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| Summary prospectus |
MACQUARIE ETF TRUST
| Macquarie Tax-Free USA Short Term ETF | STAX |
| Exchange: NYSE Arca, Inc. |
March 25, 2025
Before you invest, you may want to review the Fund’s statutory prospectus (and any supplements thereto), which contains more information about the Fund and its risks. You can find the Fund’s statutory prospectus and other information about the Fund, including its statement of additional information and most recent reports to shareholders, online at etf.macquarie.com. You can also get this information at no cost by calling 844-469-9911. The Fund’s statutory prospectus and statement of additional information, both dated March 25, 2025 (and any supplements thereto), are incorporated by reference into this summary prospectus.
Summary prospectus
Macquarie Tax-Free USA Short Term ETF
What is the Fund’s investment objective?
Macquarie Tax-Free USA Short Term ETF seeks to provide a high level of current interest income that is exempt from federal income tax, and attempts to preserve capital by investing in short term municipal obligations.
What are the Fund’s fees and expenses?
The following table describes the fees and expenses that you will incur if you buy, hold, and sell shares of the Fund. You may also incur other fees, such as usual and customary brokerage commissions and other fees to financial intermediaries, which are not reflected in the table and the Example below.
Annual Fund Operating Expenses (expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)
| Management fees | 0.29% |
| Distribution and service (12b-1) fees | None |
| Other expenses | None |
| Total annual Fund operating expenses | 0.29% |
Example
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 shares at the end of those periods. 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:
| 1 Year | 3 Years | 5 Years | 10 Years |
| $30 | $93 | $163 | $368 |
Portfolio turnover
The Fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes when Fund shares are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in the annual fund operating expenses or in the example, affect the Fund’s performance. For the fiscal period from November 28, 2023 (commencement of Fund operations) to March 31, 2024, the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate was 9% of the average value of its portfolio.
What are the Fund’s principal investment strategies?
Under normal circumstances, Macquarie Tax-Free USA Short Term ETF will invest at least 80% of its net assets, plus the amount of any borrowings for investment purposes, in securities the income from which is exempt from federal income tax, including the federal alternative minimum tax. This is a fundamental investment policy that may not be changed without prior shareholder approval.
The Fund will invest primarily in municipal debt obligations that are issued by state and local governments to raise funds for various public purposes such as hospitals, schools, and general capital expenses. The Fund will invest its assets in securities with short durations until maturity and will typically have a dollar-weighted average effective maturity of between 1 and 5 years. Duration measures a bond’s sensitivity to interest rates by indicating the approximate change in a bond or bond fund’s price given a 1% change in interest rates. Bonds and other fixed income securities with longer maturities or duration generally are more sensitive to interest rate change. For example, if the Fund holds a portfolio of securities with an effective duration of five years and interest rates rise 1%, the principal value of such securities could
Summary prospectus
be expected to decrease by approximately 5%. Delaware Management Company, the Fund’s investment adviser (Manager) will adjust the average maturity of the bonds in the Fund’s portfolio to attempt to provide a high level of tax-exempt income consistent with preservation of capital.
The Manager analyzes economic and market conditions, seeking to identify the securities or market sectors that it thinks are the best investments for the Fund. The following is a general description of the investment strategies used to manage the Fund and a list of securities in which the Fund may invest.
The Fund will generally invest in debt obligations issued by state and local governments and their political subdivisions, agencies, authorities, and instrumentalities that are exempt from federal income tax. The Fund may also invest in debt obligations issued by or for the District of Columbia, and the political subdivisions, agencies, authorities, and instrumentalities or territories and possessions (such as the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, and the US Virgin Islands) of the United States that are exempt from federal income tax. The types of municipal debt obligations in which the Fund may invest include, but are not limited to, advance refunded bonds, revenue bonds, general obligation bonds, insured municipal bonds, private activity bonds, municipal leases, and certificates of participation.
The Fund will generally invest in securities for income rather than seeking capital appreciation through active trading. However, the Manager may sell securities for a variety of reasons such as: to reinvest the proceeds in higher yielding securities; to eliminate investments not consistent with the preservation of capital; to honor redemption requests; or to address a weakening credit situation. As a result, the Fund may realize capital gains that could be taxable to shareholders or they may realize losses.
