AS FILED WITH THE U.S. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION ON JUNE 8, 2012

 

File No. 333-156529

File No. 811-22263

 

 

U.S. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

 

FORM N-1A

 

  REGISTRATION STATEMENT UNDER THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933 x

 

PRE-EFFECTIVE AMENDMENT NO.   __     ¨

 

POST-EFFECTIVE AMENDMENT NO.   21     x

 

and/or

 

  REGISTRATION STATEMENT UNDER THE INVESTMENT COMPANY ACT OF 1940 x

 

AMENDMENT NO.    24      x

 

EXCHANGE TRADED CONCEPTS TRUST

(Exact Name of Registrant as Specified in Charter)

 

2545 South Kelly Avenue

Suite C

Edmond, Oklahoma 73013

(Address of Principal Executive Offices, Zip Code)

 

(405) 778-8377

(Registrant’s Telephone Number, including Area Code )

 

J. Garrett Stevens

Exchange Traded Concepts Trust

2545 South Kelly Avenue

Suite C

Edmond, Oklahoma 73013

(Name and Address of Agent for Service)

 

Copy to:

W. John McGuire, Esq.

Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP

1111 Pennsylvania Ave, NW

Washington, DC 20004

 

It is proposed that this filing will become effective (check appropriate box):

  x Immediately upon filing pursuant to paragraph (b) of Rule 485
  ¨ On (date) pursuant to paragraph (b)(1)(iii) of Rule 485
  ¨ 60 days after filing pursuant to paragraph (a)(1) of Rule 485
  ¨ On (date) pursuant to paragraph (a)(1) of Rule 485
  ¨ 75 days after filing pursuant to paragraph (a)(2) of Rule 485
  ¨ On (date) pursuant to paragraph (a)(2) of Rule 485

 

If appropriate, check the following box:

  ¨ This post-effective amendment designates a new effective date for a previously filed post-effective amendment.

 

 
 

 

Exchange Traded Concepts Trust

 

Prospectus

 

June 8, 2012

 

Sustainable North American Oil Sands ETF

 

Principal Listing Exchange for the Fund: NYSE Arca, Inc. (“NYSE Arca”)

Ticker Symbol: SNDS

 

Neither the Securities and Exchange Commission nor any state securities commission has approved or disapproved of these securities or passed upon the accuracy or adequacy of this Prospectus. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal offense.

 

 
 

 

About This Prospectus

 

This Prospectus has been arranged into different sections so that you can easily review this important information. For detailed information about the Fund, please see:

 

  Page
Fund Summary 1
Index/Trademark License/Disclaimers 7
Additional Risk Information 7
Additional Investment Strategies 11
Additional Risks 12
Information Regarding the Index 13
Portfolio Holdings 13
Fund Management 13
Portfolio Manager 14
Buying and Selling the Fund 15
Other Considerations 16
Dividends, Distributions and Taxes 16
Additional Information 19
How to Obtain More Information About the Fund 21

 

 
 

 

Fund Summary

 

Investment Objective

 

The Sustainable North American Oil Sands ETF (the “Fund”) seeks to provide investment results that, before fees and expenses, correspond generally to the price and yield performance of the Sustainable North American Oil Sands Index® (the “SNAOS Index” or the “Index”).

 

Fees and Expenses

 

This table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy and hold shares of the Fund. This table and the Example below do not include the brokerage commissions that investors may pay on their purchases and sales of Fund shares.

 

Annual Fund Operating Expenses
(expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)
Management Fee     0.50 %
Distribution and Service (12b-1) Fees 1     None  
Other Expenses     0.00 %
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses     0.50 %
1 The Fund has adopted a Distribution and Service (12b-1) Plan pursuant to which payments of up to 0.25% of average daily net assets may be made, however, the Board of Trustees (the “Board”) has determined that no such payments will be made during the first 12 months of operation. Thereafter, 12b-1 fees may only be imposed after approval by the Board. Any forgone 12b-1 fees during the first 12 months will not be recoverable during any subsequent period.

 

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 cost would be:

 

1 Year     3 Years  
$ 51     $ 160  

 

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 annual fund operating expenses or in the example, affect the Fund’s performance.

 

1
 

 

Principal Investment Strategies

 

The Fund will normally invest at least 80% of its total assets in securities of the Index or in depositary receipts representing securities of the Index. The Index is designed to measure the performance of companies whose operations in the North American oil sands include oil exploration, production, refinement, marketing, storage, transportation, provision of equipment and/or provision of services (“Oil Sands Companies”). Under normal circumstances, the Fund will invest at least 80% of its net assets, plus the amount of any borrowings for investment purposes, in securities of Oil Sands Companies. This investment policy may be changed without shareholder approval, upon 60 days’ prior notice to shareholders.

 

The Fund employs a “passive management” investment strategy in seeking to achieve its investment objective. The Fund generally will use a replication methodology, meaning it will invest in all of the securities comprising the Index in proportion to the weightings in the Index. However, the Fund may utilize a sampling methodology under various circumstances where it may not be possible or practicable to purchase all of the securities in the Index.

 

The Fund will concentrate its investments ( i.e., hold 25% or more of its total assets) in a particular industry or group of industries to approximately the same extent that the Index concentrates in an industry or group of industries. As of the date of the Prospectus, the Index was concentrated in the energy sector.

 

The Index provider is Sustainable Wealth Management Ltd. (“Sustainable Wealth”), which is not affiliated with the Fund, the Adviser or Index Management Solutions, LLC (the “Sub-Adviser”). Sustainable Wealth developed the methodology for determining the securities to be included on the SNAOS Index and for the ongoing maintenance of the Index. To be eligible for the SNAOS Index, a security must be issued by an Oil Sands Company that has a market capitalization of at least $3 billion, be traded on a U.S. or Canadian exchange and have a 100-day average trading volume of at least $5 million. The Index may include master limited partnerships (“MLPs”). As of March 7, 2012 there were 31 securities on the Index. The SNAOS Index is rebalanced at the end of each calendar quarter such that each security in the Index will have, on the rebalancing date, a weighting equal to every other security in the Index. Individual security weightings will fluctuate after each rebalancing date as a result of market action or for other reasons. Sustainable Wealth also publishes information regarding the SNAOS Index. The Index is calculated by Structured Solutions AG (“Structured Solutions”), which is not affiliated with the Fund, the Adviser or the Sub-Adviser.

 

2
 

 

Principal Risks

 

As with all funds, a shareholder is subject to the risk that his or her investment could lose money. The principal risks affecting shareholders’ investments in the Fund are set forth below. An investment in the Fund is not a bank deposit and is not insured or guaranteed by the FDIC or any government agency.

 

Concentration Risk : Because the Fund’s assets will be concentrated in an industry or group of industries to the extent that the Index concentrates in a particular industry or group of industries, the Fund is subject to loss due to adverse occurrences that may affect that industry or group of industries. As of the date of the Prospectus, the Index was concentrated in the energy sector.

 

Currency Risk : The Fund may invest in securities denominated in a foreign currency, including the Canadian dollar. Indirect and direct exposure to foreign currencies subjects the Fund to the risk that currencies will decline in value relative to the U.S. dollar. Currency rates in foreign countries may fluctuate significantly over short periods of time for a number of reasons, including changes in interest rates and the imposition of currency controls or other political developments in the U.S. or abroad.

 

Oil and Energy Sector Risk : Companies in the energy and oil sectors develop and produce crude oil and provide drilling and other energy resources production and distribution related services. Stock prices for these types of companies are affected by supply and demand both for their specific product or service and for energy products in general. The price of oil, exploration and production spending, government regulation, world events and economic conditions will likewise affect the performance of these companies. Correspondingly, securities of companies in the energy sector are subject to swift price and supply fluctuations caused by events relating to international politics, energy conservation, success of exploration projects, and tax and other governmental regulatory policies. Weak demand for the companies’ products or services or for energy products and services in general, as well as negative developments in the energy sector generally, would adversely impact the Fund’s performance. Certain oil and energy companies can be significantly affected by natural disasters as well as changes in exchange rates, interest rates, government regulation, world events and economic conditions. These companies may be at risk for environmental damage claims.

 

Oils sands reserves produce what is sometimes referred to as synthetic crude oil, to be distinguished from conventional crude oil produced from traditional oil reserves. Oil sands exploration and development is very competitive and involves many risks that even a combination of experience, knowledge and careful evaluation may not be able to overcome. The marketability of synthetic crude oil is affected by many of the same factors that affect conventional crude oil and the energy sector in general including, but not limited to, market fluctuations of prices and government regulation. However, because operating costs to produce synthetic crude oil from oil sands may be substantially higher than operating costs to produce conventional crude oil, an increase in such costs or a reduction in the price of synthetic crude oil or competing products may render mining resources from oil sands uneconomical. A significant decrease in the price of conventional crude oil may have a negative impact on the economic viability of oil sands projects. In addition, other developments, such as increasingly strict environmental and safety laws and regulations and enforcement policies thereunder, particularly in areas with a high concentration of oil sands, and local, native and political opposition to oils sands exploration and refinement, could result in substantial costs and liabilities, delays or an inability to complete projects or the abandonment of projects.

 

3
 

 

Foreign Securities Risk : The Fund invests a significant portion of its assets directly in securities of issuers based outside of the U.S., namely Canada, or in depositary receipts that represent such securities. Investments in securities of non-U.S. issuers involve certain risks that may not be present with investments in securities of U.S. issuers, such as risk of loss due to foreign currency fluctuations or to political or economic instability. There may be less information publicly available about a non-U.S. issuer than a U.S. issuer. Non-U.S. issuers may also be subject to different accounting, auditing, financial reporting and investor protection standards than U.S. issuers.

 

MLP Risk: MLPs are limited partnerships in which the ownership units are publicly traded. MLP units are registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) and are freely traded on a securities exchange or in the over-the-counter market. MLPs often own several properties or businesses (or own interests) that are related to oil and gas industries or other natural resources, but they also may finance other projects. To the extent that an MLP’s interests are all in a particular industry, the MLP will be negatively impacted by economic events adversely impacting that industry. The risks of investing in a MLP are generally those involved in investing in a partnership as opposed to a corporation. For example, state law governing partnerships is often less restrictive than state law governing corporations. Accordingly, there may be fewer protections afforded to investors in a MLP than investors in a corporation. For example, investors in MLPs may have limited voting rights or be liable under certain circumstances for amounts greater than the amount of their investment. In addition, MLPs may be subject to state taxation in certain jurisdictions which will have the effect of reducing the amount of income paid by the MLP to its investors.

 

Geographic Concentration Risk : The Fund’s investments are related to activities concentrated in Canada, and therefore the Fund will be more susceptible to adverse market, political, regulatory, and geographic events affecting that region than a fund that does not concentrate in Canada. The Fund may also be more susceptible to market, political, regulatory and geographic events affecting specific regions in Canada in which oil sands are concentrated, such as in the province of Alberta.

 

Risks Related to Investing in Canada : The U.S. is Canada’s largest trading partner and foreign investor. As a result, changes to the U.S. economy may significantly affect the Canadian economy. The economy of Canada is also heavily dependent on the demand for natural resources. Conditions that weaken demand for such products worldwide or otherwise change this sector could have a negative impact on the Canadian economy as a whole. These and other factors could have a negative impact on the Fund’s performance. Past demands for sovereignty by the province of Quebec have significantly affected equity valuations and foreign currency movements in the Canadian market.

 

Index Tracking Risk : The Fund’s return may not match or achieve a high degree of correlation with the return of the Index. To the extent the Fund utilizes a sampling approach, it may experience tracking error to a greater extent than if the Fund sought to replicate the Index.

 

Large-Capitalization Risk : Returns on investments in securities of large companies could trail the returns on investments in securities of smaller and mid-sized companies.

 

Small- and Mid-Capitalization Risk : The small- and mid-capitalization companies in which the Fund may invest may be more vulnerable to adverse business or economic events than larger, more established companies, and may underperform other segments of the market or the equity market as a whole.

 

Management Risk : Because the Fund may not fully replicate its Index and may hold fewer than the total number of securities in its Index and may hold securities not included in its Index, the Fund is subject to management risk. This is the risk that the Sub-Adviser’s security selection process, which is subject to a number of constraints, may not produce the intended results.

 

4
 

 

Market Risk : The values of equity securities in the Index could decline generally or could underperform other investments.

 

Passive Investment Risk : The Fund is not actively managed and therefore the Fund would not sell shares of an equity security due to current or projected underperformance of a security, industry or sector, unless that security is removed from the Index or the selling of shares is otherwise required upon a rebalancing of the Index.

 

Performance Information

 

The Fund is new, and therefore has no performance history. Once the Fund has completed a full calendar year of operations, a bar chart and table will be included that will provide some indication of the risks of investing in the Fund by showing the variability of the Fund’s return based on net assets and comparing the variability of the Fund’s return to a broad measure of market performance.

 

Investment Advisers

 

Exchange Traded Concepts, LLC serves as the investment adviser to the Fund. Index Management Solutions, LLC serves as the sub-adviser to the Fund.

 

The Adviser has retained the Sub-Adviser to be responsible for trading portfolio securities on behalf of the Fund, including selecting broker-dealers to execute purchase and sale transactions as instructed by the Adviser or in connection with any rebalancing or reconstitution of the Index, subject to the supervision of the Adviser and the Board of Trustees.

 

Portfolio Manager

 

Denise M. Krisko, CFA, Chief Investment Officer for IMS, has primarily responsibility for the day-to-day management of the Fund. Ms. Krisko has managed the Fund since its inception.

 

Purchase and Sale of Fund Shares

 

Individual shares may only be purchased and sold on a national securities exchange through a broker-dealer. You can purchase and sell individual shares of the Fund throughout the trading day like any publicly traded security. The Fund’s shares are listed on the NYSE Arca, Inc. (“NYSE Arca”). The price of the Fund’s Shares is based on market price, and because exchange-traded fund shares trade at market prices rather than net asset value (“NAV”), Shares may trade at a price greater than NAV (premium) or less than NAV (discount). The Fund issues and redeems Shares on a continuous basis, at NAV, only in blocks of 50,000 Shares (“Creation Units”), principally in-kind for securities included in the Index . Except when aggregated in Creation Units, the Fund’s Shares are not redeemable securities.

 

5
 

 

Tax Information

 

The distributions made by the Fund are taxable, and will be taxed as ordinary income or capital gains, unless you are investing through a tax-deferred arrangement, such as 401(k) plan or individual retirement account.

 

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 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 web site for more information.

 

6
 

 

Index/Trademark License/Disclaimers

 

The Index provider is Sustainable Wealth. Sustainable Wealth is not affiliated with the Trust, the Adviser, the Sub-Adviser, the Fund’s administrator, custodian, transfer agent or distributor, or any of their respective affiliates. The Adviser has entered into a license agreement with SWM Index, LLC, a U.S. subsidiary of Sustainable Wealth, pursuant to which the Adviser pays a fee to use the Index. The Adviser is sub-licensing rights to the Index to the Fund at no charge.

 

The Sustainable Wealth Management Ltd. indexes are the exclusive property of Sustainable Wealth Management Ltd. Sustainable Wealth Management Ltd. and the Sustainable Wealth Management Ltd. index names are service mark(s) of Sustainable Wealth Management Ltd. or its affiliates and have been licensed for use for certain purposes by the Adviser. The financial securities referred to herein are not sponsored, endorsed, or promoted by Sustainable Wealth Management Ltd., and Sustainable Wealth Management Ltd. bears no liability with respect to any such financial securities. The Prospectus contains a more detailed description of the relationship the Index provider has with the Adviser and any related financial securities. No purchaser, seller or holder of this product, or any other person or entity, should use or refer to any Sustainable Wealth Management Ltd. trade name, trademark or service mark to sponsor, endorse, market or promote this product without first contacting Sustainable Wealth Management Ltd. to determine whether Sustainable Wealth Management Ltd.’s permission is required. Under no circumstances may any person or entity claim any affiliation with Sustainable Wealth Management Ltd. without the prior written permission of Sustainable Wealth Management Ltd.

 

The Index is calculated by Structured Solutions. Structured Solutions is not affiliated with the Trust, the Adviser, the Sub-Adviser, the Fund’s administrator, custodian, transfer agent or distributor, or any of their respective affiliates.

 

Additional Risk Information

 

The following section provides additional information regarding certain of the principal risks identified under “Principal Risks” in the “Fund Summary” section along with additional risk information.

 

Principal Risks

 

Foreign Investment Risk : Returns on investments in foreign stocks could be more volatile than, or trail the returns on, investments in U.S. stocks.

 

7
 

 

Foreign Securities . The Fund invests in foreign securities, including securities denominated in Canadian dollars, and U.S. dollar-denominated securities of foreign issuers traded in the United States. Investment in foreign securities may involve higher costs than investment in U.S. securities, including higher transaction and custody costs as well as the imposition of additional taxes by foreign governments. Foreign investments may also involve risks associated with the level of currency exchange rates, less complete financial information about the issuers, less market liquidity, more market volatility and political instability. Future political and economic developments, the possible imposition of withholding taxes on dividend income, the possible seizure or nationalization of foreign holdings, the possible establishment of exchange controls or freezes on the convertibility of currency, or the adoption of other governmental restrictions might adversely affect an investment in foreign securities. Additionally, foreign issuers may be subject to less stringent regulation, and to different accounting, auditing and recordkeeping requirements.

 

Depositary Receipts. The Fund may invest in depositary receipts. Depositary receipts include American Depositary Receipts (“ADRs”) which are U.S. dollar-denominated receipts representing shares of foreign-based corporations. ADRs are issued by U.S. banks or trust companies, and entitle the holder to all dividends and capital gains that are paid out on the underlying foreign shares. Investment in ADRs may be less liquid than the underlying shares in their primary trading market.

 

Depositary receipts may be sponsored or unsponsored. Sponsored depositary receipts are established jointly by a depositary and the underlying issuer, whereas unsponsored depositary receipts may be established by a depositary without participation by the underlying issuer. Holders of an unsponsored depositary receipt generally bear all the costs associated with establishing the unsponsored depositary receipt. In addition, the issuers of the securities underlying unsponsored depositary receipts are not obligated to disclose material information in the United States and, therefore, there may be less information available regarding such issuers and there may not be a correlation between such information and the market value of the depositary receipts.

 

Currency Risk . The Fund’s NAV is determined on the basis of U.S. dollars, therefore, the Fund may lose value if the local currency of a foreign market depreciates against the U.S. dollar, even if the local currency value of the Fund’s holdings goes up.

 

Political and Economic Risk . The Fund is subject to foreign political and economic risk not associated with U.S. investments, meaning that political events (civil unrest, national elections, changes in political conditions and foreign relations, imposition of exchange controls and repatriation restrictions), social and economic events (labor strikes, rising inflation) and natural disasters occurring in a country where the Fund invests could cause the Fund’s investments in that country to experience gains or losses. The Fund also could be unable to enforce its ownership rights or pursue legal remedies in countries where it invests.

 

Foreign Market and Trading Risk . The trading markets for many foreign securities are not as active as U.S. markets and may have less governmental regulation and oversight. Foreign markets also may have clearance and settlement procedures that make it difficult for the Fund to buy and sell securities. These factors could result in a loss to the Fund by causing the Fund to be unable to dispose of an investment or to miss an attractive investment opportunity, or by causing Fund assets to be uninvested for some period of time.

 

8
 

 

Risks of Investing in Canada – Trading Partners: The Canadian economy is dependent on the economies of the United States, Mexico and Europe as key trading partners. Reduction in spending by any of these economies on Canadian products and services or negative changes in any of these economies may cause an adverse impact on the Canadian economy:

 

North American Economic Risk . The United States is Canada’s largest trade and investment partner and the Canadian economy is significantly affected by developments in the U.S. economy. Since the implementation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (“NAFTA”) in 1994 among Canada, the U.S. and Mexico, total two-way merchandise trade between the United States and Canada has more than doubled. To further this relationship, the three NAFTA countries entered into the security and prosperity partnership of North America in March 2005, which may further affect Canada’s dependency on the U.S. economy. Any downturn in U.S. or Mexican economic activity is likely to have an adverse impact on the Canadian economy.

