Prospectus
Bitwise COIN Option Income Strategy ETF
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Bitwise MARA Option Income Strategy ETF
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Bitwise MSTR Option Income Strategy ETF
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Each of the funds set forth above (each, a “Fund,”
and together, the “Funds”) is a series of
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) has not approved or disapproved these securities or passed upon the accuracy or adequacy of this prospectus. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal offense.
Table of Contents
The Fund’s primary investment objective is to provide current income.
The table below describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy, hold and sell shares of the Fund (“Fund Shares”). You may pay other fees, such as brokerage commissions and other fees to financial intermediaries, which are not reflected in the table and example below.
Management Fees | |
Distribution and Service (12b-1) Fees | |
Other Expenses(1) | |
Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses(1) | |
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses | |
Fee Waiver/Expense Reimbursement(2) | ( |
Total Fund Operating Expenses After Fee Waiver/Expense Reimbursement |
(1) |
(2) |
This example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the Fund with the cost of investing in other funds. The example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the Fund for the time periods indicated and then sell all of your Fund Shares at the end of those periods. This example assumes that the fee waiver and expense reimbursement agreement described will be terminated following April 2, 2027. The example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year and that 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:
Year 1 | Year 3 |
$ |
$ |
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 Annual Fund Operating Expenses or in the example, affect the Fund’s performance. Because the Fund has not yet commenced operations, portfolio turnover information is unavailable at this time.
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The Fund is an actively managed ETF that seeks to provide current income while providing exposure to the share price (i.e., the price returns) of the common stock of COIN, subject to a limit on potential investment gains. The Fund seeks to achieve these investment objectives through the use of a synthetic covered call strategy. The Fund seeks to provide its synthetic exposure to the price return of COIN through the purchase and sale of a combination of call and put option contracts that utilize COIN as the reference asset. The Fund will also sell call options that utilize COIN as the reference asset. These sold call options provide income in the form of option premiums but will also limit the degree to which the Fund will participate in investment gains experienced by COIN.
In implementing its investment strategy, the Fund will invest in traditional exchange-traded options contracts and/or FLexible EXchangeÒ options (“FLEX Options”) that utilize COIN as the reference asset. The Fund will only invest in options contracts that are listed for trading on regulated U.S. exchanges. Traditional exchange-traded options have standardized terms, such as the type (call or put), the reference asset, the strike price and expiration date. Exchange-listed options contracts are guaranteed for settlement by the Options Clearing Corporation (“OCC”). FLEX Options are a type of exchange-listed options contract with uniquely customizable terms that allow investors to customize key terms like type, strike price and expiration date that are standardized in a typical options contract. FLEX Options are also guaranteed for settlement by the OCC. It is anticipated that the Fund will invest primarily in FLEX Options. The FLEX Options held by the Fund may be either physical or cash settled.
In general, an option is a contract that gives the purchaser (holder) of the option, in return for a premium, the right to buy from (call) or sell to (put) the seller (writer) of the option the security or currency underlying (in this case, COIN) the option at a specified exercise price. The writer of an option has the obligation upon exercise of the option to deliver the underlying security or currency upon payment of the exercise price (call) or to pay the exercise price upon delivery of the underlying security or currency (put). The Fund may utilize both European and American style options. An option is said to be “European Style” when it can be exercised only at expiration whereas an “American Style” option can be exercised at any time prior to expiration.
In a traditional covered call strategy, an investor (such as the Fund) sells a call option on a security it already owns. However, the Fund will derive its exposure to COIN through the use of options contracts that use COIN as the reference asset. It is this distinction that causes the Fund’s strategy to be properly termed as a “synthetic covered call strategy,” as opposed to a traditional covered call strategy, because the Fund primarily has synthetic exposure to COIN. The Fund’s synthetic exposure to COIN is achieved through the combination of purchasing call options and selling put options generally at the same strike price, which synthetically creates the upside and downside participation in the price returns of COIN. The Fund will primarily gain exposure to increases in value experienced by COIN through the purchase of call options. As a buyer of these options, the Fund pays a premium to the seller of the options. The Fund will primarily gain exposure to decreases in value experienced by COIN through the sale of put options. As the seller of these options, the Fund receives a premium from the buyer of the options. In combination, the purchased call and sold put options generally provide exposure to price returns of COIN both on the upside and downside. The Fund intends to continuously maintain exposure to COIN through the use of options. When such options expire or are exercised, the Fund will enter into new options. This is a practice referred to as “rolling.” The Fund’s practice of rolling options may result in higher levels of portfolio turnover.
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As the primary means by which the Fund intends to generate income, the Fund will sell call options that reference COIN at a strike price that is expected to be approximately between 0% and 15% above the then-current share price of COIN. It is important to note that the sale of these call options to generate income will limit the Fund’s ability to participate in increases in value of COIN’s share price beyond a certain point. If the share price of COIN increases, the above-referenced synthetic long exposure would allow the Fund to experience similar percentage gains. However, if COIN’s share price appreciates in value beyond the strike price of one or more of the call option contracts that the Fund has sold to generate income, the Fund will lose money on those short call positions, and the losses will, in turn, limit the upside return of the Fund’s synthetic long exposure. As a result, the Fund’s overall strategy (i.e., the combination of the synthetic long exposure to COIN and the sold COIN call positions) will limit the Fund’s participation in gains of COIN’s share price beyond a certain point. This strategy effectively converts a portion of the potential upside price return growth of COIN into current income. Such income may be less than the upside return of COIN. It is expected that the call options the Fund will sell to generate options premiums will generally have expirations of approximately one year or less and will be held to or close to expiration.
In addition to the options contracts, the Fund will also invest in cash and short-term U.S. Treasury securities, which will serve to collateralize the Fund’s options positions and provide additional income. The market value of the cash and short-term U.S. Treasury securities held by the Fund is expected to be between 50% and 100% of the Fund’s net assets and the market value of the options package is expected to be between 0% and 50% of the Fund’s net assets. In terms of notional value, the combination of these investment instruments provides indirect investment exposure to COIN equal to at least 100% of the Fund’s total assets.
As a result of its investment strategies, the Fund will be concentrated in the industry or group of industries to which COIN is assigned (i.e., hold 25% or more of its total assets in investments that provide exposure to the industry or group of industries to which COIN is assigned). As of December 1, 2024, COIN is assigned to the “diversified financials” industry group of the financials sector.
The Fund is classified as “non-diversified” under the Investment Company Act of 1940 (the “1940 Act”).
It is critical that investors understand the following:
1. | An investment in the Fund is not an investment in COIN. |
2. | The Fund’s strategy is subject to all potential losses if shares of COIN decrease in value, which may not be offset by income received by the Fund. |
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3. | The Fund does not invest directly in shares of COIN. |
4. | Fund shareholders are not entitled to any COIN dividends. |
Additional Information About COIN
Coinbase Global, Inc. provides a platform for customers to engage with digital assets, including trading, staking, safekeeping, spending and transferring. It also provides critical infrastructure for on-chain activities. COIN has substantial holdings of bitcoin and other digital assets. Such holdings are not only highly volatile, but highly speculative. A digital asset is a digital representation of value or rights that utilizes cryptographic technology and is typically issued and transferred via a public, permissionless blockchain, ensuring decentralized and transparent transactions without the need for intermediaries. These assets can be created through various mechanisms, including mining, staking, or smart contracts, which automate and enforce agreements on the blockchain. Digital assets serve multiple use cases, such as digital currencies (e.g., bitcoin), decentralized finance (DeFi), non-fungible tokens (NFTs), and enterprise applications, enabling secure and efficient peer-to-peer transactions, programmable financial services, and digital ownership verification. COIN is registered under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”). Information provided to or filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission by Coinbase Global, Inc. pursuant to the Exchange Act, including financial reports, proxy and information statements, and other information regarding Coinbase Global, Inc. can be located by reference to the Securities and Exchange Commission file number 001-40289 through the Securities and Exchange Commission’s website at www.sec.gov. In addition, information regarding Coinbase Global, Inc. may be obtained from other sources including, but not limited to, press releases, newspaper articles and other publicly disseminated documents.
The Fund has derived all disclosures contained in this document regarding Coinbase Global, Inc. from the publicly available documents described above. Neither the Fund, the Trust, the Adviser nor any affiliate has participated in the preparation of such documents. Neither the Fund, the Trust, the Adviser nor any affiliate makes any representation that such publicly available documents or any other publicly available information regarding Coinbase Global, Inc. is accurate or complete. Furthermore, the Fund cannot give any assurance that all events occurring prior to the date of the prospectus (including events that would affect the accuracy or completeness of the publicly available documents described above) that would affect the trading price of COIN have been publicly disclosed. Subsequent disclosure of any such events or the disclosure of, or failure to disclose, material future events concerning Coinbase Global, Inc. could affect the value of the Fund’s investments with respect to COIN and therefore the value of the Fund. Lastly, neither the Fund, the Trust, the Adviser nor any of their respective affiliates, make any representations to investors as to the performance of COIN.
As with all investments, there
are certain risks of investing in the Fund.
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Market Risk. Market risk is the risk that a particular security, or Fund Shares in general, may fall in value. Securities are subject to market fluctuations caused by such factors as economic, political, regulatory or market developments, changes in interest rates and perceived trends in securities prices. Fund Shares could decline in value or underperform other investments. In addition, local, regional or global events such as war, acts of terrorism, spread of infectious diseases or other public health issues, recessions, natural disasters, or other events could have a significant negative impact on the Fund and its investments. For example, the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) global pandemic and the ensuing policies enacted by governments and central banks have caused and may continue to cause significant volatility and uncertainty in global financial markets, negatively impacting global growth prospects. Recent and potential future bank failures could result in disruption to the broader banking industry or markets generally and reduce confidence in financial institutions and the economy as a whole, which may also heighten market volatility and reduce liquidity. These events also adversely affect the prices and liquidity of the Fund’s portfolio securities or other instruments and could result in disruptions in the trading markets. Any such circumstance could have a materially negative impact on the value of Fund Shares and result in increased market volatility. During any such events, Fund Shares may trade at increased premiums or discounts to their net asset value and the bid/ask spread on Fund Shares may widen.
Covered Call Strategy Risk. A covered call strategy involves writing (selling) covered call options in return for the receipt of premiums. The seller of the option gives up the opportunity to benefit from price increases in the underlying instrument above the exercise price of the options but continues to bear the risk of underlying instrument price declines. The premiums received from the options may not be sufficient to offset any losses sustained from underlying instrument price declines over time. As a result, the risks associated with writing covered call options may be similar to the risks associated with writing put options. Exchanges may suspend the trading of options during periods of abnormal market volatility. Suspension of trading may mean that an option seller is unable to sell options at a time that may be desirable or advantageous to do so.
The covered call strategy utilized by the Fund is “synthetic” because the Fund’s exposure to the price return of COIN is derived through options exposure, rather than direct holdings of the shares of COIN. Because such exposure is synthetic, it is possible that the Fund’s participation in the price return of COIN may not be as precise as if the Fund were directly holding shares of COIN.
COIN Investing Risks. The Fund will have significant exposure to COIN through its investments in options contracts that utilize COIN as the reference asset. Accordingly, the Fund will be subject to the risks of COIN, set forth below.
COIN-Issuer Specific Risks. Issuer-specific attributes may cause an investment held by the Fund to be more volatile than the market generally. The value of an individual security or particular type of security may be more volatile than the market as a whole and may perform differently from the value of the market as a whole. As of the date of this prospectus, COIN faces risks associated with companies in the financials sector, as well as those relating to the “digital asset industry ecosystem.” The technology relating to the digital asset industry ecosystem is new and developing and the risks associated with digital assets may not fully emerge until the technology is widely used. Technologies utilizing cryptography are used by companies to optimize their business practices, whether by using the technology within their business or operating business lines involved in the operation of the technology. Cryptography refers to a set of techniques designed to allow for secure communication in the presence of adversarial behavior. Blockchain is a well-known example of a technology that relies on cryptography. A blockchain is comprised of unchangeable, digitally recorded data in packages called “blocks.” These digitally recorded blocks of data are stored in a linear “chain.” Each block in the chain contains data (e.g., a transaction), that is cryptographically connected to the previous block in the chain, ensuring all data in the overall “blockchain” has not been tampered with and remains unchanged. The cryptographic keys necessary to transact a digital asset may be subject to theft, loss, or destruction, which could adversely affect a company’s business or operations if it were dependent on such an asset. Competing platforms and technologies may be developed such that consumers or investors use an alternative to digital assets. There may be risks posed by the lack of regulation for digital assets and any future regulatory developments could affect the viability and expansion of the use of crypto technologies. Recently, U.S. securities regulators have brought actions against companies operating in the crypto industry ecosystem for violations of U.S. securities laws. To the extent such an action is brought against a company held by the Fund, the value of such a holding could decrease significantly. Because companies operating in the crypto industry ecosystem may operate across many national boundaries and regulatory jurisdictions, it is possible that such companies may be subject to widespread and inconsistent regulation. Companies operating in the digital asset industry ecosystem that rely on third party products may be subject to technical defects or vulnerabilities beyond a company’s control. Because many digital assets do not have a standardized exchange, like a stock market, there is less liquidity for such assets and greater possibility of volatility, fraud or manipulation. In addition, these companies may engage in other lines of business unrelated to the crypto industry ecosystem, and these lines of business could adversely affect their operating results. Such companies may be engaged in activities traditionally comprising the information technology sector and financials sector. These companies also may not be able to develop crypto technology applications or may not be able to capitalize on those applications. Technologies may also never be fully implemented, which could adversely affect an investment in such companies. Companies that use crypto technologies may be subject to cybersecurity risk. In addition, certain features of digital asset industry technologies, such as decentralization, open source protocol, and reliance on peer-to-peer connectivity, may increase the risk of fraud or cyber-attack by potentially reducing the likelihood of a coordinated response. A significant disruption of internet connectivity affecting large numbers of users or geographic areas could impede the functionality of crypto technologies. Companies that use crypto technologies may be subject to the risks posed by conflicting intellectual property claims, which may reduce confidence in the viability of a digital asset.
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Equity Securities Risk. Equity securities are subject to changes in value, and their values may be more volatile than those of other asset classes. Equity securities prices fluctuate for several reasons, including changes in investors’ perceptions of the financial condition of an issuer or the general condition of the relevant equity market, such as market volatility, or when political or economic events affecting an issuer occur. Common stock prices may be particularly sensitive to rising interest rates, as the cost of capital rises and borrowing costs increase. Common stocks generally subject their holders to more risks than preferred stocks and debt securities because common stockholders’ claims are subordinated to those of holders of preferred stocks and debt securities upon the bankruptcy of the issuer.
Digital Asset Trading Platforms Risk. Digital asset platforms, such as COIN, are relatively new and, in some cases, unregulated. Many operate outside the United States. Furthermore, while many prominent digital asset platforms provide the public with significant information regarding their ownership structure, management teams, corporate practices and regulatory compliance, many digital asset platforms do not provide this information. Digital asset platforms may not be subject to, or may not comply with, regulation in a similar manner as other regulated trading platforms, such as national securities exchanges or designated contract markets. As a result, the marketplace may lose confidence in digital asset platforms, including prominent platforms that handle a significant volume of bitcoin trading.
Many digital asset platforms are unlicensed, may be unregulated, may be subject to regulation in a relevant jurisdiction but may or may not be in compliance therewith, may operate without extensive supervision by governmental authorities, and may not provide the public with significant information regarding their ownership structure, management team, corporate practices, cybersecurity, and regulatory compliance. In particular, those located outside the United States may be subject to significantly less stringent regulatory and compliance requirements in their local jurisdictions and may take the position that they are not subject to laws and regulations that would apply to a national securities exchange or designated contract market in the United States, or may, as a practical matter, be beyond the ambit of U.S. regulators.
In addition, over the past several years, some digital asset platforms have been closed due to fraud and manipulative activity, business failure, or security breaches. In many of these instances, the customers of such digital asset platforms were not compensated or made whole for the partial or complete losses of their account balances in such digital asset platforms. While, generally speaking, smaller digital asset platforms are less likely to have the infrastructure and capitalization that make larger digital asset platforms more stable, larger digital asset platforms are more likely to be appealing targets for hackers and malware, and their shortcomings or ultimate failures are more likely to have contagion effects on the digital asset ecosystem and, therefore, may be more likely targets of regulatory enforcement action.
Negative perception, a lack of stability and standardized regulation in the digital asset markets and the closure or temporary shutdown of digital asset platforms due to fraud, business failure, security breaches or government-mandated regulation and associated losses by customers may reduce confidence in the Bitcoin network and result in greater volatility or decreases in the prices of bitcoin.
Indirect Investment Risk. Coinbase Global, Inc. is not affiliated with the Trust, the Fund, the Adviser or any affiliates thereof and is not involved with this offering in any way, and has no obligation to consider the Fund in taking any corporate actions that might affect the value of the Fund. The Trust, the Fund, the Adviser or any affiliate are not responsible for the performance of COIN and make no representation as to the performance of COIN. Investing in the Fund is not equivalent to investing in COIN. Fund shareholders will not have voting rights or rights to receive dividends or other distributions or any other rights with respect to COIN.
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Financial Companies Risk. Companies in the financials sector are subject to extensive governmental regulation and intervention, which may adversely affect the scope of their activities, the prices they can charge, the amount of capital and liquid assets they must maintain and, potentially, their size. Governmental regulation may change frequently and may have significant adverse consequences for companies in the financials sector, including effects not intended by such regulation. Increased risk taking by financial companies may also result in greater overall risk in the U.S. and global financials sector. The impact of changes in capital requirements, or recent or future regulation in various countries, on any individual financial company or on the financials sector as a whole cannot be predicted.
Certain risks may impact the value of investments in the financials sector more severely than those of investments outside this sector, including the risks associated with companies that operate with substantial financial leverage. Companies in the financials sector are exposed directly to the credit risk of their borrowers and counterparties, who may be leveraged to an unknown degree, including through swaps and other derivatives products. Financial services companies may have significant exposure to the same borrowers and counterparties, with the result that a borrower’s or counterparty’s inability to meet its obligations to one company may affect other companies with exposure to the same borrower or counterparty. This interconnectedness of risk may result in significant negative impacts to companies with direct exposure to the defaulting counterparty as well as adverse cascading effects in the markets and the financials sector generally. Companies in the financials sector may also be adversely affected by increases in interest rates and loan losses, decreases in the availability of money or asset valuations, credit rating downgrades, adverse public perception and adverse conditions in other related markets. Insurance companies, in particular, may be subject to severe price competition and/or rate regulation, which may have an adverse impact on their profitability. The financials sector is particularly sensitive to fluctuations in interest rates. The financials sector is also a target for cyberattacks. Cybersecurity incidents and technology malfunctions and failures have become increasingly frequent and have caused significant losses to companies in this sector, which may negatively impact the Fund. The extent to which the Fund may invest in a company that engages in securities-related activities or banking is limited by applicable law.
Large Capitalization Companies Risk. Large capitalization companies may be less able than smaller capitalization companies to adapt to changing market conditions. Large capitalization companies may be more mature and subject to more limited growth potential compared with smaller capitalization companies. During different market cycles, the performance of large capitalization companies has trailed the overall performance of the broader securities markets.
United States Risk. Certain changes in the U.S. economy, such as when the U.S. economy weakens or when its financial markets decline, may have an adverse effect on the securities to which the Fund has exposure.
Digital Assets Risk. COIN may have substantial holdings of bitcoin and other digital assets. Accordingly, it is subject to the risks associated with such holdings as set forth below.
Bitcoin Risk. Bitcoin is a relatively new innovation and the market for bitcoin is subject to rapid price swings, changes and uncertainty. The further development of the Bitcoin network and the acceptance and use of bitcoin are subject to a variety of factors that are difficult to evaluate. The value of bitcoin has been, and may continue to be, substantially dependent on speculation, such that trading and investing in these assets generally may not be based on fundamental analysis. The slowing, stopping or reversing of the development of the Bitcoin network or the acceptance of bitcoin may adversely affect the price of bitcoin. Bitcoin is subject to the risk of fraud, theft, manipulation or security failures, operational or other problems that impact the digital asset trading venues on which bitcoin trades. The Bitcoin blockchain may contain flaws that can be exploited by hackers. A significant portion of bitcoin is held by a small number of holders sometimes referred to as “whales.” Transactions of these holders may influence the price of bitcoin.
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Unlike the exchanges for more traditional assets, such as equity securities and futures contracts, bitcoin and the digital asset trading venues on which it trades are largely unregulated and highly fragmented and digital asset trading venues may be operating out of compliance with regulations. As a result of the lack of regulation, individuals or groups may engage in fraud or market manipulation (including using social media to promote bitcoin in a way that artificially increases the price of bitcoin). Investors may be more exposed to the risk of theft, fraud and market manipulation than when investing in more traditional asset classes. Over the past several years, a number of digital asset trading venues have been closed due to fraud, failure or security breaches. Investors in bitcoin may have little or no recourse should such theft, fraud or manipulation occur and could suffer significant losses. Legal or regulatory changes may negatively impact the operation of the Bitcoin network or restrict the use of bitcoin. COIN may also be negatively impacted by regulatory enforcement actions against the digital asset trading venues upon which bitcoin trades. Such actions could significantly reduce the number of venues upon which bitcoin trades and could negatively impact the price of bitcoin. In addition, digital asset trading venues, bitcoin miners, and other participants may have significant exposure to other digital assets. Instability in the price, availability or legal or regulatory status of those instruments may adversely impact the operation of the digital asset trading venues and the Bitcoin network. The realization of any of these risks could result in a decline in the acceptance of bitcoin and consequently a reduction in the value of bitcoin and shares of COIN.
The Bitcoin network is maintained and secured by a group of validators who “mine” bitcoin, which involves contributing computer power to the network to validate transactions, maintain security and finalize settlement. The Bitcoin blockchain relies on a consensus mechanism whereby miners agree on the accurate state of the database. If a malicious actor (or group of actors) were to gain control of more than 50% of the mining (or “hash”) power in the network, even temporarily, they would have the ability to block new transactions from being confirmed and could, over time, reverse or reorder prior transactions. Although it may be challenging for a malicious actor (or group of actors) to gain control of 50% of the mining (or “hash”) power in the Bitcoin blockchain, such an attack would significantly impact the value of bitcoin.
A blockchain is a public database that is updated, shared and maintained across many computers in a network. The software that powers a blockchain is known as its protocol. Like all software, these protocols may update or change from time to time. In the case of the Bitcoin protocol, updates are made based on proposals submitted by developers, but only if a majority of the users and miners adopt the new proposals and update their individual copies of the protocol. Certain upgrade proposals to a blockchain may not be accepted by all the participants in an ecosystem. If one significant group adopts a proposed upgrade and another does not – or if groups adopt different upgrades – this can result in a “fork” of the blockchain, wherein two distinct sets of users and validators, or users and miners, run two different versions of a protocol. If the versions are sufficiently different such that the two versions of the protocol cannot simultaneously maintain and update a shared record of the blockchain database, it is called a “hard fork.” A hard fork can result in the creation of two competing blockchains, each with its own native digital assets. For instance, on August 1, 2017, two factions in the Bitcoin community could not agree on whether or not to adopt an upgrade to the Bitcoin protocol related to how to scale throughput on the blockchain. The disagreement created a fork, with the smaller group taking the name “Bitcoin Cash” and running its own blockchain and related native digital asset. The larger group retained the name Bitcoin for its blockchain and held bitcoin as the native digital asset. Additional forks of the Bitcoin blockchain are possible. A large-scale fork could introduce risk, uncertainty, or confusion into the Bitcoin blockchain, or could fraction the value of the main blockchain and its native digital asset, which could significantly impact the value of bitcoin and shares of COIN. Additionally, a hack of the Bitcoin blockchain or one or more projects that interact with or that are built on top of the Bitcoin blockchain could negatively impact the price of bitcoin, whether it leads to another hard fork or not, and thereby the value of COIN.
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The Bitcoin blockchain and its native digital asset, bitcoin, face numerous challenges to gaining widespread adoption as an alternative payments system, including the slowness of transaction processing and finality, variability in transaction fees and volatility in bitcoin’s price. It is not clear that the Bitcoin blockchain or bitcoin can overcome these and other impediments, which could harm the long-term adoption of the Bitcoin blockchain and bitcoin as an alternative payment system, and thereby negatively impact the price of bitcoin. In addition, alternative public blockchains have been developed and may in the future develop that compete with the Bitcoin blockchain and may have significant advantages as alternative payment systems, including higher throughput, lower fees, faster settlement and finalization, and the ability to facilitate untraceable and/or privacy-shielded transactions through the use of zero-knowledge cryptography or other means. It is possible that these alternative public blockchains and their native digital assets may be more successful than the Bitcoin blockchain and bitcoin in gaining adoption as an alternative payments system, which could limit the long-term adoption of the Bitcoin blockchain and bitcoin, thereby negatively impact the price of bitcoin. Such alternative public blockchains, such as the Ethereum network, allow users to write and implement smart contracts—that is, general-purpose code that executes on every computer in the network and can instruct the transmission of information and value based on a sophisticated set of logical conditions. Using smart contracts, users can create markets, store registries of debts or promises, represent the ownership of property, move funds in accordance with conditional instructions and create other digital assets. Furthermore, traditional payment systems may improve their own technical capabilities and offer faster settlement times, faster finalization and lower fees. This could make it more difficult for the Bitcoin blockchain and bitcoin to gain traction as an alternative payments system, which could limit the long-term adoption of the Bitcoin blockchain and bitcoin, and thereby negatively impact the price of bitcoin. Finally, one means by which the ecosystem surrounding the Bitcoin blockchain has attempted to mitigate concerns about the slowness of transaction processing and finality, and the variability of transaction fees, has been through the development of so-called Layer 2 networks, including the “Lightning Network.” Layer 2 networks are separate blockchains built on top of “Layer 1” blockchains like the Bitcoin blockchain for the purpose of augmenting the throughput of the Layer 1 blockchain, and often, providing lower fees for transaction processing and faster settlement. Layer 2 blockchains introduce certain risks into the Bitcoin ecosystem that should be considered. For instance, Layer 2 blockchains are a relatively new and still developing technology. Technological issues – including hacks, bugs, or failures – could introduce risk or harm confidence in the Bitcoin ecosystem, which could negatively impact the price of bitcoin. In addition, users may choose to settle an increasing share of transactions on Layer 2 blockchains, which could negatively impact the transaction activity on, and the amount of fee revenue generated by, the Bitcoin blockchain itself, which could negatively impact the price of bitcoin. If these or other developments negatively impact the price of bitcoin, this would negatively impact the value of the bitcoin.
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Custody Risk. Security breaches, computer malware and computer hacking attacks have been a prevalent concern in relation to digital assets. The bitcoin held by COIN will likely be an appealing target to hackers or malware distributors seeking to destroy, damage or steal COIN’s bitcoin. To the extent that COIN is unable to identify and mitigate or stop new security threats or otherwise adapt to technological changes in the digital asset industry, COIN’s bitcoin may be subject to theft, loss, destruction, or other attack.
COIN has put security procedures in place to prevent such theft, loss, or destruction, including but not limited to, offline storage, or cold storage, multiple encrypted private key “shards,” and other measures. Nevertheless, the security procedures cannot guarantee the prevention of any loss due to a security breach, software defect or act of God that may be borne by COIN, and the security procedures may not protect against all errors, software flaws or other vulnerabilities in COIN’s technical infrastructure, which could result in theft, loss or damage of its assets. Assets not held in cold storage, such as assets held in a trading account, may be more vulnerable to security breach, hacking or loss than assets held in cold storage. Furthermore, assets held in a trading account are held on an omnibus rather than segregated basis, which creates greater risk of loss.
The security procedures and operational infrastructure may be breached due to the actions of outside parties, error or malfeasance of a COIN employee, and, as a result, an unauthorized party may obtain access to COIN accounts in which its bitcoin is held, the relevant private keys (and therefore bitcoin) or other data or property of COIN. Additionally, outside parties may attempt to fraudulently induce employees of COIN to disclose sensitive information in order to gain access to COIN’s infrastructure. As the techniques used to obtain unauthorized access, disable or degrade service or sabotage systems change frequently or may be designed to remain dormant until a predetermined event and often are not recognized until launched against a target, COIN may be unable to anticipate these techniques or implement adequate preventative measures.
Digital Asset Market and Volatility Risk. The prices of digital assets, to which COIN has significant exposure, have historically been highly volatile. The value of such assets has been, and may continue to be, substantially dependent on speculation, such that trading and investing in these assets generally may not be based on fundamental analysis. The value of the Fund’s investments in instruments that provide exposure to COIN – and therefore the value of an investment in the Fund – could decline significantly and without warning. If you are not prepared to accept significant and unexpected changes in the value of the Fund, you should not invest in the Fund.
Digital Asset Regulatory Risk. There is a lack of consensus regarding the regulation of digital assets, including bitcoin, and their markets. As a result of the growth in the size of the digital asset market, as well as recent events in the digital asset market, the U.S. Congress and a number of U.S. federal and state agencies (including FinCEN, SEC, OCC, CFTC, FINRA, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the Department of Justice, the Department of Homeland Security, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Internal Revenue Service, state financial institution regulators, and others) have been examining the operations of digital asset networks, digital asset users and the digital asset markets. Many of these state and federal agencies have brought enforcement actions or issued consumer advisories regarding the risks posed by digital assets to investors. Ongoing and future regulatory actions with respect to digital assets generally or bitcoin in particular may alter, perhaps to a materially adverse extent, the nature of an investment in the shares of COIN or the ability of COIN to continue to operate.
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Irrevocability of Transactions Risk. Digital asset transactions are typically not reversible without the consent and active participation of the recipient of the transaction. Once a transaction has been verified and recorded in a block that is added to the blockchain, an incorrect transfer or theft of bitcoin generally will not be reversible, and COIN may not be capable of seeking compensation for any such transfer or theft. It is possible that, through computer or human error, or through theft or criminal action, COIN’s bitcoin could be transferred from its account in incorrect amounts or to unauthorized third parties, or to uncontrolled accounts.
Such events have occurred in connection with digital assets in the past. For example, in September 2014, the Chinese digital asset platform Huobi announced that it had sent approximately 900 bitcoin and 8,000 Litecoin (worth approximately $400,000 at the prevailing market prices at the time) to the wrong customers. To the extent that COIN is unable to seek a corrective transaction with such third-party or is incapable of identifying the third-party which has received COIN’s bitcoin through error or theft, COIN will be unable to revert or otherwise recover incorrectly transferred bitcoin. COIN will also be unable to convert or recover its bitcoin transferred to uncontrolled accounts. To the extent that COIN is unable to seek redress for such error or theft, such loss could adversely affect the value of its shares.
Active Management Risk. The Fund is actively managed, and its performance reflects investment decisions that the Adviser makes for the Fund. Such judgments about the Fund’s investments may prove to be incorrect. If the investments selected and the strategies employed by the Fund fail to produce the intended results, the Fund could underperform as compared to other funds with similar investment objectives and/or strategies, or could have negative returns.
Clearing Member Default Risk. Transactions in some types of derivatives, including the options held by the Fund, are required to be centrally cleared (“cleared derivatives”). In a transaction involving cleared derivatives, the Fund’s counterparty is a clearinghouse, such as the OCC, rather than a bank or broker. Since the Fund is not a member of clearinghouses, and only members of a clearinghouse (“clearing members”) can participate directly in the clearinghouse, the Fund will hold cleared derivatives through accounts at clearing members. With regard to its cleared derivatives positions, the Fund will make payments (including margin payments) to, and receive payments from, a clearinghouse through their accounts at clearing members. Customer funds held at a clearing organization in connection with any option contracts are held in a commingled omnibus account and are not associated with any of the clearing member’s individual customers by name. As a result, assets deposited by the Fund with any clearing member as margin for its options position may, in certain circumstances, be used to satisfy losses of other clients of the Fund’s clearing member. In addition, although clearing members guarantee performance of their clients’ obligations to the clearinghouse, there is a risk that the assets of the Fund might not be fully protected in the event of the clearing member’s bankruptcy. The Fund is also subject to the risk that a limited number of clearing members are willing to transact on the Fund’s behalf, which heightens the risks associated with a clearing member’s default. If a clearing member defaults, the Fund could lose some or all of the benefits of a transaction entered into by the Fund with the clearing member. The loss of a clearing member for the Fund to transact with could result in increased transaction costs and other operational issues that could impede the Fund’s ability to implement its investment strategy. If the Fund cannot find a clearing member to transact with on the Fund’s behalf, the Fund may be unable to effectively implement its investment strategy.
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Concentration Risk. The Fund is susceptible to an increased risk of loss, including losses due to adverse events that affect the Fund’s investments more than the market as a whole, to the extent that the Fund’s investments are concentrated in investments that provide exposure to COIN and the industry to which it is assigned. As of December 1, 2024, COIN is assigned to the “diversified financials” industry group of the financials sector. Please see “Financial Companies Risk” for a discussion regarding the risks of an investment in such companies.
Cybersecurity Risk. The Fund is susceptible to operational risks due to breaches in cybersecurity. A breach in cybersecurity refers to both intentional and unintentional events that may cause the Fund to lose proprietary information, suffer data corruption or lose operational capacity. Such events could cause the Fund to incur regulatory penalties, reputational damage, additional compliance costs associated with corrective measures and/or financial loss. Cybersecurity breaches may involve unauthorized access to the Fund’s digital information systems through “hacking” or malicious software coding but may also result from outside attacks such as denial-of-service attacks due to efforts to make network services unavailable to intended users. In addition, cybersecurity breaches of the Fund’s third-party service providers, such as its administrator, transfer agent, custodian, or sub-advisor, as applicable, or the issuers in which the Fund invests, can also subject the Fund to many of the same risks associated with direct cybersecurity breaches. Although the Fund has established risk management systems designed to reduce the risks associated with cybersecurity, there is no guarantee that such efforts will succeed, especially because the Fund does not directly control the cybersecurity systems of issuers or third-party service providers.
Debt Securities Risk. Investments in debt securities subject the holder to the credit risk of the issuer. Credit risk refers to the possibility that the issuer or other obligor of a security will not be able or willing to make payments of interest and principal when due. Generally, the value of debt securities will change inversely with changes in interest rates. To the extent that interest rates rise, certain underlying obligations may be paid off substantially slower than originally anticipated and the value of those securities may fall sharply. During periods of falling interest rates, the income received by the Fund may decline. If the principal on a debt security is prepaid before expected, the prepayments of principal may have to be reinvested in obligations paying interest at lower rates. Debt securities generally do not trade on a securities exchange making them generally less liquid and more difficult to value than common stock.
Derivatives Risk. The use of derivative instruments involves risks different from, or possibly greater than, the risks associated with investing directly in securities and other traditional investments. These risks include: (i) the risk that the counterparty to a derivative transaction may not fulfill its contractual obligations; (ii) the risk of mispricing or improper valuation; and (iii) the risk that changes in the value of the derivative may not correlate perfectly with the underlying asset. Derivative prices are highly volatile and may fluctuate substantially during a short period of time. Such prices are influenced by numerous factors that affect the markets, including, but not limited to: changing supply and demand relationships; government programs and policies; national and international political and economic events, changes in interest rates, inflation and deflation and changes in supply and demand relationships. Trading derivative instruments involves risks different from, or possibly greater than, the risks associated with investing directly in securities. Derivative contracts ordinarily have leverage inherent in their terms. The use of leverage may cause the Fund to liquidate portfolio positions when it would not be advantageous to do so in order to satisfy its obligations or to meet regulatory or contractual requirements for derivatives. The use of derivatives can magnify potential for gain or loss and, therefore, amplify the effects of market volatility on share price.
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FLEX Options Risk. Trading FLEX Options involves risks different from, or possibly greater than, the risks associated with investing directly in securities. The Fund may experience losses from specific FLEX Option positions and certain FLEX Option positions may expire worthless. The FLEX Options are listed on an exchange; however, no one can guarantee that a liquid secondary trading market will exist for the FLEX Options. In the event that trading in the FLEX Options is limited or absent, the value of the Fund’s FLEX Options may decrease. In a less liquid market for the FLEX Options, liquidating the FLEX Options may require the payment of a premium (for written FLEX Options) or acceptance of a discounted price (for purchased FLEX Options) and may take longer to complete. A less liquid trading market may adversely impact the value of the FLEX Options and Fund Shares and result in the Fund being unable to achieve its investment objective. Less liquidity in the trading of the Fund’s FLEX Options could have an impact on the prices paid or received by the Fund for the FLEX Options in connection with creations and redemptions of Fund Shares. Depending on the nature of this impact to pricing, the Fund may be forced to pay more for redemptions (or receive less for creations) than the price at which it currently values the FLEX Options. Such overpayment or under collection could reduce the Fund’s ability to achieve its investment objective. Additionally, in a less liquid market for the FLEX Options, the liquidation of a large number of options may more significantly impact the price. A less liquid trading market may adversely impact the value of the FLEX Options and the value of your investment. The trading in FLEX Options may be less deep and liquid than the market for certain other exchange-traded options, non-customized options or other securities.
Inflation Risk. Inflation risk is the risk that the value of assets or income from investments will be less in the future as inflation decreases the value of money. As inflation increases, the present value of the Fund’s assets and distributions may decline. This risk is more prevalent with respect to fixed income securities held by the Fund.
Interest Rate Risk. Interest rate risk is the risk that the value of the debt securities in the Fund’s portfolio will decline because of rising market interest rates. Interest rate risk is generally lower for shorter term debt securities and higher for longer-term debt securities. Duration is a reasonably accurate measure of a debt security’s price sensitivity to changes in interest rates and a common measure of interest rate risk. Duration measures a debt security’s expected life on a present value basis, taking into account the debt security’s yield, interest payments and final maturity. In general, duration represents the expected percentage change in the value of a security for an immediate 1% change in interest rates. For example, the price of a debt security with a three-year duration would be expected to drop by approximately 3% in response to a 1% increase in interest rates. Therefore, prices of debt securities with shorter durations tend to be less sensitive to interest rate changes than debt securities with longer durations. As the value of a debt security changes over time, so will its duration.
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Leverage Risk. While the Fund does not seek leveraged exposure to COIN, the Fund seeks to achieve and maintain the exposure to the price of COIN by using the leverage inherent in options contracts. Therefore, the Fund is subject to leverage risk. When the Fund purchases or sells an instrument or enters into a transaction without investing an amount equal to the full economic exposure of the instrument or transaction, it creates leverage, which can result in the Fund losing more than it originally invested. As a result, these investments may magnify losses to the Fund, and even a small market movement may result in significant losses to the Fund. Leverage may also cause the Fund to be more volatile because it may exaggerate the effect of any increase or decrease in the value of the Fund’s portfolio securities. Options trading involves a degree of leverage and, as a result, a relatively small price movement in futures instruments may result in immediate and substantial losses to the Fund.
Liquidity Risk. The market for options on COIN may be subject to periods of illiquidity. During such times it may be difficult or impossible to buy or sell a position at the desired price. Market disruptions or volatility can also make it difficult to find a counterparty willing to transact at a reasonable price and sufficient size. Illiquid markets may cause losses, which could be significant. The large size of the positions which the Fund may acquire increases the risk of illiquidity, may make its positions more difficult to liquidate, and may increase the losses incurred while trying to do so. Such large positions also may impact the price of options on COIN.
New Fund Risk. The Fund is a recently organized investment company with a limited operating history. As a result, prospective investors have a limited track record or history on which to base their investment decision.
Non-Diversification Risk.