The Fund may invest up to 20% of its net assets in high yield municipal securities (junk bonds), which are rated less than BBB- by S&P or comparably rated by other Nationally Recognized Statistical Ratings Organizations or if unrated, determined to be of comparable quality by the Manager. The Fund’s income level will vary depending on current interest rates and the specific securities in the portfolio. While the Fund will invest primarily in securities whose income is exempt from the federal alternative minimum tax (the “Federal AMT”) for certain non-corporate shareholders, the Fund may invest to a limited extent in securities whose income is subject to the Federal AMT.
The Fund’s investment objective is non-fundamental. This means that the Fund’s Board of Trustees (the “Board”) may change the objective without obtaining shareholder approval. If the objective were changed, the Fund would notify shareholders at least 60 days before the change became effective.
What are the principal risks of investing in the Fund?
Investing in any exchange-traded fund involves the risk that you may lose part or all of the money you invest. Over time, the value of your investment in the Fund will increase and decrease according to changes in the value of the securities in the Fund’s portfolio. An investment in the Fund may not be appropriate for all investors. Unlike many ETFs, the Fund is actively managed and does not seek to replicate the performance of a specified index. The Fund’s principal risks include:
Market risk — The risk that all or a majority of the securities in a certain market - such as the stock or bond market - will decline in value because of factors such as adverse political or economic conditions, future expectations, investor confidence, or heavy institutional selling.
Interest rate risk — The risk that the prices of bonds and other fixed income securities will increase as interest rates fall and decrease as interest rates rise. Interest rate changes are influenced by a number of factors, such as government policy, monetary policy, inflation expectations, and the supply and demand of bonds. Bonds and other fixed income securities with longer maturities or duration generally are more sensitive to interest rate changes. A fund may be subject to a greater risk of rising interest rates when interest rates are low or inflation rates are high or rising.
High yield (junk bond) risk — The risk that high yield securities, commonly known as “junk bonds,” are subject to reduced creditworthiness of issuers, increased risk of default, and a more limited and less liquid secondary market. High yield securities may also be subject to greater price volatility and risk of loss of income and principal than are higher-rated securities. High yield bonds are sometimes issued by municipalities that have less financial strength and therefore have less ability to make projected debt payments on the bonds.
Credit risk — The risk that an issuer of a debt security, including a governmental issuer or an entity that insures a bond, may be unable to make interest payments and/or repay principal in a timely manner.
Summary prospectus
Municipal securities risk — The value of the Fund’s investments in municipal securities may be adversely affected by unfavorable legislative or political developments and economic developments that impact the financial condition of municipal issuers. For example, a credit rating downgrade, bond default, or bankruptcy involving an issuer within a particular state or territory could affect the market values and marketability of many or all municipal obligations of that state or territory. Additionally, the relative amount of publicly available information about the financial condition of municipal securities issuers is generally less than that for corporate securities.
Call risk — The risk that a bond issuer will prepay the bond during periods of low interest rates, forcing a fund to reinvest that money at interest rates that might be lower than rates on the called bond.
Liquidity risk — The possibility that investments cannot be readily sold within seven calendar days at approximately the price at which a fund has valued them.
Government and regulatory risk — The risk that governments or regulatory authorities may take actions that could adversely affect various sectors of the securities markets and affect fund performance. For example, a tax-exempt security may be reclassified by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) or a state tax authority as taxable, and/or future legislative, administrative, or court actions could cause interest from a tax-exempt security to become taxable, possibly retroactively.
Geographic concentration risk — The risk that heightened sensitivity to regional, state, US territories or possessions (such as the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, or the US Virgin Islands), and local political and economic conditions could adversely affect the holdings in and performance of a fund. There is also the risk that there could be an inadequate supply of municipal bonds in a particular state or US territory or possession.
Industry and sector risk — The risk that the value of securities in a particular industry or sector will decline because of changing expectations for the performance of that industry or sector.
Private activity bonds risk — Municipalities and other public authorities issue private activity bonds to finance development of industrial facilities for use by a private enterprise. The private enterprise pays the principal and interest on the bond and the issuing authority does not pledge its full faith, credit, and taxing power for repayment. The private enterprise can have a substantially different credit profile than the municipality or public authority. The Fund’s investments in private activity bonds may subject certain shareholders to the Federal AMT.
Tax and federal alternative minimum tax risk — In purchasing municipal securities, the Fund and the Manager will rely on the opinion of an issuer’s bond counsel that the interest paid in the issuer’s securities will not be subject to federal income tax. A tax opinion generally is provided at the time a municipal security is initially issued. However, after the Fund buys a security backed by such an opinion, distributions by the Fund may become taxable to shareholders due to noncompliant conduct by a bond issuer, unfavorable changes in federal or state tax laws, or adverse interpretations of tax laws by the IRS or other authorities or because of other factors. Such adverse interpretations or actions could cause interest from a security to become taxable, possibly retroactively, subjecting shareholders to increased tax liability. In addition, such adverse interpretations or actions could cause the value of a security, and therefore, the value of the Fund’s shares, to decline.
