Correlation
Risk—A number of factors may affect the Fund’s ability to achieve a high degree of correlation with its benchmark, including instances in which the Fund does not hold or have exposure to each component security of the underlying index and the effect of compounding on the Fund’s returns, and there can be no guarantee that the Fund will achieve a high degree of correlation. Failure to achieve a high degree of correlation may prevent the Fund from achieving its investment objective. The Fund does not attempt to, and should not be expected to, provide returns which are an inverse multiple of the returns of the underlying index for periods other than a single day. The risk of the Fund not achieving its daily investment objective will be more acute when the underlying index has an extreme one-day movement approaching 50%. In addition, as a result of compounding, the Fund’s
performance for periods greater than a single day is likely to be either greater than or less than the inverse of the performance of the underlying index times the stated multiple in the Fund’s investment objective, before accounting for Fund fees and expenses.
Counterparty Credit Risk—The Fund makes investments in financial instruments and
OTC-traded derivatives involving counterparties to gain exposure to a particular group of securities, index, asset class or other reference asset without actually purchasing those securities or investments, to hedge a position, or for other investment purposes. Through these investments and related arrangements (e.g., prime brokerage or securities lending arrangements or derivatives transactions), the Fund is exposed
to credit risks that the counterparty may be unwilling or unable to make timely payments or otherwise to meet its contractual obligations. If the counterparty
becomes bankrupt or defaults on (or otherwise becomes unable or unwilling to perform) its payment or other obligations to the Fund, the Fund may not receive the full amount that it is entitled to receive or may experience delays in recovering the collateral or other assets held by, or on behalf of, the counterparty. If this occurs, the value of your shares in the Fund will decrease. Counterparty credit risk also includes the related risk of having potentially significant exposure to such counterparty.
Credit Risk—The Fund could lose money if the issuer or guarantor of a fixed income or other debt instrument or a counterparty to a derivatives transaction or other transaction is unable or unwilling, or perceived to be unable or unwilling, to pay interest or repay principal on time, defaults or otherwise fails to meet its obligations. Actual or perceived changes in economic, social, public health, financial or political conditions in general or that affect a particular type of instrument, issuer, guarantor or counterparty can reduce the ability of the party to meet its obligations, which can affect the credit quality, liquidity and/or value of an instrument. The value of an instrument also may decline for reasons that relate directly to the issuer, guarantor or counterparty, such as management performance, financial leverage and reduced demand for goods and services or an actual or perceived change in financial condition or reputation. The issuer, guarantor or counterparty could also suffer a rapid decline in credit rating, which would adversely affect the value, price volatility and liquidity of the instrument. Credit ratings may not be an accurate assessment of liquidity or credit risk.
Currency Risk—Direct and indirect exposure to foreign currencies subjects the
Fund to the risk that those currencies will decline in value relative to the U.S. dollar or, in the case of short positions, that the U.S. dollar will decline in value relative to the currency being hedged. Currency exchange rates in foreign countries may fluctuate significantly over short periods of time for a number of reasons, including changes in interest rates, the imposition of currency controls, or other political (including geopolitical), economic and social developments in the U.S. or abroad. In particular, the Fund may have direct and indirect exposure to foreign currencies and also may incur transaction costs in connection with conversions between those currencies. The Fund may attempt to, but is not obligated to, hedge its currency exposure. However, currency hedging strategies may not effectively eliminate all currency risk.
Derivatives Risk—Derivatives and other instruments (collectively referred to in
this paragraph as “derivatives”) pose risks in addition to and greater than those associated with investing directly in securities, currencies or
other investments, including risks relating to leverage, market conditions and market risk, imperfect correlations with underlying investments or the Fund’s other portfolio holdings, high price volatility, lack of availability, counterparty credit, liquidity, valuation, operational and legal restrictions and risk. Their use is a highly specialized activity that involves investment techniques and risks different from those associated with ordinary portfolio securities transactions. The use of derivatives may result in leverage, which may cause the Fund to be more volatile and riskier than if it had not been leveraged. Changes in the value of a derivative also may create sudden margin delivery or settlement payment obligations for the Fund, which can materially affect the performance of the Fund, its liquidity, and other aspects of the Fund’s risk profile. The Fund’s use of derivatives to obtain short exposure may result in greater volatility of the Fund's net asset value (“NAV”) per share. If the Advisor is incorrect about its expectations of market conditions, the use of derivatives also could result in a loss, which in some cases may be unlimited. Certain