Portfolio Turnover. The Fund may pay transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes when Fund shares are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are
not reflected in the Annual Fund Operating Expenses or in the Example, affect the Fund’s performance.
During the most recent fiscal year, the Fund's portfolio turnover rate was 30% of the average value of its
portfolio.
Principal Investment Strategies
The Fund seeks to track the investment results of the Russell 1000 Telecommunications RIC 22.5/45 Capped Index (the “Underlying Index”), which measures the
performance of the telecommunications sector of the U.S. equity market, as defined by FTSE Russell (the
“Index Provider” or “Russell”). The Underlying Index will include
large- and mid-capitalization companies.
The Underlying Index is a
subset of the Russell 1000 Index which is a float-adjusted capitalization-weighted index of equity
securities issued by approximately the 1,000 largest issuers in the Russell 3000 Index. The Russell 3000
Index measures the performance of the broad U.S. equity market, as defined by Russell.
The Underlying Index uses a capping methodology to constrain at quarterly rebalance: (i) the weight of any single issuer (as determined by Russell) to a maximum of 22.5%, and (ii) the
aggregate weight of all issuers that individually exceed 4.5% of the index weight to a maximum of 45%. The
weight of one or more securities in the Underlying Index may exceed these constraints due to fluctuations
in market value, corporate actions, or other events that change the index composition between quarterly
rebalance dates.
A significant portion of the Underlying Index is represented by securities of companies in the communications industry
or sector. The components of the Underlying Index are likely to change over time.
BFA uses an indexing approach to try to achieve the Fund’s investment objective. The Fund does not try to “beat” the index it tracks and does not seek temporary defensive positions when markets decline or appear overvalued.
Indexing may eliminate the chance that the Fund will substantially outperform the Underlying Index but also may reduce some of the risks of active management, such as poor security
selection. Indexing seeks to achieve lower costs and better after-tax performance by aiming to keep
portfolio turnover low in comparison to actively managed investment companies.
BFA uses a representative sampling indexing strategy to manage the Fund. “Representative sampling” is an indexing strategy that involves investing in a representative sample of securities that collectively has an investment profile similar to that of an applicable underlying index. The securities selected are
expected to have, in the aggregate, investment characteristics (based on factors such as market
capitalization and industry weightings), fundamental characteristics (such as return variability and yield)
and liquidity measures similar to those of an applicable underlying index. The Fund may or may not hold all
of the securities in the Underlying Index.
The Fund generally will invest at least 80% of its assets in the
component securities of its Underlying Index and may invest up to 20% of its assets in certain futures,
options and swap contracts, cash and cash equivalents, including shares of money market funds advised by
BFA or its affiliates, as well as in securities not included in the Underlying Index, but which BFA believes will help the Fund track the Underlying Index. Cash and cash equivalent investments associated with a derivative position will be
treated as part of that position for the purposes of calculating the percentage of investments included in
the Underlying Index. The Fund seeks to track the investment results of the Underlying Index before fees
and expenses of the Fund.
The Fund may lend securities representing up to
one-third of the value of the Fund's total assets (including the value of any collateral
received).
The Underlying Index is sponsored by Russell, which
is part of the London Stock Exchange Group and is independent of the Fund and BFA. The Index Provider determines the composition and
relative weightings of the securities in the Underlying Index and publishes information regarding the
market value of the Underlying Index.
Industry Concentration Policy. The Fund will concentrate its investments (i.e., hold 25% or
more of its total assets) in a particular industry or group of industries to approximately the same extent
that the Underlying Index is concentrated. For purposes of this limitation, securities of the U.S. government
(including its agencies and instrumentalities) and repurchase agreements collateralized by U.S. government
securities are not considered to be issued by members of any industry.
Summary of Principal Risks
As with any investment, you could lose all or part of your investment in the Fund,
and the Fund's performance could trail that of other investments. The Fund is subject to certain risks,
including the principal risks noted below any of which may adversely affect the Fund's net asset value per
share (“NAV”), trading price, yield, total return and ability to meet its investment objective. Certain key risks are prioritized below (with others following in alphabetical order), but the relative
significance of any risk is difficult to predict and may change over time. You should review each risk
factor carefully.
Risk of Investing
in the U.S. Investing in U.S. issuers subjects the Fund to legal, regulatory, political, currency, security, and economic risks that are specific to the U.S. Certain
changes in the U.S., such as a weakening of the U.S. economy or a decline in its financial markets, may
have an adverse effect on U.S. issuers.
Communications Companies Risk. Companies in the communications industry (“communications
companies”) include
telecommunications and media companies. Communications companies face risks related to cybersecurity
incidents, data breaches, new technologies, substantial capital requirements, government regulation,
cyclicality of revenues and earnings, obsolescence of products and services, and changes in consumer
preferences and expectations, among other things.
Equity Securities Risk. Equity securities are subject to changes in value, and their values may be more volatile than those of other