Operational Risk. The Fund is subject to risks arising from various operational factors, including, but not limited to, human error; processing and communication errors; errors of the Fund’s service providers, counterparties or other third parties; failed or inadequate processes; and technology or systems failures. The Fund relies on third parties for a range of services, including custody. Any delay or failure relating to engaging or maintaining such service providers may affect the Fund’s ability to meet its investment objective. Although the Fund and the Adviser seek to reduce these operational risks through controls and procedures, there is no way to completely protect against such risks.
Options Risk. The use of options involves investment strategies and risks different from those associated with ordinary portfolio securities transactions and depends on the ability of the Fund’s portfolio managers to forecast market movements correctly. The prices of options are volatile and are influenced by, among other things, actual and anticipated changes in the value of the underlying instrument, or in interest or currency exchange rates, including the anticipated volatility, which in turn are affected by fiscal and monetary policies and by national and international political and economic events. The effective use of options also depends on the Fund’s ability to terminate option positions at times deemed desirable to do so. There is no assurance that the Fund will be able to effect closing transactions at any particular time or at an acceptable price. In addition, there may at times be an imperfect correlation between the movement in values of options and their underlying securities and there may at times not be a liquid secondary market for certain options.
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Portfolio Turnover Risk. The Fund may experience high levels of portfolio turnover. A high portfolio turnover rate increases transaction costs, which may increase the Fund’s expenses. Frequent trading may also cause adverse tax consequences for investors in the Fund due to an increase in short-term capital gains.
Special Tax Risk. The Fund intends to qualify as a “regulated investment company” or “RIC.” If, in any year, the Fund fails to qualify as a regulated investment company under the applicable tax laws, the Fund would be taxed as an ordinary corporation. The Fund intends to treat any income it may derive from the FLEX Options as “qualifying income” under the provisions of the Code applicable to RICs. In addition, based upon language in the legislative history, the Fund intends to treat the issuer of the FLEX Options as the referenced asset, which may allow the Fund to qualify for special rules in the RIC diversification requirements. If the income is not qualifying income or the issuer of the FLEX Options is not appropriately the referenced asset, the Fund may lose its own status as a RIC if tax positions reflected by such options are large enough.
Structural ETF Risks. The Fund is an ETF. Accordingly, it is subject to certain risks associated with its unique structure.
Active Market Risk. Although Fund Shares are listed for trading on the Exchange, there can be no assurance that an active trading market for Fund Shares will develop or be maintained. Fund Shares trade on the Exchange at market prices that may be below, at or above the Fund’s net asset value. Securities, including Fund Shares, are subject to market fluctuations and liquidity constraints that may be caused by such factors as economic, political, or regulatory developments, changes in interest rates, and/or perceived trends in securities prices. Fund Shares could decline in value or underperform other investments.
Authorized Participant Concentration Risk. Only an Authorized Participant may engage in creation or redemption transactions directly with the Fund, and none of those Authorized Participants is obligated to engage in creation and/or redemption transactions. The Fund has a limited number of institutions that may act as Authorized Participants on an agency basis (i.e., on behalf of other market participants). To the extent that Authorized Participants exit the business or are unable to proceed with creation or redemption orders with respect to the Fund and no other Authorized Participant is able to step forward to create or redeem, Fund Shares may be more likely to trade at a premium or discount to NAV and possibly face trading halts or delisting. Authorized Participant concentration risk may be heightened for ETFs, such as the Fund, which invest in securities issued by non-U.S. issuers or other securities or instruments that have lower trading volumes.
Cash Transactions Risk. The Fund currently expects to effect a significant portion of its creations and redemptions for cash, rather than in-kind securities. Paying redemption proceeds in cash rather than through in-kind delivery of portfolio securities may require the Fund to dispose of or sell portfolio securities or other assets at an inopportune time to obtain the cash needed to meet redemption orders. This may cause the Fund to sell a security and recognize a capital gain or loss that might not have been incurred if it had made a redemption in-kind. As a result, the Fund may pay out higher or lower annual capital gains distributions than ETFs that redeem in-kind. The use of cash creations and redemptions may also cause Fund Shares to trade in the market at greater bid-ask spreads or greater premiums or discounts to the Fund’s NAV. Furthermore, the Fund may not be able to execute cash transactions for creation and redemption purposes at the same price used to determine the Fund’s NAV. To the extent that the maximum additional charge for creation or redemption transactions is insufficient to cover the execution shortfall, the Fund’s performance could be negatively impacted.
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Costs of Buying and Selling Fund Shares. Due to the costs of buying or selling Fund Shares, including brokerage commissions imposed by brokers and bid/ask spreads, frequent trading of Fund Shares may significantly reduce investment results, and an investment in Fund Shares may not be advisable for investors who anticipate regularly making small investments.
Premium/Discount Risk. As with all exchange-traded funds, Fund Shares may be bought and sold in the secondary market at market prices. The trading prices of Fund Shares in the secondary market may differ from the Fund’s daily net asset value per share and there may be times when the market price of the shares is more than the net asset value per share (premium) or less than the net asset value per share (discount). This risk is heightened in times of market volatility or periods of steep market declines.
U.S. Government Securities Risk. U.S. government securities are subject to interest rate risk but generally do not involve the credit risks associated with investments in other types of debt securities. As a result, the yields available from U.S. government securities are generally lower than the yields available from other debt securities. U.S. government securities are guaranteed only as to the timely payment of interest and the payment of principal when held to maturity.
Valuation Risk. The Fund may hold securities or other assets that may be valued on the basis of factors other than market quotations. This may occur because the asset or security does not trade on a centralized exchange, or in times of market turmoil or reduced liquidity. There are multiple methods that can be used to value a portfolio holding when market quotations are not readily available. The value established for any portfolio holding at a point in time might differ from what would be produced using a different methodology or if it had been priced using market quotations. Portfolio holdings that are valued using techniques other than market quotations, including “fair valued” assets or securities, may be subject to greater fluctuation in their valuations from one day to the next than if market quotations were used. In addition, there is no assurance that the Fund could sell or close out a portfolio position for the value established for it at any time, and it is possible that the Fund would incur a loss because a portfolio position is sold or closed out at a discount to the valuation established by the Fund at that time. The Fund’s ability to value investments may be impacted by technological issues or errors by pricing services or other third-party service providers.
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Management
Investment Adviser: Bitwise Investment Manager, LLC (“BIM”)
Portfolio Managers: Jennifer Thornton, Portfolio Manager at BIM, Daniela Padilla, Portfolio Manager at BIM, Jeff Park, Portfolio Manager and Head of Alpha Strategy at BIM and Gayatri Choudhury, Quantitative Investment Analyst at BIM, are the individuals that are primarily and jointly responsible for the day-to-day management of the Fund. Each has served as portfolio manager since the Fund’s inception in March 2025.
Purchase and Sale of Fund Shares
The Fund will issue (or redeem) Fund Shares to certain institutional investors (typically market makers or other broker-dealers) only in large blocks of Fund Shares known as “Creation Units.” Creation Unit transactions are conducted in exchange for the deposit or delivery of a designated portfolio of in-kind securities and/or cash.
Individual Fund Shares may only be purchased and sold on the Exchange, other national securities exchanges, electronic crossing networks and other alternative trading systems through a broker-dealer at market prices. Because Fund Shares trade at market prices rather than at NAV, Fund Shares may trade at a price greater than NAV (premium) or less than NAV (discount). When buying or selling Fund Shares in the secondary market, you may incur costs attributable to the difference between the highest price a buyer is willing to pay to purchase Fund Shares (bid) and the lowest price a seller is willing to accept for Fund Shares (ask) (the “bid-ask spread”). Recent information regarding the Fund’s NAV, market price, premiums and discounts, and bid-ask spreads is available at https://www.icoietf.com
Tax Information
The Fund’s distributions are expected to be taxed as ordinary income, qualified dividend income and/or capital gains, unless you are investing through a tax-advantaged arrangement, such as a 401(k) plan or individual retirement account. Any withdrawals made from such tax-advantaged arrangement may be taxable to you.
Payments to Broker-Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries
If you purchase Fund Shares through a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary (such as a bank), the Adviser, Foreside Fund Services, LLC, the Fund’s distributor, may pay the intermediary for the sale of Fund Shares and related services. These payments may create a conflict of interest by influencing the broker-dealer or other intermediary and your salesperson to recommend the Fund over another investment. Ask your salesperson or visit your financial intermediary’s website for more information.
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The Fund’s primary investment objective is to provide current income.
The table below describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy, hold and sell shares of the Fund (“Fund Shares”). You may pay other fees, such as brokerage commissions and other fees to financial intermediaries, which are not reflected in the table and example below.
Management Fees | |
Distribution and Service (12b-1) Fees | |
Other Expenses(1) | |
Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses(1) | |
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses | |
Fee Waiver/Expense Reimbursement(2) | |
Total Fund Operating Expenses After Fee Waiver/Expense Reimbursement |
(1) |
(2) |
This example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the Fund with the cost of investing in other funds. The example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the Fund for the time periods indicated and then sell all of your Fund Shares at the end of those periods. This example assumes that the fee waiver and expense reimbursement agreement described will be terminated following April 2, 2027. The example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year and that 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:
Year 1 | Year 3 |
$ |
$ |
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 Annual Fund Operating Expenses or in the example, affect the Fund’s performance. Because the Fund has not yet commenced operations, portfolio turnover information is unavailable at this time.
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The Fund is an actively managed ETF that seeks to provide current income while providing exposure to the share price (i.e., the price returns) of the common stock of MARA, subject to a limit on potential investment gains. The Fund seeks to achieve these investment objectives through the use of a synthetic covered call strategy. The Fund seeks to provide its synthetic exposure to the price return of MARA through the purchase and sale of a combination of call and put option contracts that utilize MARA as the reference asset. The Fund will also sell call options that utilize MARA as the reference asset. These sold call options provide income in the form of option premiums but will also limit the degree to which the Fund will participate in investment gains experienced by MARA.
In implementing its investment strategy, the Fund will invest in traditional exchange-traded options contracts and/or FLexible EXchangeÒ options (“FLEX Options”) that utilize MARA as the reference asset. The Fund will only invest in options contracts that are listed for trading on regulated U.S. exchanges. Traditional exchange-traded options have standardized terms, such as the type (call or put), the reference asset, the strike price and expiration date. Exchange-listed options contracts are guaranteed for settlement by the Options Clearing Corporation (“OCC”). FLEX Options are a type of exchange-listed options contract with uniquely customizable terms that allow investors to customize key terms like type, strike price and expiration date that are standardized in a typical options contract. FLEX Options are also guaranteed for settlement by the OCC. It is anticipated that the Fund will invest primarily in FLEX Options. The FLEX Options held by the Fund may be either physical or cash settled.
In general, an option is a contract that gives the purchaser (holder) of the option, in return for a premium, the right to buy from (call) or sell to (put) the seller (writer) of the option the security or currency underlying (in this case, MARA) the option at a specified exercise price. The writer of an option has the obligation upon exercise of the option to deliver the underlying security or currency upon payment of the exercise price (call) or to pay the exercise price upon delivery of the underlying security or currency (put). The Fund may utilize both European and American style options. An option is said to be “European Style” when it can be exercised only at expiration whereas an “American Style” option can be exercised at any time prior to expiration.
In a traditional covered call strategy, an investor (such as the Fund) sells a call option on a security it already owns. However, the Fund will derive its exposure to MARA through the use of options contracts that use MARA as the reference asset. It is this distinction that causes the Fund’s strategy to be properly termed as a “synthetic covered call strategy,” as opposed to a traditional covered call strategy, because the Fund primarily has synthetic exposure to MARA. The Fund’s synthetic exposure to MARA is achieved through the combination of purchasing call options and selling put options generally at the same strike price, which synthetically creates the upside and downside participation in the price returns of MARA. The Fund will primarily gain exposure to increases in value experienced by MARA through the purchase of call options. As a buyer of these options, the Fund pays a premium to the seller of the options. The Fund will primarily gain exposure to decreases in value experienced by MARA through the sale of put options. As the seller of these options, the Fund receives a premium from the buyer of the options. In combination, the purchased call and sold put options generally provide exposure to price returns of MARA both on the upside and downside. The Fund intends to continuously maintain exposure to MARA through the use of options. When such options expire or are exercised, the Fund will enter into new options. This is a practice referred to as “rolling.” The Fund’s practice of rolling options may result in higher levels of portfolio turnover.
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As the primary means by which the Fund intends to generate income, the Fund will sell call options that reference MARA at a strike price that is expected to be approximately between 0% and 15% above the then-current share price of MARA. It is important to note that the sale of these call options to generate income will limit the Fund’s ability to participate in increases in value of MARA’s share price beyond a certain point. If the share price of MARA increases, the above-referenced synthetic long exposure would allow the Fund to experience similar percentage gains. However, if MARA’s share price appreciates in value beyond the strike price of one or more of the call option contracts that the Fund has sold to generate income, the Fund will lose money on those short call positions, and the losses will, in turn, limit the upside return of the Fund’s synthetic long exposure. As a result, the Fund’s overall strategy (i.e., the combination of the synthetic long exposure to MARA and the sold MARA call positions) will limit the Fund’s participation in gains of MARA’s share price beyond a certain point. This strategy effectively converts a portion of the potential upside price return growth of MARA into current income. Such income may be less than the upside return of MARA. It is expected that the call options the Fund will sell to generate options premiums will generally have expirations of approximately one year or less and will be held to or close to expiration.
In addition to the options contracts, the Fund will also invest in cash and short-term U.S. Treasury securities, which will serve to collateralize the Fund’s options positions and provide additional income. The market value of the cash and short-term U.S. Treasury securities held by the Fund is expected to be between 50% and 100% of the Fund’s net assets and the market value of the options package is expected to be between 0% and 50% of the Fund’s net assets. In terms of notional value, the combination of these investment instruments provides indirect investment exposure to MARA equal to at least 100% of the Fund’s total assets.
As a result of its investment strategies, the Fund will be concentrated in the industry or group of industries to which MARA is assigned (i.e., hold 25% or more of its total assets in investments that provide exposure to the industry or group of industries to which MARA is assigned). As of December 1, 2024, MARA is assigned to the “software & services” industry group of the information technology sector.
The Fund is classified as “non-diversified” under the Investment Company Act of 1940 (the “1940 Act”).
It is critical that investors understand the following:
1. | An investment in the Fund is not an investment in MARA. |
2. | The Fund’s strategy is subject to all potential losses if shares of MARA decrease in value, which may not be offset by income received by the Fund. |
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3. | The Fund does not invest directly in shares of MARA. |
4. | Fund shareholders are not entitled to any MARA dividends. |
Additional Information About MARA
MARA Holdings, Inc., formerly known as Marathon Digital Holdings, Inc., is a digital asset technology company specializing in cryptocurrency mining, particularly within the Bitcoin ecosystem. MARA is registered under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”). Information provided to or filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission by MARA Holdings, Inc. pursuant to the Exchange Act, including financial reports, proxy and information statements, and other information regarding MARA Holdings, Inc., can be located by reference to the Securities and Exchange Commission file number 001-36555 through the Securities and Exchange Commission’s website at www.sec.gov. In addition, information regarding MARA Holdings, Inc. may be obtained from other sources including, but not limited to, press releases, newspaper articles and other publicly disseminated documents.
MARA has substantial holdings of bitcoin and other digital assets. Such holdings are not only highly volatile, but highly speculative.
The Fund has derived all disclosures contained in this document regarding MARA Holdings, Inc. from the publicly available documents described above. Neither the Fund, the Trust, the Adviser, nor any affiliate has participated in the preparation of such documents. Neither the Fund, the Trust, the Adviser, nor any affiliate makes any representation that such publicly available documents or any other publicly available information regarding MARA Holdings, Inc. is accurate or complete. Furthermore, the Fund cannot give any assurance that all events occurring prior to the date of the prospectus (including events that would affect the accuracy or completeness of the publicly available documents described above) that would affect the trading price of MARA have been publicly disclosed. Subsequent disclosure of any such events or the disclosure of, or failure to disclose, material future events concerning MARA Holdings, Inc. could affect the value of the Fund’s investments with respect to MARA and therefore the value of the Fund. Lastly, neither the Fund, the Trust, the Adviser, nor any of their respective affiliates, make any representations to investors as to the performance of MARA.
As with all investments, there
are certain risks of investing in the Fund.
Market Risk. Market risk is the risk that a particular security, or Fund Shares in general, may fall in value. Securities are subject to market fluctuations caused by such factors as economic, political, regulatory or market developments, changes in interest rates and perceived trends in securities prices. Fund Shares could decline in value or underperform other investments. In addition, local, regional or global events such as war, acts of terrorism, spread of infectious diseases or other public health issues, recessions, natural disasters, or other events could have a significant negative impact on the Fund and its investments. For example, the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) global pandemic and the ensuing policies enacted by governments and central banks have caused and may continue to cause significant volatility and uncertainty in global financial markets, negatively impacting global growth prospects. Recent and potential future bank failures could result in disruption to the broader banking industry or markets generally and reduce confidence in financial institutions and the economy as a whole, which may also heighten market volatility and reduce liquidity. These events also adversely affect the prices and liquidity of the Fund’s portfolio securities or other instruments and could result in disruptions in the trading markets. Any such circumstance could have a materially negative impact on the value of the Fund’s Shares and result in increased market volatility. During any such events, Fund Shares may trade at increased premiums or discounts to their net asset value and the bid/ask spread on Fund Shares may widen.
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Covered Call Strategy Risk. A covered call strategy involves writing (selling) covered call options in return for the receipt of premiums. The seller of the option gives up the opportunity to benefit from price increases in the underlying instrument above the exercise price of the options but continues to bear the risk of underlying instrument price declines. The premiums received from the options may not be sufficient to offset any losses sustained from underlying instrument price declines over time. As a result, the risks associated with writing covered call options may be similar to the risks associated with writing put options. Exchanges may suspend the trading of options during periods of abnormal market volatility. Suspension of trading may mean that an option seller is unable to sell options at a time that may be desirable or advantageous to do so.
The covered call strategy utilized by the Fund is “synthetic” because the Fund’s exposure to the price return of MARA is derived through options exposure, rather than direct holdings of the shares of MARA. Because such exposure is synthetic, it is possible that the Fund’s participation in the price return of MARA may not be as precise as if the Fund were directly holding shares of MARA.
MARA Investing Risks. The Fund will have significant exposure to MARA through its investments in options contracts that utilize MARA as the reference asset. Accordingly, the Fund will be subject to the risks of MARA, set forth below.
MARA-Issuer Specific Risks. Issuer-specific attributes may cause an investment held by the Fund to be more volatile than the market generally. The value of an individual security or particular type of security may be more volatile than the market as a whole and may perform differently from the value of the market as a whole. As of the date of this prospectus, MARA faces risks associated with companies in the financials sector, as well as those relating to the “digital asset industry ecosystem.” In particular, MARA faces unique risks in connection with its bitcoin mining activities. The technology and hardware used in bitcoin mining is subject to malfunction, technological obsolescence, the global supply chain and difficulty and cost in obtaining new hardware. Bitcoin miners are subject to malfunctions and normal wear and tear, and, at any point in time, a certain number of bitcoin miners are typically offline for maintenance or repair. The physical degradation of miners will require replacement of miners that are no longer functional. If there is a model-wide component malfunction whether in the hardware or the software that powers these miners, the percentage of offline miners could increase substantially, disrupting mining operations. Any major bitcoin miner malfunction out of the typical range of downtime for normal maintenance and repair could cause significant economic damage. Additionally, as technology evolves, there may be a need to acquire newer models of miners to remain competitive in the market. New miners can be costly and may be in short supply. Given the long production period to manufacture and assemble bitcoin miners and the current global semiconductor chip shortage, there can be no assurance that miners can acquire enough bitcoin mining computers or replacement parts on a cost-effective basis for the maintenance and expansion necessary for efficient bitcoin mining operations. Many engaged in mining rely on third parties, principally located in China, to supply bitcoin miners and shortages of bitcoin miners or their component parts, material increases in bitcoin miner costs, or delays in delivery of orders, including due to trade restrictions and supply chain disruptions, could significantly interrupt plans for expanding bitcoin mining capacity in the near term and future. Shortages of bitcoin mining computers could result in reduced bitcoin mining capacity and increased operating costs, which could materially delay the completion of any planned bitcoin mining capacity expansion and result in a competitive disadvantage.
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Global bitcoin supply, which is influenced by similar factors as global bitcoin demand, in addition to fiat currency (i.e., government currency not backed by an asset such as gold), may be affected by miners and taxpayers who may liquidate bitcoin holdings to meet tax obligations. In addition, the dedication of mining power to the Bitcoin network and the willingness of bitcoin miners to clear bitcoin transactions for relatively low fees may impact the supply and price.
Miners may cease expanding processing power to create blocks and verify transactions if they are not adequately compensated. Miners generate revenue from both newly created bitcoin (known as the “block reward”) and from fees taken upon verification of transactions. If the aggregate revenue from transaction fees and the block reward is below a miner’s cost, the miner may cease operations. An acute cessation of mining operations would reduce the collective processing power on the Bitcoin blockchain, which would adversely affect the transaction verification process by temporarily decreasing the speed at which blocks are added to the Bitcoin blockchain and make the Bitcoin blockchain more vulnerable to a malicious actor obtaining control in excess of 50 percent of the processing power on the Bitcoin blockchain. Reductions in processing power could result in material, though temporary, delays in transaction confirmation time. Any reduction in confidence in the transaction verification process or mining processing power may adversely impact the price of bitcoin. Furthermore, the block reward will decrease over time. In the summer of 2024, the block reward was reduced from 6.25 to 3.125 bitcoin, and it will further reduce to 1.5625 bitcoin in 2028. As the block reward continues to decrease over time, the mining incentive structure will transition to a higher reliance on transaction verification fees in order to incentivize miners to continue to dedicate processing power to the Bitcoin blockchain. If transaction verification fees become too high, the marketplace may be reluctant to use bitcoin. Decreased demand for bitcoin may adversely affect its price, which may adversely affect MARA.
Bitcoin mining activities are inherently energy intensive and electricity costs account for a significant portion of the overall mining costs. The availability and cost of electricity will restrict the geographic locations of mining activities. High costs of electricity may incentivize miners to redirect their resources to other validation protocols, such a proof-of-stake blockchains, or abandon their validation activities entirely. A significant decrease in the computational resources dedicated to the Bitcoin network’s validation protocol could reduce the security of the network which may erode bitcoin’s viability as a store of value or means of exchange. In addition, the significant consumption of electricity may have a negative environmental impact, including contribution to climate change, which may give rise to public opinion against allowing the use of electricity for bitcoin mining activities or government measures restricting or prohibiting the use of electricity for bitcoin mining activities. Any such developments could lower the demand for bitcoin and have a material and adverse effect on the price of bitcoin.
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Concerns have been raised about the electricity required to secure and maintain digital asset networks. For example, as of December 1, 2024, over 800 million terahashes were performed every second in connection with mining on the Bitcoin network. Although measuring the electricity consumed by this process is difficult because these operations are performed by various machines with varying levels of efficiency, the process consumes a significant amount of energy. Further, in addition to the direct energy costs of performing calculations on any given digital asset network, there are indirect costs that impact a network’s total energy consumption, including the costs of cooling the machines that perform these calculations.
Driven by concerns around energy consumption and the impact on public utility companies, various states and cities have implemented, or are considering implementing, moratoriums on mining activity in their jurisdictions. For example, in November 2022, New York imposed a two-year moratorium on new proof-of-work mining permits at fossil fuel plants in the state. A significant reduction in mining activity as a result of such actions could adversely affect the security of the Bitcoin network by making it easier for a malicious actor or botnet to manipulate the Bitcoin network. If regulators or public utilities take action that restricts or otherwise impacts mining activities, such actions could result in decreased security of a digital asset network, including the Bitcoin network, and consequently adversely impact the value of MARA.
Besides the risks associated with bitcoin mining in particular, MARA is subject to the risks associated with the digital asset industry ecosystem in general. The technology relating to the digital asset industry ecosystem is new and developing and the risks associated with digital assets may not fully emerge until the technology is widely used. Technologies utilizing cryptography are used by companies to optimize their business practices, whether by using the technology within their business or operating business lines involved in the operation of the technology. Cryptography refers to a set of techniques designed to allow for secure communication in the presence of adversarial behavior. Blockchain is a well-known example of a technology that relies on cryptography. A blockchain is comprised of unchangeable, digitally recorded data in packages called “blocks.” These digitally recorded blocks of data are stored in a linear “chain.” Each block in the chain contains data (e.g., a transaction), that is cryptographically connected to the previous block in the chain, ensuring all data in the overall “blockchain” has not been tampered with and remains unchanged. The cryptographic keys necessary to transact a digital asset may be subject to theft, loss, or destruction, which could adversely affect a company’s business or operations if it were dependent on such an asset. Competing platforms and technologies may be developed such that consumers or investors use an alternative to digital assets. There may be risks posed by the lack of regulation for digital assets and any future regulatory developments could affect the viability and expansion of the use of crypto technologies. Recently, U.S. securities regulators have brought actions against companies operating in the crypto industry ecosystem for violations of U.S. securities laws. To the extent such an action is brought against a company held by the Fund, the value of such a holding could decrease significantly. Because companies operating in the crypto industry ecosystem may operate across many national boundaries and regulatory jurisdictions, it is possible that such companies may be subject to widespread and inconsistent regulation. Companies operating in the digital asset industry ecosystem that rely on third party products may be subject to technical defects or vulnerabilities beyond a company’s control. Because many digital assets do not have a standardized exchange, like a stock market, there is less liquidity for such assets and greater possibility of volatility, fraud or manipulation. In addition, these companies may engage in other lines of business unrelated to the crypto industry ecosystem, and these lines of business could adversely affect their operating results. Such companies may be engaged in activities traditionally comprising the information technology sector and financials sector. These companies also may not be able to develop crypto technology applications or may not be able to capitalize on those applications. Technologies may also never be fully implemented, which could adversely affect an investment in such companies. Companies that use crypto technologies may be subject to cybersecurity risk. In addition, certain features of crypto industry technologies, such as decentralization, open source protocol, and reliance on peer-to-peer connectivity, may increase the risk of fraud or cyber-attack by potentially reducing the likelihood of a coordinated response. A significant disruption of internet connectivity affecting large numbers of users or geographic areas could impede the functionality of crypto technologies. Companies that use crypto technologies may be subject to the risks posed by conflicting intellectual property claims, which may reduce confidence in the viability of a digital asset.
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Equity Securities Risk. Equity securities are subject to changes in value, and their values may be more volatile than those of other asset classes. Equity securities prices fluctuate for several reasons, including changes in investors’ perceptions of the financial condition of an issuer or the general condition of the relevant equity market, such as market volatility, or when political or economic events affecting an issuer occur. Common stock prices may be particularly sensitive to rising interest rates, as the cost of capital rises and borrowing costs increase. Common stocks generally subject their holders to more risks than preferred stocks and debt securities because common stockholders’ claims are subordinated to those of holders of preferred stocks and debt securities upon the bankruptcy of the issuer.
Indirect Investment Risk. MARA Holdings, Inc. is not affiliated with the Trust, the Fund, the Adviser or any affiliates thereof and is not involved with this offering in any way, and has no obligation to consider the Fund in taking any corporate actions that might affect the value of the Fund. The Trust, the Fund, the Adviser or any affiliate are not responsible for the performance of MARA and make no representation as to the performance of MARA. Investing in the Fund is not equivalent to investing in MARA. Fund shareholders will not have voting rights or rights to receive dividends or other distributions or any other rights with respect to MARA.
Information Technology Companies Risk. Information technology companies face intense competition, both domestically and internationally, which may have an adverse effect on profit margins. Like other technology companies, information technology companies may have limited product lines, markets, financial resources or personnel. The products of information technology companies may face obsolescence due to rapid technological developments, frequent new product introduction, unpredictable changes in growth rates and competition for the services of qualified personnel. Companies in the information technology sector are heavily dependent on patent and intellectual property rights. The loss or impairment of these rights may adversely affect the profitability of these companies. Information technology companies are facing increased government and regulatory scrutiny and may be subject to adverse government or regulatory action.
Large Capitalization Companies Risk. Large capitalization companies may be less able than smaller capitalization companies to adapt to changing market conditions. Large capitalization companies may be more mature and subject to more limited growth potential compared with smaller capitalization companies. During different market cycles, the performance of large capitalization companies has trailed the overall performance of the broader securities markets.
United States Risk. Certain changes in the U.S. economy, such as when the U.S. economy weakens or when its financial markets decline, may have an adverse effect on the securities to which the Fund has exposure.
Digital Assets Risk. MARA may have substantial holdings of bitcoin and other digital assets. Accordingly, it is subject to the risks associated with such holdings as set forth below.
Bitcoin Risk. Bitcoin is a relatively new innovation and the market for bitcoin is subject to rapid price swings, changes and uncertainty. The further development of the Bitcoin network and the acceptance and use of bitcoin are subject to a variety of factors that are difficult to evaluate. The value of bitcoin has been, and may continue to be, substantially dependent on speculation, such that trading and investing in these assets generally may not be based on fundamental analysis. The slowing, stopping or reversing of the development of the Bitcoin network or the acceptance of bitcoin may adversely affect the price of bitcoin. Bitcoin is subject to the risk of fraud, theft, manipulation or security failures, operational or other problems that impact the digital asset trading venues on which bitcoin trades. The Bitcoin blockchain may contain flaws that can be exploited by hackers. A significant portion of bitcoin is held by a small number of holders sometimes referred to as “whales.” Transactions of these holders may influence the price of bitcoin.
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Unlike the exchanges for more traditional assets, such as equity securities and futures contracts, bitcoin and the digital asset trading venues on which it trades are largely unregulated and highly fragmented and digital asset trading venues may be operating out of compliance with regulations. As a result of the lack of regulation, individuals or groups may engage in fraud or market manipulation (including using social media to promote bitcoin in a way that artificially increases the price of bitcoin). Investors may be more exposed to the risk of theft, fraud and market manipulation than when investing in more traditional asset classes. Over the past several years, a number of digital asset trading venues have been closed due to fraud, failure or security breaches. Investors in bitcoin may have little or no recourse should such theft, fraud or manipulation occur and could suffer significant losses. Legal or regulatory changes may negatively impact the operation of the Bitcoin network or restrict the use of bitcoin. MARA may also be negatively impacted by regulatory enforcement actions against the digital asset trading venues upon which bitcoin trades. Such actions could significantly reduce the number of venues upon which bitcoin trades and could negatively impact the price of bitcoin. In addition, digital asset trading venues, bitcoin miners, and other participants may have significant exposure to other digital assets. Instability in the price, availability or legal or regulatory status of those instruments may adversely impact the operation of the digital asset trading venues and the Bitcoin network. The realization of any of these risks could result in a decline in the acceptance of bitcoin and consequently a reduction in the value of bitcoin and shares of MARA.
The Bitcoin network is maintained and secured by a group of validators who “mine” bitcoin, which involves contributing computer power to the network to validate transactions, maintain security and finalize settlement. The Bitcoin blockchain relies on a consensus mechanism whereby miners agree on the accurate state of the database. If a malicious actor (or group of actors) were to gain control of more than 50% of the mining (or “hash”) power in the network, even temporarily, they would have the ability to block new transactions from being confirmed and could, over time, reverse or reorder prior transactions. Although it may be challenging for a malicious actor (or group of actors) to gain control of 50% of the mining (or “hash”) power in the Bitcoin blockchain, such an attack would significantly impact the value of bitcoin.
A blockchain is a public database that is updated, shared and maintained across many computers in a network. The software that powers a blockchain is known as its protocol. Like all software, these protocols may update or change from time to time. In the case of the Bitcoin protocol, updates are made based on proposals submitted by developers, but only if a majority of the users and miners adopt the new proposals and update their individual copies of the protocol. Certain upgrade proposals to a blockchain may not be accepted by all the participants in an ecosystem. If one significant group adopts a proposed upgrade and another does not – or if groups adopt different upgrades – this can result in a “fork” of the blockchain, wherein two distinct sets of users and validators, or users and miners, run two different versions of a protocol. If the versions are sufficiently different such that the two versions of the protocol cannot simultaneously maintain and update a shared record of the blockchain database, it is called a “hard fork.” A hard fork can result in the creation of two competing blockchains, each with its own native digital assets. For instance, on August 1, 2017, two factions in the Bitcoin community could not agree on whether or not to adopt an upgrade to the Bitcoin protocol related to how to scale throughput on the blockchain. The disagreement created a fork, with the smaller group taking the name “Bitcoin Cash” and running its own blockchain and related native digital asset. The larger group retained the name Bitcoin for its blockchain and held bitcoin as the native digital asset. Additional forks of the Bitcoin blockchain are possible. A large-scale fork could introduce risk, uncertainty, or confusion into the Bitcoin blockchain, or could fraction the value of the main blockchain and its native digital asset, which could significantly impact the value of bitcoin and shares of MARA. Additionally, a hack of the Bitcoin blockchain or one or more projects that interact with or that are built on top of the Bitcoin blockchain could negatively impact the price of bitcoin, whether it leads to another hard fork or not, and thereby the value of MARA.
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The Bitcoin blockchain and its native digital asset, bitcoin, face numerous challenges to gaining widespread adoption as an alternative payments system, including the slowness of transaction processing and finality, variability in transaction fees and volatility in bitcoin’s price. It is not clear that the Bitcoin blockchain or bitcoin can overcome these and other impediments, which could harm the long-term adoption of the Bitcoin blockchain and bitcoin as an alternative payment system, and thereby negatively impact the price of bitcoin. In addition, alternative public blockchains have been developed and may in the future develop that compete with the Bitcoin blockchain and may have significant advantages as alternative payment systems, including higher throughput, lower fees, faster settlement and finalization, and the ability to facilitate untraceable and/or privacy-shielded transactions through the use of zero-knowledge cryptography or other means. It is possible that these alternative public blockchains and their native digital assets may be more successful than the Bitcoin blockchain and bitcoin in gaining adoption as an alternative payments system, which could limit the long-term adoption of the Bitcoin blockchain and bitcoin, thereby negatively impact the price of bitcoin. Such alternative public blockchains, such as the Ethereum network, allow users to write and implement smart contracts—that is, general-purpose code that executes on every computer in the network and can instruct the transmission of information and value based on a sophisticated set of logical conditions. Using smart contracts, users can create markets, store registries of debts or promises, represent the ownership of property, move funds in accordance with conditional instructions and create other digital assets. Furthermore, traditional payment systems may improve their own technical capabilities and offer faster settlement times, faster finalization and lower fees. This could make it more difficult for the Bitcoin blockchain and bitcoin to gain traction as an alternative payments system, which could limit the long-term adoption of the Bitcoin blockchain and bitcoin, and thereby negatively impact the price of bitcoin. Finally, one means by which the ecosystem surrounding the Bitcoin blockchain has attempted to mitigate concerns about the slowness of transaction processing and finality, and the variability of transaction fees, has been through the development of so-called Layer 2 networks, including the “Lightning Network.” Layer 2 networks are separate blockchains built on top of “Layer 1” blockchains like the Bitcoin blockchain for the purpose of augmenting the throughput of the Layer 1 blockchain, and often, providing lower fees for transaction processing and faster settlement. Layer 2 blockchains introduce certain risks into the Bitcoin ecosystem that should be considered. For instance, Layer 2 blockchains are a relatively new and still developing technology. Technological issues – including hacks, bugs, or failures – could introduce risk or harm confidence in the Bitcoin ecosystem, which could negatively impact the price of bitcoin. In addition, users may choose to settle an increasing share of transactions on Layer 2 blockchains, which could negatively impact the transaction activity on, and the amount of fee revenue generated by, the Bitcoin blockchain itself, which could negatively impact the price of bitcoin. If these or other developments negatively impact the price of bitcoin, this would negatively impact the value of the bitcoin.
Custody Risk. Security breaches, computer malware and computer hacking attacks have been a prevalent concern in relation to digital assets. The bitcoin held by MARA will likely be an appealing target to hackers or malware distributors seeking to destroy, damage or steal MARA’s bitcoin. To the extent that MARA is unable to identify and mitigate or stop new security threats or otherwise adapt to technological changes in the digital asset industry, MARA’s bitcoin may be subject to theft, loss, destruction or other attack.
MARA has put security procedures in place to prevent such theft, loss or destruction, including but not limited to, offline storage, or cold storage, multiple encrypted private key “shards,” and other measures. Nevertheless, the security procedures cannot guarantee the prevention of any loss due to a security breach, software defect or act of God that may be borne by MARA, and the security procedures may not protect against all errors, software flaws or other vulnerabilities in MARA’s technical infrastructure, which could result in theft, loss or damage of its assets. Assets not held in cold storage, such as assets held in a trading account, may be more vulnerable to security breach, hacking or loss than assets held in cold storage. Furthermore, assets held in a trading account are held on an omnibus rather than segregated basis, which creates greater risk of loss.
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The security procedures and operational infrastructure may be breached due to the actions of outside parties, error or malfeasance of a MARA employee, and, as a result, an unauthorized party may obtain access to MARA accounts in which its bitcoin is held, the relevant private keys (and therefore bitcoin) or other data or property of MARA. Additionally, outside parties may attempt to fraudulently induce employees of MARA to disclose sensitive information in order to gain access to MARA’s infrastructure. As the techniques used to obtain unauthorized access, disable or degrade service or sabotage systems change frequently or may be designed to remain dormant until a predetermined event and often are not recognized until launched against a target, MARA may be unable to anticipate these techniques or implement adequate preventative measures.
Digital Asset Market and Volatility Risk. The prices of digital assets, to which MARA has significant exposure, have historically been highly volatile. The value of such assets has been, and may continue to be, substantially dependent on speculation, such that trading and investing in these assets generally may not be based on fundamental analysis. The value of the Fund’s investments in instruments that provide exposure to MARA – and therefore the value of an investment in the Fund – could decline significantly and without warning. If you are not prepared to accept significant and unexpected changes in the value of the Fund, you should not invest in the Fund.
Digital Asset Regulatory Risk. There is a lack of consensus regarding the regulation of digital assets, including bitcoin, and their markets. As a result of the growth in the size of the digital asset market, as well as recent events in the digital asset market, the U.S. Congress and a number of U.S. federal and state agencies (including FinCEN, SEC, OCC, CFTC, FINRA, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the Department of Justice, the Department of Homeland Security, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Internal Revenue Service, state financial institution regulators, and others) have been examining the operations of digital asset networks, digital asset users and the digital asset markets. Many of these state and federal agencies have brought enforcement actions or issued consumer advisories regarding the risks posed by digital assets to investors. Ongoing and future regulatory actions with respect to digital assets generally or bitcoin in particular may alter, perhaps to a materially adverse extent, the nature of an investment in the shares of MARA or the ability of MARA to continue to operate.
Digital Asset Trading Platforms Risk. Digital asset platforms are relatively new and, in some cases, unregulated. Many operate outside the United States. Furthermore, while many prominent digital asset platforms provide the public with significant information regarding their ownership structure, management teams, corporate practices and regulatory compliance, many digital asset platforms do not provide this information. Digital asset platforms may not be subject to, or may not comply with, regulation in a similar manner as other regulated trading platforms, such as national securities exchanges or designated contract markets. As a result, the marketplace may lose confidence in digital asset platforms, including prominent platforms that handle a significant volume of bitcoin trading.
Many digital asset platforms are unlicensed, may be unregulated, may be subject to regulation in a relevant jurisdiction, but may or may not be in compliance therewith, may operate without extensive supervision by governmental authorities, and may not provide the public with significant information regarding their ownership structure, management team, corporate practices, cybersecurity, and regulatory compliance. In particular, those located outside the United States may be subject to significantly less stringent regulatory and compliance requirements in their local jurisdictions and may take the position that they are not subject to laws and regulations that would apply to a national securities exchange or designated contract market in the United States, or may, as a practical matter, be beyond the ambit of U.S. regulators.
