The Fund’s distributions generally are taxable to you as ordinary income, capital gain, or some combination of both, unless your investment is in an Individual Retirement Account (“IRA”) or other tax-advantaged account. However, subsequent withdrawals from such a tax-advantaged account may be subject to federal income tax. You should consult your tax advisor about your specific tax situation.

 

Purchases Through Broker-Dealers And Other Financial Intermediaries

 

If you purchase Shares through a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary, the Fund and its related companies may pay the intermediary for the sale of 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 Shares over another investment. Ask your salesperson or visit your financial intermediary’s website for more information.

 

Additional Information About The Fund

 

How is the Fund Different from A Mutual Fund?

 

Redeemability. Mutual fund shares may be bought from, and redeemed with, the issuing fund for cash at NAV typically calculated once at the end of the business day. Shares of the Fund, by contrast, cannot be purchased from or redeemed with the Fund except by or through APs (typically, broker-dealers), and then principally for an in-kind basket of securities (and a limited cash amount). In addition, the Fund issues and redeems Shares on a continuous basis only in large blocks of Shares, typically 10,000 Shares, called “Creation Units.”

 

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Exchange Listing. Unlike mutual fund shares, Shares of the Fund will be listed for trading on the Exchange. Investors can purchase and sell Shares on the secondary market through a broker. Investors purchasing Shares in the secondary market through a brokerage account or with the assistance of a broker may be subject to brokerage commissions and charges. Secondary-market transactions do not occur at NAV, but at market prices that change throughout the day, based on the supply of, and demand for, Shares and on changes in the prices of the Fund’s portfolio holdings. The market price of Shares may differ from the NAV of the Fund. The difference between market price of Shares and the NAV of the Fund is called a premium when the market price is above the reported NAV and called a discount when the market price is below the reported NAV, and the difference is expected to be small most of the time, though it may be significant, especially in times of extreme market volatility.

 

Tax Treatment. The Fund and the Shares have been designed to be tax-efficient. Specifically, the in-kind creation and redemption feature has been designed to protect Fund shareholders from adverse tax consequences applicable to non-ETF registered investment companies as a result of cash transactions in the non-ETF registered investment company’s shares, including cash redemptions. Nevertheless, to the extent redemptions from the Fund are paid in cash, the Fund may realize capital gains or losses, including in some cases short-term capital gains, upon the sale of portfolio securities to generate the cash to satisfy the redemption.

 

Transparency. The Fund’s portfolio holdings are disclosed on its website daily after the close of trading on the Exchange and prior to the opening of trading on the Exchange the following day. A description of the Fund’s policies and procedures with respect to the disclosure of the Fund’s portfolio holdings is available in the Fund’s Statement of Additional Information (“SAI”).

 

Premium/Discount Information. Information about the premiums and discounts at which the Fund’s Shares have traded will be available at www.gadsdenfunds.com.

 

Additional Information about the Fund’s Investment Objective and Strategies

 

The Fund’s investment objective is a non-fundamental investment policy and may be changed without a vote of shareholders with prior written notice to shareholders.

 

The Fund may invest, to a limited extent not to exceed 3% of the Fund’s assets at the time of investment, in Underlying Funds that, in turn, invest directly in cryptocurrencies, such as bitcoin, via physical cryptocurrency coins or invest indirectly in cryptocurrencies, such as bitcoin, via bitcoin futures. For example, an Underlying Fund that invests directly may purchase physical bitcoin, which is a physical “coin” with actual bitcoin loaded unto the coin.

 

In contrast, an Underlying Fund that invests indirectly may purchase bitcoin futures contracts, which are agreements between two parties that are executed on a commodity futures exchange, and that are cleared and margined through a clearing house. Bitcoin Futures are financially settled, which means that one party agrees to buy bitcoin from another party at a later date at a price and quantity agreed upon when the contract is made, but instead of taking physical delivery of bitcoin at the later date, settlement occurs in a dollar amount that is equivalent to the amount of bitcoin previously agreed upon. The contractual obligations of a Bitcoin Futures buyer or seller may generally be satisfied by financial settlement or by making an offsetting sale or purchase of an identical futures contract before the designated date of delivery.

 

Temporary Defensive Positions. From time to time, the Fund may take temporary defensive positions that are inconsistent with its principal investment strategies in attempting to respond to adverse market, economic, political, or other conditions. In those instances, the Fund may hold up to 100% of its assets in cash; short-term U.S. government securities and government agency securities; investment grade money market instruments; money market mutual funds; investment grade fixed income securities; repurchase agreements; commercial paper; cash equivalents; and exchange-traded investment vehicles that principally invest in the foregoing instruments. As a result of engaging in these temporary measures, the Fund may not achieve its investment objective.

 

Additional Information about the Fund’s Risks

 

The following information is in addition to, and should be read along with, the description of the Fund’s principal investment risks in the sections titled “Fund Summary—Principal Investment Risks” above.

 

Cash and Cash Equivalents Risk. Holding cash or cash equivalents rather than securities or other instruments in which the Fund primarily invests, even strategically, may cause the Fund to risk losing opportunities to participate in market appreciation, and may cause the Fund to experience potentially lower returns than the Fund’s benchmark or other funds that remain fully invested. In rising markets, holding cash or cash equivalents will negatively affect the Fund’s performance relative to its benchmark.

 

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Commodities Risk. Investments in physical commodities may subject the Fund to greater volatility than investments in traditional securities, such as stocks and bonds. Investing in physical commodities, including through exchange-traded commodities (“ETCs”) or commodity-linked derivative instruments such as commodity-linked futures, forwards, and swaps, is speculative and can be extremely volatile. Volatility in the commodities markets may be caused by changes in overall market movements; economic events and policies; war; acts of terrorism; natural disasters; and technological developments. The current or “spot” prices of physical commodities may also affect, in a volatile and inconsistent manner, the prices of futures contracts in respect of the relevant commodity. Some commodities are used primarily in one industry, and fluctuations in levels of activity in one industry may have a disproportionate effect on global demand for a particular commodity. Moreover, recent growth in industrial production and gross domestic product has made some developing nations oversized users of commodities and has increased the extent to which some commodities prices are influenced by those markets.

 

ETCs used by the Fund are expected to be pooled investment vehicles with exposure to commodities such as foreign currencies, precious metals, and other physical or non-physical commodities. The Fund’s exposure to physical commodities, ETCs, and other commodity-related investments presents tax risks because income and gains from these investments are treated as non-qualifying income for purposes of the Fund’s qualification as a regulated investment company, the Fund might fail to qualify as a regulated investment company and be subject to federal income tax at the Fund level.

 

Commodity-Linked Derivatives Tax Risk. The tax treatment of the Fund’s use of commodity-linked derivative instruments may be adversely affected by changes in legislation, regulations or other legally binding authority. If, as a result of an adverse action, the income of the Fund from some commodity-linked derivatives was treated as non-qualifying income for purposes of the Fund’s qualification as a regulated investment company, the Fund might fail to qualify as a regulated investment company and be subject to federal income tax at the Fund level. As a regulated investment company, the Fund must derive at least 90% of its gross income for each taxable year from sources treated as qualifying income under the Code. Prior to September, 2016, the IRS had issued a number of private letter rulings to other mutual funds, upon which the Fund cannot rely, which indicated that income from a fund’s investment in certain commodity-linked notes and a wholly owned foreign subsidiary that invests in commodity-linked derivatives constitutes qualifying income.

 

However, in September 2016 the IRS announced that it will no longer issue private letter rulings on questions relating to the treatment of a corporation as a regulated investment company that require a determination of whether a financial instrument or position is a security under section 2(a)(36) of the Investment Company Act. On May 1, 2017 the IRS published a series of revocations of private letter rulings that had been issued to RICs. In each of the revocations, at least one of the rulings requested in the original private letter ruling was that the income from a commodity-linked note was qualified income for the purposes of 90% gross income test. Although the original rulings were favorable, the IRS indicated in the revocations that the rulings were not in accord with the current views of the IRS. For additional information about this issue, see the SAI.

 

A financial instrument or position that constitutes a security under section 2(a)(36) of the Investment Company Act generates qualifying income for a corporation taxed as a regulated investment company. The IRS’s announcement caused it to revoke the portion of any rulings relating to a mutual fund’s investment in commodity-linked notes that required such a determination, some of which have been revoked prospectively as of a date agreed upon with the IRS. Should the IRS issue further guidance, or Congress enact legislation, that adversely affects the tax treatment of the Fund’s use of commodity-linked derivative instruments (which guidance might be applied retroactively to the Fund), it could limit the Fund’s ability to pursue its investment strategy and the Fund might not qualify as a regulated investment company for one or more years. In this event, the Fund’s board of trustees may authorize a change in investment strategy or Fund liquidation. In lieu of potential disqualification, the Fund is permitted to pay a tax for certain failures to satisfy the income requirement, which, in general, are limited to those due to reasonable cause and not willful neglect. A Fund also may incur transaction and other costs to comply with any new or additional guidance from the IRS. Gadsden will seek to ensure that its commodity-related and other investments do not create disqualifying income that would otherwise preclude the Fund from qualifying as a RIC, although there can be no assurances that Gadsden will be successful in doing so.

