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Eaton Vance Strategic Income Opportunities ETF
Eaton Vance CLO Investment Grade Income ETF
Eaton Vance High Income Municipal ETF (formerly, Eaton Vance High Yield Municipal Income ETF)
Prospectus | September 30, 2024, as amended on December 10, 2024
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Portfolio
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Ticker Symbol
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Exchange
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Eaton Vance Strategic Income Opportunities ETF
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XAGG
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NYSE Arca
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Eaton Vance CLO Investment Grade Income ETF
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ECLO
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NYSE Arca
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Eaton Vance High Income Municipal ETF
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EVYM
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The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC
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The Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) has not approved or disapproved these securities or passed upon the adequacy of this Prospectus. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal offense.
An investment in a Fund is not a bank deposit and is not insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government agency. An investment in a Fund involves investment risks, and you may lose money in the Fund.
Eaton Vance | Fund Summary
Eaton Vance Strategic Income Opportunities ETF
Investment Objective
Eaton Vance Strategic Income Opportunities ETF (the “Fund”) seeks total return.
Fees and Expenses
The table below describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy, hold and sell shares of the Fund. You may pay fees other than the fees and expenses of the Fund, such as brokerage commissions and other fees charged by financial intermediaries, which are not reflected in the tables and examples below.
Annual Fund Operating Expenses1 (expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)
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Management Fee1
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Other Expenses2
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%
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Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses
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0.55%
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1 |
The Fund’s management agreement provides that the Fund’s “Adviser,” Morgan Stanley Investment Management Inc., will pay substantially all expenses of the Fund (including expenses of Morgan Stanley ETF Trust (the “Trust”) relating to the Fund), except for the distribution fees, if any, brokerage expenses, acquired fund fees and expenses, taxes, interest, litigation expenses, and other extraordinary expenses, including the costs of proxies, not incurred in the ordinary course of the Fund’s business. |
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Other Expenses have been estimated for the current fiscal year.
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Example
The example below is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the Fund with the cost of investing in other funds. The example does not take into account brokerage commissions that you pay when purchasing or selling shares of the Fund.
The example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the Fund for the time periods indicated and then sell all of your shares at the end of those periods. The example also assumes your investment has a 5% return each year and the Fund’s operating expenses remain the same. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:
Portfolio Turnover
The Fund pays 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 Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses or in the example, affect the Fund’s performance. Because the Fund had not yet commenced operations as of the most recent fiscal year end, no portfolio turnover rate is available for the Fund.
Principal Investment Strategies
The Fund is an actively managed exchange-traded fund (“ETF”). The Fund has a flexible investment strategy and will invest in a variety of securities and other investments and use a variety of investment techniques in pursuing its investment objective. The Fund seeks investment in foreign and domestic securities and other instruments, mortgage-backed securities (“MBS”) and asset-backed securities, commercial mortgage-backed securities, collateralized loan obligations, collateralized mortgage obligations, stripped MBS securities, preferred and convertible securities, bank instruments, high yield corporate debt, loans, other fixed-income securities, sovereign nations including emerging markets and so-called frontier markets (such as currencies, interest rates and debt instruments issued or guaranteed by sovereign entities (including U.S. Treasuries)), inflation and credit-linked debt securities, and municipal investments. The Fund may invest up to 20% of its net assets in equity securities and may invest up to 10% of its net assets in municipal securities. The Fund may have significant investment in a geographic region or country.
The Fund may invest in investments of any maturity and without regard to a specific duration target or limit. The Fund will maintain an average credit rating of at least investment grade (BBB- by S&P Global Ratings (“S&P”) or Fitch Ratings (“Fitch”), or Baa3 by Moody’s Investors Service (“Moody’s”)). The Fund’s average credit rating will be the weighted-average of (i) the average credit ratings of the Portfolios in which it invests and (ii) the securities it holds directly. While the Fund’s average credit rating will be investment grade, the Fund may invest in securities that are rated below investment grade (rated below BBB by either S&P or Fitch, or below Baa by Moody’s) or in unrated securities considered to be of comparable quality by the investment adviser (often referred to as “junk” instruments). If securities are rated differently by two or more rating agencies, the highest rating will be used.
The Fund may invest in derivatives, including futures, foreign currency forward exchange contracts, interest rate swaps, credit default swaps and options, and engage in repurchase agreements, reverse repurchase agreements, forward commitments and short sales. The Fund may invest in other investment companies that acquire investments with borrowings. The Fund may enter into forward commitments to buy or sell agency MBS (to-be-announced transactions, or “TBAs”).
Eaton Vance | Fund Summary
Eaton Vance Strategic Income Opportunities ETF (Con’t)
In managing the Fund, the Adviser adjusts investments based on its macroeconomic views and analysis in an effort to take advantage of differences in investment sectors, such as U.S. government, investment grade and below investment grade credit markets, and foreign sectors (primarily focused on sovereign debt, currencies and interest rates). The Adviser considers the relative risk/return characteristics of prospective investments (whether securities, currencies, derivatives or other instruments) in determining the most efficient means for achieving desired exposures. Risk/return characteristics may include a combination of fundamentals (i.e., credit quality, growth dynamics and central bank policies), valuations (i.e., credit spreads, interest rates and currency exchange rates) and technicals (i.e., investor flows, capital flows and liquidity).
When deemed by the Adviser to be relevant to its evaluation of creditworthiness and when applicable information is available, the Adviser considers environmental, social and/or governance issues (referred to as ESG) which may impact the prospects of an issuer (or obligor) or financial performance of an obligation. When considered, one or more ESG issues are taken into account alongside other factors in the investment decision-making process and are not the sole determinant of whether an investment can be made or will remain in the Fund’s portfolio.
Principal Risks
There is no assurance that the Fund will achieve its investment objective, and you can lose money investing in this Fund. The principal risks of investing in the Fund include:
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Fixed-Income Securities. Fixed-income securities are subject to the risk of the issuer’s inability to meet principal and interest payments on its obligations (i.e., credit risk) and are subject to price volatility resulting from, among other things, interest rate sensitivity (i.e., interest rate risk), market perception of the creditworthiness of the issuer and general market liquidity (i.e., market risk). For example, a type of fixed-income securities in which the Fund may invest are corporate debt obligations. In addition to interest rate, credit and other risks, corporate debt obligations are also subject to factors directly related to the issuer, such as the credit rating of the corporation, the corporation’s performance and perceptions of the corporation in the marketplace, and by factors not directly related to the issuer, such as general market liquidity, economic conditions and inflation. The Fund may face a heightened level of interest rate risk in times of monetary policy change and/or uncertainty, such as when the Federal Reserve Board adjusts a quantitative easing program and/or changes rates. A changing interest rate environment increases certain risks, including the potential for periods of volatility, increased redemptions, shortened durations (i.e., prepayment risk) and extended durations (i.e., extension risk). The Fund is not limited as to the maturities (when a debt security provides its final payment) or durations (measure of interest rate sensitivity) of the securities in which it may invest. Securities with longer durations are likely to be more sensitive to changes in interest rates, generally making them more volatile than securities with shorter durations. Lower rated fixed-income securities have greater volatility because there is less certainty that principal and interest payments will be made as scheduled. The Fund may be subject to certain liquidity risks that may result from the lack of an active market and the reduced number and capacity of traditional market participants to make a market in fixed-income securities.
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Credit and Interest Rate Risk. Credit risk refers to the possibility that the issuer or guarantor of a security will be unable or unwilling or perceived to be unable or unwilling to make interest payments and/or repay the principal on its debt. In such instances, the value of the Fund could decline and the Fund could lose money. Interest rate risk refers to the decline in the value of a fixed-income security resulting from changes in the general level of interest rates. When the general level of interest rates goes up, the prices of most fixed-income securities go down. When the general level of interest rates goes down, the prices of most fixed-income securities go up. The Fund may invest in variable and floating rate loans and other variable and floating rate securities. Although these instruments are generally less sensitive to interest rate changes than fixed rate instruments, the value of variable and floating rate loans and other securities may decline if their interest rates do not rise as quickly, or as much, as general interest rates. For example, during periods when interest rates are low, the Fund’s yield (and total return) also may be low or otherwise adversely affected or the Fund may be unable to maintain positive returns. Credit ratings may not be an accurate assessment of liquidity or credit risk. Although credit ratings may not accurately reflect the true credit risk of an instrument, a change in the credit rating of an instrument or an issuer can have a rapid, adverse effect on the instrument’s liquidity and make it more difficult for the Fund to sell at an advantageous price or time.
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High Yield Securities (“Junk Bonds”). The Fund’s investments in high yield securities expose it to a substantial degree of credit risk. High yield securities may be more volatile in price in certain environments. High yield securities may be issued by companies that are restructuring, are smaller and less creditworthy or are more highly indebted than other companies, and therefore they may have more difficulty making scheduled payments of principal and interest. High yield securities are subject to greater risk of loss of income and principal than higher rated securities and are considered speculative because of increased credit risk relative to other fixed income investments. High yield securities may experience reduced liquidity, and sudden and substantial decreases in price. An economic downturn affecting an issuer of high yield securities may result in an increased incidence of default. In the event of a default, the Fund may incur additional expenses to seek recovery.
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Asset-Backed Securities. Asset-backed securities are subject to credit (such as a borrower’s default on its mortgage obligation and the default or failure of a guarantee underlying the asset-backed security), interest rate and certain additional risks, including the risk that various federal and state consumer laws and other legal and economic factors may result in the collateral backing the
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Eaton Vance | Fund Summary
Eaton Vance Strategic Income Opportunities ETF (Con’t)
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securities being insufficient to support payment on the securities. To the extent the Fund invests in asset-backed securities issued by non-governmental issuers, such as commercial banks, savings and loan institutions, and other secondary market issuers, the Fund will be exposed to additional risks because, among other things, there are no direct or indirect government or agency guarantees of payments in the pools underlying the securities. Some asset-backed securities also entail prepayment risk and extension risk, which may vary depending on the type of asset. Due to these and other risks, asset-backed securities may become more volatile in certain interest rate environments.
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Mortgage-Backed Securities. Mortgage-backed securities entail prepayment risk, which generally increases during a period of falling interest rates. Rising interest rates tend to discourage refinancings, with the result that the average life and volatility of mortgage-backed securities will increase and market price will decrease. Rates of prepayment, faster or slower than expected by the Adviser, could reduce the Fund’s yield, increase the volatility of the Fund and/or cause a decline in net asset value (“NAV”). Mortgage-backed securities are also subject to extension risk, which is the risk that rising interest rates could cause mortgages or other obligations underlying the securities to be prepaid more slowly than expected, thereby lengthening the duration of such securities, increasing their sensitivity to interest rate changes and causing their prices to decline. Certain mortgage-backed securities may be more volatile and less liquid than other traditional types of debt securities. In addition, mortgage-backed securities are subject to credit risk. The Fund may invest in non-agency mortgage-backed securities offered by non-governmental issuers, such as commercial banks, savings and loan institutions, private mortgage insurance companies, mortgage bankers and other secondary market issuers. Non-agency mortgage-backed securities are not subject to the same underwriting requirements for the underlying mortgages that are applicable to those mortgage-backed securities that have a government or government-sponsored entity guarantee. As a result, the mortgage loans underlying non-agency mortgage-backed securities may, and frequently do, have less favorable collateral, credit risk or other underwriting characteristics than government or government-sponsored mortgage-backed securities and have wider variances in a number of terms including interest rate, term, size, purpose and borrower characteristics. To the extent the Fund invests in non-agency mortgage-backed securities offered by non-governmental issuers, the Fund will be exposed to additional risks because, among other things, there are no direct or indirect government or agency guarantees of payments in pools underlying the securities. An unexpectedly high rate of defaults on the mortgages held by a mortgage pool may adversely affect the value of a mortgage-backed security and could result in losses to the Fund. The risk of such defaults is generally higher in the case of mortgage pools that include subprime mortgages. Furthermore, mortgage-backed securities may be subject to risks associated with the assets underlying those securities, such as a decline in value. Investments in mortgage-backed securities may give rise to a form of leverage (indebtedness) and may cause the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate to appear higher. Leverage may cause the Fund to be more volatile than if the Fund had not been leveraged. The risks associated with mortgage-backed securities typically become elevated during periods of distressed economic, market, health and labor conditions. In particular, increased levels of unemployment, delays and delinquencies in payments of mortgage and rent obligations, and uncertainty regarding the effects and extent of government intervention with respect to mortgage payments and other economic matters may adversely affect the Fund’s investments in mortgage-backed securities. In addition, commercial mortgage-backed securities are also subject to risks associated with reduced demand for commercial and office space, tightening lending standards and increased interest and lending rates, and other developments adverse to the commercial real estate market.
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Commercial Mortgage-Backed Securities. CMBS are subject to credit risk and prepayment risk. Although prepayment risk is present, it is of a lesser degree in the CMBS market than in the residential mortgage market; commercial real estate property loans often contain provisions which substantially reduce the likelihood that such securities will be prepaid (e.g., significant prepayment penalties on loans and, in some cases, prohibition on principal payments for several years following origination).
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Collateralized Mortgage Obligations. CMOs are comprised of various tranches, the expected cash flows of which have varying degrees of predictability as compared with the underlying mortgage loans or mortgage pass-through entities. The less predictable the cash flow, the higher the yield and the greater the risk. In addition, if the collateral securing CMOs or any third-party guarantees is insufficient to make payments, the Fund could sustain a loss. Like other mortgage backed-securities, CMOs are subject to credit risk. The Fund invests in both agency and non-agency CMOs. Some agency CMOs have reduced credit risk as they are government guaranteed.
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U.S. Government Securities. Different types of U.S. government securities are subject to different levels of credit risk, including the risk of default, depending on the nature of the particular government support for that security. For example, a U.S. government-sponsored entity, such as Federal National Mortgage Association or Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation, although chartered or sponsored by an Act of Congress, may issue securities that are neither insured nor guaranteed by the U.S. Treasury and, therefore, are not backed by the full faith and credit of the United States. With respect to U.S. government securities that are not backed by the full faith and credit of the United States, there is the risk that the U.S. Government will not provide financial support to such U.S. government agencies, instrumentalities or sponsored enterprises if it is not obligated to do so by law.
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Foreign and Emerging Market Securities. Investments in foreign markets entail special risks such as currency, political (including geopolitical), economic and market risks. There also may be greater market volatility, less reliable financial information, less stringent investor protections and disclosure standards, higher transaction and custody costs, decreased market liquidity and less government and exchange regulation associated with investments in foreign markets. In addition, investments in certain foreign markets that have historically been considered stable may become more volatile and subject to increased risk due to developments
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Eaton Vance | Fund Summary
Eaton Vance Strategic Income Opportunities ETF (Con’t)
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and changing conditions in such markets. Moreover, the growing interconnectivity of global economies and financial markets has increased the probability that adverse developments and conditions in one country or region will affect the stability of economies and financial markets in other countries or regions. Certain foreign markets may rely heavily on particular industries or foreign capital and are more vulnerable to diplomatic developments, the imposition of economic sanctions against a particular country or countries, organizations, companies, entities and/or individuals, changes in international trading patterns, trade barriers and other protectionist or retaliatory measures. Investments in foreign markets may also be adversely affected by governmental actions such as the imposition of capital controls, nationalization of companies or industries, expropriation of assets or the imposition of punitive taxes. The governments of certain countries may prohibit or impose substantial restrictions on foreign investing in their capital markets or in certain sectors or industries. In addition, a foreign government may limit or cause delay in the convertibility or repatriation of its currency which would adversely affect the U.S. dollar value and/or liquidity of investments denominated in that currency. Certain foreign investments may become less liquid in response to market developments or adverse investor perceptions, or become illiquid after purchase by the Fund, particularly during periods of market turmoil. When the Fund holds illiquid investments, its portfolio may be harder to value. The risks of investing in emerging market countries are greater than the risks associated with investments in foreign developed countries. Certain emerging market countries may be subject to less stringent requirements regarding accounting, auditing, financial reporting and record keeping and therefore, material information related to an investment may not be available or reliable. Certain emerging market or developing countries are among the largest debtors to commercial banks and foreign governments. The issuer or governmental authority that controls the repayment of sovereign debt may not be willing or able to repay the principal and/or pay interest when due in accordance with the terms of such obligations. Economic sanctions or other similar measures may be, and have been, imposed against certain countries, organizations, companies, entities and/or individuals. Economic sanctions and other similar measures could, among other things, effectively restrict or eliminate the Fund’s ability to purchase or sell securities, negatively impact the value or liquidity of the Fund’s investments, significantly delay or prevent the settlement of the Fund’s securities transactions, force the Fund to sell or otherwise dispose of investments at inopportune times or prices, or impair the Fund’s ability to meet its investment objective or invest in accordance with its investment strategies.
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Sovereign Debt Securities. Investing in sovereign debt securities will expose the Fund to the direct or indirect consequences of political, social or economic changes in the countries that issue the securities. The issuer or governmental authority that controls the repayment of sovereign debt may not be willing or able to repay the principal and/or pay interest when it becomes due, due to factors such as debt service burden, political constraints, cash flow problems and other national economic factors. In addition, foreign governments may default on their debt securities, which may require holders of such securities to participate in debt rescheduling or additional lending to defaulting governments. Moreover, there is no bankruptcy proceeding by which defaulted sovereign debt may be collected in whole or in part.
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Preferred Securities. Preferred stock is issued with a fixed par value and pays dividends based on a percentage of that par value at a fixed rate. As with fixed-income securities, which also make fixed payments, the market value of preferred stock is sensitive to changes in interest rates. Preferred stock generally decreases in value if interest rates rise and increases in value if interest rates fall.
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Convertible Securities. A convertible security is a bond, debenture, note, preferred stock, right, warrant or other security that may be converted into or exchanged for a prescribed amount of common stock or other security of the same or a different issuer or into cash within a particular period of time at a specified price or formula. To the extent that the Fund invests in convertible securities, and the convertible security’s investment value is greater than its conversion value, its price will be likely to increase when interest rates fall and decrease when interest rates rise. If the conversion value exceeds the investment value, the price of the convertible security will tend to fluctuate directly with the price of the underlying security.
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Loan Risks. Investments in loans are subject to the risks generally associated with other debt obligations (such as credit and interest rate risk). Loans are also subject to additional risks. For example, loans are traded in a private, unregulated inter-dealer or inter-bank resale market and are generally subject to contractual restrictions that must be satisfied before a loan can be bought or sold. These restrictions may impede the Fund’s ability to buy or sell loans (thus affecting their liquidity) and may negatively impact the transaction price. It also may take longer than seven days for transactions in loans to settle. Due to the possibility of an extended loan settlement process, the Fund may hold cash, sell investments or temporarily borrow from banks or other lenders to meet short-term liquidity needs. The types of covenants included in loan agreements generally vary depending on market conditions, the creditworthiness of the issuer, the nature of the collateral securing the loan and possibly other factors. Loans with fewer covenants that restrict activities of the borrower may provide the borrower with more flexibility to take actions that may be detrimental to the loan holders and provide fewer investor protections in the event of such actions or if covenants are breached. The Fund may experience relatively greater realized or unrealized losses or delays and expense in enforcing its rights with respect to loans with fewer restrictive covenants. Loans to entities located outside of the U.S. may have substantially different lender protections and covenants as compared to loans to U.S. entities and may involve greater risks. The Fund may have difficulties and incur expense enforcing its rights with respect to non-U.S. loans and such loans could be subject to bankruptcy laws that are materially different than in the U.S. Loans may be structured such that they are not securities under securities law, and in the event of fraud or misrepresentation by a borrower, lenders may not have the protection of the anti-fraud provisions of the federal securities laws. Loans are also subject to risks associated with other types of income investments, including credit risk and risks of lower rated investments.
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Eaton Vance | Fund Summary
Eaton Vance Strategic Income Opportunities ETF (Con’t)
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Municipals. Because the Fund may invest in municipal securities (also referred to as municipal obligations), the Fund may be susceptible to political, legislative, economic, regulatory, tax or other factors affecting issuers of these municipal securities, such as state and local governments and their agencies. To the extent that the Fund invests in municipal securities of issuers in the same state or economic sector, it could be more sensitive to economic, business or political developments that affect such state or sector. Municipal securities and their issuers may be more susceptible to downgrade, loss of revenue, default and bankruptcy during periods of economic stress. Municipal securities also involve the risk that an issuer may call the securities for redemption, which could force the Fund to reinvest the proceeds at a lower rate of interest. While interest earned on municipal securities is generally not subject to federal income tax, any interest earned on taxable municipal securities is fully taxable at the federal level and may be subject to state and/or local income tax.
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Equity Securities. In general, prices of equity securities are more volatile than those of fixed-income securities. The prices of equity securities fluctuate, and sometimes widely fluctuate, in response to activities specific to the issuer of the security as well as factors unrelated to the fundamental condition of the issuer, including general market, economic, political conditions and public health conditions. During periods when equity securities experience heightened volatility, such as during periods of market, economic or financial uncertainty or distress, the Fund’s investments in equity securities may be subject to heightened risks.
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The value of equity securities and related instruments may decline in response to adverse changes in the economy or the economic outlook; deterioration in investor sentiment; interest rate, currency, and commodity price fluctuations; adverse geopolitical, social or environmental developments; issuer- and sector-specific considerations; unexpected trading activity among retail investors; and other factors. Market conditions may affect certain types of stocks to a greater extent than other types of stocks. If the stock market declines, the value of Fund shares will also likely decline.
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Investment Company Securities. Subject to the limitations set forth in the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “1940 Act”), or as otherwise permitted by the SEC, the Fund may acquire shares in other investment companies, including foreign investment companies, ETFs and money market funds which may be managed by the Adviser or its affiliates. The market value of the shares of other investment companies may differ from the NAV of the Fund. The shares of closed-end investment companies frequently trade at a discount to their NAV. As a shareholder in an investment company, the Fund would bear its ratable share of that entity’s expenses, including its investment advisory and administration fees, and be subject to the associated risks. At the same time, the Fund would continue to pay its own advisory and administration fees and other expenses. As a result, the Fund and its shareholders, in effect, will also be absorbing fees with respect to investments in other investment companies.
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Liquidity. The Fund may make investments that are less liquid, illiquid or restricted or that may become illiquid or less liquid in response to overall economic conditions or adverse investor perceptions, and which may entail greater risk than investments in other types of securities. These investments may be more difficult to value or sell, particularly in times of market turmoil, and there may be little trading in the secondary market available for particular securities. Liquidity risk may be magnified in a market where credit spread and interest rate volatility is rising and where investor redemptions from fixed-income funds may be higher than normal. If the Fund is forced to sell an illiquid or restricted security to fund redemptions or for other cash needs, it may be forced to sell the security at a loss or for less than its fair value and may be unable to sell the security at all.
Certain CLO securities may have limited liquidity in various market conditions, and in such instances will be less liquid than more senior or higher-rated CLOs. The price of CLO securities may rapidly decline if a large number of holders of the CLO securities decide to sell. The CLO market is smaller relative to other fixed-income instrument markets. Historic liquidity measures of CLOs may or may not be predictive of the liquidity of CLOs in the future. During adverse market conditions, there may be instances in which the market for trading CLOs becomes thin, or in extreme circumstances, particularly with respect to subordinate or lower-rated CLO tranches, may cease to exist during such period.
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When-Issued Securities, Delayed Delivery Securities, TBAs and Forward Commitments. The Fund may purchase or sell securities that it is entitled to receive on a when-issued, delayed delivery or through a forward commitment basis. For example, the Fund may invest in TBAs, which settle on a delayed delivery basis. These investments may result in a form of leverage and may increase volatility in the Fund’s share price. In a TBA transaction, the seller agrees to deliver the MBS for an agreed upon price on an agreed upon future date, but makes no guarantee as to which or how many securities are to be delivered. Accordingly, the Fund’s investments in TBAs are subject to risks such as failure of the counterparty to perform its obligation to deliver the security, the characteristics of a security delivered to the Fund may be less favorable than expected and the security the Fund buys will lose value prior to its delivery. The Fund’s purchase of other securities on a when-issued, delayed delivery or through a forward commitment basis are subject to similar risks. When the Fund has sold a security on a when-issued, delayed delivery, or forward commitment basis, the Fund does not benefit if the value of the security appreciates above the sale price during the commitment period and the Fund is subject to failure of the counterparty to pay for the securities.
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Market and Geopolitical Risk. The value of your investment in the Fund is based on the values of the Fund’s investments, which change due to economic and other events that affect markets generally, as well as those that affect particular regions, countries, industries, companies or governments. These events may be sudden and unexpected, and could adversely affect the liquidity of the Fund’s investments, which may in turn impact valuation, the Fund’s ability to sell securities and/or its ability to meet redemptions. The risks associated with these developments may be magnified if certain social, political, economic and other
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Eaton Vance | Fund Summary
Eaton Vance Strategic Income Opportunities ETF (Con’t)
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conditions and events (such as war, natural disasters, epidemics and pandemics, terrorism, conflicts, social unrest, recessions, inflation, interest rate changes and supply chain disruptions) adversely interrupt the global economy and financial markets. It is difficult to predict when events affecting the U.S. or global financial markets may occur, the effects that such events may have and the duration of those effects (which may last for extended periods). These events may negatively impact broad segments of businesses and populations and have a significant and rapid negative impact on the performance of the Fund’s investments, adversely affect and increase the volatility of the Fund’s share price and exacerbate pre-existing risks to the Fund.
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Repurchase Agreements and Reverse Repurchase Agreements Risk. In the event of the insolvency of the counterparty to a repurchase agreement or reverse repurchase agreement, recovery of the repurchase price owed to the Fund or, in the case of a reverse repurchase agreement, the securities sold by the Fund, may be delayed. Because reverse repurchase agreements may be considered to be the practical equivalent of borrowings, they constitute a form of leverage. If the Fund reinvests the proceeds of a reverse repurchase agreement at a rate lower than the cost of the agreement, entering into the agreement will lower the Fund’s yield.
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Short Sales. A short sale is a transaction in which the Fund sells securities that it owns or has the right to acquire at no added cost (i.e., “against the box”) or does not own (but has borrowed) in anticipation of a decline in the market price of the securities. The Fund may have to pay a premium to borrow the securities and must pay any dividends or interest payable on the securities until they are replaced. Short sales involve certain risks and special considerations. If the Adviser incorrectly predicts that the price of the borrowed security will decline, the Fund will have to replace the securities with securities with a greater value than the amount received from the sale. As a result, losses from short sales differ from losses that could be incurred from a purchase of a security, because losses from short sales may be unlimited, whereas losses from purchases can equal only the total amount invested.