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In addition, over the past several years, some digital asset platforms have been closed due to fraud and manipulative activity, business failure, or security breaches. In many of these instances, the customers of such digital asset platforms were not compensated or made whole for the partial or complete losses of their account balances in such digital asset platforms. While, generally speaking, smaller digital asset platforms are less likely to have the infrastructure and capitalization that make larger digital asset platforms more stable, larger digital asset platforms are more likely to be appealing targets for hackers and malware, and their shortcomings or ultimate failures are more likely to have contagion effects on the digital asset ecosystem and, therefore, may be more likely targets of regulatory enforcement action.
Negative perception, a lack of stability and standardized regulation in the digital asset markets and the closure or temporary shutdown of digital asset platforms due to fraud, business failure, security breaches or government-mandated regulation and associated losses by customers may reduce confidence in the Bitcoin network and result in greater volatility or decreases in the prices of bitcoin.
Irrevocability of Transactions Risk. Digital asset transactions are typically not reversible without the consent and active participation of the recipient of the transaction. Once a transaction has been verified and recorded in a block that is added to the blockchain, an incorrect transfer or theft of bitcoin generally will not be reversible, and MARA may not be capable of seeking compensation for any such transfer or theft. It is possible that, through computer or human error, or through theft or criminal action, MARA’s bitcoin could be transferred from its account in incorrect amounts or to unauthorized third parties, or to uncontrolled accounts.
Such events have occurred in connection with digital assets in the past. For example, in September 2014, the Chinese digital asset platform Huobi announced that it had sent approximately 900 bitcoin and 8,000 Litecoin (worth approximately $400,000 at the prevailing market prices at the time) to the wrong customers. To the extent that MARA is unable to seek a corrective transaction with such third-party or is incapable of identifying the third-party which has received MARA’s bitcoin through error or theft, MARA will be unable to revert or otherwise recover incorrectly transferred bitcoin. MARA will also be unable to convert or recover its bitcoin transferred to uncontrolled accounts. To the extent that MARA is unable to seek redress for such error or theft, such loss could adversely affect the value of its shares.
Active Management Risk. The Fund is actively managed, and its performance reflects investment decisions that the Adviser makes for the Fund. Such judgments about the Fund’s investments may prove to be incorrect. If the investments selected and the strategies employed by the Fund fail to produce the intended results, the Fund could underperform as compared to other funds with similar investment objectives and/or strategies, or could have negative returns.
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Clearing Member Default Risk. Transactions in some types of derivatives, including the options held by the Fund, are required to be centrally cleared (“cleared derivatives”). In a transaction involving cleared derivatives, the Fund’s counterparty is a clearinghouse, such as the OCC, rather than a bank or broker. Since the Fund is not a member of clearinghouses, and only members of a clearinghouse (“clearing members”) can participate directly in the clearinghouse, the Fund will hold cleared derivatives through accounts at clearing members. With regard to its cleared derivatives positions, the Fund will make payments (including margin payments) to, and receive payments from, a clearinghouse through their accounts at clearing members. Customer funds held at a clearing organization in connection with any option contracts are held in a commingled omnibus account and are not associated with any of the clearing member’s individual customers by name. As a result, assets deposited by the Fund with any clearing member as margin for its options position may, in certain circumstances, be used to satisfy losses of other clients of the Fund’s clearing member. In addition, although clearing members guarantee performance of their clients’ obligations to the clearinghouse, there is a risk that the assets of the Fund might not be fully protected in the event of the clearing member’s bankruptcy. The Fund is also subject to the risk that a limited number of clearing members are willing to transact on the Fund’s behalf, which heightens the risks associated with a clearing member’s default. If a clearing member defaults, the Fund could lose some or all of the benefits of a transaction entered into by the Fund with the clearing member. The loss of a clearing member for the Fund to transact with could result in increased transaction costs and other operational issues that could impede the Fund’s ability to implement its investment strategy. If the Fund cannot find a clearing member to transact with on the Fund’s behalf, the Fund may be unable to effectively implement its investment strategy.
Concentration Risk. The Fund is susceptible to an increased risk of loss, including losses due to adverse events that affect the Fund’s investments more than the market as a whole, to the extent that the Fund’s investments are concentrated in investments that provide exposure to MARA and the industry group to which it is assigned. As of December 1, 2024, MARA is assigned to the “software & services” industry group of the information technology sector. Please see “Information Technology Companies Risk” for a discussion regarding the risks of an investment in such companies.
Cybersecurity Risk. The Fund is susceptible to operational risks due to breaches in cybersecurity. A breach in cybersecurity refers to both intentional and unintentional events that may cause the Fund to lose proprietary information, suffer data corruption or lose operational capacity. Such events could cause the Fund to incur regulatory penalties, reputational damage, additional compliance costs associated with corrective measures and/or financial loss. Cybersecurity breaches may involve unauthorized access to the Fund’s digital information systems through “hacking” or malicious software coding but may also result from outside attacks such as denial-of-service attacks due to efforts to make network services unavailable to intended users. In addition, cybersecurity breaches of the Fund’s third-party service providers, such as its administrator, transfer agent, custodian, or sub-advisor, as applicable, or the issuers in which the Fund invests, can also subject the Fund to many of the same risks associated with direct cybersecurity breaches. Although the Fund has established risk management systems designed to reduce the risks associated with cybersecurity, there is no guarantee that such efforts will succeed, especially because the Fund does not directly control the cybersecurity systems of issuers or third-party service providers.
Debt Securities Risk. Investments in debt securities subject the holder to the credit risk of the issuer. Credit risk refers to the possibility that the issuer or other obligor of a security will not be able or willing to make payments of interest and principal when due. Generally, the value of debt securities will change inversely with changes in interest rates. To the extent that interest rates rise, certain underlying obligations may be paid off substantially slower than originally anticipated and the value of those securities may fall sharply. During periods of falling interest rates, the income received by the Fund may decline. If the principal on a debt security is prepaid before expected, the prepayments of principal may have to be reinvested in obligations paying interest at lower rates. Debt securities generally do not trade on a securities exchange making them generally less liquid and more difficult to value than common stock.
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Derivatives Risk. The use of derivative instruments involves risks different from, or possibly greater than, the risks associated with investing directly in securities and other traditional investments. These risks include: (i) the risk that the counterparty to a derivative transaction may not fulfill its contractual obligations; (ii) the risk of mispricing or improper valuation; and (iii) the risk that changes in the value of the derivative may not correlate perfectly with the underlying asset. Derivative prices are highly volatile and may fluctuate substantially during a short period of time. Such prices are influenced by numerous factors that affect the markets, including, but not limited to: changing supply and demand relationships; government programs and policies; national and international political and economic events, changes in interest rates, inflation and deflation and changes in supply and demand relationships. Trading derivative instruments involves risks different from, or possibly greater than, the risks associated with investing directly in securities. Derivative contracts ordinarily have leverage inherent in their terms. The use of leverage may cause the Fund to liquidate portfolio positions when it would not be advantageous to do so in order to satisfy its obligations or to meet regulatory or contractual requirements for derivatives. The use of derivatives can magnify potential for gain or loss and, therefore, amplify the effects of market volatility on share price.
FLEX Options Risk. Trading FLEX Options involves risks different from, or possibly greater than, the risks associated with investing directly in securities. The Fund may experience losses from specific FLEX Option positions and certain FLEX Option positions may expire worthless. The FLEX Options are listed on an exchange; however, no one can guarantee that a liquid secondary trading market will exist for the FLEX Options. In the event that trading in the FLEX Options is limited or absent, the value of the Fund’s FLEX Options may decrease. In a less liquid market for the FLEX Options, liquidating the FLEX Options may require the payment of a premium (for written FLEX Options) or acceptance of a discounted price (for purchased FLEX Options) and may take longer to complete. A less liquid trading market may adversely impact the value of the FLEX Options and Fund Shares and result in the Fund being unable to achieve its investment objective. Less liquidity in the trading of the Fund’s FLEX Options could have an impact on the prices paid or received by the Fund for the FLEX Options in connection with creations and redemptions of Fund Shares. Depending on the nature of this impact to pricing, the Fund may be forced to pay more for redemptions (or receive less for creations) than the price at which it currently values the FLEX Options. Such overpayment or under collection could reduce the Fund’s ability to achieve its investment objective. Additionally, in a less liquid market for the FLEX Options, the liquidation of a large number of options may more significantly impact the price. A less liquid trading market may adversely impact the value of the FLEX Options and the value of your investment. The trading in FLEX Options may be less deep and liquid than the market for certain other exchange-traded options, non-customized options or other securities.
Inflation Risk. Inflation risk is the risk that the value of assets or income from investments will be less in the future as inflation decreases the value of money. As inflation increases, the present value of the Fund’s assets and distributions may decline. This risk is more prevalent with respect to fixed income securities held by the Fund.
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Interest Rate Risk. Interest rate risk is the risk that the value of the debt securities in the Fund’s portfolio will decline because of rising market interest rates. Interest rate risk is generally lower for shorter term debt securities and higher for longer-term debt securities. Duration is a reasonably accurate measure of a debt security’s price sensitivity to changes in interest rates and a common measure of interest rate risk. Duration measures a debt security’s expected life on a present value basis, taking into account the debt security’s yield, interest payments and final maturity. In general, duration represents the expected percentage change in the value of a security for an immediate 1% change in interest rates. For example, the price of a debt security with a three-year duration would be expected to drop by approximately 3% in response to a 1% increase in interest rates. Therefore, prices of debt securities with shorter durations tend to be less sensitive to interest rate changes than debt securities with longer durations. As the value of a debt security changes over time, so will its duration.
Leverage Risk. While the Fund does not seek leveraged exposure to MARA, the Fund seeks to achieve and maintain the exposure to the price of MARA by using the leverage inherent in options contracts. Therefore, the Fund is subject to leverage risk. When the Fund purchases or sells an instrument or enters into a transaction without investing an amount equal to the full economic exposure of the instrument or transaction, it creates leverage, which can result in the Fund losing more than it originally invested. As a result, these investments may magnify losses to the Fund, and even a small market movement may result in significant losses to the Fund. Leverage may also cause the Fund to be more volatile because it may exaggerate the effect of any increase or decrease in the value of the Fund’s portfolio securities. Options trading involves a degree of leverage and, as a result, a relatively small price movement in futures instruments may result in immediate and substantial losses to the Fund.
Liquidity Risk. The market for options on MARA may be subject to periods of illiquidity. During such times it may be difficult or impossible to buy or sell a position at the desired price. Market disruptions or volatility can also make it difficult to find a counterparty willing to transact at a reasonable price and sufficient size. Illiquid markets may cause losses, which could be significant. The large size of the positions which the Fund may acquire increases the risk of illiquidity, may make its positions more difficult to liquidate, and may increase the losses incurred while trying to do so. Such large positions also may impact the price of options on MARA.
New Fund Risk. The Fund is a recently organized investment company with a limited operating history. As a result, prospective investors have a limited track record or history on which to base their investment decision.
Non-Diversification Risk.
Operational Risk. The Fund is subject to risks arising from various operational factors, including, but not limited to, human error; processing and communication errors; errors of the Fund’s service providers, counterparties or other third parties; failed or inadequate processes; and technology or systems failures. The Fund relies on third parties for a range of services, including custody. Any delay or failure relating to engaging or maintaining such service providers may affect the Fund’s ability to meet its investment objective. Although the Fund and the Adviser seek to reduce these operational risks through controls and procedures, there is no way to completely protect against such risks.
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Options Risk. The use of options involves investment strategies and risks different from those associated with ordinary portfolio securities transactions and depends on the ability of the Fund’s portfolio managers to forecast market movements correctly. The prices of options are volatile and are influenced by, among other things, actual and anticipated changes in the value of the underlying instrument, or in interest or currency exchange rates, including the anticipated volatility, which in turn are affected by fiscal and monetary policies and by national and international political and economic events. The effective use of options also depends on the Fund’s ability to terminate option positions at times deemed desirable to do so. There is no assurance that the Fund will be able to effect closing transactions at any particular time or at an acceptable price. In addition, there may at times be an imperfect correlation between the movement in values of options and their underlying securities and there may at times not be a liquid secondary market for certain options.
Portfolio Turnover Risk. The Fund may experience high levels of portfolio turnover. A high portfolio turnover rate increases transaction costs, which may increase the Fund’s expenses. Frequent trading may also cause adverse tax consequences for investors in the Fund due to an increase in short-term capital gains.
Special Tax Risk. The Fund intends to qualify as a “regulated investment company” or “RIC.” If, in any year, the Fund fails to qualify as a regulated investment company under the applicable tax laws, the Fund would be taxed as an ordinary corporation. The Fund intends to treat any income it may derive from the FLEX Options as “qualifying income” under the provisions of the Code applicable to RICs. In addition, based upon language in the legislative history, the Fund intends to treat the issuer of the FLEX Options as the referenced asset, which may allow the Fund to qualify for special rules in the RIC diversification requirements. If the income is not qualifying income or the issuer of the FLEX Options is not appropriately the referenced asset, the Fund may lose its own status as a RIC if tax positions reflected by such options are large enough.
Structural ETF Risks. The Fund is an ETF. Accordingly, it is subject to certain risks associated with its unique structure.
Active Market Risk. Although Fund Shares are listed for trading on the Exchange, there can be no assurance that an active trading market for Fund Shares will develop or be maintained. Fund Shares trade on the Exchange at market prices that may be below, at or above the Fund’s net asset value. Securities, including Fund Shares, are subject to market fluctuations and liquidity constraints that may be caused by such factors as economic, political, or regulatory developments, changes in interest rates, and/or perceived trends in securities prices. Fund Shares could decline in value or underperform other investments.
Authorized Participant Concentration Risk. Only an Authorized Participant may engage in creation or redemption transactions directly with the Fund, and none of those Authorized Participants is obligated to engage in creation and/or redemption transactions. The Fund has a limited number of institutions that may act as Authorized Participants on an agency basis (i.e., on behalf of other market participants). To the extent that Authorized Participants exit the business or are unable to proceed with creation or redemption orders with respect to the Fund and no other Authorized Participant is able to step forward to create or redeem, Fund Shares may be more likely to trade at a premium or discount to NAV and possibly face trading halts or delisting. Authorized Participant concentration risk may be heightened for ETFs, such as the Fund, which 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. The Fund currently expects to effect a significant portion of its creations and redemptions for cash, rather than in-kind securities. Paying redemption proceeds in cash rather than through in-kind delivery of portfolio securities may require the Fund to dispose of or sell portfolio securities or other assets at an inopportune time to obtain the cash needed to meet redemption orders. This may cause the Fund to sell a security and recognize a capital gain or loss that might not have been incurred if it had made a redemption in-kind. As a result, the Fund may pay out higher or lower annual capital gains distributions than ETFs that redeem in-kind. The use of cash creations and redemptions may also cause Fund Shares to trade in the market at greater bid-ask spreads or greater premiums or discounts to the Fund’s NAV. Furthermore, the Fund may not be able to execute cash transactions for creation and redemption purposes at the same price used to determine the Fund’s NAV. To the extent that the maximum additional charge for creation or redemption transactions is insufficient to cover the execution shortfall, the Fund’s performance could be negatively impacted.
Costs of Buying and Selling Fund Shares. Due to the costs of buying or selling Fund Shares, including brokerage commissions imposed by brokers and bid/ask spreads, frequent trading of Fund Shares may significantly reduce investment results, and an investment in Fund Shares may not be advisable for investors who anticipate regularly making small investments.
Premium/Discount Risk. As with all exchange-traded funds, Fund Shares may be bought and sold in the secondary market at market prices. The trading prices of Fund Shares in the secondary market may differ from the Fund’s daily net asset value per share and there may be times when the market price of the shares is more than the net asset value per share (premium) or less than the net asset value per share (discount). This risk is heightened in times of market volatility or periods of steep market declines.
U.S. Government Securities Risk. U.S. government securities are subject to interest rate risk but generally do not involve the credit risks associated with investments in other types of debt securities. As a result, the yields available from U.S. government securities are generally lower than the yields available from other debt securities. U.S. government securities are guaranteed only as to the timely payment of interest and the payment of principal when held to maturity.
Valuation Risk. The Fund may hold securities or other assets that may be valued on the basis of factors other than market quotations. This may occur because the asset or security does not trade on a centralized exchange, or in times of market turmoil or reduced liquidity. There are multiple methods that can be used to value a portfolio holding when market quotations are not readily available. The value established for any portfolio holding at a point in time might differ from what would be produced using a different methodology or if it had been priced using market quotations. Portfolio holdings that are valued using techniques other than market quotations, including “fair valued” assets or securities, may be subject to greater fluctuation in their valuations from one day to the next than if market quotations were used. In addition, there is no assurance that the Fund could sell or close out a portfolio position for the value established for it at any time, and it is possible that the Fund would incur a loss because a portfolio position is sold or closed out at a discount to the valuation established by the Fund at that time. The Fund’s ability to value investments may be impacted by technological issues or errors by pricing services or other third-party service providers.
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Management
Investment Adviser: Bitwise Investment Manager, LLC
Portfolio Managers: Jennifer Thornton, Portfolio Manager at BIM, Daniela Padilla, Portfolio Manager at BIM, Jeff Park, Portfolio Manager and Head of Alpha Strategy at BIM and Gayatri Choudhury, Quantitative Investment Analyst at BIM, are the individuals that are primarily and jointly responsible for the day-to-day management of the Fund. Each has served as portfolio manager since the Fund’s inception in March 2025.
Purchase and Sale of Fund Shares
The Fund will issue (or redeem) Fund Shares to certain institutional investors (typically market makers or other broker-dealers) only in large blocks of Fund Shares known as “Creation Units.” Creation Unit transactions are conducted in exchange for the deposit or delivery of a designated portfolio of in-kind securities and/or cash.
Individual Fund Shares may only be purchased and sold on the Exchange, other national securities exchanges, electronic crossing networks and other alternative trading systems through a broker-dealer at market prices. Because Fund Shares trade at market prices rather than at NAV, Fund Shares may trade at a price greater than NAV (premium) or less than NAV (discount). When buying or selling Fund Shares in the secondary market, you may incur costs attributable to the difference between the highest price a buyer is willing to pay to purchase Fund Shares (bid) and the lowest price a seller is willing to accept for Fund Shares (ask) (the “bid-ask spread”). Recent information regarding the Fund’s NAV, market price, premiums and discounts, and bid-ask spreads is available at https://www.imraetf.com.
Tax Information
The Fund’s distributions are expected to be taxed as ordinary income, qualified dividend income and/or capital gains, unless you are investing through a tax-advantaged arrangement, such as a 401(k) plan or individual retirement account. Any withdrawals made from such tax-advantaged arrangement may be taxable to you.
Payments to Broker-Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries
If you purchase Fund Shares through a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary (such as a bank), the Adviser, Foreside Fund Services, LLC, the Fund’s distributor, may pay the intermediary for the sale of Fund Shares and related services. These payments may create a conflict of interest by influencing the broker-dealer or other intermediary and your salesperson to recommend the Fund over another investment. Ask your salesperson or visit your financial intermediary’s website for more information.
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The Fund’s primary investment objective is to provide current income.
The table below describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy, hold and sell shares of the Fund (“Fund Shares”). You may pay other fees, such as brokerage commissions and other fees to financial intermediaries, which are not reflected in the table and example below.
Management Fees | |
Distribution and Service (12b-1) Fees | |
Other Expenses(1) | |
Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses(1) | |
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses | |
Fee Waiver/Expense Reimbursement(2) | ( |
Total Fund Operating Expenses After Fee Waiver/Expense Reimbursement |
(1) |
(2) |
This example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the Fund with the cost of investing in other funds. The example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the Fund for the time periods indicated and then sell all of your Fund Shares at the end of those periods. This example assumes that the fee waiver and expense reimbursement agreement described will be terminated following April 2, 2027. The example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year and that 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:
Year 1 | Year 3 |
$ |
$ |
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 Annual Fund Operating Expenses or in the example, affect the Fund’s performance. Because the Fund has not yet commenced operations, portfolio turnover information is unavailable at this time.
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The Fund is an actively managed ETF that seeks to provide current income while providing exposure to the share price (i.e., the price returns) of the common stock of MSTR, subject to a limit on potential investment gains. The Fund seeks to achieve these investment objectives through the use of a synthetic covered call strategy. The Fund seeks to provide its synthetic exposure to the price return of MSTR through the purchase and sale of a combination of call and put option contracts that utilize MSTR as the reference asset. The Fund will also sell call options that utilize MSTR as the reference asset. These sold call options provide income in the form of option premiums but will also limit the degree to which the Fund will participate in investment gains experienced by MSTR.
In implementing its investment strategy, the Fund will invest in traditional exchange-traded options contracts and/or FLexible EXchangeÒ options (“FLEX Options”) that utilize MSTR as the reference asset. The Fund will only invest in options contracts that are listed for trading on regulated U.S. exchanges. Traditional exchange-traded options have standardized terms, such as the type (call or put), the reference asset, the strike price and expiration date. Exchange-listed options contracts are guaranteed for settlement by the Options Clearing Corporation (“OCC”). FLEX Options are a type of exchange-listed options contract with uniquely customizable terms that allow investors to customize key terms like type, strike price and expiration date that are standardized in a typical options contract. FLEX Options are also guaranteed for settlement by the OCC. It is anticipated that the Fund will invest primarily in FLEX Options. The FLEX Options held by the Fund may be either physical or cash settled.
In general, an option is a contract that gives the purchaser (holder) of the option, in return for a premium, the right to buy from (call) or sell to (put) the seller (writer) of the option the security or currency underlying (in this case, MSTR) the option at a specified exercise price. The writer of an option has the obligation upon exercise of the option to deliver the underlying security or currency upon payment of the exercise price (call) or to pay the exercise price upon delivery of the underlying security or currency (put). The Fund may utilize both European and American style options. An option is said to be “European Style” when it can be exercised only at expiration whereas an “American Style” option can be exercised at any time prior to expiration.
In a traditional covered call strategy, an investor (such as the Fund) sells a call option on a security it already owns. However, the Fund will derive its exposure to MSTR through the use of options contracts that use MSTR as the reference asset. It is this distinction that causes the Fund’s strategy to be properly termed as a “synthetic covered call strategy,” as opposed to a traditional covered call strategy, because the Fund primarily has synthetic exposure to MSTR. The Fund’s synthetic exposure to MSTR is achieved through the combination of purchasing call options and selling put options generally at the same strike price, which synthetically creates the upside and downside participation in the price returns of MSTR. The Fund will primarily gain exposure to increases in value experienced by MSTR through the purchase of call options. As a buyer of these options, the Fund pays a premium to the seller of the options. The Fund will primarily gain exposure to decreases in value experienced by MSTR through the sale of put options. As the seller of these options, the Fund receives a premium from the buyer of the options. In combination, the purchased call and sold put options generally provide exposure to price returns of MSTR both on the upside and downside. The Fund intends to continuously maintain exposure to MSTR through the use of options. When such options expire or are exercised, the Fund will enter into new options. This is a practice referred to as “rolling.” The Fund’s practice of rolling options may result in higher levels of portfolio turnover.
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As the primary means by which the Fund intends to generate income, the Fund will sell call options that reference MSTR at a strike price that is expected to be approximately between 0% and 15% above the then-current share price of MSTR. It is important to note that the sale of these call options to generate income will limit the Fund’s ability to participate in increases in value of MSTR’s share price beyond a certain point. If the share price of MSTR increases, the above-referenced synthetic long exposure would allow the Fund to experience similar percentage gains. However, if MSTR’s share price appreciates in value beyond the strike price of one or more of the call option contracts that the Fund has sold to generate income, the Fund will lose money on those short call positions, and the losses will, in turn, limit the upside return of the Fund’s synthetic long exposure. As a result, the Fund’s overall strategy (i.e., the combination of the synthetic long exposure to MSTR and the sold MSTR call positions) will limit the Fund’s participation in gains of MSTR’s share price beyond a certain point. This strategy effectively converts a portion of the potential upside price return growth of MSTR into current income. Such income may be less than the upside return of MSTR. It is expected that the call options the Fund will sell to generate options premiums will generally have expirations of approximately one year or less and will be held to or close to expiration.
In addition to the options contracts, the Fund will also invest in cash and short-term U.S. Treasury securities, which will serve to collateralize the Fund’s options positions and provide additional income. The market value of the cash and short-term U.S. Treasury securities held by the Fund is expected to be between 50% and 100% of the Fund’s net assets and the market value of the options package is expected to be between 0% and 50% of the Fund’s net assets. In terms of notional value, the combination of these investment instruments provides indirect investment exposure to MSTR equal to at least 100% of the Fund’s total assets.
As a result of its investment strategies, the Fund will be concentrated in the industry or group of industries to which MSTR is assigned (i.e., hold 25% or more of its total assets in investments that provide exposure to the industry or group of industries to which MSTR is assigned). As of December 1, 2024, MSTR is assigned to the “software & services” industry group of the information technology sector.
The Fund is classified as “non-diversified” under the Investment Company Act of 1940 (the “1940 Act”).
It is critical that investors understand the following:
1. | An investment in the Fund is not an investment in MSTR. |
2. | The Fund’s strategy is subject to all potential losses if shares of MSTR decrease in value, which may not be offset by income received by the Fund. |
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3. | The Fund does not invest directly in shares of MSTR. |
4. | Fund shareholders are not entitled to any MSTR dividends. |
Additional Information About MSTR
MicroStrategy Incorporated develops enterprise analytics software solutions. It is also an operating company committed to the continued development of the Bitcoin network through its activities in the financial markets, advocacy and technology innovation. A primary source of the MSTR’s value is the amount of bitcoin it holds. As of February 10, 2025, it has been reported that MSTR held approximately 478,740 bitcoin, valued at around $46.64 billion. MSTR is registered under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”). Information provided to or filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission by MicroStrategy Incorporated pursuant to the Exchange Act, including financial reports, proxy and information statements, and other information regarding MicroStrategy Incorporated can be located by reference to the Securities and Exchange Commission file number 001-42509 through the Securities and Exchange Commission’s website at www.sec.gov. In addition, information regarding MicroStrategy Incorporated may be obtained from other sources including, but not limited to, press releases, newspaper articles and other publicly disseminated documents.
The Fund has derived all disclosures contained in this document regarding MicroStrategy Incorporated from the publicly available documents described above. Neither the Fund, the Trust, the Adviser nor any affiliate has participated in the preparation of such documents. Neither the Fund, the Trust, the Adviser nor any affiliate makes any representation that such publicly available documents or any other publicly available information regarding MicroStrategy Incorporated is accurate or complete. Furthermore, the Fund cannot give any assurance that all events occurring prior to the date of the prospectus (including events that would affect the accuracy or completeness of the publicly available documents described above) that would affect the trading price of MSTR have been publicly disclosed. Subsequent disclosure of any such events or the disclosure of, or failure to disclose, material future events concerning MicroStrategy Incorporated could affect the value of the Fund’s investments with respect to MSTR and therefore the value of the Fund. Lastly, neither the Fund, the Trust, the Adviser nor any of their respective affiliates, make any representations to investors as to the performance of MSTR.
As with all investments, there
are certain risks of investing in the Fund.
Market Risk. Market risk is the risk that a particular security, or Fund Shares in general, may fall in value. Securities are subject to market fluctuations caused by such factors as economic, political, regulatory or market developments, changes in interest rates and perceived trends in securities prices. Fund Shares could decline in value or underperform other investments. In addition, local, regional or global events such as war, acts of terrorism, spread of infectious diseases or other public health issues, recessions, natural disasters, or other events could have a significant negative impact on the Fund and its investments. For example, the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) global pandemic and the ensuing policies enacted by governments and central banks have caused and may continue to cause significant volatility and uncertainty in global financial markets, negatively impacting global growth prospects. Recent and potential future bank failures could result in disruption to the broader banking industry or markets generally and reduce confidence in financial institutions and the economy as a whole, which may also heighten market volatility and reduce liquidity. These events also adversely affect the prices and liquidity of the Fund’s portfolio securities or other instruments and could result in disruptions in the trading markets. Any such circumstance could have a materially negative impact on the value of Fund Shares and result in increased market volatility. During any such events, Fund Shares may trade at increased premiums or discounts to their net asset value and the bid/ask spread on Fund Shares may widen.
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Covered Call Strategy Risk. A covered call strategy involves writing (selling) covered call options in return for the receipt of premiums. The seller of the option gives up the opportunity to benefit from price increases in the underlying instrument above the exercise price of the options but continues to bear the risk of underlying instrument price declines. The premiums received from the options may not be sufficient to offset any losses sustained from underlying instrument price declines over time. As a result, the risks associated with writing covered call options may be similar to the risks associated with writing put options. Exchanges may suspend the trading of options during periods of abnormal market volatility. Suspension of trading may mean that an option seller is unable to sell options at a time that may be desirable or advantageous to do so.
The covered call strategy utilized by the Fund is “synthetic” because the Fund’s exposure to the price return of MSTR is derived through options exposure, rather than direct holdings of the shares of MSTR. Because such exposure is synthetic, it is possible that the Fund’s participation in the price return of MSTR may not be as precise as if the Fund were directly holding shares of MSTR.
MSTR Investing Risks. The Fund will have significant exposure to MSTR through its investments in options contracts that utilize MSTR as the reference asset. Accordingly, the Fund will be subject to the risks of MSTR, set forth below.
MSTR-Issuer Specific Risks. Issuer-specific attributes may cause an investment held by the Fund to be more volatile than the market generally. The value of an individual security or particular type of security may be more volatile than the market as a whole and may perform differently from the value of the market as a whole. As of the date of this prospectus, in addition to the risks associated with companies in the technology sector, MSTR faces risks related to its bitcoin acquisition strategy, including: the various risks associated with bitcoin; the risks associated with bitcoin being a highly volatile asset; the risk that the company’s historical financial statements do not reflect the potential variability in earnings that the company may experience in the future relating to its bitcoin holdings; the risk that the availability of spot bitcoin exchange-traded products may adversely affect the market price of MSTR; the risk of enhanced regulatory oversight; concentration risk; liquidity risk; and counterparty risk, particularly with respect to custodians. MSTR also faces risks related to its enterprise analytics software business strategy, including: risks relating to its dependence on revenue from a single software platform and related services as well as revenue from its installed customer base; the risk that as customers increasingly shift from a product license model to a cloud subscription model, the company could face higher future rates of attrition, and such a shift could continue to affect the timing of revenue recognition or reduce product licenses and product support revenues, which could materially adversely affect the company’s operating results; the risk that if the company is unable to develop and release new software product offerings or enhancements to its existing offerings in a timely and cost-effective manner, the company’s business, operating results, and financial condition could be materially adversely affected; and the risk the company’s software may be susceptible to undetected errors, bugs, or security vulnerabilities, which could cause problems with how the software performs and, in turn, reduce demand for the company’s software, reduce its revenue, and lead to litigation claims against the company.
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Bitcoin Risk. MSTR’s value is significantly influenced by the large amount of bitcoin it holds. Bitcoin is a relatively new innovation and the market for bitcoin is subject to rapid price swings, changes and uncertainty. The further development of the Bitcoin network and the acceptance and use of bitcoin are subject to a variety of factors that are difficult to evaluate. The value of bitcoin has been, and may continue to be, substantially dependent on speculation, such that trading and investing in these assets generally may not be based on fundamental analysis. The slowing, stopping or reversing of the development of the Bitcoin network or the acceptance of bitcoin may adversely affect the price of bitcoin. Bitcoin is subject to the risk of fraud, theft, manipulation or security failures, operational or other problems that impact the digital asset trading venues on which bitcoin trades. The Bitcoin blockchain may contain flaws that can be exploited by hackers. A significant portion of bitcoin is held by a small number of holders sometimes referred to as “whales.” Transactions of these holders may influence the price of bitcoin.
Unlike the exchanges for more traditional assets, such as equity securities and futures contracts, bitcoin and the digital asset trading venues on which it trades are largely unregulated and highly fragmented, and digital asset trading venues may be operating out of compliance with regulations. As a result of the lack of regulation, individuals or groups may engage in fraud or market manipulation (including using social media to promote bitcoin in a way that artificially increases the price of bitcoin). Investors may be more exposed to the risk of theft, fraud and market manipulation than when investing in more traditional asset classes. Over the past several years, a number of digital asset trading venues have been closed due to fraud, failure or security breaches. Investors in bitcoin may have little or no recourse should such theft, fraud or manipulation occur and could suffer significant losses. Legal or regulatory changes may negatively impact the operation of the Bitcoin network or restrict the use of bitcoin. MSTR may also be negatively impacted by regulatory enforcement actions against the digital asset trading venues upon which bitcoin trades. Such actions could significantly reduce the number of venues upon which bitcoin trades and could negatively impact the price of bitcoin. In addition, digital asset trading venues, bitcoin miners, and other participants may have significant exposure to other digital assets. Instability in the price, availability or legal or regulatory status of those instruments may adversely impact the operation of the digital asset trading venues and the Bitcoin network. The realization of any of these risks could result in a decline in the acceptance of bitcoin and consequently a reduction in the value of bitcoin and shares of MSTR.
The Bitcoin network is maintained and secured by a group of validators who “mine” bitcoin, which involves contributing computer power to the network to validate transactions, maintain security and finalize settlement. The Bitcoin blockchain relies on a consensus mechanism whereby miners agree on the accurate state of the database. If a malicious actor (or group of actors) were to gain control of more than 50% of the mining (or “hash”) power in the network, even temporarily, they would have the ability to block new transactions from being confirmed and could, over time, reverse or reorder prior transactions. Although it may be challenging for a malicious actor (or group of actors) to gain control of 50% of the mining (or “hash”) power in the Bitcoin blockchain, such an attack would significantly impact the value of bitcoin.
A blockchain is a public database that is updated, shared and maintained across many computers in a network. The software that powers a blockchain is known as its protocol. Like all software, these protocols may update or change from time to time. In the case of the Bitcoin protocol, updates are made based on proposals submitted by developers, but only if a majority of the users and miners adopt the new proposals and update their individual copies of the protocol. Certain upgrade proposals to a blockchain may not be accepted by all the participants in an ecosystem. If one significant group adopts a proposed upgrade and another does not – or if groups adopt different upgrades – this can result in a “fork” of the blockchain, wherein two distinct sets of users and validators, or users and miners, run two different versions of a protocol. If the versions are sufficiently different such that the two versions of the protocol cannot simultaneously maintain and update a shared record of the blockchain database, it is called a “hard fork.” A hard fork can result in the creation of two competing blockchains, each with its own native digital assets. For instance, on August 1, 2017, two factions in the Bitcoin community could not agree on whether or not to adopt an upgrade to the Bitcoin protocol related to how to scale throughput on the blockchain. The disagreement created a fork, with the smaller group taking the name “Bitcoin Cash” and running its own blockchain and related native digital asset. The larger group retained the name Bitcoin for its blockchain and held bitcoin as the native digital asset. Additional forks of the Bitcoin blockchain are possible. A large-scale fork could introduce risk, uncertainty, or confusion into the Bitcoin blockchain, or could fraction the value of the main blockchain and its native digital asset, which could significantly impact the value of bitcoin and shares of MSTR. Additionally, a hack of the Bitcoin blockchain or one or more projects that interact with or that are built on top of the Bitcoin blockchain could negatively impact the price of bitcoin, whether it leads to another hard fork or not, and thereby the value of MSTR.
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The Bitcoin blockchain and its native digital asset, bitcoin, face numerous challenges to gaining widespread adoption as an alternative payments system, including the slowness of transaction processing and finality, variability in transaction fees and volatility in bitcoin’s price. It is not clear that the Bitcoin blockchain or bitcoin can overcome these and other impediments, which could harm the long-term adoption of the Bitcoin blockchain and bitcoin as an alternative payment system, and thereby negatively impact the price of bitcoin. In addition, alternative public blockchains have been developed and may in the future develop that compete with the Bitcoin blockchain and may have significant advantages as alternative payment systems, including higher throughput, lower fees, faster settlement and finalization, and the ability to facilitate untraceable and/or privacy-shielded transactions through the use of zero-knowledge cryptography or other means. It is possible that these alternative public blockchains and their native digital assets may be more successful than the Bitcoin blockchain and bitcoin in gaining adoption as an alternative payments system, which could limit the long-term adoption of the Bitcoin blockchain and bitcoin, thereby negatively impact the price of bitcoin. Such alternative public blockchains, such as the Ethereum network, allow users to write and implement smart contracts—that is, general-purpose code that executes on every computer in the network and can instruct the transmission of information and value based on a sophisticated set of logical conditions. Using smart contracts, users can create markets, store registries of debts or promises, represent the ownership of property, move funds in accordance with conditional instructions and create other digital assets. Furthermore, traditional payment systems may improve their own technical capabilities and offer faster settlement times, faster finalization and lower fees. This could make it more difficult for the Bitcoin blockchain and bitcoin to gain traction as an alternative payments system, which could limit the long-term adoption of the Bitcoin blockchain and bitcoin, and thereby negatively impact the price of bitcoin. Finally, one means by which the ecosystem surrounding the Bitcoin blockchain has attempted to mitigate concerns about the slowness of transaction processing and finality, and the variability of transaction fees, has been through the development of so-called Layer 2 networks, including the “Lightning Network.” Layer 2 networks are separate blockchains built on top of “Layer 1” blockchains like the Bitcoin blockchain for the purpose of augmenting the throughput of the Layer 1 blockchain, and often, providing lower fees for transaction processing and faster settlement. Layer 2 blockchains introduce certain risks into the Bitcoin ecosystem that should be considered. For instance, Layer 2 blockchains are a relatively new and still developing technology. Technological issues – including hacks, bugs, or failures – could introduce risk or harm confidence in the Bitcoin ecosystem, which could negatively impact the price of bitcoin. In addition, users may choose to settle an increasing share of transactions on Layer 2 blockchains, which could negatively impact the transaction activity on, and the amount of fee revenue generated by, the Bitcoin blockchain itself, which could negatively impact the price of bitcoin. If these or other developments negatively impact the price of bitcoin, this would negatively impact the value of the bitcoin.
Equity Securities Risk. Equity securities are subject to changes in value, and their values may be more volatile than those of other asset classes. Equity securities prices fluctuate for several reasons, including changes in investors’ perceptions of the financial condition of an issuer or the general condition of the relevant equity market, such as market volatility, or when political or economic events affecting an issuer occur. Common stock prices may be particularly sensitive to rising interest rates, as the cost of capital rises and borrowing costs increase. Common stocks generally subject their holders to more risks than preferred stocks and debt securities because common stockholders’ claims are subordinated to those of holders of preferred stocks and debt securities upon the bankruptcy of the issuer.
Indirect Investment Risk. MicroStrategy Incorporated is not affiliated with the Trust, the Fund, the Adviser or any affiliates thereof and is not involved with this offering in any way, and has no obligation to consider the Fund in taking any corporate actions that might affect the value of the Fund. The Trust, the Fund, the Adviser or any affiliate are not responsible for the performance of MSTR and make no representation as to the performance of MSTR. Investing in the Fund is not equivalent to investing in MSTR. Fund shareholders will not have voting rights or rights to receive dividends or other distributions or any other rights with respect to MSTR.
Information Technology Companies Risk. Information technology companies face intense competition, both domestically and internationally, which may have an adverse effect on profit margins. Like other technology companies, information technology companies may have limited product lines, markets, financial resources or personnel. The products of information technology companies may face obsolescence due to rapid technological developments, frequent new product introduction, unpredictable changes in growth rates and competition for the services of qualified personnel. Companies in the information technology sector are heavily dependent on patent and intellectual property rights. The loss or impairment of these rights may adversely affect the profitability of these companies. Information technology companies are facing increased government and regulatory scrutiny and may be subject to adverse government or regulatory action.