 

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Currency Risk. Changes in currency exchange rates and the relative value of non-U.S. currencies will affect the value of the Fund’s investments with underlying foreign shares and the value of your Shares. Because the Fund’s NAV is determined on the basis of U.S. dollars, the U.S. dollar value of your investment in the Fund may go down if the value of the local currency of the non-U.S. markets in which the Fund invests depreciates against the U.S. dollar. This is true even if the local currency value of securities held by the Fund goes up. Conversely, the dollar value of your investment in the Fund may go up if the value of the local currency appreciates against the U.S. dollar. The value of the U.S. dollar measured against other currencies is influenced by a variety of factors. These factors include: national debt levels and trade deficits, changes in balances of payments and trade, domestic and foreign interest and inflation rates, global or regional political, economic or financial events, monetary policies of governments, actual or potential government intervention, and global energy prices. Political instability, the possibility of government intervention and restrictive or opaque business and investment policies may also reduce the value of a country’s currency. Government monetary policies and the buying or selling of currency by a country’s government may also influence exchange rates. Currency exchange rates can be very volatile and can change quickly and unpredictably. As a result, the value of an investment in the Fund may change quickly and without warning, and you may lose money.

 

Derivatives Risk. The performance of derivative instruments (including currency derivatives) depends largely on the performance of an underlying currency, security, interest rate or index, and derivatives often have risks similar to the underlying instrument, in addition to other risks. Derivatives involve costs and can create economic leverage in the Fund’s portfolio which may result in significant volatility and cause the Fund to participate in losses (as well as gains) in an amount that significantly exceeds the Fund’s initial investment. Certain derivatives have the potential for unlimited loss, regardless of the size of the initial investment. Other risks include illiquidity, mispricing or improper valuation of the derivative, and imperfect correlation between the value of the derivative and the underlying instrument so that the Fund may not realize the intended benefits.

 

Their successful use will usually depend on Gadsden’s ability to accurately forecast movements in the market relating to the underlying instrument. Should a market or markets, or prices of particular classes of investments move in an unexpected manner, especially in unusual or extreme market conditions, the Fund may not achieve the anticipated benefits of the transaction, and it may realize losses, which could be significant. If Empowered is not successful in using derivative instruments (which will be based on Gadsden’s recommendations), the Fund’s performance may be worse than if Empowered did not use the derivatives at all.

 

When a derivative is used for hedging, the change in value of the derivative may also not correlate specifically with the currency, security, interest rate, index or other risk being hedged. Derivatives also may present the risk that the other party to the transaction will fail to perform. There is also the risk, especially under extreme market conditions, that a derivative, which usually would operate as a hedge, provides no hedging benefits at all.

 

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Use of derivatives could also result in a loss if the counterparty to the transaction does not perform as promised, including because of a counterparty’s bankruptcy or insolvency. This risk is heightened with respect to over-the-counter (“OTC”) instruments, such as some swap agreements and currency forwards, and may be greater during volatile market conditions. Other risks include the inability to close out a position because the trading market becomes illiquid (particularly in the OTC markets) or the availability of counterparties becomes limited for a period of time. In addition, the presence of speculators in a particular market could lead to price distortions. To the extent that the Fund is unable to close out a position because of market illiquidity, the Fund may not be able to prevent further losses of value in its derivatives holdings and the Fund’s liquidity may be impaired to the extent that it has a substantial portion of its otherwise liquid assets marked as segregated to cover its obligations under the derivative instruments. Some derivatives can be particularly sensitive to changes in interest rates or other market prices. Investors should bear in mind that, while the Fund intends to use derivative strategies on a regular basis, it is not obligated to actively engage in these transactions, generally or in any particular kind of derivative, if Gadsden elects not to do so due to availability, cost or other factors. The use of derivative strategies may also have a tax impact on the Fund. The timing and character of income, gains or losses from these strategies could impair the ability of Gadsden to use derivatives when it wishes to do so.

 

Emerging Markets Risk. Investments in securities and instruments traded in developing or emerging markets, or that provide exposure to those securities or markets, can involve additional risks relating to political, economic, or regulatory conditions not associated with investments in U.S. securities and instruments. For example, developing and emerging markets may be subject to (i) greater market volatility, (ii) lower trading volume and liquidity, (iii) greater social, political and economic uncertainty, (iv) governmental controls on foreign investments and limitations on repatriation of invested capital, (v) lower disclosure, corporate governance, auditing and financial reporting standards, (vi) fewer protections of property rights, (vii) restrictions on the transfer of securities or currency, and (viii) settlement and trading practices that differ from those in U.S. markets. Each of these factors may impact the ability of the Fund to buy, sell or otherwise transfer securities, adversely affect the trading market and price for Shares and cause the Fund to decline in value.

 

Equity Investing Risk. An investment in the Fund involves risks similar to those of investing in any fund holding equity securities, such as market fluctuations, changes in interest rates and perceived trends in stock prices. The values of equity securities could decline generally or could underperform other investments. Different types of equity securities tend to go through cycles of outperformance and underperformance in comparison to the general securities markets. In addition, securities may decline in value due to factors affecting a specific issuer, market or securities markets generally. Recent turbulence in financial markets and reduced liquidity in credit and fixed income markets may negatively affect many issuers worldwide, which may have an adverse effect on the Fund.

 

ETF Risks.

 

APs, Market Makers, and Liquidity Providers Concentration Risk. The Fund has a limited number of financial institutions that may act as APs. In addition, there may be a limited number of market makers and/or liquidity providers in the marketplace. To the extent either of the following events occur, Shares may trade at a material discount to NAV and possibly face delisting: (i) APs exit the business or otherwise become unable to process creation and/or redemption orders and no other APs step forward to perform these services, or (ii) market makers and/or liquidity providers exit the business or significantly reduce their business activities and no other entities step forward to perform their functions.

 

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Cost of Trading Risk. Investors buying or selling Shares in the secondary market pay brokerage commissions or other charges imposed by brokers as determined by that broker. Brokerage commissions are often a fixed amount and may be a significant proportional cost for investors seeking to buy or sell relatively small amounts of Shares. In addition, secondary market investors also incur the cost of the difference between the price that an investor is willing to pay for Shares (the “bid” price) and the price at which an investor is willing to sell Shares (the “ask” price). This difference in bid and ask prices is often referred to as the “spread” or “bid/ask spread.” The bid/ask spread varies over time for Shares based on trading volume and market liquidity, and is generally lower if the Fund’s Shares have more trading volume and market liquidity and higher if the Fund’s Shares have little trading volume and market liquidity. Further, increased market volatility may cause increased bid/ask spreads.

 

Premium-Discount Risk. The Shares may trade above or below their NAV. The NAV of the Fund will generally fluctuate with changes in the market value of the Fund’s holdings. The market prices of Shares, however, will generally fluctuate in accordance with changes in NAV as well as the relative supply of, and demand for, Shares on the Exchange and other securities exchanges. The trading price of Shares may deviate significantly from NAV during periods of market volatility or limited trading in Shares. The Adviser cannot predict whether Shares will trade below, at or above their NAV. Price differences may be due, in large part, to the fact that supply and demand forces at work in the secondary trading market for Shares will be closely related to, but not identical to, the same forces influencing the prices of the securities held by the Fund. However, given that Shares can be purchased and redeemed in large blocks of Shares, called Creation Units (unlike shares of closed-end funds, which frequently trade at appreciable discounts from, and sometimes at premiums to, their NAV), and the Fund’s portfolio holdings are fully disclosed on a daily basis, the Adviser believes that large discounts or premiums to the NAV of Shares should not be sustained, but that may not be the case.

 

Trading Risk. Although the Shares are listed on the Exchange, there can be no assurance that an active or liquid trading market for them will be maintained. In addition, trading in Shares on the Exchange may be halted due to market conditions or for reasons that, in the view of the Exchange, make trading in Shares inadvisable. Further, trading in Shares on the Exchange is subject to trading halts caused by extraordinary market volatility pursuant to the Exchange “circuit breaker” rules, which temporarily halt trading on the Exchange when a decline in the S&P 500 Index during a single day reaches certain thresholds (e.g., 7%, 13% and 20%). There can be no assurance that the requirements of the Exchange necessary to maintain the listing of the Fund will continue to be met or will remain unchanged.

 

Fixed Income Securities Risk, including High-Yield (Junk) Bond Risks. The Fund may invest in debt obligations, which are subject to one or more of the following risks:

 

Credit Risk. Bonds are subject to varying degrees of credit risk, which are often reflected in credit ratings. The value of an issuer’s securities held by the Fund may decline in response to adverse developments with respect to the issuer. In addition, the Fund could lose money if the issuer or guarantor of a bond is unable or unwilling to make timely principal and interest payments or to otherwise honor its obligations.

 

Interest Rate Risk. The income generated by debt securities owned by the Fund will be affected by changing interest rates. In addition, as interest rates rise the values of fixed income securities held by the Fund are likely to decrease. Securities with longer durations tend to be more sensitive to changes in interest rates, usually making them more volatile than securities with shorter durations. Falling interest rates may cause an issuer to redeem or “call” a security before its stated maturity, which may result in the Fund having to reinvest the proceeds in lower yielding securities. Rising interest rates across the U.S. financial system may result in fixed-income markets becoming more volatile. A rise in rates tends to have a greater impact on the prices of longer term or duration securities. Interest rates have recently been historically low, so the Fund faces a heightened risk that rates may rise.