 

European Economic Risk . Decreasing European imports or exports, changes in European governmental regulations on trade, changes in the exchange rate of the Euro and recessions in European Union (“EU”) economies may have a significant adverse effect on the economies of EU members and their trade with Canada. The economic and monetary union of the EU requires compliance with restrictions on inflation rates, deficits, interest rates, debt levels and fiscal and monetary controls, each of which may significantly affect every country in Europe and may impact trade with Canada.

 

Risks of Investing in Oil Sands : Oil sands exploration and development is very competitive and involves may risks that even a combination of experience, knowledge and careful evaluation may not be able to overcome. There is no assurance that the companies operating in the oil sands sector will produce synthetic crude oil in quantities or at costs anticipated, or that they will not cease producing entirely in certain circumstances. Actual operating costs may differ materially from such current estimates. Moreover, it is possible that other developments, such as increasingly strict environmental and safety laws and regulations and enforcement policies thereunder and claims for damages to property or persons resulting from the operations in the oil sands sector, could result in substantial costs and liabilities, delays or an inability to complete projects or the abandonment of projects. Historically, oil sands projects have experienced capital cost overruns due to a variety of factors. There is no assurance that the current construction and operations schedule of the companies will proceed without any delays or cost overruns. Any delays may increase the costs of development and productions. Factors commonly associated with large industrial projects including, but not limited to, shortages of equipment, materials and labor, fluctuations in the prices of materials, local, native and political opposition, litigation and environmental or geological problems could also give rise to delays in development and productions and cost overruns.

 

Oil sands extraction operations, pipelines and upgraders are subject to environmental regulation pursuant to federal and provincial legislation and regulations. These laws require various approvals and provide for restrictions and prohibitions on releases or emissions of various substances produced or used in association with such operations. Risks of substantial costs and liabilities are inherent in oil sands operations and a violation of any such law may result in the issuance of remedial orders, the suspension of approvals or the imposition of significant fines or penalties.

 

9
 

 

Participants in the oil sands sectors may particularly be impacted by environmental regulation enacted by regions in which oil sands reserves are concentrated, such as in Canada and particularly the province of Alberta. The Canadian government has proposed regulations that include binding emissions targets and compliance mechanisms aimed at halving emissions of smog and acid rain compounds by 2015 and reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 20% from 2006 levels by 2020. The province of Alberta recently enacted regulations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, becoming the first Canadian jurisdiction to enact mandatory greenhouse gas emission reduction targets. With annual compliance beginning July 1, 2008, the Alberta regulations will require facilities which emit more than 100,000 tons of carbon dioxide equivalent gas per year to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 12% below their average emission intensities from 2003 to 2005. Alberta facilities built after the year 2000 will be given a three-year grace period beginning in their first full year of operation and will be allowed a five-year period over which to achieve their target of 12% below average emissions intensity from their baseline year being their third year of operation. Numerous uncertainties remain regarding details of the Canadian government’s plans and their implementation, as well as Alberta’s newly enacted regulatory regime. There can be no assurance that future rules and regulations limited air emissions, whether imposed by the federal government or by local or provincial governments, will not affect the profitability or continued operation of participants in the oil sands sector.

 

Market Capitalization Risk : The Index may be composed primarily of, or have significant exposure to, securities in a particular capitalization range, for example, large-, mid- or small-cap securities. As a result, the Fund may be subject to the risk that the pre-dominate capitalization range represented in the Index may underperform other segments of the equity market or the equity market as a whole. In addition, in comparison to securities of companies with larger capitalizations, securities of small and medium-capitalization companies may experience more price volatility, greater spreads between their bid and ask prices, significantly lower trading volumes, and cyclical or static growth prospects. Small and medium-capitalization companies often have limited product lines, markets or financial resources, and may therefore be more vulnerable to adverse developments than larger capitalization companies. These securities may or may not pay dividends.

 

Market Risk : An investment in the Fund involves risks similar to those of investing in any fund of equity securities, such as market fluctuations caused by such factors as economic and political developments, changes in interest rates and perceived trends in securities prices. The values of equity securities could decline generally or could underperform other investments. Different types of equity securities tend to go through cycles of out-performance and under-performance in comparison to the general securities markets. In addition, securities may decline in value due to factors affecting a specific issuer, market or securities markets generally.

 

10
 

 

Passive Investment Risk : The Fund is not actively managed. Therefore, unless a specific security is removed from the Index, or the selling of shares of that security is otherwise required upon a rebalancing of the Index as addressed in the Index methodology, the Fund generally would not sell a security because the security's issuer was in financial trouble. If a specific security is removed from the Index, the Fund may be forced to sell such security at an inopportune time or for a price other than the security's current market value. An investment in the Fund involves risks similar to those of investing in any equity securities traded on an exchange, such as market fluctuations caused by such factors as economic and political developments, changes in interest rates and perceived trends in security prices. It is anticipated that the value of Fund Shares will decline, more or less, in correspondence with any decline in value of the Index. The Index may not contain the appropriate mix of securities for any particular point in the business cycle of the overall economy, particular economic sectors, or narrow industries within which the commercial activities of the companies comprising the portfolio securities holdings of the Fund are conducted, and the timing of movements from one type of security to another in seeking to replicate the Index could have a negative effect on the Fund. Unlike with an actively managed fund, the Adviser does not use techniques or defensive strategies designed to lessen the effects of market volatility or to reduce the impact of periods of market decline. This means that, based on market and economic conditions, the Fund's performance could be lower than other types of mutual funds that may actively shift their portfolio assets to take advantage of market opportunities or to lessen the impact of a market decline.

 

Tracking Error Risk : Tracking error refers to the risk that the Adviser may not be able to cause the Fund's performance to match or correlate to that of the Index, either on a daily or aggregate basis. There are a number of factors that may contribute to the Fund's tracking error, such as Fund expenses, imperfect correlation between the Fund's investments and those of the Index, rounding of share prices, the timing or magnitude of changes to the composition of the Index, regulatory policies, and high portfolio turnover rate. The Fund incurs operating expenses not applicable to the Index and incurs costs associated with buying and selling securities, especially when rebalancing the Fund’s securities holdings to reflect changes in the composition of the Index. In addition, mathematical compounding may prevent the Fund from correlating with the monthly, quarterly, annual or other period performance of its index. Tracking error may cause the Fund's performance to be less than expected.

 

Additional Investment Strategies

 

The Fund, using an “indexing” investment approach, seeks to provide investment results that, before fees and expenses, correspond generally to the price and yield performance of the Index. A number of factors may affect the Fund’s ability to achieve a high correlation with the Index, including the degree to which the Fund utilizes a sampling methodology. There can be no guarantee that the Fund will achieve a high degree of correlation.

 

The Fund may sell securities that are represented in the Index or purchase securities not yet represented in the Index, in anticipation of their removal from or addition to the Index. There may also be instances in which the Sub-Adviser may choose to overweight securities in the Index, thus causing the Sub-Adviser to purchase or sell securities not in the Index which the Sub-Adviser believes are appropriate to substitute for certain securities in the Index or utilize various combinations of other available investment techniques in seeking to track the Index. The Fund may invest up to 20% of its assets in cash and cash equivalents, such as money market instruments, or in other types of investments not included in the Index, including in certain derivatives, specifically index futures, that the Sub-Adviser believes will help the Fund track the SNAOS Index. The Fund will not take defensive positions.

 

11
 

 

The Fund may change its investment objective and underlying index without shareholder approval.

 

Additional Risks

 

Trading Issues. Although Fund shares are listed for trading on the NYSE Arca, there can be no assurance that an active trading market for such shares will develop or be maintained. Trading in Fund shares may be halted due to market conditions or for reasons that, in the view of the NYSE Arca, make trading in shares inadvisable. In addition, trading in shares is subject to trading halts caused by extraordinary market volatility pursuant to NYSE Arca “circuit breaker” rules. There can be no assurance that the requirements of the NYSE Arca necessary to maintain the listing of the Fund will continue to be met or will remain unchanged or that the shares will trade with any volume, or at all.

 

Fluctuation of NAV. The NAV of the Fund shares will generally fluctuate with changes in the market value of the Fund’s securities holdings. The market prices of shares will generally fluctuate in accordance with changes in the Fund’s NAV and supply and demand of shares on the NYSE Arca. It cannot be predicted whether Fund shares will trade below, at or above their NAV. Price differences may be due, in large part, to the fact that supply and demand forces at work in the secondary trading market for shares will be closely related to, but not identical to, the same forces influencing the prices of the securities of the Index trading individually or in the aggregate at any point in time. The market prices of Fund shares may deviate significantly from the NAV of the shares during periods of market volatility. While the creation/redemption feature is designed to make it likely that Fund shares normally will trade close to the Fund’s NAV, disruptions to creations and redemptions may result in trading prices that differ significantly from the Fund’s NAV. If an investor purchases Fund shares at a time when the market price is at a premium to the NAV of the shares or sells at a time when the market price is at a discount to the NAV of the shares, then the investor may sustain losses.

 

Costs of Buying or Selling Shares. Investors buying or selling Fund shares in the secondary market will pay brokerage commissions or other charges imposed by brokers as determined by that broker. Brokerage commissions are often a fixed amount and may be a significant proportional cost for investors seeking to buy or sell relatively small amounts of shares. In addition, secondary market investors will also incur the cost of the difference between the price that an investor is willing to pay for shares (the “bid” price) and the price at which an investor is willing to sell shares (the “ask” price). This difference in bid and ask prices is often referred to as the “spread” or “bid/ask spread.” The bid/ask spread varies over time for shares based on trading volume and market liquidity, and is generally lower if the Fund’s shares have more trading volume and market liquidity and higher if the Fund’s shares have little trading volume and market liquidity. Further, increased market volatility may cause increased bid/ask spreads. Due to the costs of buying or selling shares, including bid/ask spreads, frequent trading of shares may significantly reduce investment results and an investment in shares may not be advisable for investors who anticipate regularly making small investments.

 

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Derivatives Risk : A derivative is a financial contract, the value of which depends on, or is derived from, the value of a financial asset (such as a stock, bond or currency), a physical asset (such as gold) or a market index (such as the S&P 500 Index).  Compared to conventional securities, derivatives can be more sensitive to changes in interest rates or to sudden fluctuations in market prices and thus the Fund’s losses may be greater if it invests in derivatives than if it invests only in conventional securities.  The use of derivative instruments to assist in tracking the Index involves the risk of imperfect or even negative correlation to the Index or the securities comprising the Index, which could result in tracking error or loss to the Fund.

 

Information Regarding the Index

 

The SNAOS Index is designed to measure the performance of companies whose operations in the North American oil sands include oil exploration, production, refinement, marketing, storage, transportation, provision of equipment and/or provision of services. In addition to having operations in the North American oil sands, eligible constituents for the Index must be Canadian or U.S. exchange listed stocks, and are screened according to market capitalization and liquidity requirements. Eligible constituents must have a market capitalization of at least $3 billion and a 100 day average daily trading volume value of at least $5 million. The Index may include master limited partnerships (“MLPs”).

 

Constituent securities are rebalanced at the end of each calendar quarter and, at the time of rebalancing, are given equal weight on the Index. The Index is generally comprised of 25-40 securities. The Index was created and is maintained by Sustainable Wealth. The Index is calculated by Structured Solutions.

 

Portfolio Holdings

 

A description of the Fund’s policies and procedures with respect to the disclosure of the Fund’s portfolio securities is available in the Fund’s Statement of Additional Information (“SAI”).

 

Fund Management

 

Exchange Traded Concepts, LLC, or the Adviser an Oklahoma limited liability company, is located at 2545 S. Kelly Ave., Suite C, Edmond, Oklahoma 73013. The Adviser was formed in 2009 and provides investment advisory services to other exchange-traded funds. The Adviser serves as investment adviser to the Fund and provides investment advice to the Fund and oversees the day-to-day operations of the Fund, subject to the direction and control of the Trust’s Board of Trustees (“Board”) and officers. The Adviser, in consultation with sub-advisers, also arranges for transfer agency, custody, fund administration and accounting, and other non-distribution related services necessary for the Fund to operate. The Adviser administers the Fund’s business affairs, provides office facilities and equipment and certain clerical, bookkeeping and administrative services, and provides its officers and employees to serve as officers or Trustees of the Trust. For the services it provides to the Fund, the Fund pays the Adviser a fee, which is calculated daily and paid monthly, at an annual rate of 0.50% on the average daily net assets of the Fund, subject to a $25,000 minimum fee. Under the investment advisory agreement, the Adviser has agreed to pay all expenses incurred by the Fund except for the advisory fee, interest, taxes, brokerage commissions and other expenses incurred in placing orders for the purchase and sale of securities and other investment instruments, acquired fund fees and expenses, extraordinary expenses, and distribution fees and expenses paid by the Trust under any distribution plan adopted pursuant to Rule 12b-1 under the 1940 Act.

 

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Index Management Solutions, LLC or the Sub-Adviser, is a wholly-owned subsidiary of VTL Associates, LLC and a Pennsylvania limited liability company, located at One Commerce Square, 2005 Market Street, Suite 2020, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19103. The Sub-Adviser is responsible for trading portfolio securities on behalf of the Fund, including selecting broker-dealers to execute purchase and sale transactions as instructed by the Adviser or in connection with any rebalancing or reconstitution of the Index, subject to the supervision of the Adviser and the Board. Under a sub-advisory agreement, the Adviser pays the Sub-Adviser a fee calculated daily and paid monthly, at an annual rate of 0.05% on the average daily net assets of the Fund, subject to a $10,000 minimum fee.

 

A discussion regarding the basis for the Board’s approval of the Investment Advisory Agreement with the Adviser and the Sub-Advisory Agreement with the Sub-Adviser will be available in the Fund’s Semi-Annual Report.

 

Portfolio Manager

 

The professional primarily responsible for the day-to-day management of the Fund is Denise M. Krisko, CFA.

 

Ms. Krisko is responsible for the investment decisions for the Fund. Ms. Krisko became the Chief Investment Officer for the Sub-Adviser in 2009 and has over eighteen years of investment experience. Previously, she was a Managing Director and Co-Head of the Equity Index Management and Head of East Coast Equity Index Strategies for Mellon Capital Management. She was also a Managing Director of The Bank of New York and Head of Equity Index Strategies for BNY Investment Advisors since August of 2005. Ms. Krisko attained the Chartered Financial Analyst (“CFA”) designation. She graduated with a BS from Pennsylvania State University and obtained her MBA from Villanova University.

 

The SAI provides additional information about the Portfolio Manager’s compensation, other accounts managed, and ownership of Fund Shares.

 

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Buying and Selling Fund Shares

 

Fund shares are listed for secondary trading on the NYSE Arca. When you buy or sell the Fund’s shares on the secondary market, you will pay or receive the market price. 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 shares will trade on the NYSE Arca at prices that may differ to varying degrees from the daily NAV of the shares. A “Business Day” with respect to the Fund is any day on which the NYSE Arca is open for business. The NYSE Arca is generally open Monday through Friday and is closed weekends and the following holidays: New Year’s Day, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, Presidents’ Day, Good Friday, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day.

 

NAV per share for the Fund is computed by dividing the value of the net assets of the Fund ( i.e. the value of its total assets less total liabilities) by its total number of shares outstanding. Expenses and fees, including management and distribution fees, if any, are accrued daily and taken into account for purposes of determining NAV. NAV is determined each business day, normally as of the close of regular trading of the NYSE (ordinarily 4:00 p.m., Eastern time).

 

When determining NAV, the value of the Fund’s portfolio securities is based on market prices of the securities, which generally means a valuation obtained from an exchange or other market (or based on a price quotation or other equivalent indication of the value supplied by an exchange or other market) or a valuation obtained from an independent pricing service. If a security’s market price is not readily available or does not otherwise accurately reflect the fair value of the security, the security will be valued by another method that the Board believes will better reflect fair value in accordance with the Trust’s valuation policies and procedures. Fair value pricing may be used in a variety of circumstances, including but not limited to, situations when the value of a security in the Fund’s portfolio has been materially affected by events occurring after the close of the market on which the security is principally traded but prior to the close of the NYSE Arca (such as in the case of a corporate action or other news that may materially affect the price of a security) or trading in a security has been suspended or halted. Accordingly, the Fund’s NAV may reflect certain portfolio securities’ fair values rather than their market prices.

 

Fair value pricing involves subjective judgments and it is possible that a fair value determination for a security will materially differ from the value that could be realized upon the sale of the security. In addition, fair value pricing could result in a difference between the prices used to calculate the Fund’s NAV and the prices used by the Fund’s index. This may result in a difference between the Fund’s performance and the performance of the Fund’s Index.

 

Frequent Purchases and Redemptions of Fund Shares

 

The Fund imposes no restrictions on the frequency of purchases and redemptions. The Board evaluated the risks of market timing activities by the Fund’s shareholders when they determined that no restriction or policy was necessary. The Board considered that, unlike traditional mutual funds, the Fund’s Shares may be purchased and sold on the exchange at prevailing market prices. Given this structure, the Board determined that it is unlikely that (a) market timing would be attempted by the Fund’s shareholders or (b) any attempts to market time the Fund by its shareholders would result in negative impact to the fund or its shareholders.

 

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Other Considerations

 

Distribution and Service Plan . The Fund has adopted a Distribution and Service Plan in accordance with Rule 12b-1 under the 1940 Act pursuant to which payments of up to 0.25% of the Fund’s average daily net assets may be made for the sale and distribution of its Fund shares. However, the Board has determined that no payments pursuant to the Distribution and Service Plan will be made for at least the next twelve (12) months of operation. Thereafter, 12b-1 fees may only be imposed after approval by the Board. Any forgone 12b-1 fees during the next 12 months will not be recoverable during any subsequent period. Because these fees would be paid out of the Fund’s assets on an on-going basis, if payments are made in the future, these fees will increase the cost of your investment and may cost you more than paying other types of sales charges.

 

Dividends, Distributions and Taxes

 

Fund Distributions

 

The Fund pays out dividends from its net investment income to investors at least quarterly. The Fund distributes any net capital gains, if any, annually.

 

Dividend Reinvestment Service

 

Brokers may make available to their customers who own the Fund’s shares the DTC book-entry dividend reinvestment service. If this service is available and used, dividend distributions of both income and capital gains will automatically be reinvested in additional whole shares of the Fund. Without this service, investors would receive their distributions in cash. In order to achieve the maximum total return on their investments, investors are encouraged to use the dividend reinvestment service. To determine whether the dividend reinvestment service is available and whether there is a commission or other charge for using this service, consult your broker. Brokers may require the Fund’s shareholders to adhere to specific procedures and timetables. If this service is available and used, dividend distributions of both income and realized gains will be automatically reinvested in additional whole shares of the Fund purchased in the secondary market.

 

Tax Information

 

The following is a summary of some important tax issues that affect the Fund and its shareholders. The summary is based on current tax laws, which may be changed by legislative, judicial or administrative action. You should not consider this summary to be a detailed explanation of the tax treatment of the Fund, or the tax consequences of an investment in the Fund. More information about taxes is located in the SAI. You are urged to consult your tax adviser regarding specific questions as to federal, state and local income taxes.

 

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Tax Status of the Fund

 

The Fund is treated as a separate entity for federal tax purposes, and intends to qualify for the special tax treatment afforded to regulated investment companies under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”). As long as the Fund qualifies as a regulated investment company, it pays no federal income tax on the earnings it distributes to shareholders.

 

Tax Status of Distributions

 

· The Fund will distribute substantially all of its net investment income, quarterly, and net capital gains income, annually.

 

· The income dividends and short-term capital gains distributions you receive from the Fund will be taxed as either ordinary income or qualified dividend income. Dividends that are qualified dividend income are currently eligible for the reduced maximum rate to individuals of 15% (lower rates apply to individuals in lower tax brackets) to the extent that the Fund receives qualified dividend income.

 

· Any long-term capital gains distributions you receive from the Fund are taxable as long-term capital gains regardless of how long you have owned your shares. Long-term capital gains are currently taxed at a maximum rate of 15%.

 

· Absent further legislation, the maximum 15% tax rate on qualified dividend income and long-term capital gains will cease to apply to taxable years beginning after December 31, 2012.