Large Capitalization Companies Risk. Large capitalization companies may be less able than smaller capitalization companies to adapt to changing market conditions. Large capitalization companies may be more mature and subject to more limited growth potential compared with smaller capitalization companies. During different market cycles, the performance of large capitalization companies has trailed the overall performance of the broader securities markets.
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United States Risk. Certain changes in the U.S. economy, such as when the U.S. economy weakens or when its financial markets decline, may have an adverse effect on the securities to which the Fund has exposure.
Digital Assets Risk. MSTR has substantial holdings of bitcoin. Accordingly, it is subject to the risks associated with such holdings as set forth below.
Custody Risk. Security breaches, computer malware and computer hacking attacks have been a prevalent concern in relation to digital assets. The bitcoin held by MSTR will likely be an appealing target to hackers or malware distributors seeking to destroy, damage or steal MSTR’s bitcoin. To the extent that MSTR is unable to identify and mitigate or stop new security threats or otherwise adapt to technological changes in the digital asset industry, MSTR’s bitcoin may be subject to theft, loss, destruction or other attack.
MSTR has put security procedures in place to prevent such theft, loss or destruction, including but not limited to, offline storage, or cold storage, multiple encrypted private key “shards,” and other measures. Nevertheless, the security procedures cannot guarantee the prevention of any loss due to a security breach, software defect or act of God that may be borne by MSTR, and the security procedures may not protect against all errors, software flaws or other vulnerabilities in MSTR’s technical infrastructure, which could result in theft, loss or damage of its assets. Assets not held in cold storage, such as assets held in a trading account, may be more vulnerable to security breach, hacking or loss than assets held in cold storage. Furthermore, assets held in a trading account are held on an omnibus rather than segregated basis, which creates greater risk of loss.
The security procedures and operational infrastructure may be breached due to the actions of outside parties, error or malfeasance of a MSTR employee, and, as a result, an unauthorized party may obtain access to MSTR accounts in which its bitcoin is held, the relevant private keys (and therefore bitcoin) or other data or property of MSTR. Additionally, outside parties may attempt to fraudulently induce employees of MSTR to disclose sensitive information in order to gain access to MSTR’s infrastructure. As the techniques used to obtain unauthorized access, disable or degrade service or sabotage systems change frequently or may be designed to remain dormant until a predetermined event and often are not recognized until launched against a target, MSTR may be unable to anticipate these techniques or implement adequate preventative measures.
Digital Asset Market and Volatility Risk. The prices of digital assets, to which MSTR has significant exposure, have historically been highly volatile. The value of such assets has been, and may continue to be, substantially dependent on speculation, such that trading and investing in these assets generally may not be based on fundamental analysis. The value of the Fund’s investments in instruments that provide exposure to MSTR – and therefore the value of an investment in the Fund – could decline significantly and without warning. If you are not prepared to accept significant and unexpected changes in the value of the Fund, you should not invest in the Fund.
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Digital Asset Regulatory Risk. There is a lack of consensus regarding the regulation of digital assets, including bitcoin, and their markets. As a result of the growth in the size of the digital asset market, as well as recent events in the digital asset market, the U.S. Congress and a number of U.S. federal and state agencies (including FinCEN, SEC, OCC, CFTC, FINRA, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the Department of Justice, the Department of Homeland Security, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Internal Revenue Service, state financial institution regulators, and others) have been examining the operations of digital asset networks, digital asset users and the digital asset markets. Many of these state and federal agencies have brought enforcement actions or issued consumer advisories regarding the risks posed by digital assets to investors. Ongoing and future regulatory actions with respect to digital assets generally or bitcoin in particular may alter, perhaps to a materially adverse extent, the nature of an investment in the shares of MSTR.
Irrevocability of Transactions Risk. Digital asset transactions are typically not reversible without the consent and active participation of the recipient of the transaction. Once a transaction has been verified and recorded in a block that is added to the blockchain, an incorrect transfer or theft of bitcoin generally will not be reversible, and MSTR may not be capable of seeking compensation for any such transfer or theft. It is possible that, through computer or human error, or through theft or criminal action, MSTR’s bitcoin could be transferred from its account in incorrect amounts or to unauthorized third parties, or to uncontrolled accounts.
Such events have occurred in connection with digital assets in the past. For example, in September 2014, the Chinese digital asset platform Huobi announced that it had sent approximately 900 bitcoin and 8,000 Litecoin (worth approximately $400,000 at the prevailing market prices at the time) to the wrong customers. To the extent that MSTR is unable to seek a corrective transaction with such third-party or is incapable of identifying the third-party which has received MSTR’s bitcoin through error or theft, MSTR will be unable to revert or otherwise recover incorrectly transferred bitcoin. MSTR will also be unable to convert or recover its bitcoin transferred to uncontrolled accounts. To the extent that MSTR is unable to seek redress for such error or theft, such loss could adversely affect the value of its shares.
Active Management Risk. The Fund is actively managed, and its performance reflects investment decisions that the Adviser makes for the Fund. Such judgments about the Fund’s investments may prove to be incorrect. If the investments selected and the strategies employed by the Fund fail to produce the intended results, the Fund could underperform as compared to other funds with similar investment objectives and/or strategies, or could have negative returns.
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Clearing Member Default Risk. Transactions in some types of derivatives, including the options held by the Fund, are required to be centrally cleared (“cleared derivatives”). In a transaction involving cleared derivatives, the Fund’s counterparty is a clearinghouse, such as the OCC, rather than a bank or broker. Since the Fund is not a member of clearinghouses, and only members of a clearinghouse (“clearing members”) can participate directly in the clearinghouse, the Fund will hold cleared derivatives through accounts at clearing members. With regard to its cleared derivatives positions, the Fund will make payments (including margin payments) to, and receive payments from, a clearinghouse through their accounts at clearing members. Customer funds held at a clearing organization in connection with any option contracts are held in a commingled omnibus account and are not associated with any of the clearing member’s individual customers by name. As a result, assets deposited by the Fund with any clearing member as margin for its options position may, in certain circumstances, be used to satisfy losses of other clients of the Fund’s clearing member. In addition, although clearing members guarantee performance of their clients’ obligations to the clearinghouse, there is a risk that the assets of the Fund might not be fully protected in the event of the clearing member’s bankruptcy. The Fund is also subject to the risk that a limited number of clearing members are willing to transact on the Fund’s behalf, which heightens the risks associated with a clearing member’s default. If a clearing member defaults, the Fund could lose some or all of the benefits of a transaction entered into by the Fund with the clearing member. The loss of a clearing member for the Fund to transact with could result in increased transaction costs and other operational issues that could impede the Fund’s ability to implement its investment strategy. If the Fund cannot find a clearing member to transact with on the Fund’s behalf, the Fund may be unable to effectively implement its investment strategy.
Concentration Risk. The Fund is susceptible to an increased risk of loss, including losses due to adverse events that affect the Fund’s investments more than the market as a whole, to the extent that the Fund’s investments are concentrated in investments that provide exposure to MSTR and the industry to which it is assigned. As of December 1, 2024, MSTR is assigned to the “software & services” industry group of the information technology sector. Please see “Information Technology Companies Risk” for a discussion regarding the risks of an investment in such companies.
Cybersecurity Risk. The Fund is susceptible to operational risks due to breaches in cybersecurity. A breach in cybersecurity refers to both intentional and unintentional events that may cause the Fund to lose proprietary information, suffer data corruption or lose operational capacity. Such events could cause the Fund to incur regulatory penalties, reputational damage, additional compliance costs associated with corrective measures and/or financial loss. Cybersecurity breaches may involve unauthorized access to the Fund’s digital information systems through “hacking” or malicious software coding but may also result from outside attacks such as denial-of-service attacks due to efforts to make network services unavailable to intended users. In addition, cybersecurity breaches of the Fund’s third-party service providers, such as its administrator, transfer agent, custodian, or sub-advisor, as applicable, or the issuers in which the Fund invests, can also subject the Fund to many of the same risks associated with direct cybersecurity breaches. Although the Fund has established risk management systems designed to reduce the risks associated with cybersecurity, there is no guarantee that such efforts will succeed, especially because the Fund does not directly control the cybersecurity systems of issuers or third-party service providers.
Debt Securities Risk. Investments in debt securities subject the holder to the credit risk of the issuer. Credit risk refers to the possibility that the issuer or other obligor of a security will not be able or willing to make payments of interest and principal when due. Generally, the value of debt securities will change inversely with changes in interest rates. To the extent that interest rates rise, certain underlying obligations may be paid off substantially slower than originally anticipated and the value of those securities may fall sharply. During periods of falling interest rates, the income received by the Fund may decline. If the principal on a debt security is prepaid before expected, the prepayments of principal may have to be reinvested in obligations paying interest at lower rates. Debt securities generally do not trade on a securities exchange making them generally less liquid and more difficult to value than common stock.
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Derivatives Risk. The use of derivative instruments involves risks different from, or possibly greater than, the risks associated with investing directly in securities and other traditional investments. These risks include: (i) the risk that the counterparty to a derivative transaction may not fulfill its contractual obligations; (ii) the risk of mispricing or improper valuation; and (iii) the risk that changes in the value of the derivative may not correlate perfectly with the underlying asset. Derivative prices are highly volatile and may fluctuate substantially during a short period of time. Such prices are influenced by numerous factors that affect the markets, including, but not limited to: changing supply and demand relationships; government programs and policies; national and international political and economic events, changes in interest rates, inflation and deflation and changes in supply and demand relationships. Trading derivative instruments involves risks different from, or possibly greater than, the risks associated with investing directly in securities. Derivative contracts ordinarily have leverage inherent in their terms. The use of leverage may cause the Fund to liquidate portfolio positions when it would not be advantageous to do so in order to satisfy its obligations or to meet regulatory or contractual requirements for derivatives. The use of derivatives can magnify potential for gain or loss and, therefore, amplify the effects of market volatility on share price.
FLEX Options Risk. Trading FLEX Options involves risks different from, or possibly greater than, the risks associated with investing directly in securities. The Fund may experience losses from specific FLEX Option positions and certain FLEX Option positions may expire worthless. The FLEX Options are listed on an exchange; however, no one can guarantee that a liquid secondary trading market will exist for the FLEX Options. In the event that trading in the FLEX Options is limited or absent, the value of the Fund’s FLEX Options may decrease. In a less liquid market for the FLEX Options, liquidating the FLEX Options may require the payment of a premium (for written FLEX Options) or acceptance of a discounted price (for purchased FLEX Options) and may take longer to complete. A less liquid trading market may adversely impact the value of the FLEX Options and Fund Shares and result in the Fund being unable to achieve its investment objective. Less liquidity in the trading of the Fund’s FLEX Options could have an impact on the prices paid or received by the Fund for the FLEX Options in connection with creations and redemptions of Fund Shares. Depending on the nature of this impact to pricing, the Fund may be forced to pay more for redemptions (or receive less for creations) than the price at which it currently values the FLEX Options. Such overpayment or under collection could reduce the Fund’s ability to achieve its investment objective. Additionally, in a less liquid market for the FLEX Options, the liquidation of a large number of options may more significantly impact the price. A less liquid trading market may adversely impact the value of the FLEX Options and the value of your investment. The trading in FLEX Options may be less deep and liquid than the market for certain other exchange-traded options, non-customized options or other securities.
Inflation Risk. Inflation risk is the risk that the value of assets or income from investments will be less in the future as inflation decreases the value of money. As inflation increases, the present value of the Fund’s assets and distributions may decline. This risk is more prevalent with respect to fixed income securities held by the Fund.
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Interest Rate Risk. Interest rate risk is the risk that the value of the debt securities in the Fund’s portfolio will decline because of rising market interest rates. Interest rate risk is generally lower for shorter term debt securities and higher for longer-term debt securities. Duration is a reasonably accurate measure of a debt security’s price sensitivity to changes in interest rates and a common measure of interest rate risk. Duration measures a debt security’s expected life on a present value basis, taking into account the debt security’s yield, interest payments and final maturity. In general, duration represents the expected percentage change in the value of a security for an immediate 1% change in interest rates. For example, the price of a debt security with a three-year duration would be expected to drop by approximately 3% in response to a 1% increase in interest rates. Therefore, prices of debt securities with shorter durations tend to be less sensitive to interest rate changes than debt securities with longer durations. As the value of a debt security changes over time, so will its duration.
Leverage Risk. While the Fund does not seek leveraged exposure to MSTR, the Fund seeks to achieve and maintain the exposure to the price of MSTR by using the leverage inherent in options contracts. Therefore, the Fund is subject to leverage risk. When the Fund purchases or sells an instrument or enters into a transaction without investing an amount equal to the full economic exposure of the instrument or transaction, it creates leverage, which can result in the Fund losing more than it originally invested. As a result, these investments may magnify losses to the Fund, and even a small market movement may result in significant losses to the Fund. Leverage may also cause the Fund to be more volatile because it may exaggerate the effect of any increase or decrease in the value of the Fund’s portfolio securities. Options trading involves a degree of leverage and, as a result, a relatively small price movement in futures instruments may result in immediate and substantial losses to the Fund.
Liquidity Risk. The market for options on MSTR may be subject to periods of illiquidity. During such times it may be difficult or impossible to buy or sell a position at the desired price. Market disruptions or volatility can also make it difficult to find a counterparty willing to transact at a reasonable price and sufficient size. Illiquid markets may cause losses, which could be significant. The large size of the positions which the Fund may acquire increases the risk of illiquidity, may make its positions more difficult to liquidate, and may increase the losses incurred while trying to do so. Such large positions also may impact the price of options on MSTR.
New Fund Risk. The Fund is a recently organized investment company with a limited operating history. As a result, prospective investors have a limited track record or history on which to base their investment decision.
Non-Diversification Risk.
Operational Risk. The Fund is subject to risks arising from various operational factors, including, but not limited to, human error; processing and communication errors; errors of the Fund’s service providers, counterparties or other third parties; failed or inadequate processes; and technology or systems failures. The Fund relies on third parties for a range of services, including custody. Any delay or failure relating to engaging or maintaining such service providers may affect the Fund’s ability to meet its investment objective. Although the Fund and the Adviser seek to reduce these operational risks through controls and procedures, there is no way to completely protect against such risks.
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Options Risk. The use of options involves investment strategies and risks different from those associated with ordinary portfolio securities transactions and depends on the ability of the Fund’s portfolio managers to forecast market movements correctly. The prices of options are volatile and are influenced by, among other things, actual and anticipated changes in the value of the underlying instrument, or in interest or currency exchange rates, including the anticipated volatility, which in turn are affected by fiscal and monetary policies and by national and international political and economic events. The effective use of options also depends on the Fund’s ability to terminate option positions at times deemed desirable to do so. There is no assurance that the Fund will be able to effect closing transactions at any particular time or at an acceptable price. In addition, there may at times be an imperfect correlation between the movement in values of options and their underlying securities and there may at times not be a liquid secondary market for certain options.
Portfolio Turnover Risk. The Fund may experience high levels of portfolio turnover. A high portfolio turnover rate increases transaction costs, which may increase the Fund’s expenses. Frequent trading may also cause adverse tax consequences for investors in the Fund due to an increase in short-term capital gains.
Special Tax Risk. The Fund intends to qualify as a “regulated investment company” or “RIC.” If, in any year, the Fund fails to qualify as a regulated investment company under the applicable tax laws, the Fund would be taxed as an ordinary corporation. The Fund intends to treat any income it may derive from the FLEX Options as “qualifying income” under the provisions of the Code applicable to RICs. In addition, based upon language in the legislative history, the Fund intends to treat the issuer of the FLEX Options as the referenced asset, which may allow the Fund to qualify for special rules in the RIC diversification requirements. If the income is not qualifying income or the issuer of the FLEX Options is not appropriately the referenced asset, the Fund may lose its own status as a RIC if tax positions reflected by such options are large enough.
Structural ETF Risks. The Fund is an ETF. Accordingly, it is subject to certain risks associated with its unique structure.
Active Market Risk. Although Fund Shares are listed for trading on the Exchange, there can be no assurance that an active trading market for Fund Shares will develop or be maintained. Fund Shares trade on the Exchange at market prices that may be below, at or above the Fund’s net asset value. Securities, including Fund Shares, are subject to market fluctuations and liquidity constraints that may be caused by such factors as economic, political, or regulatory developments, changes in interest rates, and/or perceived trends in securities prices. Fund Shares could decline in value or underperform other investments.
Authorized Participant Concentration Risk. Only an Authorized Participant may engage in creation or redemption transactions directly with the Fund, and none of those Authorized Participants is obligated to engage in creation and/or redemption transactions. The Fund has a limited number of institutions that may act as Authorized Participants on an agency basis (i.e., on behalf of other market participants). To the extent that Authorized Participants exit the business or are unable to proceed with creation or redemption orders with respect to the Fund and no other Authorized Participant is able to step forward to create or redeem, Fund Shares may be more likely to trade at a premium or discount to NAV and possibly face trading halts or delisting. Authorized Participant concentration risk may be heightened for ETFs, such as the Fund, which 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. The Fund currently expects to effect a significant portion of its creations and redemptions for cash, rather than in-kind securities. Paying redemption proceeds in cash rather than through in-kind delivery of portfolio securities may require the Fund to dispose of or sell portfolio securities or other assets at an inopportune time to obtain the cash needed to meet redemption orders. This may cause the Fund to sell a security and recognize a capital gain or loss that might not have been incurred if it had made a redemption in-kind. As a result, the Fund may pay out higher or lower annual capital gains distributions than ETFs that redeem in-kind. The use of cash creations and redemptions may also cause Fund Shares to trade in the market at greater bid-ask spreads or greater premiums or discounts to the Fund’s NAV. Furthermore, the Fund may not be able to execute cash transactions for creation and redemption purposes at the same price used to determine the Fund’s NAV. To the extent that the maximum additional charge for creation or redemption transactions is insufficient to cover the execution shortfall, the Fund’s performance could be negatively impacted.
Costs of Buying and Selling Fund Shares. Due to the costs of buying or selling Fund Shares, including brokerage commissions imposed by brokers and bid/ask spreads, frequent trading of Fund Shares may significantly reduce investment results, and an investment in Fund Shares may not be advisable for investors who anticipate regularly making small investments.
Premium/Discount Risk. As with all exchange-traded funds, Fund Shares may be bought and sold in the secondary market at market prices. The trading prices of Fund Shares in the secondary market may differ from the Fund’s daily net asset value per share and there may be times when the market price of the shares is more than the net asset value per share (premium) or less than the net asset value per share (discount). This risk is heightened in times of market volatility or periods of steep market declines.
U.S. Government Securities Risk. U.S. government securities are subject to interest rate risk but generally do not involve the credit risks associated with investments in other types of debt securities. As a result, the yields available from U.S. government securities are generally lower than the yields available from other debt securities. U.S. government securities are guaranteed only as to the timely payment of interest and the payment of principal when held to maturity.
Valuation Risk. The Fund may hold securities or other assets that may be valued on the basis of factors other than market quotations. This may occur because the asset or security does not trade on a centralized exchange, or in times of market turmoil or reduced liquidity. There are multiple methods that can be used to value a portfolio holding when market quotations are not readily available. The value established for any portfolio holding at a point in time might differ from what would be produced using a different methodology or if it had been priced using market quotations. Portfolio holdings that are valued using techniques other than market quotations, including “fair valued” assets or securities, may be subject to greater fluctuation in their valuations from one day to the next than if market quotations were used. In addition, there is no assurance that the Fund could sell or close out a portfolio position for the value established for it at any time, and it is possible that the Fund would incur a loss because a portfolio position is sold or closed out at a discount to the valuation established by the Fund at that time. The Fund’s ability to value investments may be impacted by technological issues or errors by pricing services or other third-party service providers.
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Management
Investment Adviser: Bitwise Investment Manager, LLC
Portfolio Managers: Jennifer Thornton, Portfolio Manager at BIM, Daniela Padilla, Portfolio Manager at BIM, Jeff Park, Portfolio Manager and Head of Alpha Strategy at BIM and Gayatri Choudhury, Quantitative Investment Analyst at BIM, are the individuals that are primarily and jointly responsible for the day-to-day management of the Fund. Each has served as portfolio manager since the Fund’s inception in March 2025.
Purchase and Sale of Fund Shares
The Fund will issue (or redeem) Fund Shares to certain institutional investors (typically market makers or other broker-dealers) only in large blocks of Fund Shares known as “Creation Units.” Creation Unit transactions are conducted in exchange for the deposit or delivery of a designated portfolio of in-kind securities and/or cash.
Individual Fund Shares may only be purchased and sold on the Exchange, other national securities exchanges, electronic crossing networks and other alternative trading systems through a broker-dealer at market prices. Because Fund Shares trade at market prices rather than at NAV, Fund Shares may trade at a price greater than NAV (premium) or less than NAV (discount). When buying or selling Fund Shares in the secondary market, you may incur costs attributable to the difference between the highest price a buyer is willing to pay to purchase Fund Shares (bid) and the lowest price a seller is willing to accept for Fund Shares (ask) (the “bid-ask spread”). Recent information regarding the Fund’s NAV, market price, premiums and discounts, and bid-ask spreads is available at https://www.imstetf.com.
Tax Information
The Fund’s distributions are expected to be taxed as ordinary income, qualified dividend income and/or capital gains, unless you are investing through a tax-advantaged arrangement, such as a 401(k) plan or individual retirement account. Any withdrawals made from such tax-advantaged arrangement may be taxable to you.
Payments to Broker-Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries
If you purchase Fund Shares through a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary (such as a bank), the Adviser, Foreside Fund Services, LLC, the Fund’s distributor, may pay the intermediary for the sale of Fund Shares and related services. These payments may create a conflict of interest by influencing the broker-dealer or other intermediary and your salesperson to recommend the Fund over another investment. Ask your salesperson or visit your financial intermediary’s website for more information.
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Additional Information About Each Fund’s Principal Investment Strategies
Overview
Each Fund is a series of Bitwise Funds Trust and is regulated as an “investment company” under the 1940 Act. The Funds are actively managed and do not seek to track the performance of an index. Each of the policies described herein, including the investment objective of each Fund, constitutes a non-fundamental policy that may be changed by the Board of Trustees of the Trust (the “Board”) without shareholder approval. Certain fundamental policies of the Fund are set forth in the Fund’s Statement of Additional Information (the “SAI”). There can be no assurance that a Fund’s objective will be achieved.
Each Fund’s investments are subject to certain requirements imposed by law and regulation, as well as the Fund’s investment strategy. These requirements are generally applied at the time a Fund invests its assets. If, subsequent to an investment by a Fund, this requirement is no longer met, the Fund’s future investments will be made in a manner that will bring the Fund into compliance with the requirement.
Additional Information Regarding each Fund’s Principal Investment Strategy
Each Fund is an actively managed ETF that seeks to provide current income while providing exposure to the share price (i.e., the price returns) of the common stock of a particular security (COIN, MARA or MSTR, as applicable) (the “Applicable Security”), subject to a limit on potential investment gains. Each Fund seeks to achieve these investment objectives through the use of a synthetic covered call strategy. Each Fund seeks to provide its synthetic exposure to the price return of the Applicable Security through the purchase and sale of a combination of call and put option contracts that utilize the Applicable Security as the reference asset. Each Fund will also sell call options that utilize the Applicable Security as the reference asset. These sold call options provide income in the form of option premiums but will also limit the degree to which a Fund will participate in investment gains experienced by the Applicable Security.
In implementing its investment strategy, each Fund will invest in traditional exchange-traded options contracts and/or FLEX Options that utilize the Applicable Security as the reference asset. Each Fund will only invest in options contracts that are listed for trading on regulated U.S. exchanges. Traditional exchange-traded options have standardized terms, such as the type (call or put), the reference asset, the strike price and expiration date. Exchange-listed options contracts are guaranteed for settlement by the OCC. FLEX Options are a type of exchange-listed options contract with uniquely customizable terms that allow investors to customize key terms like type, strike price and expiration date that are standardized in a typical options contract. FLEX Options are also guaranteed for settlement by the OCC. It is anticipated that the Fund will invest primarily in FLEX Options. The FLEX Options held by the Fund may be either physical or cash settled.
In general, an option is a contract that gives the purchaser (holder) of the option, in return for a premium, the right to buy from (call) or sell to (put) the seller (writer) of the option the security or currency underlying the option at a specified exercise price. The writer of an option has the obligation upon exercise of the option to deliver the underlying security or currency upon payment of the exercise price (call) or to pay the exercise price upon delivery of the underlying security or currency (put). The Funds may utilize both European and American style options. An option is said to be “European Style” when it can be exercised only at expiration whereas an “American Style” option can be exercised at any time prior to expiration.
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In a traditional covered call strategy, an investor (such as a Fund) sells a call option on a security it already owns. Each Fund will primarily derive its exposure to their Applicable Security through the use of options contracts that use the Applicable Security as the reference asset. It is this distinction that causes a Fund’s strategy to be properly termed as a “synthetic covered call strategy,” as opposed to a traditional covered call strategy, because each Fund has synthetic exposure to the Applicable Security. Each Fund’s synthetic exposure to the Applicable Security is achieved through the combination of purchasing call options and selling put options generally at the same strike price, which synthetically creates the upside and downside participation in the price returns of the Applicable Security. Each Fund will primarily gain exposure to increases in value experienced by the Applicable Security through the purchase of call options. As a buyer of these options, a Fund pays a premium to the seller of the options. Each Fund will primarily gain exposure to decreases in value experienced by the Applicable Security through the sale of put options. As the seller of these options, a Fund receives a premium from the buyer of the options. In combination, the purchased call and sold put options generally provide exposure to price returns of the Applicable Security both on the upside and downside. Each Fund intends to continuously maintain exposure to the Applicable Security through the use of options. When such options expire or are exercised, the Funds will enter into new options. This is a practice referred to as “rolling.” The Funds’ practice of rolling options may result in higher levels of portfolio turnover
As the primary means by which each Fund intends to generate income, the Fund will sell call options that reference the Applicable Security at a strike price that is expected to be approximately between 0% and 15% above the then-current share price of the Applicable Security. It is important to note that the sale of these call options to generate income will limit the Fund’s ability to participate in increases in value of the Applicable Security’s share price beyond a certain point. If the share price of the Applicable Security increases, the above-referenced synthetic long exposure would allow a Fund to experience similar percentage gains. However, if the Applicable Security’s share price appreciates in value beyond the strike price of one or more of the call option contracts that a Fund has sold to generate income, the Fund will lose money on those short call positions, and the losses will, in turn, limit the upside return of the Fund’s synthetic long exposure. As a result, the Fund’s overall strategy (i.e., the combination of the synthetic long exposure to the Applicable Security and the sold Applicable Security call positions) will limit a Fund’s participation in gains of the Applicable Security’s share price beyond a certain point. This strategy effectively converts a portion of the potential upside price return growth of the Applicable Security into current income. It is expected that the call options a Fund will sell to generate options premiums will generally have expirations of approximately one year or less and will be held to or close to expiration.
In addition to the options contracts, a Fund will also invest in cash and short-term U.S. Treasury securities, which will serve to collateralize the Fund’s options positions and provide additional income. The market value of the cash and short-term U.S. Treasury securities held by a Fund is expected to be between 50% and 100% of the Fund’s net assets and the market value of the options package is expected to be between 0% and 50% of the Fund’s net assets. In terms of notional value, the combination of these investment instruments provides indirect investment exposure to the Applicable Security’s equal to at least 100% of the Fund’s total assets.
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Additional Information on Bitcoin
Bitcoin is a digital asset that is created and transmitted through the operations of the online, peer-to-peer Bitcoin network, a decentralized network of computers that operates on cryptographic protocols. The ownership of bitcoin is determined by participants in the Bitcoin network. The Bitcoin network connects computers that run publicly accessible, or “open source,” software that follows the rules and procedures governing the Bitcoin network. This is commonly referred to as the Bitcoin Protocol.
No single entity owns or operates the Bitcoin network. Bitcoin is not issued by any government, by banks or similar organizations. The infrastructure of the Bitcoin network is collectively maintained by a decentralized user base. The Bitcoin network is accessed through software, and software governs the creation, movement, and ownership of “bitcoin,” the unit of account on the Bitcoin network ledger. The value of bitcoin is determined, in part, by the supply of, and demand for, bitcoin in the global markets for trading bitcoin, market expectations for the adoption of bitcoin as a decentralized store of value, the number of merchants and/or institutions that accept bitcoin as a form of payment and the volume of private end-user-to-end-user transactions.
Bitcoin transaction and ownership records are reflected on the “Bitcoin blockchain,” which is a digital public record or ledger. Copies of this ledger are stored in a decentralized manner on the computers of each Bitcoin network node (a node is any user who maintains on their computer a full copy of all the bitcoin transaction records, the blockchain, as well as related software). Transaction data is permanently recorded in files called “blocks,” which reflect transactions that have been recorded and authenticated by Bitcoin network participants. The Bitcoin network software source code includes protocols that govern the creation of new bitcoin and the cryptographic system that secures and verifies bitcoin transactions.
Bitcoin, the asset, plays a key role in the operation of the Bitcoin network, as the computers (or “miners”) that process transactions on the network and maintain the network’s security are compensated through the issuance of new bitcoin and through transaction fees paid by users in bitcoin.
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Additional Risks of Investing in the Funds
Risk is inherent in all investing. Investing in the Funds involves risk, including the risk that you may lose all or part of your investment. There can be no assurance that the Fund will meet its stated objective. Before you invest, you should consider the following supplemental disclosure pertaining to the Principal Risks set forth above as well as additional Non-Principal Risks set forth below in this prospectus.
Principal Risks
Market Risk. Market risk is the risk that a particular security, or Fund Shares in general, may fall in value. Securities are subject to market fluctuations caused by such factors as economic, political, regulatory or market developments, changes in interest rates and perceived trends in securities prices. Fund Shares could decline in value or underperform other investments. In addition, local, regional or global events such as war, acts of terrorism, spread of infectious diseases or other public health issues, recessions, natural disasters, or other events could have a significant negative impact on the Fund and its investments. For example, the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) global pandemic and the ensuing policies enacted by governments and central banks have caused and may continue to cause significant volatility and uncertainty in global financial markets, negatively impacting global growth prospects. Recent and potential future bank failures could result in disruption to the broader banking industry or markets generally and reduce confidence in financial institutions and the economy as a whole, which may also heighten market volatility and reduce liquidity. These events also adversely affect the prices and liquidity of the Fund’s portfolio securities or other instruments and could result in disruptions in the trading markets. Any such circumstance could have a materially negative impact on the value of Fund Shares and result in increased market volatility. During any such events, Fund Shares may trade at increased premiums or discounts to their net asset value and the bid/ask spread on Fund Shares may widen.
Covered Call Strategy Risk. A covered call strategy involves writing (selling) covered call options in return for the receipt of premiums. The seller of the option gives up the opportunity to benefit from price increases in the underlying instrument above the exercise price of the options but continues to bear the risk of underlying instrument price declines. The premiums received from the options may not be sufficient to offset any losses sustained from underlying instrument price declines over time. As a result, the risks associated with writing covered call options may be similar to the risks associated with writing put options. Exchanges may suspend the trading of options during periods of abnormal market volatility. Suspension of trading may mean that an option seller is unable to sell options at a time that may be desirable or advantageous to do so.
The covered call strategy utilized by the Funds is “synthetic” because the Funds’ exposure to the price return of the Applicable Securities is derived through options exposure, rather than direct holdings of the shares of the Applicable Securities. Because such exposure is synthetic, it is possible that a Fund’s participation in the price return of the Applicable Securities may not be as precise as if the Fund were directly holding shares of the Applicable Security.
Digital Assets Risk. Each of the Applicable Securities has significant exposure to digital assets. Accordingly, each Fund is subject to the risks associated with such holdings as set forth below.
Bitcoin Risk. Bitcoin is a relatively new innovation and the market for bitcoin is subject to rapid price swings, changes and uncertainty. The further development of the Bitcoin network and the acceptance and use of bitcoin are subject to a variety of factors that are difficult to evaluate. The value of bitcoin has been, and may continue to be, substantially dependent on speculation, such that trading and investing in these assets generally may not be based on fundamental analysis. The slowing, stopping or reversing of the development of the Bitcoin network or the acceptance of bitcoin may adversely affect the price of bitcoin. Bitcoin is subject to the risk of fraud, theft, manipulation or security failures, operational or other problems that impact the digital asset trading venues on which bitcoin trades. The Bitcoin blockchain may contain flaws that can be exploited by hackers. A significant portion of bitcoin is held by a small number of holders sometimes referred to as “whales.” Transactions of these holders may influence the price of bitcoin.
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Unlike the exchanges for more traditional assets, such as equity securities and futures contracts, bitcoin and the digital asset trading venues on which it trades are largely unregulated and highly fragmented and digital asset trading venues may be operating out of compliance with regulations. As a result of the lack of regulation, individuals or groups may engage in fraud or market manipulation (including using social media to promote bitcoin in a way that artificially increases the price of bitcoin). Investors may be more exposed to the risk of theft, fraud and market manipulation than when investing in more traditional asset classes. Over the past several years, a number of digital asset trading venues have been closed due to fraud, failure or security breaches. Investors in bitcoin may have little or no recourse should such theft, fraud or manipulation occur and could suffer significant losses. Legal or regulatory changes may negatively impact the operation of the Bitcoin network or restrict the use of bitcoin. The Funds may also be negatively impacted by regulatory enforcement actions against the digital asset trading venues upon which bitcoin trades. Such actions could significantly reduce the number of venues upon which bitcoin trades and could negatively impact the price of bitcoin. In addition, digital asset trading venues, bitcoin miners, and other participants may have significant exposure to other digital assets. Instability in the price, availability or legal or regulatory status of those instruments may adversely impact the operation of the digital asset trading venues and the Bitcoin network. The realization of any of these risks could result in a decline in the acceptance of bitcoin and consequently a reduction in the value of bitcoin and Fund Shares.
The Bitcoin network is maintained and secured by a group of validators who “mine” bitcoin, which involves contributing computer power to the network to validate transactions, maintain security and finalize settlement. The Bitcoin blockchain relies on a consensus mechanism whereby miners agree on the accurate state of the database. If a malicious actor (or group of actors) were to gain control of more than 50% of the mining (or “hash”) power in the network, even temporarily, they would have the ability to block new transactions from being confirmed and could, over time, reverse or reorder prior transactions. Although it may be challenging for a malicious actor (or group of actors) to gain control of 50% of the mining (or “hash”) power in the Bitcoin blockchain, such an attack would significantly impact the value of bitcoin.
A blockchain is a public database that is updated, shared and maintained across many computers in a network. The software that powers a blockchain is known as its protocol. Like all software, these protocols may update or change from time to time. In the case of the Bitcoin protocol, updates are made based on proposals submitted by developers, but only if a majority of the users and miners adopt the new proposals and update their individual copies of the protocol. Certain upgrade proposals to a blockchain may not be accepted by all the participants in an ecosystem. If one significant group adopts a proposed upgrade and another does not – or if groups adopt different upgrades – this can result in a “fork” of the blockchain, wherein two distinct sets of users and validators, or users and miners, run two different versions of a protocol. If the versions are sufficiently different such that the two versions of the protocol cannot simultaneously maintain and update a shared record of the blockchain database, it is called a “hard fork.” A hard fork can result in the creation of two competing blockchains, each with its own native digital assets. For instance, on August 1, 2017, two factions in the Bitcoin community could not agree on whether or not to adopt an upgrade to the Bitcoin protocol related to how to scale throughput on the blockchain. The disagreement created a fork, with the smaller group taking the name “Bitcoin Cash” and running its own blockchain and related native digital asset. The larger group retained the name Bitcoin for its blockchain and held bitcoin as the native digital asset. Additional forks of the Bitcoin blockchain are possible. A large-scale fork could introduce risk, uncertainty, or confusion into the Bitcoin blockchain, or could fraction the value of the main blockchain and its native digital asset, which could significantly impact the value of bitcoin and Fund Shares. Additionally, a hack of the Bitcoin blockchain or one or more projects that interact with or that are built on top of the Bitcoin blockchain could negatively impact the price of bitcoin, whether it leads to another hard fork or not, and thereby the value of Fund Shares.
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The Bitcoin blockchain and its native digital asset, bitcoin, face numerous challenges to gaining widespread adoption as an alternative payments system, including the slowness of transaction processing and finality, variability in transaction fees and volatility in bitcoin’s price. It is not clear that the Bitcoin blockchain or bitcoin can overcome these and other impediments, which could harm the long-term adoption of the Bitcoin blockchain and bitcoin as an alternative payment system, and thereby negatively impact the price of bitcoin. In addition, alternative public blockchains have been developed and may in the future develop that compete with the Bitcoin blockchain and may have significant advantages as alternative payment systems, including higher throughput, lower fees, faster settlement and finalization, and the ability to facilitate untraceable and/or privacy-shielded transactions through the use of zero-knowledge cryptography or other means. It is possible that these alternative public blockchains and their native digital assets may be more successful than the Bitcoin blockchain and bitcoin in gaining adoption as an alternative payments system, which could limit the long-term adoption of the Bitcoin blockchain and bitcoin, thereby negatively impact the price of bitcoin. Such alternative public blockchains, such as the Ethereum network, allow users to write and implement smart contracts—that is, general-purpose code that executes on every computer in the network and can instruct the transmission of information and value based on a sophisticated set of logical conditions. Using smart contracts, users can create markets, store registries of debts or promises, represent the ownership of property, move funds in accordance with conditional instructions and create other digital assets. Furthermore, traditional payment systems may improve their own technical capabilities and offer faster settlement times, faster finalization and lower fees. This could make it more difficult for the Bitcoin blockchain and bitcoin to gain traction as an alternative payments system, which could limit the long-term adoption of the Bitcoin blockchain and bitcoin, and thereby negatively impact the price of bitcoin. Finally, one means by which the ecosystem surrounding the Bitcoin blockchain has attempted to mitigate concerns about the slowness of transaction processing and finality, and the variability of transaction fees, has been through the development of so-called Layer 2 networks, including the “Lightning Network.” Layer 2 networks are separate blockchains built on top of “Layer 1” blockchains like the Bitcoin blockchain for the purpose of augmenting the throughput of the Layer 1 blockchain, and often, providing lower fees for transaction processing and faster settlement. Layer 2 blockchains introduce certain risks into the Bitcoin ecosystem that should be considered. For instance, Layer 2 blockchains are a relatively new and still developing technology. Technological issues – including hacks, bugs, or failures – could introduce risk or harm confidence in the Bitcoin ecosystem, which could negatively impact the price of bitcoin. In addition, users may choose to settle an increasing share of transactions on Layer 2 blockchains, which could negatively impact the transaction activity on, and the amount of fee revenue generated by, the Bitcoin blockchain itself, which could negatively impact the price of bitcoin. If these or other developments negatively impact the price of bitcoin, this would negatively impact the value of the bitcoin.
Custody Risk. Security breaches, computer malware and computer hacking attacks have been a prevalent concern in relation to digital assets. The bitcoin held by the issuers of the Applicable Securities will likely be an appealing target to hackers or malware distributors seeking to destroy, damage or steal such bitcoin. To the extent that these issuers are unable to identify and mitigate or stop new security threats or otherwise adapt to technological changes in the digital asset industry, such bitcoin may be subject to theft, loss, destruction or other attack.
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The issuers of the Applicable Securities have put security procedures in place to prevent such theft, loss or destruction, including but not limited to, offline storage, or cold storage, multiple encrypted private key “shards,” and other measures. Nevertheless, the security procedures cannot guarantee the prevention of any loss due to a security breach, software defect or act of God that may be borne by these issuers, and the security procedures may not protect against all errors, software flaws or other vulnerabilities in the issuers’ technical infrastructure, which could result in theft, loss or damage of its assets. Assets not held in cold storage, such as assets held in a trading account, may be more vulnerable to security breach, hacking or loss than assets held in cold storage. Furthermore, assets held in a trading account are held on an omnibus, rather than segregated basis, which creates greater risk of loss.