 

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Liquidity Risk. Liquidity risk exists when particular investments are difficult to purchase or sell. Markets may become illiquid when, for example, there are few, if any, interested buyers or sellers or when dealers are unwilling or unable to make a market for particular securities. As a general matter, dealers recently have been less willing to make markets for fixed income securities. The Fund’s investments in illiquid securities may reduce the return of the Fund because it may be unable to sell the illiquid securities at an advantageous time or price. Investments in foreign securities, derivatives (e.g., options on securities, securities indexes, and foreign currencies) and securities with substantial market or credit risk tend to have the greatest exposure to liquidity risk. Illiquid securities may also be difficult to value.

 

Prepayment. Many types of debt securities, including mortgage securities, are subject to prepayment risk. Prepayment risk occurs when the issuer of a security can repay principal prior to the security’s maturity. Securities subject to prepayment can offer less potential for gains during a declining interest rate environment and similar or greater potential for loss in a rising interest rate environment. In addition, the potential impact of prepayment features on the price of a debt security can be difficult to predict and result in greater volatility.

 

Issuer-Specific Changes. Changes in the financial condition of an issuer or counterparty, changes in specific economic or political conditions that affect a particular type of security or issuer, and changes in general economic or political conditions can increase the risk of default by an issuer or counterparty, which can affect a security’s or instrument’s credit quality or value. Entities providing credit support or a maturity-shortening structure also can be affected by these types of changes, and if the structure of a security fails to function as intended, the security could decline in value.

 

Mortgage and Asset-Backed Securities Risks. Mortgage- and Asset-Backed Securities are subject to additional risks. Rising interest rates tend to extend the duration of mortgage- and asset-backed securities, making them more sensitive to changes in interest rates. As a result, when holding mortgage- and asset-backed securities in a period of rising interest rates, the Fund may exhibit additional volatility. In addition, mortgage- and asset-backed securities are subject to prepayment risk. When interest rates decline, borrowers may pay off their mortgages sooner than expected. This can reduce the returns of the Fund because it will have to reinvest that money at the lower prevailing interest rates. When interest rates rise, prepayments may decline, resulting in longer-than-anticipated maturities.

 

Municipal Securities Risks. Investments in municipal securities are subject to events in the relevant state(s) and U.S. territories, which may affect the Fund’s investment and its performance. These events may include economic or political policy changes, tax base erosion, unfunded pension and healthcare liabilities, constitutional limits on tax increases, budget deficits and other financial difficulties, and changes in the credit ratings assigned to municipal issuers of states in question.

 

The Fund may invest in municipal securities that finance similar types of projects, such as utilities, hospitals, higher education, real estate and transportation. A change that affects one project, such as proposed legislation on the financing of the project, a shortage of the materials needed for the project, or a declining need for the project, would likely affect all similar projects, thereby increasing market risk.

 

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The failure of a municipal security issuer to comply with applicable tax requirements may make income paid thereon taxable, resulting in a decline in the security’s value. In addition, there could be changes in applicable tax laws or tax treatments that reduce or eliminate the current federal income tax exemption on municipal securities or otherwise adversely affect the current federal or state tax status of municipal securities.

 

An investment in the Fund is subject to the risk that its distributions may decline when prevailing interest rates fall, when the Fund experiences defaults on debt securities it holds, or when the Fund realizes a loss upon the sale of a debt security.

 

Municipal securities are also subject to the risk that bond insurers may be unable to cover losses, especially in in the case of a catastrophic event. Due to the consolidation among municipal bond insurers the Fund is subject to additional risks including the risk that credit risk may be concentrated among fewer insurers and the risk that events involving one or more municipal bond insurers could have a significant adverse effect on the value of the securities insured by an insurer and on the municipal markets as a whole.

 

Other Fixed Income Securities Risks. Please see additional descriptions below for risks associated with High-Yield Debt Securities (Junk Bonds), Inflation-Linked Debt Securities, Sovereign Debt Securities, and U.S. Government Securities.

 

Foreign Investment Risk. The Fund may invest in foreign securities, including non-U.S. dollar-denominated securities traded outside of the United States and U.S. dollar-denominated securities of foreign issuers traded in the United States. Returns on investments in foreign securities could be more volatile than, or trail the returns on, investments in U.S. securities. Investments in foreign securities, including investments in American Depositary Receipts (ADRs), European Depositary Receipts (EDRs) and Global Depositary Receipts (GDRs), are subject to special risks, including the following:

 

Foreign Securities Risk. Investments in non-U.S. securities involve risks that may not be present with investments in U.S. securities. For example, investments in non-U.S. securities may be subject to risk of loss due to foreign currency fluctuations or to political or economic instability. There may be less information publicly available about a non-U.S. issuer than a U.S. issuer. Non-U.S. issuers may be subject to different accounting, auditing, financial reporting and investor protection standards than U.S. issuers. Changes to the financial condition or credit rating of foreign issuers may also adversely affect the value of the Fund’s securities. Investments in non-U.S. securities may be subject to withholding or other taxes and may be subject to additional trading, settlement, custodial, and operational risks. Because legal systems differ, there is also the possibility that it will be difficult to obtain or enforce legal judgments in some countries. Since foreign exchanges may be open on days when the Fund does not price its Shares, the value of the securities in the Fund’s portfolio may change on days when shareholders will not be able to purchase or sell the Fund’s Shares. Conversely, Shares may trade on days when foreign exchanges are closed. Investment in foreign securities may involve higher costs than investment in U.S. securities, including higher transaction and custody costs as well as the imposition of additional taxes by foreign governments. Each of these factors can make investments in the Fund more volatile and potentially less liquid than other types of investments.

 

Capital Controls Risk. Economic conditions, such as volatile currency exchange rates and interest rates, political events and other conditions may, without prior warning, lead to government intervention and the imposition of “capital controls” or expropriation or nationalization of assets. The possible establishment of exchange controls or freezes on the convertibility of currency, or the adoption of other governmental restrictions, might adversely affect an investment in foreign securities. Capital controls include the prohibition of, or restrictions on, the ability to transfer currency, securities or other assets within or out of a jurisdiction. Levies may be placed on profits repatriated by foreign entities (such as the Fund). Capital controls may impact the ability of the Fund to buy, sell or otherwise transfer securities or currency, may adversely affect the trading market and price for Shares of the Fund, and may cause the Fund to decline in value.

 

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Depositary Receipt Risk. The Fund’s investments in foreign companies may be in the form of depositary receipts, including ADRs, EDRs, and GDRs. ADRs, EDRs, and GDRs are generally subject to the risks of investing directly in foreign securities and, in some cases, there may be less information available about the underlying issuers than would be the case with a direct investment in the foreign issuer. ADRs are U.S. dollar-denominated receipts representing shares of foreign-based corporations. GDRs are similar to ADRs but are shares of foreign-based corporations generally issued by international banks in one or more markets around the world. Investment in ADRs and GDRs may be more or less liquid than the underlying shares in their primary trading market and GDRs may be more volatile. Depositary receipts may be “sponsored” or “unsponsored” and may be unregistered and unlisted. Sponsored depositary receipts are established jointly by a depositary and the underlying issuer, whereas unsponsored depositary receipts may be established by a depositary without participation by the underlying issuer. Holders of an unsponsored depositary receipt generally bear all the costs associated with establishing the unsponsored depositary receipt. In addition, the issuers of the securities underlying unsponsored depositary receipts are not obligated to disclose material information in the United States and, therefore, there may be less information available regarding those issuers and there may not be a correlation between that information and the market value of the depositary receipts. In general, ADRs must be sponsored, but the Fund may invest in unsponsored ADRs under various limited circumstances. It is expected that not more than 10% of the net assets of the Fund will be invested in unsponsored ADRs. The Fund’s investments may also include ADRs and GDRs that are not purchased in the public markets and are restricted securities that can be offered and sold only to “qualified institutional buyers” under Rule 144A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”). The Adviser will determine the liquidity of these investments pursuant to guidelines established by the Board. If a particular investment in ADRs or GDRs is deemed illiquid, that investment will be included within the Fund’s limitation on investment in illiquid securities. Moreover, if adverse market conditions were to develop during the period between the Fund’s decision to sell these types of ADRs or GDRs and the point at which the Fund is permitted or able to sell the security, the Fund might obtain a price less favorable than the price that prevailed when it decided to sell.

 

Currency Risk. The Fund’s NAV is determined on the basis of U.S. dollars; therefore, the Fund may lose value if the local currency of a foreign market depreciates against the U.S. dollar, even if the local currency value of the Fund’s holdings goes up. Currency exchange rates may fluctuate significantly over short periods of time. Currency exchange rates also can be affected unpredictably by intervention; by failure to intervene by U.S. or foreign governments or central banks; or by currency controls or political developments in the U.S. or abroad. Changes in foreign currency exchange rates may affect the NAV of the Fund and the price of the Fund’s Shares. Devaluation of a currency by a country’s government or banking authority would have a significant impact on the value of any investments denominated in that currency.