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Authorized Participant Concentration Risk. Only an authorized participant may engage in creation or redemption transactions directly with the Fund. The Fund has a limited number of intermediaries that act as authorized participants and none of these authorized participants is or will be obligated to engage in creation or redemption transactions. There can be no assurance that an active trading market for the Fund’s shares will develop or be maintained. To the extent that these intermediaries exit the business or are unable to or choose not to proceed with creation and/or redemption orders with respect to the Fund, such as during periods of market stress, and no other authorized participant creates or redeems, shares may trade at a discount to net asset value (“NAV”) and possibly face trading halts and/or delisting. Authorized participant concentration risk may be heightened for exchange-traded funds that invest in securities issued by non-U.S. issuers or other securities or instruments that have lower trading volumes.
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Trading Risk. The market prices of shares are expected to fluctuate, in some cases materially, in response to changes in the Fund’s NAV, the intra-day value of the Fund’s holdings, and supply and demand for shares. The Adviser cannot predict whether shares will trade above, below or at their NAV. Disruptions to creations and redemptions, the existence of significant market volatility or potential lack of an active trading market for the shares (including through a trading halt), as well as other factors, may result in the shares trading significantly above (at a premium) or below (at a discount) to NAV or to the intraday value of the Fund’s holdings. You may pay significantly more or receive significantly less than the Fund’s NAV per share during periods when there is a significant premium or discount. Buying or selling shares in the secondary market may require paying 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 when seeking to buy or sell relatively small amounts of shares. In addition, the market price of shares, like the price of any exchange-traded security, includes a “bid-ask spread” charged by the market makers or other participants that trade the particular security. The spread of the Fund’s shares varies over time based on the Fund’s trading volume and market liquidity and may increase if the Fund’s trading volume, the spread of the Fund’s underlying securities, or market liquidity decrease.
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Active Management Risk. In pursuing the Fund’s investment objective, the Adviser has considerable leeway in deciding which investments to buy, hold or sell on a day-to-day basis, and which trading strategies to use. For example, the Adviser, in its discretion, may determine to use some permitted trading strategies while not using others. The success or failure of such decisions will affect the Fund’s performance.
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New Fund Risk. A new fund’s performance may not represent how the fund is expected to or may perform in the long term. In addition, new funds have limited operating histories for investors to evaluate and new funds may not attract sufficient assets to achieve investment and trading efficiencies.
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Shares of the Fund are not bank deposits and are not guaranteed or insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government agency.
Performance Information
As of the date hereof, the Fund has not yet completed a full calendar year of investment operations. Upon the completion of a full calendar year of investment operations by the Fund, this section will include charts that provide some indication of the risks of an investment in the Fund, by showing the difference in annual total returns, highest and lowest quarterly returns and average annual
Eaton Vance | Fund Summary
Eaton Vance Strategic Income Opportunities ETF (Con’t)
total returns (before and after taxes) compared to the benchmark index selected for the Fund. Performance information for the Fund will be available online at www.eatonvance.com or by calling toll-free 800-836-2414.
Fund Management
Adviser. Morgan Stanley Investment Management Inc.
Portfolio Managers. Information about the individuals jointly and primarily responsible for the day-to-day management of the Fund is shown below:
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Name
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Title with Adviser
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Date Began Managing Fund
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Andrew Szczurowski, CFA
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Managing Director
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Since Inception
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Justin H. Bourgette, CFA
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Managing Director
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Since Inception
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Brian Shaw, CFA
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Executive Director
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Since Inception
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Brandon Matsui, CFA
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Executive Director
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Since Inception
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Purchase and Sale of Fund Shares
Individual shares of the Fund may only be purchased and sold in secondary market transactions through a broker or dealer at market price. Because shares trade at market prices, rather than NAV, shares of the Fund may trade at a price greater than NAV (i.e., a premium) or less than NAV (i.e., a discount).
You may incur costs attributable to the difference between the highest price a buyer is willing to pay for shares (bid) and the lowest price a seller is willing to accept for shares (ask) (the “bid-ask spread”) when buying or selling shares in the secondary market.
Recent information, including information about the Fund’s NAV, market price, premiums and discounts, and bid-ask spreads (when available), will be available on the Fund’s website at www.eatonvance.com.
Tax Information
The Fund intends to make distributions that may be taxed as ordinary income or capital gains, unless you are investing through a tax-deferred arrangement, such as a 401(k) plan or an individual retirement account.
Payments to Broker-Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries
If you purchase shares of the Fund through a broker-dealer or financial intermediary (such as a bank), the Adviser and/or Foreside Fund Services, LLC (the “Distributor”) may pay the financial intermediary for the sale of Fund shares and related services. These payments, which may be significant in amount, may create a conflict of interest by influencing the financial intermediary and your salesperson to recommend the Fund over another investment. Ask your salesperson or visit your financial intermediary’s website for more information.
Eaton Vance | Fund Summary
Eaton Vance CLO Investment Grade Income ETF
Investment Objective
Eaton Vance CLO Investment Grade Income ETF (the “Fund”) seeks current income, with a secondary objective of capital preservation.
Fees and Expenses
Annual Fund Operating Expenses1 (expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)
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Management Fee1
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%
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Other Expenses2
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%
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Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses
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0.20%
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1 |
The Fund’s management agreement provides that the Fund’s “Adviser,” Morgan Stanley Investment Management Inc., will pay substantially all expenses of the Fund (including expenses of Morgan Stanley ETF Trust (the “Trust”) relating to the Fund), except for the distribution fees, if any, brokerage expenses, acquired fund fees and expenses, taxes, interest, litigation expenses, and other extraordinary expenses, including the costs of proxies, not incurred in the ordinary course of the Fund’s business. |
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Other Expenses have been estimated for the current fiscal year.
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Example
Portfolio Turnover
The Fund pays 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 Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses or in the example, affect the Fund’s performance. Because the Fund had not yet commenced operations as of the most recent fiscal year end, no portfolio turnover rate is available for the Fund.
Principal Investment Strategies
The Fund is an actively managed exchange-traded fund (“ETF”) and does not seek to track the performance of any particular index. The Fund normally invests at least 80% of its net assets (plus borrowings for investment purposes) in investment grade-rated debt tranches of collateralized loan obligations (“CLOs”) of any maturity. Investment grade CLO securities are rated inclusive and above BBB- by S&P Global Ratings or Baa3 Moody’s Investors Service, Inc. (or equivalent rating issued by a nationally recognized statistical rating organization (“NRSRO”)), or if unrated, determined to be of comparable credit quality by the Adviser. The Fund will not invest in any CLO equity security or in any CLO debt security rated below BB-/Ba3 or if unrated, determined to be of comparable credit quality by the Adviser. For purposes of complying with its 80% investment policy, the Fund may invest in CLO investments directly or indirectly, for example by investing in closed-end funds and exchange-traded funds (“ETFs”) or derivatives that provide investment and economic exposure to investment-grade rated CLO debt investments. The Fund will provide shareholders with at least sixty days’ written notice of any change in this 80% investment policy.
For purposes of the Fund’s investment policies, CLOs are trusts that are typically collateralized by a pool of loans, which may include, among others, domestic and foreign senior secured loans, senior unsecured loans and subordinate corporate loans, including loans that may be rated below investment grade or equivalent unrated loans, and including “covenant lite” loans, which have few or no financial maintenance covenants. The Fund may purchase CLO securities both in the primary (e.g., purchased directly from the issuer) and secondary markets. The Adviser uses a bottom-up analysis to select CLO investments which considers several factors, including an assessment of the CLO manager, the CLO’s underlying collateral, an analysis of the CLO’s documentation and structural terms. The Fund’s portfolio is constructed using this security-level analysis, combined with a top-down overlay which incorporates the Adviser’s credit views as well as risk factor positioning. The Fund intends to invest primarily in CLO securities that are U.S.-dollar denominated. However, the Fund may from time to time invest up to 20% of its net assets in CLO securities that are denominated in foreign currencies. To the extent the Fund invests in non-U.S. dollar denominated securities, it may seek to hedge its exposure to foreign currency to U.S. dollars, as described more fully below.
The Fund may purchase up to 20% of its net assets in other types of investment grade-rated fixed-rate or floating-rate bonds that are not CLOs; shares of ETF and closed end funds; below investment grade CLOs, non-US denominated investment grade CLOs; and private credit CLOs. Private credit CLOs, often commonly referred to as “middle-market” CLOs, are collateralized by directly-originated loans to generally small or medium-sized firms and/or by loans of a small or medium size. The Fund may invest a portion of its assets in cash or other short-term instruments, such as money market instruments or money market funds, while deploying new capital, for liquidity management purposes, managing redemptions, or for defensive purposes, including navigating unusual market conditions.
Eaton Vance | Fund Summary
Eaton Vance CLO Investment Grade Income ETF (Con’t)
The Fund may invest in derivatives in order to seek to mitigate risks associated with the Fund’s existing portfolio of CLO securities. The Funds use of derivatives will be limited to currency forward contracts or futures contracts to hedge certain foreign currency exposure. Forward contracts may be used by the Fund for hedging purposes to protect against uncertainty in the level of future foreign currency exchange rates, such as when the Fund anticipates purchasing or selling a foreign security. For example, this technique would allow the Fund to “lock in” the U.S. dollar price of the security. Forward contracts may also be used to attempt to protect the value of the Fund’s existing holdings of foreign securities. The Fund’s portfolio management utilizes the information provided by, and the expertise of affiliates in making investment decisions. Derivative instruments used by the Fund will be counted toward the Fund’s 80% policy discussed above to the extent they have economic characteristics similar to the securities included within that policy.
When deemed by the Adviser to be relevant to its evaluation of creditworthiness and when applicable information is available, the Adviser considers environmental, social and/or governance issues (referred to as ESG) which may impact the prospects of an issuer (or obligor) or financial performance of an obligation. When considered, one or more ESG issues are taken into account alongside other factors in the investment decision-making process and are not the sole determinant of whether an investment can be made or will remain in the Fund’s portfolio.
Principal Risks
There is no assurance that the Fund will achieve its investment objective, and you can lose money investing in this Fund. The principal risks of investing in the Fund include:
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Collateralized Loan Obligations Risk. CLOs are a type of asset-backed security that is typically structured as a trust collateralized by a pool of loans. The cash flows from the trust are split into two or more portions, called tranches, varying in risk and yield. The risks of an investment in a CLO depend largely on the type of the collateral securities and the class of the instrument in which the Fund invests. In addition to the normal risks associated with fixed income securities, CLOs carry additional risks including, but not limited to: (i) the possibility that distributions from collateral securities will not be adequate to make interest or other payments; (ii) the quality of the collateral may decline in value or default; (iii) the Fund may invest in CLOs that are subordinate to other classes; and (iv) the complex structure of the security may not be fully understood at the time of investment and may produce disputes with the issuer or unexpected investment results. CLOs in which the Fund invests may be managed by investment advisers not affiliated with the Adviser. CLO managers are responsible for selecting, managing and replacing the underlying bank loans within a CLO. CLO managers may have limited operating histories, may be subject to conflicts of interests, including managing the assets of other clients or other investment vehicles, or receiving fees that incentivize maximizing the yield, and indirectly the risk, of a CLO.
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Loan Risks. Investments in loans are subject to the risks generally associated with other debt obligations (such as credit and interest rate risk). Loans are also subject to additional risks. For example, loans are traded in a private, unregulated inter-dealer or inter-bank resale market and are generally subject to contractual restrictions that must be satisfied before a loan can be bought or sold. These restrictions may impede the Fund’s ability to buy or sell loans (thus affecting their liquidity) and may negatively impact the transaction price. It also may take longer than seven days for transactions in loans to settle. Due to the possibility of an extended loan settlement process, the Fund may hold cash, sell investments or temporarily borrow from banks or other lenders to meet short-term liquidity needs. The types of covenants included in loan agreements generally vary depending on market conditions, the creditworthiness of the issuer, the nature of the collateral securing the loan and possibly other factors. Loans with fewer covenants that restrict activities of the borrower may provide the borrower with more flexibility to take actions that may be detrimental to the loan holders and provide fewer investor protections in the event of such actions or if covenants are breached. The Fund may experience relatively greater realized or unrealized losses or delays and expense in enforcing its rights with respect to loans with fewer restrictive covenants. Loans to entities located outside of the U.S. may have substantially different lender protections and covenants as compared to loans to U.S. entities and may involve greater risks. The Fund may have difficulties and incur expense enforcing its rights with respect to non-U.S. loans and such loans could be subject to bankruptcy laws that are materially different than in the U.S. Loans may be structured such that they are not securities under securities law, and in the event of fraud or misrepresentation by a borrower, lenders may not have the protection of the anti-fraud provisions of the federal securities laws. Loans are also subject to risks associated with other types of income investments, including credit risk and risks of lower rated investments.
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Covenant Lite Loans. Some of the loans or other obligations in which the Fund may invest or obtain exposure to may be “covenant lite” loans or other obligations. Certain financial institutions may define “covenant lite” loans or securities differently. Covenants contained in loan documentation are intended to protect lenders and investors by imposing certain restrictions and other limitations on a borrower’s operations or assets and by providing certain information and consent rights to lenders. Covenant lite loans or securities, which have varied terms and conditions, may contain fewer or no restrictive covenants compared to other loans that might enable the Fund to, among other things, proactively enforce financial covenants or prevent undesired actions by the borrower. As a result, covenant lite loans generally carry greater risks because they allow borrowers to exercise more flexibility with respect to certain activities that may otherwise be limited or prohibited under similar loan obligations that are not covenant lite. In
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Eaton Vance | Fund Summary
Eaton Vance CLO Investment Grade Income ETF (Con’t)
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addition, the Fund may receive less or less frequent financial reporting from a borrower under a covenant-lite obligation, which may result in more limited access to financial information, difficulty evaluating the borrower’s financial performance over time and delays in exercising rights and remedies in the event of a significant financial decline. The Fund may experience relatively greater difficulty or delays in enforcing its rights on its holdings of certain covenant lite loans and other similar obligations than its holdings of loans or securities with more traditional financial covenants, which may result in losses to the Fund. During certain market conditions, many new, restructured or reissued loans and similar debt obligations may not feature traditional financial maintenance covenants, which are intended to protect lenders and investors by imposing certain restrictions and other limitations on a borrower’s operations or assets and by providing certain information and consent rights to lenders.
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Liquidity. The Fund may make investments that are less liquid, illiquid or restricted or that may become illiquid or less liquid in response to overall economic conditions or adverse investor perceptions, and which may entail greater risk than investments in other types of securities. These investments may be more difficult to value or sell, particularly in times of market turmoil, and there may be little trading in the secondary market available for particular securities. Liquidity risk may be magnified in a market where credit spread and interest rate volatility is rising and where investor redemptions from fixed-income funds may be higher than normal. If the Fund is forced to sell an illiquid or restricted security to fund redemptions or for other cash needs, it may be forced to sell the security at a loss or for less than its fair value and may be unable to sell the security at all. Certain CLO securities may have limited liquidity in various market conditions, and in such instances will be less liquid than more senior or higher-rated CLOs. The price of CLO securities may rapidly decline if a large number of holders of the CLO securities decide to sell. The CLO market is smaller relative to other fixed-income instrument markets. Historic liquidity measures of CLOs may or may not be predictive of the liquidity of CLOs in the future. During adverse market conditions, there may be instances in which the market for trading CLOs becomes thin, or in extreme circumstances, particularly with respect to subordinate or lower-rated CLO tranches, may cease to exist during such period.
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Asset-Backed Securities. Asset-backed securities are subject to credit (such as a borrower’s default on its mortgage obligation and the default or failure of a guarantee underlying the asset-backed security), interest rate and certain additional risks, including the risk that various federal and state consumer laws and other legal and economic factors may result in the collateral backing the securities being insufficient to support payment on the securities. To the extent the Fund invests in asset-backed securities issued by non-governmental issuers, such as commercial banks, savings and loan institutions, and other secondary market issuers, the Fund will be exposed to additional risks because, among other things, there are no direct or indirect government or agency guarantees of payments in the pools underlying the securities. Some asset-backed securities also entail prepayment risk and extension risk, which may vary depending on the type of asset. Due to these and other risks, asset-backed securities may become more volatile in certain interest rate environments.
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Fixed-Income Securities. Fixed-income securities are subject to the risk of the issuer’s inability to meet principal and interest payments on its obligations (i.e., credit risk) and are subject to price volatility resulting from, among other things, interest rate sensitivity (i.e., interest rate risk), market perception of the creditworthiness of the issuer and general market liquidity (i.e., market risk). For example, a type of fixed-income securities in which the Fund may invest are corporate debt obligations. In addition to interest rate, credit and other risks, corporate debt obligations are also subject to factors directly related to the issuer, such as the credit rating of the corporation, the corporation’s performance and perceptions of the corporation in the marketplace, and by factors not directly related to the issuer, such as general market liquidity, economic conditions and inflation. The Fund may face a heightened level of interest rate risk in times of monetary policy change and/or uncertainty, such as when the Federal Reserve Board adjusts a quantitative easing program and/or changes rates. A changing interest rate environment increases certain risks, including the potential for periods of volatility, increased redemptions, shortened durations (i.e., prepayment risk) and extended durations (i.e., extension risk). The Fund is not limited as to the maturities (when a debt security provides its final payment) or durations (measure of interest rate sensitivity) of the securities in which it may invest. Securities with longer durations are likely to be more sensitive to changes in interest rates, generally making them more volatile than securities with shorter durations. Lower rated fixed-income securities have greater volatility because there is less certainty that principal and interest payments will be made as scheduled. The Fund may be subject to certain liquidity risks that may result from the lack of an active market and the reduced number and capacity of traditional market participants to make a market in fixed-income securities.
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Credit and Interest Rate Risk. Credit risk refers to the possibility that the issuer or guarantor of a security will be unable or unwilling or perceived to be unable or unwilling to make interest payments and/or repay the principal on its debt. In such instances, the value of the Fund could decline and the Fund could lose money. Interest rate risk refers to the decline in the value of a fixed-income security resulting from changes in the general level of interest rates. When the general level of interest rates goes up, the prices of most fixed-income securities go down. When the general level of interest rates goes down, the prices of most fixed-income securities go up. The Fund may invest in variable and floating rate loans and other variable and floating rate securities. Although these instruments are generally less sensitive to interest rate changes than fixed rate instruments, the value of variable and floating rate loans and other securities may decline if their interest rates do not rise as quickly, or as much, as general interest rates. For example, during periods when interest rates are low, the Fund’s yield (and total return) also may be low or otherwise adversely affected or the Fund may be unable to maintain positive returns. Credit ratings may not be an accurate assessment of liquidity or credit risk. Although credit ratings may not accurately reflect the true credit risk of an instrument, a
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Eaton Vance | Fund Summary
Eaton Vance CLO Investment Grade Income ETF (Con’t)
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change in the credit rating of an instrument or an issuer can have a rapid, adverse effect on the instrument’s liquidity and make it more difficult for the Fund to sell at an advantageous price or time.
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High Yield Securities (“Junk Bonds”). The Fund’s investments in high yield securities expose it to a substantial degree of credit risk. High yield securities may be more volatile in price in certain environments. High yield securities may be issued by companies that are restructuring, are smaller and less creditworthy or are more highly indebted than other companies, and therefore they may have more difficulty making scheduled payments of principal and interest. High yield securities are subject to greater risk of loss of income and principal than higher rated securities and are considered speculative because of increased credit risk relative to other fixed income investments. High yield securities may experience reduced liquidity, and sudden and substantial decreases in price. An economic downturn affecting an issuer of high yield securities may result in an increased incidence of default. In the event of a default, the Fund may incur additional expenses to seek recovery.
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Foreign Securities. The Fund may invest in U.S. dollar-denominated securities issued by foreign governmental or corporate issuers. Investing in securities of foreign issuers involves some additional risks than securities of U.S. issuers. While foreign securities, including foreign money market securities, are subject to the same type of risks that pertain to domestic issuers, namely credit risk and interest rate risk, they are also subject to other additional risks. Foreign issuers generally are subject to different accounting, auditing and financial reporting standards than U.S. issuers. There may be less information available to the public about foreign issuers. In some foreign countries, there is also the risk of government expropriation, excessive taxation, political or social instability, economic sanctions or other similar governmental activity or diplomatic developments that could affect an investment. There also can be difficulty obtaining and enforcing judgments against issuers in foreign countries. Governmental actions can have a significant effect on the economic conditions in foreign countries, which also may adversely affect the Fund’s investments in foreign issuers.
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Foreign Currency. The Fund’s investments in foreign securities may be denominated in foreign currencies. The value of foreign currencies may fluctuate relative to the value of the U.S. dollar. Since the Fund may invest in such non-U.S. dollar-denominated securities, and therefore may convert the value of such securities into U.S. dollars, changes in currency exchange rates can increase or decrease the U.S. dollar value of the Fund’s assets. Currency exchange rates may fluctuate significantly over short periods of time for a number of reasons, including changes in interest rates and the overall economic health of the issuer. Devaluation of a currency by a country’s government or banking authority also will have a significant impact on the value of any investments denominated in that currency. The Adviser may use derivatives to reduce this risk. The Adviser may in their discretion choose not to hedge against currency risk. In addition, certain market conditions may make it impossible or uneconomical to hedge against currency risk.
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Derivatives. Derivatives and other similar instruments that create synthetic exposure often are subject to risks similar to those of the underlying asset or instrument, including market risk, and may be subject to additional risks, including imperfect correlation between the value of the derivative and the underlying asset, risks of default by the counterparty to certain transactions, magnification of losses incurred due to changes in the market value of the securities, instruments, indices or interest rates to which the derivative instrument relates, risks that the transactions may not be liquid, risks arising from margin and payment requirements, risks arising from mispricing or valuation complexity and operational and legal risks. Certain derivative transactions may give rise to a form of leverage. Leverage magnifies the potential for gain and the risk of loss.
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Market and Geopolitical Risk. The value of your investment in the Fund is based on the values of the Fund’s investments, which change due to economic and other events that affect markets generally, as well as those that affect particular regions, countries, industries, companies or governments. These events may be sudden and unexpected, and could adversely affect the liquidity of the Fund’s investments, which may in turn impact valuation, the Fund’s ability to sell securities and/or its ability to meet redemptions. The risks associated with these developments may be magnified if certain social, political, economic and other conditions and events (such as war, natural disasters, epidemics and pandemics, terrorism, conflicts, social unrest, recessions, inflation, interest rate changes and supply chain disruptions) adversely interrupt the global economy and financial markets. It is difficult to predict when events affecting the U.S. or global financial markets may occur, the effects that such events may have and the duration of those effects (which may last for extended periods). These events may negatively impact broad segments of businesses and populations and have a significant and rapid negative impact on the performance of the Fund’s investments, adversely affect and increase the volatility of the Fund’s share price and exacerbate pre-existing risks to the Fund.
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Distressed and Defaulted Securities. Distressed and defaulted securities are speculative and involve substantial risks in addition to the risks of investing in high yield securities. The Fund will generally not receive interest payments on the distressed securities and the repayment of principal may also be subject to increased risk. These securities may present a substantial risk of default or may be in default at the time of investment, requiring the Fund to incur additional costs. The repayment of defaulted securities is also subject to significant uncertainties. The Fund may incur substantial expenses in seeking recovery upon a default in the payment of principal of or interest on its portfolio holdings.
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LIBOR Discontinuance or Unavailability Risk. The Fund’s investments, payment obligations and financing terms may be based on floating rates, such as the London Interbank Offered Rates (collectively, “LIBOR”), Euro Interbank Offered Rate, Secured Overnight Financing Rate (“SOFR”) and other similar types of reference rates (each, a “Reference Rate”). These Reference Rates
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Eaton Vance | Fund Summary
Eaton Vance CLO Investment Grade Income ETF (Con’t)
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are generally intended to represent the rate at which contributing banks may obtain short-term borrowings from each other within certain financial markets. London Interbank Offered Rate (“LIBOR”) was the basic rate of interest used in lending transactions between banks on the London interbank market and has been widely used as a reference for setting the interest rate on loans globally. As a result of benchmark reforms, publication of most LIBOR settings has ceased. Various financial industry groups have been planning for the transition from LIBOR and certain regulators and industry groups have taken actions to establish alternative reference rates (e.g., the SOFR, which measures the cost of overnight borrowings through repurchase agreement transactions collateralized with U.S. Treasury securities and is intended to replace U.S. dollar LIBORs with certain adjustments). These developments could negatively impact financial markets in general and present heightened risks, including with respect to the Fund’s investments. As a result of the uncertainty and developments relating to the transition process, performance, price volatility, liquidity and value of the Fund and its assets may be adversely affected.
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Authorized Participant Concentration Risk. Only an authorized participant may engage in creation or redemption transactions directly with the Fund. The Fund has a limited number of intermediaries that act as authorized participants and none of these authorized participants is or will be obligated to engage in creation or redemption transactions. There can be no assurance that an active trading market for the Fund’s shares will develop or be maintained. To the extent that these intermediaries exit the business or are unable to or choose not to proceed with creation and/or redemption orders with respect to the Fund, such as during periods of market stress, and no other authorized participant creates or redeems, shares may trade at a discount to net asset value (“NAV”) and possibly face trading halts and/or delisting. Authorized participant concentration risk may be heightened for exchange-traded funds that invest in securities issued by non-U.S. issuers or other securities or instruments that have lower trading volumes.
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Cash Transactions Risk. Unlike certain ETFs, the Fund may effect creations and redemptions in cash or partially in cash. Therefore, it may be required to sell portfolio securities and subsequently recognize gains on such sales that the Fund might not have recognized if it were to distribute portfolio securities in-kind. As such, investments in shares may be less tax-efficient than an investment in an ETF that distributes portfolio securities entirely in-kind.
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Trading Risk. The market prices of shares are expected to fluctuate, in some cases materially, in response to changes in the Fund’s NAV, the intra-day value of the Fund’s holdings, and supply and demand for shares. The Adviser cannot predict whether shares will trade above, below or at their NAV. Disruptions to creations and redemptions, the existence of significant market volatility or potential lack of an active trading market for the shares (including through a trading halt), as well as other factors, may result in the shares trading significantly above (at a premium) or below (at a discount) to NAV or to the intraday value of the Fund’s holdings. You may pay significantly more or receive significantly less than the Fund’s NAV per share during periods when there is a significant premium or discount. Buying or selling shares in the secondary market may require paying 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 when seeking to buy or sell relatively small amounts of shares. In addition, the market price of shares, like the price of any exchange-traded security, includes a “bid-ask spread” charged by the market makers or other participants that trade the particular security. The spread of the Fund’s shares varies over time based on the Fund’s trading volume and market liquidity and may increase if the Fund’s trading volume, the spread of the Fund’s underlying securities, or market liquidity decrease.