The security procedures and operational infrastructure may be breached due to the actions of outside parties, error or malfeasance of an employee, and, as a result, an unauthorized party may obtain access to accounts in which bitcoin is held, the relevant private keys (and therefore bitcoin) or other data or property. Additionally, outside parties may attempt to fraudulently induce employees to disclose sensitive information in order to gain access to such bitcoin.
Digital Asset Market and Volatility Risk. The prices of digital assets have historically been highly volatile. The value of such assets has been, and may continue to be, substantially dependent on speculation, such that trading and investing in these assets generally may not be based on fundamental analysis. The value of a Fund’s investments in instruments that provide exposure to an Applicable Security – and therefore the value of an investment in the Fund – could decline significantly and without warning. If you are not prepared to accept significant and unexpected changes in the value of the Fund, you should not invest in the Fund.
Digital Asset Regulatory Risk. There is a lack of consensus regarding the regulation of digital assets, including bitcoin, and their markets. As a result of the growth in the size of the digital asset market, as well as recent events in the digital asset market, the U.S. Congress and a number of U.S. federal and state agencies (including FinCEN, SEC, OCC, CFTC, FINRA, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the Department of Justice, the Department of Homeland Security, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Internal Revenue Service, state financial institution regulators, and others) have been examining the operations of digital asset networks, digital asset users and the digital asset markets. Many of these state and federal agencies have brought enforcement actions or issued consumer advisories regarding the risks posed by digital assets to investors. Ongoing and future regulatory actions with respect to digital assets generally or bitcoin in particular may alter, perhaps to a materially adverse extent, the nature of an investment in Fund Shares.
Irrevocability of Transactions Risk. Digital asset transactions are typically not reversible without the consent and active participation of the recipient of the transaction. Once a transaction has been verified and recorded in a block that is added to the blockchain, an incorrect transfer or theft of bitcoin generally will not be reversible, and issuers of an Applicable Security may not be capable of seeking compensation for any such transfer or theft. It is possible that, through computer or human error, or through theft or criminal action, bitcoin could be transferred from its account in incorrect amounts or to unauthorized third parties, or to uncontrolled accounts.
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Such events have occurred in connection with digital assets in the past. For example, in September 2014, the Chinese digital asset platform Huobi announced that it had sent approximately 900 bitcoin and 8,000 Litecoin (worth approximately $400,000 at the prevailing market prices at the time) to the wrong customers. To the extent that an issuer of an Applicable Security is unable to seek a corrective transaction with such third-party or is incapable of identifying the third-party which has received its bitcoin through error or theft, the issuer of an Applicable Security will be unable to revert or otherwise recover incorrectly transferred bitcoin. Issuers of the Applicable Securities will also be unable to convert or recover its bitcoin transferred to uncontrolled accounts. To the extent that an issuer of an Applicable Security is unable to seek redress for such error or theft, such loss could adversely affect the value of its shares.
Active Management Risk. Each Fund is actively managed, and its performance reflects investment decisions that the Adviser makes for the Fund. Such judgments about a Fund’s investments may prove to be incorrect. If the investments selected and the strategies employed by a Fund fail to produce the intended results, the Fund could underperform as compared to other funds with similar investment objectives and/or strategies, or could have negative returns.
Clearing Member Default Risk. Transactions in some types of derivatives, including the options held by the Fund, are required to be centrally cleared (“cleared derivatives”). In a transaction involving cleared derivatives, each Fund’s counterparty is a clearinghouse, such as the OCC, rather than a bank or broker. Since the Funds are not a member of clearinghouses, and only members of a clearinghouse (“clearing members”) can participate directly in the clearinghouse, each Fund will hold cleared derivatives through accounts at clearing members. With regard to its cleared derivatives positions, a Fund will make payments (including margin payments) to, and receive payments from, a clearinghouse through their accounts at clearing members. Customer funds held at a clearing organization in connection with any option contracts are held in a commingled omnibus account and are not associated with any of the clearing member’s individual customers by name. As a result, assets deposited by a Fund with any clearing member as margin for its options position may, in certain circumstances, be used to satisfy losses of other clients of the Fund’s clearing member. In addition, although clearing members guarantee performance of their clients’ obligations to the clearinghouse, there is a risk that the assets of a Fund might not be fully protected in the event of the clearing member’s bankruptcy. Each Fund is also subject to the risk that a limited number of clearing members are willing to transact on the Fund’s behalf, which heightens the risks associated with a clearing member’s default. If a clearing member defaults, a Fund could lose some or all of the benefits of a transaction entered into by the Fund with the clearing member. The loss of a clearing member for a Fund to transact with could result in increased transaction costs and other operational issues that could impede the Fund’s ability to implement its investment strategy. If a Fund cannot find a clearing member to transact with on the Fund’s behalf, the Fund may be unable to effectively implement its investment strategy.
Concentration Risk. Each Fund is susceptible to an increased risk of loss, including losses due to adverse events that affect the Fund’s investments more than the market as a whole, to the extent that the Fund’s investments are concentrated in investments that provide exposure to the Applicable Security and the industry to which it is assigned.
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Cybersecurity Risk. Each Fund is susceptible to operational risks due to breaches in cybersecurity. A breach in cybersecurity refers to both intentional and unintentional events that may cause a Fund to lose proprietary information, suffer data corruption or lose operational capacity. Such events could cause a Fund to incur regulatory penalties, reputational damage, additional compliance costs associated with corrective measures and/or financial loss. Cybersecurity breaches may involve unauthorized access to a Fund’s digital information systems through “hacking” or malicious software coding but may also result from outside attacks such as denial-of-service attacks due to efforts to make network services unavailable to intended users. In addition, cybersecurity breaches of a Fund’s third-party service providers, such as its administrator, transfer agent, custodian, or sub-advisor, as applicable, or the issuers in which a Fund invests, can also subject a Fund to many of the same risks associated with direct cybersecurity breaches. Although the Funds have established risk management systems designed to reduce the risks associated with cybersecurity, there is no guarantee that such efforts will succeed, especially because the Funds do not directly control the cybersecurity systems of issuers or third-party service providers.
Debt Securities Risk. Investments in debt securities subject the holder to the credit risk of the issuer. Credit risk refers to the possibility that the issuer or other obligor of a security will not be able or willing to make payments of interest and principal when due. Generally, the value of debt securities will change inversely with changes in interest rates. To the extent that interest rates rise, certain underlying obligations may be paid off substantially slower than originally anticipated and the value of those securities may fall sharply. During periods of falling interest rates, the income received by the Fund may decline. If the principal on a debt security is prepaid before expected, the prepayments of principal may have to be reinvested in obligations paying interest at lower rates. Debt securities generally do not trade on a securities exchange making them generally less liquid and more difficult to value than common stock.
Derivatives Risk. The use of derivative instruments involves risks different from, or possibly greater than, the risks associated with investing directly in securities and other traditional investments. These risks include: (i) the risk that the counterparty to a derivative transaction may not fulfill its contractual obligations; (ii) the risk of mispricing or improper valuation; and (iii) the risk that changes in the value of the derivative may not correlate perfectly with the underlying asset. Derivative prices are highly volatile and may fluctuate substantially during a short period of time. Such prices are influenced by numerous factors that affect the markets, including, but not limited to: changing supply and demand relationships; government programs and policies; national and international political and economic events, changes in interest rates, inflation and deflation and changes in supply and demand relationships. Trading derivative instruments involves risks different from, or possibly greater than, the risks associated with investing directly in securities. Derivative contracts ordinarily have leverage inherent in their terms. The use of leverage may cause a Fund to liquidate portfolio positions when it would not be advantageous to do so in order to satisfy its obligations or to meet regulatory or contractual requirements for derivatives. The use of derivatives can magnify potential for gain or loss and, therefore, amplify the effects of market volatility on share price.
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FLEX Options Risk. Trading FLEX Options involves risks different from, or possibly greater than, the risks associated with investing directly in securities. A Fund may experience losses from specific FLEX Option positions and certain FLEX Option positions may expire worthless. The FLEX Options are listed on an exchange; however, no one can guarantee that a liquid secondary trading market will exist for the FLEX Options. In the event that trading in the FLEX Options is limited or absent, the value of a Fund’s FLEX Options may decrease. In a less liquid market for the FLEX Options, liquidating the FLEX Options may require the payment of a premium (for written FLEX Options) or acceptance of a discounted price (for purchased FLEX Options) and may take longer to complete. A less liquid trading market may adversely impact the value of the FLEX Options and Fund Shares and result in the Fund being unable to achieve its investment objective. Less liquidity in the trading of a Fund’s FLEX Options could have an impact on the prices paid or received by the Fund for the FLEX Options in connection with creations and redemptions of Fund Shares. Depending on the nature of this impact to pricing, a Fund may be forced to pay more for redemptions (or receive less for creations) than the price at which it currently values the FLEX Options. Such overpayment or under collection could reduce a Fund’s ability to achieve its investment objective. Additionally, in a less liquid market for the FLEX Options, the liquidation of a large number of options may more significantly impact the price. A less liquid trading market may adversely impact the value of the FLEX Options and the value of your investment. The trading in FLEX Options may be less deep and liquid than the market for certain other exchange-traded options, non-customized options or other securities.
Inflation Risk. Inflation risk is the risk that the value of assets or income from investments will be less in the future as inflation decreases the value of money. As inflation increases, the present value of the Fund’s assets and distributions may decline. This risk is more prevalent with respect to fixed income securities held by a Fund.
Interest Rate Risk. Interest rate risk is the risk that the value of the debt securities in a Fund’s portfolio will decline because of rising market interest rates. Interest rate risk is generally lower for shorter term debt securities and higher for longer-term debt securities. Duration is a reasonably accurate measure of a debt security’s price sensitivity to changes in interest rates and a common measure of interest rate risk. Duration measures a debt security’s expected life on a present value basis, taking into account the debt security’s yield, interest payments and final maturity. In general, duration represents the expected percentage change in the value of a security for an immediate 1% change in interest rates. For example, the price of a debt security with a three-year duration would be expected to drop by approximately 3% in response to a 1% increase in interest rates. Therefore, prices of debt securities with shorter durations tend to be less sensitive to interest rate changes than debt securities with longer durations. As the value of a debt security changes over time, so will its duration.
Leverage Risk. While the Funds do not seek leveraged exposure, each Fund seeks to achieve and maintain the exposure to the price of its Applicable Security by using the leverage inherent in options contracts. Therefore, each Fund is subject to leverage risk. When a Fund purchases or sells an instrument or enters into a transaction without investing an amount equal to the full economic exposure of the instrument or transaction, it creates leverage, which can result in a Fund losing more than it originally invested. As a result, these investments may magnify losses to a Fund, and even a small market movement may result in significant losses to the Fund. Leverage may also cause a Fund to be more volatile because it may exaggerate the effect of any increase or decrease in the value of the Fund’s portfolio securities. Options trading involves a degree of leverage and, as a result, a relatively small price movement in futures instruments may result in immediate and substantial losses to a Fund.
Liquidity Risk. The market for options may be subject to periods of illiquidity. During such times it may be difficult or impossible to buy or sell a position at the desired price. Market disruptions or volatility can also make it difficult to find a counterparty willing to transact at a reasonable price and sufficient size. Illiquid markets may cause losses, which could be significant. The large size of the positions which a Fund may acquire increases the risk of illiquidity, may make its positions more difficult to liquidate, and may increase the losses incurred while trying to do so. Such large positions also may impact the price of options.
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New Fund Risk. Each Fund is a recently organized investment company with a limited operating history. As a result, prospective investors have a limited track record or history on which to base their investment decision.
Non-Diversification Risk. As a “non-diversified” fund, each Fund may hold a smaller number of portfolio securities than many other funds. To the extent a Fund invests in a relatively small number of issuers, a decline in the market value of a particular security held by a Fund may affect its value more than if it invested in a larger number of issuers. The value of the Fund Shares may be more volatile than the values of shares of more diversified funds.
Operational Risk. Each Fund is subject to risks arising from various operational factors, including, but not limited to, human error; processing and communication errors; errors of a Fund’s service providers, counterparties or other third parties; failed or inadequate processes; and technology or systems failures. Each Fund relies on third parties for a range of services, including custody. Any delay or failure relating to engaging or maintaining such service providers may affect a Fund’s ability to meet its investment objective. Although the Funds and the Adviser seek to reduce these operational risks through controls and procedures, there is no way to completely protect against such risks.
Options Risk. The use of options involves investment strategies and risks different from those associated with ordinary portfolio securities transactions and depends on the ability of a Fund’s portfolio managers to forecast market movements correctly. The prices of options are volatile and are influenced by, among other things, actual and anticipated changes in the value of the underlying instrument, or in interest or currency exchange rates, including the anticipated volatility, which in turn are affected by fiscal and monetary policies and by national and international political and economic events. The effective use of options also depends on a Fund’s ability to terminate option positions at times deemed desirable to do so. There is no assurance that a Fund will be able to effect closing transactions at any particular time or at an acceptable price. In addition, there may at times be an imperfect correlation between the movement in values of options and their underlying securities and there may at times not be a liquid secondary market for certain options.
Portfolio Turnover Risk. The Funds may experience high levels of portfolio turnover. A high portfolio turnover rate increases transaction costs, which may increase a Fund’s expenses. Frequent trading may also cause adverse tax consequences for investors in a Fund due to an increase in short-term capital gains.
Special Tax Risk. Each Fund intends to qualify as a “regulated investment company” or “RIC.” If, in any year, a Fund fails to qualify as a regulated investment company under the applicable tax laws, the Fund would be taxed as an ordinary corporation. Each Fund intends to treat any income it may derive from the FLEX Options as “qualifying income” under the provisions of the Code applicable to RICs. In addition, based upon language in the legislative history, each Fund intends to treat the issuer of the FLEX Options as the referenced asset, which may allow a Fund to qualify for special rules in the RIC diversification requirements. If the income is not qualifying income or the issuer of the FLEX Options is not appropriately the referenced asset, a Fund may lose its own status as a RIC if tax positions reflected by such options are large enough.
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Structural ETF Risks. Each Fund is an ETF. Accordingly, it is subject to certain risks associated with its unique structure.
Active Market Risk. Although Fund Shares are listed for trading on the Exchange, there can be no assurance that an active trading market for Fund Shares will develop or be maintained. Fund Shares trade on the Exchange at market prices that may be below, at or above the Fund’s net asset value. Securities, including Fund Shares, are subject to market fluctuations and liquidity constraints that may be caused by such factors as economic, political, or regulatory developments, changes in interest rates, and/or perceived trends in securities prices. Fund Shares could decline in value or underperform other investments.
Authorized Participant Concentration Risk. Only an Authorized Participant may engage in creation or redemption transactions directly with the Fund, and none of those Authorized Participants is obligated to engage in creation and/or redemption transactions. The Fund has a limited number of institutions that may act as Authorized Participants on an agency basis (i.e., on behalf of other market participants). To the extent that Authorized Participants exit the business or are unable to proceed with creation or redemption orders with respect to the Fund and no other Authorized Participant is able to step forward to create or redeem, Fund Shares may be more likely to trade at a premium or discount to NAV and possibly face trading halts or delisting. Authorized Participant concentration risk may be heightened for ETFs, such as the Fund, which invest in securities issued by non-U.S. issuers or other securities or instruments that have lower trading volumes.
Cash Transactions Risk. Each Fund currently expects to effect a significant portion of its creations and redemptions for cash, rather than in-kind securities. Paying redemption proceeds in cash rather than through in-kind delivery of portfolio securities may require a Fund to dispose of or sell portfolio securities or other assets at an inopportune time to obtain the cash needed to meet redemption orders. This may cause a Fund to sell a security and recognize a capital gain or loss that might not have been incurred if it had made a redemption in-kind. As a result, a Fund may pay out higher or lower annual capital gains distributions than ETFs that redeem in-kind. The use of cash creations and redemptions may also cause Fund Shares to trade in the market at greater bid-ask spreads or greater premiums or discounts to the Fund’s NAV. Furthermore, a Fund may not be able to execute cash transactions for creation and redemption purposes at the same price used to determine the Fund’s NAV. To the extent that the maximum additional charge for creation or redemption transactions is insufficient to cover the execution shortfall, a Fund’s performance could be negatively impacted.
Costs of Buying and Selling Fund Shares. Due to the costs of buying or selling Fund Shares, including brokerage commissions imposed by brokers and bid/ask spreads, frequent trading of Fund Shares may significantly reduce investment results, and an investment in Fund Shares may not be advisable for investors who anticipate regularly making small investments.
Premium/Discount Risk. As with all exchange-traded funds, Fund Shares may be bought and sold in the secondary market at market prices. The trading prices of Fund Shares in the secondary market may differ from the Fund’s daily net asset value per share and there may be times when the market price of the shares is more than the net asset value per share (premium) or less than the net asset value per share (discount). This risk is heightened in times of market volatility or periods of steep market declines.
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U.S. Government Securities Risk. U.S. government securities are subject to interest rate risk but generally do not involve the credit risks associated with investments in other types of debt securities. As a result, the yields available from U.S. government securities are generally lower than the yields available from other debt securities. U.S. government securities are guaranteed only as to the timely payment of interest and the payment of principal when held to maturity.
Valuation Risk. The Funds may hold securities or other assets that may be valued on the basis of factors other than market quotations. This may occur because the asset or security does not trade on a centralized exchange, or in times of market turmoil or reduced liquidity. There are multiple methods that can be used to value a portfolio holding when market quotations are not readily available. The value established for any portfolio holding at a point in time might differ from what would be produced using a different methodology or if it had been priced using market quotations. Portfolio holdings that are valued using techniques other than market quotations, including “fair valued” assets or securities, may be subject to greater fluctuation in their valuations from one day to the next than if market quotations were used. In addition, there is no assurance that a Fund could sell or close out a portfolio position for the value established for it at any time, and it is possible that a Fund would incur a loss because a portfolio position is sold or closed out at a discount to the valuation established by the Fund at that time. A Fund’s ability to value investments may be impacted by technological issues or errors by pricing services or other third-party service providers.
Management of the Funds
Each Fund is a series of Bitwise Funds Trust, an investment company registered under the 1940 Act. Each Fund is treated as a separate fund with its own investment objectives and policies. The Trust is organized as a Delaware statutory trust. The Board is responsible for the overall management and direction of the Trust. The Board elects the Trust’s officers and approves all significant agreements, including those with the Adviser, distributor, custodian and fund administrative and accounting agent.
Investment Adviser. Bitwise Investment Manager, LLC (“BIM”), 250 Montgomery Street, Suite 200, San Francisco, California 94104, serves as each Fund’s investment adviser. In its capacity as Adviser, BIM manages each Fund’s investments subject to the supervision of the Board. BIM also arranges for sub-advisory, transfer agency, custody, fund administration, distribution and all other services necessary for the Funds to operate. In particular, BIM provides investment and operational oversight.
Portfolio Managers. Jennifer Thornton, Daniela Padilla, Jeff Park and Gayatri Choudhury are primarily and jointly responsible for the day-to-day management of the Funds.
● | Jennifer Thornton, Portfolio Manager at BIM. Jennifer Thornton is Senior Index Fund Portfolio Manager at Bitwise. She is responsible for managing Bitwise’s suite of crypto index products, including performance and adherence to strategy and fund guidelines. Prior to joining Bitwise in 2021, Ms. Thornton worked for BlackRock in the ETF and Index Investments (EII) Americas Portfolio Management group. Previous to this role, she was with the Transition Management team in Trading and Liquidity Strategies, providing risk managed solutions to institutional investors undergoing portfolio reorganizations in multiple asset classes. Previous to BlackRock, Ms. Thornton was a transition portfolio manager, a project manager for system implementations, and a relationship manager overseeing dealings with strategic investment service partners at Barclays Global Investors. She earned an MBA degree from San Francisco State University and a BBA degree in marketing from the University of Mississippi. |
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● | Daniela Padilla, Portfolio Manager at BIM. Ms. Padilla is a Portfolio Manager at Bitwise with seven years of financial services experience. Ms. Padilla joined Bitwise in 2021 in a portfolio management capacity, and has four years of experience managing index funds and alternative investment portfolios at Bitwise, prior to which she gained four years of experience in financial services in operations and middle office roles at JP Morgan, BBVA Securities, and Barclay Investments. |
● | Jeff Park, Portfolio Manager and Head of Alpha Strategies at BIM. Mr. Park is responsible for developing and managing Bitwise’s suite of alpha products, including multi-strategy solutions and exchange traded funds. Prior to joining Bitwise in 2022, he was a Partner at Corbin Capital Partners, a multi-billion-dollar alternative asset management firm specializing in multi-strategy hedge funds and opportunistic credit investing, where he led the firm’s digital asset investing efforts as well as its multi-asset derivatives trading program. Before Corbin, Mr. Park was a Senior Associate at the Harvard Management Company focused on trading U.S. Corporate Credit, and before that was an Exotic Equity Derivatives trader at Morgan Stanley in New York. He is a graduate of Stanford University with a B.A. in Economics and International Relations, and has been a CFA charterholder since 2013. |
● | Gayatri Choudhury, Quantitative Investment Analyst at BIM. Ms. Choudhury is a Quantitative Investment Analyst at Bitwise with five years of industry experience. She is responsible for the research, development, and portfolio management of Bitwise’s suite of alpha products. Ms. Choudhury joined Bitwise in 2022 as a Quantitative Research Analyst. Prior to Bitwise, she worked in ETF Product Development and Management at Global X and started her career as a management consultant at Sia Partners. She graduated from New York University with a B.A. in Mathematics. |
For additional information concerning BIM, including a description of the services provided to the Funds, please see the Funds’ SAI. Additional information regarding the portfolio managers’ compensation, other accounts managed by the portfolio managers and the portfolio managers’ ownership of Fund Shares may also be found in the SAI.
Management Fee
Pursuant to an investment advisory agreement between BIM and the Trust, on behalf of the Funds (the “Investment Management Agreement”), each Fund has agreed to pay an annual unitary management fee to BIM in an amount equal to 0.95% of its average daily net assets. This unitary management fee is designed to pay a Fund’s expenses and to compensate BIM for the services it provides to the Fund. Out of the unitary management fee, BIM pays substantially all expenses of a Fund, including the cost of transfer agency, custody, fund administration, legal, audit and other service and license fees. However, BIM is not responsible for distribution and service fees payable pursuant to a Rule 12b-1 plan, if any, brokerage commissions and other expenses connected with the execution of portfolio transactions, taxes, interest, and extraordinary expenses.
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BIM has contractually agreed to waive its advisory fees and/or assume as its own expense certain expenses otherwise payable by a Fund to the extent necessary to ensure that total annual fund operating expenses (excluding brokerage commissions and other expenses connected with the execution of portfolio transactions, acquired fund fees and expenses, taxes, interest, and extraordinary expenses) do not exceed 0.95% of the Fund’s average daily net assets until April 2, 2027. This Agreement may be terminated by the Trust, on behalf of a Fund, at any time and by BIM after April 2, 2027 upon sixty (60) days’ written notice to a Fund.
How to Buy and Sell Shares
Fund Shares are listed for secondary trading on the Exchange and individual Fund Shares may only be purchased and sold in the secondary market through a broker-dealer. The Exchange and secondary markets are closed on weekends and also are generally closed on the following holidays: New Year’s Day, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, Presidents’ Day, Good Friday, Memorial Day (observed), Juneteenth, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day. The Exchange may close early on the business day before certain holidays and on the day after Thanksgiving Day. Exchange holiday schedules are subject to change without notice. If you buy or sell Fund Shares in the secondary market, you will pay the secondary market price for Fund Shares. In addition, you may incur customary brokerage commissions and charges and may pay some or all of the spread between the bid and the offered price in the secondary market on each leg of a round trip (purchase and sale) transaction.
The trading prices of Fund Shares will fluctuate continuously throughout trading hours based on market supply and demand rather than the relevant Fund’s net asset value, which is calculated at the end of each business day. Fund Shares will trade on the Exchange at prices that may be above (i.e., at a premium) or below (i.e., at a discount), to varying degrees, the daily net asset value of Fund Shares. The trading prices of Fund Shares may deviate significantly from the Fund’s net asset value during periods of market volatility. Given, however, that Fund Shares can be issued and redeemed daily in Creation Units, the Adviser believes that large discounts and premiums to net asset value should not be sustained over long periods.
Book Entry
Fund Shares are held in book-entry form, which means that no stock certificates are issued. The Depository Trust Company (“DTC”) or its nominee is the record owner of, and holds legal title to, all outstanding Fund Shares. Investors owning Fund Shares are beneficial owners as shown on the records of DTC or its participants. DTC serves as the securities depository for Fund Shares.
DTC participants include securities brokers and dealers, banks, trust companies, clearing corporations and other institutions that directly or indirectly maintain a custodial relationship with DTC. As a beneficial owner of Fund Shares, you are not entitled to receive physical delivery of stock certificates or to have Fund Shares registered in your name, and you are not considered a registered owner of Fund Shares. Therefore, to exercise any right as an owner of Fund Shares, you must rely upon the procedures of DTC and its participants. These procedures are the same as those that apply to any other securities that you hold in book-entry or “street name” form.
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Dividends, Distributions and Taxes
Ordinarily, dividends from net investment income, if any, are declared and paid at least annually by a Fund. The Fund distributes its net realized capital gains, if any, to shareholders annually.
Distributions in cash may be reinvested automatically in additional whole Fund Shares only if the broker through whom you purchased Fund Shares makes such option available.
Taxes
This section summarizes some of the main U.S. federal income tax consequences of owning Fund Shares. This section is current as of the date of this prospectus. Tax laws and interpretations change frequently, and these summaries do not describe all of the tax consequences to all taxpayers. For example, these summaries generally do not describe your situation if you are a corporation, a non-U.S. person, a broker-dealer, or other investor with special circumstances. In addition, this section does not describe your state, local or non-U.S. tax consequences.
This federal income tax summary is based in part on the advice of counsel to the Funds. The Internal Revenue Service could disagree with any conclusions set forth in this section. In addition, counsel to the Funds may not have been asked to review, and may not have reached a conclusion with respect to, the federal income tax treatment of the assets to be included in the Funds. The following disclosure may not be sufficient for you to use for the purpose of avoiding penalties under federal tax law.
As with any investment, you should seek advice based on your individual circumstances from your own tax advisor.
Fund Status. Each Fund intends to qualify as a “regulated investment company” under the federal tax laws. If a Fund qualifies as a regulated investment company and distributes its income as required by the tax law, the Fund generally will not pay federal income taxes.
Distributions. Each Fund’s distributions are generally taxable. After the end of each year, you will receive a tax statement that separates the distributions of a Fund into three categories: ordinary income distributions, capital gain dividends and returns of capital. Ordinary income distributions are generally taxed at your ordinary tax rate, however, as further discussed below certain ordinary income distributions received from a Fund may be taxed at the capital gains tax rates. Generally, you will treat all capital gain dividends as long-term capital gains regardless of how long you have owned your Fund Shares.
To determine your actual tax liability for your capital gain dividends, you must calculate your total net capital gain or loss for the tax year after considering all of your other taxable transactions, as described below. In addition, a Fund may make distributions that represent a return of capital for tax purposes and thus will generally not be taxable to you; however, such distributions may reduce your tax basis in your Fund Shares, which could result in you having to pay higher taxes in the future when Fund Shares are sold, even if you sell the Fund Shares at a loss from your original investment. A “return of capital” is a return, in whole or in part, of the funds that you previously invested in a Fund. A return of capital distribution should not be considered part of a Fund’s dividend yield or total return of an investment in Fund Shares. The tax status of your distributions from a Fund is not affected by whether you reinvest your distributions in additional Fund Shares or receive them in cash. The income from a Fund that you must take into account for federal income tax purposes is not reduced by amounts used to pay a deferred sales fee, if any. The tax laws may require you to treat distributions made to you in January as if you had received them on December 31 of the previous year.
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Income from a Fund may also be subject to a 3.8% “Medicare tax.” This tax generally applies to your net investment income if your adjusted gross income exceeds certain threshold amounts, which are $250,000 in the case of married couples filing joint returns and $200,000 in the case of single individuals.
Dividends Received Deduction. A corporation that owns Fund Shares generally will not be entitled to the dividends received deduction with respect to many dividends received from a Fund because the dividends received deduction is generally not available for distributions from RICs. However, certain ordinary income dividends on Fund Shares that are attributable to qualifying dividends received by a Fund from certain corporations may be reported by the Fund as being eligible for the dividends received deduction.
Capital Gains and Losses and Certain Ordinary Income Dividends. If you are an individual, the maximum marginal stated federal tax rate for net capital gains is generally 20% (15% or 0% for taxpayers with taxable incomes below certain thresholds). Some capital gains, including some portion of your capital gain dividends may be taxed at a higher maximum stated tax rate. Capital gains may also be subject to the Medicare tax described above.
Net capital gain equals net long-term capital gain minus net short-term capital loss for the taxable year. Capital gain or loss is long-term if the holding period for the asset is more than one year and is short-term if the holding period for the asset is one year or less. You must exclude the date you purchase your Fund Shares to determine your holding period. However, if you receive a capital gain dividend from a Fund and sell your Fund Shares at a loss after holding them for six months or less, the loss will be recharacterized as long-term capital loss to the extent of the capital gain dividend received. The tax rates for capital gains realized from assets held for one year or less are generally the same as for ordinary income. The Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, treats certain capital gains as ordinary income in special situations.
Ordinary income dividends received by an individual shareholder from a RIC such as a Fund are generally taxed at the same rates that apply to net capital gain (as discussed above), provided certain holding period requirements are satisfied and provided the dividends are attributable to qualifying dividends received by the Fund itself. A Fund will provide notice to its shareholders of the amount of any distribution which may be taken into account as a dividend which is eligible for the capital gains tax rates.
Options. The Funds intend to treat any income it may derive from the options as “qualifying income” under the provisions of the Code applicable to RICs. In addition, based upon language in the legislative history, the Funds intend to treat the issuer of the options as the referenced asset, which may allow the trust to qualify for special rules in the RIC diversification requirements. If the referenced asset is an index, the Funds intend to treat the issuer of the options as the issuer of the securities comprising the index. If the income is not qualifying income or the issuer of the options is not appropriately the referenced asset, a Fund could lose its own status as a RIC if the positions reflected by such options are large enough.
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Sale of Fund Shares. If you sell or redeem your Fund Shares, you will generally recognize a taxable gain or loss. To determine the amount of this gain or loss, you must subtract your tax basis in your Fund Shares from the amount you receive in the transaction. Your tax basis in your Fund Shares is generally equal to the cost of your Fund Shares, generally including brokerage fees, if any. In some cases, however, you may have to adjust your tax basis after you purchase your Fund Shares. An election may be available to you to defer recognition of capital gain if you make certain qualifying investments within a limited time. You should talk to your tax advisor about the availability of this deferral election and its requirements.
Taxes on Purchase and Redemption of Creation Units. If you exchange securities for Creation Units, you will generally recognize a gain or a loss. The gain or loss will be equal to the difference between the market value of the Creation Units at the time and your aggregate basis in the securities surrendered and the cash component paid. If you exchange Creation Units for securities, you will generally recognize a gain or loss equal to the difference between your basis in the Creation Units and the aggregate market value of the securities received and the cash redemption amount. The IRS, however, may assert that a loss realized upon an exchange of securities for Creation Units or Creation Units for securities cannot be deducted currently under the rules governing “wash sales,” or on the basis that there has been no significant change in economic position.
Treatment of Expenses. Expenses incurred and deducted by a Fund will generally not be treated as income taxable to you.
Non-U.S. Investors. If you are a non-U.S. investor (i.e., an investor other than a U.S. citizen or resident or a U.S. corporation, partnership, estate or trust), you should be aware that, generally, subject to applicable tax treaties, distributions from a Fund are characterized as dividends for federal income tax purposes (other than dividends which a Fund properly reports as capital gain dividends) are subject to U.S. federal income taxes, including withholding taxes, subject to certain exceptions described below. However, distributions received by a non-U.S. investor from a Fund that are properly reported by the Fund as capital gain dividends may not be subject to U.S. federal income taxes, including withholding taxes, provided that a Fund makes certain elections and certain other conditions are met. Distributions from a Fund that are properly reported by the Fund as an interest-related dividend attributable to certain interest income received by a Fund or as short-term capital gain income dividend attributable to certain net short term capital gain received by a Fund may not be subject to U.S. federal income taxes, including withholding taxes when received by certain non-U.S. investors, provided that a Fund makes certain elections and certain other conditions are met. For tax years after December 31, 2022, amounts paid to or recognized by a non-U.S. affiliate that are excluded from tax under the portfolio interest, capital gain dividends, short-term capital gains or tax-exempt interest dividend exceptions or applicable treaties, may be taken into consideration in determining whether a corporation is an “applicable corporation” subject to a 15% minimum tax on adjusted financial statement income.
Distributions may be subject to a U.S. withholding tax of 30% in the case of distributions to (i) certain non-U.S. financial institutions that have not entered into an agreement with the U.S. Treasury to collect and disclose certain information and are not resident in a jurisdiction that has entered into such an agreement with the U.S. Treasury and (ii) certain other non-U.S. entities that do not provide certain certifications and information about the entity’s U.S. owners. This withholding tax is also currently scheduled to apply to the gross proceeds from the disposition of securities that produce U.S. source interest or dividends. However, proposed regulations may eliminate the requirement to withhold on payments of gross proceeds from dispositions.
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It is the responsibility of the entity through which you hold your Fund Shares to determine the applicable withholding.
The foregoing discussion summarizes some of the possible consequences under current federal tax law of an investment in the Funds. It is not a substitute for personal tax advice. You also may be subject to state and local taxes on Fund distributions and sales of Fund Shares.
Distributor
Foreside Fund Services, LLC serves as the distributor of Creation Units for the Funds on an agency basis. The Distributor does not maintain a secondary market in Fund Shares.
Net Asset Value
The NAV of each Fund normally is determined once daily Monday through Friday, generally as of the close of regular trading hours of the New York Stock Exchange (“NYSE”) (normally 4:00 p.m., Eastern time) on each day that the NYSE is open for trading, based on prices at the time of closing, provided that any Fund assets or liabilities denominated in currencies other than the U.S. dollar are translated into U.S. dollars at the prevailing market rates on the date of valuation as quoted by one or more data service providers. The NAV of a Fund is calculated by dividing the value of the net assets of the Fund (i.e., the value of its total assets less total liabilities) by the total number of outstanding Fund Shares, generally rounded to the nearest cent. The value of the securities and other assets and liabilities held by a Fund is determined pursuant to valuation policies and procedures approved by the Board.
The Fund’s investments will be valued daily at market value or, in the absence of market value with respect to any securities or options contracts, at fair value in accordance with valuation procedures adopted by the Board and in accordance with the 1940 Act. Market value prices represent last sale or official closing prices from a national or foreign exchange (i.e., a regulated market) and are primarily obtained from third-party pricing services.
When market quotations are not readily available or are believed by the Adviser to be unreliable, a Fund’s investments are valued at fair value. Fair value determinations are made by the Adviser in accordance with policies and procedures approved by the Board. The Adviser may conclude that a market quotation is not readily available or is unreliable if a security or other asset or liability does not have a price source due to its lack of trading or other reasons, if a market quotation differs significantly from recent price quotations or otherwise no longer appears to reflect fair value, where the security or other asset or liability is thinly traded, when there is a significant event subsequent to the most recent market quotation, or if the trading market on which a security is listed is suspended or closed and no appropriate alternative trading market is available.
For certain non-U.S. assets, a third-party vendor supplies evaluated, systematic fair value pricing based upon the movement of a proprietary multi-factor model after the relevant non-U.S. markets have closed. This systematic fair value pricing methodology is designed to correlate the prices of foreign assets in one or more non-U.S. markets following the close of the local markets to the prices that might have prevailed as of the Fund’s pricing time.
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Fair value represents a good faith approximation of the value of an asset or liability. The fair value of an asset or liability held by a Fund is the amount the Fund might reasonably expect to receive from the current sale of that asset or the cost to extinguish that liability in an arm’s-length transaction. Valuing a Fund’s investments using fair value pricing will result in prices that may differ from current market valuations and that may not be the prices at which those investments could have been sold during the period in which the particular fair values were used.
Fund Service Providers
The Bank of New York Mellon (“BNY Mellon”), located at 240 Greenwich Street, New York, New York 10286, serves as each Fund’s administrator, custodian and transfer agent. BNY Mellon is the principal operating subsidiary of The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation.
Chapman and Cutler LLP, 320 South Canal Street, Chicago, Illinois 60606, serves as legal counsel to the Trust.
KPMG LLP, 345 Park Avenue, New York, NY 10154, serves as each Fund’s independent registered public accounting firm and is responsible for auditing the annual financial statements of the Funds.
Premium/Discount Information
Information showing the number of days the market price of the Fund Shares was greater (at a premium) and less (at a discount) than each Fund’s NAV for the most recently completed calendar year, and the most recently completed calendar quarters since that year (or the life of a Fund, if shorter), is available at https://www.icoietf.com (for ICOI), https://www.imraetf.com (for IMRA) or https://www.imstetf.com (for IMST).
Investments by Other Investment Companies
Section 12(d)(1) of the 1940 Act restricts investments by investment companies in the securities of other investment companies, including Fund Shares. Each Fund is required to comply with the conditions of Rule 12d1-4 under the 1940 Act, which allows, subject to certain conditions, the Fund to invest in other registered investment companies and other registered investment companies to invest in the Fund beyond the limits contained in Section 12(d)(1) of the 1940 Act.
Financial Highlights
The Funds are new and have no performance history as of the date of this prospectus. Financial information is therefore not available.
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Bitwise COIN Option Income Strategy ETF (ICOI)
Bitwise MARA Option Income Strategy ETF (IMRA)
Bitwise MSTR Option Income Strategy ETF (IMST)
For more detailed information on the Funds, several additional sources of information are available to you. The Funds’ SAI, incorporated by reference into this prospectus, contains detailed information on the Funds’ policies and operation. Additional information about a Fund’s investments is available in the annual and semi-annual reports to shareholders. In a Fund’s annual reports, you will find a discussion of the market conditions and investment strategies that significantly impacted the Fund’s performance during the last fiscal year. A Fund’s most recent SAI, annual or semi-annual reports and certain other information are available free of charge by calling the Funds at (415) 707-3663 and on the Fund’s website at https://www.icoietf.com (for ICOI), https://www.imraetf.com (for IMRA), or https://www.imstetf.com (for IMST), or through your financial advisor. Shareholders may call the number above with any inquiries.
You may obtain this and other information regarding the Funds, including the SAI and Codes of Ethics adopted by the Adviser, Distributor and the Trust, directly from the SEC. Information on the SEC’s website is free of charge. Visit the SEC’s online EDGAR database at http://www.sec.gov. You may also request information regarding the Funds by sending a request (along with a duplication fee) to the SEC by sending an electronic request to publicinfo@sec.gov.