 

· Dividends, interest and gains received by the Fund with respect to foreign securities may be subject to withholding and other taxes imposed by foreign countries. Tax conventions between certain countries and the United States may, in some cases, reduce or eliminate such taxes. If more than 50% of the total assets of the Fund consist of foreign securities, the Fund will be eligible to elect to treat some of those taxes as a distribution to shareholders. This means that you will be considered to have received as an additional dividend your share of such foreign taxes and may be entitled to either a corresponding tax deduction in calculating your taxable income, or, subject to certain limitations, a credit in calculating your federal income tax.

 

· Recent legislation effective beginning in 2013 provides that U.S. individuals with income exceeding $200,000 ($250,000 if married and filing jointly) will be subject to a new 3.8% Medicare contribution tax on their “net investment income,” including interest, dividends, and capital gains (including capital gains realized on the sale or exchange of shares of the Fund).

 

· Dividends and distributions are generally taxable to you whether you receive them in cash or in additional shares.

 

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· Corporate shareholders may be entitled to a dividends-received deduction for the portion of dividends they receive that are attributable to dividends received by the Fund from U.S. corporations, subject to certain limitations.

 

· Long-term capital gains distributions will result from gains on the sale or exchange of capital assets held by the Fund for more than one year.

 

· Distributions paid in January but declared by the Fund in October, November or December of the previous year may be taxable to you in the previous year.

 

· The Fund will inform you of the amount of your ordinary income dividends, qualified dividend income, and long-term capital gain distributions shortly after the close of each calendar year.

 

· If you hold your shares in a tax-qualified retirement account, you generally will not be subject to federal taxation on Fund distributions until you begin receiving distributions from your retirement account. You should consult your tax adviser regarding the tax rules that apply to your retirement account.

 

Tax Status of Share Transactions. Each sale, exchange, or redemption of Fund shares may be a taxable event to you. For tax purposes, an exchange of Fund shares for shares of a different Fund of the Trust is treated the same as a sale. Currently, any capital gain or loss realized upon a sale of Fund shares is generally treated as a long-term gain or loss if the shares have been held for more than one year. Any capital gain or loss realized upon a sale of Fund shares held for one year or less is generally treated as short-term gain or loss, except that any capital loss on the sale of shares held for six months or less is treated as long-term capital loss to the extent the capital gain dividends were paid with respect to such shares. You should consider the tax consequences of any redemption or exchange before making such a request, especially with respect to redemptions if you invest in the Fund through a tax-qualified retirement plan.

 

Non-U.S. Investors.   If you are not a citizen or permanent resident of the United States, the Fund’s ordinary income dividends will generally be subject to a 30% U.S. withholding tax, unless a lower treaty rate applies or unless such income is effectively connected with a U.S. trade or business. For taxable years of the Fund beginning before January 1, 2012, the Fund may, under certain circumstances, designate all or a portion of a dividend as an “interest-related dividend” or a “short-term capital gain dividend” that if received by a nonresident alien or foreign entity generally would be exempt from the 30% U.S. withholding tax, provided that the foreign person is a nonresident alien individual who is not present in the United States for a period or periods aggregating 183 days or more during the taxable year and certain other requirements are met. Gains from the sale or other disposition of shares of the Fund generally are not subject to U.S. taxation, unless the recipient is an individual who either (1) meets the Code’s definition of “resident alien” or (2) is physically present in the U.S. for 183 days or more per year. Different tax consequences may result if the foreign shareholder is engaged in a trade or business within the United States. Tax consequences to a foreign shareholder entitled to claim the benefits of a tax treaty may be different than those described above.

 

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Beginning in 2014, a 30% U.S. withholding tax will be imposed on dividends and proceeds from the sale of Fund shares paid to foreign shareholders if certain disclosure requirements are not satisfied.

 

Taxes on Exchange-Listed Share Sales.   Currently, any capital gain or loss realized upon a sale of shares is generally treated as long-term capital gain or loss if the shares have been held for more than one year and as short-term capital gain or loss if the shares have been held for one year or less, except that any capital loss on the sale of shares held for six months or less is treated as long-term capital loss to the extent that capital gain dividends were paid with respect to such shares.

 

Backup Withholding.   The Fund will be required in certain cases to withhold at applicable withholding rates and remit to the United States Treasury the amount withheld on amounts payable to any shareholder who (1) has provided the Fund either an incorrect tax identification number or no number at all, (2) who is subject to backup withholding by the Internal Revenue Service for failure to properly report payments of interest or dividends, (3) who has failed to certify to the Fund that such shareholder is not subject to backup withholding, or (4) has not certified that such shareholder is a U.S. person (including a U.S. resident alien).

 

The foregoing discussion summarizes some of the consequences under current federal tax law of an investment in the Fund. It is not a substitute for personal tax advice. Consult your personal tax advisor about the potential tax consequences of an investment in the Fund under all applicable tax laws.

 

Additional Information

 

Other Information

 

For purposes of the 1940 Act, the Fund is treated as a registered investment company. Section 12(d)(1) of the 1940 Act restricts investments by investment companies in the securities of other investment companies, including Shares of the Fund. The SEC has issued an exemptive order to the Trust permitting registered investment companies to invest in exchange-traded funds offered by the Trust beyond the limits of Section 12(d)(1) subject to certain terms and conditions, including that such registered investment companies enter into an agreement with the Trust.

 

Continuous Offering

 

The method by which Creation Units are purchased and traded may raise certain issues under applicable securities laws. Because new Creation Units are issued and sold by the Fund on an ongoing basis, at any point a “distribution,” as such term is used in the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”), may occur. Broker-dealers and other persons are cautioned that some activities on their part may, depending on the circumstances, result in their being deemed participants in a distribution in a manner which could render them statutory underwriters and subject them to the Prospectus delivery and liability provisions of the Securities Act.

 

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For example, a broker-dealer firm or its client may be deemed a statutory underwriter if it takes Creation Units after placing an order with the Distributor, breaks them down into individual Shares, and sells such Shares directly to customers, or if it chooses to couple the creation of a supply of new Shares with an active selling effort involving solicitation of secondary market demand for Shares. A determination of whether one is an underwriter for purposes of the Securities Act must take into account all the facts and circumstances pertaining to the activities of the broker-dealer or its client in the particular case, and the examples mentioned above should not be considered a complete description of all the activities that could lead to categorization as an underwriter.

 

Broker-dealer firms should also note that dealers who are not “underwriters” but are effecting transactions in Shares, whether or not participating in the distribution of Shares, are generally required to deliver a prospectus. This is because the prospectus delivery exemption in Section 4(3) of the Securities Act is not available with respect to such transactions as a result of Section 24(d) of the 1940 Act. As a result, broker dealer-firms should note that dealers who are not underwriters but are participating in a distribution (as contrasted with ordinary secondary market transactions) and thus dealing with Shares that are part of an over-allotment within the meaning of Section 4(3)(a) of the Securities Act would be unable to take advantage of the prospectus delivery exemption provided by Section 4(3) of the Securities Act. Firms that incur a prospectus delivery obligation with respect to Shares of a Fund are reminded that under Rule 153 of the Securities Act, a prospectus delivery obligation under Section 5(b)(2) of the Securities Act owed to an exchange member in connection with a sale on the NYSE Arca is satisfied by the fact that such Fund’s Prospectus is available at the NYSE Arca upon request. The prospectus delivery mechanism provided in Rule 153 is only available with respect to transactions on an exchange.

 

Premium/Discount Information

 

Information regarding how often the Shares of the Fund traded on the NYSE Arca at a price above ( i.e. at a premium) or below ( i.e. at a discount) the NAV of the Fund during the past four quarters, as applicable, can be found at www.swmetfs.com.

 

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Exchange Traded Concepts Trust

2545 S. Kelly Avenue, Suite C

Edmond, Oklahoma 73013

 

ANNUAL/SEMI-ANNUAL REPORTS TO SHAREHOLDERS

 

Additional information about the Fund’s investments will be available in the Fund’s annual and semi-annual reports to shareholders. In the Fund’s annual report, when available, you will find a discussion of the market conditions and investment strategies that significantly affected the Fund’s performance during its last fiscal year.

 

STATEMENT OF ADDITIONAL INFORMATION (SAI)

 

The SAI provides more detailed information about the Fund. The SAI is incorporated by reference into, and is thus legally a part of, this Prospectus.

 

FOR MORE INFORMATION

 

To request a free copy of the latest annual or semi-annual report, when available, the SAI or to request additional information about the Fund or to make other inquiries, please contact us as follows:

 

Call: 1-855-SWM-FUND

Monday through Friday

8:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. (Eastern Time)

 

Write: Exchange Traded Concepts Trust

2545 S. Kelly Ave., Suite C

Edmond, OK 73013

 

Visit: www.swmetfs.com

 

INFORMATION PROVIDED BY THE SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

 

You can review and copy information about the Fund (including the SAI) at the SEC’s Public Reference Room in Washington, DC. To find out more about this public service, call the SEC at 1-202-551-8090. Reports and other information about the Fund are also available in the EDGAR Database on the SEC's Internet site at http://www.sec.gov, or you can receive copies of this information, after paying a duplicating fee, by electronic request at the following e-mail address: publicinfo@sec.gov, or by writing the Public Reference Section, Securities and Exchange Commission, 100 F Street, N.E., Washington, DC 20549-0102.

 

The Trust’s Investment Company Act file number: 811-22263

 

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STATEMENT OF ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

 

Sustainable North American Oil Sands ETF ( the “ F und” ) Ticker Symbol: SNDS

 

, a series of EXCHANGE TRADED CONCEPTS TRUST (the “Trust”)

 

June 8, 2012

 

Principal Listing Exchange for the Fund: NYSE Arca

 

Investment Adviser:

Exchange Traded Concepts, LLC

 

Sub-Adviser:

Index Management Solutions, LLC

 

This Statement of Additional Information (“SAI”) is not a prospectus. The SAI should be read in conjunction with the Fund’s prospectus, dated June 8, 2012 as may be revised from time to time (the “Prospectus”). Capitalized terms used herein that are not defined have the same meaning as in the Prospectus, unless otherwise noted. A copy of the Prospectus may be obtained without charge, by writing the Fund’s Distributor, SEI Investments Distribution Co. at One Freedom Valley Drive, Oaks, PA 19456, by visiting the Trust’s website at www.exchangetradedconcepts.com, or by calling 1-855-SWM-FUND.

 

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

 

general information about THE TRUST 1
ADDITIONAL INDEX information 1
additional information about investment objectives, policies and related risks 2
DESCRIPTION OF PERMITTED INVESTMENTS 2
SPECIAL CONSIDERATIONS AND RISKS 14
INVESTMENT restrictions 16
exchange listing and trading 18
management of the trust 19
OWNERSHIP OF SHARES 27
CODEs OF ETHICS 27
PROXY VOTING POLICIES 28
INVESTMENT ADVISORY AND OTHER SERVICES 28
THE PORTFOLIO MANAGER 29
THE distributor 30
THE administrator 31
THE CUSTODIAN 32
THE TRANSFER AGENT 32
LEGAL COUNSEL 32
INDEPENDENT registered public accounting firm 32
portfolio holdings DISCLOSURE POLICIES AND PROCEDURES 32
DESCRIPTION OF SHARES 32
LIMITATION OF TRUSTEES’ LIABILITY 33
BROKERAGE TRANSACTIONS 33
PORTFOLIO TURNOVER RATE 36
BOOK ENTRY ONLY SYSTEM 36
CONTROL PERSONS AND PRINCIPAL HOLDERS OF SECURITIES 37
Purchase and issuance of shares in creation units 37
DETERMINATION OF NET ASSET VALUE 44
DIVIDENDS AND DISTRIBUTIONS 45
FEDERAL INCOME TAXES 46
APPENDIX a A-1

 

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GENERAL INFORMATION ABOUT THE TRUST

 

The Trust is an open-end management investment company consisting of multiple investment series. This SAI relates to one series: the Sustainable North American Oil Sands ETF (the “Fund”). The Trust was organized as a Delaware statutory trust on July 17, 2009. The Trust is registered with the SEC under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, (the “1940 Act”) as an open-end management investment company and the offering of the Fund’s shares (“Shares”) is registered under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”). Exchange Traded Concepts, LLC (the “Adviser”) serves as investment adviser to the Fund. Index Management Solutions, LLC (the “Sub-Adviser”) serves as the sub-adviser to the Fund. The investment objective of the Fund is provide investment results that, before fees and expenses, correspond generally to the price and yield performance of a specified benchmark index (the “Index”).

 

The Fund offers and issues Shares at their net asset value (“NAV”) only in aggregations of a specified number of Shares (each, a “Creation Unit”). The Fund generally offers and issues Shares in exchange for a basket of securities included in its Index (“Deposit Securities”) together with the deposit of a specified cash payment (“Cash Component”). The Trust reserves the right to permit or require the substitution of a “cash in lieu” amount (“Deposit Cash”) to be added to the Cash Component to replace any Deposit Security. The Shares are listed on the NYSE Arca, Inc. (“NYSE Arca” or the “Exchange”) and trade on the Exchange at market prices. These prices may differ from the Shares’ NAVs. The Shares are also redeemable only in Creation Unit aggregations, and generally in exchange for portfolio securities and a specified cash payment. A Creation Unit of the Fund consists of at least 50,000 Shares.

 

Shares may be issued in advance of receipt of Deposit Securities subject to various conditions including a requirement to maintain on deposit with the Trust cash at least equal to a specified percentage of the market value of the missing Deposit Securities as set forth in the Participant Agreement (as defined below). The Trust may impose a transaction fee for each creation or redemption. In all cases, such fees will be limited in accordance with the requirements of the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) applicable to management investment companies offering redeemable securities. In addition to the fixed Creation or Redemption Transaction Fee, an additional transaction fee of up to five times the fixed Creation or Redemption Transaction Fee may apply.

 

ADDITIONAL INDEX INFORMATION

 

Sustainable North American Oil Sands Index ®

 

Index Weighting & Methodology

 

The objective of the Sustainable North American Oil Sands Index is to measure the performance of companies whose operations in the North American oil sands include oil exploration, production, refinement, marketing, storage, transportation, provision of equipment and/or provision of services. In addition to having business activities in the North American oil sands, eligible constituents for the Index must be Canadian or U.S. exchange listed stocks, and are screened according to market capitalization and liquidity requirements. Eligible constituents must have a market capitalization of at least $3 billion and a 100 day average daily trading volume value of at least $5 million.

 

Rebalancing Methodology

 

The Sustainable North American Oil Sands Index is rebalanced at the end of each calendar quarter. The following situations will result in the index being rebalanced prior to the anniversary date:

 

1
 

 

1. Corporate events, such as a merger or acquisition
2. Special dividend and excessive cash
3. Corporate divestitures

 

Corporate events require that the index constituents be reevaluated post event and that the index be rebalanced by the end of the calendar quarter after the event occurred.

Excessive cash that exceeds 5% of the index portfolio value must be reinvested into the index components by the end of each calendar quarter . In addition, special dividends that are paid on a specific issuer are reinvested into the issuer by the end of the month in which they are received.

Corporate divestitures require the same treatment as corporate events detailed above.

 

Additions and deletions at rebalance are due to companies passing or failing the liquidity and market capitalization test, as well as whether or not they are still involved with operations in North America’s oil sands (e.g. equipment/facilities, oil services, or production).

 

More information is available about the Sustainable North American Oil Sands Index at www.swmindex.com . Information regarding the Index will be disseminated through Reuters and Bloomberg.

 

The Sustainable North American Oil Sands Index was created and is maintained by Sustainable Wealth Management Ltd. and is calculated by Structured Solutions AG (“Structured Solutions”).

 

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ABOUT INVESTMENT OBJECTIVES, POLICIES AND RELATED RISKS

 

The Fund’s investment objective and principal investment strategies are described in the Prospectus. The following information supplements, and should be read in conjunction with, the Prospectus. For a description of certain permitted investments, see “Description of Permitted Investments” in this SAI.

 

CONCENTRATION

 

The Fund may concentrate its investments in a particular industry or group of industries, as described in the Prospectus. The securities of issuers in particular industries may dominate the Index of the Fund and consequently the Fund’s investment portfolio. This may adversely affect the Fund’s performance or subject its Shares to greater price volatility than that experienced by less concentrated investment companies.

 

DESCRIPTION OF PERMITTED INVESTMENTS

 

The following are descriptions of the permitted investments and investment practices and the associated risk factors. The Fund will only invest in any of the following instruments or engage in any of the following investment practices if such investment or activity is consistent with the Fund’s investment objective and permitted by the Fund’s stated investment policies.

 

EQUITY SECURITIES

 

Equity securities represent ownership interests in a company and include common stocks, preferred stocks, warrants to acquire common stock, and securities convertible into common stock. Investments in equity securities in general are subject to market risks that may cause their prices to fluctuate over time. Fluctuations in the value of equity securities in which the Fund invests will cause the NAVof the Fund to fluctuate.

 

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Types of Equity Securities:

 

Common Stocks - Common stocks represent units of ownership in a company. Common stocks usually carry voting rights and earn dividends. Unlike preferred stocks, which are described below, dividends on common stocks are not fixed but are declared at the discretion of the company’s board of directors.

 

Preferred Stocks - Preferred stocks are also units of ownership in a company. Preferred stocks normally have preference over common stock in the payment of dividends and the liquidation of the company. However, in all other respects, preferred stocks are subordinated to the liabilities of the issuer. Unlike common stocks, preferred stocks are generally not entitled to vote on corporate matters. Types of preferred stocks include adjustable-rate preferred stock, fixed dividend preferred stock, perpetual preferred stock, and sinking fund preferred stock. Generally, the market values of preferred stock with a fixed dividend rate and no conversion element varies inversely with interest rates and perceived credit risk.

 

Convertible Securities - Convertible securities are securities that may be exchanged for, converted into, or exercised to acquire a predetermined number of shares of the issuer’s common stock at the Fund’s option during a specified time period (such as convertible preferred stocks, convertible debentures and warrants). A convertible security is generally a fixed income security that is senior to common stock in an issuer’s capital structure, but is usually subordinated to similar non-convertible securities. In exchange for the conversion feature, many corporations will pay a lower rate of interest on convertible securities than debt securities of the same corporation. In general, the market value of a convertible security is at least the higher of its “investment value” ( i.e. , its value as a fixed income security) or its “conversion value” ( i.e., its value upon conversion into its underlying common stock).

 

Convertible securities are subject to the same risks as similar securities without the convertible feature. The price of a convertible security is more volatile during times of steady interest rates than other types of debt securities. The price of a convertible security tends to increase as the market value of the underlying stock rises, whereas it tends to decrease as the market value of the underlying common stock declines.

 

Rights and Warrants - A right is a privilege granted to existing shareholders of a corporation to subscribe to shares of a new issue of common stock before it is issued. Rights normally have a short life of usually two to four weeks, are freely transferable and entitle the holder to buy the new common stock at a lower price than the public offering price. Warrants are securities that are usually issued together with a debt security or preferred stock and that give the holder the right to buy proportionate amount of common stock at a specified price. Warrants are freely transferable and are traded on major exchanges. Unlike rights, warrants normally have a life that is measured in years and entitles the holder to buy common stock of a company at a price that is usually higher than the market price at the time the warrant is issued. Corporations often issue warrants to make the accompanying debt security more attractive.

 

An investment in warrants and rights may entail greater risks than certain other types of investments. Generally, rights and warrants do not carry the right to receive dividends or exercise voting rights with respect to the underlying securities, and they do not represent any rights in the assets of the issuer. In addition, their value does not necessarily change with the value of the underlying securities, and they cease to have value if they are not exercised on or before their expiration date. Investing in rights and warrants increases the potential profit or loss to be realized from the investment as compared with investing the same amount in the underlying securities.