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Active Management Risk. In pursuing the Fund’s investment objective, the Adviser has considerable leeway in deciding which investments to buy, hold or sell on a day-to-day basis, and which trading strategies to use. For example, the Adviser, in its discretion, may determine to use some permitted trading strategies while not using others. The success or failure of such decisions will affect the Fund’s performance.
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Investment Company Securities. Subject to the limitations set forth in the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “1940 Act”), or as otherwise permitted by the SEC, the Fund may acquire shares in other investment companies, including foreign investment companies, closed-end funds, ETFs and money market funds which may be managed by the Adviser or its affiliates. The market value of the shares of other investment companies may differ from the NAV of the Fund. The shares of certain investment companies frequently trade at a discount to their NAV. As a shareholder in an investment company, the Fund would bear its ratable share of that entity’s expenses, including its investment advisory and administration fees, and be subject to the associated risks. At the same time, the Fund would continue to pay its own advisory and administration fees and other expenses. As a result, the Fund and its shareholders, in effect, will also be absorbing fees with respect to investments in other investment companies.
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Non-Diversification. The Fund is non-diversified, which means that the Fund may invest a greater percentage of its assets in a smaller number of issuers than a diversified fund. Because the Fund is non-diversified, it may be more susceptible to an adverse event affecting a single issuer or portfolio investment than a diversified portfolio and a decline in the value of that issuer’s securities or that portfolio investment may cause the Fund’s overall value to decline to a greater degree than a diversified portfolio.
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Eaton Vance | Fund Summary
Eaton Vance CLO Investment Grade Income ETF (Con’t)
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New Fund Risk. A new fund’s performance may not represent how the fund is expected to or may perform in the long term. In addition, new funds have limited operating histories for investors to evaluate and new funds may not attract sufficient assets to achieve investment and trading efficiencies.
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Shares of the Fund are not bank deposits and are not guaranteed or insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government agency.
Performance Information
As of the date hereof, the Fund has not yet completed a full calendar year of investment operations. Upon the completion of a full calendar year of investment operations by the Fund, this section will include charts that provide some indication of the risks of an investment in the Fund, by showing the difference in annual total returns, highest and lowest quarterly returns and average annual total returns (before and after taxes) compared to the benchmark index selected for the Fund. Performance information for the Fund will be available online at www.eatonvance.com or by calling toll-free 800-836-2414.
Fund Management
Adviser. Morgan Stanley Investment Management Inc.
Portfolio Managers. Information about the individuals jointly and primarily responsible for the day-to-day management of the Fund is shown below:
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Name
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Title with Adviser
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Date Began Managing Fund
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Andrew Sveen, CFA
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Managing Director
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Since Inception
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Edward Greenaway, CFA
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Executive Director
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Since Inception
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Steve Sebo
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Executive Director
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Since Inception
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Brandon Matsui, CFA
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Executive Director
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Since Inception
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Purchase and Sale of Fund Shares
Individual shares of the Fund may only be purchased and sold in secondary market transactions through a broker or dealer at market price. Because shares trade at market prices, rather than NAV, shares of the Fund may trade at a price greater than NAV (i.e., a premium) or less than NAV (i.e., a discount).
You may incur costs attributable to the difference between the highest price a buyer is willing to pay for shares (bid) and the lowest price a seller is willing to accept for shares (ask) (the “bid-ask spread”) when buying or selling shares in the secondary market.
Recent information, including information about the Fund’s NAV, market price, premiums and discounts, and bid-ask spreads (when available), will be available on the Fund’s website at www.eatonvance.com.
Tax Information
The Fund intends to make distributions that may be taxed as ordinary income or capital gains, unless you are investing through a tax-deferred arrangement, such as a 401(k) plan or an individual retirement account.
Payments to Broker-Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries
If you purchase shares of the Fund through a broker-dealer or financial intermediary (such as a bank), the Adviser and/or Foreside Fund Services, LLC (the “Distributor”) may pay the financial intermediary for the sale of Fund shares and related services. These payments, which may be significant in amount, may create a conflict of interest by influencing the financial intermediary and your salesperson to recommend the Fund over another investment. Ask your salesperson or visit your financial intermediary’s website for more information.
Eaton Vance | Fund Summary
Eaton Vance High Income Municipal ETF
Investment Objective
Eaton Vance High Income Municipal ETF (the “Fund”) seeks to provide high current income exempt from regular federal income tax.
Fees and Expenses
Annual Fund Operating Expenses1 (expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)
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Management Fee1
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%
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Other Expenses2
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%
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Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses
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0.39%
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1 |
The Fund’s management agreement provides that the Fund’s “Adviser,” Morgan Stanley Investment Management Inc., will pay substantially all expenses of the Fund (including expenses of Morgan Stanley ETF Trust (the “Trust”) relating to the Fund), except for the distribution fees, if any, brokerage expenses, acquired fund fees and expenses, taxes, interest, litigation expenses, and other extraordinary expenses, including the costs of proxies, not incurred in the ordinary course of the Fund’s business. |
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Other Expenses have been estimated for the current fiscal year.
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Example
Portfolio Turnover
The Fund pays 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 Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses or in the example, affect the Fund’s performance. Because the Fund had not yet commenced operations as of the most recent fiscal year end, no portfolio turnover rate is available for the Fund.
Principal Investment Strategies
Under normal circumstances, the Fund invests at least 80% of its net assets (plus any borrowings for investment purposes) in municipal obligations, the interest on which is exempt from regular federal income tax. This policy is fundamental and may not be changed without shareholder approval. The Fund may invest without limit in obligations the income from which is subject to the federal alternative minimum tax. The Fund will primarily invest in “high yield” municipal obligations under normal market conditions. For this purpose, “high yield” municipal obligations are municipal obligations rated at the time of investment either Baa or lower by Moody’s Investors Service, Inc. (“Moody’s”), or BBB or lower by either S&P Global Ratings (“S&P”) or Fitch Ratings (“Fitch”) or, if unrated, determined by the investment adviser to be of comparable quality. “High yield” municipal obligations rated below investment grade are also known as “junk bonds.” The Fund may invest in securities in any rating category, including those in default. For purposes of rating restrictions, if securities are rated differently by two or more rating agencies, the lowest rating will be used for any Fund rating restrictions.
The Fund may invest up to 20% of its net assets in other debt obligations, including (but not limited to) taxable municipal obligations, U.S. Treasury securities and obligations of the U.S. Government, its agencies and instrumentalities (“Agency Securities”). The Fund may purchase or sell derivative instruments (such as residual interest bonds, futures contracts and options thereon, interest rate swaps, and forward rate contracts) for hedging purposes, to seek total return or as a substitute for the purchase or sale of securities. Derivative instruments used by the Fund will be counted toward the Fund’s 80% policy discussed above to the extent they have economic characteristics similar to the securities included within that policy.
In pursuing its objective, the Fund normally acquires municipal obligations with maturities of ten years or more, but may acquire securities with shorter maturities.
The Fund may invest 25% or more of its total assets in certain types of municipal obligations (such as general obligations, municipal leases, principal only municipal investments, revenue bonds and industrial development bonds) and in one or more states, territories and economic sectors (such as housing, hospitals, healthcare facilities or utilities). The Fund may invest in pooled investment vehicles, including exchange-traded funds (“ETFs”), to seek exposure to the municipal markets or municipal market sectors.
The Adviser’s process for selecting obligations for purchase and sale emphasizes the creditworthiness of the issuer or other person obligated to repay the obligation and the relative value of the obligation in the market. In evaluating creditworthiness, the Adviser considers ratings assigned by rating agencies and generally performs additional credit and investment analysis. When deemed by the Adviser to be relevant to its evaluation of creditworthiness and when applicable information is available, the Adviser considers
Eaton Vance | Fund Summary
Eaton Vance High Income Municipal ETF (Con’t)
environmental, social and/or governance issues (referred to as ESG) which may impact the prospects of an issuer (or obligor) or financial performance of an obligation. When considered, one or more ESG issues are taken into account alongside other factors in the investment decision-making process and are not the sole determinant of whether an investment can be made or will remain in the Fund’s portfolio.
The Fund may engage in relative value trading to take advantage of price appreciation opportunities or to realize capital losses. The fund also may trade securities to seek to minimize taxable capital gains to shareholders. A portion of the Fund’s distributions generally will be subject to the federal alternative minimum tax. The Fund may not be suitable for investors subject to the federal alternative minimum tax.
Principal Risks
There is no assurance that the Fund will achieve its investment objective, and you can lose money investing in this Fund. The principal risks of investing in the Fund include:
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Fixed-Income Securities. Fixed-income securities are subject to the risk of the issuer’s inability to meet principal and interest payments on its obligations (i.e., credit risk) and are subject to price volatility resulting from, among other things, interest rate sensitivity (i.e., interest rate risk), market perception of the creditworthiness of the issuer and general market liquidity (i.e., market risk). For example, a type of fixed-income securities in which the Fund may invest are corporate debt obligations. In addition to interest rate, credit and other risks, corporate debt obligations are also subject to factors directly related to the issuer, such as the credit rating of the corporation, the corporation’s performance and perceptions of the corporation in the marketplace, and by factors not directly related to the issuer, such as general market liquidity, economic conditions and inflation. The Fund may face a heightened level of interest rate risk in times of monetary policy change and/or uncertainty, such as when the Federal Reserve Board adjusts a quantitative easing program and/or changes rates. A changing interest rate environment increases certain risks, including the potential for periods of volatility, increased redemptions, shortened durations (i.e., prepayment risk) and extended durations (i.e., extension risk). The Fund is not limited as to the maturities (when a debt security provides its final payment) or durations (measure of interest rate sensitivity of the securities in which it may invest). Securities with longer durations are likely to be more sensitive to changes in interest rates, generally making them more volatile than securities with shorter durations. Lower rated fixed-income securities have greater volatility because there is less certainty that principal and interest payments will be made as scheduled. The Fund may be subject to certain liquidity risks that may result from the lack of an active market and the reduced number and capacity of traditional market participants to make a market in fixed-income securities.
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High Yield Securities (“Junk Bonds”). The Fund’s investments in high yield securities expose it to a substantial degree of credit risk. High yield securities may be more volatile in price in certain environments. High yield securities may be issued by companies that are restructuring, are smaller and less creditworthy or are more highly indebted than other companies, and therefore they may have more difficulty making scheduled payments of principal and interest. High yield securities are subject to greater risk of loss of income and principal than higher rated securities and are considered speculative because of increased credit risk relative to other fixed income investments. High yield securities may experience reduced liquidity, and sudden and substantial decreases in price. An economic downturn affecting an issuer of high yield securities may result in an increased incidence of default. In the event of a default, the Fund may incur additional expenses to seek recovery.
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Credit and Interest Rate Risk. Credit risk refers to the possibility that the issuer or guarantor of a security will be unable or unwilling or perceived to be unable or unwilling to make interest payments and/or repay the principal on its debt. In such instances, the value of the Fund could decline and the Fund could lose money. Interest rate risk refers to the decline in the value of a fixed-income security resulting from changes in the general level of interest rates. When the general level of interest rates goes up, the prices of most fixed-income securities go down. When the general level of interest rates goes down, the prices of most fixed-income securities go up. The Fund may invest in variable and floating rate loans and other variable and floating rate securities. Although these instruments are generally less sensitive to interest rate changes than fixed rate instruments, the value of variable and floating rate loans and other securities may decline if their interest rates do not rise as quickly, or as much, as general interest rates. For example, during periods when interest rates are low, the Fund’s yield (and total return) also may be low or otherwise adversely affected or the Fund may be unable to maintain positive returns. Credit ratings may not be an accurate assessment of liquidity or credit risk. Although credit ratings may not accurately reflect the true credit risk of an instrument, a change in the credit rating of an instrument or an issuer can have a rapid, adverse effect on the instrument’s liquidity and make it more difficult for the Fund to sell at an advantageous price or time.
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U.S. Government Securities. Different types of U.S. government securities are subject to different levels of credit risk, including the risk of default, depending on the nature of the particular government support for that security. For example, a U.S. government-sponsored entity, such as Federal National Mortgage Association or Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation, although chartered or sponsored by an Act of Congress, may issue securities that are neither insured nor guaranteed by the U.S. Treasury and, therefore, are not backed by the full faith and credit of the United States. With respect to U.S. government securities that are not backed by the full faith and credit of the United States, there is the risk that the U.S. Government will not provide financial support to such U.S. government agencies, instrumentalities or sponsored enterprises if it is not obligated to do so by law.
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Eaton Vance | Fund Summary
Eaton Vance High Income Municipal ETF (Con’t)
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Municipals. Because the Fund may invest in municipal securities (also referred to as municipal obligations), the Fund may be susceptible to political, legislative, economic, regulatory, tax or other factors affecting issuers of these municipal securities, such as state and local governments and their agencies. To the extent that the Fund invests in municipal securities of issuers in the same state or economic sector, it could be more sensitive to economic, business or political developments that affect such state or sector. Municipal securities and their issuers may be more susceptible to downgrade, loss of revenue, default and bankruptcy during periods of economic stress. Municipal securities also involve the risk that an issuer may call the securities for redemption, which could force the Fund to reinvest the proceeds at a lower rate of interest. While interest earned on municipal securities is generally not subject to federal income tax, any interest earned on taxable municipal securities is fully taxable at the federal level and may be subject to state and/or local income tax.
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Liquidity. The Fund may make investments that are less liquid, illiquid or restricted or that may become illiquid or less liquid in response to overall economic conditions or adverse investor perceptions, and which may entail greater risk than investments in other types of securities. These investments may be more difficult to value or sell, particularly in times of market turmoil, and there may be little trading in the secondary market available for particular securities. Liquidity risk may be magnified in a market where credit spread and interest rate volatility is rising and where investor redemptions from fixed-income funds may be higher than normal. If the Fund is forced to sell an illiquid or restricted security to fund redemptions or for other cash needs, it may be forced to sell the security at a loss or for less than its fair value and may be unable to sell the security at all.
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Market and Geopolitical Risk. The value of your investment in the Fund is based on the values of the Fund’s investments, which change due to economic and other events that affect markets generally, as well as those that affect particular regions, countries, industries, companies or governments. These events may be sudden and unexpected, and could adversely affect the liquidity of the Fund’s investments, which may in turn impact valuation, the Fund’s ability to sell securities and/or its ability to meet redemptions. The risks associated with these developments may be magnified if certain social, political, economic and other conditions and events (such as war, natural disasters, epidemics and pandemics, terrorism, conflicts, social unrest, recessions, inflation, interest rate changes and supply chain disruptions) adversely interrupt the global economy and financial markets. It is difficult to predict when events affecting the U.S. or global financial markets may occur, the effects that such events may have and the duration of those effects (which may last for extended periods). These events may negatively impact broad segments of businesses and populations and have a significant and rapid negative impact on the performance of the Fund’s investments, adversely affect and increase the volatility of the Fund’s share price and exacerbate pre-existing risks to the Fund.
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Derivatives. Derivatives and other similar instruments that create synthetic exposure often are subject to risks similar to those of the underlying asset or instrument, including market risk, and may be subject to additional risks, including imperfect correlation between the value of the derivative and the underlying asset, risks of default by the counterparty to certain transactions, magnification of losses incurred due to changes in the market value of the securities, instruments, indices or interest rates to which the derivative instrument relates, risks that the transactions may not be liquid, risks arising from margin and payment requirements, risks arising from mispricing or valuation complexity and operational and legal risks. Certain derivative transactions may give rise to a form of leverage. Leverage magnifies the potential for gain and the risk of loss.
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Authorized Participant Concentration Risk. Only an authorized participant may engage in creation or redemption transactions directly with the Fund. The Fund has a limited number of intermediaries that act as authorized participants and none of these authorized participants is or will be obligated to engage in creation or redemption transactions. There can be no assurance that an active trading market for the Fund’s shares will develop or be maintained. To the extent that these intermediaries exit the business or are unable to or choose not to proceed with creation and/or redemption orders with respect to the Fund, such as during periods of market stress, and no other authorized participant creates or redeems, shares may trade at a discount to net asset value (“NAV”) and possibly face trading halts and/or delisting. Authorized participant concentration risk may be heightened for exchange-traded funds that invest in securities issued by non-U.S. issuers or other securities or instruments that have lower trading volumes.
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Cash Transactions Risk. Unlike certain ETFs, the Fund may effect creations and redemptions in cash or partially in cash. Therefore, it may be required to sell portfolio securities and subsequently recognize gains on such sales that the Fund might not have recognized if it were to distribute portfolio securities in-kind. As such, investments in shares may be less tax-efficient than an investment in an ETF that distributes portfolio securities entirely in-kind.
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Trading Risk. The market prices of shares are expected to fluctuate, in some cases materially, in response to changes in the Fund’s NAV, the intra-day value of the Fund’s holdings, and supply and demand for shares. The Adviser cannot predict whether shares will trade above, below or at their NAV. Disruptions to creations and redemptions, the existence of significant market volatility or potential lack of an active trading market for the shares (including through a trading halt), as well as other factors, may result in the shares trading significantly above (at a premium) or below (at a discount) to NAV or to the intraday value of the Fund’s holdings. You may pay significantly more or receive significantly less than the Fund’s NAV per share during periods when there is a significant premium or discount. Buying or selling shares in the secondary market may require paying 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 when seeking to buy or sell relatively small amounts of shares. In addition, the market price of shares,
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Eaton Vance | Fund Summary
Eaton Vance High Income Municipal ETF (Con’t)
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like the price of any exchange-traded security, includes a “bid-ask spread” charged by the market makers or other participants that trade the particular security. The spread of the Fund’s shares varies over time based on the Fund’s trading volume and market liquidity and may increase if the Fund’s trading volume, the spread of the Fund’s underlying securities, or market liquidity decrease.
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Active Management Risk. In pursuing the Fund’s investment objective, the Adviser has considerable leeway in deciding which investments to buy, hold or sell on a day-to-day basis, and which trading strategies to use. For example, the Adviser, in its discretion, may determine to use some permitted trading strategies while not using others. The success or failure of such decisions will affect the Fund’s performance.
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Distressed and Defaulted Securities. Distressed and defaulted securities are speculative and involve substantial risks in addition to the risks of investing in high yield securities. The Fund will generally not receive interest payments on the distressed securities and the repayment of principal may also be subject to increased risk. These securities may present a substantial risk of default or may be in default at the time of investment, requiring the Fund to incur additional costs. The repayment of defaulted securities is also subject to significant uncertainties. The Fund may incur substantial expenses in seeking recovery upon a default in the payment of principal of or interest on its portfolio holdings.
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Taxability Risk. Changes in tax laws or adverse determinations by the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) may make the income from some municipal obligations taxable.
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New Fund Risk. A new fund’s performance may not represent how the fund is expected to or may perform in the long term. In addition, new funds have limited operating histories for investors to evaluate and new funds may not attract sufficient assets to achieve investment and trading efficiencies.
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Investment Company Securities. Subject to the limitations set forth in the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “1940 Act”), or as otherwise permitted by the SEC, the Fund may acquire shares in other investment companies, including foreign investment companies, ETFs and money market funds which may be managed by the Adviser or its affiliates. The market value of the shares of other investment companies may differ from the NAV of the Fund. The shares of closed-end investment companies frequently trade at a discount to their NAV. As a shareholder in an investment company, the Fund would bear its ratable share of that entity’s expenses, including its investment advisory and administration fees, and be subject to the associated risks. At the same time, the Fund would continue to pay its own advisory and administration fees and other expenses. As a result, the Fund and its shareholders, in effect, will also be absorbing fees with respect to investments in other investment companies.
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Residual Interest Bonds. The Fund may enter into residual interest bond transactions, which expose the Fund to leverage and greater risk than an investment in a fixed-rate municipal bond. The interest payments that the Fund receives on the residual interest bonds acquired in such transactions vary inversely with short-term interest rates, normally decreasing when short-term rates increase. The value and market for residual interest bonds are volatile and such bonds may have limited liquidity. As required by applicable accounting standards, the Fund records interest expense as a liability with respect to floating-rate notes and also records offsetting interest income in an amount equal to this expense.
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Shares of the Fund are not bank deposits and are not guaranteed or insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government agency.
Performance Information
As of the date hereof, the Fund has not yet completed a full calendar year of investment operations. Upon the completion of a full calendar year of investment operations by the Fund, this section will include charts that provide some indication of the risks of an investment in the Fund, by showing the difference in annual total returns, highest and lowest quarterly returns and average annual total returns (before and after taxes) compared to the benchmark index selected for the Fund. Performance information for the Fund will be available online at www.eatonvance.com or by calling toll-free 800-836-2414.
Fund Management
Adviser. Morgan Stanley Investment Management Inc.
Portfolio Managers. Information about the individuals jointly and primarily responsible for the day-to-day management of the Fund is shown below:
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Name
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Title with Adviser
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Date Began Managing Fund
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Bill Delahunty, CFA
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Managing Director
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Since Inception
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Trevor Smith
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Executive Director
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Since Inception
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Carl Thompson, CFA
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Executive Director
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Since Inception
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Brandon Matsui, CFA
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Executive Director
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Since Inception
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Eaton Vance | Fund Summary
Eaton Vance High Income Municipal ETF (Con’t)
Purchase and Sale of Fund Shares
Individual shares of the Fund may only be purchased and sold in secondary market transactions through a broker or dealer at market price. Because shares trade at market prices, rather than NAV, shares of the Fund may trade at a price greater than NAV (i.e., a premium) or less than NAV (i.e., a discount).
You may incur costs attributable to the difference between the highest price a buyer is willing to pay for shares (bid) and the lowest price a seller is willing to accept for shares (ask) (the “bid-ask spread”) when buying or selling shares in the secondary market.
Recent information, including information about the Fund’s NAV, market price, premiums and discounts, and bid-ask spreads (when available), will be available on the Fund’s website at www.eatonvance.com.
Tax Information
The Fund’s distributions of interest on municipal obligations generally are not subject to federal income tax. The Fund’s distributions from other portfolio securities may be subject to federal, state and/or local income taxes. Income derived from some municipal securities is subject to the federal alternative minimum tax. If the Fund makes any capital gain distributions, those distributions will normally be subject to federal and state income tax when they are paid, whether you take them in cash or reinvest them in Fund shares.
Payments to Broker-Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries
If you purchase shares of the Fund through a broker-dealer or financial intermediary (such as a bank), the Adviser and/or Foreside Fund Services, LLC (the “Distributor”) may pay the financial intermediary for the sale of Fund shares and related services. These payments, which may be significant in amount, may create a conflict of interest by influencing the financial intermediary and your salesperson to recommend the Fund over another investment. Ask your salesperson or visit your financial intermediary’s website for more information.
Eaton Vance | Details of the Fund
Eaton Vance Strategic Income Opportunities ETF
Investment Objective
The Fund seeks total return.
The Fund’s investment objective may be changed by the Trust’s Board of Trustees without shareholder approval, but no change is anticipated. If the Fund’s investment objective changes, the Fund will notify shareholders and shareholders should consider whether the Fund remains an appropriate investment in light of the change.
Approach
The Fund is an actively managed exchange-traded fund (“ETF”). The Fund has a flexible investment strategy and will invest in a variety of securities and other investments and use a variety of investment techniques in pursuing its investment objective. The Fund seeks investment in foreign and domestic securities and other instruments, mortgage-backed securities (“MBS”) and asset-backed securities, commercial mortgage-backed securities, collateralized loan obligations, collateralized mortgage obligations, stripped MBS securities, preferred and convertible securities, bank instruments, high yield corporate debt, loans, other fixed-income securities, sovereign nations including emerging markets and so-called frontier markets (such as currencies, interest rates and debt instruments issued or guaranteed by sovereign entities (including U.S. Treasuries)), inflation and credit-linked debt securities, and municipal investments. The Fund may invest up to 20% of its net assets in equity securities and may invest up to 10% of its net assets in municipal securities. The Fund may have significant investment in a geographic region or country.
Process
The Fund may invest in investments of any maturity and without regard to a specific duration target or limit. The Fund will maintain an average credit rating of at least investment grade (BBB- by S&P Global Ratings (“S&P”) or Fitch Ratings (“Fitch”), or Baa3 by Moody’s Investors Service (“Moody’s”)). The Fund’s average credit rating will be the weighted-average of (i) the average credit ratings of the Portfolios in which it invests and (ii) the securities it holds directly. While the Fund’s average credit rating will be investment grade, the Fund may invest in securities that are rated below investment grade (rated below BBB by either S&P or Fitch, or below Baa by Moody’s) or in unrated securities considered to be of comparable quality by the investment adviser (often referred to as “junk” instruments). If securities are rated differently by two or more rating agencies, the highest rating will be used.
The Fund may invest in derivatives, including futures, foreign currency forward exchange contracts, interest rate swaps, credit default swaps and options, and engage in repurchase agreements, reverse repurchase agreements, forward commitments and short sales. The Fund may invest in other investment companies that acquire investments with borrowings. The Fund may enter into forward commitments to buy or sell agency MBS (to-be-announced transactions, or “TBAs”).
In managing the Fund, the Adviser adjusts investments based on its macroeconomic views and analysis in an effort to take advantage of differences in investment sectors, such as U.S. government, investment grade and below investment grade credit markets, and foreign sectors (primarily focused on sovereign debt, currencies and interest rates). The Adviser considers the relative risk/return characteristics of prospective investments (whether securities, currencies, derivatives or other instruments) in determining the most efficient means for achieving desired exposures. Risk/return characteristics may include a combination of fundamentals (i.e., credit quality, growth dynamics and central bank policies), valuations (i.e., credit spreads, interest rates and currency exchange rates) and technicals (i.e., investor flows, capital flows and liquidity).
When deemed by the Adviser to be relevant to its evaluation of creditworthiness and when applicable information is available, the Adviser considers environmental, social and/or governance issues (referred to as ESG) which may impact the prospects of an issuer (or obligor) or financial performance of an obligation. When considered, one or more ESG issues are taken into account alongside other factors in the investment decision-making process and are not the sole determinant of whether an investment can be made or will remain in the Fund’s portfolio.
Eaton Vance | Details of the Fund
Eaton Vance CLO Investment Grade Income ETF
Investment Objective
The Fund seeks current income, with a secondary objective of capital preservation.
The Fund’s investment objective may be changed by the Trust’s Board of Trustees without shareholder approval, but no change is anticipated. If the Fund’s investment objective changes, the Fund will notify shareholders and shareholders should consider whether the Fund remains an appropriate investment in light of the change.