In the case of derivative securities, the Fund and the Manager will rely on the opinion of the sponsor’s counsel on the tax-exempt status of interest on municipal bond obligations and payments under tax-exempt derivative securities. Neither the Fund nor its Manager will independently review the bases for those tax opinions, which may ultimately be determined to be incorrect and subject the Fund and its shareholders to substantial tax liabilities. Certain shareholders subject to the Federal AMT may be required to report the Fund’s exempt interest distributions in determining their Federal AMT. Exempt-interest dividends may affect the federal corporate alternative minimum tax for certain corporations. The Fund may also not be a suitable investment for individual retirement accounts and other tax-deferred arrangements. If the Fund invests in bonds whose income is subject to the alternative minimum tax, that portion of the Fund’s distributions would be taxable for shareholders who are subject to this tax.
ETF risk — The Fund is an ETF, and, as a result of an ETF’s structure, it is exposed to the following risks: “Authorized participants, market makers and liquidity providers concentration risk,” “Secondary Market Trading Risk” and “Shares may trade at prices other than NAV risk.”
| • | Authorized participants, market makers and liquidity providers concentration risk — Only authorized participants (“APs”) may engage in creation or redemption transactions directly with the Fund. The Fund has a limited number of financial institutions that are institutional investors and may act as APs. In addition, there may be a limited number of market makers and/or liquidity providers in the marketplace, and they have no obligation to submit creation or redemption orders. To the extent either of the following events occur, the Fund’s shares may trade at a material |
Summary prospectus
discount to net asset value (“NAV”) and possibly face delisting: (i) APs exit the business or otherwise become unable to process creation and/or redemption orders and no other APs step forward to perform these services, or (ii) market makers and/or liquidity providers exit the business or significantly reduce their business activities and no other entities step forward to perform their functions. These events, among others, may lead to the Fund’s shares trading at a premium or discount to NAV. A diminished market for an ETF’s shares substantially increases the risk that a shareholder may pay considerably more or receive significantly less than the underlying value of the ETF shares bought or sold.
| • | Secondary market trading risk — Although the Fund’s shares are listed on a national securities exchange, NYSE Arca, Inc. (“Exchange”), and may be traded on U.S. exchanges other than the Exchange, there can be no assurance that an active or liquid trading market for them will develop or be maintained. In addition, trading in the Fund’s shares on the Exchange may be halted. An exchange or market may also issue trading halts on specific securities or financial instruments. As a result, the ability to trade certain securities or financial instruments may be restricted, which may disrupt the Fund’s creation/redemption process or affect the price at which shares trade in the secondary market. |
| • | Shares may trade at prices other than NAV risk — As with all ETFs, shares of the Fund may be bought and sold in the secondary market at market prices. The Fund’s NAV is calculated at the end of each business day and fluctuates with changes in the market value of the Fund’s holdings, while the trading price of the shares fluctuates continuously throughout trading hours on the Exchange, based on both the relative market supply of, and demand for, the shares and the underlying value of the Fund’s holdings. As a result, although it is expected that the market price of the Fund’s shares will approximate the Fund’s NAV, there may be times when the market price of the Fund’s shares is more than the NAV intra-day (premium) or less than the NAV intra-day (discount). This risk is heightened in times of market volatility or periods of steep market declines. |
Active management and selection risk — The risk that the securities selected by a fund’s management will underperform the markets, the relevant indices, or the securities selected by other funds with similar investment objectives and investment strategies. The securities and sectors selected may vary from the securities and sectors included in the relevant index.
New fund risk — The Fund is a newly organized, diversified management investment company with limited operating history. In addition, there can be no assurance that the Fund will grow to, or maintain, an economically viable size, in which case the Board may determine to liquidate the Fund.
None of the entities noted in this document is an authorized deposit-taking institution for the purposes of the Banking Act 1959 (Commonwealth of Australia) and the obligations of these entities do not represent deposits or other liabilities of Macquarie Bank Limited ABN 46 008 583 542 (Macquarie Bank). Macquarie Bank does not guarantee or otherwise provide assurance in respect of the obligations of these entities. In addition, if this document relates to an investment (a) each investor is subject to investment risk including possible delays in repayment and loss of income and principal invested and (b) none of Macquarie Bank or any other Macquarie Group company guarantees any particular rate of return on or the performance of the investment, nor do they guarantee repayment of capital in respect of the investment.
