Equity
Securities Risk. Equity securities are subject to changes in value, and their values may be more volatile than those of other asset classes. The value of a security may decline
for a number of reasons that may directly relate to the issuer as well as due to general industry or market
conditions. Common stock is subordinated to preferred securities and debt in a company’s capital
structure. Common stock has the lowest priority, and the greatest risk, with respect to dividends and any liquidation payments in the event of an issuer’s bankruptcy.
Market Risk. The Fund could lose money over short periods due to short-term market movements and over longer periods during more prolonged market downturns. Local, regional or global events such as war, acts of terrorism, pandemics or other
public health issues, recessions, the prospect or occurrence of a sovereign default or other financial
crisis, or other events could have a significant impact on the Fund and its investments and could
result in increased premiums or discounts to the Fund’s NAV.
Index-Related Risk. The Index Provider may rely on
various sources of information to assess the criteria of components of the Underlying Index, including
information that may be based on assumptions and estimates. Neither the Fund nor BFA can offer assurances
that the Index Provider’s methodology or sources of information will provide an accurate assessment of included components or will result in the Fund meeting its investment objective. Errors in index data, index computations or the
construction of the Underlying Index in accordance with its methodology may occur, and the Index Provider
may not identify or correct them promptly or at all, which may have an adverse impact on the Fund and its
shareholders. Unusual market conditions or other unforeseen circumstances (such as natural disasters,
political unrest or war) may impact the Index Provider or a third-party data provider and could cause the Index Provider to postpone a scheduled rebalance. This could cause the Underlying Index to vary from its normal or expected
composition.
Asset Class
Risk. The securities and other assets in the Underlying Index or in the Fund’s portfolio may
underperform in comparison to financial markets generally, a particular financial market, another index, or
other asset classes.
Authorized
Participant Concentration Risk. An “Authorized Participant” is a member or participant of a clearing agency registered with the SEC, which has a written agreement with the Fund or one of its service providers that allows the Authorized Participant to place orders for the purchase and
redemption of creation units
(“Creation Units”). Only an Authorized Participant may engage in creation or redemption transactions directly with the Fund. There are a limited number of institutions that may act as Authorized Participants for the Fund, including on
an agency basis on behalf of other market participants. No Authorized Participant is obligated to engage in
creation or redemption transactions. To the extent that Authorized Participants exit the business or do not
place creation or redemption orders for the Fund and no other Authorized Participant places orders, Fund
shares are more likely to trade at a premium or discount to NAV and possibly face trading halts or
delisting.
Concentration
Risk. The Fund may be susceptible to an increased risk of loss, including losses due to adverse events that
affect the Fund’s investments more than the market as a whole,
to the extent that the Fund’s
investments are concentrated in the securities or other assets of one or more issuers, countries or other
geographic units, markets, industries, project types, or asset classes.
Issuer Risk. The performance of the Fund depends on the performance of individual securities or other assets to which the Fund has exposure. The value of securities or other assets may decline, or perform differently from the market as a
whole, due to changes in the financial condition or credit rating of the issuer or
counterparty.
Management Risk. The Fund generally does not attempt to take defensive positions under any market conditions, including declining markets. As the Fund will not fully replicate the Underlying Index and may hold securities or other assets not
included in the Underlying Index, it is subject to the risk that the investment strategy of BFA may not
produce the intended results. There is no guarantee that the Fund’s investment results will have a
high degree of correlation to those of the Underlying Index or that the Fund will achieve its investment objective.
Market Trading Risk. The Fund faces numerous market trading risks, including the potential lack of an active market for Fund shares (including through a trading halt), losses from
trading in secondary markets, periods of high volatility, and disruptions in the process of creating and
redeeming Fund shares. Any of these factors, among others, may lead to the Fund’s shares trading in
the secondary market at a premium or discount to NAV or to the intraday value of the Fund’s portfolio
holdings. If you buy Fund shares at a time when the market price is at a premium to NAV or sell Fund shares
at a time when the market price is at a discount to NAV, you may pay significantly more or receive significantly less than the underlying value of the Fund shares.
Non-Diversification Risk. To the extent the Fund is non-diversified, the Fund may invest a large percentage of its assets in securities or other instruments representing a small number of issuers or counterparties and thus may be more
susceptible to the risks associated with these particular issuers or counterparties. As a result, the
Fund's performance may depend to a greater extent on the performance of a small number of issuers or
counterparties, which may lead to more volatility in the Fund’s NAV.
Operational and Technology
Risks. The Fund is directly and indirectly susceptible to operational and technology risks, including those related to human errors, processing errors,
communication errors, systems failures, cybersecurity incidents, and the use of artificial intelligence and
machine learning
(“AI”), which may result in losses for the Fund and its shareholders or may impair the Fund’s operations. While the Fund’s service providers are required to have appropriate
operational, information security and cybersecurity risk management policies and procedures, their methods
of risk management may differ from those of the Fund. Operational and technology risks for the issuers in
which the Fund invests could also result in material adverse consequences for such issuers and may cause the Fund’s investments in such issuers to lose value.
Securities Lending Risk. The Fund may engage in securities lending. Securities lending involves the risk that the Fund may lose money because the borrower of the loaned securities
fails to