 

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Master Limited Partnerships - MLPs are limited partnerships or limited liability companies, whose partnership units or limited liability interests are listed and traded on a U.S. securities exchange, and are treated as publicly traded partnerships for federal income tax purposes. To qualify to be treated as a partnership for tax purposes, an MLP must receive at least 90% of its income from qualifying sources as set forth in Section 7704(d) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the "Code"). These qualifying sources include activities such as the exploration, development, mining, production, processing, refining, transportation, storage and marketing of mineral or natural resources. MLPs generally have two classes of owners, the general partner and limited partners. MLPs that are formed as limited liability companies generally have two analogous classes of owners, the managing member and the members. For purposes of this section, references to general partners also apply to managing members and references to limited partners also apply to members. The general partner is typically owned by a major energy company, an investment fund, the direct management of the MLP or is an entity owned by one or more of such parties. The general partner may be structured as a private or publicly traded corporation or other entity. The general partner typically controls the operations and management of the MLP through an equity interest of as much as 2% in the MLP plus, in many cases, ownership of common units and subordinated units. Limited partners own the remainder of the MLP through ownership of common units and have a limited role in the MLP's operations and management.

 

MLPs are typically structured such that common units and general partner interests have first priority to receive quarterly cash distributions up to an established minimum amount ("minimum quarterly distributions" or "MQD"). Common and general partner interests also accrue arrearages in distributions to the extent the MQD is not paid. Once common and general partner interests have been paid, subordinated units receive distributions of up to the MQD; however, subordinated units do not accrue arrearages. Distributable cash in excess of the MQD paid to both common and subordinated units is distributed to both common and subordinated units generally on a pro rata basis. The general partner is also eligible to receive incentive distributions if the general partner operates the business in a manner which results in distributions paid per common unit surpassing specified target levels. As the general partner increases cash distributions to the limited partners, the general partner receives an increasingly higher percentage of the incremental cash distributions. A common arrangement provides that the general partner can reach a tier where it receives 50% of every incremental dollar paid to common and subordinated unit holders. These incentive distributions encourage the general partner to streamline costs, increase capital expenditures and acquire assets in order to increase the partnership's cash flow and raise the quarterly cash distribution in order to reach higher tiers. Such results benefit all security holders of the MLP.

 

General partner interests of MLPs are typically retained by an MLP's original sponsors, such as its founders, corporate partners, entities that sell assets to the MLP and investors such as us. A holder of general partner interests can be liable under certain circumstances for amounts greater than the amount of the holder's investment in the general partner interest. General partner interests often confer direct board participation rights and in many cases, operating control, over the MLP. These interests themselves are not publicly traded, although they may be owned by publicly traded entities. General partner interests receive cash distributions, typically 2% of the MLP's aggregate cash distributions, which are contractually defined in the partnership agreement. In addition, holders of general partner interests typically hold incentive distribution rights ("IDRs"), which provide them with a larger share of the aggregate MLP cash distributions as the distributions to limited partner unit holders are increased to prescribed levels. General partner interests generally cannot be converted into common units. The general partner interest can be redeemed by the MLP if the MLP unitholders choose to remove the general partner, typically with a supermajority vote by limited partner unitholders.

   

Royalty Trusts - A royalty trust generally acquires an interest in natural resource companies or chemical companies and distributes the income it receives to the investors of the royalty trust. A sustained decline in demand for crude oil, natural gas and refined petroleum products could adversely affect income and royalty trust revenues and cash flows. Factors that could lead to a decrease in market demand include a recession or other adverse economic conditions, an increase in the market price of the underlying commodity, higher taxes or other regulatory actions that increase costs, or a shift in consumer demand for such products. A rising interest rate environment could adversely impact the performance of royalty trusts. Rising interest rates could limit the capital appreciation of royalty trusts because of the increased availability of alternative investments at more competitive yields.

 

Risks of Investing in Equity Securities:

 

General Risks of Investing in Stocks - While investing in stocks allows investors to participate in the benefits of owning a company, such investors must accept the risks of ownership. Unlike bondholders, who have preference to a company’s earnings and cash flow, preferred stockholders, followed by common stockholders in order of priority, are entitled only to the residual amount after a company meets its other obligations. For this reason, the value of a company’s stock will usually react more strongly to actual or perceived changes in the company’s financial condition or prospects than its debt obligations. Stockholders of a company that fares poorly can lose money.

 

Stock markets tend to move in cycles with short or extended periods of rising and falling stock prices. The value of a company’s stock may fall because of:

 

§ Factors that directly relate to that company, such as decisions made by its management or lower demand for the company’s products or services;

 

§ Factors affecting an entire industry, such as increases in production costs; and

 

§ Changes in general financial market conditions that are relatively unrelated to the company or its industry, such as changes in interest rates, currency exchange rates or inflation rates.

 

Because preferred stock is generally junior to debt securities and other obligations of the issuer, deterioration in the credit quality of the issuer will cause greater changes in the value of a preferred stock than in a more senior debt security with similar stated yield characteristics.

 

Small- and Medium-Sized Companies - Investors in small- and medium-sized companies typically take on greater risk and price volatility than they would by investing in larger, more established companies. This increased risk may be due to the greater business risks of their small or medium size, limited markets and financial resources, narrow product lines and frequent lack of management depth. The securities of small- and medium-sized companies are often traded in the over-the-counter market and might not be traded in volumes typical of securities traded on a national securities exchange. Thus, the securities of small and medium capitalization companies are likely to be less liquid, and subject to more abrupt or erratic market movements, than securities of larger, more established companies.

 

When-Issued Securities – A when-issued security is one whose terms are available and for which a market exists, but which have not been issued. When the Fund engages in when-issued transactions, it relies on the other party to consummate the sale.  If the other party fails to complete the sale, the Fund may miss the opportunity to obtain the security at a favorable price or yield.

 

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When purchasing a security on a when-issued basis, the Fund assumes the rights and risks of ownership of the security, including the risk of price and yield changes. At the time of settlement, the market value of the security may be more or less than the purchase price.  The yield available in the market when the delivery takes place also may be higher than those obtained in the transaction itself.  Because the Fund does not pay for the security until the delivery date, these risks are in addition to the risks associated with its other investments.

 

Decisions to enter into “when-issued” transactions will be considered on a case-by-case basis when necessary to maintain continuity in a company’s index membership. The Fund will segregate cash or liquid securities equal in value to commitments for the when-issued transactions.  The Fund will segregate additional liquid assets daily so that the value of such assets is equal to the amount of the commitments .

 

FOREIGN SECURITIES

 

FOREIGN ISSUERS

 

The Fund may invest a portion of its assets in issuers located outside the United States directly, or in financial instruments that are indirectly linked to the performance of foreign issuers. Examples of such financial instruments include depositary receipts, which are described further below, “ordinary shares,” and “New York shares” issued and traded in the United States. Ordinary shares are shares of foreign issuers that are traded abroad and on a United States exchange. New York shares are shares that a foreign issuer has allocated for trading in the United States. American Depositary Receipts (“ADRs”), ordinary shares, and New York shares all may be purchased with and sold for U.S. Dollars, which protects the Fund from the foreign settlement risks described below.

 

Investing in foreign companies may involve risks not typically associated with investing in United States companies. The U.S. dollar value of securities of foreign issuers and of distributions in foreign currencies from such securities, can change significantly when foreign currencies strengthen or weaken relative to the U.S. Dollar. Foreign securities markets generally have less trading volume and less liquidity than United States markets, and prices in some foreign markets can be very volatile than those of domestic securities. Therefore, the Fund’s investment in foreign securities may be less liquid and subject to more rapid and erratic price movements than comparable securities listed for trading on U.S. exchanges. Non-U.S. equity securities may trade at price/earnings multiples higher than comparable U.S. securities and such levels may not be sustainable. There may be less government supervision and regulation of foreign stock exchanges, brokers, banks and listed companies abroad than in the U.S. Moreover, settlement practices for transactions in foreign markets may differ from those in U.S. markets. Such differences may include delays beyond periods customary in the U.S. and practices, such as delivery of securities prior to receipt of payment, which increase the likelihood of a failed settlement, which can result in losses to the Fund. The value of non-U.S. investments and the investment income derived from them may also be affected unfavorably by changes in currency exchange control regulations. Foreign brokerage commissions, custodial expenses and other fees are also generally higher than for securities traded in the U.S. This may cause the Fund to incur higher portfolio transaction costs than domestic equity funds. Fluctuations in exchange rates may also affect the earning power and asset value of the foreign entity issuing a security, even one denominated in U.S. dollars. Dividend and interest payments may be repatriated based on the exchange rate at the time of disbursement, and restrictions on capital flows may be imposed. Many foreign countries lack uniform accounting, auditing and financial reporting standards comparable to those that apply to United States companies, and it may be more difficult to obtain reliable information regarding a foreign issuer's financial condition and operations. In addition, the costs of foreign investing, including withholding taxes, brokerage commissions, and custodial fees, generally are higher than for United States investments.

 

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Investing in companies located abroad carries political and economic risks distinct from those associated with investing in the United States. Foreign investment may be affected by actions of foreign governments adverse to the interests of United States investors, including the possibility of expropriation or nationalization of assets, confiscatory taxation, restrictions on United States investment, or on the ability to repatriate assets or to convert currency into U.S. Dollars. There may be a greater possibility of default by foreign governments or foreign-government sponsored enterprises. Losses and other expenses may be incurred in converting between various currencies in connection with purchases and sales of foreign securities. Investments in foreign countries also involve a risk of local political, economic, or social instability, military action or unrest, or adverse diplomatic developments.

 

Investing in companies domiciled in emerging market countries may be subject to greater risks than investments in developed countries. These risks include: (i) less social, political, and economic stability; (ii) greater illiquidity and price volatility due to smaller or limited local capital markets for such securities, or low or non-existent trading volumes; (iii) foreign exchanges and broker-dealers may be subject to less scrutiny and regulation by local authorities; (iv) local governments may decide to seize or confiscate securities held by foreign investors and/or local governments may decide to suspend or limit an issuer's ability to make dividend or interest payments; (v) local governments may limit or entirely restrict repatriation of invested capital, profits, and dividends; (vi) capital gains may be subject to local taxation, including on a retroactive basis; (vii) issuers facing restrictions on dollar or euro payments imposed by local governments may attempt to make dividend or interest payments to foreign investors in the local currency; (viii) investors may experience difficulty in enforcing legal claims related to the securities and/or local judges may favor the interests of the issuer over those of foreign investors; (ix) bankruptcy judgments may only be permitted to be paid in the local currency; (x) limited public information regarding the issuer may result in greater difficulty in determining market valuations of the securities, and (xi) lax financial reporting on a regular basis, substandard disclosure, and differences in accounting standards may make it difficult to ascertain the financial health of an issuer.

 

DEPOSITARY RECEIPTS

 

The Fund’s investment in securities of foreign companies may be in the form of depositary receipts or other securities convertible into securities of foreign issuers. ADRs are dollar-denominated receipts representing interests in the securities of a foreign issuer, which securities may not necessarily be denominated in the same currency as the securities into which they may be converted. ADRs are receipts typically issued by United States banks and trust companies which evidence ownership of underlying securities issued by a foreign corporation. Generally, ADRs in registered form are designed for use in domestic securities markets and are traded on exchanges or over-the-counter in the United States. Global Depositary Receipts (“GDRs”), European Depositary Receipts (“EDRs”), and International Depositary Receipts (“IDRs”) are similar to ADRs in that they are certificates evidencing ownership of shares of a foreign issuer, however, GDRs, EDRs, and IDRs may be issued in bearer form and denominated in other currencies, and are generally designed for use in specific or multiple securities markets outside the U.S. EDRs, for example, are designed for use in European securities markets while GDRs are designed for use throughout the world. Depositary receipts will not necessarily be denominated in the same currency as their underlying securities.

 

The Fund will not invest in any unlisted Depositary Receipts or any Depositary Receipt that the Sub-Adviser deems to be illiquid or for which pricing information is not readily available. In addition, all Depositary Receipts generally must be sponsored. However, the Fund may invest in unsponsored Depositary Receipts under certain limited circumstances. The issuers of unsponsored Depositary Receipts are not obligated to disclose material information in the United States, and, therefore, there may be less information available regarding such issuers and there may not be a correlation between such information and the market value of the Depositary Receipts. The use of Depositary Receipts may increase tracking error relative to an underlying Index.

 

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REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUSTS (“REITS”)

 

A REIT is a corporation or business trust (that would otherwise be taxed as a corporation) which meets the definitional requirements of the Internal Revenue Code (the “Code”). The Code permits a qualifying REIT to deduct from taxable income the dividends paid, thereby effectively eliminating corporate level federal income tax and making the REIT a pass-through vehicle for federal income tax purposes. To meet the definitional requirements of the Code, a REIT must, among other things: invest substantially all of its assets in interests in real estate (including mortgages and other REITs), cash and government securities; derive most of its income from rents from real property or interest on loans secured by mortgages on real property; and distribute annually 95% or more of its otherwise taxable income to shareholders.

 

REITs are sometimes informally characterized as Equity REITs and Mortgage REITs. An Equity REIT invests primarily in the fee ownership or leasehold ownership of land and buildings; a Mortgage REIT invests primarily in mortgages on real property, which may secure construction, development or long-term loans.

 

REITs may be affected by changes in underlying real estate values, which may have an exaggerated effect to the extent that REITs in which the Fund invests may concentrate investments in particular geographic regions or property types. Additionally, rising interest rates may cause investors in REITs to demand a higher annual yield from future distributions, which may in turn decrease market prices for equity securities issued by REITs. Rising interest rates also generally increase the costs of obtaining financing, which could cause the value of the Fund’s investments to decline. During periods of declining interest rates, certain Mortgage REITs may hold mortgages that the mortgagors elect to prepay, which prepayment may diminish the yield on securities issued by such Mortgage REITs. In addition, Mortgage REITs may be affected by the ability of borrowers to repay when due the debt extended by the REIT and Equity REITs may be affected by the ability of tenants to pay rent.

 

Certain REITs have relatively small market capitalization, which may tend to increase the volatility of the market price of securities issued by such REITs. Furthermore, REITs are dependent upon specialized management skills, have limited diversification and are, therefore, subject to risks inherent in operating and financing a limited number of projects. By investing in REITs indirectly through the Fund, a shareholder will bear not only his or her proportionate share of the expenses of the Fund, but also, indirectly, similar expenses of the REITs. REITs depend generally on their ability to generate cash flow to make distributions to shareholders.

 

In addition to these risks, Equity REITs may be affected by changes in the value of the underlying property owned by the trusts, while Mortgage REITs may be affected by the quality of any credit extended. Further, Equity and Mortgage REITs are dependent upon management skills and generally may not be diversified. Equity and Mortgage REITs are also subject to heavy cash flow dependency defaults by borrowers and self-liquidation. In addition, Equity and Mortgage REITs could possibly fail to qualify for tax free pass-through of income under the Code or to maintain their exemptions from registration under the 1940 Act. The above factors may also adversely affect a borrower’s or a lessee’s ability to meet its obligations to the REIT. In the event of default by a borrower or lessee, the REIT may experience delays in enforcing its rights as a mortgagee or lessor and may incur substantial costs associated with protecting its investments.

 

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REPURCHASE AGREEMENTS

 

The Fund may invest in repurchase agreements with commercial banks, brokers or dealers to generate income from its excess cash balances and to invest securities lending cash collateral. A repurchase agreement is an agreement under which the Fund acquires a financial instrument ( e.g., a security issued by the U.S. government or an agency thereof, a banker’s acceptance or a certificate of deposit) from a seller, subject to resale to the seller at an agreed upon price and date (normally, the next Business Day). A repurchase agreement may be considered a loan collateralized by securities. The resale price reflects an agreed upon interest rate effective for the period the instrument is held by the Fund and is unrelated to the interest rate on the underlying instrument.

 

In these repurchase agreement transactions, the securities acquired by the Fund (including accrued interest earned thereon) must have a total value in excess of the value of the repurchase agreement and are held by the Custodian until repurchased. No more than an aggregate of 15% of the Fund’s net assets will be invested in illiquid securities, including repurchase agreements having maturities longer than seven days and securities subject to legal or contractual restrictions on resale, or for which there are no readily available market quotations.

 

The use of repurchase agreements involves certain risks. For example, if the other party to the agreement defaults on its obligation to repurchase the underlying security at a time when the value of the security has declined, the Fund may incur a loss upon disposition of the security. If the other party to the agreement becomes insolvent and subject to liquidation or reorganization under the U.S. Bankruptcy Code or other laws, a court may determine that the underlying security is collateral for a loan by the Fund not within the control of the Fund and, therefore, the Fund may not be able to substantiate its interest in the underlying security and may be deemed an unsecured creditor of the other party to the agreement.

 

U.S. GOVERNMENT SECURITIES

 

The Fund may invest in U.S. government securities. Securities issued or guaranteed by the U.S. government or its agencies or instrumentalities include U.S. Treasury securities, which are backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. Treasury and which differ only in their interest rates, maturities, and times of issuance. U.S. Treasury bills have initial maturities of one-year or less; U.S. Treasury notes have initial maturities of one to ten years; and U.S. Treasury bonds generally have initial maturities of greater than ten years. Certain U.S. government securities are issued or guaranteed by agencies or instrumentalities of the U.S. government including, but not limited to, obligations of U.S. government agencies or instrumentalities such as Fannie Mae, the Government National Mortgage Association (“Ginnie Mae”), the Small Business Administration, the Federal Farm Credit Administration, the Federal Home Loan Banks, Banks for Cooperatives (including the Central Bank for Cooperatives), the Federal Land Banks, the Federal Intermediate Credit Banks, the Tennessee Valley Authority, the Export-Import Bank of the United States, the Commodity Credit Corporation, the Federal Financing Bank, the Student Loan Marketing Association, the National Credit Union Administration and the Federal Agricultural Mortgage Corporation (Farmer Mac).

 

Some obligations issued or guaranteed by U.S. government agencies and instrumentalities, including, for example, Ginnie Mae pass-through certificates, are supported by the full faith and credit of the U.S. Treasury. Other obligations issued by or guaranteed by federal agencies, such as those securities issued by Fannie Mae, are supported by the discretionary authority of the U.S. government to purchase certain obligations of the federal agency, while other obligations issued by or guaranteed by federal agencies, such as those of the Federal Home Loan Banks, are supported by the right of the issuer to borrow from the U.S. Treasury, while the U.S. government provides financial support to such U.S. government-sponsored federal agencies, no assurance can be given that the U.S. government will always do so, since the U.S. government is not so obligated by law. U.S. Treasury notes and bonds typically pay coupon interest semi-annually and repay the principal at maturity.

 

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On September 7, 2008, the U.S. Treasury announced a federal takeover of Fannie Mae, and Freddie Mac, placing the two federal instrumentalities in conservatorship. Under the takeover, the U.S. Treasury agreed to acquire $1 billion of senior preferred stock of each instrumentality and obtained warrants for the purchase of common stock of each instrumentality (the “Senior Preferred Stock Purchase Agreement” or “Agreement”). Under the Agreement, the U.S. Treasury pledged to provide up to $200 billion per instrumentality as needed, including the contribution of cash capital to the instrumentalities in the event their liabilities exceed their assets. This was intended to ensure that the instrumentalities maintain a positive net worth and meet their financial obligations, preventing mandatory triggering of receivership. On December 24, 2009, the U.S. Treasury announced that it was amending the Agreement to allow the $200 billion cap on the U.S. Treasury’s funding commitment to increase as necessary to accommodate any cumulative reduction in net worth over the next three years. As a result of this Agreement, the investments of holders, including the Fund, of mortgage-backed securities and other obligations issued by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are protected.

 

· U.S. Treasury Obligations. U.S. Treasury obligations consist of bills, notes and bonds issued by the U.S. Treasury and separately traded interest and principal component parts of such obligations that are transferable through the federal book-entry system known as Separately Traded Registered Interest and Principal Securities (“STRIPS”) and Treasury Receipts (“TRs”).

 

· Receipts. Interests in separately traded interest and principal component parts of U.S. government obligations that are issued by banks or brokerage firms and are created by depositing U.S. government obligations into a special account at a custodian bank. The custodian holds the interest and principal payments for the benefit of the registered owners of the certificates or receipts. The custodian arranges for the issuance of the certificates or receipts evidencing ownership and maintains the register. TRs and STRIPS are interests in accounts sponsored by the U.S. Treasury. Receipts are sold as zero coupon securities.