Bitwise Investment Manager, LLC
250 Montgomery Street, Suite 200
San Francisco, CA 94104
www.bitwiseinvestments.com
SEC File #333-264900
811-23801
Statement of Additional Information
Bitwise COIN Option Income Strategy ETF (ICOI)
Bitwise MARA Option Income Strategy ETF (IMRA)
Bitwise MSTR Option Income Strategy ETF (IMST)
March 24, 2025
This Statement of Additional Information (“SAI”) is not a prospectus. It should be read in conjunction with the prospectus dated March 24, 2025, as it may be revised from time to time (the “Prospectus”), for the Bitwise COIN Option Income Strategy ETF, Bitwise MARA Option Income Strategy ETF and Bitwise MSTR Option Income Strategy ETF (each, a “Fund,” and collectively, the “Funds”), each a series of the Bitwise Funds Trust (the “Trust”). The Funds’ Prospectus is hereby incorporated by reference. Capitalized terms used herein that are not defined have the same meanings as in the Prospectus, unless otherwise noted. A copy of the Funds’ Prospectus may be obtained without charge by writing to the Funds’ distributor, Foreside Fund Services, LLC, at Three Canal Plaza, Suite 100, Portland, ME 04101, or by calling toll free at (866) 880-7228. You may also obtain a Prospectus by visiting the Fund’s website at https://www.icoietf.com (for ICOI), https://www.imraetf.com (for IMRA) or https://www.imstetf.com (for IMST).
References to the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “1940 Act”), or other applicable law, will include any rules promulgated thereunder and any guidance, interpretations or modifications by the SEC, SEC staff, or other authority with appropriate jurisdiction, including court interpretations, and exemptive, no action or other relief or permission from the SEC, SEC staff, or other authority.
Table of contents
General Description of the Trust and the Fund
The Trust was organized as a Delaware statutory trust on April 28, 2022 and is authorized to issue an unlimited number of shares in one or more series. The Trust is an open-end management investment company, registered under the 1940 Act. The Trust currently offers shares in eight separate series, representing separate portfolios of investments. This SAI relates solely to each Fund, which is non-diversified. Each Fund, as a series of the Trust, represents a beneficial interest in a separate portfolio of securities and other assets, with its own objective and policies.
Bitwise Investment Manager, LLC serves as each Fund’s investment adviser (“BIM” or the “Adviser”). Foreside Fund Services, LLC, serves as each Fund’s distributor (“Foreside” or the “Distributor”).
The Board of Trustees of the Trust (the “Board of Trustees” or the “Trustees”) has the right to establish additional series in the future, to determine the preferences, voting powers, rights and privileges thereof and to modify such preferences, voting powers, rights and privileges without shareholder approval. Shares of any series may also be divided into one or more classes at the discretion of the Trustees. The Trust or any series or class thereof may be terminated at any time by the Board of Trustees upon written notice to the shareholders.
Each Fund’s shares (“Fund Shares”) list and principally trade on NYSE Arca, Inc. (the ”Exchange”). Fund Shares trade on the Exchange at market prices that may be below, at or above a Fund’s net asset value (“NAV”). ETFs, such as the Funds, do not sell or redeem an individual Fund Shares. Instead, a Fund offers, issues and redeems Fund Shares at NAV only in aggregations of a specified number of Fund Shares (each a “Creation Unit”). Financial entities known as “authorized participants” (which are discussed in greater detail below) have contractual arrangements with a Fund or the Distributor to purchase and redeem a Fund’s Shares directly with a Fund in Creation Units in exchange for the securities comprising a Fund and/or cash, or some combination thereof. Fund Shares are traded in the secondary market and elsewhere at market prices that may be at, above, or below a Fund’s NAV. Fund Shares are only redeemable in Creation Units by authorized participants. An authorized participant that purchases a Creation Unit of Fund Shares deposits with a Fund a “basket” of securities and/or other assets identified by a Fund that day, and then receives the Creation Unit of Fund Shares in return for those assets. The redemption process is the reverse of the purchase process: the authorized participant redeems a Creation Unit of Fund Shares for a basket of securities and other assets. The basket is generally representative of a Fund’s portfolio, and together with a cash balancing amount, it is equal to the NAV of the Fund Shares comprising the Creation Unit. Pursuant to Rule 6c-11 of the 1940 Act, a Fund may utilize baskets that are not representative of a Fund’s portfolio. Such “custom baskets” are discussed in the section entitled “Creations and Redemptions of Creation Units.” Transaction fees and other costs associated with creations or redemptions that include cash may be higher than the transaction fees and other costs associated with in-kind creations or redemptions. In all cases, conditions with respect to creations and redemptions of shares and fees will be limited in accordance with the requirements of SEC rules and regulations applicable to management investment companies offering redeemable securities.
Exchange Listing and Trading
Fund Shares are listed for trading and trade throughout the day on the Exchange and in other secondary markets. There can be no assurance that the requirements of the Exchange necessary to maintain the listing of Fund Shares will continue to be met. The Exchange may, but is not required to, remove the Fund Shares from listing if, among other things: (i) following the initial 12-month period beginning upon the commencement of trading of Fund Shares, there are fewer than 50 record and/or beneficial owners of Fund Shares; (ii) a Fund is no longer eligible to operate in reliance on Rule 6c-11; (iii) any of the other listing requirements are not continuously maintained; or (iv) any event shall occur or condition shall exist that, in the opinion of the Exchange, makes further dealings on the Exchange inadvisable. The Exchange will also remove Fund Shares from listing and trading upon termination of the Fund.
As in the case of other stocks traded on the Exchange, brokers’ commissions on transactions will be based on negotiated commission rates at customary levels.
The Trust reserves the right to adjust the price levels of Fund Shares in the future to help maintain convenient trading ranges for investors. Any adjustments would be accomplished through stock splits or reverse stock splits, which would have no effect on the net assets of the Fund.
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Investment Objective and Policies
The Prospectus describes the investment objective and certain policies of the Funds. The following supplements the information contained in the Prospectus concerning the investment objective and policies of the Funds.
Each Fund is subject to the following fundamental policies, which may not be changed without approval of the holders of a majority of the outstanding voting securities (as such term is defined in the 1940 Act) of the Fund:
(1) | The Fund may not issue senior securities, except as permitted under the 1940 Act. | |
(2) | The Fund may not borrow money, except as permitted under the 1940 Act. | |
(3) | The Fund will not underwrite the securities of other issuers except to the extent the Fund may be considered an underwriter under the 1933 Act in connection with the purchase and sale of portfolio securities. |
(4) | The Fund will not purchase or sell real estate or interests therein, unless acquired as a result of ownership of securities or other instruments (but this shall not prohibit the Fund from purchasing or selling securities or other instruments backed by real estate or of issuers engaged in real estate activities). | |
(5) | The Fund may not make loans, except as permitted under the 1940 Act and exemptive orders granted thereunder. | |
(6) | The Fund may not purchase or sell physical commodities unless acquired as a result of ownership of securities or other instruments (but this shall not prevent the Fund from purchasing or selling options, futures contracts, forward contracts or other derivative instruments, or from investing in securities or other instruments backed by physical commodities). | |
(7) | Bitwise COIN Option Income Strategy ETF will concentrate (i.e., invest more than 25% of its total assets) its investments in the industry or group of industries to which common shares of Coinbase Global, Inc. (“COIN”) are assigned (i.e., hold 25% or more of its total assets in investments that provide exposure to the industry or group of industries to which COIN is assigned). | |
Bitwise MARA Option Income Strategy ETF will concentrate (i.e., invest more than 25% of its total assets) its investments in the industry or group of industries to which common shares of MARA Holdings, Inc. (“MARA”) are assigned (i.e., hold 25% or more of its total assets in investments that provide exposure to the industry or group of industries to which MARA is assigned).
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Bitwise MSFT Option Income Strategy ETF will concentrate (i.e., invest more than 25% of its total assets) its investments in the industry or group of industries to which common shares of MicroStrategy Incorporated (“MSTR”) are assigned (i.e., hold 25% or more of its total assets in investments that provide exposure to the industry or group of industries to which MSTR is assigned). |
As of December 1, 2024, the group of industries to which each applicable security is assigned is set forth below.
Security |
Assigned Industry Group |
COIN | Diversified Financials |
MARA | Software & Services |
MSTR | Software & Services |
For purposes of applying restriction (1) above, under the 1940 Act as currently in effect, a Fund is not permitted to issue senior securities, except that the Fund may borrow from any bank if immediately after such borrowing the value of the Fund’s total assets is at least 300% of the principal amount of all of the Fund’s borrowings (i.e., the principal amount of the borrowings may not exceed 33 1/3% of the Fund’s total assets). In the event that such asset coverage shall at any time fall below 300% a Fund shall, within three days thereafter (not including Sundays and holidays), reduce the amount of its borrowings to an extent that the asset coverage of such borrowings shall be at least 300%. The fundamental investment limitations set forth above limit a Fund’s ability to engage in certain investment practices and purchase securities or other instruments to the extent permitted by, or consistent with, applicable law. As such, these limitations will change as the statute, rules, regulations or orders (or, if applicable, interpretations) change, and no shareholder vote will be required or sought.
Except for restriction (2), if a percentage restriction is adhered to at the time of investment, a later increase in percentage resulting from a change in market value of the investment or the total assets will not constitute a violation of that restriction. With respect to restriction (2), if the limitations are exceeded as a result of a change in market value then a Fund will reduce the amount of borrowings within three days thereafter to the extent necessary to comply with the limitations (not including Sundays and holidays).
For purposes of applying restriction (5) above, a Fund may not make loans to other persons, except through (i) the purchase of debt securities permissible under a Fund’s investment policies, (ii) repurchase agreements, or (iii) the lending of portfolio securities (if any), provided that no such loan of portfolio securities may be made by a Fund if, as a result, the aggregate of such loans would exceed 33-1/3% of the value of the Fund’s total assets.
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With respect to the fundamental policy relating to concentration set forth in (7) above, the 1940 Act does not define what constitutes “concentration” in an industry. The SEC staff has taken the position that investment of 25% or more of a fund’s total assets in one or more issuers conducting their principal activities in the same industry or group of industries constitutes concentration. It is possible that interpretations of concentration could change in the future. The policy in (7) above will be interpreted to refer to concentration as that term may be interpreted from time to time. The policy also will be interpreted to permit investment without limit in the following: securities of the U.S. government and its agencies or instrumentalities; securities of state, territory, possession or municipal governments and their authorities, agencies, instrumentalities or political subdivisions; and repurchase agreements collateralized by any such obligations. Accordingly, issuers of the foregoing securities will not be considered to be members of any industry. There also will be no limit on investment in issuers domiciled in a single jurisdiction or country. Finance companies will be considered to be in the industries of their parents if their activities are primarily related to financing the activities of the parents. Each foreign government will be considered to be a member of a separate industry. With respect to a Fund’s industry classifications, the Funds currently utilize any one or more of the industry sub-classifications used by one or more widely recognized market indexes or rating group indexes, and/or as defined by Fund management. The policy also will be interpreted to give broad authority to a Fund as to how to classify issuers within or among industries.
The foregoing fundamental policies of a Fund may not be changed without the affirmative vote of the majority of the outstanding voting securities of the Fund. The 1940 Act defines a majority vote as the vote of the lesser of (i) 67% or more of the voting securities represented at a meeting at which more than 50% of the outstanding securities are represented; or (ii) more than 50% of the outstanding voting securities. With respect to the submission of a change in an investment policy to the holders of outstanding voting securities of a Fund, such matter shall be deemed to have been effectively acted upon with respect to a Fund if a majority of the outstanding voting securities of the Fund vote for the approval of such matter, notwithstanding that such matter has not been approved by the holders of a majority of the outstanding voting securities of any other series of the Trust affected by such matter.
In addition to the foregoing fundamental policies, each Fund is also subject to strategies and policies discussed herein which, unless otherwise noted, are non-fundamental policies and may be changed by the Board of Trustees.
Investment Strategies
Each Fund is actively managed and seeks to achieve its investment objectives through the use of a synthetic covered call strategy that provides current income, while also providing exposure to the price return of the security indicated by its name, subject to a limit on potential investment gains. A Fund seeks to provide its synthetic long exposure through the purchase and sale of a combination of call and put option contracts that utilize a specific security as the reference asset. A Fund’s sale of call options to generate income will potentially limit the degree to which such Fund will participate in any gains experienced by the underlying reference asset.
The Bitwise COIN Option Income Strategy ETF will invest at least 80% of its net assets plus borrowings in options contracts that utilize COIN as the reference asset.
The Bitwise MARA Option Income Strategy ETF will invest at least 80% of its net assets plus borrowings in options contracts that utilize MARA as the reference asset.
The Bitwise MSTR Option Income Strategy ETF will invest at least 80% of its net assets plus borrowings in options contracts that utilize MSTR as the reference asset.
For purposes of compliance with these investment policies, derivative contracts will be valued at their notional value. A Fund’s shareholders are entitled to 60 days’ prior written notice to any change in its non-fundamental investment policy.
Types of Investments
Options Contracts. A Fund will buy and write (sell) options on securities, indexes and other assets for the purpose of realizing its investment objective. By buying a call option, a Fund has the right, in return for a premium paid during the term of the option, to buy the asset underlying the option at the exercise price. By writing (selling) a call option, a Fund becomes obligated during the term of the option to sell the asset underlying the option at the exercise price if the option is exercised; conversely, by buying a put option, a Fund has the right, in return for a premium paid during the term of the option, to sell the asset underlying the option at the exercise price. By writing a put option, a Fund becomes obligated during the term of the option to purchase the asset underlying the option at the exercise price if the option is exercised. Cash-settled options give the holder (purchaser) of an option the right to receive an amount of cash upon exercise of the option. Receipt of this cash amount will depend upon the value of the underlying asset (or closing level of the index, as the case may be) upon which the option is based being greater than (in the case of a call) or less than (in the case of a put) the level at which the exercise price of the option is set. The amount of cash received, if any, will be the difference between the value of the underlying asset (or closing price level of the index, as the case may be) and the exercise price of the option, multiplied by a specified dollar multiple. The writer (seller) of the option is obligated, in return for the premiums received from the purchaser of the option, to make delivery of this amount to the purchaser. All settlements of index options transactions are in cash.
In the case of cleared options, in order to secure the obligation to deliver the underlying asset in the case of a call option, the writer of a call option is required to deposit in escrow the underlying asset or other assets in accordance with the rules of the Options Clearing Corporation (the “OCC”), a clearing agency created to interpose itself between buyers and sellers of options. The OCC assumes the other side of every purchase and sale transaction on an exchange and, by doing so, guarantees performance by the other side of the transaction. Pursuant to relevant regulatory requirements, a Fund is required to agree in writing to be bound by the rules of the OCC. The principal reason for a Fund to write call options on assets held by a Fund is to attempt to realize, through the receipt of premiums, a greater return than would be realized on the underlying assets alone.
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If a Fund that writes an option wishes to terminate a Fund’s obligation, a Fund may effect a “closing purchase transaction.” A Fund accomplishes this by buying an option of the same series as the option previously written by a Fund. The effect of the purchase is that the writer’s position will be cancelled by the OCC. However, a writer may not effect a closing purchase transaction after the writer has been notified of the exercise of an option. Likewise, a Fund which is the holder of an option may liquidate its position by effecting a “closing sale transaction.” A Fund accomplishes this by selling an option of the same series as the option previously purchased by a Fund. There is no guarantee that either a closing purchase or a closing sale transaction can be effected. If any call or put option is not exercised or sold, the option will become worthless on its expiration date. A Fund will realize a gain (or a loss) on a closing purchase transaction with respect to a call or a put option previously written by a Fund if the premium, plus commission costs, paid by a Fund to purchase the call or put option to close the transaction is less (or greater) than the premium, less commission costs, received by a Fund on the sale of the call or the put option. A Fund also will realize a gain if a call or put option which a Fund has written lapses unexercised, because a Fund would retain the premium.
Although certain securities exchanges attempt to provide continuously liquid markets in which holders and writers of options can close out their positions at any time prior to the expiration of the option, no assurance can be given that a market will exist at all times for all outstanding options purchased or sold by a Fund. If an options market were to become unavailable, a Fund would be unable to realize its profits or limit its losses until a Fund could exercise options it holds, and a Fund would remain obligated until options it wrote were exercised or expired. Reasons for the absence of liquid secondary market on an exchange include the following: (i) there may be insufficient trading interest in certain options; (ii) restrictions may be imposed by an exchange on opening or closing transactions or both; (iii) trading halts, suspensions or other restrictions may be imposed with respect to particular classes or series of options; (iv) unusual or unforeseen circumstances may interrupt normal operations on an exchange; (v) the facilities of an exchange or the OCC may not at all times be adequate to handle current trading volume; or (vi) one or more exchanges could, for economic or other reasons, decide or be compelled at some future date to discontinue the trading of options (or a particular class or series of options) and those options would cease to exist, although outstanding options on that exchange that had been issued by the OCC as a result of trades on that exchange would continue to be exercisable in accordance with their terms.
Securities self-regulatory organizations (e.g., the exchanges and FINRA) have established limitations governing the maximum number of call or put options of certain types that may be bought or written (sold) by a single investor, whether acting alone or in concert with others. These position limits may restrict the number of listed options which a Fund may buy or sell. While a Fund is not directly subject to these rules, as a result of rules applicable to the broker-dealers with whom a Fund transacts in options, it is required to agree in writing to be bound by relevant position limits.
FLexible EXchange options (“FLEX Options”). A Fund will also utilize FLEX Options. FLEX Options are a type of listed options contract with uniquely customizable terms that allow investors to customize key terms like style, strike price, and expiration date that are standardized in a typical options contract. FLEX Options are also guaranteed for settlement by the OCC.
Illiquid Investments. Pursuant to Rule 22e-4 under the 1940 Act, a Fund may not acquire any “illiquid investment” if, immediately after the acquisition, the Fund would have invested more than 15% of its net assets in illiquid investments that are assets. An “illiquid investment” is any investment that a Fund reasonably expects cannot be sold or disposed of in current market conditions in seven calendar days or less without the sale or disposition significantly changing the market value of the investment. Illiquid investments include repurchase agreements with a notice or demand period of more than seven days, certain stripped mortgage-backed securities, certain municipal leases, certain over-the-counter derivative instruments, securities and other financial instruments that are not readily marketable, and restricted securities unless, based upon a review of the relevant market, trading and investment-specific considerations, those investments are determined not to be illiquid. The Trust has implemented a liquidity risk management program and related procedures to identify illiquid investments pursuant to Rule 22e-4, and the Board of Trustees has approved the designation of the certain officers of the Trust to administer the Trust’s liquidity risk management program and related procedures. In determining whether an investment is an illiquid investment, the designated officers of the Trust will take into account actual or estimated daily transaction volume of an investment, group of related investments or asset class and other relevant market, trading, and investment-specific considerations. In addition, in determining the liquidity of an investment, the designated officers of the Trust must determine whether trading varying portions of a position in a particular portfolio investment or asset class, in sizes that a Fund would reasonably anticipate trading, is reasonably expected to significantly affect its liquidity and, if so, a Fund must take this determination into account when classifying the liquidity of that investment or asset class.
In addition to actual or estimated daily transaction volume of an investment, group of related investments or asset class and other relevant market, trading, and investment-specific considerations, the following factors, among others, will generally impact the classification of an investment as an “illiquid investment”: (i) any investment that is placed on the Adviser’s restricted trading list; and (ii) any investment that is delisted or for which there is a trading halt at the close of the trading day on the primary listing exchange at the time of classification (and in respect of which no active secondary market exists). Investments purchased by a Fund that are liquid at the time of purchase may subsequently become illiquid due to these and other events and circumstances. If one or more investments in a Fund’s portfolio become illiquid, the Fund may exceed the 15% limitation in illiquid investments. In the event that changes in the portfolio or other external events cause a Fund to exceed this limit, the Fund must take steps to bring its illiquid investments that are assets to or below 15% of its net assets within a reasonable period of time. This requirement would not force a Fund to liquidate any portfolio instrument where the Fund would suffer a loss on the sale of that instrument.
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Short-Term Instruments and Temporary Investments. A Fund may invest in short-term instruments, including money market instruments, on an ongoing basis to provide liquidity or for other reasons. Money market instruments are generally short-term investments that may include, but are not limited to: (i) shares of money market funds; (ii) obligations issued or guaranteed by the U.S. government, its agencies or instrumentalities (including government-sponsored enterprises); (iii) negotiable certificates of deposit, bankers’ acceptances, fixed-time deposits and other obligations of U.S. and non-U.S. banks (including non-U.S. branches) and similar institutions; (iv) commercial paper rated, at the date of purchase, “Prime-1” by Moody’s® Investors Service, Inc., “F-1” by Fitch Ratings, Inc., or “A-1” by Standard & Poor’s® Financial Services, LLC, a subsidiary of S&P Global, Inc., or, if unrated, of comparable quality as determined by the Adviser; (v) non-convertible corporate debt securities (e.g., bonds and debentures) with remaining maturities at the date of purchase of not more than 397 days and that satisfy the rating requirements set forth in Rule 2a-7 under the 1940 Act; (vi) repurchase agreements; and (vii) short-term U.S. dollar denominated obligations of non-U.S. banks (including U.S. branches) that, in the opinion of the Adviser, are of comparable quality to obligations of U.S. banks that may be purchased by the Fund. Any of these instruments may be purchased on a current or forward-settled basis. Time deposits are non-negotiable deposits maintained in banking institutions for specified periods of time at stated interest rates. Bankers’ acceptances are time drafts drawn on commercial banks by borrowers, usually in connection with international transactions.
U.S. Government Obligations. Thes Fund may invest in various types of U.S. government obligations. U.S. government obligations are a type of bond and include securities issued or guaranteed as to principal and interest by the U.S. government, its agencies or instrumentalities. Payment of principal and interest on U.S. government obligations (i) may be backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. or (ii) may be backed solely by the issuing or guaranteeing agency or instrumentality itself (as with Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Federal Home Loan Bank notes). In the latter case, the Funds must look principally to the agency or instrumentality issuing or guaranteeing the obligation for ultimate repayment, which agency or instrumentality may be privately owned. There can be no assurance that the U.S. government would provide financial support to its agencies or instrumentalities where it is not obligated to do so. As a general matter, the value of debt instruments, including U.S. government obligations, declines when market interest rates increase and rises when market interest rates decrease. Certain types of U.S. government obligations are subject to fluctuations in yield or value due to their structure or contract terms.
Portfolio Turnover
Each Fund buys and sells portfolio securities in the normal course of its investment activities. The proportion of a Fund’s investment portfolio that is bought and sold during a year is known as the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate. A turnover rate of 100% would occur, for example, if a Fund bought and sold securities valued at 100% of its net assets within one year. A high portfolio turnover rate could result in the payment by a Fund of increased brokerage costs, expenses and taxes.
Investment Risks
Borrowing and Leverage Risk
When a Fund borrows money, it must pay interest and other fees, which will reduce a Fund’s returns if such costs exceed the returns on the portfolio securities purchased or retained with such borrowings. Any such borrowings are intended to be temporary. However, under certain market conditions, including periods of low demand or decreased liquidity, such borrowings might be outstanding for longer periods of time. As prescribed by the 1940 Act, a Fund will be required to maintain specified asset coverage of at least 300% with respect to any bank borrowing immediately following such borrowing. A Fund may be required to dispose of assets on unfavorable terms if market fluctuations or other factors reduce a Fund’s asset coverage to less than the prescribed amount.
Covered Call Option Risk
By writing covered call options in return for the receipt of premiums, a Fund will give up the opportunity to benefit from potential increases in the value of the reference asset above the exercise prices of the written options but will continue to bear the risk of declines in the value of the reference asset. The premiums received from the options may not be sufficient to offset any losses sustained from the volatility of the reference asset over time.
The covered call strategy may be subject to imperfect matching or price correlation between the written options and the reference asset, which could reduce a Fund’s returns. Exchanges may suspend the trading of options (for example due to volatile markets or if trading in the reference asset is halted). If trading is suspended, a Fund may be unable to write or purchase options at times that may be desirable or advantageous to a Fund to do so. If a Fund is unable to extinguish the option position before exercise, a Fund may be required to deliver the corresponding shares of the reference asset, resulting in increased transaction costs, tracking error, underinvestment, and, potentially, the realization of capital gains. Further, this could lead to repurchasing shares of the reference asset or selling the corresponding options at a less favorable price than a Fund might have received had the options been extinguished. A Fund uses options which are struck once per month, and the timing of changes in the price of the reference asset may affect a Fund’s performance. For example, if the reference asset experiences a drop in price followed by a quick rebound, a Fund may be unable to fully participate in the rebound if the rebound occurs immediately after a Fund’s roll date. In addition, if trading is suspended, a Fund may be unable to purchase an offsetting option for purposes of closing out an existing written option at the originally scheduled time and date.
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Current Market Conditions Risk
Current market conditions risk is the risk that a particular investment, or Fund Shares in general, may fall in value due to current market conditions. As a means to fight inflation, which remains at elevated levels, the Federal Reserve and certain foreign central banks have raised interest rates; however, the Federal Reserve has recently lowered interest rates and may continue to do so. U.S. regulators have proposed several changes to market and issuer regulations which would directly impact a Fund, and any regulatory changes could adversely impact a Fund’s ability to achieve its investment strategies or make certain investments. Recent and potential future bank failures could result in disruption to the broader banking industry or markets generally and reduce confidence in financial institutions and the economy as a whole, which may also heighten market volatility and reduce liquidity. Additionally, challenges in commercial real estate markets, including rising interest rates, declining valuations, and increasing vacancies, could have a broader impact on financial markets. The ongoing adversarial political climate in the United States, as well as political and diplomatic events both domestic and abroad, have and may continue to have an adverse impact the U.S. regulatory landscape, markets and investor behavior, which could have a negative impact on a Fund’s investments and operations. The change in administration resulting from the 2024 United States national elections could result in significant impacts to international trade relations, tax and immigration policies, and other aspects of the national and international political and financial landscape, which could affect, among other things, inflation and the securities markets generally. Other unexpected political, regulatory and diplomatic events within the U.S. and abroad may affect investor and consumer confidence and may adversely impact financial markets and the broader economy. For example, ongoing armed conflicts between Russia and Ukraine in Europe and among Israel, Iran, Hamas and other militant groups in the Middle East, have caused and could continue to cause significant market disruptions and volatility within the markets in Russia, Europe, the Middle East and the United States. The hostilities and sanctions resulting from those hostilities have and could continue to have a significant impact on certain Fund investments as well as Fund performance and liquidity. The economies of the United States and its trading partners, as well as the financial markets generally, may be adversely impacted by trade disputes and other matters. For example, the United States has imposed trade barriers and restrictions on China. In addition, the Chinese government is engaged in a longstanding dispute with Taiwan, continually threatening an invasion. If the political climate between the United States and China does not improve or continues to deteriorate, if China were to attempt an invasion of Taiwan, or if other geopolitical conflicts develop or worsen, economies, markets and individual securities may be adversely affected, and the value of a Fund’s assets may go down. A public health crisis and the ensuing policies enacted by governments and central banks may cause significant volatility and uncertainty in global financial markets, negatively impacting global growth prospects. As the COVID-19 global pandemic illustrated, such events may affect certain geographic regions, countries, sectors and industries more significantly than others. Advancements in technology may also adversely impact markets and the overall performance of a Fund. For instance, the economy may be significantly impacted by the advanced development and increased regulation of artificial intelligence. Additionally, cybersecurity breaches of both government and non-government entities could have negative impacts on infrastructure and the ability of such entities, including a Fund, to operate properly. These events, and any other future events, may adversely affect the prices and liquidity of the Fund’s portfolio investments and could result in disruptions in the trading markets.
Cybersecurity Risk
A Fund is susceptible to potential operational risks through breaches in cybersecurity. A breach in cybersecurity refers to both intentional and unintentional events that may cause a Fund to lose proprietary information, suffer data corruption, or lose operational capacity. Such events could cause a Fund to incur regulatory penalties, reputational damage, additional compliance costs associated with corrective measures and/or financial loss. Cybersecurity breaches may involve unauthorized access to a Fund’s digital information systems through “hacking” or malicious software coding, but may also result from outside attacks such as denial-of-service attacks through efforts to make network services unavailable to intended users. In addition, cybersecurity breaches of a Fund’s third-party service providers, such as its administrator, transfer agent, custodian, or sub-adviser, as applicable, or issuers in which a Fund invests, can also subject a Fund to many of the same risks associated with direct cybersecurity breaches. A Fund has established risk management systems designed to reduce the risks associated with cybersecurity. However, there is no guarantee that such efforts will succeed, especially because a Fund does not directly control the cybersecurity systems of issuers or third-party service providers.
Derivatives Risk
The use of derivatives presents risks different from, and possibly greater than, the risks associated with investing directly in traditional securities. Among the risks presented are market risk, credit risk, management risk and liquidity risk. The Fund will only invest in exchange-traded futures contracts and will not invest in any over-the-counter derivatives. The use of derivatives can lead to losses because of adverse movements in the price or value of the underlying asset, index or rate, which may be magnified by certain features of the derivatives. The success of the Adviser’s derivatives strategies will depend on its ability to assess and predict the impact of market or economic developments on the underlying asset, index or rate and the derivative itself, without the benefit of observing the performance of the derivative under all possible market conditions. Liquidity risk exists when a security cannot be purchased or sold at the time desired, or cannot be purchased or sold without adversely affecting the price. Certain specific risks associated with an investment in derivatives may include: market risk, credit risk, correlation risk, liquidity risk, legal risk and systemic or “interconnection” risk, as specified below.
1. | Market Risk. Market risk is the risk that the value of the underlying assets may go up or down. Adverse movements in the value of an underlying asset can expose the Fund to losses. Market risk is the primary risk associated with derivative transactions. Derivative instruments may include elements of leverage and, accordingly, fluctuations in the value of the derivative instrument in relation to the underlying asset may be magnified. The successful use of derivative instruments depends upon a variety of factors, particularly the portfolio managers’ ability to predict movements of the securities, currencies and commodities markets, which may require different skills than predicting changes in the prices of individual securities. There can be no assurance that any particular strategy adopted will succeed. A decision to engage in a derivative transaction will reflect the portfolio managers’ judgment that the derivative transaction will provide value to the Fund and its shareholders and is consistent with the Fund’s objective, investment limitations and operating policies. In making such a judgment, the portfolio managers will analyze the benefits and risks of the derivative transactions and weigh them in the context of the Fund’s overall investments and investment objective. |
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2. | Credit Risk. Credit risk is the risk that a loss may be sustained as a result of the failure of a counterparty to comply with the terms of a derivative instrument. Specifically, a futures commission merchant (“FCM”) or clearing house could fail to perform its obligations, causing significant losses to the Fund. For example, the Fund could lose margin payments it has deposited with an FCM as well as any gains owed but not paid to the Fund, if the FCM or clearing house becomes insolvent or otherwise fails to perform its obligations. Credit risk of market participants with respect to derivatives that are centrally cleared is concentrated in a few clearing houses and it is not clear how an insolvency proceeding of a clearing house would be conducted and what impact an insolvency of a clearing house would have on the financial system. Under current CFTC regulations, a FCM maintains customers’ assets in a bulk segregated account. If a FCM fails to do so, or is unable to satisfy a substantial deficit in a customer account, its other customers may be subject to risk of loss of their funds in the event of that FCM’s bankruptcy. In that event, in the case of futures and options on futures, the FCM’s customers are entitled to recover, even in respect of property specifically traceable to them, only a proportional share of all property available for distribution to all of that FCM’s customers. In addition, if the FCM does not comply with the applicable regulations, or in the event of a fraud or misappropriation of customer assets by the FCM, the Fund could have only an unsecured creditor claim in an insolvency of the FCM with respect to the margin held by the FCM. FCMs are also required to transfer to the clearing house the amount of margin required by the clearing house, which amount is generally held in an omnibus account at the clearing house for all customers of the FCM. |
3. | Correlation Risk. Correlation risk is the risk that there might be an imperfect correlation, or even no correlation, between price movements of a derivative instrument and price movements of the underlying reference asset. This might occur due to factors unrelated to the value of the investments underlying reference asset, such as speculative or other pressures on the markets in which these instruments are traded. |
4. | Liquidity Risk. Liquidity risk is the risk that a derivative instrument cannot be sold, closed out or replaced quickly at or very close to its fundamental value. Generally, exchange contracts are very liquid because the exchange clearing house is the counterparty of every contract. The Fund’s ability to sell or close out a position in an instrument prior to expiration or maturity depends upon the existence of a liquid secondary market or, in the absence of such a market, the ability and willingness of the counterparty to enter into a transaction closing out the position. Due to liquidity risk, there is no assurance that any derivatives position can be sold or closed out at a time and price that is favorable to the Fund. |
5. | Legal Risk. Legal risk is the risk of loss caused by the unenforceability of a party’s obligations under the derivative. While a party seeking price certainty agrees to surrender the potential upside in exchange for downside protection, the party taking the risk is looking for a positive payoff. Despite this voluntary assumption of risk, a counterparty that has lost money in a derivative transaction may try to avoid payment by exploiting various legal uncertainties about certain derivative products. |
6. | Systemic or “Interconnection” Risk. Systemic or “interconnection” risk is the risk that a disruption in the financial markets will cause difficulties for all market participants. In other words, a disruption in one market will spill over into other markets, perhaps creating a chain reaction. |
Failure to Qualify as a Regulated Investment Company Risk
If, in any year, a Fund fails to qualify as a regulated investment company under the applicable tax laws, the Fund would be taxed as an ordinary corporation. In such circumstances, a Fund could be required to recognize unrealized gains, pay substantial taxes and interest and make substantial distributions before requalifying as a regulated investment company that is accorded special tax treatment. If a Fund fails to qualify as a regulated investment company, distributions to the Fund’s shareholders generally would be eligible for the dividends received deduction in the case of corporate shareholders.
Liquidity Risk
A Fund may have investments that they may not be able to dispose of or close out readily at a favorable time or price (or at all), or at a price approximating the Fund’s valuation of the investment. For example, certain investments may be subject to restrictions on resale, may trade over-the-counter or in limited volume, or may not have an active trading market. Illiquid securities may trade at a discount from comparable, more liquid investments and may be subject to wide fluctuations in market value. It may be difficult for a Fund to value illiquid securities accurately. The market for certain investments may become illiquid under adverse market or economic conditions independent of any specific adverse changes in the conditions of a particular issuer. If a Fund needed to sell a large block of illiquid securities to meet shareholder redemption request or to raise cash, these sales could further reduce the securities’ prices and adversely affect performance of the Fund. Disposal of illiquid securities may entail registration expenses and other transaction costs that are higher than those for liquid securities.
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Options Risk
The use of options involves investment strategies and risks different from those associated with ordinary portfolio securities transactions and depends on the ability of a Fund’s portfolio manager to forecast market movements correctly. The prices of options are influenced by, among other things, actual and anticipated changes in the value of the underlying instrument, or in interest or currency exchange rates, including the anticipated volatility, which in turn are affected by fiscal and monetary policies and by national and international political and economic events. As a seller (writer) of a put option, the seller will tend to lose money if the value of the reference index or security falls below the strike price. As the seller (writer) of a call option, the seller will tend to lose money if the value of the reference index or security rises above the strike price. As the buyer of a put or call option, the buyer risks losing the entire premium invested in the option if the buyer does not exercise the option. The effective use of options also depends on a Fund’s ability to terminate option positions at times deemed desirable to do so. There is no assurance that a Fund will be able to effect closing transactions at any particular time or at an acceptable price. In addition, there may at times be an imperfect correlation between the movement in values of options and their underlying securities and there may at times not be a liquid secondary market for certain options. Options may also involve the use of leverage, which could result in greater price volatility than other markets.
Trading Issues Risk
Although the Fund Shares are listed for trading on the Exchange, there can be no assurance that an active trading market for such Fund Shares will develop or be maintained. Trading in Fund Shares on the Exchange may be halted due to market conditions or for reasons that, in the view of the Exchange, make trading in Fund Shares inadvisable. In addition, trading in Fund Shares on the Exchange is subject to trading halts caused by extraordinary market volatility pursuant to the Exchange’s “circuit breaker” rules. Market makers are under no obligation to make a market in the Fund Shares, and authorized participants are not obligated to submit purchase or redemption orders for Creation Units. In the event market makers cease making a market in the Fund Shares or authorized participants stop submitting purchase or redemption orders for Creation Units, Fund Shares may trade at a larger premium or discount to their NAV. There can be no assurance that the requirements of the Exchange necessary to maintain the listing of the Fund will continue to be met or will remain unchanged. The Fund may have difficulty maintaining its listing on the Exchange in the event the Fund’s assets are small or the Fund does not have enough shareholders.
U.S. Treasury Obligations Risk
U.S. Treasury obligations may differ from other securities in their interest rates, maturities, times of issuance and other characteristics. Similar to other issuers, changes to the financial condition or credit rating of the U.S. government may cause the value of a Fund’s U.S. Treasury obligations to decline. U.S. Treasury securities are rated AA+ by S&P Global Ratings. A downgrade of the rating of U.S. Treasury securities may cause the value of a Fund’s U.S. Treasury obligations to decline. Because U.S. government debt obligations are often used as a benchmark for other borrowing arrangements, a downgrade could also result in higher interest rates for a range of borrowers, cause disruptions in the international bond markets and have a substantial adverse effect on the U.S. and global economy.
A high national debt level may increase market pressures to meet government funding needs, which may drive debt cost higher and lead the government to issue additional debt, thereby increasing refinancing risk. A high national debt also raises concerns that the U.S. government will not be able to make principal or interest payments when they are due. If market participants determine that U.S. sovereign debt levels have become unsustainable, the value of the U.S. dollar could decline, thus increasing inflationary pressures, particularly with respect to services outsourced to non-U.S. providers and imported goods and constrain or prevent the U.S. government from implementing effective countercyclical fiscal policy in economic downturns. Direct obligations of the U.S. Treasury have historically involved little risk of loss of principal if held to maturity. However, due to fluctuations in interest rates, the market value of such securities may vary during the period that shareholders own shares of a Fund. Notwithstanding that U.S. Treasury obligations are backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S., circumstances could arise that could prevent the timely payment of interest or principal, such as reaching the legislative “debt ceiling.” Such non-payment would result in losses to a Fund and substantial negative consequences for the U.S. economy and the global financial system.
Valuation Risk
A Fund may hold securities or other assets that may be valued on the basis of factors other than market quotations. This may occur because the asset or security does not trade on a centralized exchange, or in times of market turmoil or reduced liquidity. There are multiple methods that can be used to value a portfolio holding when market quotations are not readily available. The value established for any portfolio holding at a point in time might differ from what would be produced using a different methodology or if it had been priced using market quotations. Portfolio holdings that are valued using techniques other than market quotations, including “fair valued” assets or securities, maybe subject to greater fluctuation in their valuations from one day to the next than if market quotations were used. In addition, there is no assurance that a Fund could sell or close out a portfolio position for the value established for it at any time, and it is possible that a Fund would incur a loss because a portfolio position is sold or closed out at a discount to the valuation established by a Fund at that time. A Fund’s ability to value investments may be impacted by technological issues or errors by pricing services or other third-party service providers.
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Management of the Fund
Trustees and Officers
The general supervision of the duties performed for a Fund under the Investment Management Agreement (as defined below) is the responsibility of the Board of Trustees. There are four Trustees of the Trust, one of whom is an “interested person” (as the term is defined in the 1940 Act) (the “Interested Trustee”) and three of whom are Trustees who are not officers or employees of BIM or any of its affiliates (each an “Independent Trustee” and collectively the “Independent Trustees”). The Trustees serve for indefinite terms until their resignation, death or removal. The Trust has not established a lead Independent Trustee position. The Trustees set broad policies for the Funds, choose the Trust’s officers and hire the Funds’ investment adviser. Each Trustee, except for Paul Fusaro, is an Independent Trustee. Mr. Fusaro is deemed an Interested Trustee of the Trust due to his position as Chief Operating Officer of BIM and President of the Trust. The officers of the Trust manage its day-to-day operations, are responsible to the Board of Trustees and serve indefinite terms. The following is a list of the Trustees and executive officers of the Trust and a statement of their present positions and principal occupations during the past five years, the number of portfolios each Trustee oversees and the other directorships they have held during the past five years, if applicable.