 

Political and Economic Risk. The Fund is subject to foreign political and economic risk not associated with U.S. investments, meaning that political events (civil unrest, national elections, changes in political conditions and foreign relations, imposition of exchange controls and repatriation restrictions), social and economic events (labor strikes, rising inflation) and natural disasters occurring in a foreign country could cause the Fund’s investments to experience gains or losses. The Fund also could be unable to enforce its ownership rights or pursue legal remedies in countries where it invests.

 

Foreign Market and Trading Risk. The trading markets for many foreign securities are not as active as U.S. markets and may have less governmental regulation and oversight. Foreign markets also may have clearance and settlement procedures that make it difficult for the Fund to buy and sell securities. The procedures and rules governing foreign transactions and custody (holding of the Fund’s assets) also may involve delays in payment, delivery or recovery of money or investments. These factors could result in a loss to the Fund by causing the Fund to be unable to dispose of an investment or to miss an attractive investment opportunity, or by causing Fund assets to be uninvested for some period of time.

 

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Geographic Investment Risk. To the extent the Fund invests a significant portion of its assets in the securities of companies of a single country or region, it is more likely to be impacted by events or conditions affecting that country or region.

 

Geopolitical/Natural Disaster Risks. The Fund’s investments are subject to geopolitical and natural disaster risks, such as war, terrorism, trade disputes, political or economic dysfunction within some nations, public health crises and related geopolitical events, as well as environmental disasters, epidemics and/or pandemics, which may add to instability in world economies and volatility in markets. The impact may be short-term or may last for extended periods.

 

The respiratory illness COVID-19 caused by a novel coronavirus has resulted in a global pandemic and major disruption to economies and markets around the world, including the United States. Financial markets have experienced extreme volatility and severe losses, and trading in many instruments has been disrupted. Liquidity for many instruments has been greatly reduced for periods of time. Some interest rates are very low and in some cases yields are negative. Some sectors of the economy and individual issuers have experienced particularly large losses. These circumstances may continue for an extended period of time, and may affect adversely the value and liquidity of the Fund’s investments.

 

High Portfolio Turnover Risk. The Fund’s investment strategy results in higher turnover rates. This may increase a Fund’s brokerage commission costs. The performance of a Fund could be negatively impacted by the increased brokerage commission costs incurred by the Fund. Rapid portfolio turnover also exposes shareholders to a higher current realization of short-term capital gains, distributions of which would generally be taxed to you as ordinary income and thus cause you to pay higher taxes.

 

High-Yield Debt Securities (Junk Bonds) Risk. The Fund may invest in debt securities that are rated below investment grade (i.e., “junk bonds”) by nationally recognized statistical rating organizations, or are unrated or stale-rated securities that the investment adviser believes are of comparable quality. Junk bonds are considered speculative with respect to their capacity to pay interest and repay principal in accordance with the terms of the obligation. While generally providing greater income and opportunity for gain, non-investment grade debt securities are subject to greater risks than higher-rated securities.

 

Companies that issue junk bonds are often highly leveraged and may not have more traditional methods of financing available to them. During an economic downturn or recession, highly leveraged issuers of high-yield securities may experience financial stress, and may not have sufficient revenues to meet their interest payment obligations. Economic downturns tend to disrupt the market for junk bonds, lowering their values and increasing their price volatility. The risk of issuer default is higher with respect to junk bonds because those issues may be subordinated to other creditors of the issuer.

 

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The credit rating from a nationally recognized statistical rating organization of a junk bond does not necessarily address its market value risk, and ratings may from time to time change to reflect developments regarding the issuer’s financial condition. The lower the rating of a junk bond, the more speculative its characteristics.

 

The Fund may have difficulty selling some junk bonds because they may have a thin trading market. The lack of a liquid secondary market may have an adverse effect on the market price and the Fund’s ability to dispose of particular issues and may also make it more difficult for the Fund to obtain accurate market quotations in valuing these assets. In the event the Fund experiences an unexpected level of net redemptions, the Fund could be forced to sell its junk bonds at an unfavorable price. Prices of junk bonds have been found to be less sensitive to fluctuations in interest rates and more sensitive to adverse economic changes and individual corporate developments than those of higher-rated debt securities.

 

Inflation-Linked Debt Securities Risks. Inflation-linked securities include fixed and floating rate debt securities of varying maturities issued by the U.S. government, its agencies and instrumentalities, such as Treasury Inflation Protected Securities (“TIPS”). Typically, these securities are structured as fixed income investments whose principal value is periodically adjusted according to the rate of inflation. The following two structures are common: (i) the U.S. Treasury and some other issuers issue inflation-linked securities that accrue inflation into the principal value of the security and (ii) other issuers may pay out the Consumer Price Index (“CPI”) accruals as part of a semi-annual coupon. Other types of inflation-linked securities exist which use an inflation index other than the CPI.

 

If the periodic adjustment rate measuring inflation falls, the principal value of inflation-indexed bonds will be adjusted downward, and consequently the interest payable on these securities (calculated with respect to a smaller principal amount) will be reduced. Repayment of the original bond principal upon maturity (as adjusted for inflation) is guaranteed in the case of TIPS, even during a period of deflation, although the inflation-adjusted principal received could be less than the inflation-adjusted principal that had accrued to the bond at the time of purchase. However, the current market value of the bonds is not guaranteed and will fluctuate. Other inflation-related bonds exist which may or may not provide a similar guarantee. If a guarantee of principal is not provided, the adjusted principal value of the bond repaid at maturity may be less than the original principal.

 

Leveraged, Inverse, and Inverse-Leveraged ETF Risk. Leveraged, inverse, and inverse-leveraged ETFs expose the Fund to all of the risks that traditional ETFs present (see “ETF Risks” above). Leveraged ETFs seek to provide investment results that match a multiple of the performance of an underlying index (e.g., three times the performance). Inverse ETFs seek to provide investment results that match a negative (i.e., the opposite) of the performance of an underlying index. Leveraged inverse ETFs seek to provide investment results that match a negative multiple of the performance of an underlying index. All leveraged, inverse, and inverse-leveraged ETFs rely to some degree, often extensively, on derivatives to achieve their objectives and, thus, the Fund is indirectly exposed to derivatives risk through its investments in these ETFs. Further, investments in leveraged, inverse, or inverse-leveraged ETFs are subject to the risk that the performance of the ETF will not correlate with the underlying index as intended. Leveraged, inverse, and inverse leveraged ETFs often “reset” daily, meaning that they are designed to achieve their stated objectives on a daily basis. Due to the effect of compounding, their performance over longer periods of time can differ significantly from the performance (or inverse of the performance) of their underlying index or benchmark during the same period of time. This effect can be magnified in volatile markets. Consequently, these investment vehicles may be extremely volatile and can potentially expose the Fund to complete loss of its investment.

 

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Management Risk. The Fund is actively-managed and may not meet its investment objective based on the Adviser’s or Gadsden’s success or failure to implement investment strategies for the Fund. The Adviser’s and Gadsden’s evaluations and assumptions regarding asset classes and direct investments may not successfully achieve the Fund’s investment objective given actual market trends. The Adviser will generally follow Gadsden’s investment recommendations to buy, hold, and sell securities and financial instruments. However, the Adviser may deviate from Gadsden’s recommendations due to a clear error in a particular recommendation, compliance concerns (e.g., concentration limits), liquidity concerns, authorized participant-related concerns, or due to regulatory requirements.

 

Quantitative Security Selection Risk. Data for some issuers may be less available and/or less current than data for issuers in other markets. Gadsden uses quantitative models in conjunction with fundamental analysis, and its processes could be adversely affected if erroneous or outdated data is utilized. In addition, securities selected using a quantitative model could perform differently from the financial markets as a whole as a result of the characteristics used in the analysis, the weight placed on each characteristic and changes in the characteristic’s historical trends. The factors used in those analyses may not be predictive of a security’s value and its effectiveness can change over time. These changes may not be reflected in the quantitative models.

 

REIT Investment Risk. Investments in REITs involve unique risks. REITs may have limited financial resources, may trade less frequently and in limited volume, and may be more volatile than other securities. In addition, to the extent the Fund holds interests in REITs, it is expected that investors in the Fund will bear two layers of asset-based management fees and expenses (directly at the Fund level and indirectly at the REIT level). The risks of investing in REITs include risks associated with the direct ownership of real estate and the real estate industry in general. These include risks related to general, regional and local economic conditions; fluctuations in interest rates and property tax rates; shifts in zoning laws, environmental regulations and other governmental action like the exercise of eminent domain; cash flow dependency; increased operating expenses; lack of availability of mortgage funds; losses due to natural disasters; overbuilding; losses due to casualty or condemnation; changes in property values and rental rates; and other factors. In addition to these risks, residential/diversified REITs and commercial equity REITs may be affected by changes in the value of the underlying property owned by the trusts, while mortgage REITs may be affected by the quality of any credit extended. Further, REITs are dependent upon management skills and generally may not be diversified. REITs are also subject to heavy cash flow dependency, defaults by borrowers and self-liquidation. In addition, REITs could possibly fail to qualify for the beneficial tax treatment available to REITs under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (the “Code”), or to maintain their exemptions from registration under the 1940 Act. The Fund expects that dividends received from a REIT and distributed to Fund shareholders generally will be taxable to the shareholder as ordinary income. The above factors may also adversely affect a borrower’s or a lessee’s ability to meet its obligations to the REIT. In the event of a default by a borrower or lessee, the REIT may experience delays in enforcing its rights as a mortgagee or lessor and may incur substantial costs associated with protecting investments.