Approach
The Fund is an actively managed exchange-traded fund (“ETF”) and does not seek to track the performance of any particular index. The Fund normally invests at least 80% of its net assets (plus borrowings for investment purposes) in investment grade-rated debt tranches of collateralized loan obligations (“CLOs”) of any maturity. Investment grade CLO securities are rated inclusive and above BBB- by S&P Global Ratings or Baa3 Moody’s Investors Service, Inc. (or equivalent rating issued by a nationally recognized statistical rating organization (“NRSRO”)), or if unrated, determined to be of comparable credit quality by the Adviser. The Fund will not invest in any CLO equity security or in any CLO debt security rated below BB-/Ba3 or if unrated, determined to be of comparable credit quality by the Adviser. For purposes of complying with its 80% investment policy, the Fund may invest in CLO investments directly or indirectly, for example by investing in closed-end funds and exchange-traded funds (“ETFs”) or derivatives that provide investment and economic exposure to investment-grade rated CLO debt investments. The Fund will provide shareholders with at least sixty days’ written notice of any change in this 80% investment policy. For purposes of the Fund’s investment policies, CLOs are trusts that are typically collateralized by a pool of loans, which may include, among others, domestic and foreign senior secured loans, senior unsecured loans and subordinate corporate loans, including loans that may be rated below investment grade or equivalent unrated loans, and including “covenant lite” loans, which have few or no financial maintenance covenants. The Fund may purchase CLO securities both in the primary (e.g., purchased directly from the issuer) and secondary markets. The Adviser uses a bottom-up analysis to select CLO investments which considers several factors, including an assessment of the CLO manager, the CLO’s underlying collateral, an analysis of the CLO’s documentation and structural terms. The Fund’s portfolio is constructed using this security-level analysis, combined with a top-down overlay which incorporates the Adviser’s credit views as well as risk factor positioning. The Fund intends to invest primarily in CLO securities that are U.S.-dollar denominated. However, the Fund may from time to time invest up to 20% of its net assets in CLO securities that are denominated in foreign currencies. To the extent the Fund invests in non-U.S. dollar denominated securities, it may seek to hedge its exposure to foreign currency to U.S. dollars, as described more fully below.
Process
The Fund may purchase up to 20% of its net assets in other types of investment grade-rated fixed-rate or floating-rate bonds that are not CLOs; shares of ETF and closed end funds; below investment grade CLOs, non-US denominated investment grade CLOs; and private credit CLOs. Private credit CLOs, often commonly referred to as “middle-market” CLOs, are collateralized by directly-originated loans to generally small or medium-sized firms and/or by loans of a small or medium size. The Fund may invest a portion of its assets in cash or other short-term instruments, such as money market instruments or money market funds, while deploying new capital, for liquidity management purposes, managing redemptions, or for defensive purposes, including navigating unusual market conditions.
The Fund may invest in derivatives in order to seek to mitigate risks associated with the Fund’s existing portfolio of CLO securities. The Funds use of derivatives will be limited to currency forward contracts or futures contracts to hedge certain foreign currency exposure. Forward contracts may be used by the Fund for hedging purposes to protect against uncertainty in the level of future foreign currency exchange rates, such as when the Fund anticipates purchasing or selling a foreign security. For example, this technique would allow the Fund to “lock in” the U.S. dollar price of the security. Forward contracts may also be used to attempt to protect the value of the Fund’s existing holdings of foreign securities. The Fund’s portfolio management utilizes the information provided by, and the expertise of affiliates in making investment decisions. Derivative instruments used by the Fund will be counted toward the Fund’s 80% policy discussed above to the extent they have economic characteristics similar to the securities included within that policy.
When deemed by the Adviser to be relevant to its evaluation of creditworthiness and when applicable information is available, the Adviser considers environmental, social and/or governance issues (referred to as ESG) which may impact the prospects of an issuer (or obligor) or financial performance of an obligation. When considered, one or more ESG issues are taken into account alongside other factors in the investment decision-making process and are not the sole determinant of whether an investment can be made or will remain in the Fund’s portfolio.
Eaton Vance | Details of the Fund
Eaton Vance High Income Municipal ETF
Investment Objective
The Fund seeks to provide high current income exempt from regular federal income tax.
The Fund’s investment objective may be changed by the Trust’s Board of Trustees without shareholder approval, but no change is anticipated. If the Fund’s investment objective changes, the Fund will notify shareholders and shareholders should consider whether the Fund remains an appropriate investment in light of the change.
Approach
Under normal circumstances, the Fund invests at least 80% of its net assets (plus any borrowings for investment purposes) in municipal obligations, the interest on which is exempt from regular federal income tax. This policy is fundamental and may not be changed without shareholder approval. The Fund may invest without limit in obligations the income from which is subject to the federal alternative minimum tax. The Fund will primarily invest in “high yield” municipal obligations under normal market conditions. For this purpose, “high yield” municipal obligations are municipal obligations rated at the time of investment either Baa or lower by Moody’s Investors Service, Inc. (“Moody’s”), or BBB or lower by either S&P Global Ratings (“S&P”) or Fitch Ratings (“Fitch”) or, if unrated, determined by the investment adviser to be of comparable quality. “High yield” municipal obligations rated below investment grade are also known as “junk bonds.” The Fund may invest in securities in any rating category, including those in default. For purposes of rating restrictions, if securities are rated differently by two or more rating agencies, the lowest rating will be used for any Fund rating restrictions.
Process
The Fund may invest up to 20% of its net assets in other debt obligations, including (but not limited to) taxable municipal obligations, U.S. Treasury securities and obligations of the U.S. Government, its agencies and instrumentalities (“Agency Securities”). The Fund may purchase or sell derivative instruments (such as residual interest bonds, futures contracts and options thereon, interest rate swaps, and forward rate contracts) for hedging purposes, to seek total return or as a substitute for the purchase or sale of securities. Derivative instruments used by the Fund will be counted toward the Fund’s 80% policy discussed above to the extent they have economic characteristics similar to the securities included within that policy.
In pursuing its objective, the Fund normally acquires municipal obligations with maturities of ten years or more, but may acquire securities with shorter maturities.
The Fund may invest 25% or more of its total assets in certain types of municipal obligations (such as general obligations, municipal leases, principal only municipal investments, revenue bonds and industrial development bonds) and in one or more states, territories and economic sectors (such as housing, hospitals, healthcare facilities or utilities). The Fund may invest in pooled investment vehicles, including exchange-traded funds (“ETFs”), to seek exposure to the municipal markets or municipal market sectors.
The Adviser’s process for selecting obligations for purchase and sale emphasizes the creditworthiness of the issuer or other person obligated to repay the obligation and the relative value of the obligation in the market. In evaluating creditworthiness, the Adviser considers ratings assigned by rating agencies and generally performs additional credit and investment analysis. When deemed by the Adviser to be relevant to its evaluation of creditworthiness and when applicable information is available, the Adviser considers environmental, social and/or governance issues (referred to as ESG) which may impact the prospects of an issuer (or obligor) or financial performance of an obligation. When considered, one or more ESG issues are taken into account alongside other factors in the investment decision-making process and are not the sole determinant of whether an investment can be made or will remain in the Fund’s portfolio.
The Fund may engage in relative value trading to take advantage of price appreciation opportunities or to realize capital losses. The fund also may trade securities to seek to minimize taxable capital gains to shareholders. A portion of the Fund’s distributions generally will be subject to the federal alternative minimum tax. The Fund may not be suitable for investors subject to the federal alternative minimum tax.
Eaton Vance | Additional Information About Fund Investment Strategies and Related Risks
Additional Information About Fund Investment Strategies and Related Risks
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This section discusses additional information relating to Fund investment strategies, other types of investments that the Funds may make and related risk factors. “Fund” as used herein and under “Additional Information About Fund Investment Strategies and Related Risks” refers to each Fund listed on the cover page of this Prospectus (unless otherwise noted). Fund investment practices and limitations are described in more detail in the Statement of Additional Information (“SAI”), which is incorporated by reference and legally is a part of this Prospectus. For details on how to obtain a copy of the SAI and other reports and information, see the back cover of this Prospectus.
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Economies and financial markets worldwide have recently experienced periods of increased volatility, uncertainty, distress, government spending, inflation and disruption to consumer demand, economic output and supply chains. To the extent these conditions continue, the risks associated with an investment in the Fund, including those described below, could be heightened and the Fund’s investments (and thus a shareholder’s investment in the Fund) may be particularly susceptible to sudden and substantial losses, reduced yield or income or other adverse developments. The occurrence, duration and extent of these or other types of adverse economic and market conditions and uncertainty over the long term cannot be reasonably projected or estimated at this time.
The name, investment objective and/or policies of a Fund may be similar to other funds advised by the Adviser or its affiliates. However, the investment results of the Fund may be higher or lower than, and there is no guarantee that the investment results of the Fund will be comparable to, any such other funds for any period of time.
The Fund may be more significantly affected by purchases and redemptions of its Creation Units (as defined below) than a fund with relatively greater assets under management would be affected by purchases and redemptions of its shares. As compared to a larger fund, the Fund is more likely to sell a comparatively large portion of its portfolio to meet significant Creation Unit redemptions or invest a comparatively large amount of cash to facilitate Creation Unit purchases, in each case when the Fund otherwise would not seek to do so. Such transactions may cause the Fund to make investment decisions at inopportune times or prices or miss attractive investment opportunities. Such transactions may also accelerate the realization of taxable income if sales of securities resulted in gains and the Fund redeems Creation Units for cash, or otherwise cause a fund to perform differently than intended. While such risks may apply to funds of any size, such risks are heightened in funds with fewer assets under management.
Fixed-Income Securities
Fixed-income securities are securities that pay a fixed or a variable rate of interest until a stated maturity date. Fixed-income securities include U.S. government securities, securities issued by federal or federally sponsored agencies and instrumentalities, corporate bonds and notes, asset-backed securities, mortgage-backed securities, securities rated below investment grade (commonly referred to as “junk bonds” or “high yield/high risk securities”), municipal bonds, loan participations and assignments, zero coupon bonds, Eurobonds, Brady Bonds, Yankee Bonds, repurchase agreements, commercial paper and cash equivalents.
Fixed-income securities are subject to the risk of the issuer’s inability to meet principal and interest payments on its obligations (i.e., credit risk) and are subject to price volatility resulting from, among other things, interest rate sensitivity (i.e., interest rate risk), market perception of the creditworthiness of the issuer and general market liquidity (i.e., market risk). For example, a type of fixed-income securities in which the Fund may invest are corporate debt obligations. In addition to interest rate, credit and other risks, corporate debt obligations are also subject to factors directly related to the issuer, such as the credit rating of the corporation, the corporation’s performance and perceptions of the corporation in the marketplace, and by factors not directly related to the issuer, such as general market liquidity, economic conditions and inflation. The Fund may face a heightened level of interest rate risk in times of monetary policy change and/or uncertainty, such as when the Federal Reserve Board adjusts a quantitative easing program and/or changes rates. A changing interest rate environment increases certain risks, including the potential for periods of volatility, increased redemptions, shortened durations (i.e., prepayment risk) and extended durations (i.e., extension risk).
Fixed income and other debt instruments, including mortgage- and other asset-backed securities, are subject to prepayment risk, which is the risk that the principal of such obligation is paid earlier than expected, such as in the case of refinancing. This risk is increased during periods of declining interest rates and prepayments may reduce the Fund’s yield or income as a result of reinvesting the income or other proceeds in lower yielding securities or instruments. These investments are also subject to extension risk, which is the risk that the principal of such obligation is paid lower or later than expected. This may negatively affect Fund returns, as the value of the investment decreases when principal payments are made later than expected. This risk is elevated during periods of increasing interest rates. In addition, because principal payments are made later than expected, the investment’s duration may extend (and result in increased interest rate risk) and the Fund may be prevented from investing proceeds it would otherwise have received at the higher prevailing interest rates. Prepayments and extensions may result in a security or debt instrument offering less potential for gains during periods of declining interest rates or rising interest rates, respectively.
The Fund is not limited as to the maturities (when a debt security provides its final payment) or durations (measure of interest rate sensitivity) of the securities in which it may invest. Securities with longer durations are likely to be more sensitive to changes in interest rates, generally making them more volatile than securities with shorter durations. Lower rated fixed-income securities have
Eaton Vance | Additional Information About Fund Investment Strategies and Related Risks
Additional Information About Fund Investment Strategies and Related Risks (Con’t)
greater volatility because there is less certainty that principal and interest payments will be made as scheduled. The Funds may be subject to liquidity risk, which may result from the lack of an active market and the reduced number and capacity of traditional market participants to make a market in fixed-income securities. Fixed-income securities may be called (i.e., redeemed by the issuer) prior to final maturity. If a callable security is called, the Fund may have to reinvest the proceeds at a lower rate of interest.
Credit and Interest Rate Risk
Fixed-income securities, such as bonds, generally are subject to two types of risk: credit risk and interest rate risk. Credit risk refers to the possibility that the issuer or guarantor of a security will be unable or unwilling or perceived to be unable or unwilling to make interest payments and/or repay the principal on its debt. The risk of defaults across issuers and/or counterparties increases in adverse market and economic conditions. Interest rate risk refers to fluctuations in the value of (or yield or income generated by) a fixed-income or other debt security resulting from changes in the general level of interest rates. When the general level of interest rates goes up, the prices of most fixed-income securities go down. When the general level of interest rates goes down, the prices of most fixed-income securities go up. To the extent the Fund invests in variable and floating rate securities, although these instruments are generally less sensitive to interest rate changes than fixed rate instruments, the value of these securities may decline if their interest rates do not rise as quickly, or as much, as general interest rates. A low interest rate environment may prevent the Fund from providing a positive yield or paying Fund expenses out of current income. The Fund may face a heightened level of interest rate risk in times of monetary policy change and/or uncertainty, such as when the Federal Reserve Board adjusts a quantitative easing program and/or changes rates. For example, during periods when interest rates are low, the Fund’s yield (and total return) also may be low or otherwise adversely affected or the Fund may be unable to maintain positive returns. Monetary policies, and market interest rates, are subject to change at any time and potentially frequently based on a variety of market and economic conditions. The impact on fixed income and other debt instruments from interest rate changes, regardless of the cause, could be significant and could adversely affect the Fund and its investments. Credit ratings may not be an accurate assessment of liquidity or credit risk. Although credit ratings may not accurately reflect the true credit risk of an instrument, a change in the credit rating of an instrument or an issuer can have a rapid, adverse effect on the instrument’s liquidity and make it more difficult for the Fund to sell at an advantageous price or time.
In addition, under certain conditions, there may be an increasing amount of issuers that are unprofitable, have little cash on hand and/or are unable to pay the interest owed on their debt obligations and the number of such issuers may increase if demand for their goods and services falls, borrowing costs rise due to governmental action or inaction or other reasons.
Low or high interest rates could magnify the risks associated with changes in interest rates. In general, changing interest rates could have unpredictable effects on markets and may expose debt and related markets to heightened volatility and may detract from Fund performance to the extent the Fund is exposed to such interest rates and/or volatility.
Governmental authorities and regulators may enact significant fiscal and monetary policy changes, which present heightened risks to debt instruments, and such risks could be even further heightened if these actions are unexpectedly or suddenly reversed or are ineffective in achieving their desired outcomes.
Loans of Portfolio Securities
The Fund may lend its portfolio securities to brokers, dealers, banks and other institutional investors. By lending its portfolio securities, the Fund attempts to increase its net investment income through the receipt of interest on the cash collateral with respect to the loan or fees received from the borrower in connection with the loan. Any gain or loss in the market price of the securities loaned that might occur during the term of the loan would be for the account of the Fund. The Fund employs an agent to implement the securities lending program and the agent receives a fee from the Fund for its services. The Fund will not lend more than 33⅓% of the value of its total assets.
The Fund may lend its portfolio securities so long as the terms, structure and the aggregate amount of such loans are not inconsistent with the 1940 Act or the rules and regulations or interpretations of the SEC thereunder, which currently require that (i) the borrower pledge and maintain with the Fund collateral consisting of liquid, unencumbered assets having a value not less than 100% of the value of the securities loaned; (ii) the borrower adds to such collateral whenever the price of the securities loaned rises (i.e., the borrower “marks-to-market” on a daily basis); (iii) the loan be made subject to termination by the Fund at any time; and (iv) the Fund receives a reasonable return on the loan (which may include the Fund investing any cash collateral in interest bearing short-term investments), any distributions on the loaned securities and any increase in their market value. In addition, voting rights may pass with the loaned securities, but the Fund will retain the right to call any security in anticipation of a vote that the Adviser deems material to the security on loan.
Loans of securities involve a risk that the borrower may fail to return the securities or may fail to maintain the proper amount of collateral, which may result in a loss of money by the Fund. There may be risks of delay and costs involved in recovery of securities or even loss of rights in the collateral should the borrower of the securities fail financially. These delays and costs could be greater for foreign securities. However, loans will be made only to borrowers deemed by the Adviser to be creditworthy and when, in the judgment of the Adviser, the income that can be earned from such securities loans justifies the attendant risk. All relevant facts and circumstances, including the creditworthiness of the broker, dealer, bank or institution, will be considered in making decisions with
Eaton Vance | Additional Information About Fund Investment Strategies and Related Risks
Additional Information About Fund Investment Strategies and Related Risks (Con’t)
respect to the lending of securities, subject to review by the Trust’s Board of Trustees. The Fund also bears the risk that the reinvestment of collateral will result in a principal loss. Finally, there is the risk that the price of the securities will increase while they are on loan and the collateral will not be adequate to cover their value.
Asset-Backed Securities
Asset-backed securities apply the securitization techniques used to develop mortgage-backed securities to a broad range of other assets. Various types of assets, primarily automobile and credit card receivables and home equity loans, are pooled and securitized in pass-through structures similar to pass-through structures developed with respect to mortgage securitizations. Asset-backed securities have risk characteristics similar to mortgage-backed securities. Like mortgage-backed securities, they generally decrease in value as a result of interest rate increases, but may benefit less than other fixed-income securities from declining interest rates, principally because of prepayments (i.e., when a borrower pays back the principal of a debt obligation earlier than expected). Also, as in the case of mortgage-backed securities, prepayments generally increase during a period of declining interest rates, although other factors, such as changes in credit use and payment patterns, may also influence prepayment rates. Asset-backed securities also involve the risk that various federal and state consumer laws and other legal and economic factors may result in the collateral backing the securities being insufficient to support payment on the securities.
To the extent the Fund invests in asset-backed securities issued by non-governmental issuers, such as commercial banks, savings and loan institutions, and other secondary market issuers, the Fund will be exposed to additional risks because, among other things, there are no direct or indirect government or agency guarantees of payments in the pools underlying the securities. Privately-issued asset-backed securities may be less readily marketable, subject to heightened credit risk and the market for such securities is typically smaller and less liquid than other asset-backed securities.
The Fund may invest in other asset-backed or similarly structured securities, such as collateralized debt obligations (“CDOs”), collateralized bond obligations (“CBOs”), and collateralized loan obligations (“CLOs”) These investments are subject to many of the same risks as other forms of asset-backed securities, including interest rate risk, credit risk and default risk, and are also subject to additional risks, including but not limited to: (i) the possibility that distributions from collateral securities will not be adequate to make interest or other payments; (ii) the risk that the collateral may default or decline in value or be downgraded, if rated by a nationally recognized statistical rating organization; (iii) the Fund may invest in tranches of CDOs that are subordinate to other tranches; (iv) the structure and complexity of the transaction and the legal documents could lead to disputes among investors regarding the characterization of proceeds; (v) the investment return achieved by the Fund could be significantly different than those predicted by financial models; (vi) the lack of a readily available secondary market for CDOs; (vii) the risk of forced “fire sale” liquidation due to technical defaults such as coverage test failures; and (viii) the CDO’s manager may perform poorly. Investments in CDOs, CBOs and CLOs are also subject to risks particular to their respective asset class and structure.
For example, because CLOs are backed primarily by commercial loans, CLOs also bear many of the same risks as investing in loans directly. However, in addition to the risks associated with investing in commercial loans, the complex structure and highly leveraged nature of a CLO poses additional risks. CLOs may experience substantial losses attributable to loan defaults or trading losses. Such losses on the underlying assets are borne first by the holders of subordinate tranches. In addition, the Fund’s investments in CLOs may decrease in market value when the CLO’s assets experience loan defaults or credit impairment, losses that exceed the most subordinate tranches, or market anticipation of loan defaults and investor aversion to CLO securities as a class. CDOs are structured similarly to CLOs and bear many of the same risks as CLOs as well as additional risks because they are backed by pools of assets other than commercial loans, including securities (such as other asset-backed securities), synthetic instruments or bonds, and may be highly leveraged. Like CLOs, losses incurred by a CDO are borne first by holders of the most subordinate tranches. Accordingly, the risks of CDOs depend largely on the type of underlying collateral and the tranche of CDOs in which the Fund invests. Moreover, CDOs that obtain their exposure through synthetic investments are exposed to risks associated with derivative instruments.
Collateralized Loan Obligations
A CLO is an asset-backed security typically collateralized by a pool of loans, which may include, among others, domestica and foreign senior secured loans, senior unsecured loans, and subordinate corporate loans, including loans that may be rated below investment grade or equivalent unrated loans. The key feature of the CLO structure is the prioritization of the cash flows from a pool of debt securities among the several classes of CLO holders, thereby creating a series of obligations with varying rates and maturities appealing to a wide range of investors. The Fund will indirectly bear any management fees and expenses incurred by a CLO. The Fund and other investors in CLOs ultimately bear the credit and interest rate risks of the underlying collateral. CLOs issue classes or “tranches” that offer various maturity, risk and yield characteristics. Tranches are categorized as senior, mezzanine and subordinated/equity, according to their degree of risk. In the event of sufficient early prepayments on such debt instruments, the class or series of CLO first to mature generally will be retired prior to maturity. Therefore, although in most cases the issuer of CLOs will not supply additional collateral in the event of such prepayments, there will be sufficient collateral to secure their priority with respect to other CLO tranches that remain outstanding. If there are defaults or the relevant collateral otherwise underperforms, scheduled payments to senior tranches of the CLOs take precedence over those of mezzanine tranches and scheduled payments to mezzanine tranches take precedence over those to subordinated/equity tranches. Because it is partially protected from defaults, a senior tranche of a CLO typically has higher credit ratings and lower yields than its underlying collateral and may be rated investment grade. If a CLO triggers
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an event of default as a result of failing to make payments when due or for other reasons, the CLO would be subject to the possibility of liquidation, which could result in full loss of value to the CLO equity or junior debt investors.
The underlying assets (e.g., loans) are subject to prepayments which shorten the securities’ weighted average maturity and may lower their return. If the credit support or enhancement is exhausted, losses or delays in payment may result if the required payments of principal and interest are not made. The value of these securities also may change because of changes in market value, that is changes in the market’s perception of the creditworthiness of the servicing agent for the pool, the originator of the pool, or the financial institution or fund providing the credit support or enhancement.
CLOs in which the Fund invests may be managed by investment advisers not affiliated with the Adviser. CLO managers are responsible for selecting, managing and replacing the underlying bank loans within a CLO. CLO managers may have limited operating histories, may be subject to conflicts of interests, including managing the assets of other clients or other investment vehicles, or receiving fees that incentivize maximizing the yield, and indirectly the risk, of a CLO.
Mortgage-Backed Securities
Mortgage-backed securities are fixed-income securities representing an interest in a pool of underlying mortgage loans. They are sensitive to changes in interest rates, but may respond to these changes differently from other fixed-income securities due to the possibility of prepayment of the underlying mortgage loans (i.e., when a borrower pays back the principal of a debt obligation earlier than expected). As a result, it may not be possible to determine in advance the actual maturity date or average life of a mortgage-backed security. Rising interest rates tend to discourage refinancings, with the result that the average life and volatility of the security will increase and its market price will decrease. When interest rates fall, however, mortgage-backed securities may not gain as much in market value because additional mortgage prepayments must be reinvested at lower interest rates. Prepayment risk may make it difficult to calculate the average maturity of a portfolio of mortgage-backed securities and, therefore, to assess the volatility risk of that portfolio.
The Fund may invest in mortgage-backed securities that are issued or guaranteed by the U.S. Government, its agencies or instrumentalities. These securities are either direct obligations of the U.S. Government or the issuing agency or instrumentality has the right to borrow from the U.S. Treasury to meet its obligations although it is not legally required to extend credit to the agency or instrumentality. Certain of these mortgage-backed securities purchased by the Fund, such as those issued by the Government National Mortgage Association and the Federal Housing Administration, are backed by the full faith and credit of the United States. Other of these mortgage-backed securities purchased by the Fund, such as those issued by the Federal National Mortgage Association (“Fannie Mae”) and Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (“Freddie Mac”), are not backed by the full faith and credit of the United States and there is a risk that the U.S. Government will not provide financial support to these agencies if it is not obligated to do so by law. The maximum potential liability of the issuers of some of the mortgage-backed securities held by the Fund may greatly exceed its current resources, including their legal right to support from the U.S. Treasury. It is possible that these issuers will not have the funds to meet their payment obligations in the future.
To the extent the Fund invests in mortgage-backed securities issued by non-governmental issuers, such as commercial banks, savings and loan institutions, private mortgage insurance companies, mortgage bankers and other secondary market issuers, the Fund may be subject to additional risks. Pools created by such non-governmental issuers generally offer a higher rate of interest than government and government-related pools because there are no direct or indirect government or agency guarantees of payments in such pools. However, timely payment of interest and principal of these pools may be supported by various forms of private insurance or guarantees, including individual loan, title, pool and hazard insurance and letters of intent. The insurance and guarantees are issued by governmental entities, private insurers and the mortgage poolers. There can be no assurance that the private insurers or guarantors can meet their obligations under the insurance policies or guarantee arrangements. Mortgage pools underlying mortgage-backed securities offered by non-governmental issuers more frequently include second mortgages, high loan-to-value ratio mortgages and manufactured housing loans, in addition to commercial mortgages and other types of mortgages where a government or government-sponsored entity guarantee is not available. An unexpectedly high rate of defaults on the mortgages held by a mortgage pool may adversely affect the value of a mortgage-backed security and could result in losses to the Fund. The risk of such defaults is generally higher in the case of mortgage pools that include subprime mortgages. Subprime mortgages refer to loans made to borrowers with weakened credit histories or with a lower capacity to make timely payments on their mortgages. For these reasons, the loans underlying these securities have had in many cases higher default rates than those loans that meet government underwriting requirements. The risk of non-payment is greater for mortgage-related securities that are backed by loans that were originated under weak underwriting standards, including loans made to borrowers with limited means to make repayment. A level of risk exists for all loans, although, historically, the poorest performing loans have been those classified as subprime. Other types of privately issued mortgage-related securities, such as those classified as pay-option adjustable rate or Alt-A, have also performed poorly.