 

· U.S. Government Zero Coupon Securities. STRIPS and receipts are sold as zero coupon securities, that is, fixed income securities that have been stripped of their unmatured interest coupons. Zero coupon securities are sold at a (usually substantial) discount and redeemed at face value at their maturity date without interim cash payments of interest or principal. The amount of this discount is accreted over the life of the security, and the accretion constitutes the income earned on the security for both accounting and tax purposes. Because of these features, the market prices of zero coupon securities are generally more volatile than the market prices of securities that have similar maturity but that pay interest periodically. Zero coupon securities are likely to respond to a greater degree to interest rate changes than are non-zero coupon securities with similar maturity and credit qualities.

 

· U.S. Government Agencies. Some obligations issued or guaranteed by agencies of the U.S. government are supported by the full faith and credit of the U.S. Treasury, others are supported by the right of the issuer to borrow from the U.S. Treasury, while still others are supported only by the credit of the instrumentality. Guarantees of principal by agencies or instrumentalities of the U.S. government may be a guarantee of payment at the maturity of the obligation so that in the event of a default prior to maturity there might not be a market and thus no means of realizing on the obligation prior to maturity. Guarantees as to the timely payment of principal and interest do not extend to the value or yield of these securities nor to the value of the Fund’s Shares.

 

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BORROWING

 

While the Fund does not anticipate doing so, the Fund may borrow money for investment purposes. Borrowing for investment purposes is one form of leverage. Leveraging investments, by purchasing securities with borrowed money, is a speculative technique that increases investment risk, but also increases investment opportunity. Because substantially all of the Fund’s assets will fluctuate in value, whereas the interest obligations on borrowings may be fixed, the NAV of the Fund will increase more when the Fund’s portfolio assets increase in value and decrease more when the Fund’s portfolio assets decrease in value than would otherwise be the case. Moreover, interest costs on borrowings may fluctuate with changing market rates of interest and may partially offset or exceed the returns on the borrowed funds. Under adverse conditions, the Fund might have to sell portfolio securities to meet interest or principal payments at a time when investment considerations would not favor such sales. The Fund intends to use leverage during periods when the Sub-Adviser believes that the Fund’s investment objective would be furthered.

 

The Fund may also borrow money to facilitate management of the Fund’s portfolio by enabling the Fund to meet redemption requests when the liquidation of portfolio instruments would be inconvenient or disadvantageous. Such borrowing is not for investment purposes and will be repaid by the borrowing Fund promptly. As required by the 1940 Act, the Fund must maintain continuous asset coverage (total assets, including assets acquired with borrowed funds, less liabilities exclusive of borrowings) of 300% of all amounts borrowed. If, at any time, the value of the Fund’s assets should fail to meet this 300% coverage test, the Fund, within three days (not including Sundays and holidays), will reduce the amount of the Fund’s borrowings to the extent necessary to meet this 300% coverage requirement. Maintenance of this percentage limitation may result in the sale of portfolio securities at a time when investment considerations otherwise indicate that it would be disadvantageous to do so.

 

LENDING PORTFOLIO SECURITIES

 

The Fund may lend portfolio securities to certain creditworthy borrowers. The borrowers provide collateral that is maintained in an amount at least equal to the current market value of the securities loaned. The Fund may terminate a loan at any time and obtain the return of the securities loaned. The Fund receives the value of any interest or cash or non-cash distributions paid on the loaned securities. Distributions received on loaned securities in lieu of dividend payments ( i.e., substitute payments) would not be considered qualified dividend income.

 

With respect to loans that are collateralized by cash, the borrower will be entitled to receive a fee based on the amount of cash collateral. The Fund is compensated by the difference between the amount earned on the reinvestment of cash collateral and the fee paid to the borrower. In the case of collateral other than cash, the Fund is compensated by a fee paid by the borrower equal to a percentage of the market value of the loaned securities. Any cash collateral may be reinvested in certain short-term instruments either directly on behalf of the lending Fund or through one or more joint accounts or money market funds, which may include those managed by the Sub-Adviser.

 

The Fund may pay a portion of the interest or fees earned from securities lending to a borrower as described above, and to one or more securities lending agents approved by the Board who administer the lending program for the Fund in accordance with guidelines approved by the Board. In such capacity, the lending agent causes the delivery of loaned securities from the Fund to borrowers, arranges for the return of loaned securities to the Fund at the termination of a loan, requests deposit of collateral, monitors the daily value of the loaned securities and collateral, requests that borrowers add to the collateral when required by the loan agreements, and provides recordkeeping and accounting services necessary for the operation of the program.

 

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Securities lending involves exposure to certain risks, including operational risk ( i.e. , the risk of losses resulting from problems in the settlement and accounting process), “gap” risk ( i.e. , the risk of a mismatch between the return on cash collateral reinvestments and the fees the Fund has agreed to pay a borrower), and credit, legal, counterparty and market risk. In the event a borrower does not return the Fund’s securities as agreed, the Fund may experience losses if the proceeds received from liquidating the collateral do not at least equal the value of the loaned security at the time the collateral is liquidated plus the transaction costs incurred in purchasing replacement securities.

 

REVERSE REPURCHASE AGREEMENTS

 

The Fund may enter into reverse repurchase agreements, which involve the sale of securities with an agreement to repurchase the securities at an agreed-upon price, date and interest payment and have the characteristics of borrowing. The securities purchased with the funds obtained from the agreement and securities collateralizing the agreement will have maturity dates no later than the repayment date. Generally the effect of such transactions is that the Fund can recover all or most of the cash invested in the portfolio securities involved during the term of the reverse repurchase agreement, while in many cases the Fund is able to keep some of the interest income associated with those securities. Such transactions are only advantageous if the Fund has an opportunity to earn a greater rate of interest on the cash derived from these transactions than the interest cost of obtaining the same amount of cash. Opportunities to realize earnings from the use of the proceeds equal to or greater than the interest required to be paid may not always be available and the Fund intends to use the reverse repurchase technique only when the Sub-Adviser believes it will be advantageous to the Fund. The use of reverse repurchase agreements may exaggerate any interim increase or decrease in the value of the Fund’s assets. The Fund’s exposure to reverse repurchase agreements will be covered by securities having a value equal to or greater than such commitments. Under the 1940 Act, reverse repurchase agreements are considered borrowings. Although there is no limit on the percentage of total assets the Fund may invest in reverse repurchase agreements, the use of reverse repurchase agreements is not a principal strategy of the Fund.

 

OTHER SHORT-TERM INSTRUMENTS

 

In addition to repurchase agreements, the 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 (“CDs”), bankers’ acceptances, fixed time deposits and other obligations of U.S. and foreign banks (including foreign branches) and similar institutions; (iv) commercial paper rated at the date of purchase “Prime-1” by Moody’s or “A-1” by S&P, or if unrated, of comparable quality as determined by the Sub-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; and (vi) short-term U.S. dollar-denominated obligations of foreign banks (including U.S. branches) that, in the opinion of the Sub-Adviser, are of comparable quality to obligations of U.S. banks which may be purchased by the Fund. Any of these instruments may be purchased on a current or a forward-settled basis. Money market instruments also include shares of money market funds. 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.

 

11
 

 

INVESTMENT COMPANIES

 

The Fund may invest in the securities of other investment companies, including money market funds, subject to applicable limitations under Section 12(d)(1) of the 1940 Act. Pursuant to Section 12(d)(1), the Fund may invest in the securities of another investment company (the “acquired company”) provided that the Fund, immediately after such purchase or acquisition, does not own in the aggregate: (i) more than 3% of the total outstanding voting stock of the acquired company; (ii) securities issued by the acquired company having an aggregate value in excess of 5% of the value of the total assets of the Fund; or (iii) securities issued by the acquired company and all other investment companies (other than Treasury stock of the Fund) having an aggregate value in excess of 10% of the value of the total assets of the Fund. To the extent allowed by law or regulation, the Fund may invest its assets in securities of investment companies that are money market funds in excess of the limits discussed above.

 

If the Fund invests in and, thus, is a shareholder of, another investment company, the Fund’s shareholders will indirectly bear the Fund’s proportionate share of the fees and expenses paid by such other investment company, including advisory fees, in addition to both the management fees payable directly by the Fund to the Fund’s own investment adviser and the other expenses that the Fund bears directly in connection with the Fund’s own operations.

 

Section 12(d)(1) of the 1940 Act restricts investments by registered investment companies in securities of other registered investment companies, including the Fund. The acquisition of the Fund’s Shares by registered investment companies is subject to the restrictions of Section 12(d)(1) of the 1940 Act, except as may be permitted by exemptive rules under the 1940 Act or as may at some future time be permitted by an exemptive order that permits registered investment companies to invest in the Fund beyond the limits of Section 12(d)(1), subject to certain terms and conditions, including that the registered investment company enter into an agreement with the Fund regarding the terms of the investment.

 

FUTURES CONTRACTS, OPTIONS AND SWAP AGREEMENTS

 

The Fund may utilize futures contracts, options contracts and swap agreements. The Fund will segregate cash and/or appropriate liquid assets if required to do so by SEC or Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”) regulation or interpretation.

 

Futures contracts generally provide for the future sale by one party and purchase by another party of a specified commodity or security at a specified future time and at a specified price. Index futures contracts are settled daily with a payment by one party to the other of a cash amount based on the difference between the level of the index specified in the contract from one day to the next. Futures contracts are standardized as to maturity date and underlying instrument and are traded on futures exchanges.

 

The Fund is required to make a good faith margin deposit in cash or U.S. government securities with a broker or custodian to initiate and maintain open positions in futures contracts. A margin deposit is intended to assure completion of the contract (delivery or acceptance of the underlying commodity or payment of the cash settlement amount) if it is not terminated prior to the specified delivery date. Brokers may establish deposit requirements which are higher than the exchange minimums. Futures contracts are customarily purchased and sold on margin deposits which may range upward from less than 5% of the value of the contract being traded.

 

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After a futures contract position is opened, the value of the contract is marked to market daily. If the futures contract price changes to the extent that the margin on deposit does not satisfy margin requirements, payment of additional “variation” margin will be required. Conversely, change in the contract value may reduce the required margin, resulting in a repayment of excess margin to the contract holder. Variation margin payments are made to and from the futures broker for as long as the contract remains open. In such case, the Fund would expect to earn interest income on its margin deposits. Closing out an open futures position is done by taking an opposite position (“buying” a contract which has previously been “sold,” or “selling” a contract previously “purchased”) in an identical contract to terminate the position. Brokerage commissions are incurred when a futures contract position is opened or closed.

 

The Fund may purchase and sell put and call options. Such options may relate to particular securities and may or may not be listed on a national securities exchange and issued by the Options Clearing Corporation. Options trading is a highly specialized activity that entails greater than ordinary investment risk. Options on particular securities may be more volatile than the underlying securities, and therefore, on a percentage basis, an investment in options may be subject to greater fluctuation than an investment in the underlying securities themselves.

 

The Fund may use exchange-traded futures and options, together with positions in cash and money market instruments, to simulate full investment in its underlying Index. Exchange-traded futures and options contracts are not currently available for all of the Indexes. Under such circumstances, the Sub-Adviser may seek to utilize other instruments that it believes to be correlated to the applicable Index components or a subset of the components.

 

To the extent the Fund use futures and options, it will do so in accordance with Rule 4.5 of the Commodity Exchange Act (“CEA”). The Trust, on behalf of the Fund, has filed a notice of eligibility for exclusion from the definition of the term “commodity pool operator” in accordance with Rule 4.5 so that the Fund is not subject to registration or regulation as a commodity pool operator under the CEA. However, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CTFC) has recently adopted amendments to this exclusion. Such amendments may require the Fund to comply with regulatory obligations and restrictions under the CEA, which may affect the Fund’s expenses or its use of derivative instruments.

 

Restrictions on the Use of Futures and Options. The Fund reserves the right to engage in transactions involving futures and options thereon to the extent allowed by the CFTC regulations in effect from time to time and in accordance with the Fund’s policies. The Fund would take steps to prevent its futures positions from “leveraging” its securities holdings. When it has a long futures position, it will maintain with its custodian bank, cash or equivalents. When it has a short futures position, it will maintain with its custodian bank assets substantially identical to those underlying the contract or cash and equivalents or other liquid assets (or a combination of the foregoing) having a value equal to the net obligation of the Fund under the contract (less the value of any margin deposits in connection with the position).

 

Short Sales. The Fund may engage in short sales that are either “uncovered” or “against the box.” A short sale is “against the box” if at all times during which the short position is open, the Fund owns at least an equal amount of the securities or securities convertible into, or exchangeable without further consideration for, securities of the same issue as the securities that are sold short. A short sale against the box is a taxable transaction to the Fund with respect to the securities that are sold short.

 

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Uncovered short sales are transactions under which the Fund sells a security it does not own. To complete such a transaction, the Fund must borrow the security to make delivery to the buyer. The Fund then is obligated to replace the security borrowed by purchasing the security at the market price at the time of the replacement. The price at such time may be more or less than the price at which the security was sold by the Fund. Until the security is replaced, the Fund is required to pay the lender amounts equal to any dividends or interest that accrue during the period of the loan. To borrow the security, the Fund also may be required to pay a premium, which would increase the cost of the security sold. The proceeds of the short sale will be retained by the broker, to the extent necessary to meet margin requirements, until the short position is closed out.

 

Until the Fund closes its short position or replaces the borrowed security, the Fund may: (a) segregate cash or liquid securities at such a level that the amount segregated plus the amount deposited with the broker as collateral will equal the current value of the security sold short; or (b) otherwise cover the Fund’s short position.

 

Swap Agreements. The Fund may enter into swap agreements; including interest rate, index, and total return swap agreements. Swap agreements are contracts between parties in which one party agrees to make periodic payments to the other party based on the change in market value or level of a specified rate, index or asset. In return, the other party agrees to make payments to the first party based on the return of a different specified rate, index or asset. Swap agreements will usually be done on a net basis, i.e. , where the two parties make net payments with the Fund receiving or paying, as the case may be, only the net amount of the two payments. The net amount of the excess, if any, of the Fund’s obligations over its entitlements with respect to each swap is accrued on a daily basis and an amount of cash or equivalents having an aggregate value at least equal to the accrued excess is maintained by the Fund.

 

FUTURE DEVELOPMENTS

 

The Fund may take advantage of opportunities in the area of options and futures contracts, options on futures contracts, warrants, swaps and any other investments which are not presently contemplated for use by the Fund or which are not currently available but which may be developed, to the extent such opportunities are both consistent with the Fund’s investment objective and legally permissible for the Fund. Before entering into such transactions or making any such investment, the Fund will provide appropriate disclosure.

 

SPECIAL CONSIDERATIONS AND RISKS

 

A discussion of the risks associated with an investment in the Fund is contained in the Prospectus. The discussion below supplements, and should be read in conjunction with, the Prospectus.

 

GENERAL

 

Investment in the Fund should be made with an understanding that the value of the Fund’s portfolio securities may fluctuate in accordance with changes in the financial condition of the issuers of the portfolio securities, the value of securities generally and other factors.

 

An investment in the Fund should also be made with an understanding of the risks inherent in an investment in securities, including the risk that the financial condition of issuers may become impaired or that the general condition of the securities markets may deteriorate (either of which may cause a decrease in the value of the portfolio securities and thus in the value of Shares). Securities are susceptible to general market fluctuations and to volatile increases and decreases in value as market confidence in and perceptions of their issuers change. These investor perceptions are based on various and unpredictable factors including expectations regarding government, economic, monetary and fiscal policies, inflation and interest rates, economic expansion or contraction, and global or regional political, economic and banking crises.

 

14
 

 

Holders of common stocks incur more risk than holders of preferred stocks and debt obligations because common stockholders, as owners of the issuer, have generally inferior rights to receive payments from the issuer in comparison with the rights of creditors of, or holders of debt obligations or preferred stocks issued by, the issuer. Further, unlike debt securities which typically have a stated principal amount payable at maturity (whose value, however, will be subject to market fluctuations prior thereto), or preferred stocks which typically have a liquidation preference and which may have stated optional or mandatory redemption provisions, common stocks have neither a fixed principal amount nor a maturity. Common stock values are subject to market fluctuations as long as the common stock remains outstanding.

 

FUTURES AND OPTIONS TRANSACTIONS

 

Positions in futures contracts and options may be closed out only on an exchange which provides a secondary market therefore. However, there can be no assurance that a liquid secondary market will exist for any particular futures contract or option at any specific time. Thus, it may not be possible to close a futures or options position. In the event of adverse price movements, the Fund would continue to be required to make daily cash payments to maintain its required margin. In such situations, if the Fund has insufficient cash, it may have to sell portfolio securities to meet daily margin requirements at a time when it may be disadvantageous to do so. In addition, the Fund may be required to make delivery of the instruments underlying futures contracts it has sold.

 

The Fund will minimize the risk that it will be unable to close out a futures or options contract by only entering into futures and options for which there appears to be a liquid secondary market.

 

The risk of loss in trading futures contracts or uncovered call options in some strategies (e.g., selling uncovered index futures contracts) is potentially unlimited. The Fund does not plan to use futures and options contracts, when available, in this manner. The risk of a futures position may still be large as traditionally measured due to the low margin deposits required. In many cases, a relatively small price movement in a futures contract may result in immediate and substantial loss or gain to the investor relative to the size of a required margin deposit. The Fund, however, intends to utilize futures and options contracts in a manner designed to limit its risk exposure to that which is comparable to what they would have incurred through direct investment in securities.

 

Utilization of futures transactions by the Fund involves the risk of imperfect or even negative correlation to the Index if the index underlying the futures contracts differs from the Index. There is also the risk of loss by the Fund of margin deposits in the event of bankruptcy of a broker with whom the Fund has an open position in the futures contract or option.

 

Certain financial futures exchanges limit the amount of fluctuation permitted in futures contract prices during a single trading day. The daily limit establishes the maximum amount that the price of a futures contract may vary either up or down from the previous day’s settlement price at the end of a trading session. Once the daily limit has been reached in a particular type of contract, no trades may be made on that day at a price beyond that limit. The daily limit governs only price movement during a particular trading day and therefore does not limit potential losses, because the limit may prevent the liquidation of unfavorable positions. Futures contract prices have occasionally moved to the daily limit for several consecutive trading days with little or no trading, thereby preventing prompt liquidation of futures positions and subjecting some futures traders to substantial losses.

 

RISKS OF SWAP AGREEMENTS

 

Swap agreements are subject to the risk that the swap counterparty will default on its obligations. If such a default occurs, the Fund will have contractual remedies pursuant to the agreements related to the transaction, but such remedies may be subject to bankruptcy and insolvency laws which could affect the Fund’s rights as a creditor.

 

15
 

 

The use of interest-rate and index swaps is a highly specialized activity that involves investment techniques and risks different from those associated with ordinary portfolio security transactions. These transactions generally do not involve the delivery of securities or other underlying assets or principal.

 

TAX RISKS

 

As with any investment, you should consider how your investment in Shares of the Fund will be taxed. The tax information in the Prospectus and this SAI is provided as general information. You should consult your own tax professional about the tax consequences of an investment in Shares of the Fund.

 

Unless your investment in Shares is made through a tax-exempt entity or tax-deferred retirement account, such as an individual retirement account, you need to be aware of the possible tax consequences when the Fund makes distributions or you sell Shares.

 

INVESTMENT RESTRICTIONS

 

The Trust has adopted the following investment restrictions as fundamental policies with respect to the Fund. These restrictions cannot be changed with respect to the Fund without the approval of the holders of a majority of the Fund’s outstanding voting securities. For these purposes of the 1940 Act, a “majority of outstanding shares” means the vote of the lesser of: (1) 67% or more of the voting securities of the Fund present at the meeting if the holders of more than 50% of the Fund’s outstanding voting securities are present or represented by proxy; or (2) more than 50% of the outstanding voting securities of the Fund. Except with the approval of a majority of the outstanding voting securities, the Fund may not:

 

1. Purchase securities of any issuer (except securities of other investment companies, securities issued or guaranteed by the U.S. government, its agencies or instrumentalities and repurchase agreements involving such securities) if, as a result, (i) more than 5% of the total assets of the Fund would be invested in the securities of such issuer; or (ii) acquire more than 10% of the outstanding voting securities of any one issuer. This restriction applies to 75% of the Fund’s assets.