 

Small- and Mid-Capitalization Companies Risk. The securities of small- and mid-capitalization companies may be more vulnerable to adverse issuer, market, political, or economic developments than securities of larger-capitalization companies. The securities of small- and mid-capitalization companies generally trade in lower volumes and are subject to greater and more unpredictable price changes than larger capitalization stocks or the stock market as a whole. Some smaller capitalization companies have limited product lines, markets, and financial and managerial resources and tend to concentrate on fewer geographical markets relative to larger capitalization companies. There is typically less publicly available information concerning smaller-capitalization companies than for larger, more established companies. Smaller-capitalization companies also may be particularly sensitive to changes in interest rates, government regulation, borrowing costs and earnings.

 

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Sovereign Debt Securities Risks. Investments in foreign government debt securities (sometimes referred to as sovereign debt securities) involve risks in addition to those relating to foreign securities or debt securities generally. The issuer of the debt or the governmental authorities that control the repayment of the debt may be unable or unwilling to repay principal or interest when due in accordance with the terms of the debt, and the Fund may have limited recourse in the event of a default against the defaulting government. A foreign government debtor’s willingness or ability to repay principal and pay interest in a timely manner may be affected by, among other factors, its cash flow situation, the extent of its foreign currency reserves, the availability of sufficient foreign exchange, the relative size of the debt burden, the foreign government debtor’s policy toward its principal international lenders and local political constraints. Certain issuers of foreign government debt may be dependent on disbursements from foreign governments, multinational agencies and other entities to reduce principal and interest arrearages on their debt. Without the approval of debt holders, some governmental debtors have in the past been able to reschedule or restructure their debt payments or declare moratoria on payments.

 

Underlying Funds Risk. The Fund will normally invest in other exchange-traded vehicles (“Underlying Funds”). The Fund may invest in various types of Underlying Funds, like exchange-traded funds (ETFs), exchange-traded notes (ETNs), and exchange-traded commodities (ECNs).

 

Investment in Underlying Funds may involve duplication of management fees and other expenses because the Fund indirectly bears its proportionate share of any expenses paid by the Underlying Funds in which it invests.

 

In addition to the risks associated with the underlying investments held by an Underlying Fund, investments in Underlying Funds are subject to the risks listed above under ETF Risks. Additionally, if an Underlying Fund is passively-managed, it may not accurately track the performance of the reference asset, and it would likely not sell a security due to market volatility or because the issuer of the security was in financial trouble unless the security is removed from the index the Underlying Fund seeks to track.

 

ETNs are subject to the credit risk of the issuer, and the value of an ETN may drop due to a downgrade in the issuer’s credit rating, despite the underlying market benchmark or assets remaining unchanged. The value of an ETN may also be influenced by time to maturity, level of supply and demand for the ETN, volatility and illiquidity in the underlying market, changes in the applicable interest rates, and economic, legal, political, or geographic events that affect the referenced underlying market or assets. ETNs are also subject to the risk that the other party to the contract will not fulfill its contractual obligations, which may cause losses or additional costs to the Fund. For some ETNs, there may be restrictions on the Fund’s right to redeem its investment in the ETN, which is meant to be held until maturity.

 

ETCs are subject to the risk of a lack of liquidity that can result in an ETC’s value being more volatile than the underlying commodity instruments themselves. ETCs that invest in physical gold or silver may be, or may become, subject to regulatory trading limits that could hurt the value of their securities and could affect the Fund’s ability to pursue its investment objective. Additionally, ETCs are not registered under the 1940 Act and therefore, are not subject to the regulatory scheme and investor protections of the 1940 Act. Income derived from commodities is generally not qualifying income for purposes of the regulated investment company diversification tests under the Code. In the event of a defaulted ETN or ETC held by the Fund, shareholders will not have a claim on the reference assets of the defaulted investment.

 

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U.S. Government Securities Risk. The Fund may invest in U.S. Treasury obligations and securities issued or guaranteed by the U.S. Treasury. U.S. government securities are subject to market risk, interest rate risk and credit risk. Securities, such as those issued or guaranteed the U.S. Treasury, that are backed by the full faith and credit of the United States are guaranteed only as to the timely payment of interest and principal when held to maturity and the market prices for such securities will fluctuate. Notwithstanding that these securities are backed by the full faith and credit of the United States, circumstances could arise that would prevent the payment of interest or principal. This would result in losses to relevant Underlying Funds and, in turn, the Funds.

 

Fund Management

 

Investment Adviser

 

Empowered Funds, LLC acts as the Fund’s investment adviser. The Adviser is located at 19 East Eagle Road, Havertown, PA 19083 and is wholly-owned by Alpha Architect LLC. The Adviser is registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 and provides investment advisory services solely to the Fund and other exchange-traded funds. The Adviser was founded in October, 2013.

 

The Adviser is responsible for overseeing the management and business affairs of the Fund, and has discretion to purchase and sell securities in accordance with the Fund’s objectives, policies and restrictions. The Adviser continuously reviews, supervises and administers the Fund’s investment programs pursuant to the terms of investment advisory agreement (the “Advisory Agreement”) between the Trust and the Adviser. During the fiscal period November 2, 2020, through September 30, 2021, the aggregate advisory fee paid the Adviser was $586,878. The Adviser is entitled to receive the following Advisory Fee: 0.59% (annual rate as a percentage of average daily net assets).

 

The Adviser (or an affiliate of the Adviser) bears all of the Adviser’s own costs associated with providing these advisory services and all expenses of the Fund, except for the fee payment under the Advisory Agreement, payments under the Fund’s Rule 12b-1 Distribution and Service Plan (the “Plan”), brokerage expenses, acquired fund fees and expenses, taxes (including tax-related services), interest (including borrowing costs), litigation expense (including class action-related services), and other non-routine or extraordinary expenses.

 

The Advisory Agreement for the Fund provides that it may be terminated at any time, without the payment of any penalty, by the Board or, with respect to the Fund, by a majority of the outstanding shares of the Fund, on 60 days’ written notice to the Adviser, and by the Adviser upon 60 days’ written notice, and that it shall be automatically terminated if it is assigned.

 

Investment Sub-Adviser

 

Gadsden: The Adviser has retained Gadsden, LLC, an investment adviser registered with the SEC, to provide sub-advisory services for the Fund. Gadsden is organized as a Delaware limited liability company with its principal offices located at 656 E. Swedesford Road, Suite 301, Wayne, PA 19087, and was founded in 2017. Gadsden offers investment management services to individual and institutional clients, as well as the Fund, with a focus on using model asset allocation portfolios. Gadsden is responsible for determining the investment exposures for the Fund, subject to the overall supervision and oversight of the Adviser and the Board.

 

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Gadsden performs its services as a non-discretionary sub-adviser, which means that Gadsden is not responsible for selecting brokers or placing the Fund’s trades. Rather, Gadsden provides trade recommendations to the Adviser and, in turn, the Adviser is responsible for selecting brokers and placing the Fund’s trades. It is anticipated that the Adviser will generally adhere to Gadsden’s recommendations.

 

For its services, the Adviser pays Gadsden a fee, which is calculated daily and paid monthly, at an annual rate based on the Fund’s average daily net assets as follows: 0.10% (annual rate as a percentage of average daily net assets).

 

Fund Sponsor

 

The Adviser has entered into a fund sponsorship agreement with Gadsden pursuant to which Gadsden is also the sponsor of the Fund (“Fund Sponsor”). Under this arrangement, the Fund Sponsor has agreed to provide financial support to the Fund (as described below) and, in turn, the Adviser has agreed to share with the Fund Sponsor a portion of profits, if any, generated by the Fund’s Advisory Fee (also as described below). Every month, the Advisory Fee, which is a unitary management fee, is calculated and paid to the Adviser. 

 

If the amount of the unitary management fee exceeds the Fund’s operating expenses and the Adviser-retained amount, the Adviser pays the net total to the Fund Sponsor. The amount paid to the Fund Sponsor represents both the sub-advisory fee and any remaining profits from the Advisory Fee. During months where there are no profits or the funds are not sufficient to cover the entire sub-advisory fee, the sub-advisory fee is automatically waived.

 

If the amount of the unitary management fee is less than the Fund’s operating expenses and the Adviser-retained amount, Fund Sponsor is obligated to reimburse the Adviser for the shortfall.

 

Approval of Advisory Agreement & Investment Sub-Advisory Agreement

 

A discussion regarding the basis for the Board’s approval of the Advisory Agreement and the sub-advisory agreement with respect to the Fund is available in the Fund’s semi-annual report.