Non-agency mortgage-backed securities are not traded on an exchange and there may be a limited market for the securities, especially when there is a perceived weakness in the mortgage and real estate market sectors. Without an active trading market, mortgage-related securities held in the Fund’s portfolio may be particularly difficult to value because of the complexities involved in assessing the value of the underlying mortgage loans or to sell. Non-agency mortgage-backed securities include securities that reflect an interest
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in, and are secured by, mortgage loans on commercial real property. Many of the risks of investing in CMBS reflect the risks of investing in the real estate securing the underlying mortgage loans. These risks reflect the effects of local and other economic conditions on real estate markets, the ability of tenants to make loan payments, and the ability of a property to attract and retain tenants.
The risks associated with mortgage-backed securities are elevated in distressed economic, market, health and labor conditions, notably, increased levels of unemployment, delays and delinquencies in payments of mortgage and rent obligations, and uncertainty regarding the effects and extent of government intervention with respect to mortgage payments and other economic matters.
Delinquencies, defaults and losses on residential mortgage loans may increase substantially over certain periods, which may affect the performance of the mortgage-backed securities in which the Fund may invest. Mortgage loans backing non-agency mortgage-backed securities are more sensitive to economic factors that could affect the ability of borrowers to pay their obligations under the mortgage loans backing these securities. In addition, housing prices and appraisal values in many states and localities over certain periods have declined or stopped appreciating. A sustained decline or an extended flattening of those values may result in additional increases in delinquencies and losses on mortgage-backed securities generally (including the mortgaged-backed securities that the Fund may invest in as described above). Adverse changes in market conditions and regulatory climate may reduce the cash flow which the Fund, to the extent it invests in mortgage-backed securities or other asset-backed securities, receives from such securities and increase the incidence and severity of credit events and losses in respect of such securities. In the event that interest rate spreads for mortgage-backed securities and other asset-backed securities widen following the purchase of such assets by the Fund, the market value of such securities is likely to decline and, in the case of a substantial spread widening, could decline by a substantial amount. Furthermore, adverse changes in market conditions may result in reduced liquidity in the market for mortgage-backed securities and other asset-backed securities (including the mortgage-backed securities and other asset-backed securities in which the Fund may invest) and an unwillingness by banks, financial institutions and investors to extend credit to servicers, originators and other participants in the market for mortgage-backed and other asset-backed securities. As a result, the liquidity and/or the market value of any mortgage-backed or asset-backed securities that are owned by the Fund may experience declines after they are purchased by the Fund.
Collateralized Mortgage Obligations. CMOs are debt obligations collateralized by mortgage loans or mortgage pass-through securities (collectively “Mortgage Assets”). Payments of principal and interest on the Mortgage Assets and any reinvestment income are used to make payments on the CMOs. CMOs are issued in multiple classes. Each class has a fixed or floating rate and a stated maturity or final distribution date. The principal and interest on the Mortgage Assets may be allocated among the classes in a number of different ways. Certain classes will, as a result of the allocation, have more predictable cash flows than others. As a general matter, the more predictable the cash flow, the lower the yield relative to other Mortgage Assets. The less predictable the cash flow, the higher the yield and the greater the risk. The Fund may invest in any class of CMO, including classes that vary inversely with interest rates and may be more volatile and sensitive to prepayment rates.
The principal and interest on the Mortgage Assets comprising a CMO may be allocated among the several classes of a CMO in many ways. The general goal in allocating cash flows on Mortgage Assets to the various classes of a CMO is to create certain tranches on which the expected cash flows have a higher degree of predictability than do the underlying Mortgage Assets. As a general matter, the more predictable the cash flow is on a particular CMO tranche, the lower the anticipated yield on that tranche at the time of issue will be relative to the prevailing market yields on the Mortgage Assets. As part of the process of creating more predictable cash flows on certain tranches of a CMO, one or more tranches generally must be created that absorb most of the changes in the cash flows on the underlying Mortgage Assets. The yields on these tranches are generally higher than prevailing market yields on other mortgage related securities with similar average lives. Principal prepayments on the underlying Mortgage Assets may cause the CMOs to be retired substantially earlier than their stated maturities or final distribution dates. Because of the uncertainty of the cash flows on these tranches, the market prices and yields of these tranches are more volatile and may increase or decrease in value substantially with changes in interest rates and/or the rates of prepayment relative to other tranches. Due to the possibility that prepayments (on home mortgages and other collateral) will alter the cash flow on CMOs, it is not possible to determine in advance the final maturity date or average life. Faster prepayment will shorten the average life and slower prepayments will lengthen it. In addition, if the collateral securing CMOs or any third party guarantees are insufficient to make payments, the Fund could sustain a loss.
Stripped Mortgage-Backed Securities. Stripped mortgage-backed securities (“SMBS”) are derivative multi-class mortgage-backed securities. SMBS may be issued by agencies or instrumentalities of the U.S. Government, or by private originators. A common type of SMBS will have one class receiving some of the interest and most of the principal from the mortgage assets, while the other class receives most of the interest and the remainder of the principal. In the most extreme case, one class will receive all of the interest (the interest only or “IO” class), while the other class will receive all of the principal (the principal-only or “PO” class). Investments in each class of SMBS are extremely sensitive to changes in interest rates. IOs tend to decrease in value substantially if interest rates decline and prepayment rates become more rapid. POs tend to decrease in value substantially if interest rates increase and the rate of prepayment decreases. If the Fund invests in SMBS and interest rates move in a manner not anticipated by management, it is possible that the Fund could lose all or substantially all of its investment.
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Commercial Mortgage-Backed Securities. CMBS are generally multi-class or pass-through securities backed by a mortgage loan or a pool of mortgage loans secured by commercial property, such as industrial and warehouse properties, office buildings, retail space and shopping malls, multifamily properties and cooperative apartments. The commercial mortgage loans that underlie CMBS are generally not amortizing or not fully amortizing. That is, at their maturity date, repayment of their remaining principal balance or “balloon” is due and is repaid through the attainment of an additional loan or sale of the property. An extension of a final payment on commercial mortgages will increase the average life of the CMBS, generally resulting in a lower yield for discount bonds and a higher yield for premium bonds.
CMBS are subject to credit risk and prepayment risk, among other risks. Although prepayment risk is present, it is of a lesser degree in the CMBS market than in the residential mortgage market; commercial real estate property loans often contain provisions that substantially reduce the likelihood that such securities will be prepaid (e.g., significant prepayment penalties on loans and, in some cases, prohibition on principal payments for several years following origination).
The values of, and income generated by, CMBS may be adversely affected by changing interest rates, tightening lending standards, and other developments impacting the commercial real estate market, such as population shifts and other demographic changes, increasing vacancies (potentially for extended periods) and reduced demand for commercial and office space as well as maintenance or tenant improvement costs and costs to convert properties for other uses. These developments could result from, among other things, changing tastes and preferences (such as remote work arrangements) as well as cultural, technological, global or local economic and market developments. In addition, changing interest rate environments and associated changes in lending standards and higher refinancing rates may adversely affect the commercial real estate and CMBS markets. The occurrence of any of the foregoing or similar developments would likely increase default risk for the properties and loans underlying these investments as well as impact the value of, and income generated by, these investments. These developments could also result in reduced liquidity for CMBS.
Equity Securities
Equity securities may include common and preferred stocks, convertible securities and equity-linked securities, rights and warrants to purchase common stocks, depositary receipts, shares of investment companies, limited partnership interests and other specialty securities having equity features. Many factors affect the value of equity securities, including earnings, earnings forecasts, corporate events and factors impacting the issuer’s industry and the market generally. The Fund may invest in equity securities that are publicly traded on securities exchanges or over-the-counter (“OTC”) or in equity securities that are not publicly traded. Securities that are not publicly traded may be more difficult to value or sell and their value may fluctuate more dramatically than other securities. The prices of convertible securities are affected by changes similar to those of equity and fixed-income securities.
The value of equity securities and related instruments may decline in response to adverse changes in the economy or the economic outlook; deterioration in investor sentiment; interest rate, currency, and commodity price fluctuations; adverse geopolitical, social or environmental developments; issuer- and sector-specific considerations; unexpected trading activity among retail investors; and other factors. Market conditions may affect certain types of stocks to a greater extent than other types of stocks. If the stock market declines, the value of Fund shares will also likely decline. Although stock prices can rebound, there is no assurance that values will return to previous levels.
During periods when equity securities experience heightened volatility, such as during periods of market, economic or financial uncertainty or distress, the Fund’s investments in equity securities may be subject to heightened risks.
Convertible Securities
A convertible security is a bond, debenture, note, preferred stock, right, warrant or other security that may be converted into or exchanged for a prescribed amount of common stock or other security of the same or a different issuer or into cash within a particular period of time at a specified price or formula. A convertible security generally entitles the holder to receive interest paid or accrued on debt securities or the dividend paid on preferred stock until the convertible security matures or is redeemed, converted or exchanged. Before conversion, convertible securities generally have characteristics similar to both debt and equity securities. The prices of convertible securities are affected by changes similar to those of equity and fixed-income securities. The value of convertible securities tends to decline as interest rates rise and, because of the conversion feature, tends to vary with fluctuations in the market value of the underlying securities. Convertible securities ordinarily provide a stream of income with generally higher yields than those of common stock of the same or similar issuers. Convertible securities generally rank senior to common stock in a corporation’s capital structure but are usually subordinated to other comparable nonconvertible fixed-income securities in such capital structure. Convertible securities generally do not participate directly in any dividend increases or decreases of the underlying securities although the market prices of convertible securities may be affected by any dividend changes or other changes in the underlying securities.
U.S. Treasury and Government Securities
The U.S. government securities that the Fund may purchase include U.S. Treasury bills, notes and bonds, all of which are direct obligations of the U.S. Government. In addition, the Fund may purchase securities issued or guaranteed by agencies and instrumentalities of the U.S. Government which are backed by the full faith and credit of the United States. Among the agencies and
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instrumentalities issuing these obligations are the Government National Mortgage Association and the Federal Housing Administration. Also, the Fund may purchase securities issued by agencies and instrumentalities which are not backed by the full faith and credit of the United States, but whose issuing agency or instrumentality has the right to borrow, to meet its obligations, from the U.S. Treasury. Among these agencies and instrumentalities are FNMA, the FHLMC and the Federal Home Loan Banks. Further, the Fund may purchase securities issued by agencies and instrumentalities which are backed solely by the credit of the issuing agency or instrumentality. Among these agencies and instrumentalities is the Federal Farm Credit System. Because these securities are not backed by the full faith and credit of the United States, there is a risk that the U.S. Government will not provide financial support to these agencies if it is not obligated to do so by law, and therefore these U.S. government securities involve greater credit risk than other types of U.S. government securities. The maximum potential liability of the issuers of some U.S. government securities held by the Fund may greatly exceed their current resources, including their legal right to support from the U.S. Treasury. It is possible that these issuers will not have the funds to meet their payment obligations in the future. The interest from U.S. government securities generally is not subject to state and local taxation. In addition, uncertainty regarding the status of negotiations in the U.S. government to increase the statutory debt ceiling could increase the risk that the U.S. government may default on payments on certain U.S. government securities and may cause the credit rating of the U.S. government to be downgraded. Any uncertainty regarding the ability of the United States to repay its debt obligations, and any default by the U.S. government, would have a negative impact on the Fund’s investments in U.S. government securities.
Repurchase Agreements
Repurchase agreements are transactions in which the Fund purchases a security or basket of securities and simultaneously commits to resell that security or basket to the seller (a bank, broker or dealer) at a mutually agreed-upon date and price. The resale price reflects the purchase price plus an agreed-upon market rate of interest which is unrelated to the coupon rate or date of maturity of the purchased security. The term of these agreements usually ranges from overnight to one week, and never exceeds one year. Repurchase agreements with a term of over seven days are considered illiquid.
In these transactions, the Fund receives securities that have a market value at least equal to the purchase price (including accrued interest) of the repurchase agreement, and this value is maintained during the term of the agreement. These securities are held by State Street Bank and Trust Company (the “Custodian”) or an approved third-party for the benefit of the Fund until repurchased. Repurchase agreements permit the Fund to remain fully invested while retaining overnight flexibility to pursue investments of a longer-term nature. If the seller defaults and the value of the repurchased securities declines, the Fund might incur a loss. If bankruptcy proceedings are commenced with respect to the seller, the Fund’s realization upon the collateral may be delayed.
While repurchase agreements involve certain risks not associated with direct investments in debt securities, the Fund follows procedures approved by the Trustees that are designed to minimize such risks. These procedures include effecting repurchase transactions only with large, well-capitalized and well-established financial institutions whose financial condition will be continually monitored by the Adviser. In addition, as described above, the value of the collateral underlying the repurchase agreement will be at least equal to the repurchase price, including any accrued interest earned on the repurchase agreement. In the event of a default or bankruptcy by a selling financial institution, the Fund will seek to liquidate such collateral. However, the exercising of the Fund’s right to liquidate such collateral could involve certain costs or delays and, to the extent that proceeds from any sale upon a default of the obligation to repurchase were less than the repurchase price, the Fund could suffer a loss.
The Fund will not invest in repurchase agreements that do not mature within seven days if any such investment, together with any other illiquid assets held by the Fund, amount to more than 5% of its net assets. The Fund’s investments in repurchase agreements may at times be substantial when, for example, in the view of the Fund’s Adviser, liquidity or other conditions warrant.
Reverse Repurchase Agreements
The Fund may also use reverse repurchase agreements as part of its investment strategies. Under a reverse repurchase agreement, the Fund sells a security and promises to repurchase that security at an agreed-upon future date and price. The price paid to repurchase the security reflects interest accrued during the term of the agreement. Reverse repurchase agreements may be entered into for, among other things, obtaining leverage, facilitating short-term liquidity or when the Adviser expects that the interest income to be earned from the investment of the transaction proceeds will be greater than the related interest expense. Reverse repurchase agreements may be viewed as a speculative form of borrowing called leveraging. Furthermore, reverse repurchase agreements involve the risks that (i) the interest income earned in the investment of the proceeds will be less than the interest expense, (ii) the market value of the securities retained in lieu of sale by the Fund may decline below the price of the securities the Fund has sold but is obligated to repurchase, (iii) the market value of the securities sold will decline below the price at which the Fund is required to repurchase them and (iv) the securities will not be returned to the Fund.
In addition, the use of leverage may cause the Fund to liquidate portfolio positions when it may not be advantageous to do so to satisfy its obligations. Leverage, including borrowing, may cause the Fund to be more volatile than if the Fund had not been leveraged. This is because leverage tends to exaggerate the effect of any increase or decrease in the value of the Fund’s portfolio securities. Reverse repurchase agreements are considered borrowings by a Fund and for purposes other than meeting redemptions
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may not exceed 5% of a Fund’s total assets. All forms of borrowing (including reverse repurchase agreements) are limited in the aggregate and may not exceed 33⅓% of the Fund’s total assets, except as permitted by law or SEC requirements.
When-Issued Securities, Delayed Delivery Securities, TBAs and Forward Commitments
The Fund may purchase or sell securities that it is entitled to receive on a when-issued basis. The Fund may also purchase or sell securities on a delayed delivery basis or through a forward commitment (including on a TBA (to be announced) basis). These transactions involve the purchase or sale of securities by the Fund at an established price with payment and delivery taking place in the future. The Fund enters into these transactions to obtain what is considered an advantageous price to the Fund at the time of entering into the transaction. Such transactions entered into by the Fund will be counted towards the Fund’s exposure in the types of securities listed herein to the extent they have economic characteristics similar to such securities. For example, the Fund may invest in TBAs, which settle on a delayed delivery basis. In a TBA transaction, the seller agrees to deliver the MBS for an agreed upon price on an agreed upon future date, but makes no guarantee as to which or how many securities are to be delivered. Accordingly, the Fund’s investments in TBAs are subject to risks such as failure of the counterparty to perform its obligation to deliver the security, the characteristics of a security delivered to the Fund may be less favorable than expected and the security the Fund buys will lose value prior to its delivery. Investments in TBAs may give rise to a form of leverage. Leverage may cause the Fund to be more volatile than if the Fund had not been leveraged and may increase the impact that gains (losses) have on the Fund. Further, TBAs may increase the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate. FINRA rules include mandatory margin requirements that will require the Fund to post collateral in connection with its TBA transactions, which could increase the cost of TBA transactions to the Fund and impose added operational complexity.
The Fund’s purchase of other securities on a when-issued, delayed delivery or through a forward commitment basis are subject to similar risks, including counterparty risk and that the value of securities in these transactions on the delivery date may be less than the price paid by the Fund to purchase the securities. In addition, there can be no assurance that a security purchased on a when-issued basis will be issued. When the Fund has sold a security on a when-issued, delayed delivery, or forward commitment basis, the Fund does not benefit if the value of the security appreciates above the sale price during the commitment period and the Fund is subject to failure of the counterparty to pay for the securities.
Short Sales
A short sale is a transaction in which the Fund sells securities that it owns or has the right to acquire at no added cost (i.e., “against the box”) or does not own (but has borrowed) in anticipation of a decline in the market price of the securities. To deliver the securities to the buyer, the Fund arranges through a broker to borrow the securities and, in so doing, the Fund becomes obligated to replace the securities borrowed at their market price at the time of replacement. When selling short, the Fund intends to replace the securities at a lower price and therefore, profit from the difference between the cost to replace the securities and the proceeds received from the sale of the securities. When the Fund makes a short sale, the proceeds it receives from the sale will be held on behalf of a broker until the Fund replaces the borrowed securities. The Fund may have to pay a premium to borrow the securities and must pay any dividends or interest payable on the securities until they are replaced.
The Fund’s obligation to replace the securities borrowed in connection with a short sale will be secured by collateral deposited with the broker that consists of cash or other liquid securities. Short sales by the Fund involve certain risks and special considerations. If the Adviser incorrectly predicts that the price of the borrowed security will decline, the Fund will have to replace the securities with securities with a greater value than the amount received from the sale. As a result, losses from short sales differ from losses that could be incurred from a purchase of a security, because losses from short sales may be unlimited, whereas losses from purchases can equal only the total amount invested.
Money Market Instruments
Money market instruments may be adversely affected by market and economic events, such as a change in prevailing short-term interest rates; adverse developments in the banking industry, which issues or guarantees many money market instruments; adverse economic, political or other developments affecting issuers of money market instruments; changes in the credit quality of issuers; and default by a counterparty or an issuer. These instruments may be subject to federal income, state income and/or other taxes. Instead of investing in money market instruments directly, the Fund may invest money market funds, including those advised by the Adviser or its affiliates. These instruments may be adversely affected by changes to interest rates, which may be sudden and significant. During unusual market conditions, the Fund may invest up to 100% of its assets in cash or cash equivalents temporarily, which may be inconsistent with its investment objective(s) and other policies.
Non-Diversification Risk
Eaton Vance CLO Investment Grade Income ETF is non-diversified, which means that the Fund may invest a greater percentage of its assets in a smaller number of issuers than diversified funds. A fund that is classified as non-diversified may be more susceptible to an adverse event affecting a single issuer or portfolio investment than a diversified portfolio and a decline in the value of issuer’s securities or that portfolio that investment may cause the Fund’s overall value to decline to a greater degree than a diversified portfolio.
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Preferred Securities
Preferred securities are subject to risks applicable generally to equity securities. In addition, a company’s preferred securities generally pay dividends only after the company makes required payments to holders of its bonds and other debt, so the value of preferred securities will usually react more strongly than bonds and other debt to actual or perceived changes in the company’s financial condition or prospects. Preferred securities may pay fixed or adjustable rates of return. Like fixed-income securities, preferred stock generally decreases in value if interest rates rise and increases in value if interest rates fall.
Distressed and Defaulted Securities
Distressed and defaulted securities are speculative and involve substantial risks in addition to the risks of investing in high yield securities. The Fund will generally not receive interest payments on the distressed securities and the repayment of principal may also be at risk. These securities may present a substantial risk of default or may be in default at the time of investment. The repayment of defaulted securities is also subject to significant uncertainties. The Fund may incur substantial expenses in seeking recovery upon a default in the payment of principal of or interest on its portfolio holdings. If the portfolio company is forced to reorganize or liquidate, the Fund may lose its entire investment or may be required to accept cash or securities with a value less than its original investment. Distressed securities and any securities received in an exchange for such securities may be subject to restrictions on resale.
Municipals
Municipal securities (also referred to as municipal obligations) include debt obligations of states, territories or possessions of the United States and the District of Columbia and their political subdivisions, agencies and instrumentalities, such as local or regional governments. The interest on municipal securities is generally exempt from federal income tax at the time of issuance, in the opinion of bond counsel or other counsel to the issuers of such securities. However, the Fund may purchase municipal securities that pay interest that is subject to the federal alternative minimum tax, and municipal securities on which the interest payments are taxable. Municipal securities typically are “general obligation” or “revenue” bonds, notes or commercial paper, including participations in lease obligations and installment purchase contracts of municipalities. General obligation bonds are secured by the issuer’s full faith and credit including its taxing power for payment of principal and interest. Revenue bonds, however, are generally payable from a specific revenue source. Revenue bonds are issued for a wide variety of projects such as financing public utilities, hospitals, housing, airports, highways and educational facilities. These types of bonds involve the risk that the tax or other revenues so derived will not be sufficient to meet interest and/or principal payment obligations.
Municipal obligations may have fixed, variable or floating rates. Because the Fund may invest in municipal securities, the Fund may be affected significantly by the economic, regulatory, legislative, tax or political developments affecting the ability of issuers of municipal securities to pay interest or repay principal. The risks of municipal securities generally depend on the financial and credit status of the issuer and may rely on a specific stream of revenue associated with a project or other revenue source. Thus, adverse developments related to a municipality’s ability to raise revenue, including through its taxing authority, or the failure of specific revenues to materialize would negatively impact such investments. These factors, which may also impact other municipal obligations, include, among others, changing demographic trends, such as population shifts or changing tastes and values, or increasing vacancies or declining rents resulting from legal, cultural, technological, global or local economic developments, as well as reduced demand for properties, revenues or goods. Changes in the financial health of an issuer of municipal securities may make it difficult for the issuer to make interest and principal payments when due. Some municipalities or issuers of municipal securities have had significant financial problems recently, and these and other municipalities or issuers of municipal securities could, potentially, continue to experience significant financial problems resulting from lower tax or other revenues and/or decreased aid from state and local governments in the event of an economic downturn. In addition, adverse legislative, tax, regulatory, demographic or political changes may negatively impact the Fund’s investments in municipal securities. These events could decrease the Fund’s income and/or adversely affect the Fund’s performance and investments. Municipal securities also involve the risk that an issuer may call securities for redemption, which could force the Fund to reinvest the proceeds at a lower rate of interest, and the value of municipal securities may be affected by the rights of municipal security holders. Municipal securities may be more susceptible to downgrades, defaults or loss of tax or other revenue during recessions or similar periods of economic stress. Factors contributing to the financial stress on municipalities and issuers of municipal securities may include, among other developments, lower property tax collections as a result of lower home values, lower sales tax revenue as a result of consumers cutting back spending and lower income tax revenue as a result of a higher unemployment rate. In addition, because some municipal obligations may be secured or guaranteed by banks and other institutions, the risk to the Fund associated with investments in such municipal securities could increase if the banking or financial sector suffers an economic downturn and/or if the credit ratings of the institutions issuing the guarantee are downgraded or at risk of being downgraded by a national rating organization. If such events occur, the value of the security could decrease or the value could be lost entirely, and it may be difficult or impossible for the Fund to sell the security at the time and the price that normally prevails in the market.
For example, recent public health emergencies have significantly stressed the financial resources of many municipalities and other issuers of municipal securities, which may impair their ability to meet their financial obligations and may harm the value or liquidity of the Fund’s investments in municipal securities (or the income generated by such investments). In particular, responses by municipalities to recent public health emergencies have caused disruptions in business activities. These and other effects of recent
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public health emergencies, such as increased unemployment levels, have impacted tax and other revenues of municipalities and other issuers of municipal securities and the financial conditions of such issuers. As a result, there is an increased budgetary and financial pressure on municipalities and other issuers of municipal securities and heightened risk of default or other adverse credit or similar events for issuers of municipal securities, which would adversely impact the Fund’s investments.
In addition, the ability of an issuer to make payments or repay interest may be affected by litigation or bankruptcy. In the event of bankruptcy of such an issuer, the Fund investing in the issuer’s securities could experience delays in collecting principal and interest, and the Fund may not, in all circumstances, be able to collect all principal and interest to which it is entitled. To enforce its rights in the event of a default in the payment of interest or repayment of principal, or both, the Fund may, in some instances, take possession of, and manage, the assets securing the issuer’s obligations on such securities, which may increase the Fund’s operating expenses. Any income derived from the Fund’s ownership or operation of such assets may not be tax-exempt. Municipal securities are subject to, among other risks, credit and interest rate risk, liquidity risk and market and geopolitical risk.
Because many municipal securities are issued to finance similar projects (such as those relating to education, health care, housing, transportation, and utilities), conditions in those sectors may affect the overall municipal securities market. In addition, changes in the financial condition of an individual municipal issuer can affect the overall municipal market. Municipal securities backed by current or anticipated revenues from a specific project or specific assets can be negatively affected by the discontinuance of the supporting taxation or the inability to collect revenues for the specific project or specific assets.
Some municipal securities are subject to the risk that the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) may determine that an issuer has not complied with applicable tax requirements (or the occurrence of other adverse tax developments) and that interest from the municipal security is taxable, which may result in a significant decline in the value of the security. In addition, interest on municipal obligations, while generally exempt from federal income tax, may not be exempt from the federal alternative minimum tax. Municipal securities may be less liquid than taxable bonds and there may be less publicly available information on the financial condition of municipal security issuers than for issuers of other securities, and the investment performance of the Fund investing in municipal securities may therefore be more dependent on the analytical abilities of the Adviser than if the Fund held other types of investments such as stocks or taxable bonds. The secondary market for municipal securities also tends to be less well developed or liquid than many other securities markets, which may adversely affect the Fund’s ability to sell municipal securities it holds at attractive prices or value municipal securities. In addition, the demand for municipal securities is strongly influenced by the value of tax-exempt income to investors and lower income tax rates could reduce the advantage of owning municipal securities, which may also adversely affect the value and liquidity of municipal securities.