 

2. Concentrate its investments in an industry or group of industries ( i.e. , hold 25% or more of its total assets in the securities of companies in a particular industry or group of industries), except that the Fund will concentrate to approximately the same extent that its underlying Index concentrates in the securities of companies in such particular industry or group of industries. For purposes of this limitation, securities of the U.S. government (including its agencies and instrumentalities), repurchase agreements collateralized by U.S. government securities and securities of state or municipal governments and their political subdivisions are not considered to be issued by members of any industry.

 

3. Borrow money or issue senior securities (as defined under the 1940 Act), except to the extent permitted under the 1940 Act, the rules and regulations thereunder or any exemption therefrom, as such statute, rules or regulations may be amended or interpreted from time to time.

 

4. Make loans, except to the extent permitted under the 1940 Act, the rules and regulations thereunder or any exemption therefrom, as such statute, rules or regulations may be amended or interpreted from time to time.

 

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5. Purchase or sell commodities or real estate, except to the extent permitted under the 1940 Act, the rules and regulations thereunder or any exemption therefrom, as such statute, rules or regulations may be amended or interpreted from time to time.

 

6. Underwrite securities issued by other persons, except to the extent permitted under the 1940 Act, the rules and regulations thereunder or any exemption therefrom, as such statute, rules or regulations may be amended or interpreted from time to time.

 

In addition to the investment restrictions adopted as fundamental policies as set forth above, the Fund observes the following restrictions, which may be changed without a shareholder vote.

 

1. The Fund will not hold illiquid assets in excess of 15% of its net assets. An illiquid asset is any asset which may not be sold or disposed of in the ordinary course of business within seven days at approximately the value at which the Fund has valued the investment.

 

2. Under normal circumstances, the Fund will not invest less than 80% of its net assets, plus the amount of any borrowings for investment purposes, in securities of companies whose operations in the North American oil sands include oil exploration, production, refinement, marketing, storage, transportation, provision of equipment and/or provision of services (“Oil Sands Companies”). Prior to any change in this 80% investment policy, the Fund will provide shareholders with 60 days’ written notice.

 

If a percentage limitation is adhered to at the time of investment or contract, a later increase or decrease in percentage resulting from any change in value or total or net assets will not result in a violation of such restriction, except that the percentage limitations with respect to the borrowing of money and illiquid securities will be observed continuously.

The following descriptions of certain provisions of the 1940 Act may assist investors in understanding the above policies and restrictions:

 

Concentration . The SEC has defined concentration as investing 25% or more of an investment company's total assets in an industry or group of industries, with certain exceptions.

 

Diversification. Under the 1940 Act, a diversified investment management company, as to 75% of its total assets, may not purchase securities of any issuer (other than securities issued or guaranteed by the U.S. Government, its agents or instrumentalities or securities of other investment companies) if, as a result, more than 5% of its total assets would be invested in the securities of such issuer, or more than 10% of the issuer's outstanding voting securities would be held by the fund.

 

Borrowing . The 1940 Act presently allows a fund to borrow from any bank (including pledging, mortgaging or hypothecating assets) in an amount up to 33 1/3% of its total assets (not including temporary borrowings not in excess of 5% of its total assets).

 

Senior Securities . Senior securities may include any obligation or instrument issued by a fund evidencing indebtedness. The 1940 Act generally prohibits funds from issuing senior securities, although it does not treat certain transactions as senior securities, such as certain borrowings, short sales, reverse repurchase agreements, firm commitment agreements and standby commitments, with appropriate earmarking or segregation of assets to cover such obligation.

 

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Lending . Under the 1940 Act, a fund may only make loans if expressly permitted by its investment policies. The Fund’s current investment policy on lending is as follows: the Fund may not make loans if, as a result, more than 33 1/3% of its total assets would be lent to other parties, except that the Fund may: (i) purchase or hold debt instruments in accordance with its investment objective and policies; (ii) enter into repurchase agreements; and (iii) engage in securities lending as described in its SAI.

 

Underwriting . Under the 1940 Act, underwriting securities involves a fund purchasing securities directly from an issuer for the purpose of selling (distributing) them or participating in any such activity either directly or indirectly.

 

Real Estate . The 1940 Act does not directly restrict an investment company's ability to invest in real estate, but does require that every investment company have a fundamental investment policy governing such investments. The Fund will not purchase or sell real estate, except that the Fund may purchase marketable securities issued by companies which own or invest in real estate (including REITs).

 

Commodities . The Fund will not purchase or sell physical commodities or commodities contracts, except that the Fund may purchase: (i) marketable securities issued by companies which own or invest in commodities or commodities contracts; and (ii) commodities contracts relating to financial instruments, such as financial futures contracts and options on such contracts.

 

EXCHANGE LISTING AND TRADING

 

A discussion of exchange listing and trading matters associated with an investment in the Fund is contained in the Prospectus under the “Purchase and Sale of Fund Shares” in the Fund Summary and “Buying and Selling the Fund.” The discussion below supplements, and should be read in conjunction with, such sections of the Prospectus.

 

The Shares of the Fund are approved for listing and trading on the Exchange, subject to notice of issuance. The Shares trade on the Exchange at prices that may differ to some degree from their NAV. There can be no assurance that the requirements of the Exchange necessary to maintain the listing of Shares of the Fund will continue to be met.

 

The Exchange may, but is not required to, remove the Shares of the Fund from listing if: (1) following the initial twelve-month period beginning upon the commencement of trading of the Fund, there are fewer than 50 beneficial holders of the Shares for 30 or more consecutive trading days; (2) the value of its underlying Index or portfolio of securities on which the Fund is based is no longer calculated or available; (3) the “indicative optimized portfolio value” (“IOPV”) of the Fund is no longer calculated or available; or (4) such other event shall occur or condition exists that, in the opinion of the Exchange, makes further dealings on the Exchange inadvisable. In addition, the Exchange will remove the Shares from listing and trading upon termination of the Trust or the Fund.

 

The Exchange will disseminate, every fifteen seconds during the regular trading day, an IOPV relating to the Fund. The IOPV calculations are estimates of the value of the Fund’s NAV per Share using market data converted into U.S. dollars at the current currency rates. The IOPV price is based on quotes and closing prices from the securities local market and may not reflect events that occur subsequent to the local market’s close. Premiums and discounts between the IOPV and the market price may occur. This should not be viewed as a “real-time” update of the NAV per share of the Fund, which is calculated only once a day. Neither the Fund, the Adviser, the Sub-Adviser or any of their affiliates are involved in, or responsible for, the calculation or dissemination of such IOPVs and make no warranty as to their accuracy.

 

18
 

 

The Trust reserves the right to adjust the Share price of the Fund in the future to 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.

 

As in the case of other publicly traded securities, brokers’ commissions on transactions will be based on negotiated commission rates at customary levels.

 

The base and trading currencies of the Fund is the U.S. dollar. The base currency is the currency in which the Fund’s NAV per share is calculated and the trading currency is the currency in which Shares of the Fund are listed and traded on the Exchange.

 

MANAGEMENT OF THE TRUST

 

The following information supplements and should be read in conjunction with the section in the Prospectus entitled “Fund Management.”

 

Trustees and Officers of the Trust

 

Board Responsibilities. The management and affairs of the Trust and its series, including the Fund described in this SAI, are overseen by the Trustees. The Board elects the officers of the Trust who are responsible for administering the day-to-day operations of the Trust and the Fund. The Board has approved contracts, as described below, under which certain companies provide essential services to the Trust.

 

Like most mutual funds, the day-to-day business of the Trust, including the management of risk, is performed by third party service providers, such as the Adviser, the Sub-Adviser, the Distributor and Administrator. The Trustees are responsible for overseeing the Trust’s service providers and, thus, have oversight responsibility with respect to risk management performed by those service providers. Risk management seeks to identify and address risks, i.e. , events or circumstances that could have material adverse effects on the business, operations, shareholder services, investment performance or reputation of the Fund. The Fund and its service providers employ a variety of processes, procedures and controls to identify various of those possible events or circumstances, to lessen the probability of their occurrence and/or to mitigate the effects of such events or circumstances if they do occur. Each service provider is responsible for one or more discrete aspects of the Trust’s business ( e.g., the Sub-Adviser is responsible for the day-to-day management of the Fund’s portfolio investments) and, consequently, for managing the risks associated with that business. The Board has emphasized to the Fund’s service providers the importance of maintaining vigorous risk management.

 

The Trustees’ role in risk oversight begins before the inception of the Fund, at which time certain of the Fund’s service providers present the Board with information concerning the investment objectives, strategies and risks of the Fund as well as proposed investment limitations for the Fund. Additionally, the Fund’s Adviser provides the Board with an overview of, among other things, its investment philosophy, brokerage practices and compliance infrastructure. Thereafter, the Board continues its oversight function as various personnel, including the Trust’s Chief Compliance Officer, as well as personnel of the Sub-Adviser and other service providers such as the Fund’s independent accountants, make periodic reports to the Audit Committee or to the Board with respect to various aspects of risk management. The Board and the Audit Committee oversee efforts by management and service providers to manage risks to which the Fund may be exposed.

 

The Board is responsible for overseeing the nature, extent and quality of the services provided to the Fund by the Adviser and the Sub-Adviser and receives information about those services at its regular meetings. In addition, on an annual basis, in connection with its consideration of whether to renew the Advisory Agreements with the Adviser and the Sub-Adviser, the Board meets with the Adviser and the Sub-Adviser to review such services. Among other things, the Board regularly considers the Adviser’s and the Sub-Adviser’s adherence to the Fund’s investment restrictions and compliance with various Fund policies and procedures and with applicable securities regulations. The Board also reviews information about the Fund’s performance and the Fund’s investments, including, for example, portfolio holdings schedules.

 

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The Trust’s Chief Compliance Officer reports regularly to the Board to review and discuss compliance issues and Fund and Adviser risk assessments. At least annually, the Trust’s Chief Compliance Officer provides the Board with a report reviewing the adequacy and effectiveness of the Trust’s policies and procedures and those of its service providers, including the Adviser and the Sub-Adviser. The report addresses the operation of the policies and procedures of the Trust and each service provider since the date of the last report; any material changes to the policies and procedures since the date of the last report; any recommendations for material changes to the policies and procedures; and any material compliance matters since the date of the last report.

 

The Board receives reports from the Fund’s service providers regarding operational risks and risks related to the valuation and liquidity of portfolio securities. The Board has also established a Fair Value Committee that is responsible for implementing the Trust’s Fair Value Procedures and providing reports to the Board concerning investments for which market quotations are not readily available. Annually, the independent registered public accounting firm reviews with the Audit Committee its audit of the Fund’s financial statements, focusing on major areas of risk encountered by the Fund and noting any significant deficiencies or material weaknesses in the Fund’s internal controls. Additionally, in connection with its oversight function, the Board oversees Fund management’s implementation of disclosure controls and procedures, which are designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed by the Trust in its periodic reports with the SEC are recorded, processed, summarized, and reported within the required time periods. The Board also oversees the Trust’s internal controls over financial reporting, which comprise policies and procedures designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of the Trust's financial reporting and the preparation of the Trust's financial statements.

 

From their review of these reports and discussions with the Adviser, the Sub-Adviser, the Chief Compliance Officer, the independent registered public accounting firm and other service providers, the Board and the Audit Committee learn in detail about the material risks of the Fund, thereby facilitating a dialogue about how management and service providers identify and mitigate those risks.

 

The Board recognizes that not all risks that may affect the Fund can be identified and/or quantified, that it may not be practical or cost-effective to eliminate or mitigate certain risks, that it may be necessary to bear certain risks (such as investment-related risks) to achieve the Fund’s goals, and that the processes, procedures and controls employed to address certain risks may be limited in their effectiveness. Moreover, reports received by the Trustees as to risk management matters are typically summaries of the relevant information. Most of the Fund’s investment management and business affairs are carried out by or through the Fund’s Adviser and other service providers each of which has an independent interest in risk management but whose policies and the methods by which one or more risk management functions are carried out may differ from the Fund’s and each other’s in the setting of priorities, the resources available or the effectiveness of relevant controls. As a result of the foregoing and other factors, the Board’s ability to monitor and manage risk, as a practical matter, is subject to limitations.

 

Members of the Board. There are six members of the Board of Trustees, five of whom are not interested persons of the Trust, as that term is defined in the 1940 Act (“independent Trustees”). J. Garrett Stevens, the sole interested Trustee, serves as Chairman of the Board. The Trust does not have a lead independent trustee. The Board of Trustees is comprised of a super-majority (67 percent) of independent Trustees. The Trust has determined its leadership structure is appropriate given the specific characteristics and circumstances of the Trust. The Trust made this determination in consideration of, among other things, the fact that the independent Trustees of the Fund constitute a super-majority of the Board, the number of independent Trustees that constitute the Board, the amount of assets under management in the Trust, and the number of funds overseen by the Board. The Board also believes that its leadership structure facilitates the orderly and efficient flow of information to the independent Trustees from Fund management.

 

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The Board of Trustees has two standing committees: the Audit Committee and the Nominating Committee (as defined below). The Audit Committee and Nominating Committee are chaired by an independent Trustee and composed of independent Trustees.

 

Set forth below are the names, dates of birth, position with the Trust, length of term of office, and the principal occupations and other directorships held during at least the last five years of each of the persons currently serving as a Trustee of the Trust.

 

Name, Address,
and Age
  Position(s)
Held with the
Trust
  Term of
Office and
Length of
Time Served
  Principal
Occupation(s)
During Past 5
Years
  Number of
Portfolios in
Fund
Complex
Overseen
By Trustee
  Other
Directorships
held by Trustee
 
Interested Trustee                      

J. Garrett Stevens

2545 S. Kelly Ave., Suite C, Edmond, OK 73013

(32 years old)

 

  Trustee and President  

Trustee

(Since 2009); President

(Since 2011)

  T.S. Phillips Investments, Inc. 2000 to 2011— Investment Advisor; Exchange Traded Concepts Trust 2009 to 2011 — Chief Executive Officer and Secretary; Exchange Traded Concepts, LLC 2009 to Present — Chief Executive Officer and Portfolio Manager   2   None  

 

21
 

 

Name, Address,
and Age
  Position(s)
Held with the
Trust
  Term of
Office and
Length of
Time Served
  Principal
Occupation(s)
During Past 5
Years
  Number of
Portfolios in
Fund
Complex
Overseen
By Trustee
  Other
Directorships
held by Trustee
 
Independent Trustees                      

Gary L. French
c/o Exchange Traded Concepts Trust

2545 S. Kelly Ave., Suite C, Edmond, OK 73013

(60 years old)

 

  Trustee   Since 2011   State Street Bank, US Investor Services — Fund Administration 2002 to 2010 — Senior Vice President   2   None  
                       

Edward A. Kerbs
c/o Exchange Traded Concepts Trust 2545 S. Kelly Ave., Suite C, Edmond, OK 73013

(61 years old)

 

  Trustee   Since 2011   IAT Reinsurance Ltd. 2001 to Present — Vice President and Managing Director   2   None  
                       

David M. Mahle
c/o Exchange Traded Concepts Trust 2545 S. Kelly Ave., Suite C, Edmond, OK 73013

(68 years old)

 

  Trustee   Since 2011   Jones Day 2008 to present — Of Counsel; Jones Day 1988-2008 — Partner   2   None  
                       

Kurt Wolfgruber

c/o Exchange Traded Concepts Trust 2545 S. Kelly Ave., Suite C, Edmond, OK 73013

(61 years old)

 

  Trustee   Since 2012   OppenheimerFunds, Inc. 2007-2009 — President   2   New Mountain Finance Corp.  

 

22
 

 

Name, Address,
and Age
  Position(s)
Held with the
Trust
  Term of
Office and
Length of
Time Served
  Principal
Occupation(s)
During Past 5
Years
  Number of
Portfolios in
Fund
Complex
Overseen
By Trustee
  Other
Directorships
held by Trustee
 

Mark Zurack
c/o Exchange Traded Concepts Trust 2545 S. Kelly Ave., Suite C, Edmond, OK 73013

(55 years old)

  Trustee   Since 2011   Columbia Business School 2002 to present — Professor   2   None  

 

23
 

 

Individual Trustee Qualifications. The Trust has concluded that each of the Trustees should serve on the Board because of their ability to review and understand information about the Fund provided to them by management, to identify and request other information they may deem relevant to the performance of their duties, to question management and other service providers regarding material factors bearing on the management and administration of the Fund, and to exercise their business judgment in a manner that serves the best interests of the Fund’s shareholders. The Trust has concluded that each of the Trustees should serve as a Trustee based on their own experience, qualifications, attributes and skills as described below.

 

The Trust has concluded that Mr. Stevens should serve as Trustee because of the experience he gained in his roles with registered broker-dealer and investment management firms, as Chief Executive Officer of the Adviser, his experience in and knowledge of the financial services industry, and the experience he has gained as serving as trustee of the Trust since 2009.

 

The Trust has concluded that Mr. French should serve as a Trustee because of the experience he gained in various leadership roles with companies, including large financial institutions, that operated and administered to investment companies, his knowledge of such industries, as well as his significant financial and accounting experience.

 

The Trust has concluded that Mr. Kerbs should serve as Trustee because of the experience he has gained serving in various leadership roles in the securities and financial services industry, including with a firm that conducts the trading and clearing of equities and equity derivatives, and his knowledge of such industries.

 

The Trust has concluded that Mr. Mahle should serve as Trustee because of the experience he has gained as an attorney in the investment management industry of a major law firm, representing exchange-traded funds and other investment companies as well as their sponsors and advisers and his knowledge and experience in investment management law and the financial services industry.

 

The Trust has concluded that Mr. Wolfgruber should serves as at Trustee because of his experience as President and Chief Investment Officer of Oppenheimer Funds, Inc. Mr. Wolfgruber was responsible for the investment process of $65 billion in assets in the Oppenheimer domestic equity portfolio teams and has been involved in investment management for over 30 years.

 

The Trust has concluded that Mr. Zurack should serve as a Trustee because of the experience he has gained serving in various leadership roles in the equity derivatives groups of a large financial institution, his experience in teaching equity derivatives at the graduate level, as well as his knowledge of the financial services industry.

 

In its periodic assessment of the effectiveness of the Board, the Board considers the complementary individual skills and experience of the individual Trustees primarily in the broader context of the Board’s overall composition so that the Board, as a body, possesses the appropriate (and appropriately diverse) skills and experience to oversee the business of the funds.

 

Set forth below are the names, dates of birth, position with the Trust, length and term of office, and the principal occupations and other directorships held during at least the last five years of each of the persons currently serving as officers of the Trust.

 

24
 

 

OFFICERS

 

Name, Address,
and Age
 

Position(s)
Held with

the Trust

  Term of
Office and
Length of
Time Served
 

Principal Occupation(s)

During Past 5 Years

  Other
Directorships
held during the
Past 5 Years
 

J. Garrett Stevens
3555 Northwest 2545 S. Kelly Ave., Suite C, Edmond, OK 73013

(32 years old)

  Trustee and President   Trustee
(Since 2009)
President
(Since 2011)
  T.S. Phillips Investments, Inc. 2000 to 2011— Investment Advisor; Exchange Traded Concepts Trust 2009 to 2011 — Chief Executive Officer and Secretary; Exchange Traded Concepts, LLC 2009 to Present — Chief Executive Officer and Portfolio Manager   None  
                   

Richard Hogan
2545 S. Kelly Ave., Suite C, Edmond, OK 73013 (50 years old)

  Treasurer and Secretary   Since 2011   Managing Member, Yorkville ETF Advisors 2011-present; Private Investor, 2002-2011   Board Member of Peconic Land Trust of Suffolk County, NY.  
                   
Peter Rodriguez
SEI Investments Company One Freedom Valley Drive Oaks, PA 19456 (49 years old)
  Assistant
Treasurer
  Since 2011   Director, Fund Accounting, SEI Investments Global Funds Services, Company 2011-present, 1997-2005; Director, Mutual Fund Trading, SEI Private Trust Company, 2009-2011; Director, Asset Data Services, Global Wealth Services, 2006-2009; Director, Portfolio Accounting, SEI Investments Global Fund Services, 2005-2006   None  
                   
Carolyn Mead
SEI Investments Company One Freedom Valley Drive Oaks, PA 19456 (54 years old)
 

Assistant Secretary

 

  Since 2009   Counsel, SEI Investments 2007 to present. Associate, Stradley, Ronon, Stevens & Young from 2004 to 2007. Counsel at ING Variable Annuities from 1999 to 2002   None.  