 

Portfolio Managers

 

The portfolio managers are jointly and primarily responsible for various functions related to portfolio management, including, but not limited to, making recommendations (or implementing) with respect to the following: investing cash inflows, implementing investment strategy, researching and reviewing investment strategy, and overseeing members of the portfolio management team with more limited responsibilities.

 

Kevin R. Harper, MBA, Chief Investment Officer of Gadsden, has been with Gadsden since its founding in 2017 and with affiliates of Gadsden since 2013. Mr. Harper is responsible for the development and implementation of Gadsden’s investment strategy and the design of the firm’s research infrastructure and is the Chairman of Gadsden’s investment committee. He has 20 years of experience, including nine years working for and investing on behalf of leading Ivy League endowments. Most recently, he served as Senior Portfolio Manager from 2010 to 2013 for Forefront Analytics, a multi-family office and an institutional alternatives advisor to multi-billion Taft-Hartley and Fortune 50 pension plans. Mr. Harper obtained his undergraduate degree and Master of Business Administration from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

 

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James W. Judge, MBA, CFA, Senior Director of Gadsden, has been with Gadsden since its founding in 2017 and with affiliates of Gadsden since 2014. Mr. Judge is responsible for broad portfolio management functions including portfolio construction and recommendations and is a member of Gadsden’s investment committee. He has over 12 years of experience, including five years serving as an analyst, trader, and portfolio manager for two institutional asset management firms. Most recently, Mr. Judge served as Senior Portfolio Manager from 2010 to 2014 for Forefront Analytics, a multi-family office and an institutional alternatives advisor to multi-billion Taft-Hartley and Fortune 50 pension plans. Mr. Judge obtained his undergraduate degree from Boston College and Master of Business Administration from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

 

Mr. Brandon Koepke has been portfolio manager of the Fund since November 2020. Mr. Koepke has advised on trading and execution matters for the Adviser since January 2017, where he heads the trading department and assists in quantitative research. Prior to Mr. Koepke’s tenure with the Adviser, Mr. Koepke was a software engineer for Amazon. Mr. Koepke has a B.Sc in Computer Science and a B.Comm specializing in Finance from the University of Calgary. A B.Comm degree is an undergraduate degree in commerce and related subjects. He is also a CFA® Charterholder.

 

Mr. Richard Shaner has been portfolio manager of the Fund since 2022. Mr. Shaner has advised on trading and execution matters for the Adviser since January 2021, where he supports trading operations and assists in quantitative research. Prior to Mr. Shaner’s tenure with the Adviser, Mr. Shaner executed various trading strategies for a private family office. Mr. Shaner has a B.Sc in Kinesiology and Applied Physiology from the University of Colorado. He is also a CFA® Charterholder.

 

Messrs. Koepke and Shaner are responsible for implementing the Fund’s investment strategies.

 

The Fund’s SAI provides additional information about the portfolio managers, including other accounts they manage, their ownership in the Fund and compensation.

 

Other Service Providers

 

Quasar Distributors, LLC (“Distributor”) serves as the distributor of Creation Units (defined above) for the Fund on an agency basis. The Distributor does not maintain a secondary market in Shares.

 

U.S. Bancorp Fund Services, LLC, doing business as U.S. Bank Global Fund Services, is the administrator, fund accountant, and transfer agent for the Fund.

 

U.S. Bank National Association is the custodian for the Fund.

 

Practus, LLC, 11300 Tomahawk Creek Parkway, Suite 310, Leawood, Kansas 66211, serves as legal counsel to the Trust.

 

Spicer Jeffries LLP, 4601 DTC Boulevard, Suite 700, Denver, CO 80237, serves as the Fund’s independent registered public accounting firm. The independent registered public accounting firm is responsible for auditing the annual financial statements of the Fund.

 

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The Exchange

 

Shares of the Fund are not sponsored, endorsed or promoted by the Exchange. The Exchange is not responsible for, nor has it participated, in the determination of the timing of, prices of, or quantities of Shares of the Fund to be issued, nor in the determination or calculation of the equation by which the Shares are redeemable. The Exchange has no obligation or liability to owners of the Shares of the Fund in connection with the administration, marketing or trading of the Shares of the Fund. Without limiting any of the foregoing, in no event shall the Exchange have any liability for any direct, indirect, special, punitive, consequential or any other damages (including lost profits) even if notified of the possibility of such damages.

 

Buying and Selling Fund Shares

 

Shares will be issued or redeemed by the Fund at NAV per Share only in Creation Units of 10,000 Shares. Creation Units are generally issued and redeemed only in-kind for securities although a portion may be in cash.

 

Shares will trade on the secondary market, however, which is where most retail investors will buy and sell Shares. It is expected that only a limited number of institutional investors, called Authorized Participants or “APs,” will purchase and redeem Shares directly from the Fund. APs may acquire Shares directly from the Fund, and APs may tender their Shares for redemption directly to the Fund, at NAV per Share only in large blocks, or Creation Units. Purchases and redemptions directly with the Fund must follow the Fund’s procedures, which are described in the SAI.

 

Except when aggregated in Creation Units, Shares are not redeemable with the Fund.

 

Buying and Selling Shares on the Secondary Market

 

Most investors will buy and sell Shares in secondary market transactions through brokers and, therefore, must have a brokerage account to buy and sell Shares. Shares can be bought or sold through your broker throughout the trading day like shares of any publicly traded issuer. The Trust does not impose any redemption fees or restrictions on redemptions of Shares in the secondary market. When buying or selling Shares through a broker, you will incur customary brokerage commissions and charges, and you may pay some or all of the spread between the bid and the offered prices in the secondary market for Shares. The price at which you buy or sell Shares (i.e., the market price) may be more or less than the NAV of the Shares. Unless imposed by your broker, there is no minimum dollar amount you must invest in the Fund and no minimum number of Shares you must buy.

 

Shares of the Fund are listed on the Exchange under the following symbol:

 

Fund   Trading Symbol
Gadsden Dynamic Multi-Asset ETF   GDMA

 

The Exchange is generally open Monday through Friday and is closed for weekends and the following holidays: New Year’s Day, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, Presidents’ Day, Good Friday, Memorial Day, Juneteenth Independence Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day, and Christmas Day.

 

For information about buying and selling Shares on the Exchange or in the secondary markets, please contact your broker or dealer.

 

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Book Entry. Shares are held in book entry form, which means that no stock certificates are issued. The Depository Trust Company (“DTC”), or its nominee, will be the registered owner of all outstanding Shares of the Fund and is recognized as the owner of all Shares. Participants in DTC include securities brokers and dealers, banks, trust companies, clearing corporations and other institutions that directly or indirectly maintain a custodial relationship with DTC. As a beneficial owner of Shares, you are not entitled to receive physical delivery of stock certificates or to have Shares registered in your name, and you are not considered a registered owner of Shares. Therefore, to exercise any right as an owner of Shares, you must rely on the procedures of DTC and its participants. These procedures are the same as those that apply to any stocks that you hold in book entry or “street name” through your brokerage account. Your account information will be maintained by your broker, which will provide you with account statements, confirmations of your purchases and sales of Shares, and tax information. Your broker also will be responsible for distributing income dividends and capital gain distributions and for ensuring that you receive shareholder reports and other communications from the Fund.

 

Share Trading Prices. The trading prices of the Fund’s Shares may differ from the Fund’s daily NAV and can be affected by market forces of supply and demand for the Fund’s Shares, the prices of the Fund’s portfolio securities, economic conditions and other factors.

 

The Exchange through the facilities of the Consolidated Tape Association or another market information provider intends to disseminate the approximate value of the Fund’s portfolio every fifteen seconds during regular U.S. trading hours. This approximate value should not be viewed as a “real-time” update of the NAV of the Fund because the approximate value may not be calculated in the same manner as the NAV, which is computed once a day. The quotations for certain investments may not be updated during U.S. trading hours if such holdings do not trade in the U.S., except such quotations may be updated to reflect currency fluctuations. The Fund is not involved in, or responsible for, the calculation or dissemination of the approximate values and makes no warranty as to the accuracy of these values.

 

Continuous Offering. The method by which Creation Units of Shares are created and traded may raise certain issues under applicable securities laws. Because new Creation Units of Shares are issued and sold by the Fund on an ongoing basis, a “distribution,” as such term is used in the Securities Act, may occur at any point. Broker-dealers and other persons are cautioned that some activities on their part may, depending on the circumstances, result in their being deemed participants in a distribution in a manner which could render them statutory underwriters and subject them to the prospectus delivery requirements and liability provisions of the Securities Act. For example, a broker-dealer firm or its client may be deemed a statutory underwriter if it takes Creation Units after placing an order with the Distributor, breaks them down into constituent Shares and sells the Shares directly to customers or if it chooses to couple the creation of a supply of new Shares with an active selling effort involving solicitation of secondary market demand for Shares. A determination of whether one is an underwriter for purposes of the Securities Act must take into account all the facts and circumstances pertaining to the activities of the broker-dealer or its client in the particular case, and the examples mentioned above should not be considered a complete description of all the activities that could lead to a characterization as an underwriter.