State and Municipal Project-Specific Risk
The Eaton Vance High Income Municipal ETF may invest in municipal securities that are related in such a way that an economic, business, or political development or change affecting one such security would likewise affect the other municipal securities. For example, the Fund may invest 25% or more of its total assets in certain types of municipal obligations (such as general obligations, municipal leases, principal only municipal investments, revenue bonds and industrial development bonds) and in one or more states, territories and economic sectors (such as housing, hospitals, healthcare facilities or utilities). Because the Fund may invest a significant portion of its assets in obligations issued in one or more states and/or U.S. territories and in certain types of municipal or other obligations and/or in certain sectors, the value of Fund shares may be affected by events that adversely affect that state, U.S. territory, sector or type of obligation and may fluctuate more than that of a fund that invests more broadly. These developments or changes may include, among other things, legislative developments involving the financing of projects, judicial decisions regarding the validity of the projects or the means of financing such projects, shortages or price increases of materials needed for the project or declining needs for the projects as well as other developments that may adversely affect municipalities and other issuers of municipal securities located within the same state, such as natural disasters, health emergencies, and adverse economic, political or social environments. General obligation bonds issued by municipalities can be adversely affected by, among other things, economic downturns and other developments that result in a decline in tax revenues. Revenue bonds can be adversely affected by, among other things, the negative economic performance or viability of the facility or revenue source.
Foreign Investing
To the extent that the Fund invests in foreign issuers, there is the risk that news and events unique to a country or region will affect those markets and their issuers. These same events will not necessarily have an effect on the U.S. economy or similar issuers located in the United States. In addition, some of the Fund’s securities, including underlying securities represented by depositary receipts, may be denominated in foreign currencies. As a result, changes in the value of a country’s currency compared to the U.S. dollar may affect the value of the Fund’s investments. These changes may happen separately from, and in response to, events that do not otherwise affect the value of the security in the issuer’s home country. These risks may be intensified for the Fund’s investments in securities of issuers located in emerging market or developing countries.
High Yield Securities
Fixed-income securities that are not investment grade are commonly referred to as “junk bonds” or high yield, high risk securities. These securities offer a higher yield than other higher rated securities, but they carry a greater degree of risk. High yield securities are
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subject to greater risk of loss of income and principal than higher rated securities and are considered speculative by the major credit rating agencies because of increased credit risk relative to other fixed income investments. 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.
In recent years, there has been a broad trend of weaker or less restrictive covenant protections in the high yield market. Among other things, under such weaker or less restrictive covenants, borrowers might be able to exercise more flexibility with respect to certain activities than borrowers who are subject to stronger or more protective covenants. For example, borrowers might be able to incur more debt, including secured debt, return more capital to shareholders, remove or reduce assets that are designated as collateral securing high yield securities, increase the claims against assets that are permitted against collateral securing high yield securities or otherwise manage their business in ways that could impact creditors negatively. In addition, certain privately held borrowers might be permitted to file less frequent, less detailed or less timely financial reporting or other information, which could negatively impact the value of the high yield securities issued by such borrowers. Each of these factors might negatively impact the high yield securities held by the Fund. During adverse market or economic conditions, high yield securities are typically particularly susceptible to default risk.
Foreign Securities
Foreign issuers generally are subject to different accounting, auditing and financial reporting standards than U.S. issuers. There may be less information available to the public about foreign issuers. Securities of foreign issuers can be less liquid and experience greater price movements. In addition, the prices of such securities may be susceptible to influence by large traders, due to the limited size of many foreign securities markets. Moreover, investments in certain foreign markets that have historically been considered stable may become more volatile and subject to increased risk due to developments and changing conditions in such markets. Also, the growing interconnectivity of global economies and financial markets has increased the probability that adverse developments and conditions in one country or region will affect the stability of economies and financial markets in other countries or regions. In some foreign countries, there is also the risk of government expropriation, excessive taxation, political or social instability, the imposition of currency controls or diplomatic developments that could affect the Fund’s investment. There also can be difficulty obtaining and enforcing judgments against issuers in foreign countries. Foreign stock exchanges, broker-dealers and listed issuers may be subject to less government regulation and oversight. The cost of investing in foreign securities, including brokerage commissions and custodial expenses, can be higher than the cost of investing in domestic securities.
Certain foreign markets may rely heavily on particular industries or foreign capital and are more vulnerable to diplomatic developments, the imposition of economic sanctions against a particular country or countries, organizations, companies, entities and/or individuals, changes in international trading patterns, trade barriers and other protectionist or retaliatory measures. International trade barriers or economic sanctions against foreign countries, organizations, companies, entities and/or individuals may adversely affect the Fund’s foreign holdings or exposures. Investments in foreign markets may also be adversely affected by less stringent investor protections and disclosure standards, and governmental actions such as the imposition of capital controls, nationalization of companies or industries, expropriation of assets or the imposition of punitive taxes. Governmental actions can have a significant effect on the economic conditions in foreign countries, which also may adversely affect the value and liquidity of the Fund’s investments. Foreign investment in the securities markets of certain foreign countries is restricted or controlled to varying degrees. For example, the governments of certain countries may prohibit or impose substantial restrictions on foreign investing in their capital markets or in certain sectors or industries. In addition, a foreign government may limit or cause delay in the convertibility or repatriation of its currency which would adversely affect the U.S. dollar value and/or liquidity of investments denominated in that currency. Moreover, if a deterioration occurs in a country’s balance of payments, the country could impose temporary restrictions on foreign capital remittances. The Fund could also be adversely affected by delays in, or a refusal to grant, any required governmental approval for repatriation, as well as by the application to it of other restrictions on investment. Any of these actions could severely affect security prices, which could result in losses to the Fund and increased transaction costs, impair the Fund’s ability to purchase or sell foreign securities or transfer the Fund’s assets back into the United States, or otherwise adversely affect the Fund’s operations. Certain foreign investments may become less liquid in response to market developments or adverse investor perceptions, or become illiquid after purchase by the Fund, particularly during periods of market turmoil. Certain foreign investments may become illiquid when, for instance, there are few, if any, interested buyers and sellers or when dealers are unwilling to make a market for certain securities. When the Fund holds illiquid investments, its portfolio may be harder to value.
Economic sanctions or other similar measures may be, and have been, imposed against certain countries, organizations, companies, entities and/or individuals. The Fund’s investments in foreign securities are subject to trade laws and potential economic sanctions in the United States and other jurisdictions. These laws and related governmental actions, including counter-sanctions and other retaliatory measures, can, from time to time, prevent or prohibit the Fund from investing in certain foreign securities. In addition, economic sanctions could prohibit the Fund from transacting with particular countries, organizations, companies, entities and/or individuals by banning them from global payment systems that facilitate cross-border payments, restricting their ability to settle securities transactions, and freezing their assets. The imposition of sanctions and other similar measures could, among other things,
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cause a decline in the value of securities issued by the sanctioned country or companies located in, or economically linked to, the sanctioned country, downgrades in the credit ratings of the sanctioned country or companies located in, or economically linked to, the sanctioned country, devaluation of the sanctioned country’s currency, and increased market volatility and disruption in the sanctioned country and throughout the world. Economic sanctions or other similar measures could, among other things, effectively restrict or eliminate the Fund’s ability to purchase or sell securities, negatively impact the value or liquidity of the Fund’s investments, significantly delay or prevent the settlement of the Fund’s securities transactions, force the Fund to sell or otherwise dispose of investments at inopportune times or prices, increase the Fund’s transaction costs, make the Fund’s investments more difficult to value or impair the Fund’s ability to meet its investment objective or invest in accordance with its investment strategies. These conditions may be in place for a substantial period of time and enacted with limited advance notice to the Fund. Even if the Fund does not have significant investments in securities affected by sanctions, sanctions or the threat of sanctions may cause volatility in regional and global markets and may negatively impact the performance of various sectors and industries, as well as companies in other countries, including through global supply chain disruptions, increased inflationary pressures, and reduced economic activity, which could have a negative effect on the Fund’s performance. In addition, trade disputes may affect investor and consumer confidence and adversely affect financial markets and the broader economy, perhaps suddenly and to a significant degree. Events such as these and their impact on the Fund are difficult to predict.
In addition, the Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act (the “HFCAA”) could cause securities of a foreign (non-U.S.) company, including American Depositary Receipts, to be delisted from U.S. stock exchanges if the company does not allow the U.S. government to oversee the auditing of its financial information. Although the requirements of the HFCAA apply to securities of all foreign (non-U.S.) issuers, the SEC has thus far limited its enforcement efforts to securities of Chinese companies. If securities are delisted, the Fund’s ability to transact in such securities will be impaired, and the liquidity and market price of the securities may decline. The Fund may also need to seek other markets in which to transact in such securities, which could increase the Fund’s costs.
Sovereign Debt Obligations
The Fund may invest in debt obligations known as “sovereign debt,” which are obligations of governmental issuers in emerging market or developing countries and industrialized countries. Certain emerging market or developing countries are among the largest debtors to commercial banks and foreign governments. The issuer or governmental authority that controls the repayment of sovereign debt may not be willing or able to repay the principal and/or pay interest when due in accordance with the terms of such obligations. Uncertainty surrounding the level and sustainability of sovereign debt of certain countries has at times increased volatility in the financial markets. In addition, a number of Latin American countries are among the largest debtors of developing countries and have a long history of reliance on foreign debt. Additional factors that may influence the ability or willingness to service debt include, but are not limited to, a country’s cash flow situation, the availability of sufficient foreign exchange on the date a payment is due, the relative size of its debt service burden to the economy as a whole and its government’s policy towards the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and other multilateral agencies. A country whose exports are concentrated in a few commodities or whose economy depends on certain strategic imports could be vulnerable to fluctuations in international prices of these commodities or imports. If a foreign sovereign obligor cannot generate sufficient earnings from foreign trade to service its external debt, it may need to depend on continuing loans and aid from foreign governments, commercial banks and multilateral organizations, and inflows of foreign investment. The commitment on the part of these foreign governments, multilateral organizations and others to make such disbursements may be conditioned on the government’s implementation of economic reforms and/or economic performance and the timely service of its obligations. Failure to implement such reforms, achieve such levels of economic performance or repay principal or interest when due may result in the cancellation of such third-parties’ commitments to lend funds, which may further impair the foreign sovereign obligor’s ability or willingness to timely service its debts. In addition, there is no legal process for collecting on a sovereign debt that a government does not pay or bankruptcy proceeding by which all or part of the sovereign debt that a government entity has not repaid may be collected.
Depositary Receipts
A depositary receipt is generally issued by a bank or financial institution and represents the common stock or other equity securities of a foreign company. Depositary receipts involve many of the same risks as those associated with direct investment in foreign securities. In addition, the underlying issuers of certain depositary receipts, particularly unsponsored or unregistered depositary receipts, are under no obligation to distribute shareholder communications to the holders of such receipts, or to pass through to them any voting rights with respect to the deposited securities.
Foreign Currency
Investments in foreign securities may be denominated in foreign currencies. The value of foreign currencies may fluctuate relative to the value of the U.S. dollar or other applicable foreign currency. Since the Fund may invest in non-U.S. dollar-denominated securities, and therefore may convert the value of such securities into U.S. dollars, changes in currency exchange rates can increase or decrease the U.S. dollar value of the Fund’s assets. Currency exchange rates may fluctuate significantly over short periods of time for a number of reasons, including changes in interest rates and the overall economic health of the issuer. Devaluation of a currency by a country’s government or banking authority also will have a significant impact on the value of any investments denominated in that
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Additional Information About Fund Investment Strategies and Related Risks (Con’t)
currency. The Adviser may use derivatives to seek to reduce this risk. The Adviser may in its discretion choose not to hedge against currency risk. In addition, certain market conditions may make it impossible or uneconomical to hedge against currency risk.
Foreign Currency Forward Exchange Contracts
In connection with their investments in foreign securities, the Fund also may enter into contracts with banks, brokers or dealers to purchase or sell securities or foreign currencies at a future date. A foreign currency forward exchange contract is a negotiated agreement between the contracting parties to exchange a specified amount of currency at a specified future time at a specified rate. The rate can be higher or lower than the spot rate between the currencies that are the subject of the contract. Foreign currency forward exchange contracts may be used to seek to protect against uncertainty in the level of future foreign currency exchange rates or to gain or modify exposure to a particular currency. In addition, the Fund may use cross currency hedging or proxy hedging with respect to currencies in which the Fund has or expects to have portfolio or currency exposure. Cross currency and proxy hedges involve the sale of one currency against the positive exposure to a different currency and may be used for hedging purposes or to establish an active exposure to the exchange rate between any two currencies.
Investments in foreign currency forward exchange contracts may substantially change the Fund’s exposure to currency exchange rates and could result in losses to the Fund if currencies do not perform as the Adviser expect. The Adviser’s success in these transactions will depend principally on its ability to predict accurately the future exchange rates between foreign currencies and the U.S. dollar. Foreign currency forward exchange contracts may be used for non-hedging purposes in seeking to meet the Fund’s investment objectives, such as when the Adviser anticipate that particular non-U.S. currencies will appreciate or depreciate in value, even though securities denominated in those currencies are not then held in the Fund’s investment portfolios. Investing in foreign currency forward exchange contracts for purposes of gaining from projected changes in exchange rates, as opposed to hedging currency risks applicable to the Fund’s holdings, further increases the Fund’s exposure to foreign securities losses. There is no assurance that the Adviser’s use of currency derivatives will benefit the Fund or that they will be, or can be, used at appropriate times.
Restricted Securities
The Fund’s investments may include securities which are subject to resale restrictions. These securities could have the effect of increasing the level of Fund illiquidity to the extent the Fund may be unable to sell or transfer these securities due to restrictions on transfers or on the ability to find buyers interested in purchasing the securities. Additionally, the market for certain investments deemed liquid at the time of purchase may become illiquid under adverse market or economic conditions. The illiquidity of the market, as well as the lack of publicly available information regarding these securities, may also adversely affect the ability to arrive at a fair value for certain securities at certain times and could make it difficult for the Fund to sell certain securities. If the Fund is forced to sell an illiquid security to fund redemptions or for other cash needs, it may be forced to sell the security at a loss or for less than its fair value and may be unable to sell the security at all.
Derivatives
The Fund may, but is not required to, use derivatives and other similar instruments for a variety of purposes, including hedging, risk management, portfolio management or to seek to earn income. Derivative instruments used by the Fund will be counted towards the Fund’s exposure in the types of securities listed herein to the extent they have economic characteristics similar to such securities. A derivative is a financial instrument whose value is based, in part, on the value of an underlying asset, interest rate, index or financial instrument. Prevailing interest rates and volatility levels, among other things, also affect the value of derivative instruments. Derivatives and other similar instruments that create synthetic exposure often are subject to risks similar to those of the underlying asset or instrument and may be subject to additional risks, including imperfect correlation between the value of the derivative and the underlying asset, risks of default by the counterparty to certain transactions, magnification of losses incurred due to changes in the market value of the securities, instruments, indices or interest rates to which the derivative instrument relates, risks that the transactions may not be liquid, risks arising from margin and payment requirements, risks arising from mispricing or valuation complexity and operational and legal risks. The use of derivatives involves risks that are different from, and possibly greater than, the risks associated with other portfolio investments. Derivatives may involve the use of highly specialized instruments that require investment techniques and risk analyses different from those associated with other portfolio investments.
Certain derivative transactions may give rise to a form of leverage. Leverage magnifies the potential for gain and the risk of loss. Leverage associated with derivative transactions may cause the Fund to liquidate portfolio positions when it may not be advantageous to do so, or may cause the Fund to be more volatile than if the Fund had not been leveraged. Although the Adviser seeks to use derivatives to further the Fund’s investment objective, there is no assurance that the use of derivatives will achieve this result.
The derivative instruments and techniques that the Fund may use include:
Futures. A futures contract is a standardized, exchange-traded agreement to buy or sell a specific quantity of an underlying asset, reference rate or index at a specific price at a specific future time. While the value of a futures contract tends to increase or decrease in tandem with the value of the underlying instrument, differences between the futures market and the market for the underlying asset may result in an imperfect correlation. Depending on the terms of the particular contract, futures contracts are settled through either physical delivery of the underlying instrument on the settlement date or by payment of a cash settlement amount on the settlement
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Additional Information About Fund Investment Strategies and Related Risks (Con’t)
date. A decision as to whether, when and how to use futures contracts involves the exercise of skill and judgment and even a well-conceived futures transaction may be unsuccessful because of market behavior or unexpected events. In addition to the derivatives risks discussed above, the prices of futures contracts can be highly volatile, using futures contracts can lower total return, and the potential loss from futures contracts can exceed the Fund’s initial investment in such contracts. No assurance can be given that a liquid market will exist for any particular futures contract at any particular time. There is also the risk of loss by the Fund of margin deposits in the event of bankruptcy of a broker with which the Fund has open positions in the futures contract.
Options. If the Fund buys an option, it buys a legal contract giving it the right to buy or sell a specific amount of the underlying instrument, foreign currency or contract, such as a swap agreement or futures contract, on the underlying instrument or foreign currency at an agreed-upon price typically in exchange for a premium paid by the Fund. If the Fund sells an option, it sells to another person the right to buy from or sell to the Fund a specific amount of the underlying instrument, swap, foreign currency, or futures contract on the underlying instrument or foreign currency at an agreed-upon price during a period of time or on a specified date typically in exchange for a premium received by the Fund. When options are purchased OTC, the Fund bears the risk that the counterparty that wrote the option will be unable or unwilling to perform its obligations under the option contract. Options may also be illiquid and the Fund may have difficulty closing out its position. A decision as to whether, when and how to use options involves the exercise of skill and judgment and even a well-conceived option transaction may be unsuccessful because of market behavior or unexpected events. The prices of options can be highly volatile and the use of options can lower total returns.
Investments in foreign currency options may substantially change the Fund’s exposure to currency exchange rates and could result in losses to the Fund if currencies do not perform as the Adviser expects. There is a risk that such transactions may reduce or preclude the opportunity for gain if the value of the currency should move in the direction opposite to the position taken. The value of a foreign currency option is dependent upon the value of the underlying foreign currency relative to the U.S. dollar or other applicable foreign currency. The price of the option may vary with changes in the value of either or both currencies and has no relationship to the investment merits of a foreign security. Options on foreign currencies are affected by all of those factors that influence foreign exchange rates and foreign investment generally. Unanticipated changes in currency prices may result in losses to the Fund and poorer overall performance for the Fund than if it had not entered into such contracts. Options on foreign currencies are traded primarily in the OTC market, but may also be traded on U.S. and foreign exchanges.
Foreign currency options contracts may be used for hedging purposes or non-hedging purposes in pursuing the Fund’s investment objective, such as when the Adviser anticipates that particular non-U.S. currencies will appreciate or depreciate in value, even though securities denominated in those currencies are not then held in the Fund’s investment portfolio. Investing in foreign currencies for purposes of gaining from projected changes in exchange rates, as opposed to only hedging currency risks applicable to the Fund’s holdings, further increases the Fund’s exposure to foreign securities losses. There is no assurance that the Adviser’s use of currency derivatives will benefit the Fund or that they will be, or can be, used at appropriate times.
Swaps. The Fund may enter into OTC swap contracts or cleared swap transactions. An OTC swap contract is an agreement between two parties pursuant to which the parties exchange payments at specified dates on the basis of a specified notional amount, with the payments calculated by reference to specified securities, indices, reference rates, currencies or other instruments. Typically swap agreements provide that when the period payment dates for both parties are the same, the payments are made on a net basis (i.e., the two payment streams are netted out, with only the net amount paid by one party to the other). The Fund’s obligations or rights under a swap contract entered into on a net basis will generally be equal only to the net amount to be paid or received under the agreement, based on the relative values of the positions held by each party. Cleared swap transactions may help reduce counterparty credit risk. In a cleared swap, the Fund’s ultimate counterparty is a clearinghouse rather than a swap dealer, bank or other financial institution. OTC swap agreements are not entered into or traded on exchanges and often there is no central clearing or guaranty function for swaps. These OTC swaps are often subject to credit risk or the risk of default or non-performance by the counterparty. Certain swaps have begun trading on exchanges called swap execution facilities. Exchange trading is expected to increase liquidity of swaps trading. Both OTC and cleared swaps could result in losses if interest rates, foreign currency exchange rates or other factors are not correctly anticipated by the Fund or if the reference index, security or investments do not perform as expected. The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act and related regulatory developments require the clearing and exchange trading of certain standardized swap transactions. Mandatory exchange-trading and clearing is occurring on a phased-in basis. The Fund may pay fees or incur costs each time it enters into, amends or terminates a swap agreement.
Liquidity
The Fund may make investments that are less liquid, illiquid or restricted or that may become illiquid or less liquid in response to, among other developments, overall economic conditions or adverse investor perceptions, and which may entail greater risk than investments in other types of securities. Illiquidity can also be caused by, among other things, a drop in overall market trading volume, an inability to find a willing buyer, or legal restrictions on the securities’ resale. These investments may be more difficult to value or sell, particularly in times of market turmoil, and there may be little trading in the secondary market available for particular securities. Liquidity risk may be magnified in a market where credit spread and interest rate volatility is rising and where investor redemptions from fixed-income funds may be higher than normal. If the Fund is forced to sell an illiquid or restricted security to
Eaton Vance | Additional Information About Fund Investment Strategies and Related Risks
Additional Information About Fund Investment Strategies and Related Risks (Con’t)
fund redemptions or for other cash needs, it may be forced to sell the security at a loss or for less than its fair value and may be unable to sell the security at all.
Certain CLO securities may have limited liquidity in various market conditions, and in such instances will be less liquid than more senior or higher-rated CLOs. The price of CLO securities may rapidly decline if a large number of holders of the CLO securities decide to sell. The CLO market is smaller relative to other fixed-income instrument markets. Historic liquidity measures of CLOs may or may not be predictive of the liquidity of CLOs in the future. During adverse market conditions, there may be instances in which the market for trading CLOs becomes thin, or in extreme circumstances, particularly with respect to subordinate or lower-rated CLO tranches, may cease to exist during such period.
Market and Geopolitical Risk
The value of your investment in the Fund is based on the values of the Fund’s investments, which change due to economic and other events that affect markets generally, as well as those that affect particular regions, countries, industries, companies or governments. Price movements, sometimes called volatility, may be greater or less depending on the types of securities the Fund owns and the markets in which the securities trade. Volatility and disruption in financial markets and economies may be sudden and unexpected, expose the Fund to greater risk, including risks associated with reduced market liquidity and fair valuation, and adversely affect the Fund’s operations. For example, the Adviser potentially will be prevented from executing investment decisions at an advantageous time or price as a result of any domestic or global market disruptions and reduced market liquidity may impact the Fund’s ability to sell securities to meet redemptions.
The increasing interconnectivity between global economies and markets increases the likelihood that events or conditions in one region or market may adversely impact other companies and issuers in a different country, region, sector, industry, market or with respect to one company may adversely impact issuers in a different country, region, sector, industry, or market. For example, adverse developments in the banking or financial services sector could impact companies operating in various sectors or industries and adversely impact the Fund’s investments. Securities in the Fund’s portfolio may underperform due to inflation (or expectations for inflation), interest rates, global demand for particular products or resources, natural disasters and extreme weather events, health emergencies (such as epidemics and pandemics), terrorism, regulatory events and governmental or quasi-governmental actions. The occurrence of global events, such as terrorist attacks around the world, natural disasters, health emergencies, social and political (including geopolitical) discord and tensions or debt crises and downgrades, among others, may result in market volatility and may have long term effects on both the U.S. and global financial markets. Inflation rates may change frequently and significantly because of various factors, including unexpected shifts in the domestic or global economy and changes in monetary or economic policies (or expectations that these policies may change). Changes in expected inflation rates may adversely affect market and economic conditions, the Fund’s investments and an investment in the Fund. The market price of debt securities generally falls as inflation increases because the purchasing power of the future income and repaid principal is expected to be worth less when received by the Fund. The risk of inflation is greater for debt instruments with longer maturities and especially those that pay a fixed rather than variable interest rate. Other financial, economic and other global market and social developments or disruptions may result in similar adverse circumstances, and it is difficult to predict when similar events affecting the U.S. or global financial markets may occur, the effects that such events may have and the duration of those effects (which may last for extended periods). In general, the securities or other instruments that the Adviser believes represent an attractive investment opportunity or in which the Fund seeks to invest may be unavailable entirely or in the specific quantities sought by the Fund. As a result, the Fund may need to obtain the desired exposure through a less advantageous investment, forgo the investment at the time or seek to replicate the desired exposure through a derivative transaction or investment in another investment vehicle. Any such event(s) could have a significant adverse impact on the value and risk profile of the Fund’s portfolio. There is a risk that you may lose money by investing in the Fund.
Social, political, economic and other conditions and events, such as war, natural disasters, health emergencies (e.g., epidemics and pandemics), terrorism, conflicts, social unrest, recessions, inflation, interest rate changes and supply chain disruptions could reduce consumer demand or economic output, result in market closures, travel restrictions or quarantines, and generally have a significant impact on the economies and financial markets and the Adviser’s investment advisory activities and services of other service providers, which in turn could adversely affect the Fund’s investments and other operations.
Government and other public debt, including municipal obligations in which the Fund may invest, can be adversely affected by changes in local and global economic conditions that result in increased debt levels. Although high levels of government and other public debt do not necessarily indicate or cause economic problems, high levels of debt may create certain systemic risks if sound debt management practices are not implemented. A high debt level may increase market pressures to meet an issuer’s funding needs, which may increase borrowing costs and cause a government or public or municipal entity to issue additional debt, thereby increasing the risk of refinancing. A high debt level also raises concerns that the issuer may be unable or unwilling to repay the principal or interest on its debt, which may adversely impact instruments held by the Fund that rely on such payments.
Governmental and quasi-governmental responses to certain economic or other conditions may lead to increasing government and other public debt, which heighten these risks. Unsustainable debt levels can lead to declines in the value of currency, and can prevent a government from implementing effective counter-cyclical fiscal policy during economic downturns, can generate or contribute to
Eaton Vance | Additional Information About Fund Investment Strategies and Related Risks
Additional Information About Fund Investment Strategies and Related Risks (Con’t)
an economic downturn or cause other adverse economic or market developments, such as increases in inflation or volatility. Increasing government and other public debt may adversely affect issuers, obligors, guarantors or instruments across a variety of asset classes.
Global events may negatively impact broad segments of businesses and populations, cause a significant negative impact on the performance of the Fund’s investments, adversely affect and increase the volatility of the Fund’s share price, exacerbate pre-existing political, social and economic risks to the Fund. The Fund’s operations may be interrupted as a result, which may contribute to the negative impact on investment performance. In addition, governments, their regulatory agencies, or self-regulatory organizations may take actions that affect the instruments in which the Fund invests, or the issuers of such instruments, in ways that could have a significant negative impact on the Fund’s investment performance. In addition, government actions (such as changes to interest rates) could have unintended economic and market consequences that adversely affect the Fund’s investments.
