Summary Prospectus |
May 1, 2023 |
TOPS® Conservative ETF Portfolio
Class 1 Shares
Class 2 Shares
Investor Class Shares
Service Class Shares
Before you invest, you may want to review the Portfolio’s prospectus, which contains more information about the Portfolio and its risks. The Portfolio’s Prospectus and Statement of Additional Information, both dated May 1, 2023, are incorporated by reference into this Summary Prospectus. You can obtain these documents and other information about the Portfolio online at https://topsfunds.com/documents/. You can also obtain these documents at no cost by calling 1-855-572-5945 or by sending an email request to OrderTopsPortfolios@ultimusfundsolutions.com.
Investment Objectives: The Portfolio seeks
to preserve capital and provide moderate income and moderate
capital appreciation.
Fees and Expenses of the Portfolio: This table describes the annual operating expenses that you may indirectly pay if you invest in the Portfolio through your retirement plan or if you allocate your insurance contract premiums or payments to the Portfolio. However, each insurance contract and separate account involves fees and expenses that are not described in this Prospectus. If the fees and expenses of your insurance contract or separate account were included in this table, your overall expenses would be higher. You should review the insurance contract prospectus for a complete description of fees and expenses. In the table below, Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses are the indirect costs of investing in other investment companies.
Annual Portfolio Operating Expenses (expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment) |
Class 1 Shares |
Class 2 Shares |
Investor Class Shares |
Service Class Shares |
Management Fees | 0.10% | 0.10% | 0.10% | 0.10% |
Distribution and Service (12b-1) Fees | None | 0.25% | 0.50% | 0.00% |
Other Expenses(1) | 0.14% | 0.14% | 0.14% | 0.44% |
Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses(2) | 0.09% | 0.09% | 0.09% | 0.09% |
Total Annual Portfolio Operating Expenses | 0.33% | 0.58% | 0.83% | 0.63% |
(1) | Other expenses are contractually limited to 0.10% (does not include expenses related to certain regulatory filings). Service Class shares also include shareholder servicing and administrative fees. |
(2) | Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses are the indirect costs of investing in other investment companies. The operating expenses in this fee table will not correlate to the expense ratio in the Portfolio’s financial highlights because the financial statements include only the direct operating expenses incurred by the Portfolio. |
Example: This Example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the Portfolio with the cost of investing in other mutual funds.
The Example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the Portfolio for the time periods indicated and then redeem all of your shares at the end of those periods. You would pay the same expenses if you did not redeem your shares. However, each insurance contract and separate account involves fees and expenses that are not included in the Example. If these fees and expenses were included in the Example, your overall expenses would be higher. The Example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year and that the Portfolio’s operating expenses remain the same. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based upon these assumptions your costs would be:
Class | 1 Year | 3 Years | 5 Years | 10 Years |
Class 1 | $34 | $106 | $185 | $418 |
Class 2 | $59 | $186 | $324 | $726 |
Investor Class | $85 | $265 | $460 | $1,025 |
Service Class | $64 | $202 | $351 | $786 |
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Portfolio Turnover: The Portfolio
pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities
(or “turns over” its portfolio). These costs, which are not reflected in annual portfolio operating expenses or in the Example,
affect the Portfolio’s performance. A higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs. During the most recent
fiscal period, the Portfolio’s turnover rate was 35% of the average value of its portfolio.
Principal Investment Strategies: The Portfolio employs a fund-of-funds structure that invests, under normal market conditions, at least 80% of its assets in exchange-traded funds (“ETFs”). The ETFs included in the Portfolio invest primarily in securities representing one of the following asset classes:
§ | Government Fixed Income Securities |
§ | Corporate Fixed Income Securities |
§ | Common and Preferred Stocks |
§ | Real Estate-Related Securities (“REITs”) |
§ | Natural Resource-Related Securities |
The Portfolio restricts investment in fixed income ETFs to those with an average maturity of 20 years or less and invests primarily in ETFs with average portfolio credit quality of investment grade. Maturity is the time between when a fixed income security is issued and when it matures. No more than 15% of the Portfolio will be allocated to fixed income ETFs with an average portfolio credit quality below investment grade (commonly referred to as “junk bond” credit quality). The Portfolio defines investment grade credit quality as Baa3 or higher by Moody’s Investors Service or BBB- or higher by Standard and Poor’s Rating Group. The Portfolio invests in ETFs that may invest in securities without restriction as to underlying issuer country (including foreign and emerging countries), capitalization or currency. The Portfolio considers emerging market countries to be those represented in the MSCI Emerging Markets Index. The Portfolio invests in REIT ETFs without restriction as to underlying issuer capitalization.
The Portfolio’s adviser seeks to achieve the Portfolio’s investment objectives by allocating assets and selecting individual ETFs using the adviser’s TOPS® (The Optimized Portfolio System) methodology. The TOPS® methodology utilizes multiple asset classes in an effort to enhance performance and/or reduce risk (as measured by return volatility). To achieve the Portfolio’s capital preservation and moderate income aspect of the Portfolio’s investment objectives, the adviser allocates approximately 70% of Portfolio assets to fixed income ETFs. To achieve the moderate capital appreciation aspect of the Portfolio’s investment objectives, the adviser allocates approximately 30% of Portfolio assets to a combination of equity ETFs and REIT ETFs. Furthermore, the adviser selects some equity ETFs that are composed of value stocks. The adviser expects value stocks (those with a lower than average price-to-earnings ratio) to have returns that are less volatile than the equity market as a whole.