 

Broker-dealer firms should also note that dealers who are not “underwriters” but are effecting transactions in Shares, whether or not participating in the distribution of Shares, are generally required to deliver a prospectus. This is because the prospectus delivery exemption in Section 4(a)(3) of the Securities Act is not available in respect of such transactions as a result of Section 24(d) of the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “Investment Company Act”). As a result, broker-dealer firms should note that dealers who are not “underwriters” but are participating in a distribution (as contrasted with engaging in ordinary secondary market transactions) and thus dealing with the Shares that are part of an overallotment within the meaning of Section 4(a)(3)(C) of the Securities Act, will be unable to take advantage of the prospectus delivery exemption provided by Section 4(a)(3) of the Securities Act. For delivery of prospectuses to exchange members, the prospectus delivery mechanism of Rule 153 under the Securities Act is only available with respect to transactions on a national exchange.

 

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Active Investors and Market Timing

 

The Board has evaluated the risks of market timing activities by the Fund’s shareholders. The Board noted that the Fund’s Shares can be purchased and redeemed directly from the Fund only in Creation Units by APs and that the vast majority of trading in the Fund’s Shares occurs on the secondary market. Because the secondary market trades do not directly involve the Fund, it is unlikely those trades would cause the harmful effects of market timing, including dilution, disruption of portfolio management, increases in the Fund’s trading costs and the realization of capital gains. With regard to the purchase or redemption of Creation Units directly with the Fund, to the extent effected in-kind (i.e., for securities), the Board noted that those trades do not cause the harmful effects (as previously noted) that may result from frequent cash trades. To the extent trades are effected in whole or in part in cash, the Board noted that those trades could result in dilution to the Fund and increased transaction costs, which could negatively impact the Fund’s ability to achieve its investment objective, although in certain circumstances (e.g., in conjunction with a rellocation of the Fund’s investments), such trades may benefit Fund shareholders by increasing the tax efficiency of the Fund. The Board also noted that direct trading by APs is critical to ensuring that the Fund’s Shares trade at or close to NAV. In addition, the Fund will impose transaction fees on purchases and redemptions of Shares to cover the custodial and other costs incurred by the Fund in effecting trades. Given this structure, the Board determined that it is not necessary to adopt policies and procedures to detect and deter market timing of the Fund’s Shares.

 

Distribution and Service Plan

 

The Fund has adopted the Plan pursuant to Rule 12b-1 under the Investment Company Act. Under the Plan, the Fund may be authorized to pay distribution fees of up to 0.25% of its average daily net assets each year to the Distributor and other firms that provide distribution and shareholder services (“Service Providers”). As of the date of this Prospectus, the maximum amount payable under the Plan is set at 0% until further action by the Board. In the event 12b-1 fees are charged, over time they would increase the cost of an investment in the Fund because they would be paid on an ongoing basis.

 

Net Asset Value

 

The NAV of Shares is calculated each business day as of the close of regular trading on the New York Stock Exchange (“NYSE”), generally 4:00 p.m., Eastern time.

 

The Fund calculates its NAV per Share by:

 

Taking the current market value of its total assets,

 

Subtracting any liabilities, and

 

Dividing that amount by the total number of Shares owned by shareholders.

 

If you buy or sell Shares on the secondary market, you will pay or receive the market price, which may be higher or lower than NAV. Your transaction will be priced at NAV only if you purchase or redeem your Shares in Creation Units.

 

Because securities listed on foreign exchanges may trade on weekends or other days when the Fund does not price its Shares, the NAV of the Fund, to the extent it may hold foreign securities, may change on days when shareholders will not be able to purchase or sell Shares.

 

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Equity securities that are traded on a national securities exchange, except those listed on the NASDAQ Global Market® (“NASDAQ”) are valued at the last reported sale price on the exchange on which the security is principally traded. Securities traded on NASDAQ will be valued at the NASDAQ Official Closing Price (“NOCP”). If, on a particular day, an exchange-traded or NASDAQ security does not trade, then the most recent quoted bid for exchange traded or the mean between the most recent quoted bid and ask price for NASDAQ securities will be used. Equity securities that are not traded on a listed exchange are generally valued at the last sale price in the over-the-counter market. If a nonexchange traded security does not trade on a particular day, then the mean between the last quoted closing bid and asked price will be used.

 

The value of assets denominated in foreign currencies is converted into U.S. dollars using exchange rates deemed appropriate by the Fund.

 

Redeemable securities issued by open-end investment companies are valued at the investment company’s applicable net asset value, with the exception of exchange-traded open-end investment companies which are priced as equity securities.

 

If a market price is not readily available or is deemed not to reflect market value, the Fund will determine the price of the security held by the Fund based on a determination of the security’s fair value pursuant to policies and procedures approved by the Board.

 

Fair valuation may have the effect of reducing stale pricing arbitrage opportunities presented by the pricing of Shares. However, when the Fund uses fair valuation to price securities, it may value those securities higher or lower than another fund would have priced the security. Also, the use of fair valuation may cause the Shares’ NAV performance to diverge from the Shares’ market price and from the performance of various benchmarks used to compare the Fund’s performance because benchmarks generally do not use fair valuation techniques. Because of the judgment involved in fair valuation decisions, there can be no assurance that the value ascribed to a particular security is accurate.

 

Fund Website and Disclosure of Portfolio Holdings

 

The Trust maintains a website for the Fund at www.gadsdenfunds.com. Among other things, the website includes this Prospectus and the SAI, and includes the Fund’s holdings, the Fund’s last annual and semi-annual reports. The website shows the Fund’s daily NAV per share, market price, and premium or discount, each as of the prior business day. The website also shows the extent and frequency of the Fund’s premiums and discounts. Further, the website includes the Fund’s median bid-ask spread over the most recent thirty calendar days.

 

Each day the Fund is open for business, the Trust publicly disseminates the Fund’s full portfolio holdings as of the close of the previous day through its website at www.gadsdenfunds.com. A description of the Trust’s policies and procedures with respect to the disclosure of the Fund’s portfolio holdings is available in the Fund’s SAI.

 

Investments by Other Investment Companies

 

For purposes of the Investment Company Act, Shares are issued by a registered investment company and purchases of such Shares by registered investment companies and companies relying on Section 3(c)(1) or 3(c)(7) of the Investment Company Act are subject to the restrictions set forth in Section 12(d)(1) of the Investment Company Act, except as permitted by Rule 6c-11, Rule 12d1-4, or an exemptive order of the SEC.

 

Dividends, Distributions, and Taxes

 

As with any investment, you should consider how your investment in Shares will be taxed. The tax information in this Prospectus is provided as general information. You should consult your own tax professional about the tax consequences of an investment in Shares.

 

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Unless your investment in Shares is made through a tax-exempt entity or tax-deferred retirement account, such as an IRA plan, you need to be aware of the possible tax consequences when:

 

Your Fund makes distributions,

 

You sell your Shares listed on the Exchange, and

 

You purchase or redeem Creation Units.

 

Dividends and Distributions

 

Dividends and Distributions. The Fund has elected and intends to qualify each year as a regulated investment company under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended. As a regulated investment company, the Fund generally pays no federal income tax on the income and gains it distributes to you. The Fund expects to declare and to distribute its net investment income, if any, to shareholders as dividends annually. The Fund will distribute net realized capital gains, if any, at least annually. The Fund may distribute such income dividends and capital gains more frequently, if necessary, in order to reduce or eliminate federal excise or income taxes on the Fund. The amount of any distribution will vary, and there is no guarantee the Fund will pay either an income dividend or a capital gains distribution. Distributions may be reinvested automatically in additional whole Shares only if the broker through whom you purchased Shares makes such option available.

 

Avoid “Buying a Dividend.” At the time you purchase Shares of the Fund, the Fund’s NAV may reflect undistributed income, undistributed capital gains, or net unrealized appreciation in value of portfolio securities held by the Fund. For taxable investors, a subsequent distribution to you of such amounts, although constituting a return of your investment, would be taxable. Buying Shares in the Fund just before it declares an income dividend or capital gains distribution is sometimes known as “buying a dividend.”

 

Taxes

 

Tax Considerations. The Fund expects, based on its investment objective and strategies, that its distributions, if any, will be taxable as ordinary income, capital gain, or some combination of both. This is true whether you reinvest your distributions in additional Shares or receive them in cash. For federal income tax purposes, Fund distributions of short-term capital gains are taxable to you as ordinary income. Fund distributions of long-term capital gains are taxable to you as long-term capital gain no matter how long you have owned your Shares. A portion of income dividends reported by the Fund may be qualified dividend income eligible for taxation by individual shareholders at long-term capital gain rates provided certain holding period requirements are met.

 

Taxes on Sales of Shares. A sale or exchange of Shares is a taxable event and, accordingly, a capital gain or loss will generally be recognized. Currently, any capital gain or loss realized upon a sale of Shares generally is treated as long-term capital gain or loss if the Shares have been held for more than one year and as short-term capital gain or loss if the Shares have been held for one year or less. The ability to deduct capital losses may be limited.