Emerging Market Securities
The Fund may invest in emerging market or developing countries, which are countries that major international financial institutions generally consider to be less economically mature than developed nations (such as the United States or most nations in Western Europe). Emerging market or developing countries may be more likely to experience political turmoil or rapid changes in economic conditions than more developed countries, and the financial condition of issuers in emerging market or developing countries may be more precarious than in other countries. Certain emerging market countries may be subject to less stringent requirements regarding accounting, auditing, financial reporting and record keeping and therefore, material information related to an investment may not be available or reliable. In addition, the Fund is limited in its ability to exercise its legal rights or enforce a counterparty’s legal obligations in certain jurisdictions outside of the United States, in particular, in emerging markets countries. In addition, due to jurisdictional limitations, U.S. authorities (e.g., SEC and the U.S. Department of Justice) may be limited in their ability to enforce regulatory or legal obligations in emerging market countries. In addition, emerging market securities generally are less liquid and subject to wider price and currency fluctuations than securities issued in more developed countries. These characteristics result in greater risk of price volatility in emerging market or developing countries, which may be heightened by currency fluctuations relative to the U.S. dollar.
ESG Investment Risk
To the extent that the Adviser considers environmental, social and/or governance (“ESG”) issues as a component in its investment decision-making process, the Fund’s performance may be impacted. Additionally, the Adviser’s consideration of ESG issues in its investment decision-making process may require subjective analysis and the ability of the Adviser to consider ESG issues may be difficult if data about a particular issuer (or obligor) is limited. The Adviser’s consideration of ESG issues may contribute to the Adviser’s decision to forgo opportunities to buy certain securities. ESG issues with respect to an issuer (or obligor) or the Adviser’s assessment of such may change over time.
Large Shareholder Transactions Risk
The Fund may experience adverse effects when certain shareholders, or shareholders collectively, purchase or redeem large amounts of shares of the Fund. In addition, a third party investor, the Adviser, or an affiliate of the Adviser, an authorized participant, a lead market maker, or another entity (i.e., a seed investor) may invest in the Fund and hold its investment solely to facilitate commencement of the Fund or to facilitate the Fund’s achieving a specified size or scale. Any such investment may be held for a limited period of time. There can be no assurance that any large shareholder would not redeem its investment, that the size of the Fund would be maintained at such levels or that the Fund would continue to meet applicable listing requirements. Such larger than normal redemptions may cause the Fund to sell portfolio securities at times when it would not otherwise do so, which may negatively impact the Fund’s NAV and liquidity. Similarly, large Fund share purchases may adversely affect the Fund’s performance to the extent that the Fund is delayed in investing new cash and is required to maintain a larger cash position than it ordinarily would. These transactions may also accelerate the realization of taxable income to shareholders if such sales of investments resulted in gains, and may also increase transaction costs. In addition, a large redemption could result in the Fund’s current expenses being allocated over a smaller asset base, leading to an increase in the Fund’s expense ratio. Although large shareholder transactions may be more frequent under certain circumstances, the Fund is generally subject to the risk that shareholders can purchase or redeem a significant percentage of Fund shares at any time. In addition, transactions by large shareholders may account for a large percentage of the trading volume on NYSE Arca with respect to the Eaton Vance Strategic Income Opportunities ETF and Eaton Vance CLO Investment Grade Income ETF and the Nasdaq Stock Market LLC with respect to the Eaton Vance High Income Municipal ETF (collectively, the “Listing Exchange”) and may, therefore, have a material upward or downward effect on the market price of the shares.
LIBOR Discontinuance or Unavailability Risk
The Fund’s investments, payment obligations and financing terms may be based on floating rates, such as the London Interbank Offered Rates (collectively, “LIBOR”), Euro Interbank Offered Rate, Secured Overnight Financing Rate (“SOFR”) and other similar types of reference rates (each, a “Reference Rate”). These Reference Rates are generally intended to represent the rate at which contributing banks may obtain short-term borrowings from each other within certain financial markets. London Interbank Offered Rate (“LIBOR”) was the basic rate of interest used in lending transactions between banks on the London interbank market and has
Eaton Vance | Additional Information About Fund Investment Strategies and Related Risks
Additional Information About Fund Investment Strategies and Related Risks (Con’t)
been widely used as a reference for setting the interest rate on loans globally. As a result of benchmark reforms, publication of most LIBOR settings has ceased. Various financial industry groups have been planning for the transition from LIBOR and certain regulators and industry groups have taken actions to establish alternative reference rates (e.g., the SOFR, which measures the cost of overnight borrowings through repurchase agreement transactions collateralized with U.S. Treasury securities and is intended to replace U.S. dollar LIBORs with certain adjustments). These developments could negatively impact financial markets in general and present heightened risks, including with respect to the Fund’s investments. As a result of the uncertainty and developments relating to the transition process, performance, price volatility, liquidity and value of the Fund and its assets may be adversely affected.
Securities Lending
The Fund may lend its portfolio securities to broker-dealers and other institutional borrowers. During the existence of a loan, the Fund will continue to receive the equivalent of the interest paid by the issuer on the securities loaned, or all or a portion of the interest on investment of the collateral, if any. The Fund may pay lending fees to such borrowers. Loans will only be made to firms that have been approved by the Adviser, and the Adviser or the securities lending agent will periodically monitor the financial condition of such firms while such loans are outstanding. Securities loans will only be made when the Adviser believes that the expected returns, net of expenses, justify the attendant risks. Securities loans currently are required to be secured continuously by collateral in cash, cash equivalents (such as money market instruments) or other liquid securities held by the custodian and maintained in an amount at least equal to the market value of the securities loaned. The Fund may engage in securities lending to seek to generate income. Upon return of the loaned securities, the Fund would be required to return the related collateral to the borrower and may be required to liquidate portfolio securities in order to do so. The Fund may lend up to one-third of the value of its total assets or such other amount as may be permitted by law.
As with other extensions of credit, there are risks of delay in recovery or even loss of rights in the securities loaned if the borrower of the securities fails financially. To the extent that the portfolio securities acquired with such collateral have decreased in value, it may result in the Fund realizing a loss at a time when it would not otherwise do so. As such, securities lending may introduce leverage into the Fund. The Fund also may incur losses if the returns on securities that it acquires with cash collateral are less than the applicable rebate rates paid to borrowers and related administrative costs.
Borrowing
The Fund is permitted to borrow for temporary purposes (such as to satisfy redemption requests, to remain fully invested in anticipation of expected cash inflows and to settle transactions). Any borrowings by the Fund are subject to the requirements of the 1940 Act. Borrowings are also subject to the terms of any credit agreement between the Fund and lender(s). Fund borrowings may be equal to as much as 33 1/3% of the value of the Fund’s total assets (including such borrowings) less the Fund’s liabilities (other than borrowings). The Fund will not purchase additional investments while outstanding borrowings exceed 5% of the value of its total assets.
ETF Structure Risks
Authorized Participant Concentration Risk
Only an authorized participant may engage in creation or redemption transactions directly with the Fund. The Fund has a limited number of intermediaries that act as authorized participants and none of these authorized participants is or will be obligated to engage in creation or redemption transactions. There can be no assurance that an active trading market for the Fund’s shares will develop or be maintained. To the extent that these intermediaries exit the business or are unable to or choose not to proceed with creation and/or redemption orders with respect to the Fund, such as during periods of market stress, and no other authorized participant creates or redeems, shares may trade at a discount to net asset value (“NAV”) and possibly face trading halts and/or delisting. Authorized participant concentration risk may be heightened for exchange-traded funds that invest in securities issued by non-U.S. issuers or other securities or instruments that have lower trading volumes.
Cash Transactions Risk
Unlike certain ETFs, the Fund may effect its creations and redemptions in cash or partially in cash. As a result, an investment in the Fund may be less tax-efficient than an investment in such ETFs. Other ETFs generally are able to make in-kind redemptions and avoid realizing gains in connection with transactions designed to raise cash to meet redemption requests. To the extent the Fund effects its redemptions in-kind, the in-kind redemption mechanism generally will not lead to a tax event for the Fund or its non-redeeming shareholders. If the Fund effects a portion of redemptions for cash, it may be required to sell portfolio securities in order to obtain the cash needed to distribute redemption proceeds, which also involves transaction costs. If the Fund recognizes gain on these sales, this generally will cause the Fund to recognize gain it might not otherwise have recognized if it were to distribute portfolio securities in-kind, or to recognize such gain sooner than would otherwise be required. The Fund generally intends to distribute these gains to shareholders to avoid being taxed on this gain at the Fund level and otherwise comply with the special tax rules that apply to it. This strategy may cause shareholders to be subject to tax on gains they would not otherwise be subject to, or at an earlier date than, if they had made an investment in a different ETF.
Trading Risk
Shares are listed for trading on the Listing Exchange and are bought and sold in the secondary market at market prices. The market
Eaton Vance | Additional Information About Fund Investment Strategies and Related Risks
Additional Information About Fund Investment Strategies and Related Risks (Con’t)
prices of shares are expected to fluctuate, in some cases materially, in response to changes in the Fund’s NAV, the intra-day value of the Fund’s holdings, and supply and demand for shares. The Adviser cannot predict whether shares will trade above, below or at their NAV. Disruptions to creations and redemptions, the existence of significant market volatility or potential lack of an active trading market for the shares (including through a trading halt), as well as other factors, may result in the shares trading significantly above (at a premium) or below (at a discount) to NAV or to the intraday value of the Fund’s holdings. You may pay significantly more or receive significantly less than the Fund’s NAV per share during periods when there is a significant premium or discount. During such periods, you may incur significant losses if you sell your shares.
Buying or selling shares in the secondary market may require paying 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 when seeking to buy or sell relatively small amounts of shares. In addition, the market price of shares, like the price of any exchange-traded security, includes a “bid-ask spread” charged by the market makers or other participants that trade the particular security. The spread of the Fund’s shares varies over time based on the Fund’s trading volume and market liquidity and may increase if the Fund’s trading volume, the spread of the Fund’s underlying securities, or market liquidity decrease.
Trading in shares on the Listing Exchange may be halted due to market conditions or for reasons that, in the view of the Listing Exchange, make trading in shares inadvisable. In addition, trading in shares on the Listing Exchange is subject to trading halts caused by extraordinary market volatility pursuant to the Listing Exchange “circuit breaker” rules. If a trading halt or unanticipated closing of the exchange occurs, a shareholder may be unable to purchase or sell shares. There can be no assurance that the requirements of the Listing Exchange necessary to maintain the listing of the Fund will continue to be met or will remain unchanged.
Active Management Risk
In pursuing the Fund’s investment objective, the Adviser has considerable leeway in deciding which investments to buy, hold or sell on a day-to-day basis, and which trading strategies to use. For example, the Adviser, in its discretion, may determine to use some permitted trading strategies while not using others. The success or failure of such decisions will affect the Fund’s performance. In addition, it is expected that confidential or material non-public information regarding an investment or potential investment opportunity may become available to the Adviser. If such information becomes available, the Adviser may be precluded (including by applicable law or internal policies or procedures) from pursuing an investment or disposition opportunity with respect to such investment or investment opportunity and the Adviser may be restricted in its ability to cause the Fund to buy or sell securities of an issuer for substantial periods of time when the Fund otherwise could realize profit or avoid loss. This may adversely affect the Fund’s flexibility with respect to buying or selling securities and may impair the Fund’s liquidity.
Temporary Investments
Under adverse or unstable market conditions or abnormal circumstances or when the Adviser believes that changes in market, economic, political or other conditions warrant, the Funds may, in the discretion of the Adviser, take temporary positions that are inconsistent with the Funds’ principal investment strategies in attempting to respond to such conditions or circumstances. For example, the Funds may invest without limit in cash, cash equivalents or other fixed-income instruments, derivatives, repurchase agreements or securities of other investment companies, including money market funds, for temporary purposes. For example, with respect to the Eaton Vance Intermediate Municipal Income ETF, when the Adviser believes that conditions warrant, including when suitable municipal obligations are unavailable, the Fund may invest without limit in securities subject to federal income tax or in securities that pay interest income subject to the federal alternative minimum tax. Under such circumstances, a higher portion of the Fund’s distributions will likely be subject to federal income tax and/or the federal alternative minimum tax. If the Adviser incorrectly predicts the effects of these changes or during periods of temporary defensive or other temporary positions, such temporary investments may adversely affect a Fund’s performance and the Fund may not achieve its investment objective.
Investment Company Securities
Subject to the limitations set forth in the 1940 Act, or as otherwise permitted by the SEC, the Fund may acquire shares in other investment companies, including foreign investment companies, closed-end funds, ETFs and money market funds which may be managed by the Adviser or its affiliates. The market value of the shares of other investment companies may differ from the NAV of the Fund. The shares of certain investment companies, principally closed-end investment companies, frequently trade at a discount to their NAV. As a shareholder in an investment company, the Fund would bear its ratable share of that entity’s expenses, including its investment advisory and administration fees and be subject to the associated risks. At the same time, the Fund would continue to pay its own advisory and administration fees and other expenses. As a result, the Fund and its shareholders will directly bear the expenses of their investment in the Fund and indirectly bear the expenses of the Fund’s investments in other investment companies.
Taxability Risk
Changes in tax laws or adverse determinations by the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) may make the income from some municipal obligations taxable and adversely affect the value of such obligations.
Eaton Vance | Additional Information About Fund Investment Strategies and Related Risks
Additional Information About Fund Investment Strategies and Related Risks (Con’t)
Cybersecurity Risk
With the increased use of technologies such as the internet to conduct business, the Fund, the Adviser, authorized participants, service providers and the relevant listing exchange are susceptible to operational, information security and related “cyber” risks both directly and through the service providers. Similar types of cybersecurity risks are also present for issuers of securities in which the Fund invests, which could result in material adverse consequences for such issuers and may cause the Fund’s investment in such issuers to lose value. In general, cyber incidents can result from deliberate attacks or unintentional events. Cyber incidents include, but are not limited to, gaining unauthorized access to digital systems (e.g., through “hacking” or malicious software coding) for purposes of misappropriating assets or sensitive information, corrupting data, or causing operational disruption. Cyberattacks may also be carried out in a manner that does not require gaining unauthorized access, such as causing denial-of-service attacks on websites (i.e., efforts to make network services unavailable to intended users). Recently, geopolitical tensions may have increased the scale and sophistication of deliberate attacks, particularly those from nation-states or from entities with nation-state backing.
Cybersecurity failures by, or breaches of, the systems of the Adviser, distributor and other service providers (including, but not limited to, index and benchmark providers, fund accountants, custodians, transfer agents and administrators), exchanges, market participants, market makers, authorized participants or the issuers of securities in which the Fund invests have the ability to cause disruptions and impact business operations, potentially resulting in: financial losses, interference with the Fund’s ability to calculate its NAV, disclosure of confidential trading information, impediments to trading, submission of erroneous trades or erroneous creation or redemption orders, the inability of the Fund or its service providers to transact business, violations of applicable privacy and other laws, regulatory fines, penalties, reputational damage, reimbursement or other compensation costs, or additional compliance costs. In addition, cyberattacks may render records of Fund assets and transactions, shareholder ownership of Fund shares, and other data integral to the functioning of the Fund inaccessible, inaccurate or incomplete. Substantial costs may be incurred by the Fund in order to resolve or prevent cyber incidents in the future. While the Fund has established business continuity plans in the event of, and risk management systems to prevent, such cyber incidents, there are inherent limitations in such plans and systems, including the possibility that certain risks have not been identified, that prevention and remediation efforts will not be successful or that cyberattacks will go undetected. Furthermore, the Fund cannot control the cybersecurity plans and systems put in place by service providers to the Fund, issuers in which the Fund invests, market makers or authorized participants. The Fund and its shareholders could be negatively impacted as a result.
Regulatory and Legal Risk
U.S. and non-U.S. governmental agencies and other regulators regularly implement additional regulations and legislators pass new laws that affect the investments held by the Fund, the strategies used by the Fund or the level of regulation or taxation applying to the Fund (such as regulations related to investments in derivatives and other transactions). These regulations and laws impact the investment strategies, performance, costs and operations of the Fund or taxation of shareholders.
The SEC has recently proposed amendments to Rule 22e-4 of the 1940 Act that, if adopted, would result in changes to the Fund’s liquidity classification framework and could potentially increase the percentage of the Fund’s investments classified as illiquid. In addition, the Fund’s operations and investment strategies may be adversely impacted if the proposed amendments are adopted.
New Fund Risk
A new fund’s performance may not represent how the fund is expected to or may perform in the long term. In addition, new funds have limited operating histories for investors to evaluate and new funds may not attract sufficient assets to achieve investment and trading efficiencies. Moreover, a new fund may not be able to fully implement its investment strategy immediately upon commencing investment operations, which could reduce investment performance.
Eaton Vance | Fund Management
Adviser
Morgan Stanley Investment Management Inc., with principal offices at 1585 Broadway, New York, NY 10036, conducts a worldwide portfolio management business and provides a broad range of portfolio management services to customers in the United States and abroad. Morgan Stanley (NYSE: “MS”) is the parent of the Adviser. Morgan Stanley is a preeminent global financial services firm engaged in securities trading and brokerage activities, as well as providing investment banking, research and analysis, financing and financial advisory services. As of March 31, 2024 the Adviser, together with its affiliated asset management companies, had approximately $1.5 trillion in assets under management or supervision.
A discussion regarding the basis for the Board of Trustees’ approval of the Management Agreement will be available in each Fund’s N-CSR for the period ending March 31, 2025.
The Adviser and/or its affiliates may make payments to one or more investors that contribute seed capital to the Fund. Such payments may continue for a specified period of time and/or until a specified dollar amount is reached. Those payments will be made from the assets of the Adviser and/or such affiliates (and not the Fund). Seed investors may contribute all or a majority of the assets in the Fund. There is a risk that such seed investors may redeem their investments in the Fund. As with redemptions by other large shareholders, such redemptions could have a significant negative impact on the Fund.
Management Fees
The Adviser receives a fee for management services equal to the portion of the average daily net assets as set forth in the table below.
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Fund (as a percentage of average daily net assets)
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Eaton Vance Strategic Income Opportunities ETF
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0.55%
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Eaton Vance CLO Investment Grade Income ETF
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0.20%
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Eaton Vance High Income Municipal ETF
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0.39%
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Under the Management Agreement, the Adviser will pay substantially all the expenses of each Fund (including expenses of the Trust relating to each Fund), except for the distribution fees, if any, brokerage expenses, acquired fund fees and expenses, taxes, interest, litigation expenses, and other extraordinary expenses, including the costs of proxies, not incurred in the ordinary course of the Funds’ business.
Portfolio Management
Eaton Vance Strategic Income Opportunities ETF
The Fund is managed by members of the Strategic Income team. The team consists of portfolio managers and analysts. The current members of the team primarily responsible for the day-to-day management of the Fund are Andrew Szczurowski, CFA, Justin Bourgette, CFA, Brian Shaw, CFA and Brandon Matsui, CFA.
Mr. Szczurowski and Mr. Bourgette are Managing Directors of the Adviser, manage other funds, and have been employed by the Morgan Stanley organization for more than five years. Mr. Shaw is an Executive Director of the Adviser, manages other funds, and has been employed by the Morgan Stanley organization for more than five years. Mr. Matsui is an Executive Director of the Adviser. Prior to joining the Adviser in 2023, Mr. Matsui served as the Head of Fixed Income for DWS’ Systematic Investment Solutions group since 2016.
Eaton Vance CLO Investment Grade Income ETF
The Fund is managed by members of the Floating-Rate Loans team. The team consists of portfolio managers and analysts. The current members of the team primarily responsible for the day-to-day management of the Fund are Andrew Sveen, CFA, Edward Greenaway, CFA, Steve Sebo and Brandon Matsui, CFA.
Mr. Sveen is a Managing Director of the Adviser, manages other funds, and has been employed by the Morgan Stanley organization for more than five years. Mr. Greenaway is an Executive Director of the Adviser, manages other funds and has been employed by the Morgan Stanley organization for more than five years. Mr. Sebo is an Executive Director of the Adviser. Prior to joining the Adviser in 2023, Mr. Sebo served as a Director for Wells Fargo since 2014. Mr. Matsui is an Executive Director of the Adviser. Prior to joining the Adviser in 2023, Mr. Matsui served as the Head of Fixed Income for DWS’ Systematic Investment Solutions group since 2016.
Eaton Vance High Income Municipal ETF
The Fund is managed by members of the Municipals team. The team consists of portfolio managers and analysts. The current
Eaton Vance | Fund Management
members of the team primarily responsible for the day-to-day management of the Fund are Bill Delahunty, CFA, Trevor Smith, Carl Thompson, CFA and Brandon Matsui, CFA.
Mr. Delahunty is a Managing Director of the Advisor. Prior to joining the Adviser in 1998, Mr. Delahunty was a financial analyst with Grubb & Ellis since 1994. Mr. Smith and Mr. Thompson are Executive Directors of the Adviser, manage other funds and have been employed by the Morgan Stanley organization for more than five years. Mr. Matsui is an Executive Director of the Adviser. Prior to joining the Adviser in 2023, Mr. Matsui served as the Head of Fixed Income for DWS’ Systematic Investment Solutions group since 2016.
The composition of each Fund’s team may change from time to time.
Eaton Vance | Shareholder Information
Distribution of Fund Shares
The Distributor is the exclusive distributor of Creation Units of a Fund. The Distributor or its agent distributes Creation Units for the Funds on an agency basis. The Distributor does not maintain a secondary market in shares of the Fund. The Distributor has no role in determining the investment policies of the Funds or the securities that are purchased or sold by the Fund. The Distributor’s principal address is 3 Canal Plaza Suite 100, Portland, ME 04101.
The Board of Trustees of the Trust has adopted a distribution and service plan (“Plan”) pursuant to Rule 12b-1 under the 1940 Act. Under the Plan, the Funds are authorized to pay distribution fees in connection with the sale and distribution of its shares and pay service fees in connection with the provision of ongoing services to shareholders of the Funds and the maintenance of shareholder accounts in an amount up to 0.25% of its average daily net assets each year.
No Rule 12b-1 fees are currently paid by the Funds, and there are no current plans to impose these fees. However, in the event Rule 12b-1 fees are charged in the future, because these fees are paid out of the Funds’ assets on an ongoing basis, these fees will increase the cost of your investment in the Funds. By purchasing shares subject to distribution fees and service fees, you may pay more over time than you would by purchasing shares with other types of sales charge arrangements. Long-term shareholders may pay more than the economic equivalent of the maximum front-end sales charge permitted by the rules of FINRA. The net income attributable to shares will be reduced by the amount of distribution fees and service fees and other expenses of the Funds.
About Net Asset Value
A Fund’s NAV per share is determined by dividing the total of the value of the Fund’s investments and other assets, less any liabilities attributable to the Fund, by the total number of outstanding shares of the Fund. In making this calculation, a Fund generally values its portfolio securities and other assets at market price.
When no market quotations are readily available for a security or other asset, including circumstances under which the Adviser determines that a market quotation is not accurate, fair value for the security or other asset will be determined in good faith using methods approved by the Board of Trustees. The Adviser, consistent with its procedures and applicable regulatory guidance, may (but need not) determine to make an adjustment to the previous closing prices of either domestic or foreign securities in light of significant events, to reflect what it believes to be the fair value of the securities at the time of determining a Fund’s NAV. In these cases, the Fund’s NAV will reflect certain portfolio securities’ fair value rather than their market price. In addition, the securities held by a Fund may be traded in markets that close at a different time than the exchange on which the Fund’s shares are listed. Accordingly, during the time when a Fund’s listing exchange is open but after the applicable market closes, bid-ask spreads may widen and Fund shares may trade at a premium or discount to NAV. To the extent a Fund invests in open-end management companies (other than ETFs) that are registered under the 1940 Act, the Fund’s NAV is calculated based in relevant part upon the NAV of such funds. The prospectuses for such funds explain the circumstances under which they will use fair value pricing and its effects.
Fair value pricing involves subjective judgments and it is possible that the fair value determined for a security or other asset is materially different than the value that could be realized upon the sale of that security or other asset. With respect to securities that are primarily listed on foreign exchanges, the values of the Funds’ portfolio securities may change on days when you will not be able to purchase or sell your shares. The NAV of a Fund is based on the value of the Fund’s portfolio securities or other assets.
The Funds rely on various sources to calculate their NAV. The ability of a Fund’s provider of administrative services to calculate the NAV per share of the Fund is subject to operational risks associated with processing or human errors, systems or technology failures, cyber attacks and errors caused by third party service providers, data sources, or trading counterparties. Such failures may result in delays in the calculation of a Fund’s NAV and/or the inability to calculate NAV over extended time periods. A Fund may be unable to recover any losses associated with such failures. In addition, if the third party service providers and/or data sources upon which a Fund directly or indirectly relies to calculate its NAV or price individual securities are unavailable or otherwise unable to calculate the NAV correctly, it may be necessary for alternative procedures to be utilized to price the securities at the time of determining the Fund’s NAV.
A Fund’s NAV per share is subject to various investment and other risks. Please refer to the “Additional Information About Fund Investment Strategies and Related Risks” and “Investment Strategies and Techniques” sections of the Prospectus and SAI, respectively, for more information regarding risks associated with an investment in the Funds.
Book Entry
The Depository Trust Company (“DTC”) serves as securities depository for the shares. The shares may be held only in book-entry form; stock certificates will not be issued. DTC, or its nominee, is the record or registered owner of all outstanding shares. Beneficial ownership of shares will be shown on the records of DTC or its participants (described below). Beneficial owners of shares are not entitled to have shares registered in their names, will not receive or be entitled to receive physical delivery of certificates in definitive form and are not considered the registered holder thereof. Accordingly, to exercise any rights of a holder of shares, each beneficial owner must rely on the procedures of: (i) DTC; (ii) “DTC Participants,” i.e., securities brokers and dealers, banks, trust companies,
Eaton Vance | Shareholder Information
Shareholder Information (Con’t)
clearing corporations and certain other organizations, some of whom (and/or their representatives) own DTC; and (iii) “Indirect Participants,” i.e., brokers, dealers, banks and trust companies that clear through or maintain a custodial relationship with a DTC Participant, either directly or indirectly, through which such beneficial owner holds its interests. The Trust understands that under existing industry practice, in the event the Trust requests any action of holders of shares, or a beneficial owner desires to take any action that DTC, as the record owner of all outstanding shares, is entitled to take, DTC would authorize the DTC Participants to take such action and that the DTC Participants would authorize the Indirect Participants and beneficial owners acting through such DTC Participants to take such action and would otherwise act upon the instructions of beneficial owners owning through them. As described above, the Trust recognizes DTC or its nominee as the owner of all shares for all purposes.