The adviser selects individual ETFs that it believes are reasonably representative of an asset class, and have relatively low expenses and/or relatively high returns when compared to a peer group of ETFs. The adviser may sell individual ETFs to rebalance asset allocation or to purchase a substitute ETF with a higher expected return or lower risk profile or for any other reason.
The Portfolio’s adviser seeks to enhance the efficiency of trade execution by employing a sub-adviser to execute security trades. The sub-adviser has some discretion on which securities to trade and when in the day to conduct the trade, subject to the adviser’s oversight.
The Portfolio and the adviser have received a Securities and Exchange Commission order that allows the adviser to hire a new sub-adviser or sub-advisers without shareholder approval.
There is no guarantee that the Portfolio will meet its investment objectives.
Who Should Invest in the Portfolio?
The adviser believes the Portfolio is appropriate for investors with short-term to intermediate-term investment horizons who seek capital preservation as well as the opportunity for modest income and modest capital appreciation.
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Principal Investment Risks: As with all mutual funds, there is the risk that you could lose money through your investment in the Portfolio. Many factors affect the Portfolio’s net asset value (“NAV”) and performance.
The following principal risks apply to the Portfolio. Many of these risks come from the Portfolio’s investments in ETFs. The value of your investment in the Portfolio will go up and down with the prices of the securities in which the Portfolio invests.
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Before investing in the Portfolio, you should carefully consider your own investment goals, the amount of time you are willing to leave your money invested, and the amount of risk you are willing to take.
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Performance: The bar chart and performance table below show the variability of the Portfolio’s returns, which is some indication of the risks of investing in the Portfolio. The bar chart shows performance of the Class 2 shares of the Portfolio for each full calendar year since the Portfolio’s inception. The performance table compares the performance of the share classes of the Portfolio over time to the performance of a broad-based securities market index. You should be aware that the Portfolio’s past performance (before and after taxes) may not be an indication of how the Portfolio will perform in the future. Updated performance information is available at no cost by calling 1-855-572-5945.
Class 2 Annual Total Return for Calendar Years Ended December 311
1 | The returns are for Class 2 Shares, which would have substantially similar annual returns as the other share classes because the shares are invested in the same portfolio of securities and the returns for each class would differ only to the extent that the classes do not have the same expenses. |
Best Quarter: | 2nd Quarter 2020 | 7.88% |
Worst Quarter: | 1st Quarter 2020 | (8.22)% |
Performance Table
Average Annual Total Returns
(For periods ended December 31, 2022)
One Year |
Five Years |
Ten Years |
Since Inception of the Portfolio(1) | |
Class 2 shares | (8.85)% | 2.46% | 2.93% | 3.26% |
Class 1 shares | (8.60)% | 2.71% | 3.19% | 3.52% |
Investor Class shares | (9.12)% | 2.25% | N/A | 2.77% |
Service Class Shares | (8.85)% | N/A | N/A | 2.37% |
Standard & Poor’s 500 Total Return Index (reflects no deduction for fees and expenses) |
(18.11)% | 9.42% | 12.56% | 11.56%(2) |
(1) | Inception date of the TOPS Conservative ETF Portfolio’s Class 2, Class 1 and investor Class shares is April 26, 2011. Inception date of the TOPS Conservative ETF Portfolio’s Service Class shares is April 30, 2019. |
(2) | As measured from the inception date of Class 2 shares. If a different inception date was used, returns for the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index would differ from this figure. |
The Standard and Poor’s 500 Total Return Index is an unmanaged market capitalization-weighted index of 500 of the largest capitalized U.S. domiciled companies. Index returns assume reinvestment of dividends. Its performance does not reflect any deduction for fees, management expenses or taxes. An investor cannot invest directly in an index.
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Investment Adviser: Valmark Advisers, Inc.
Investment Adviser Portfolio Manager: Michael McClary, Chief Investment Officer of the adviser, has served as portfolio manager since the Portfolio commenced operations in 2011.
Sub-Adviser: Milliman Financial Risk Management, LLC
Purchase and Sale of Portfolio Shares: Shares of the Portfolio are intended to be sold to certain separate accounts of the participating life insurance companies, as well as qualified pension and retirement plans and certain unregistered separate accounts. You and other purchasers of variable annuity contracts, variable life contracts, and participants in pension and retirement plans will not own shares of the Portfolio directly. Rather, all shares will be held by the separate accounts or plans for your benefit and the benefit of other purchasers or participants. You may purchase and redeem shares of the Portfolio on any day that the New York Stock Exchange is open, or as permitted under your insurance contract, separate account or retirement plan.
Tax Information: It is the Portfolio’s intention to distribute all income and gains. Generally, owners of variable insurance contracts are not taxed currently on income or gains realized with respect to such contracts. However, some distributions from such contracts may be taxable at ordinary income tax rates. In addition, distributions made to an owner who is younger than 59 1/2 may be subject to a 10% penalty tax. Investors should ask their own tax advisors for more information on their own tax situation, including possible state or local taxes. Please refer to your insurance contract prospectus or retirement plan documents for additional information on taxes.
Payments to Broker-Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries: If you purchase the Portfolio through a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary (such as a bank or insurance company), the Portfolio and its related companies may pay the intermediary for the sale of Portfolio shares and related services. These payments may create a conflict of interest by influencing the broker-dealer or other intermediary and your salesperson to recommend the Portfolio over another investment. Ask your salesperson for more information.
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