 

Medicare Tax. An additional 3.8% Medicare tax is imposed on certain net investment income (including ordinary dividends and capital gain distributions received from the Fund and net gains from redemptions or other taxable dispositions of Shares) of U.S. individuals, estates and trusts to the extent that such person’s “modified adjusted gross income” (in the case of an individual) or “adjusted gross income” (in the case of an estate or trust) exceeds a threshold amount. This Medicare tax, if applicable, is reported by you on, and paid with, your federal income tax return.

 

Backup Withholding. By law, if you do not provide the Fund with your proper taxpayer identification number and certain required certifications, you may be subject to backup withholding on any distributions of income, capital gains or proceeds from the sale of your Shares. The Fund also must withhold if the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) instructs it to do so. When withholding is required, the amount will be 24% of any distributions or proceeds paid.

 

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State and Local Taxes. Fund distributions and gains from the sale or exchange of your Shares generally are subject to state and local taxes.

 

Taxes on Purchase and Redemption of Creation Units. An AP who exchanges equity securities for Creation Units generally will recognize a gain or a loss. The gain or loss will be equal to the difference between the market value of the Creation Units at the time of purchase and the exchanger’s aggregate basis in the securities surrendered and the cash amount paid. A person who exchanges Creation Units for equity securities generally will recognize a gain or loss equal to the difference between the exchanger’s basis in the Creation Units and the aggregate market value of the securities received and the cash amount received. The IRS, however, may assert that a loss realized upon an exchange of securities for Creation Units cannot be deducted currently under the rules governing “wash sales,” or on the basis that there has been no significant change in economic position. Persons exchanging securities should consult their own tax advisor with respect to whether the wash sale rules apply and when a loss might be deductible.

 

Under current federal tax laws, any capital gain or loss realized upon redemption of Creation Units is generally treated as long-term capital gain or loss if the Shares have been held for more than one year and as a short-term capital gain or loss if the Shares have been held for one year or less.

 

If the Fund redeems Creation Units in cash, it may recognize more capital gains than it will if it redeems Creation Units in-kind.

 

Foreign Tax Credits. If the Fund qualifies to pass through to you the tax benefits from foreign taxes it pays on its investments, and elects to do so, then any foreign taxes it pays on these investments may be passed through to you as a foreign tax credit.

 

Non-U.S. Investors. Non-U.S. investors may be subject to U.S. withholding tax at a 30% or lower treaty rate and U.S. estate tax and are subject to special U.S. tax certification requirements to avoid backup withholding and claim any treaty benefits. An exemption from U.S. withholding tax is provided for capital gain dividends paid by the Fund from long-term capital gains, if any. The exemptions from U.S. withholding for interest-related dividends paid by the Fund from its qualified net interest income from U.S. sources and short-term capital gain dividends have expired for taxable years of the Fund that begin on or after January 1, 2014. It is unclear as of the date of this prospectus whether Congress will reinstate the exemptions for interest-related and short-term capital gain dividends or, if reinstated, whether such exemptions would have retroactive effect. However, notwithstanding such exemptions from U.S. withholding at the source, any such dividends and distributions of income and capital gains will be subject to backup withholding at a rate of 24% if you fail to properly certify that you are not a U.S. person.

 

Other Reporting and Withholding Requirements. Under the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA), the Fund will be required to withhold a 30% tax on (a) income dividends paid by the Fund, and (b) certain capital gain distributions and the proceeds arising from the sale of Shares paid by the Fund, to certain foreign entities, referred to as foreign financial institutions or non-financial foreign entities, that fail to comply (or be deemed compliant) with extensive new reporting and withholding requirements designed to inform the U.S. Department of the Treasury of U.S.-owned foreign investment accounts. The Fund may disclose the information that it receives from its shareholders to the IRS, non-U.S. taxing authorities or other parties as necessary to comply with FATCA. Withholding also may be required if a foreign entity that is a shareholder of the Fund fails to provide the Fund with appropriate certifications or other documentation concerning its status under FATCA.

 

Possible Tax Law Changes. At the time that this prospectus is being prepared, various administrative and legislative changes to the federal tax laws are under consideration, but it is not possible at this time to determine whether any of these changes will be made or what the changes might entail.

 

This discussion of “Dividends, Distributions and Taxes” is not intended or written to be used as tax advice. Because everyone’s tax situation is unique, you should consult your tax professional about federal, state, local or foreign tax consequences before making an investment in the Fund.

 

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Financial Highlights

 

The financial highlights table is intended to help you understand the Fund’s financial performance for the period of the Fund’s operations. The financial information presented for each period prior to November 2, 2020 is that of the Predecessor Fund. The Fund is the accounting successor to the Predecessor Fund as a result of the reorganization of the Predecessor Fund into the Fund on November 2, 2020 (the “Reorganization”).

 

The Fund assumed the performance and accounting history of its Predecessor Fund as a result of the Reorganization. The Predecessor Fund’s financial highlights for the period from inception (November 14, 2018) through October 31, 2019 and the year ended October 31, 2020 has been audited by Cohen & Company, Ltd., the Fund’s predecessor independent registered public accounting firm. Cohen & Company, Ltd. issued their report for the periods ended October 31, 2020 and 2019 on December 23, 2020 and December 27, 2019, respectively, and expressed an unqualified opinion on those financial highlights, which are included in the Fund’s annual report, which is available upon request by calling the Fund at 215-882-9983.

 

GADSDEN DYNAMIC MULTI-ASSET ETF

 

FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS

For a capital share outstanding throughout the year/period

 

 

    Net Asset Value, Beginning of Period   Net Investment Income (Loss)(1)   Net Realized and Unrealized Gains (Loss) on Investments   Net Increase (Decrease) in Net Asset Value Resulting from Operations   Distributions from Net Investment Income   Distributions from Realized Gains   Total Distributions   Transaction Fees (See Note 1)   Net Asset Value, End of Period   Total Return(2)   Net Assets, End of Period (000’s)   Net
Expenses(3) (4)(9)
  Net Investment Income(3)   Portfolio Turnover Rate(5)  
Gadsden Dynamic Multi-Asset ETF
November 1, 2020 to September 30, 2021   $28.30   0.21   2.91   3.12   (0.22)   -   (0.22)   (0.00)(6)   $31.20   10.13%   $117,005   0.59%   0.73%   99%  
Year Ended October 31, 2020(7)   $25.99   0.24   2.68   2.92   (0.28)   (0.33)   (0.61)   (0.00)(6)   $28.30   11.46%   $83,471   0.59%   0.91%   536%  
November 14, 2018(8) to October 31, 2019(7)   $25.00   0.47   0.95   1.42   (0.43)   -   (0.43)   (0.00)(6)   $25.99   5.79%   $30,542   0.59%   1.95%   369%  

 

(1) Net investment income per share represents net investment income divided by the daily average shares of beneficial interest outstanding throughout the period.
(2) All returns reflect reinvested dividends, if any, but do not reflect the impact of taxes. Total return for a period of less than one year is not annualized.
(3) For periods of less than one year, these ratios are annualized.
(4) Net expenses include effects of any reimbursement or recoupment.
(5) Portfolio turnover is not annualized, excludes the impact of in-kind transactions and is calculated without regard to short-term securities having a maturity of less than one year.
(6) Rounds to less than $.005.
(7) Gadsden Dynamic Multi-Asset ETF previously used an October 31st fiscal year end. The Fund moved to the Alpha Architect ETF Trust on November 2, 2020 and currently uses a September 30th fiscal year end.
(8) Commencement of operations.
(9) Does not include expenses of the investment companies in which the Fund invests.

 

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If you would like more information about the Fund and the Trust, the following documents are available free, upon request:

 

Annual/Semi-Annual Reports to Shareholders

 

Additional information about the Fund will be in its annual and semi-annual reports to shareholders, when available. The annual report will explain the market conditions and investment strategies affecting the Fund’s performance during the last fiscal year.

 

Statement of Additional Information

 

The SAI dated January 31, 2022, which contains more details about the Fund, is incorporated by reference in its entirety into this Prospectus, which means that it is legally part of this Prospectus.

 

To receive a free copy of the latest annual or semi-annual report, when available, or the SAI, or to request additional information about the Fund, please contact us as follows:

 

Call:   (215) 882-9983
     
Write:   19 East Eagle Road
    Havertown, PA 19083
     
Visit:   www.gadsdenfunds.com

 

PAPER COPIES

 

Please note that paper copies of the Fund’s shareholder reports will generally not be sent, unless you specifically request paper copies of the Fund’s reports from your financial intermediary, such as a broker-dealer or bank. Instead, the reports will be made available on the Fund’s website, and you will be notified by mail each time a report is posted and provided with a website link to access the report.

 

You may elect to receive all future Fund reports in paper free of charge. Please contact your financial intermediary to inform them that you wish to continue receiving paper copies of Fund shareholder reports and for details about whether your election to receive reports in paper will apply to all funds held with your financial intermediary.

 

Information Provided by the Securities and Exchange Commission

 

Information about the Fund, including its reports and the SAI, has been filed with the SEC. It can be reviewed on the EDGAR database on the SEC’s internet site (http://www.sec.gov). You can also request copies of these materials, upon payment of a duplicating fee, by electronic request at the SEC’s e-mail address ([email protected]) or by calling the SEC at (202) 551-8090.

 

Investment Company Act File No. 811-22961.

 

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