Name, Address and Year of Birth |
Position and Offices with Trust |
Term of office and year first elected or appointed |
Principal Occupations During Past 5 Years |
Number of Portfolios in the Bitwise Fund Complex Overseen by Trustee |
Other Trusteeships or Directorships Held by Trustee During the Past 5 Years |
Interested Trustees | |||||
Paul Fusaro(1) c/o Bitwise Investment Manager, LLC 250 Montgomery Street Suite 200 San Francisco, CA 94104 Y.O.B.: 1985 |
Chairman of the Board of Trustees; President |
• Indefinite term • Since inception
|
President (2021 - present), Chief Operating Officer (2018 – 2021) of Bitwise Asset Management; Chief Operating Officer and Secretary of Bitwise Investment Manager, LLC (2022 – present) | 8 | None |
Independent Trustees | |||||
David Fogel c/o Bitwise Investment Manager, LLC 250 Montgomery Street Suite 200 San Francisco, CA 94104 Y.O.B.: 1971 |
Trustee |
• Indefinite term • Since inception
|
Chief Executive Officer of North Country Colocation Services Corp. (2022 – present); Senior Adviser of U.S. Department of State (2020 – 2021); Chief of Staff of the Export-Import Bank of the United States (2019 – 2020); Senior Adviser of New York Life Investment Management (2018); President and Chief Executive Officer of IndexIQ LLC (2006 – 2017) | 8 | Ligilo Inc. (2022 – present) |
Jena Watson c/o Bitwise Investment Manager, LLC 250 Montgomery Street Suite 200 San Francisco, CA 94104 Y.O.B.: 1972 |
Trustee |
• Indefinite term • Since inception
|
Partner of ArentFox Shiff LLP (2023 – present); Senior Vice President, Assistant General Counsel and Corporate Secretary of HomeStreet Bank (2021 – 2023); Senior Counsel of Silicon Valley Bank (2018 –2021) | 8 | City of Belvedere Parks and Open Spaces (2021 – present) |
Terrence Olson c/o Bitwise Investment Manager, LLC 250 Montgomery Street Suite 200 San Francisco, CA 94104 Y.O.B.: 1967 |
Trustee |
• Indefinite term • Since inception
|
Chief Finance Officer of Andalusian Credit Partners, LLC (2023 – 2024); Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer of First Eagle Alternative Credit, LLC (2020 – 2021); Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer of THL Credit Advisors, LLC (2008 – 2020)
|
8 | - |
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Name, Address and Year of Birth |
Position and Offices with Trust |
Term of Office and Year First Elected or Appointed |
Principal Occupations During Past 5 Years |
Number of Portfolios in the Bitwise Fund Complex Overseen by Trustee |
Other Trusteeships or Directorships Held by Trustee During the Past 5 Years |
Officers of the Trust | |||||
Jim Gallo (2) |
Treasurer and Principal Financial Officer |
• Indefinite term • Since inception
|
Principal Consultant of ACA Foreside (2022 – present); Vice President and Director of Fund/Client Accounting of Bank of New York Mellon (2002 – 2022) | N/A | N/A |
Katherine Dowling c/o Bitwise Investment Manager, LLC 250 Montgomery Street Suite 200 San Francisco, CA 94104 |
General Counsel |
• Indefinite term • Since inception |
General Counsel and Vice President of Bitwise Investment Manager, LLC (2022 – present); General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer of Bitwise Asset Management (2021 – present); Executive Management, General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer of True Capital Management (2019 – 2021) | N/A | N/A |
Johanna Collins-Wood c/o Bitwise Investment Manager, LLC 250 Montgomery Street Suite 200 San Francisco, CA 94104 |
Secretary and Vice President |
• Indefinite term • Since inception |
Senior Counsel of Bitwise Asset Management (2021 – present); Chief Compliance Officer of Bitwise Investment Manager, LLC (2022 – present); Associate of Wilson, Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati LLP (2019 – 2021); Associate of Pepper Hamilton LLP (2017 – 2019) | N/A | N/A |
Kevin Hourihan(2) c/o Foreside Fund Officer Services, LLC Three Canal Plaza Portland, ME 04101 |
Chief Compliance Officer and Anti-Money Laundering Officer |
• Indefinite term • Since inception |
Fund Chief Compliance Officer of Foreside Fund Officer Services, LLC (2022 – present); Chief Compliance Officer of Ashmore Funds (2017 – 2022); Chief Compliance Officer of Ashmore Equities Investment Management (2015 – 2019) | N/A | N/A |
(1) | Mr. Fusaro is deemed an “interested person” of the Trust due to his position as Chief Operating Officer and Secretary of Bitwise Investment Manager, LLC and President of the Trust. |
(2) | Mr. Gallo and Mr. Hourihan are employees of Foreside Fund Officer Services, LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Foreside Financial Group, LLC, an affiliate of the Fund’s distributor. |
Unitary Board Leadership Structure
Each Trustee serves as a trustee of all funds in the Bitwise Fund Complex (as defined below), which is known as a “unitary” board leadership structure. Each Trustee currently serves as a trustee of the Fund and is anticipated to serve as a trustee for future Funds advised by BIM (each, a “Bitwise Fund” and collectively, the “Bitwise Fund Complex”). None of the Trustees who are not “interested persons” of the Trust, nor any of their immediate family members, have ever been a director, officer, or employee of, or consultant to, BIM or any of its affiliates. Mr. Fusaro, an Interested Trustee, serves as the Chair of the Board of Trustees for each Fund in the Bitwise Fund Complex.
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The same four persons serve as Trustees on the Board of Trustees and are anticipated to serve on the Board of Trustees of all other funds in the Bitwise Fund Complex. The unitary board structure was adopted for the Bitwise Fund Complex because of the efficiencies it achieves with respect to the governance and oversight of the Bitwise Funds. Each Bitwise Fund is subject to the rules and regulations of the 1940 Act (and other applicable securities laws), which means that many of the Bitwise Funds face similar issues with respect to certain of their fundamental activities, including risk management, portfolio liquidity, portfolio valuation and financial reporting. Because of the similar and often overlapping issues facing the Bitwise Funds, including among any such exchange-traded funds, the Board of Trustees of the Bitwise Funds believes that maintaining a unitary board structure promotes efficiency and consistency in the governance and oversight of all Bitwise Funds and reduces the costs, administrative burdens and possible conflicts that may result from having multiple boards. In adopting a unitary board structure, the Trustees seek to provide effective governance through establishing a board the overall composition of which, as a body, possesses the appropriate skills, diversity, independence and experience to oversee the Fund’s business.
Annually, the Board of Trustees will review its governance structure and the committee structures, its performance and functions and any processes that would enhance board governance over the business of the Bitwise Funds. The Board of Trustees has determined that its leadership structure, including the unitary board and committee structure, is appropriate based on the characteristics of the funds it serves and the characteristics of the Bitwise Fund Complex as a whole.
The Board of Trustees has established two standing committees (as described below) and has delegated certain of its responsibilities to those committees. The Board of Trustees and its committees meet frequently throughout the year to oversee the activities of the Fund, review contractual arrangements with and the performance of service providers, oversee compliance with regulatory requirements and review Fund performance. The Independent Trustees are represented by independent legal counsel at all Board and committee meetings. Generally, the Board of Trustees acts by majority vote of the Trustees present at a meeting, assuming a quorum is present, unless otherwise required by applicable law.
The two standing committees of the Board of Trustees are the Nominating Committee and the Audit Committee.
The Nominating Committee is responsible for appointing and nominating non-interested persons to the Board of Trustees. Ms. Watson, Mr. Fogel and Mr. Olson are members of the Nominating Committee, with Ms. Watson serving as its Chair. If there is no vacancy on the Board of Trustees, the Board of Trustees will not actively seek recommendations from other parties, including shareholders. The Nominating Committee will not consider new trustee candidates who are 70 years of age or older or would turn 70 years old during the first three years of their service on the Board of Trustees. When a vacancy on the Board of Trustees occurs and nominations are sought to fill such vacancy, the Nominating Committee may seek nominations from those sources it deems appropriate in its discretion, including shareholders of the Funds. To submit a recommendation for nomination as a candidate for a position on the Board of Trustees, shareholders of the Funds should mail such recommendation to Johanna Collins-Wood, Secretary, at the Trust’s address, 250 Montgomery Street, Suite 200, San Francisco, CA 94104. Such recommendation shall include the following information: (i) a statement in writing setting forth (A) the name, age, date of birth, business address, residence address and nationality of the person or persons to be nominated; (B) the class or series and number of all shares of a Fund owned of record or beneficially by each such person or persons, as reported to such shareholder by such nominee(s); (C) any other information regarding each such person required by paragraphs (a), (d), (e) and (f) of Item 401 of Regulation S-K or paragraph (b) of Item 22 of Rule 14a-101 (Schedule 14A) under the 1934 Act; (D) any other information regarding the person or persons to be nominated that would be required to be disclosed in a proxy statement or other filings required to be made in connection with solicitation of proxies for election of trustees or directors pursuant to Section 14 of the 1934 Act and the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder; and (E) whether such shareholder believes any nominee is or will be an “interested person” of a Fund (as defined in the 1940 Act) and, if not an “interested person,” information regarding each nominee that will be sufficient for the Fund to make such determination; and (ii) the written and signed consent of any person to be nominated to be named as a nominee and to serve as a trustee if elected. In addition, the Trustees may require any proposed nominee to furnish such other information as they may reasonably require or deem necessary to determine the eligibility of such proposed nominee to serve as a Trustee.
The Audit Committee is responsible for overseeing the Fund’s accounting and financial reporting process, the system of internal controls and audit process and for evaluating and appointing independent auditors (subject also to approval of the Board of Trustees). Ms. Watson, Mr. Fogel and Mr. Olson serve on the Audit Committee, with Mr. Olson serving as its Chair.
Risk Oversight
As part of the general oversight of the Funds, the Board of Trustees is involved in the risk oversight of the Funds. The Board of Trustees has adopted and periodically reviews policies and procedures designed to address the Funds’ risks. Oversight of investment and compliance risk, including, if applicable, oversight of any sub-advisers, is performed primarily at the Board of Trustees level in conjunction with the Trust’s Chief Compliance Officer (“CCO”) and Anti-Money Laundering Officer.
The Board has appointed a CCO who oversees the implementation and evaluation of the Fund’s compliance program. Kevin Hourihan of Foreside Fund Officer Services, LLC (“Foreside Officer Services”) serves as CCO and Anti-Money Laundering Officer of the Trust. In a joint effort between the Trust and Foreside Officer Services to ensure the Trust complies with Rule 38a-1 under the 1940 Act, Foreside Officer Services has agreed to render services to the Trust by entering into a Chief Compliance Officer Services Agreement (the “CCO Services Agreement”) with the Trust. Pursuant to the CCO Services Agreement, Foreside Officer Services designates, subject to the Trust’s approval, one of its own employees to serve as CCO of the Trust within the meaning of Rule 38a-1. Mr. Hourihan currently serves in such capacity under the terms of the CCO Services Agreement.
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Oversight of other risks also occurs at the committee level. The Adviser’s investment oversight group reports to the Board of Trustees at quarterly meetings regarding, among other things, Fund performance and the various drivers of such performance as well as information related to the Adviser and its operations and processes. The Board of Trustees reviews reports on each Fund’s and the service providers’ compliance policies and procedures at each quarterly Board of Trustee meeting and receives an annual report from the CCO regarding the operations of a Fund’s and the service providers’ compliance programs. In addition, the Independent Trustees meet privately each quarter with the CCO. The Audit Committee reviews with the Adviser each Fund’s major financial risk exposures and the steps the Adviser has taken to monitor and control these exposures, including each Fund’s risk assessment and risk management policies and guidelines. The Audit Committee also, as appropriate, reviews in a general manner the processes other Board committees have in place with respect to risk assessment and risk management. The Nominating Committee monitors all matters related to the corporate governance of the Trust.
Not all risks that may affect a Fund can be identified nor can controls be developed to eliminate or mitigate their occurrence or effects. It may not be practical or cost effective to eliminate or mitigate certain risks, the processes and controls employed to address certain risks may be limited in their effectiveness, and some risks are simply beyond the reasonable control of a Fund, the Adviser or other service providers. Moreover, it is necessary to bear certain risks (such as investment-related risks) to achieve a Fund’s goals. As a result of the foregoing and other factors, a Fund’s ability to manage risk is subject to substantial limitations.
Board Diversification and Trustee Qualifications
As described above, the Nominating Committee of the Board of Trustees oversees matters related to the nomination of Trustees. The Nominating Committee seeks to establish an effective Board of Trustees with an appropriate range of skills and diversity, including, as appropriate, differences in background, professional experience, education, vocations, and other individual characteristics and traits in the aggregate. Each Trustee must meet certain basic requirements, including relevant skills and experience, time availability and, if qualifying as an Independent Trustee, independence from the Adviser, underwriters or other service providers, including any affiliates of these entities.
Listed below for each current Trustee are the experiences, qualifications and attributes that led to the conclusion, as of the date of this SAI, that each current Trustee should serve as a Trustee in light of the Trust’s business and structure.
Independent Trustees. Jena Watson is the Chair of the Bitwise Fund Complex Nominating Committee and has served as a Trustee on the Bitwise Funds Trust’s Board of Trustees since 2022. She is currently a partner at ArentFox Schiff LLP, a role she has held since 2023. Prior to joining ArentFox Schiff, Ms. Watson served as the Senior Vice President, Assistant General Counsel and Corporate Secretary for HomeStreet Bank from 2021 to 2023. Ms. Watson served as Senior Counsel for Silicon Valley Bank from 2018 until 2021.
David Fogel has served as a Trustee on the Bitwise Funds Trust’s Board of Trustees since 2022. He currently serves as the Chief Executive Officer of North Country Colocation Services Corp., a role he has held since 2022. From 2020 until 2021, Mr. Fogel was a Senior Adviser to the U.S. Department of State. Prior to his time at the U.S. State Department, he served as the Chief of Staff of the Export-Import Bank of the United States, a role he held from 2019 to 2020. From 2006 until 2017, he served as the President and Chief Executive Officer of IndexIQ LLC and, in 2018, served as Senior Adviser of New York Life Investment Management, an affiliate of IndexIQ LLC.
Terrence Olson is the Chair of the Bitwise Fund Complex Audit Committee and has served as a Trustee on the Bitwise Funds Trust’s Board of Trustees since 2022. Mr. Olson served as the Chief Finance Officer of Andalusian Credit Partners from 2023 to 2024. From 2020 to 2021, Mr. Olson served as the Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer of First Eagle Alternative Credit, LLC. Prior to that, he served in the same role, Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer, of THL Credit Advisors, LLC.
Interested Trustee. Paul (Teddy) Fusaro is the Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Bitwise Fund Complex and serves as the Chief Operating Officer and Secretary of BIM. Mr. Fusaro also serves as the President of Bitwise Asset Management, the parent of BIM, a role in which he has served since 2021. Prior to being appointed President in 2021, Mr. Fusaro served as the Chief Operating Officer of Bitwise Asset Management since 2018. Prior to that, Mr. Fusaro was Senior Vice President and Head of Portfolio Management and Capital Markets at IndexIQ, the ETF issuer unit of New York Life Investment Management. Prior to IndexIQ, he was Vice President of Portfolio Management and co-head of Trading and Operations at Direxion Investments.
Each Independent Trustee is paid a fixed quarterly retainer of $2,500. The fixed annual retainer is allocated equally among each Fund in the Bitwise Fund Complex. Trustees are also reimbursed for travel and out-of-pocket expenses incurred in connection with all meetings.
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The following table sets forth the estimated compensation to be paid by the Trust each Independent Trustee (excluding reimbursement for travel and out-of-pocket expenses) for services to the Funds and the aggregate compensation paid to them for services to the Bitwise Fund Complex during the fiscal period ended December 31, 2024. The Trust has no retirement or pension plans. The officers and Trustees who are “interested persons” as designated above serve without any compensation from the Trust. The Trust has no employees. Its officers are compensated by BIM.
Name of Trustee |
Estimated Compensation from The Funds |
Total Compensation from the Bitwise Fund Complex |
Jena Watson | $3,750 | $10,000 |
David Fogel | $3,750 | $10,000 |
Terrence Olson | $3,750 | $10,000 |
The following table sets forth the dollar range of equity securities beneficially owned by the Interested and Independent Trustees in the Fund and all funds overseen by the Trustees in the Bitwise Fund Complex as of December 31, 2024:
Trustee |
Dollar Range of Equity Securities in the Fund |
Aggregate Dollar Range of Equity Securities in All Registered Investment Companies Overseen by Trustee in the Bitwise Fund Complex |
Interested Trustee | ||
Paul Fusaro | None | None |
Independent Trustees | ||
Jena Watson | None | None |
David Fogel | None | None |
Terrence Olson | None | None |
As of December 31, 2024, the Independent Trustees of the Trust and immediate family members did not own beneficially or of record any class of securities of an investment adviser or principal underwriter of the Funds or any person directly or indirectly controlling, controlled by, or under common control with an investment adviser or principal underwriter of the Funds.
As of the date of this Statement of Additional Information, the officers of the Trust and Trustees, in the aggregate, owned less than 1% of the shares of the Funds.
Control Persons and Principal Holders of Securities
A principal shareholder is any person who owns (either of record or beneficially) 5% or more of the outstanding shares of a fund. A control person is one who owns, either directly or indirectly, more than 25% of the voting securities of a company or acknowledges the existence of control.
Investment Adviser and Other Service Providers
Investment Adviser. Bitwise Investment Manager, LLC, 250 Montgomery Street, Suite 200, San Francisco, CA 94104, serves as the investment adviser to the Funds. BIM is a Delaware limited liability company with a sole member, Bitwise Asset Management, Inc. BIM discharges its responsibilities subject to the policies of the Board of Trustees. BIM also administers the Trust’s business affairs, provides office facilities and equipment and certain clerical, bookkeeping and administrative services, and permits any of its officers or employees to serve without compensation as Trustees or officers of the Trust if elected to such positions.
Pursuant to an investment management agreement between BIM and the Trust, on behalf of the Funds (the “Investment Management Agreement”), BIM oversees the investment of the Fund’s assets and is responsible for paying all expenses of the Fund, excluding the fee payments under the Investment Management Agreement, interest, taxes, brokerage commissions, acquired fund fees and expenses and other expenses connected with the execution of portfolio transactions, distribution and service fees payable pursuant to a Rule 12b-1 plan, if any, and extraordinary expenses. Each Fund has agreed to pay BIM an annual management fee equal to 0.95% of its daily net assets.
BIM has contractually agreed to waive its advisory fees and/or assume as its own expense certain expenses otherwise payable by the Funds to the extent necessary to ensure that total annual fund operating expenses (excluding brokerage commissions and other expenses connected with the execution of portfolio transactions, acquired fund fees and expenses, taxes, interest, and extraordinary expenses) do not exceed 0.95% of a Fund’s average daily net assets until April 2, 2027. This Agreement may be terminated by the Trust, on behalf of a Fund, at any time and by BIM after April 2, 2027 upon sixty (60) days’ written notice to the Fund.
Under the Investment Management Agreement, BIM shall not be liable for any loss sustained by reason of the purchase, sale or retention of any security, whether or not such purchase, sale or retention shall have been based upon the investigation and research made by any other individual, firm or corporation, if such recommendation shall have been selected with due care and in good faith, except loss resulting from willful misfeasance, bad faith, or gross negligence on the part of BIM in the performance of its obligations and duties, or by reason of its reckless disregard of its obligations and duties. The Investment Management Agreement is in place for the original initial two-year term, and thereafter only if approved annually by the Board of Trustees, including a majority of the Independent Trustees. The Investment Management Agreement terminates automatically upon assignment and is terminable at any time without penalty as to the Fund by the Board of Trustees, including a majority of the Independent Trustees, or by vote of the holders of a majority of a Fund’s outstanding voting securities on 60 days’ written notice to BIM, or by BIM on 60 days’ written notice to a Fund.
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Portfolio Managers. The portfolio managers are primarily and jointly responsible for the day-to-day management of the Funds. There are currently four portfolio managers, as follows:
Jennifer Thornton, Portfolio Manager at BIM. Jennifer Thornton is Senior Index Fund Portfolio Manager at Bitwise. She is responsible for managing Bitwise’s suite of crypto index products, including performance and adherence to strategy and fund guidelines. Prior to joining Bitwise in 2021, Ms. Thornton worked for BlackRock in the ETF and Index Investments (EII) Americas Portfolio Management group. Previous to this role, she was with the Transition Management team in Trading and Liquidity Strategies, providing risk managed solutions to institutional investors undergoing portfolio reorganizations in multiple asset classes. Previous to BlackRock, Ms. Thornton was a transition portfolio manager, a project manager for system implementations, and a relationship manager overseeing dealings with strategic investment service partners at Barclays Global Investors. She earned an MBA degree from San Francisco State University and a BBA degree in marketing from the University of Mississippi.
Daniela Padilla, Portfolio Manager at BIM. Ms. Padilla is a Portfolio Manager at Bitwise with seven years of financial services experience. Ms. Padilla joined Bitwise in 2021 in a portfolio management capacity, and has 4 years of experience managing index funds and alternative investment portfolios at Bitwise, prior to which she gained 4 years of experience in financial services in operations and middle office roles at JP Morgan, BBVA Securities, and Barclay Investments.
Jeff Park, Portfolio Manager and Head of Alpha Strategies at BIM. Mr. Park is responsible for developing and managing Bitwise’s suite of alpha products including multi-strategy solutions and exchange traded funds. Prior to joining Bitwise in 2022, he was a Partner at Corbin Capital Partners, a multi-billion dollar alternative asset management firm specializing in multi-strategy hedge fund and opportunistic credit investing, where he led the firm’s digital asset investing efforts as well as its multi-asset derivatives trading program. Before Corbin, Mr. Park was a Senior Associate at the Harvard Management Company focused on trading U.S. Corporate Credit, and, before that, was an Exotic Equity Derivatives trader at Morgan Stanley in New York. He is a graduate of Stanford University with a B.A. in Economics and International Relations, and has been a CFA charterholder since 2013.
Gayatri Choudhury, Quantitative Investment Analyst of BIM. Ms. Choudhury is a Quantitative Investment Analyst at Bitwise with five years of industry experience. She is responsible for the research, development, and portfolio management of Bitwise’s suite of alpha products. Ms. Choudhury joined Bitwise in 2022 as a Quantitative Research analyst. Prior to Bitwise, she worked in ETF Product Development and Management at Global X and started her career as a management consultant at Sia Partners. She graduated from New York University with a B.A. in Mathematics.
Portfolio Manager Compensation. Each portfolio manager is compensated by BIM and is paid a fixed salary and discretionary bonus that is not based on the performance of the Funds.
Portfolio Manager Ownership of Fund Shares. As of the date of this Statement of Additional Information, the portfolio managers do not beneficially own any Fund Shares.
Other Accounts Managed by the Portfolio Managers. In addition to the Funds, the portfolio managers are responsible for the day-to-day management of certain other accounts, as listed below. The information below is provided as of December 31, 2024.
Portfolio Manager |
Registered
Investment |
Other
Pooled Vehicles |
Other Accounts # Of Accounts ($ Assets) |
Jennifer Thornton | 7 ($5,627.5 million) | 10 ($165.2 million) | 1 ($0.03 million) |
Daniela Padilla | 7 ($5,627.5 million) | 10 ($165.2 million) | 1 ($0.03 million) |
Jeff Park | 0 ($0) | 1 ($31.9 million) | 0 ($0) |
Gayatri Choudhury | 0 ($0) | 0 ($0) | 0 ($0) |
Conflicts of Interest. The portfolio managers’ management of other accounts may give rise to potential conflicts of interest in connection with their management of a Fund’s investments, on the one hand, and the investments of the other accounts, on the other. The other accounts might have similar investment objectives as a Fund or hold, purchase or sell securities that are eligible to be held, purchased or sold by a Fund. While the portfolio managers’ management of other accounts may give rise to the following potential conflicts of interest, the Adviser does not believe that the conflicts, if any, are material or, to the extent any such conflicts are material, the Adviser believes that it has designed policies and procedures to manage those conflicts in an appropriate way.
Fund Administration. The administrator and fund accountant and transfer agent for the Funds is The Bank of New York Mellon, (“BNYM,” “Administrator” or “Fund Accountant”), which has its principal office at 240 Greenwich Street, New York, New York 10286. BNYM provides administrative services pursuant to a fund administration agreement with the Trust (the “Fund Administration and Accounting Agreement”) pursuant to which BNYM provides certain services, including, among others, (i) preparation of certain shareholder reports and communications; (ii) preparation of certain reports and filings with the SEC; (iii) certain net asset value computation services; and (iv) such other services for the Trust as may be mutually agreed upon between the Trust and BNYM.
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For its services under the Fund Administration and Accounting Agreement, BNYM is paid an annual fee based on the average net assets of the Funds, subject to a minimum annual fee. Pursuant to the Funds’ unitary management fee structure, BIM is responsible for paying for the services provided by BNYM, and the Funds do not directly pay BNYM.
Transfer and Dividend Agent. The Bank of New York Mellon, 240 Greenwich Street, New York, New York 10286, serves as the Trust’s transfer and dividend disbursing agent (the “Transfer Agent”). Under its transfer agency agreement with the Trust, BNYM has undertaken with the Trust to provide the following services with respect to the Funds: (i) perform and facilitate the performance of purchases and redemptions of Creation Units, (ii) prepare and transmit by means of Depository Trust Company’s (“DTC”) book-entry system payments for dividends and distributions on or with respect to the Fund Shares declared by the Trust on behalf of the Funds, (iii) prepare and deliver reports, information and documents as specified in the transfer agency agreement, (iv) perform the customary services of a transfer agent and dividend disbursing agent, and (v) render certain other miscellaneous services as specified in the transfer agency agreement or as otherwise agreed upon.
Custodian. The Bank of New York Mellon, 240 Greenwich Street, New York, New York 10286, serves as custodian (the “Custodian”) for each Fund’s cash and securities. Pursuant to a custodian servicing agreement with the Funds (the “Custodian Agreement”), it is responsible for maintaining the books and records of each Fund’s portfolio securities and cash. The Custodian does not assist in, and is not responsible for, investment decisions involving the assets of the Funds. BNYM may appoint domestic and foreign sub-custodians and use depositories from time to time to hold securities and other instruments purchased by the Trust in foreign countries and to hold cash and currencies for the Trust.
Distributor. Foreside Fund Services, LLC serves as distributor and principal underwriter of the Creation Units of the Funds. Its principal address is Three Canal Plaza, Suite 100, Portland, ME 04101. The Distributor has entered into a distribution agreement (the “Distribution Agreement”) with the Trust pursuant to which it distributes Fund Shares. Shares are continuously offered for sale by the Funds through the Distributor only in Creation Units, as described below under the heading “Creation and Redemption of Creation Units.”
BIM may, from time to time and from its own resources, pay, defray or absorb costs relating to distribution, including payments out of its own resources to the Distributor, or to otherwise promote the sale of Fund Shares. BIM’s available resources to make these payments include profits from advisory fees received from the Funds. The services BIM may pay for include, but are not limited to, advertising and attaining access to certain conferences and seminars, as well as being presented with the opportunity to address investors and industry professionals through speeches and written marketing materials.
Since the inception of the Funds, there has been no underwriting commissions with respect to the sale of Fund Shares, and the Distributor did not receive compensation on redemptions for the Funds.
Aggregations. Fund Shares in less than Creation Units are not distributed by the Distributor. The Distributor will deliver the Prospectus and, upon request, this SAI to Authorized Participants purchasing Creation Units. The Distributor is a broker-dealer registered under the 1934 Act and a member of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”).
The Distribution Agreement provides that it may be terminated at any time, without the payment of any penalty, on at least 60 days’ written notice by the Trust to the Distributor (i) by vote of a majority of the Independent Trustees; or (ii) by vote of a majority of the outstanding voting securities (as defined in the 1940 Act) of the Funds. The Distribution Agreement will terminate automatically in the event of its assignment (as defined in the 1940 Act).
The Distributor may also enter into agreements with participants that utilize the facilities of the Depository Trust Company (the “DTC Participants”), which have international, operational, capabilities and place orders for Creation Units of the Fund Shares. Participating Parties (as defined in “Procedures for Creation of Creation Units” below) shall be DTC Participants (as defined in “DTC Acts as Securities Depository for Fund Shares” below).
Brokerage Allocations
The Adviser is responsible for decisions to buy and sell securities for the Funds and for the placement of each Fund’s securities business, the negotiation of the commissions to be paid on brokered transactions, the prices for principal trades in securities, and the allocation of portfolio brokerage and principal business. It is the policy of the Adviser to seek the best execution at the best security price available with respect to each transaction, and with respect to brokered transactions in light of the overall quality of brokerage and research services provided to the Adviser and its clients. The best price to a Fund means the best net price without regard to the mix between purchase or sale price and commission, if any. Purchases may be made from underwriters, dealers, and, on occasion, the issuers. Commissions will be paid on a Fund’s futures transactions, if any. The purchase price of portfolio securities purchased from an underwriter or dealer may include underwriting commissions and dealer spreads. A Fund may pay markups on principal transactions. In selecting broker-dealers and in negotiating commissions, the Adviser considers, among other things, the firm’s reliability, the quality of its execution services on a continuing basis and its financial condition.
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Section 28(e) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “1934 Act”) permits an investment adviser, under certain circumstances, to cause an account to pay a broker or dealer who supplies brokerage and research services a commission for effecting a transaction in excess of the amount of commission another broker or dealer would have charged for effecting the transaction. Brokerage and research services include (i) furnishing advice as to the value of securities, the advisability of investing, purchasing or selling securities, and the availability of securities or purchasers or sellers of securities; (ii) furnishing analyses and reports concerning issuers, industries, securities, economic factors and trends, portfolio strategy, and the performance of accounts; and (iii) effecting securities transactions and performing functions incidental thereto (such as clearance, settlement, and custody). Such brokerage and research services are often referred to as “soft dollars.” The Adviser has advised the Board of Trustees that it does not currently intend to use soft dollars.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, in selecting brokers, the Adviser may in the future consider investment and market information and other research, such as economic, securities and performance measurement research provided by such brokers, and the quality and reliability of brokerage services, including execution capability, performance, and financial responsibility. Accordingly, the commissions charged by any such broker may be greater than the amount another firm might charge if the Adviser determines in good faith that the amount of such commissions is reasonable in relation to the value of the research information and brokerage services provided by such broker to the Adviser or the Trust. In addition, the Adviser must determine that the research information received in this manner provides the Fund with benefits by supplementing the research otherwise available to the Funds. The Investment Management Agreement provides that such higher commissions will not be paid by a Fund unless the Adviser determines in good faith that the amount is reasonable in relation to the services provided. The investment advisory fees paid by a Fund to BIM under the Investment Management Agreement would not be reduced as a result of receipt by BIM of research services.
The Adviser places portfolio transactions for other advisory accounts advised by it, and research services furnished by firms through which a Fund effects securities transactions may be used by the Adviser in servicing all of its accounts; not all of such services may be used by the Adviser in connection with the Fund. The Adviser believes it is not possible to measure separately the benefits from research services to each of the accounts (including a Fund) advised by it. Because the volume and nature of the trading activities of the accounts are not uniform, the amount of commissions in excess of those charged by another broker paid by each account for brokerage and research services will vary. However, the Adviser believes such costs to a Fund will not be disproportionate to the benefits received by the Fund on a continuing basis. The Adviser seeks to allocate portfolio transactions equitably whenever concurrent decisions are made to purchase or sell securities by a Fund and another advisory account. In some cases, this procedure could have an adverse effect on the price or the amount of securities available to a Fund. In making such allocations between a Fund and other advisory accounts, the main factors considered by the Adviser are the respective investment objectives, the relative size of portfolio holding of the same or comparable securities, the availability of cash for investment and the size of investment commitments generally held.
Additional information
Book Entry Only System. The following information supplements and should be read in conjunction with the Prospectus.
DTC Acts as Securities Depository for Fund Shares. Fund Shares are represented by securities registered in the name of DTC or its nominee, Cede & Co., and deposited with, or on behalf of, DTC.
DTC, a limited-purpose trust company, was created to hold securities of its participants (the “DTC Participants”) and to facilitate the clearance and settlement of securities transactions among the DTC Participants in such securities through electronic book-entry changes in accounts of the DTC Participants, thereby eliminating the need for physical movement of securities certificates. DTC Participants include securities brokers and dealers, banks, trust companies, clearing corporations and certain other organizations, some of whom (and/or their representatives) own DTC. More specifically, DTC is owned by a number of its DTC Participants and by the New York Stock Exchange (the “NYSE”) and FINRA. Access to the DTC system is also available to others such as banks, brokers, dealers and trust companies that clear through or maintain a custodial relationship with a DTC Participant, either directly or indirectly (the “Indirect Participants”).
Beneficial ownership of shares is limited to DTC Participants, Indirect Participants and persons holding interests through DTC Participants and Indirect Participants. Ownership of beneficial interests in shares (owners of such beneficial interests are referred to herein as “Beneficial Owners”) is shown on, and the transfer of ownership is effected only through, records maintained by DTC (with respect to DTC Participants) and on the records of DTC Participants (with respect to Indirect Participants and Beneficial Owners that are not DTC Participants). Beneficial Owners will receive from or through the DTC Participant a written confirmation relating to their purchase and sale of Fund Shares.
Conveyance of all notices, statements and other communications to Beneficial Owners is effected as follows. Pursuant to a letter agreement between DTC and the Trust, DTC is required to make available to the Trust upon request and for a fee to be charged to the Trust a listing of the Fund Shares held by each DTC Participant. The Trust shall inquire of each such DTC Participant as to the number of Beneficial Owners holding shares, directly or indirectly, through such DTC Participant. The Trust shall provide each such DTC Participant with copies of such notice, statement or other communication, in such form, number and at such place as such DTC Participant may reasonably request, in order that such notice, statement or communication may be transmitted by such DTC Participant, directly or indirectly, to such Beneficial Owners. In addition, the Trust shall pay to each such DTC Participants a fair and reasonable amount as reimbursement for the expenses attendant to such transmittal, all subject to applicable statutory and regulatory requirements.
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Fund distributions shall be made to DTC or its nominee, as the registered holder of all Fund Shares. DTC or its nominee, upon receipt of any such distributions, shall immediately credit DTC Participants’ accounts with payments in amounts proportionate to their respective beneficial interests in Fund Shares as shown on the records of DTC or its nominee. Payments by DTC Participants to Indirect Participants and Beneficial Owners of shares held through such DTC Participants will be governed by standing instructions and customary practices, as is now the case with securities held for the accounts of customers in bearer form or registered in a “street name,” and will be the responsibility of such DTC Participants.
The Trust has no responsibility or liability for any aspect of the records relating to or notices to Beneficial Owners, or payments made on account of beneficial ownership interests in such shares, or for maintaining, supervising or reviewing any records relating to such beneficial ownership interests, or for any other aspect of the relationship between DTC and the DTC Participants or the relationship between such DTC Participants and the Indirect Participants and Beneficial Owners owning through such DTC Participants.
DTC may decide to discontinue providing its service with respect to shares at any time by giving reasonable notice to the Trust and discharging its responsibilities with respect thereto under applicable law. Under such circumstances, the Trust shall take action to find a replacement for DTC to perform its functions at a comparable cost.
Policy Regarding Disclosure of Portfolio Holdings. The Trust has adopted a policy regarding the disclosure of information about each Fund’s portfolio holdings. The Board of Trustees must approve all material amendments to this policy. Each Fund’s portfolio holdings are publicly disseminated each day the Fund is open for business through financial reporting and news services, including publicly accessible Internet websites. In addition, a basket composition file, which includes the security names and share quantities to deliver in exchange for Fund Shares, together with estimates and actual cash components, is publicly disseminated each day the NYSE is open for trading via the National Securities Clearing Corporation (“NSCC”). The basket represents one Creation Unit of each Fund. Each Fund’s portfolio holdings are also available on the Fund’s website at https://www.icoietf.com (for ICOI), https://www.imraetf.com (for IMRA) or https://www.imstetf.com (for IMST). The Trust, Adviser and Distributor will not disseminate non-public information concerning the Trust.
Quarterly Portfolio Schedule. The Trust is required to disclose on a quarterly basis the complete schedule of each Fund’s portfolio holdings with the SEC on Form N-PORT. The Trust discloses the complete schedule of a Fund’s portfolio holdings on Form N-CSR after its second and fourth quarters. Form N-PORT and Form N-CSR for the Trust is available on the SEC’s website at https://www.sec.gov. Each Fund’s Form N-PORT and Form N-CSR may also be reviewed and copied at the SEC’s Public Reference Room in Washington, D.C. and information on the operation of the Public Reference Room may be obtained by calling 1-800-SEC-0330. The Trust’s Forms N-PORT and Form N-CSR are available without charge, upon request, by calling (415) 707-3663 or by writing to Bitwise Funds Trust, 250 Montgomery Street, Suite 200, San Francisco, CA 94104.
Codes of Ethics. In order to mitigate the possibility that a Fund will be adversely affected by personal trading, the Trust and the Adviser have adopted Codes of Ethics under Rule 17j-1 of the 1940 Act. These Codes of Ethics contain policies restricting securities trading in personal accounts access persons, Trustees and others who normally come into possession of information on portfolio transactions. Personnel subject to the Codes of Ethics may invest in securities that may be purchased or held by a Fund; however, the Codes of Ethics require that each transaction in such securities be reviewed by the Compliance Department. These Codes of Ethics are on public file with, and are available from, the SEC.
Proxy Voting Policies and Procedures
The Trust has adopted a proxy voting policy that seeks to ensure that proxies for securities held by a Fund are voted consistently with the best interests of the Fund.
The Board has delegated to the Adviser the proxy voting responsibilities for each Fund and has directed the Adviser to vote proxies consistent with the Fund’s best interests. The Adviser has engaged the services of Institutional Shareholder Services, Inc. (“ISS”) to make recommendations to the Adviser on the voting of proxies relating to securities held by a Fund. The Adviser has adopted the ISS Proxy Voting Guidelines. While these guidelines are not intended to be all-inclusive, they do provide guidance on the Adviser’s general voting policies. The Adviser’s use of the ISS Proxy Voting Guidelines is not intended to constrain the Adviser’s consideration of any proxy proposal, and there may be times when the Adviser deviates from the ISS Proxy Voting Guidelines. The ISS Proxy Voting Guidelines are subject to change at the discretion of ISS and may be found at issgovernance.com.
Information regarding how a Fund voted proxies (if any) relating to portfolio securities during the most recent 12-month period ended June 30 is available upon request and without charge on the Fund’s website at https://www.icoietf.com (for ICOI), https://www.imraetf.com (for IMRA) or https://www.imstetf.com (for IMST), by calling (415) 707-3663 or by accessing the SEC’s website at https://www.sec.gov.
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Creation and Redemption of Creation Units
General. ETFs, such as the Funds, generally issue and redeem their shares in primary market transactions through a creation and redemption mechanism and do not sell or redeem individual shares. Instead, financial entities, known as “Authorized Participants,” have contractual arrangements with an ETF or one of the ETF’s service providers to purchase and redeem ETF shares directly with the ETF in large blocks of shares known as “Creation Units.” Prior to start of trading on each business day, an ETF publishes through the NSCC the “basket” of securities, cash, or other assets that it will accept in exchange for a Creation Unit of the ETF’s shares. An Authorized Participant that wishes to effectuate a creation of an ETF’s shares deposits with the ETF the “basket” of securities, cash, or other assets identified by the ETF that day, and then receives the Creation Unit of the ETF’s shares in return for those assets. After purchasing a Creation Unit, the Authorized Participant may continue to hold the ETF’s shares or sell them in the secondary market. The redemption process is the reverse of the purchase process: the authorized participant redeems a Creation Unit of ETF shares for a basket of securities, cash, or other assets. The combination of the creation and redemption process with secondary market trading in ETF shares and underlying securities provides arbitrage opportunities that are designed to help keep the market price of ETF shares at or close to the NAV per share of the ETF.