 

COMPENSATION OF THE TRUSTEES AND OFFICERS

 

· The following table sets forth the fees paid, as well as estimated compensation to be paid, to the Trustees for the fiscal year April 30, 2012 to April 30, 2013. Trustee compensation does not include reimbursed out-of-pocket expenses in connection with attendance meetings.

 

25
 

 

Name   Aggregate
Compensation
  Pension or
Retirement Benefits
Accrued as Part of
Fund Expenses
  Estimated
Annual Benefits
Upon Retirement
  Total Compensation from the
Trust and Fund Complex 1
 
Interested Trustee                  
Stevens   $ 0   n/a   n/a   $0 for service on (1) board  
Independent Trustees                  
French   $ 25,000   n/a   n/a   $25,000 for service on (1) board  
Kerbs   $ 25,000   n/a   n/a   $25,000 for service on (1) board  
Wolfgruber   $ 25,000   n/a   n/a   $25,000 for service on (1) board  
Mahle   $ 25,000   n/a   n/a   $25,000 for service on (1) board  
Zurack   $ 25,000   n/a   n/a   $25,000 for service on (1) board  

 

Board Committees

 

The Board has established the following standing committees:

 

Audit Committee . The Board has a standing Audit Committee that is composed of each of the independent Trustees of the Trust. The Audit Committee operates under a written charter approved by the Board. The principal responsibilities of the Audit Committee include: recommending which firm to engage as the Fund’s independent registered public accounting firm and whether to terminate this relationship; reviewing the independent registered public accounting firm’s compensation, the proposed scope and terms of its engagement, and the firm’s independence; pre-approving audit and non-audit services provided by the Fund’s independent registered public accounting firm to the Trust and certain other affiliated entities; serving as a channel of communication between the independent registered public accounting firm and the Trustees; reviewing the results of each external audit, including any qualifications in the independent registered public accounting firm’s opinion, any related management letter, management’s responses to recommendations made by the independent registered public accounting firm in connection with the audit, reports submitted to the Committee by the internal auditing department of the Trust’s Administrator that are material to the Trust as a whole, if any, and management’s responses to any such reports; reviewing the Fund’s audited financial statements and considering any significant disputes between the Trust’s management and the independent registered public accounting firm that arose in connection with the preparation of those financial statements; considering, in consultation with the independent registered public accounting firm and the Trust’s senior internal accounting executive, if any, the independent registered public accounting firms’ report on the adequacy of the Trust’s internal financial controls; reviewing, in consultation with the Fund’s independent registered public accounting firm, major changes regarding auditing and accounting principles and practices to be followed when preparing the Fund’s financial statements; and other audit related matters. The Audit Committee meets periodically, as necessary, and met four (4) times in the most recently completed Trust fiscal year.

 

Nominating Committee . The Board has a standing Nominating Committee that is composed of each of the independent Trustees of the Trust. The Nominating Committee operates under a written charter approved by the Board. The principal responsibility of the Nominating Committee is to consider, recommend and nominate candidates to fill vacancies on the Trust’s Board, if any. The Nominating Committee generally will not consider nominees recommended by shareholders. The Nominating Committee meets periodically, as necessary, and met three (3) times in the most recently completed fiscal year.

 

26
 

 

Fair Value Committee . The Board also has established a Fair Value Committee that is comprised of representatives from the Adviser, representatives from the Fund’s administrator, counsel to the Fund, and/or members of the Board of Trustees. The Fair Value Committee operates under procedures approved by the Board. The Fair Value Committee is responsible for the valuation and revaluation of any portfolio investments for which market quotations or prices are not readily available. Mr. Stevens, Mr. French, Mr. Wolfgruber and Mr. Zurack currently serve as the Board’s delegates on the Fair Value Committee. The Fair Value Committee meets periodically, as necessary, and did not meet during the most recently completed fiscal year.

 

Ownership of Fund Shares

 

The following table shows the dollar amount ranges of each Trustee’s “beneficial ownership” of Shares of the Fund and each other series of the Trust as of the end of the most recently completely calendar year. Dollar amount ranges disclosed are established by the SEC. “Beneficial ownership” is determined in accordance with Rule 16a-1(a)(2) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the “Exchange Act”).

 

Name   Dollar Range of Shares 1  

Aggregate Dollar

Range of Fund Shares

(All Funds in the
Complex) 2,3

 
Interested Trustee          
J. Garrett Stevens   None   None  
Independent Trustees          
Gary L. French       None  
Edward A. Kerbs   None   None  
David M. Mahle   None   None  
Kurt Wolfgruber   None   None  
Mark A. Zurack   None   None  

 

1 As of the date of this SAI, none of the Trustees owned Shares of the Fund.

2 Valuation date is December 31, 2011.

3 The Trust is the only investment company in the “Fund Complex.”

 

CODES OF ETHICS

 

The Trust, the Adviser, the Sub-Adviser and SEI Investments Distribution Co. (the “Distributor”) have each adopted codes of ethics pursuant to Rule 17j-1 of the 1940 Act. These codes of ethics are designed to prevent affiliated persons of the Trust, the Adviser, the Sub-Adviser and the Distributor from engaging in deceptive, manipulative or fraudulent activities in connection with securities held or to be acquired by the Fund (which may also be held by persons subject to the codes of ethics).

 

There can be no assurance that the codes of ethics will be effective in preventing such activities. Each code of ethics, filed as exhibits to this registration statement, may be examined at the office of the SEC in Washington, D.C. or on the Internet at the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov .

 

27
 

 

PROXY VOTING POLICIES

 

The Board of Trustees has delegated the responsibility to vote proxies for securities held in the Fund’s portfolio to the Adviser. The Adviser has delegated the responsibility to vote proxies for securities held in the Fund to the Sub-Adviser. Proxies for the portfolio securities are voted in accordance with the Sub-Adviser’s proxy voting guidelines, which are set forth in Appendix A to this SAI. Information regarding how the Fund voted proxies relating to its portfolio securities during the most recent twelve-month period ended June 30 will be available: (1) without charge by calling 1-855-SWM-FUND; (2) on the Funds’ website at www.swmetfs.com ; and (3) on the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov .

 

INVESTMENT ADVISORY AND OTHER SERVICES

 

Exchange Traded Concepts, LLC (“ETC”), an Oklahoma limited liability company located at 2545 S. Kelly Ave., Suite C, Edmond, Oklahoma 73013, serves as the investment adviser to the Fund. The Adviser is majority owned by Yorkville ETF Holdings LLC.

 

The Trust and the Adviser have entered into an investment advisory agreement dated March 2, 2012, as amended from time to time (the “Advisory Agreement”) with respect to the Fund. Under the Advisory Agreement, the Adviser provides investment advice to the Fund and oversees the day-to-day operations of the Fund, subject to the direction and control of the Board and the officers of the Trust. The Adviser, in consultation with sub-advisers, arranges for transfer agency, custody, fund administration and accounting, and other non-distribution related services necessary for the Fund to operate. The Adviser administers the Fund’s business affairs, provides office facilities and equipment and certain clerical, bookkeeping and administrative services, and provides its officers and employees to serve as officers or Trustees of the Trust.

 

After the initial two-year term, the continuance of the Advisory Agreement must be specifically approved at least annually: (i) by the vote of the Trustees or by a vote of the shareholders of the Fund; and (ii) by the vote of a majority of the Trustees who are not parties to the Advisory Agreement or “interested persons” or of any party thereto, cast in person at a meeting called for the purpose of voting on such approval. The Advisory Agreement will terminate automatically in the event of its assignment, and is terminable at any time without penalty by the Trustees of the Trust or, with respect to the Fund, by a majority of the outstanding voting securities of the Fund, or by the Adviser on not more than 60 days’ nor less than 30 days’ written notice to the Trust. As used in the Advisory Agreement, the terms “majority of the outstanding voting securities,” “interested persons” and “assignment” have the same meaning as such terms in the 1940 Act.

 

For the services the Adviser provides, the Fund pays the Adviser a fee, which is calculated daily and paid monthly, at an annual rate of 0.50% on the average daily net assets of the Fund, subject to a $25,000 minimum fee. Under the investment advisory agreement, the Adviser has agreed to pay all expenses incurred by the Trust except for the advisory fee, interest, taxes, brokerage commissions and other expenses incurred in placing orders for the purchase and sale of securities and other investment instruments, acquired fund fees and expenses, extraordinary expenses, and distribution fees and expenses paid by the Trust under any distribution plan adopted pursuant to Rule 12b-1 under the 1940 Act.

 

Sub-Adviser. The Trust, on behalf of the Fund, and the Adviser have retained Index Management Solutions, LLC, One Commerce Square, 2005 Market Street, Suite 2020, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19103 to act as sub-adviser to the Fund (the “Sub-Adviser”). The Sub-Adviser was established in 2009 and is a wholly-owned subsidiary of VTL Associates, LLC. The Sub-Adviser is responsible for trading portfolio securities on behalf of the Fund, including selecting broker-dealers to execute purchase and sale transactions as instructed by the Adviser or in connection with any rebalancing or reconstitution of the Index, subject to the supervision of the Adviser and the Board of Trustees. Under a sub-advisory agreement, the Adviser pays the Sub-Adviser a fee, calculated daily and paid monthly, at an annual rate of 0.05% on the average daily net assets of the Fund, subject to a $10,000 minimum fee.

 

28
 

 

After the initial two-year term, the continuance of the Sub-Advisory Agreement must be specifically approved at least annually: (i) by the vote of the Trustees or by a vote of the shareholders of the Fund; and (ii) by the vote of a majority of the Trustees who are not parties to the Sub-Advisory Agreement or “interested persons” or of any party thereto, cast in person at a meeting called for the purpose of voting on such approval. The Sub-Advisory Agreement will terminate automatically in the event of its assignment, and is terminable at any time without penalty by the Trustees of the Trust or, with respect to the Fund, by a majority of the outstanding voting securities of the Fund, or by the Adviser on not more than 60 days’ nor less than 30 days’ written notice to the Trust. As used in the Sub-Advisory Agreement, the terms “majority of the outstanding voting securities,” “interested persons” and “assignment” have the same meaning as such terms in the 1940 Act.

 

THE PORTFOLIO MANAGER

 

This section includes information about the Fund’s portfolio manager, including information about other accounts she manages, the dollar range of Shares she owns and how she is compensated.

 

Compensation

 

Denise M. Krisko, CFA, is the portfolio manager of the Fund. Ms. Krisko receives a fixed base salary and incentive awards based on profitability, growth in assets, and long-term investment performance. Key staff members of the Sub-Adviser are eligible to participate in a deferred compensation plan due to their high level of accountability and upon demonstrating a successful long-term performance track record. The value of the award increases during a vesting period based upon the profitability of the firm. Voluntary contributions may be made to a defined contribution plan.

 

Shares Owned by Portfolio Manager

 

The Fund is required to show the dollar range of the portfolio manager’s “beneficial ownership” of Shares of the Fund as of the end of the most recently completed fiscal year. Dollar amount ranges disclosed are established by the SEC. “Beneficial ownership” is determined in accordance with Rule 16a-1(a)(2) under the Exchange Act. Because the Fund is new, as of the date of this SAI, the Portfolio Manager did not beneficially own Shares of the Fund.

 

Other Accounts Managed by Portfolio Manager. In addition to the Fund, the Portfolio Manager is responsible for the day-to-day management of certain other accounts, as listed below. The information below is provided as of May 31, 2012.

 

    Registered Investment Companies   Other Pooled Investment
Vehicle
  Other Accounts  
Name   Number of
Accounts
 

Total Assets

($ millions)

  Number of
Accounts
 

Total Assets

($ millions)

  Number of
Accounts
 

Total
Assets

($ millions)

 
Denise M. Krisko, CFA   7   $ 480.704   0   $ 0   2   $ 339.084  

 

29
 

 

Conflicts of Interest

 

The portfolio manager’s management of “other accounts” is not expected to give rise to potential conflicts of interest in connection with his management of the Fund’s investments, on the one hand, and the investments of the other accounts, on the other. No account has a performance based fee.

 

THE DISTRIBUTOR

 

The Trust and the Distributor, SEI Investments Distribution Co. (the “Distributor”), a wholly-owned subsidiary of SEI Investments, and an affiliate of the Administrator, are parties to an amended and restated distribution agreement dated November 10, 2011 (“Distribution Agreement”), whereby the Distributor acts as principal underwriter for the Trust’s shares and distributes the Shares of the Fund. Shares are continuously offered for sale by the Distributor only in Creation Units. Each Creation Unit is made up of at least 50,000 Shares. The Distributor will not distribute Shares in amounts less than a Creation Unit. The principal business address of the Distributor is One Freedom Valley Drive, Oaks, Pennsylvania 19456.

 

Under the Distribution Agreement, the Distributor, as agent for the Trust, will solicit orders for the purchase of the Shares, provided that any subscriptions and orders will not be binding on the Trust until accepted by the Trust. The Distributor will deliver Prospectuses and, upon request, Statements of Additional Information to persons purchasing Creation Units and will maintain records of orders placed with it. The Distributor is a broker-dealer registered under the Exchange Act and a member of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”).

 

The Distributor may also enter into agreements with securities dealers (“Soliciting Dealers”) who will solicit purchases of Creation Units of Shares. Such Soliciting Dealers may also be Authorized Participants (as discussed in “Procedures for Creation of Creation Units” below) or DTC participants (as defined below).

 

The Distribution Agreement will continue for two years from its effective date and is renewable thereafter. The continuance of the Distribution Agreement must be specifically approved at least annually (i) by the vote of the Trustees or by a vote of the shareholders of the Fund and (ii) by the vote of a majority of the Trustees who are not “interested persons” of the Trust and have no direct or indirect financial interest in the operations of the Distribution Agreement or any related agreement, cast in person at a meeting called for the purpose of voting on such approval. The Distribution Agreement is terminable without penalty by the Trust on 60 days’ written notice when authorized either by majority vote of the Fund’s outstanding voting shares or by a vote of a majority of its Board (including a majority of the Independent Trustees), or by the Distributor on 60 days’ written notice, and will automatically terminate in the event of its assignment. The Distribution Agreement provides that in the absence of willful misfeasance, bad faith or gross negligence on the part of the Distributor, or reckless disregard by it of its obligations thereunder, the Distributor shall not be liable for any action or failure to act in accordance with its duties thereunder.

 

The Distributor may also provide trade order processing services pursuant to a services agreement.

 

Distribution Plan. The Trust has adopted a Distribution Plan (the “Plan”) in accordance with the provisions of Rule 12b-1 under the 1940 Act, which regulates circumstances under which an investment company may directly or indirectly bear expenses relating to the distribution of its shares. No payments pursuant to the Plan will be made during the initial twelve (12) months of operation. Continuance of the Plan must be approved annually by a majority of the Trustees of the Trust and by a majority of the Trustees who are not interested persons (as defined in the 1940 Act) of the Trust and have no direct or indirect financial interest in the Plan or in any agreements related to the Plan (“Qualified Trustees”). The Plan requires that quarterly written reports of amounts spent under the Plan and the purposes of such expenditures be furnished to and reviewed by the Trustees. The Plan may not be amended to increase materially the amount that may be spent thereunder without approval by a majority of the outstanding shares of any class of the Fund that is affected by such increase. All material amendments of the Plan will require approval by a majority of the Trustees of the Trust and of the Qualified Trustees.

 

30
 

 

The Plan provides that Shares of the Fund pay the Distributor an annual fee of up to a maximum of 0.25% of the average daily net assets of the Shares. Under the Plan, the Distributor may make payments pursuant to written agreements to financial institutions and intermediaries such as banks, savings and loan associations and insurance companies including, without limit, investment counselors, broker-dealers and the Distributor’s affiliates and subsidiaries (collectively, “Agents”) as compensation for services and reimbursement of expenses incurred in connection with distribution assistance. The Plan is characterized as a compensation plan since the distribution fee will be paid to the Distributor without regard to the distribution expenses incurred by the Distributor or the amount of payments made to other financial institutions and intermediaries. The Trust intends to operate the Plan in accordance with its terms and with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) rules concerning sales charges.

 

Under the Plan, subject to the limitations of applicable law and regulations, the Fund is authorized to compensate the Distributor up to the maximum amount to finance any activity primarily intended to result in the sale of Creation Units of each Fund or for providing or arranging for others to provide shareholder services and for the maintenance of shareholder accounts. Such activities may include, but are not limited to: (i) delivering copies of the Funds’ then current reports, prospectuses, notices, and similar materials, to prospective purchasers of Creation Units; (ii) marketing and promotional services, including advertising; (iii) paying the costs of and compensating others, including Authorized Participants with whom the Distributor has entered into written Authorized Participant Agreements, for performing shareholder servicing on behalf of the Funds; (iv) compensating certain Authorized Participants for providing assistance in distributing the Creation Units of the Funds, including the travel and communication expenses and salaries and/or commissions of sales personnel in connection with the distribution of the Creation Units of the Funds; (v) payments to financial institutions and intermediaries such as banks, savings and loan associations, insurance companies and investment counselors, broker-dealers, mutual fund supermarkets and the affiliates and subsidiaries of the Trust’s service providers as compensation for services or reimbursement of expenses incurred in connection with distribution assistance; (vi) facilitating communications with beneficial owners of Shares, including the cost of providing (or paying others to provide) services to beneficial owners of shares, including, but not limited to, assistance in answering inquiries related to Shareholder accounts, and (vi) such other services and obligations as are set forth in the Distribution Agreement.

 

THE ADMINISTRATOR

 

SEI Investments Global Funds Services (the “Administrator”), a Delaware statutory trust, has its principal business offices at One Freedom Valley Drive, Oaks, Pennsylvania 19456. SEI Investments Management Corporation (“SIMC”), a wholly-owned subsidiary of SEI Investments Company (“SEI Investments”), is the owner of all beneficial interest in the Administrator. SEI Investments and its subsidiaries and affiliates, including the Administrator, are leading providers of funds evaluation services, trust accounting systems, and brokerage and information services to financial institutions, institutional investors, and money managers. The Administrator and its affiliates also serve as administrator or sub-administrator to other mutual funds.

 

31
 

 

The Trust and the Administrator have entered into an amended and restated administration agreement dated November 10, 2011 (the “Administration Agreement”). Under the Administration Agreement, the Administrator provides the Trust with administrative services, including regulatory reporting and all necessary office space, equipment, personnel and facilities. Pursuant to a schedule to the Administration Agreement, the Administrator also serves as the shareholder servicing agent for the Fund whereby the Administrator provides certain shareholder services to the Fund.

 

The Administration Agreement provides that the Administrator shall not be liable for any error of judgment or mistake of law or for any loss suffered by the Trust in connection with the matters to which the Administration Agreement relates, except a loss resulting from willful misfeasance, bad faith or gross negligence on the part of the Administrator in the performance of its duties or from reckless disregard by it of its duties and obligations thereunder.

 

For its services under the Administration Agreement, the Administrator is entitled to a fee, based on assets under management, subject to a minimum fee.

 

THE CUSTODIAN

 

Brown Brothers Harriman (the “Custodian”), 40 Water Street, Boston, Massachusetts 02109 serves as the custodian of the Fund. The Custodian holds cash, securities and other assets of the Fund as required by the 1940 Act.

 

THE TRANSFER AGENT

 

Brown Brothers Harriman (the “Transfer Agent”), 40 Water Street, Boston, Massachusetts 02109, serves as the Fund’s transfer agent and dividend disbursing agent under a transfer agency agreement with the Trust.

 

LEGAL COUNSEL

 

Morgan, Lewis & Bockius, LLP, 1111 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20004, serves as legal counsel to the Trust.

 

INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM

 

Cohen Fund Audit Services, Ltd., 800 Westpoint Parkway, Suite 1100, Westlake, Ohio 44145-1524 serves as the independent registered public accounting firm for the Fund.