Buying and Selling Shares
Shares of a Fund may be acquired or redeemed directly from a Fund at NAV only in Creation Units or multiples thereof, as discussed in the Creations and Redemptions section of the Prospectus. Only an Authorized Participant (as defined in the Creations and Redemptions section below) may engage in creation or redemption transactions directly with a Fund. Once created, shares of a Fund generally trade in the secondary market in amounts less than a Creation Unit.
Shares of a Fund are listed for trading on a national securities exchange during the trading day. Shares can be bought and sold throughout the trading day at market price like shares of other publicly traded companies. However, there can be no guarantee that an active trading market will develop or be maintained, or that the Fund shares listing will continue or remain unchanged. The Trust does not impose any minimum investment for shares of the Fund purchased on an exchange. Buying or selling the Fund’s shares involves certain costs that apply to all securities transactions. When buying or selling shares of the Fund through a financial intermediary, you may incur a brokerage commission or other charges determined by your financial intermediary. Due to these brokerage costs, if any, frequent trading may detract significantly from investment returns. In addition, you may also incur the cost of the spread (the difference between the bid price and the ask price). The commission is frequently a fixed amount and may be a significant cost for investors seeking to buy or sell small amounts of shares. The spread varies over time for shares of the Fund based on its trading volume and market liquidity, and is generally less if the Fund has more trading volume and market liquidity and more if the Fund has less trading volume and market liquidity.
Eaton Vance Strategic Income Opportunities ETF’s and Eaton Vance CLO Investment Grade Income ETF’s primary listing exchange is NYSE Arca, and Eaton Vance High Income Municipal ETF’s primary listing exchange is The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC. Each Listing Exchange is open for trading Monday through Friday and is closed on the following holidays: New Year’s Day, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, Presidents’ Day, Good Friday, Memorial Day, Juneteenth National Independence Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day.
A “business day” with respect to the Funds is each day the New York Stock Exchange, the Listing Exchange and the Trust are open and includes any day that a Fund is required to be open under Section 22(e) of the 1940 Act. Orders from authorized participants to create or redeem Creation Units will only be accepted on a business day. On days when the Listing Exchange closes earlier than normal, a Fund may require orders to create or redeem Creation Units to be placed earlier in the day. See the SAI for more information.
The Trust’s Board of Trustees has not adopted a policy of monitoring for frequent purchases and redemptions of Fund shares (“frequent trading”) that appear to attempt to take advantage of potential arbitrage opportunities presented by a lag between a change in the value of a Fund’s portfolio securities after the close of the primary markets for the Fund’s portfolio securities and the reflection of that change in the Fund’s NAV (“market timing”). The Trust believes this is appropriate because ETFs, such as the Funds, are intended to be attractive to arbitrageurs, as trading activity is critical to ensuring that the market price of Fund shares remains at or close to NAV. Since each Fund issues and redeems Creation Units at NAV plus applicable transaction fees, and a Fund’s shares may be purchased and sold on the Listing Exchange at prevailing market prices, the risks of frequent trading are limited.
Section 12(d)(1) of the 1940 Act generally restricts investments by investment companies, including foreign and unregistered investment companies, in the securities of other investment companies. For example, a registered investment company (the “Acquired Fund”), such as a Fund, may not knowingly sell or otherwise dispose of any security issued by the Acquired Fund to any investment company (the “Acquiring Fund”) or any company or companies controlled by the Acquiring Fund if, immediately after such sale or disposition: (i) more than 3% of the total outstanding voting stock of the Acquired Fund is owned by the Acquiring Fund and any company or companies controlled by the Acquiring Fund, or (ii) more than 10% of the total outstanding voting stock of the Acquired Fund is owned by the Acquiring Fund and other investment companies and companies controlled by them. However, registered investment companies are permitted to invest in a Fund beyond the limits set forth in Section 12(d)(1), subject to certain terms and conditions set forth in SEC rules. In order for a registered investment company to invest in shares of a Fund beyond the limitations of Section 12(d)(1) in reliance on Rule 12d1-4 under the 1940 Act, the registered investment company must, among other things, enter into an agreement with the Trust. Foreign investment companies are permitted to invest in the Funds only up to the limits set forth in Section 12(d)(1), subject to any applicable SEC Staff no-action relief.
Eaton Vance | Shareholder Information
Shareholder Information (Con’t)
The Funds and the Distributor will have the sole right to accept orders to purchase shares and reserve the right to reject any purchase order in whole or in part.
Creations and Redemptions
Prior to trading in the secondary market, shares of a Fund are “created” at NAV by market makers, large investors and institutions only in block-size Creation Units or multiples thereof. Each “creator” or authorized participant (an “Authorized Participant”) enters into an authorized participant agreement with the Funds’ Distributor. 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 such member or participant to place orders for the purchase and redemption of Creation Units.
A creation transaction, which is subject to acceptance by JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., as the Trust’s transfer agent, generally takes place when an Authorized Participant deposits into the Fund a designated portfolio of securities (including any portion of such securities for which cash may be substituted) and a specified amount of cash in exchange for a specified number of Creation Units.
Similarly, shares can be redeemed only in Creation Units, generally for a designated portfolio of securities (including any portion of such securities for which cash may be substituted) held by a Fund and a specified amount of cash. Except when aggregated in Creation Units, shares are not redeemable by a Fund.
The prices at which creations and redemptions occur are based on the next calculation of NAV after a creation or redemption order is received in an acceptable form under the authorized participant agreement.
Only an Authorized Participant may create or redeem Creation Units directly with the Fund.
In the event of a system failure or other interruption, including disruptions at market makers or authorized participants, orders to purchase or redeem Creation Units either may not be executed according to the Fund’s instructions or may not be executed at all, or the Fund may not be able to place or change orders.
To the extent the Fund engages in in-kind transactions, the Fund intends to comply with the U.S. federal securities laws in accepting securities for deposit and satisfying redemptions with redemption securities by, among other means, assuring that any securities accepted for deposit and any securities used to satisfy redemption requests will be sold in transactions that would be exempt from registration under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”). Further, an Authorized Participant that is not a “qualified institutional buyer,” as such term is defined under Rule 144A of the Securities Act, will not be able to receive restricted securities eligible for resale under Rule 144A.
The in-kind arrangements are intended to protect ongoing shareholders from adverse effects on the Fund’s portfolio that could arise from frequent cash creation and redemption transactions and generally will not lead to a tax event for the Fund or its ongoing shareholders.
Creations and redemptions must be made through a firm that is either a member of the Continuous Net Settlement System of the National Securities Clearing Corporation or a DTC Participant and has executed an agreement with the Distributor with respect to creations and redemptions of Creation Unit aggregations. Information about the procedures regarding creation and redemption of Creation Units (including the cut-off times for receipt of creation and redemption orders) and the applicable transaction fees is included in the Fund’s SAI.
Portfolio Holdings
A description of the Trust’s policies and procedures with respect to the disclosure of each Fund’s portfolio securities is available in the Trust’s SAI.
Inactive Accounts and Risk of Escheatment
In accordance with state “unclaimed property” laws, your Fund shares may legally be considered abandoned and required to be transferred to the relevant state (also known as “escheatment”) under various circumstances. These circumstances, which vary by state, can include inactivity (e.g., no owner-initiated contact for a certain period), returned mail (e.g., when mail sent to a shareholder is returned by the post office as undeliverable), uncashed checks or a combination of these. An incorrect address may cause a shareholder’s account statements and other mailings to be returned to the Fund or your Financial Intermediary. Since states’ statutory requirements regarding inactivity differ, it is important to regularly contact your Financial Intermediary or the Fund’s transfer agent. The process described above, and the application of state escheatment laws, may vary by state and/or depending on how shareholders hold their shares in the Fund. Escheatment with respect to a retirement account is subject to a 10% federal withholding on the account.
It is your responsibility to ensure that you maintain a valid mailing address for your account, keep your account active by contacting your Financial Intermediary or the Fund’s transfer agent (e.g., by mail or telephone), and promptly cash all checks for dividends,
Eaton Vance | Shareholder Information
Shareholder Information (Con’t)
capital gains and redemptions. Neither the Fund nor the Adviser will be liable to shareholders or their representatives for good faith compliance with escheatment laws.
For more information, please contact us at 800-836-2414.
Dividends and Distributions
General Policies
Dividends from net investment income, if any, generally are declared and paid monthly by a Fund. Distributions of net realized securities gains, if any, generally are declared and paid once a year, but the Trust may make distributions on a more frequent basis for a Fund. The Trust reserves the right to declare special distributions if, in its reasonable discretion, such action is necessary or advisable to preserve its status as a regulated investment company or to avoid imposition of income or excise taxes on undistributed income or realized gains. Dividends and other distributions on shares of a Fund are distributed on a pro rata basis to beneficial owners of such shares. Dividend payments are made through DTC participants and indirect participants to beneficial owners then of record with proceeds received from a Fund.
Dividend Reinvestment Service
No dividend reinvestment service is provided by the Trust. Broker-dealers may make available the DTC book-entry dividend reinvestment service for use by beneficial owners of a Fund for reinvestment of their dividend distributions. Beneficial owners should contact their broker to determine the availability and costs of the service and the details of participation therein. Brokers may require beneficial owners to adhere to specific procedures and timetables. If this service is available and used, dividend distributions of both income and realized gains will be automatically reinvested in additional whole shares of a Fund purchased in the secondary market.
Taxes
As with any investment, you should consider how your Fund investment 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 a Fund. Unless your investment in a Fund is through a tax deferred retirement account, such as a 401(k) plan or IRA, you need to be aware of the possible tax consequences when the Fund makes distributions and when you sell shares.
Taxation of Distributions. With respect to the Eaton Vance Strategic Income Opportunities ETF and Eaton Vance CLO Investment Grade Income ETF, your distributions normally are subject to federal and state income tax when they are paid, whether you take them in cash or reinvest them in Fund shares. A distribution also may be subject to local income tax. Any income dividend distributions and any short-term capital gain distributions are taxable to you as ordinary income. Any long-term capital gain distributions are taxable as long-term capital gains, no matter how long you have owned shares in a Fund. It is not anticipated that any distributions would be eligible for the reduced rate of taxation applicable to qualified dividend income or for a dividends-received deduction.
With respect to the Eaton Vance High Income Municipal ETF, your income dividend distributions are normally exempt from federal income tax—to the extent they are derived from municipal obligations. Income derived from other portfolio securities may be subject to federal, state and/or local income taxes. Income derived from some municipal securities is subject to the federal alternative minimum tax. Certain tax-exempt securities whose proceeds are used to finance private, for-profit organizations are subject to this special tax system that ensures that individuals pay at least some federal taxes. Although interest on these securities is generally exempt from federal income tax, some individual taxpayers who have many tax deductions or exemptions nevertheless may have to pay tax on the income. However, the alternative minimum tax consequences discussed in this paragraph do not apply with respect to interest paid on bonds issued after December 31, 2008 and before January 1, 2011 (including refunding bonds issued during that period to refund bonds originally issued after December 31, 2003 and before January 1, 2009).
The Eaton Vance High Income Municipal ETF may derive gains in part from municipal obligations that the Fund purchased below their principal or face values. All or a portion of these gains may be taxable to you as ordinary income rather than capital gains. If the Fund makes any capital gain distributions, those distributions will normally be subject to federal and state income tax when they are paid, whether you take them in cash or reinvest them in Fund shares. Any short-term capital gain distributions are taxable to you as ordinary income. Any long-term capital gain distributions are taxable to you as long-term capital gains, no matter how long you have owned shares in the Fund. The Fund does not anticipate that it will make any distributions eligible for the reduced rate of taxation applicable to qualified dividend income or for a dividends-received deduction.
A Fund’s transactions in derivatives will be subject to special tax rules, the effect of which may be to accelerate income to the Fund, defer losses to the Fund, cause adjustments in the holding periods of the Fund’s securities, and convert short-term capital losses into long-term capital losses. These rules could therefore affect the amount, timing and character of distributions to shareholders. A Fund’s use of these types of transactions 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 such transactions.
Eaton Vance | Shareholder Information
Shareholder Information (Con’t)
If you borrow money to purchase shares of the Eaton Vance High Income Municipal ETF, the interest on the borrowed money is generally not deductible for income tax purposes.
If you buy shares of a Fund before a distribution, you may be subject to tax on the entire amount of the taxable distribution you receive. Distributions are taxable to you even if they are paid from income or gain earned by the Fund before your investment (and thus were included in the price you paid for your Fund shares).
Investment income received by a Fund from sources within foreign countries may be subject to foreign income, withholding, and other taxes. Tax conventions between certain countries and the U.S. may reduce or eliminate such taxes.
You will be sent a statement (Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) Form 1099-DIV) by February of each year showing the taxable distributions paid to you in the previous year. The statement provides information on your dividends and any capital gains for tax purposes.
Taxation of Sales. Your sale of Fund shares normally is subject to federal and state income tax and may result in a taxable gain or loss to you. A sale also may be subject to local income tax. When you sell your shares, you will generally recognize a capital gain or loss in an amount equal to the difference between your adjusted tax basis in the shares and the amount received. Generally, this capital gain or loss is long-term or short-term depending on whether your holding period exceeds one year, except that any loss realized on shares held for six months or less will be treated as a long-term capital loss to the extent of any long-term capital gain dividends that were received on the shares. Further, any loss realized on the sale of shares held for six months or less may be disallowed to the extent of any distributions treated as exempt-interest dividends with respect to the shares. Additionally, any loss realized on a sale of shares of a Fund may be disallowed under “wash sale” rules to the extent the shares disposed of are replaced with other shares of the Fund within a period of 61 days beginning 30 days before and ending 30 days after the date of disposition, such as pursuant to a dividend reinvestment in Fund shares. If disallowed, the loss will be reflected in an adjustment to the basis of the shares acquired.
Creations and Redemptions. A person who exchanges securities for Creation Units generally will recognize a gain or loss. The gain or loss will be equal to the difference between the market value of the Creation Units at the time of exchange and the sum of the exchanger’s aggregate basis in the securities surrendered and the amount of any cash paid for such Creation Units. A person who exchanges Creation Units for securities will generally recognize a gain or loss equal to the difference between the exchanger’s basis in the Creation Units and the sum of the aggregate market value of the securities received. The IRS, however, may assert that a loss realized upon an exchange of primarily 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 for Creation Units or redeeming Creation Units should consult their own tax adviser with respect to whether wash sale rules apply and when a loss might be deductible and the tax treatment of any creation or redemption transaction.
Under current U.S. federal income tax laws, any capital gain or loss realized upon a redemption (or creation) of Creation Units is generally treated as long-term capital gain or loss if the Fund shares (or securities surrendered) have been held for more than one year and as a short-term capital gain or loss if the Fund shares (or securities surrendered) have been held for one year or less.
Other Information. An additional 3.8% Medicare tax is imposed on certain net investment income (including ordinary dividends and capital gain distributions received from a Fund and net gains from redemptions or other taxable dispositions of Fund 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 certain threshold amounts.
You may be subject to backup withholding at a rate of 24% with respect to taxable distributions if you do not provide your correct taxpayer identification number, or certify that it is correct, or if you have been notified by the IRS that you are subject to backup withholding.
Shareholders who are not citizens or residents of the United States and certain foreign entities will generally be subject to withholding of U.S. tax of 30% on distributions made by a Fund of investment income (other than exempt-interest dividends) and short-term capital gains.
Withholding of U.S. tax is required (at a 30% rate) on payments of taxable dividends made to certain non-U.S. entities that fail to comply (or be deemed compliant) with extensive reporting and withholding requirements designed to inform the U.S. Department of the Treasury of U.S.-owned foreign investment accounts. Shareholders may be requested to provide additional information to a Fund to enable the Fund to determine whether withholding is required.
Reporting to you and the IRS is required annually on Form 1099-B with respect to not only the gross proceeds of Fund shares you sell or redeem but also their cost basis. Shareholders should contact their intermediaries with respect to reporting of cost basis and available elections with respect to their accounts. You should carefully review the cost basis information provided by the applicable intermediary and make any additional basis, holding period or other adjustments that are required when reporting these amounts on your federal income tax returns.
Eaton Vance | Shareholder Information
Shareholder Information (Con’t)
Because each investor’s tax circumstances are unique and the tax laws may change, you should consult your tax advisor about your investment.
Potential Conflicts of Interest
As a diversified global financial services firm, Morgan Stanley, the parent company of the Adviser, engages in a broad spectrum of activities, including financial advisory services, investment management activities, lending, commercial banking, sponsoring and managing private investment funds, engaging in broker-dealer transactions and principal securities, commodities and foreign exchange transactions, research publication and other activities. In the ordinary course of its business, Morgan Stanley is a full-service investment banking and financial services firm and therefore engages in activities where Morgan Stanley’s interests or the interests of its clients may conflict with the interests of a Fund. Morgan Stanley advises clients and sponsors, manages or advises other investment funds and investment programs, accounts and businesses (collectively, together with any new or successor funds, programs, accounts or businesses, the ‘‘Affiliated Investment Accounts’’) with a wide variety of investment objectives that in some instances may overlap or conflict with a Fund’s investment objectives and present conflicts of interest. In addition, Morgan Stanley may also from time to time create new or successor Affiliated Investment Accounts that may compete with a Fund and present similar conflicts of interest. The discussion below enumerates certain actual, apparent and potential conflicts of interest. There is no assurance that conflicts of interest will be resolved in favor of Fund shareholders and, in fact, they may not be. Conflicts of interest not described below may also exist.
For more information about conflicts of interest, see the section entitled “Potential Conflicts of Interest” in the SAI.
Material Nonpublic Information. It is expected that confidential or material nonpublic information regarding an investment or potential investment opportunity may become available to the Adviser. If such information becomes available, the Adviser may be precluded (including by applicable law or internal policies or procedures) from pursuing an investment or disposition opportunity with respect to such investment or investment opportunity. Morgan Stanley has established certain information barriers and other policies to address the sharing of information between different businesses within Morgan Stanley. In limited circumstances, however, including for purposes of managing business and reputational risk, and subject to policies and procedures and any applicable regulations, personnel, including personnel of the Adviser, on one side of an information barrier may have access to information and personnel on the other side of the information barrier through “wall crossings.” The Adviser faces conflicts of interest in determining whether to engage in such wall crossings. Information obtained in connection with such wall crossings may limit or restrict the ability of the Adviser to engage in or otherwise effect transactions on behalf of the Funds (including purchasing or selling securities that the Adviser may otherwise have purchased or sold for a Fund in the absence of a wall crossing).
Investments by Morgan Stanley and its Affiliated Investment Accounts. In serving in multiple capacities to Affiliated Investment Accounts, Morgan Stanley, including the Adviser and the Investment team, may have obligations to other clients or investors in Affiliated Investment Accounts, the fulfillment of which may not be in the best interests of a Fund or its shareholders. A Fund’s investment objectives may overlap with the investment objectives of certain Affiliated Investment Accounts. As a result, the members of an Investment team may face conflicts in the allocation of investment opportunities among a Fund and other investment funds, programs, accounts and businesses advised by or affiliated with the Adviser. Certain Affiliated Investment Accounts may provide for higher management or incentive fees or greater expense reimbursements or overhead allocations, all of which may contribute to this conflict of interest and create an incentive for the Adviser to favor such other accounts. To seek to reduce potential conflicts of interest and to attempt to allocate such investment opportunities in a fair and equitable manner, the Adviser has implemented allocation policies and procedures. These policies and procedures are intended to give all clients of the Adviser, including the Funds, fair access to investment opportunities consistent with the requirements of organizational documents, investment strategies, applicable laws and regulations, and the fiduciary duties of the Adviser.
Payments to Broker-Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries. The Adviser and/or the Distributor may pay compensation, out of their own funds and not as an expense of a Fund, to certain Financial Intermediaries (which may include affiliates of the Adviser and Distributor), including recordkeepers and administrators of various deferred compensation plans, in connection with the sale, distribution, marketing and retention of shares of the Fund and/or shareholder servicing. The prospect of receiving, or the receipt of, additional compensation, as described above, by Financial Intermediaries may provide such Financial Intermediaries and their financial advisors and other salespersons with an incentive to favor sales of shares of a Fund over other investment options with respect to which these Financial Intermediaries do not receive additional compensation (or receives lower levels of additional compensation). These payment arrangements, however, will not change the price that an investor pays for shares of a Fund or the amount that the Fund receives to invest on behalf of an investor. Investors may wish to take such payment arrangements into account when considering and evaluating any recommendations relating to Fund shares and should review carefully any disclosures provided by Financial Intermediaries as to their compensation. In addition, in certain circumstances, the Adviser restricts, limits or reduces the amount of a Fund’s investment, or restricts the type of governance or voting rights it acquires or exercises, where the Fund (potentially together with Morgan Stanley) exceeds a certain ownership interest, or possesses certain degrees of voting or control or has other interests.
Eaton Vance | Shareholder Information
Shareholder Information (Con’t)
Morgan Stanley Trading and Principal Investing Activities. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary herein, Morgan Stanley will generally conduct its sales and trading businesses, publish research and analysis, and render investment advice without regard for a Fund’s holdings, although these activities could have an adverse impact on the value of one or more of the Fund’s investments, or could cause Morgan Stanley to have an interest in one or more portfolio investments that is different from, and potentially adverse to, that of a Fund.
Morgan Stanley’s Investment Banking and Other Commercial Activities. Morgan Stanley advises clients on a variety of mergers, acquisitions, restructuring, bankruptcy and financing transactions. Morgan Stanley may act as an advisor to clients, including other investment funds that may compete with a Fund and with respect to investments that a Fund may hold. Morgan Stanley may give advice and take action with respect to any of its clients or proprietary accounts that may differ from the advice given, or may involve an action of a different timing or nature than the action taken, by a Fund. Morgan Stanley may give advice and provide recommendations to persons competing with a Fund and/or any of a Fund’s investments that are contrary to the Fund’s best interests and/or the best interests of any of its investments. Morgan Stanley’s activities on behalf of its clients (such as engagements as an underwriter or placement agent) may restrict or otherwise limit investment opportunities that may otherwise be available to a Fund.
Morgan Stanley may be engaged to act as a financial advisor to a company in connection with the sale of such company, or subsidiaries or divisions thereof, may represent potential buyers of businesses through its mergers and acquisition activities and may provide lending and other related financing services in connection with such transactions. Morgan Stanley’s compensation for such activities is usually based upon realized consideration and is usually contingent, in substantial part, upon the closing of the transaction. Under these circumstances, the Fund may be precluded from participating in a transaction with or relating to the company being sold or participating in any financing activity related to a merger or an acquisition.
Eaton Vance | Financial Highlights
No financial information is provided for the Funds because they had not yet commenced operations as of the date of this Prospectus. Financial information will be provided in the first Form N-CSR filed after commencement of operations.
Eaton Vance | Premium/Discount Information
Premium/Discount Information
Each Fund has not yet commenced operations and, therefore, does not have information about the differences between a Fund’s daily market price on the Listing Exchange and its NAV. Information regarding how often the closing trading price of the shares of a Fund was above (i.e., at a premium) or below (i.e., at a discount) the NAV of the shares of the Fund for the most recently completed calendar year and the most recently completed calendar quarter(s) since that year (or the life of the Fund, if shorter) can be found at www.eatonvance.com.
Eaton Vance | Continuous Offering Information
Continuous Offering Information
The method by which Creation Units are created and traded may raise certain issues under applicable securities laws. Because new Creation Units are issued and sold by the Trust 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 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 such 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 categorization as an underwriter.
Broker dealers who are not “underwriters” but are participating in a distribution (as contrasted to ordinary secondary trading transactions), and thus dealing with shares that are part of an “unsold allotment” within the meaning of Section 4(a)(3)(C) of the Securities Act, would be unable to take advantage of the prospectus delivery exemption provided by Section 4(a)(3) of the Securities Act. 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 1940 Act. As a result, broker dealer firms should note that dealers who are not underwriters but are participating in a distribution (as contrasted with ordinary secondary market transactions) and thus dealing with the shares that are part of an overallotment within the meaning of Section 4(a)(3)(A) of the Securities Act would be unable to take advantage of the prospectus delivery exemption provided by Section 4(a)(3) of the Securities Act. Firms that incur a prospectus delivery obligation with respect to shares are reminded that, under Rule 153 of the Securities Act, a prospectus delivery obligation under Section 5(b)(2) of the Securities Act owed to an exchange member in connection with a sale on the Exchange is satisfied by the fact that the prospectus is available at the Exchange upon request. The prospectus delivery mechanism provided in Rule 153 is only available with respect to transactions on an exchange.
In addition, certain affiliates of the Funds and the Adviser may purchase and resell Fund shares pursuant to this Prospectus.
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Where to Find Additional Information
In addition to this Prospectus, the Funds have an SAI, dated September 30, 2024 (as may be supplemented from time to time), which contains additional, more detailed information about the Trust and the Funds. The SAI is incorporated by reference into this Prospectus and, therefore, legally forms a part of this Prospectus. Certain affiliates of the Funds and the Adviser may purchase and resell Fund shares pursuant to this Prospectus.
The Trust publishes Annual and Semi-Annual Reports (“Shareholder Reports”) and files a Form N-CSR that contain additional information about a Fund’s investments. In each Fund’s Annual Report to Shareholders (once available), you will find a discussion of the market conditions and the investment strategies that significantly affected such Fund’s performance during the last fiscal year. In each Fund’s Form N-CSR (once available), you will find such Fund’s annual and semi-annual financial statements. For additional Trust information, including information regarding the investments comprising each of the funds and the Funds’ financial statements, please call the toll-free number below.
You may obtain the SAI and Shareholder Reports without charge by contacting the Trust at the toll-free number below or on its website at: www.eatonvance.com. If you purchased shares through a Financial Intermediary, you may also obtain these documents, without charge, by contacting your Financial Intermediary.
Shareholder Reports and other information about the Funds, such as the Funds’ financial statements, are available on the EDGAR Database on the SEC’s website at http://www.sec.gov, and copies of this information may be obtained, after paying a duplicating fee, by electronic request at the following e-mail address: publicinfo@sec.gov.
Morgan Stanley ETF Trustc/o Morgan Stanley Investment Management Inc.1585 BroadwayNew York, New York 10036For Shareholder Inquiries,call toll-free 800-836-2414.Prices and Investment Results are available at www.eatonvance.com.
The Trust’s 1940 Act registration number is 811-23820.