Each Authorized Participant is a member or participant of a clearing agency registered with the SEC that has a written agreement with a Fund or one of its service providers that allows the Authorized Participant to place orders for the purchase or redemption of Creation Units (a “Participant Agreement”). Orders to purchase Creation Units must be delivered through an Authorized Participant that has executed a Participant Agreement and must comply with the applicable provisions of such Participant Agreement. Investors wishing to purchase or sell shares generally do so on an exchange. Institutional investors other than Authorized Participants are responsible for making arrangements for a redemption request to be made through an Authorized Participant.
A “Business Day” is generally any day on which the NYSE, the Exchange and the Trust are open for business. As of the date of this SAI, the NYSE observes the following holidays: New Year’s Day, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, Presidents’ Day, Good Friday, Memorial Day, Juneteenth, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day. The Business Day on which an order to purchase or redeem Creation Units is received in proper form is referred to as the “Transmittal Date.”
Basket Composition and Custom Baskets. Rule 6c-11(c)(3) under of the 1940 Act requires an ETF relying on the exemptions offered by Rule 6c-11 to adopt and implement written policies and procedures governing the construction of baskets and the process that the ETF will use for the acceptance of baskets. In general, in connection with the construction and acceptance of baskets, the Adviser may consider various factors, including, but not limited to: (1) whether the securities, assets, and other positions comprising a basket are consistent with the ETF’s investment objective(s), policies and disclosure; (2) whether the securities, assets, and other positions can legally and readily be acquired, transferred and held by the ETF and/or Authorized Participant(s), as applicable; (3) whether to utilize cash, either in lieu of securities or other instruments or as a cash balancing amount; and (4) in the case of an ETF that tracks an index, whether the securities, assets, and other positions aid index tracking.
Each Fund may utilize a pro rata basket or a custom basket in reliance on Rule 6c-11. A “pro rata basket” is a basket that is a pro rata representation of the ETF’s portfolio holdings, except for minor deviations when it is not operationally feasible to include a particular instrument within the basket, except to the extent that a Fund utilized different baskets in transactions on the same Business Day.
Rule 6c-11 defines “custom baskets” to include two categories of baskets. First, a basket containing a non-representative selection of the ETF’s portfolio holdings would constitute a custom basket. These types of custom baskets include, but are not limited to, baskets that do not reflect: (i) a pro rata representation of a Fund’s portfolio holdings; (ii) a representative sampling of an ETF’s portfolio holdings; or (iii) changes due to a rebalancing or reconstitution of an ETF’s securities market index, if applicable. Second, if different baskets are used in transactions on the same Business Day, each basket after the initial basket would constitute a custom basket. For example, if an ETF exchanges a basket with either the same or another Authorized Participant that reflects a representative sampling that differs from the initial basket, that basket (and any such subsequent baskets) would be a custom basket. Similarly, if an ETF substitutes cash in lieu of a portion of basket assets for a single Authorized Participant, that basket would be a custom basket.
Under a variety of circumstances, an ETF and its shareholders may benefit from the flexibility afforded by custom baskets. In general terms, the use of custom baskets may reduce costs, increase efficiency and improve trading. Because utilizing custom baskets provides a way for an ETF to add, remove, and re-weight portfolio securities without transacting in the market, it may help the ETF to avoid transaction costs and adverse tax consequences. Rule 6c-11 provides an ETF with flexibility to use “custom baskets” if the ETF has adopted written policies and procedures that: (1) set forth detailed parameters for the construction and acceptance of custom baskets that are in the best interests of the ETF and its shareholders, including the process for any revisions to, or deviations from, those parameters; and (2) specify the titles or roles of employees of the ETF’s investment adviser who are required to review each custom basket for compliance with those parameters.
The use of baskets that do not correspond pro rata to an ETF’s portfolio holdings has historically created concern that an Authorized Participant could take advantage of its relationship with an ETF and pressure the ETF to construct a basket that favors an Authorized Participant to the detriment of the ETF’s shareholders. For example, because ETFs rely on Authorized Participants to maintain the secondary market by promoting an effective arbitrage mechanism, an Authorized Participant holding less liquid or less desirable securities potentially could pressure an ETF into accepting those securities in its basket in exchange for liquid ETF shares (i.e., dumping). An Authorized Participant also could pressure the ETF into including in its basket certain desirable securities in exchange for ETF shares tendered for redemption (i.e., cherry-picking). In either case, the ETF’s other investors would be disadvantaged and would be left holding shares of an ETF with a less liquid or less desirable portfolio of securities. The Adviser has adopted policies and procedures designed to mitigate these concerns, but there is ultimately no guarantee that such policies and procedures will be effective.
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Basket Dissemination. Basket files are published for consumption through the NSCC, a subsidiary of Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation, and can be utilized for pricing, creations, redemptions, rebalancing and custom scenarios. In most instances, pro rata baskets are calculated and supplied by the ETF’s custodial bank based on ETF holdings, whereas non-pro rata, custom and forward-looking pro rata baskets are calculated by the Adviser and disseminated by the ETF’s custodial bank through the NSCC process.
Placement of Creation or Redemption Orders. All orders to purchase or redeem Creation Units are to be governed according to the applicable Participant Agreement that each Authorized Participant has executed. In general, all orders to purchase or redeem Creation Units must be received by the transfer agent in the proper form required by the Participant Agreement no later than the closing time of the regular trading session of the NYSE (ordinarily 4:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time) on each day the NYSE is open for business (the “Closing Time”) in order for the purchase or redemption of Creation Units to be effected based on the NAV of shares of a Fund as next determined on such date after receipt of the order in proper form. However, at its discretion, a Fund may require an Authorized Participant to submit orders to purchase or redeem Creation Units be placed earlier in the day (such as instances where an applicable market for a security comprising a creation or redemption basket closes earlier than usual).
Delivery of Redemption Proceeds. Deliveries of securities to Authorized Participants in connection with redemption orders are generally expected to be made within one Business Day. Due to the schedule of holidays in certain countries, however, the delivery of in-kind redemption proceeds for a Fund may take longer than one Business Day after the day on which the redemption request is received in proper form. Section 22(e) of the 1940 Act generally prohibits a registered open-end management investment company from postponing the date of satisfaction of redemption requests for more than seven days after the tender of a security for redemption. This prohibition can cause operational difficulties for ETFs that hold foreign investments and exchange in-kind baskets for Creation Units. For example, local market delivery cycles for transferring foreign investments to redeeming investors, together with local market holiday schedules, can sometimes require a delivery process in excess of seven days. However, Rule 6c-11 grants relief from Section 22(e) to permit an ETF to delay satisfaction of a redemption request for more than seven days if a local market holiday, or series of consecutive holidays, or the extended delivery cycles for transferring foreign investments to redeeming Authorized Participants, or the combination thereof prevents timely delivery of the foreign investment included in the ETF’s basket. Under this exemption, an ETF must deliver foreign investments as soon as practicable, but in no event later than 15 days after the tender to the ETF. The exemption therefore will permit a delay only to the extent that additional time for settlement is actually required when a local market holiday, or series of consecutive holidays, or the extended delivery cycles for transferring foreign investments to redeeming authorized participants prevents timely delivery of the foreign investment included in the ETF’s basket. If a foreign investment settles in less than 15 days, Rule 6c-11 requires an ETF to deliver it pursuant to the standard settlement time of the local market where the investment trades. Rule 6c-11 defines “foreign investment” as any security, asset or other position of the ETF issued by a foreign issuer (as defined by Rule 3b-4 under the 1934 Act), and that is traded on a trading market outside of the United States. This definition is not limited to “foreign securities,” but also includes other investments that may not be considered securities. Although these other investments may not be securities, they may present the same challenges for timely settlement as foreign securities if they are transferred in kind.
Creation Transaction Fees. A Fund imposes fees in connection with the purchase of Creation Units. These fees may vary based upon various facts-based circumstances, including, but not limited to, the composition of the securities included in the Creation Unit or the countries in which the transactions are settled. The price for each Creation Unit will equal the daily NAV per share of a Fund times the number of shares in a Creation Unit, plus the fees described above and, if applicable, any operational processing and brokerage costs, transfer fees, stamp taxes, and part or all of the spread between the expected bid and offer side of the market related to the securities comprising the creation basket.
Redemption Transaction Fees. A Fund also imposes fees in connection with the redemption of Creation Units. These fees may vary based upon various facts-based circumstances, including, but not limited to, the composition of the securities included in the Creation Unit or the countries in which the transactions are settled. The price received for each Creation Unit will equal the daily NAV per share of a Fund times the number of shares in a Creation Unit, minus the fees described above and, if applicable, any operational processing and brokerage costs, transfer fees, stamp taxes and part or all of the spread between the expected bid and offer side of the market related to the securities comprising the redemption basket. Investors who use the services of a broker or other such intermediary in addition to an Authorized Participant to effect a redemption of a Creation Unit may also be assessed an amount to cover the cost of such services. The redemption fee charged by a Fund will comply with Rule 22c-2 of the 1940 Act which limits redemption fees to no more than 2% of the value of the shares redeemed.
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Suspension of Creations. The SEC has stated its position that an ETF generally may suspend the issuance of Creation Units only for a limited time and only due to extraordinary circumstances, such as when the markets on which the ETF’s portfolio holdings are traded are closed for a limited period of time. The SEC has also stated that an ETF could not set transaction fees so high as to effectively suspend the issuance of Creation Units. Circumstances in which a Fund may suspend creations include, but are not limited to: (i) the order is not in proper form; (ii) the purchaser or group of related purchasers, upon obtaining the Creation Units of such Fund’s Shares ordered, would own 80% or more of the currently outstanding shares of such Fund; (iii) the required consideration is not delivered; (iv) the acceptance of the basket would, in the opinion of such Fund, be unlawful; or (v) there exist circumstances outside the control of such Fund that make it impossible to process purchases of Creation Units for all practical purposes. Examples of such circumstances include: acts of God or public service or utility problems such as fires, floods, extreme weather conditions and power outages resulting in telephone, telecopy and computer failures; market conditions or activities causing trading halts; systems failures involving computer or other information systems affecting a Fund, the Adviser, the Distributor, DTC, NSCC, the transfer agent, the custodian, any sub-custodian or any other participant in the purchase process; and similar extraordinary events. A Fund reserves the right to reject a creation order transmitted to it provided that such action does not result in a suspension of sales of creation units in contravention of 6c-11 and the SEC’s positions thereunder. The Transfer Agent shall notify a prospective creator of a Creation Unit and/or the Authorized Participant acting on behalf of such prospective creator of the rejection of the order of such person. The Trust, a Fund, the transfer agent, the custodian, any sub-custodian and the Distributor are under no duty, however, to give notification of any defects or irregularities in the delivery of baskets, nor shall any of them incur any liability for the failure to give any such notification.
Suspension of Redemptions. An ETF may suspend the redemption of Creation Units only in accordance with Section 22(e) of the 1940 Act. Section 22(e) stipulates that no registered investment company shall suspend the right of redemption or postpone the date of payment or satisfaction upon redemption of any redeemable security in accordance with its terms for more than seven days after the tender of such security to the company or its agent designated for that purpose for redemption, except (1) for any period (A) during which the NYSE is closed other than customary weekend and holiday closings or (B) during which trading on the NYSE is restricted; (2) for any period during which an emergency exists as a result of which (A) disposal by the investment company of securities owned by it is not reasonably practicable or (B) it is not reasonably practicable for such company fairly to determine the value of its net assets; or (3) for such other periods as the SEC may by order permit for the protection of security holders of the investment company.
Exceptions to Use of Creation Units. Under Rule 6c-11 of the 1940 Act, ETFs are permitted to sell or redeem individual shares on the day of consummation of a reorganization, merger, conversion, or liquidation. In these limited circumstances, an ETF may need to issue or redeem individual shares and may need to transact without utilizing Authorized Participants.
Federal Tax Matters
This section summarizes some of the main U.S. federal income tax consequences of owning shares of a Fund. This section is current as of the date of this SAI. Tax laws and interpretations change frequently, and these summaries do not describe all of the tax consequences to all taxpayers. For example, these summaries generally do not describe your situation if you are a corporation, a non-U.S. person, a broker-dealer, or other investor with special circumstances. In addition, this section does not describe your state, local or foreign tax consequences.
This federal income tax summary is based in part on the advice of counsel to a Fund. The Internal Revenue Service could disagree with any conclusions set forth in this section. In addition, our counsel may not have been asked to review, and may not have reached a conclusion with respect to the federal income tax treatment of the assets to be deposited in a Fund. This may not be sufficient for prospective investors to use for the purpose of avoiding penalties under federal tax law.
As with any investment, prospective investors should seek advice based on their individual circumstances from their own tax advisor.
Each Fund intends to qualify annually and to elect to be treated as a regulated investment company under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”).
To qualify for the favorable U.S. federal income tax treatment generally accorded to regulated investment companies, a Fund must, among other things, (i) derive in each taxable year at least 90% of its gross income from dividends, interest, payments with respect to securities loans and gains from the sale or other disposition of stock, securities or foreign currencies or other income derived with respect to its business of investing in such stock, securities or currencies, or net income derived from interests in certain publicly traded partnerships; (ii) diversify its holdings so that, at the end of each quarter of the taxable year, (a) at least 50% of the market value of a Fund’s assets is represented by cash and cash items (including receivables), U.S. government securities, the securities of other regulated investment companies and other securities, with such other securities of any one issuer generally limited for the purposes of this calculation to an amount not greater than 5% of the value of a Fund’s total assets and not greater than 10% of the outstanding voting securities of such issuer, and (b) not more than 25% of the value of its total assets is invested in the securities (other than U.S. government securities or the securities of other regulated investment companies) of any one issuer, or two or more issuers which a Fund controls which are engaged in the same, similar or related trades or businesses, or the securities of one or more of certain publicly traded partnerships; and (iii) distribute at least 90% of its investment company taxable income (which includes, among other items, dividends, interest and net short-term capital gains in excess of net long-term capital losses) and at least 90% of its net tax-exempt interest income each taxable year. There are certain exceptions for failure to qualify if the failure is for reasonable cause or is de minimis, and certain corrective action is taken and certain tax payments are made by a Fund.
As a regulated investment company, a Fund generally will not be subject to U.S. federal income tax on its investment company taxable income (as that term is defined in the Code, but without regard to the deduction for dividends paid) and net capital gain (the excess of net long-term capital gain over net short-term capital loss), if any, that it distributes to shareholders. Each Fund intends to distribute to its shareholders, at least annually, substantially all of its investment company taxable income and net capital gain. If a Fund retains any net capital gain or investment company taxable income, it will generally be subject to federal income tax at regular corporate rates on the amount retained. In addition, amounts not distributed on a timely basis in accordance with a calendar year distribution requirement are subject to a nondeductible 4% excise tax unless, generally, a Fund distributes during each calendar year an amount equal to the sum of (1) at least 98% of its ordinary income (not taking into account any capital gains or losses) for the calendar year, (2) at least 98.2% of its capital gains in excess of its capital losses (adjusted for certain ordinary losses) for the one-year period ending October 31 of the calendar year, and (3) any ordinary income and capital gains for previous years that were not distributed during those years. In order to prevent application of the excise tax, each Fund intends to make its distributions in accordance with the calendar year distribution requirement. A distribution will be treated as paid on December 31 of the current calendar year if it is declared by a Fund in October, November or December with a record date in such a month and paid by a Fund during January of the following calendar year. Such distributions will be taxable to shareholders in the calendar year in which the distributions are declared rather than the calendar year in which the distributions are received.
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Subject to certain reasonable cause and de minimis exceptions, if a Fund fails to qualify as a regulated investment company or fails to satisfy the 90% distribution requirement in any taxable year, such Fund would be taxed as an ordinary corporation on its taxable income (even if such income were distributed to its shareholders) and all distributions out of earnings and profits would be taxed to shareholders as ordinary income.
Distributions. Dividends paid out of a Fund’s investment company taxable income are generally taxable to a shareholder as ordinary income to the extent of such Fund’s earnings and profits, whether paid in cash or reinvested in additional shares. However, certain ordinary income distributions received from a Fund may be taxed at capital gains tax rates. In particular, ordinary income dividends received by an individual shareholder from a regulated investment company such as a Fund are generally taxed at the same rates that apply to net capital gain, provided that certain holding period requirements are satisfied and provided the dividends are attributable to qualifying dividends received by such Fund itself.
The Funds will provide notice to its shareholders of the amount of any distributions that may be taken into account as a dividend, which is eligible for the capital gains tax rates. The Funds cannot make any guarantees as to the amount of any distribution which will be regarded as a qualifying dividend.
Income from a Fund may also be subject to a 3.8% “Medicare tax.” This tax generally applies to net investment income if the taxpayer’s adjusted gross income exceeds certain threshold amounts, which are $250,000 in the case of married couples filing joint returns and $200,000 in the case of single individuals.
A corporation that owns Fund Shares generally will not be entitled to the dividends received deduction with respect to many dividends received from such Fund because the dividends received deduction is generally not available for distributions from regulated investment companies. However, certain ordinary income dividends on shares that are attributable to qualifying dividends received by a Fund from certain domestic corporations may be reported by such Fund as being eligible for the dividends received deduction.
Distributions of net capital gain (the excess of net long-term capital gain over net short-term capital loss), if any, properly reported as capital gain dividends are taxable to a shareholder as long-term capital gains, regardless of how long the shareholder has held Fund Shares. An election may be available to you to defer recognition of the gain attributable to a capital gain dividend if you make certain qualifying investments within a limited time. You should talk to your tax advisor about the availability of this deferral election and its requirements. Shareholders receiving distributions in the form of additional a Fund’s Shares, rather than cash, generally will have a tax basis in each such Fund Share equal to the value of a share of a Fund on the reinvestment date. A distribution of an amount in excess of a Fund’s current and accumulated earnings and profits will be treated by a shareholder as a return of capital which is applied against and reduces the shareholder’s basis in his or her Fund Shares. To the extent that the amount of any such distribution exceeds the shareholder’s basis in his or her Fund Shares, the excess will be treated by the shareholder as gain from a sale or exchange of such Fund Shares.
Shareholders will be notified annually as to the U.S. federal income tax status of distributions, and shareholders receiving distributions in the form of additional Fund’s Shares will receive a report as to the value of those Fund’s Shares.
Sale or Exchange of Fund Shares. Upon the sale or other disposition of Fund Shares, which a shareholder holds as a capital asset, such a shareholder may realize a capital gain or loss, which will be long-term or short-term depending upon the shareholder’s holding period for Fund Shares. Generally, a shareholder’s gain or loss will be a long-term gain or loss if Fund Shares have been held for more than one year. An election may be available to you to defer recognition of capital gain if you make certain qualifying investments within a limited time. You should talk to your tax advisor about the availability of this deferral election and its requirements.
Any loss realized on a sale or exchange will be disallowed to the extent that shares disposed of are replaced (including through reinvestment of dividends) within a period of 61 days beginning 30 days before and ending 30 days after disposition of shares or to the extent that the shareholder, during such period, acquires or enters into an option or contract to acquire substantially identical stock or securities. In such a case, the basis of a Fund Shares acquired will be adjusted to reflect the disallowed loss. Any loss realized by a shareholder on a disposition of Fund Shares held by the shareholder for six months or less will be treated as a long-term capital loss to the extent of any distributions of long-term capital gain received by the shareholder with respect to such Fund Shares.
Taxes on Purchase and Redemption of Creation Units. If a shareholder exchanges securities for Creation Units the shareholder will generally recognize a gain or a loss. The gain or loss will be equal to the difference between the market value of the Creation Units at the time and the shareholder’s aggregate basis in the securities surrendered and the Cash Component paid. If a shareholder exchanges Creation Units for securities, then the shareholder will generally recognize a gain or loss equal to the difference between the shareholder’s basis in the Creation Units and the aggregate market value of the securities received and the Cash Redemption Amount. The Internal Revenue Service, however, may assert that a loss realized upon an exchange of securities for Creation Units or Creation Units for securities cannot be deducted currently under the rules governing “wash sales,” or on the basis that there has been no significant change in economic position.
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Nature of Fund Investments. Certain of the Funds’ investment practices are subject to special and complex federal income tax provisions that may, among other things, (i) disallow, suspend or otherwise limit the allowance of certain losses or deductions; (ii) convert lower taxed long-term capital gain into higher taxed short-term capital gain or ordinary income; (iii) convert an ordinary loss or a deduction into a capital loss (the deductibility of which is more limited); (iv) cause a Fund to recognize income or gain without a corresponding receipt of cash; (v) adversely affect the time as to when a purchase or sale of stock or securities is deemed to occur; and (vi) adversely alter the characterization of certain complex financial transactions.
Investments in Certain Non-U.S. Corporations. If a Fund holds an equity interest in any “passive foreign investment companies” (“PFICs”), which are generally certain non-U.S. corporations that receive at least 75% of their annual gross income from passive sources (such as interest, dividends, certain rents and royalties or capital gains) or that hold at least 50% of their assets in investments producing such passive income, such Fund could be subject to U.S. federal income tax and additional interest charges on gains and certain distributions with respect to those equity interests, even if all the income or gain is timely distributed to its shareholders. A Fund will not be able to pass through to its shareholders any credit or deduction for such taxes. A Fund may be able to make an election that could ameliorate these adverse tax consequences. In this case, a Fund would recognize as ordinary income any increase in the value of such PFIC shares, and as ordinary loss any decrease in such value to the extent it did not exceed prior increases included in income. Under this election, a Fund might be required to recognize in a year income in excess of its distributions from PFICs and its proceeds from dispositions of PFIC stock during that year, and such income would nevertheless be subject to the distribution requirement and would be taken into account for purposes of the 4% excise tax (described above). Dividends paid by PFICs are not treated as qualified dividend income.
Backup Withholding. A Fund may be required to withhold U.S. federal income tax from all taxable distributions and sale proceeds payable to shareholders who fail to provide such Fund with their correct taxpayer identification number or fail to make required certifications, or who have been notified by the Internal Revenue Service that they are subject to backup withholding. Corporate shareholders and certain other shareholders specified in the Code generally are exempt from such backup withholding. This withholding is not an additional tax. Any amounts withheld may be credited against the shareholder’s U.S. federal income tax liability.
Non-U.S. Shareholders. U.S. taxation of a shareholder who, as to the United States, is a nonresident alien individual, a non-U.S. trust or estate, a non-U.S. corporation or non-U.S. partnership (“non-U.S. shareholder”) depends on whether the income of a Fund is “effectively connected” with a U.S. trade or business carried on by the shareholder.
In addition to the rules described in this section concerning the potential imposition of withholding on distributions to non-U.S. persons, distributions to non-U.S. persons that are “financial institutions” may be subject to a withholding tax of 30% unless an agreement is in place between the financial institution and the U.S. Treasury to collect and disclose information about accounts, equity investments, or debt interests in the financial institution held by one or more U.S. persons or the institution is resident in a jurisdiction that has entered into such an agreement with the U.S. Treasury. For these purposes, a “financial institution” means any entity that (i) accepts deposits in the ordinary course of a banking or similar business; (ii) holds financial assets for the account of others as a substantial portion of its business; or (iii) is engaged (or holds itself out as being engaged) primarily in the business of investing, reinvesting or trading in securities, partnership interests, commodities or any interest (including a futures contract or option) in such securities, partnership interests or commodities. This withholding tax is also currently scheduled to apply to the gross proceeds from the disposition of securities that produce U.S. source interest or dividends. However, proposed regulations may eliminate the requirement to withhold on payments of gross proceeds from dispositions.
Distributions to non-financial non-U.S. entities (other than publicly traded non-U.S. entities, entities owned by residents of U.S. possessions, non-U.S. governments, international organizations, or non-U.S. central banks), will also be subject to a withholding tax of 30% if the entity does not certify that the entity does not have any substantial U.S. owners or provide the name, address and TIN of each substantial U.S. owner. This withholding tax is also currently scheduled to apply to the gross proceeds from the disposition of securities that produce U.S. source interest or dividends. However, proposed regulations may eliminate the requirement to withhold on payments of gross proceeds from dispositions.
Income Not Effectively Connected. If the income from a Fund is not “effectively connected” with a U.S. trade or business carried on by the non-U.S. shareholder, distributions of investment company taxable income will generally be subject to a U.S. tax of 30% (or lower treaty rate), which tax is generally withheld from such distributions.
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Distributions of capital gain dividends and any amounts retained by a Fund which are properly reported by such Fund as undistributed capital gains will not be subject to U.S. tax at the rate of 30% (or lower treaty rate) unless the non-U.S. shareholder is a nonresident alien individual and is physically present in the United States for more than 182 days during the taxable year and meets certain other requirements. However, this 30% tax on capital gains of nonresident alien individuals who are physically present in the United States for more than the 182 day period only applies in exceptional cases because any individual present in the United States for more than 182 days during the taxable year is generally treated as a resident for U.S. income tax purposes; in that case, he or she would be subject to U.S. income tax on his or her worldwide income at the graduated rates applicable to U.S. citizens, rather than the 30% U.S. tax. In the case of a non-U.S. shareholder who is a nonresident alien individual, a Fund may be required to withhold U.S. income tax from distributions of net capital gain unless the non-U.S. shareholder certifies his or her non-U.S. status under penalties of perjury or otherwise establishes an exemption. If a non-U.S. shareholder is a nonresident alien individual, any gain such shareholder realizes upon the sale or exchange of such shareholder’s shares in a Fund in the United States will ordinarily be exempt from U.S. tax unless the gain is U.S. source income and such shareholder is physically present in the United States for more than 182 days during the taxable year and meets certain other requirements.
Distributions from a Fund that are properly reported by such Fund as an interest-related dividend attributable to certain interest income received by such Fund or as a short-term capital gain dividend attributable to certain net short-term capital gain income received by such Fund may not be subject to U.S. federal income taxes, including withholding taxes when received by certain non-U.S. shareholders, provided that such Fund makes certain elections and certain other conditions are met. For tax years after December 31, 2022, amounts paid to or recognized by a non-U.S. affiliate that are excluded from tax under the portfolio interest, capital gain dividends, short-term capital gains or tax-exempt interest dividend exceptions or applicable treaties, may be taken into consideration in determining whether a corporation is an “applicable corporation” subject to a 15% minimum tax on adjusted financial statement income.
In addition, capital gain distributions attributable to gains from U.S. real property interests (including certain U.S. real property holding corporations) will generally be subject to United States withholding tax and will give rise to an obligation on the part of the non-U.S. shareholder to file a United States tax return.
Income Effectively Connected. If the income from a Fund is “effectively connected” with a U.S. trade or business carried on by a non-U.S. shareholder, then distributions of investment company taxable income and capital gain dividends, any amounts retained by such Fund which are properly reported by such Fund as undistributed capital gains and any gains realized upon the sale or exchange of such Fund’s Shares will be subject to U.S. income tax at the graduated rates applicable to U.S. citizens, residents and domestic corporations. Non-U.S. corporate shareholders may also be subject to the branch profits tax imposed by the Code. The tax consequences to a non-U.S. shareholder entitled to claim the benefits of an applicable tax treaty may differ from those described herein. Non-U.S. shareholders are advised to consult their own tax advisors with respect to the particular tax consequences to them of an investment in a Fund.
Capital Loss Carryforward. Net capital gains of a Fund that are available for distribution to shareholders will be computed by taking into account any applicable capital loss carryforward.
Other Taxation. Fund shareholders may be subject to state, local and foreign taxes on their Fund distributions. Shareholders are advised to consult their own tax advisors with respect to the particular tax consequences to them of an investment in a Fund.
Determination of Net Asset Value
The following information supplements and should be read in conjunction with the section in the Prospectus entitled “Net Asset Value.”
The Board of Trustees has directed that the net asset value of Fund Shares (“NAV”) be determined as of the close of regular trading on the NYSE on each day that the NYSE is open for trading, except on certain days as stated in the Funds’ prospectus (the “Valuation Time”). The Board of Trustees has delegated to the Fund Accountant the responsibility for (1) calculating a Fund’s NAV, and (2) carrying out certain functions relating to the valuation of portfolio securities and other instruments in connection therewith. The Fund Accountant assumes these delegated responsibilities in accordance with the procedures and controls described forth below.
Pursuant to the Fund Administration and Accounting Agreement between the Trust and the Fund Accountant, the Fund Accountant has agreed to assemble the values of a Fund’s portfolio holdings pursuant to the Pricing Procedures (the “Pricing Procedures”) set forth in the Trust’s Compliance Policies and Procedures and compute the NAV of the Fund. The Fund Accountant will compile values for every portfolio security (“Preliminary Value”) in accordance with its “Ordinary Pricing Procedures” or “Fair Valuation Procedures” and test each Preliminary Value for ordinarily priced securities according to its Price Review Process. This process, the “Valuation Process,” will be conducted to determine the value of all securities held in a Fund’s portfolio (“Final Value”). If a Preliminary Value is available and passes the Price Review Process for a security at any given step, the process may be concluded for that security. In the event that a security is unable to be priced daily by any independent pricing agent or independent broker in accordance with the Pricing Procedures, and the Adviser believes that it is able to identify a fair market value for the security using a specified methodology until another pricing source is available or the security has been disposed of, the Adviser may direct the Fund Accountant to utilize such a price determined by such methodology.
The Fund Accountant is authorized to employ independent pricing services of the type commonly used in the investment company industry to provide current market values. Absent special circumstances, valuations for a type of instrument should all be made through an independent pricing service approved by the Adviser (“Pricing Services”). The Adviser will consider the qualifications, experience, and history of the independent pricing agents; the methods, techniques, inputs, and assumptions for different classes of holdings during different market conditions; and the quality of the pricing information provided when approving a particular independent pricing agent. On an ongoing basis, the Adviser, in consultation with the officers of the Trust and with input from the Fund Accountant, shall monitor and evaluate the Fund’s independent pricing agents.
In addition, the Fund Accountant may consider a valuation provided by an independent Valuation Vendor to provide either a Preliminary Value or to confirm the validity of a Preliminary Value as a Final Price, as provided for in the Pricing Procedures. A “Valuation Vendor” is a non-broker research firm approved by the Adviser for its expertise in providing security valuations through a modeling or evaluation process directly derived from observable and unobservable inputs. A Valuation Vendor utilizes market observables, if available, to determine the value. To the extent that market observables are not available as of the valuation date, the Valuation Vendor may use a statistical model to project the variables based on the historical data. To the extent that historical data is not available, comparable or historical benchmark data may be identified and used for estimation. To the extent comparable valuations are not available, the Valuation Vendor may use industry averages. Other similar methodologies, including the expert evaluation of unobservable inputs by the Valuation Vendor, may also be used to create a value.
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Equity Securities (Including American Depositary Receipts, Global Depositary Receipts and Preferred Stock. Securities traded or dealt in upon one or more securities exchange (whether domestic or foreign), except those listed on the National Association of Securities Dealers’ Automated Quotation System (“Nasdaq”), and not subject to restrictions against resale shall be valued at:
A. | Last Traded Price from the exchange in which the security is principally traded, or in the case of: |
1. | Nasdaq listed securities – Nasdaq Official Closing Price “NOCP,” when available. |
(1) | Non-U.S. equity securities – prices are based upon primary local market conventions. Depending upon local market convention or regulation, the price may represent the last sale price or the mean between the last bid and ask price as at the close of the appropriate exchange or at designated times as determined by the appropriate governing body. For countries that allow securities to trade on multiple exchanges (e.g. U.S., Japan, Germany, and India), the value of the security shall be taken to be the last reported closing price from the security’s primary exchange. | |
(2) | Snapshot Price (for markets that have not closed), or if not available and in the absence of a recorded transaction. | |
(3) | Mean Between Last Bid and Ask. | |
(4) | If an Ask price is unavailable, the Last Bid Price. |
An over-the-counter security not traded on an exchange or the Nasdaq is valued at:
1. | Last Traded Price or in the absence of a recorded transaction sale price, or if the last sale price is unavailable. | |
2. | Mean Between Last Bid and Ask, as quoted. | |
3. | If an Ask price is unavailable, the Last Bid Price. |
The value of portfolio securities traded primarily on foreign exchanges or a foreign over-the-counter market (“Foreign Securities”) may take into account foreign currency exchange activity occurring between the Valuation Time and the close of trading on the foreign exchange where the security being valued trades.
Securities Subject to Tender Offer. Securities held by a Fund, or received as part of a “Creation Order,” that may be subject to an outstanding tender offer, should be priced at the prevailing market price (if available) unless the Adviser and/or the Fund Accountant has determined that the security can and will be tendered. If such a determination has been made, the Adviser may consider whether the security should instead be priced at a value reflective of the tender offer.
Fixed Income Securities. Fixed income securities shall be valued by an independent pricing agent or by brokers using the mean between the bid and ask price. Such fixed income securities shall be valued using any of the following methodologies in descending order of preference:
A. | Evaluated Prices from a Pricing Service or the Valuation Vendor. An “Evaluated Price,” such as a Matrix Price, Modeled Price or broker-quoted price may be used as a Preliminary Value. Such Evaluated Prices are created by using various observable inputs including, but not limited to pricing formulas, such as dividend discount models, option valuation formulas, and discounted cash flow models that might be applicable. |
B. | Broker Quote. For a broker to provide prices, the broker must be a broker who is an over-the-counter market maker known to make markets in the security in question, or to have available a matrix pricing or modeled pricing process adequate for that class of securities. The Adviser will provide names of brokers in order to obtain a Preliminary Value for a security. In collecting price quotes from brokers, the Fund Accountant shall strive to receive both a bid and an ask price from each broker queried for each separate security. If a bid and ask price are received from a broker, the Preliminary Value from that broker will be considered to be the mean of the bid and ask price. If a bid and ask price are not available, a bid price may be considered as that broker’s Preliminary Value, but an ask price alone shall not. In the absence of more detailed information regarding the nature of a quote, a price received from a broker will be considered that Broker’s Preliminary Value. A Matrix or Modeled Price received by a broker may also be utilized as a Preliminary Value if the broker does not have a broker quote readily available. |
C. | Purchase Price. In the event a price cannot be obtained utilizing any of the methodologies described above, a Purchase Price can be used as the Final Value for up to five days from the purchase date, which will be considered a fair valuation and valued according to standing instructions from the Adviser. |
Short-Term Debt Instruments. Fixed income debt instruments, such as commercial paper, bankers’ acceptances and U.S. Treasury Bills having a maturity of less than 60 days are valued at market value using an evaluated mean from an approved Pricing Service.
Derivatives. Futures contracts shall be valued by using readily available market quotations provided by a Pricing Service. Futures contracts are generally valued at the last reported settlement price on the exchange on which they principally trade. If the settlement price is not available, then futures contracts shall be valued at the last traded price. Options traded on an exchange are generally valued at the mean between the current bid and ask prices on the exchange on which such options are traded. If a mean price is not available, the closing price is used. Calls written are valued at the last reported bid price, while calls purchased use the last reported ask price. Puts written are valued at the last reported ask price, while puts purchased are priced at the last reported bid price. Foreign currencies shall be translated to U.S. dollars using current exchange rates provided by a Pricing Service. Prices for other derivatives for which no exchange price is available will be provided by a Pricing Service, a Valuation Vendor or a broker quote.
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Rights and Warrants. Warrants or rights traded on an exchange are valued based on the last sale price on an exchange on the Valuation Date. If there are no sales on that day, the warrants or rights will be valued at the mean between the last reported bid and ask quotation. For rights and warrants not traded on an exchange, simple arithmetic can be used to price a security that has been created from corporate action related activity on an exchange-traded security where market observable inputs are available and a market price is unavailable. Generally, rights or warrants value will be based on the market value of the underlying securities, less the cost to “subscribe” to the underlying securities (i.e., to exercise the right), adjusted for the subscription ratio (the “Valuation Formula”). The subscription ratio means the number of shares available to purchase per right. A right or warrant shall be valued at zero if: (i) the subscription cost exceeds the market value of the underlying securities; or (ii) the subscription terms are not known. In all cases, these calculations will be performed by the Fund Accountant.
When it is determined by the Adviser that a Fund that is entitled to receive rights or warrants but is not eligible to either subscribe, exercise or sell the rights or warrants (i.e. in cases where U.S. investors cannot hold securities), the rights or warrants shall be assigned a value of zero.
Spot and Forward Currency Exchange Contracts. Spot and forward currency exchange contracts shall be valued using mid evaluation rates at the close of the London Exchange as provided by an approved Pricing Service.
Other Assets and Liabilities. Other assets (such as receivables and capitalized start-up costs) and liabilities (such as payables and borrowings by a Fund) are to be valued at their book value absent a determination by the Adviser to value them on another basis.
If a price for an equity security cannot be obtained from a pricing agent, the Fund Accountant will promptly notify the Adviser. The Adviser will attempt to identify and provide contact information for at least one independent broker-dealer from whom the Fund Accountant will attempt to receive quotations for the security. The Adviser may act as an intermediary between the Fund Accountant and the independent broker-dealer.
In the event that (1) price quotations or valuations are not readily available using the methodologies described above, (2) readily available price quotations or valuations are not reflective of market value (prices deemed unreliable), or (3) a significant event has been recognized in relation to a security or class of securities, the Adviser shall determine such securities’ fair value in accordance with the Trust’s fair valuation process.
In determining the fair value of securities for which market quotations are not readily available, price quotations or valuations deemed unreliable or a significant event has occurred, the Adviser shall be guided by factors articulated by the SEC from time to time. No single standard for fair valuation can be established. The fair value of a security depends on the circumstances of each individual case and should take into consideration all indications of value available at the time of determination. Generally, “fair value” of a portfolio security represents the amount the owner might reasonably expect to receive for the security upon current sale.
The Adviser may use any item it considers relevant in developing a fair value for a security. The Adviser is under no obligation to align or justify a current day’s fair value with any prior Final Value used for NAV calculation purposes, unless the Adviser determines the prior valuation to be currently relevant.
Dividends and Distributions
The following information supplements and should be read in conjunction with the section in the Prospectus entitled “Dividends, Distributions and Taxes.”
General Policies. Dividends from net investment income of a Fund, if any, are declared and paid at least annually. 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. The Trust reserves the right to declare special distributions if, in its reasonable discretion, such action is necessary or advisable to preserve the status of a Fund as a regulated investment company or to avoid imposition of income or excise taxes on undistributed income.
Dividends and other distributions of Fund Shares are distributed, as described below, 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 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 brokers in order 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 Fund Shares purchased in the secondary market.
Miscellaneous Information
Legal Counsel. Chapman and Cutler LLP, 320 South Canal Street, Chicago, Illinois 60606, is legal counsel to the Trust.
Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm. KPMG LLP, 345 Park Avenue, New York, New York 10154 serves as each Fund’s independent registered public accounting firm. The firm audits each Fund’s financial statements and performs other related audit services.
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Performance Information
To obtain a Fund’s most current performance information, please call (415) 707-3663 or visit the Fund’s website at https://www.icoietf.com (for ICOI), https://www.imraetf.com (for IMRA) or https://www.imstetf.com (for IMST). From time to time, the Fund’s performance information, such as yield or total return, may be quoted in advertisements or in communications to present or prospective shareholders. Performance quotations represent a Fund’s past performance and should not be considered as representative of future results. Each Fund calculates its performance in accordance with the requirements of the rules and regulations under the 1940 Act, as they may be revised from time to time.
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