How has Macquarie Tax-Free USA Short Term ETF performed?
The bar chart and table below provide some indication of the risks of investing in the Fund by showing the Fund’s performance for the 2024 calendar year and by showing how the Fund’s average annual total returns for the 1-year and lifetime periods compare with those of a broad measure of market performance. The Fund’s past performance (before and after taxes) is not necessarily an indication of how it will perform in the future. You may obtain the Fund’s most recently available month-end performance by calling 844-469-9911 or by visiting the Fund’s website at etf.macquarie.com.
Calendar year-by-year total return
During the period illustrated in this bar chart, the Fund’s highest quarterly return was 2.31% for the quarter ended September 30, 2024, and its lowest quarterly return was -0.08% for the quarter ended March 31, 2024.
Summary prospectus
Average annual total returns for periods ended December 31, 2024
| 1 year | Lifetime | |
| Returns before taxes (lifetime: 11/28/23-12/31/24) | 2.52% | 3.83% |
| Returns after taxes on distributions (lifetime: 11/28/23-12/31/24) | 2.52% | 3.83% |
| Returns after taxes on distributions and sale of Fund shares (lifetime: 11/28/23-12/31/24) | 2.90% | 3.68% |
| Bloomberg Municipal Bond Index (lifetime: 11/28/23-12/31/24) | 1.05% | 4.03% |
| Bloomberg 1-5 Year (Short) Municipal Bond Index (lifetime: 11/28/23-12/31/24) | 2.07% | 3.13% |
Actual after-tax returns depend on the investor’s individual tax situation and may differ from the returns shown. After-tax returns are not relevant for shares held in tax-advantaged investment vehicles such as employer-sponsored 401(k) plans and individual retirement accounts (IRAs). The after-tax returns shown are calculated using the highest individual federal marginal income tax rates in effect during the periods presented and do not reflect the impact of state and local taxes.
Who manages the Fund?
Investment manager
Delaware Management Company, a series of Macquarie Investment Management Business Trust (a Delaware statutory trust)
| Portfolio managers | Title with Delaware Management Company | Start date on the Fund |
| Gregory A. Gizzi | Managing Director, Head of US Fixed Income and Head of Municipal Bonds, Senior Portfolio Manager | Since inception (November 2023) |
| Stephen J. Czepiel | Managing Director, Head of Municipal Bonds Portfolio Management, Senior Portfolio Manager | Since inception (November 2023) |
| William Roach, CFA, CMT | Vice President, Senior Municipal Trader, Portfolio Manager | Since inception (November 2023) |
Purchase and redemption of Fund shares
The Fund is an ETF. As an ETF, only APs may engage in creation or redemption transactions directly with the Fund. The Fund issues or redeems shares that have been aggregated into blocks of 25,000 shares or multiples thereof (Creation Units) to APs who have entered into agreements with the Fund’s distributor, Foreside Financial Services, LLC. The Fund will generally issue or redeem Creation Units in exchange for a basket of securities (and/or an amount of cash) that the Fund specifies each day. Individual shares of the Fund may only be purchased and sold on a national securities exchange through a broker-dealer. The price of Fund shares is based on market price, and because ETF shares trade at market prices rather than NAV, shares may trade at a price greater than NAV (a premium) or less than NAV (a discount).
An investor may incur costs attributable to the difference between the highest price a buyer is willing to pay to purchase shares of the Fund (bid) and the lowest price a seller is willing to accept for shares of the Fund (ask) when buying or selling shares in the secondary market (the “bid-ask spread”). Recent information, including information on the Fund’s NAV, market price, premiums and discounts, and bid-ask spreads is available on the Fund’s website at etf.macquarie.com.
Summary prospectus
Tax information
The Fund intends to make distributions consisting of exempt-interest dividends that are exempt from federal income tax and may also be exempt from certain state and/or local income taxes depending on an investor’s state of residence. The Fund may invest a portion of its assets in securities that generate income that is subject to federal, state and local income tax, including the Federal AMT.
Payments to broker/dealers and other financial intermediaries
If you purchase shares of the Fund through a broker/dealer or other financial intermediary (such as a bank), the Fund and its related companies may pay the intermediary for certain Fund-related activities, including those that are designed to make the intermediary more knowledgeable about exchange traded products, such as the Fund, as well as for marketing, education or other initiatives related to the sale or promotion of Fund shares. 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.
SMPR-STAX