 

PORTFOLIO HOLDINGS DISCLOSURE POLICIES AND PROCEDURES

 

The Trust’s Board of Trustees has adopted a policy regarding the disclosure of information about the Fund’s security holdings. The Fund’s entire portfolio holdings are publicly disseminated each day the Fund is open for business through financial reporting and news services including publicly available internet web sites. In addition, the composition of the In-Kind Creation Basket and the In-Kind Redemption Basket, is publicly disseminated daily prior to the opening of the NYSE Arca via the NSCC.

 

DESCRIPTION OF SHARES

 

The Declaration of Trust authorizes the issuance of an unlimited number of funds and shares of each fund. Each share of a fund represents an equal proportionate interest in that fund with each other share. Shares are entitled upon liquidation to a pro rata share in the net assets of the fund. Shareholders have no preemptive rights. The Declaration of Trust provides that the Trustees of the Trust may create additional series or classes of shares. All consideration received by the Trust for shares of any additional funds and all assets in which such consideration is invested would belong to that fund and would be subject to the liabilities related thereto. Share certificates representing shares will not be issued. The Fund’s Shares, when issued, are fully paid and non-assessable.

 

32
 

 

Each Share has one vote with respect to matters upon which a shareholder vote is required consistent with the requirements of the 1940 Act and the rules promulgated thereunder. Shares of all funds vote together as a single class, except that if the matter being voted on affects only a particular fund it will be voted on only by that fund and if a matter affects a particular fund differently from other Funds, that fund will vote separately on such matter. As a Delaware statutory trust, the Trust is not required, and does not intend, to hold annual meetings of shareholders. Approval of shareholders will be sought, however, for certain changes in the operation of the Trust and for the election of Trustees under certain circumstances. Upon the written request of shareholders owning at least 10% of the Trust's shares, the Trust will call for a meeting of shareholders to consider the removal of one or more trustees and other certain matters. In the event that such a meeting is requested, the Trust will provide appropriate assistance and information to the shareholders requesting the meeting.

 

Under the Declaration of Trust, the Trustees have the power to liquidate the Fund without shareholder approval. While the Trustees have no present intention of exercising this power, they may do so if the Fund fails to reach a viable size within a reasonable amount of time or for such other reasons as may be determined by the Board.

 

LIMITATION OF TRUSTEES’ LIABILITY

 

The Declaration of Trust provides that a Trustee shall be liable only for his or her own willful misfeasance, bad faith, gross negligence or reckless disregard of the duties involved in the conduct of the office of Trustee, and shall not be liable for errors of judgment or mistakes of fact or law. The Trustees shall not be responsible or liable in any event for any neglect or wrong-doing of any officer, agent, employee, investment adviser or principal underwriter of the Trust, nor shall any Trustee be responsible for the act or omission of any other Trustee. The Declaration of Trust also provides that the Trust shall indemnify each person who is, or has been, a Trustee, officer, employee or agent of the Trust, any person who is serving or has served at the Trust’s request as a Trustee, officer, trustee, employee or agent of another organization in which the Trust has any interest as a shareholder, creditor or otherwise to the extent and in the manner provided in the By-Laws. However, nothing in the Declaration of Trust shall protect or indemnify a Trustee against any liability for his or her willful misfeasance, bad faith, gross negligence or reckless disregard of the duties involved in the conduct of the office of Trustee. Nothing contained in this section attempts to disclaim a Trustee’s individual liability in any manner inconsistent with the federal securities laws.

 

BROKERAGE TRANSACTIONS

 

The policy of the Trust regarding purchases and sales of securities for the Fund is that primary consideration will be given to obtaining the most favorable prices and efficient executions of transactions. Consistent with this policy, when securities transactions are effected on a stock exchange, the Trust’s policy is to pay commissions which are considered fair and reasonable without necessarily determining that the lowest possible commissions are paid in all circumstances. The Trust believes that a requirement always to seek the lowest possible commission cost could impede effective portfolio management and preclude the Fund and the Sub-Adviser from obtaining a high quality of brokerage and research services. In seeking to determine the reasonableness of brokerage commissions paid in any transaction, the Sub-Adviser will rely upon its experience and knowledge regarding commissions generally charged by various brokers and on its judgment in evaluating the brokerage services received from the broker effecting the transaction. Such determinations are necessarily subjective and imprecise, as in most cases, an exact dollar value for those services is not ascertainable. The Trust has adopted policies and procedures that prohibit the consideration of sales of the Fund’s shares as a factor in the selection of a broker or dealer to execute its portfolio transactions.

 

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The Sub-Adviser owes a fiduciary duty to its clients to seek to provide best execution on trades effected. In selecting a broker/dealer for each specific transaction, the Sub-Adviser chooses the broker/dealer deemed most capable of providing the services necessary to obtain the most favorable execution. Best execution is generally understood to mean the most favorable cost or net proceeds reasonably obtainable under the circumstances. The full range of brokerage services applicable to a particular transaction may be considered when making this judgment, which may include, but is not limited to: liquidity, price, commission, timing, aggregated trades, capable floor brokers or traders, competent block trading coverage, ability to position, capital strength and stability, reliable and accurate communications and settlement processing, use of automation, knowledge of other buyers or sellers, arbitrage skills, administrative ability, underwriting and provision of information on a particular security or market in which the transaction is to occur. The specific criteria will vary depending upon the nature of the transaction, the market in which it is executed, and the extent to which it is possible to select from among multiple broker/dealers. The Sub-Adviser will also use electronic crossing networks (“ECNs”) when appropriate.

 

The Sub-Adviser does not currently use the Fund’s assets for, or participate in, any third party soft dollar arrangements, although it may receive proprietary research from various full service brokers, the cost of which is bundled with the cost of the broker’s execution services. The Sub-Adviser does not “pay up” for the value of any such proprietary research.

 

The Sub-Adviser is responsible, subject to oversight by the Adviser and the Board, for placing orders on behalf of the Fund for the purchase or sale of portfolio securities. If purchases or sales of portfolio securities of the Fund and one or more other investment companies or clients supervised by the Sub-Adviser are considered at or about the same time, transactions in such securities are allocated among the several investment companies and clients in a manner deemed equitable and consistent with its fiduciary obligations to all by the Sub-Adviser. In some cases, this procedure could have a detrimental effect on the price or volume of the security so far as the Fund is concerned. However, in other cases, it is possible that the ability to participate in volume transactions and to negotiate lower brokerage commissions will be beneficial to the Fund. The primary consideration is prompt execution of orders at the most favorable net price.

 

The Fund may deal with affiliates in principal transactions to the extent permitted by exemptive order or applicable rule or regulation.

 

The Fund had not commenced operations as of the date of this SAI and therefore did not pay brokerage commissions during the past fiscal year.

 

Brokerage with Fund Affiliates. The Fund may execute brokerage or other agency transactions through registered broker-dealer affiliates of either the Fund, the Adviser, the Sub-Adviser or the Distributor for a commission in conformity with the 1940 Act, the Exchange Act and rules promulgated by the SEC. These rules require that commissions paid to the affiliate by the Fund for exchange transactions not exceed usual and customary” brokerage commissions. The rules define “usual and customary” commissions to include amounts which are “reasonable and fair compared to the commission, fee or other remuneration received or to be received by other brokers in connection with comparable transactions involving similar securities being purchased or sold on a securities exchange during a comparable period of time.” The Trustees, including those who are not “interested persons” of the Fund, have adopted procedures for evaluating the reasonableness of commissions paid to affiliates and review these procedures periodically.

 

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Securities of “Regular Broker-Dealer.” The Fund is required to identify any securities of its “regular brokers and dealers” (as such term is defined in the 1940 Act) which it may hold at the close of its most recent fiscal year. “Regular brokers or dealers” of the Trust are the ten brokers or dealers that, during the most recent fiscal year: (i) received the greatest dollar amounts of brokerage commissions from the Trust’s portfolio transactions; (ii) engaged as principal in the largest dollar amounts of portfolio transactions of the Trust; or (iii) sold the largest dollar amounts of the Trust’s shares. Because the Fund is new, as of the date of this SAI, the Fund does not hold any securities of “regular broker dealers” to report.

 

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PORTFOLIO TURNOVER RATE

 

Portfolio turnover may vary from year to year, as well as within a year. High turnover rates are likely to result in comparatively greater brokerage expenses. The overall reasonableness of brokerage commissions is evaluated by the Sub-Adviser based upon its knowledge of available information as to the general level of commissions paid by other institutional investors for comparable services.

 

BOOK ENTRY ONLY SYSTEM

 

DTC acts as securities depositary for the Shares. Shares of the Fund are represented by securities registered in the name of DTC or its nominee, Cede & Co., and deposited with, or on behalf of, DTC. Except in limited circumstances set forth below, certificates will not be issued for Shares.

 

DTC is a limited-purpose trust company that was created to hold securities of its participants (the “DTC's 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 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 of Shares. The Trust recognizes DTC or its nominee as the record owner of all Shares for all purposes. Beneficial Owners of Shares are not entitled to have Shares registered in their names, and will not receive or be entitled to physical delivery of share certificates. Each Beneficial Owner must rely on the procedures of DTC and any DTC Participant and/or Indirect Participant through which such Beneficial Owner holds its interests, to exercise any rights of a holder of Shares.

 

Conveyance of all notices, statements, and other communications to Beneficial Owners is effected as follows. DTC will make available to the Trust upon request and for a fee a listing of Shares held by each DTC Participant. The Trust shall obtain from each such DTC Participant 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 Participant a fair and reasonable amount as reimbursement for the expenses attendant to such transmittal, all subject to applicable statutory and regulatory requirements.

 

Share distributions shall be made to DTC or its nominee, Cede &Co., as the registered holder of all Shares. DTC or its nominee, upon receipt of any such distributions, shall credit immediately DTC Participants' accounts with payments in amounts proportionate to their respective beneficial interests in the Fund 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.

 

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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 the Fund's 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 determine to discontinue providing its service with respect to the Fund at any time by giving reasonable notice to the Fund and discharging its responsibilities with respect thereto under applicable law. Under such circumstances, the Fund shall take action either to find a replacement for DTC to perform its functions at a comparable cost or, if such replacement is unavailable, to issue and deliver printed certificates representing ownership of Shares, unless the Trust makes other arrangements with respect thereto satisfactory to the Exchange.

 

CONTROL PERSONS AND PRINCIPAL HOLDERS OF SECURITIES

 

As of the date of this SAI no persons owned of record beneficially 5% or more of any Shares of the Fund.

 

PURCHASE AND ISSUANCE OF SHARES IN CREATION UNITS

 

The Trust issues and sells Shares of the Fund only: (i) in Creation Units on a continuous basis through the Distributor, without a sales load (but subject to transaction fees), at their NAV per share next determined after receipt of an order, on any Business Day, in proper form pursuant to the terms of the Authorized Participant Agreement (“Participant Agreement”); or (ii) pursuant to the Dividend Reinvestment Service (defined below). The NAV of the Fund’s Shares is calculated each business day as of the close of regular trading on the NYSE Arca, generally 4:00 p.m., Eastern Time. The Fund will not issue fractional Creation Units. A Business Day is any day on which the NYSE Arca is open for business.

 

FUND DEPOSIT. The consideration for purchase of a Creation Unit of the Fund generally consists of the in-kind deposit of a designated portfolio of securities (the “Deposit Securities”) per each Creation Unit, constituting a substantial replication, or a portfolio sampling representation, of the securities included in the Fund’s Index and the Cash Component (defined below), computed as described below. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the Trust reserves the right to permit or require the substitution of a “cash in lieu” amount (“Deposit Cash”) to be added to the Cash Component to replace any Deposit Security. When accepting purchases of Creation Units for all or a portion of Deposit Cash, the Fund may incur additional costs associated with the acquisition of Deposit Securities that would otherwise be provided by an in-kind purchaser.

 

Together, the Deposit Securities or Deposit Cash, as applicable, and the Cash Component constitute the “Fund Deposit,” which represents the minimum initial and subsequent investment amount for a Creation Unit of the Fund. The “Cash Component” is an amount equal to the difference between the NAV of the Shares (per Creation Unit) and the market value of the Deposit Securities or Deposit Cash, as applicable. If the Cash Component is a positive number ( i.e. , the NAV per Creation Unit exceeds the market value of the Deposit Securities or Deposit Cash, as applicable), the Cash Component shall be such positive amount. If the Cash Component is a negative number ( i.e. , the NAV per Creation Unit is less than the market value of the Deposit Securities or Deposit Cash, as applicable), the Cash Component shall be such negative amount and the creator will be entitled to receive cash in an amount equal to the Cash Component. The Cash Component serves the function of compensating for any differences between the NAV per Creation Unit and the market value of the Deposit Securities or Deposit Cash, as applicable. Computation of the Cash Component excludes any stamp duty or other similar fees and expenses payable upon transfer of beneficial ownership of the Deposit Securities, if applicable, which shall be the sole responsibility of the Authorized Participant (as defined below).

 

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The Fund, through NSCC, makes available on each Business Day, immediately prior to the opening of business on the Exchange (currently 9:30 a.m., Eastern time), the list of the names and the required number of shares of each Deposit Security or the required amount of Deposit Cash, as applicable, to be included in the current Fund Deposit (based on information at the end of the previous Business Day) for the Fund. Such Fund Deposit is subject to any applicable adjustments as described below, in order to effect purchases of Creation Units of the Fund until such time as the next-announced composition of the Deposit Securities or the required amount of Deposit Cash, as applicable, is made available.

 

The identity and number of shares of the Deposit Securities or the amount of Deposit Cash, as applicable, required for the Fund Deposit for the Fund changes as rebalancing adjustments and corporate action events are reflected from time to time by the Adviser with a view to the investment objective of the Fund. The composition of the Deposit Securities may also change in response to adjustments to the weighting or composition of the component securities of the Fund’s Index.

 

The Trust reserves the right to permit or require the substitution of an amount of cash ( i.e., a “cash in lieu” amount) to replace any Deposit Security, which shall be added to the Deposit Cash, if applicable, and the Cash Component, including, without limitation, in situations where the Deposit Security: (i) may not be available in sufficient quantity for delivery; (ii) may not be eligible for transfer through the systems of DTC for corporate securities and municipal securities; (iii) may not be eligible for trading by an Authorized Participant (as defined below) or the investor for which it is acting; (iv) would be restricted under the securities laws or where the delivery of the Deposit Security to the Authorized Participant would result in the disposition of the Deposit Security by the Authorized Participant becoming restricted under the securities laws; or (v) in certain other situations (collectively, “custom orders”). The Trust also reserves the right to include or remove Deposit Securities from the basket in anticipation of index rebalancing changes. The adjustments described above will reflect changes, known to the Adviser on the date of announcement to be in effect by the time of delivery of the Fund Deposit, in the composition of the subject Index being tracked by the Fund or resulting from certain corporate actions.

 

PROCEDURES FOR PURCHASE OF CREATION UNITS. To be eligible to place orders with the Distributor to purchase a Creation Unit of the Fund, an entity must be (i) a “Participating Party”, i.e. , a broker-dealer or other participant in the clearing process through the Continuous Net Settlement System of the NSCC (the “Clearing Process”), a clearing agency that is registered with the SEC; or (ii) a DTC Participant (see “BOOK ENTRY ONLY SYSTEM”). In addition, each Participating Party or DTC Participant (each, an “Authorized Participant”) must execute a Participant Agreement that has been agreed to by the Distributor, and that has been accepted by the Transfer Agent and the Trust, with respect to purchases and redemptions of Creation Units. Each Authorized Participant will agree, pursuant to the terms of a Participant Agreement, on behalf of itself or any investor on whose behalf it will act, to certain conditions, including that it will pay to the Trust, an amount of cash sufficient to pay the Cash Component together with the Creation Transaction Fee (defined below) and any other applicable fees and taxes. The Adviser may retain all or a portion of the Transaction Fee to the extent the Adviser bears the expenses that otherwise would be borne by the Trust in connection with the purchase of a Creation Unit, which the Transaction Fee is designed to cover.

 

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All orders to purchase Shares directly from the Fund must be placed for one or more Creation Units in the manner set forth in the Participant Agreement no later than the time the Fund prices its shares (the “Cut-Off Time”). The date on which an order to purchase Creation Units (or an order to redeem Creation Units, as set forth below) is received and accepted is referred to as the “Order Placement Date.”

 

An Authorized Participant may require an investor to make certain representations or enter into agreements with respect to the order, (e.g., to provide for payments of cash, when required). Investors should be aware that their particular broker may not have executed a Participant Agreement and that, therefore, orders to purchase Shares directly from the Fund in Creation Units have to be placed by the investor’s broker through an Authorized Participant that has executed a Participant Agreement. In such cases there may be additional charges to such investor. At any given time, there may be only a limited number of broker-dealers that have executed a Participant Agreement and only a small number of such Authorized Participants may have international capabilities.

 

On days when the Exchange closes earlier than normal, the Fund may require orders to create Creation Units to be placed earlier in the day. In addition, if a market or markets on which the Fund’s investments are primarily traded is closed, the Fund will also generally not accept orders on such day(s). Orders must be transmitted by an Authorized Participant by telephone or other transmission method acceptable to the Distributor pursuant to procedures set forth in the Participant Agreement and in accordance with the AP Handbook. With respect to the Fund, the Distributor will notify the Custodian of such order. The Custodian will then provide such information to the appropriate local sub-custodian(s). Those placing orders through an Authorized Participant should allow sufficient time to permit proper submission of the purchase order to the Distributor by the Cut-Off Time on such Business Day. Economic or market disruptions or changes, or telephone or other communication failure may impede the ability to reach the Distributor or an Authorized Participant.

 

Fund Deposits must be delivered by an Authorized Participant through the Federal Reserve System (for cash) or through DTC (for corporate securities), through a subcustody agent (for foreign securities) and/or through such other arrangements allowed by the Trust or its agents. With respect to foreign Deposit Securities, the Custodian shall cause the subcustodian of the Fund to maintain an account into which the Authorized Participant shall deliver, on behalf of itself or the party on whose behalf it is acting, such Deposit Securities (or Deposit Cash for all or a part of such securities, as permitted or required), with any appropriate adjustments as advised by the Trust. Foreign Deposit Securities must be delivered to an account maintained at the applicable local subcustodian. The Fund Deposit transfer must be ordered by the Authorized Participant in a timely fashion so as to ensure the delivery of the requisite number of Deposit Securities or Deposit Cash, as applicable, to the account of the Fund or its agents by no later than the Settlement Date. The “Settlement Date” for the Fund is generally the third Business Day after the Order Placement Date. All questions as to the number of Deposit Securities or Deposit Cash to be delivered, as applicable, and the validity, form and eligibility (including time of receipt) for the deposit of any tendered securities or cash, as applicable, will be determined by the Trust, whose determination shall be final and binding. The amount of cash represented by the Cash Component must be transferred directly to the Custodian through the Federal Reserve Bank wire transfer system in a timely manner so as to be received by the Custodian no later than the Settlement Date. If the Cash Component and the Deposit Securities or Deposit Cash, as applicable, are not received by in a timely manner by the Settlement Date, the creation order may be cancelled. Upon written notice to the Distributor, such canceled order may be resubmitted the following Business Day using a Fund Deposit as newly constituted to reflect the then current NAV of the Fund.

 

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The order shall be deemed to be received on the Business Day on which the order is placed provided that the order is placed in proper form prior to the Cut-Off Time and the federal funds in the appropriate amount are deposited by 2:00 p.m., Eastern time, with the Custodian on the Settlement Date. If the order is not placed in proper form as required, or federal funds in the appropriate amount are not received by 2:00 p.m., Eastern time on the Settlement Date, then the order may be deemed to be rejected and the Authorized Participant shall be liable to the Fund for losses, if any, resulting therefrom. A creation request is considered to be in “proper form” if all procedures set forth in the Participant Agreement, AP Handbook and this SAI are properly followed.

 

ISSUANCE OF A CREATION UNIT. Except as provided herein, Creation Units will not be issued until the transfer of good title to the Trust of the Deposit Securities or payment of Deposit Cash, as applicable, and the payment of the Cash Component have been completed. When the subcustodian has confirmed to the Custodian that the required Deposit Securities (or the cash value thereof) have been delivered to the account of the relevant subcustodian or subcustodians, the Distributor and the Adviser shall be notified of such delivery, and the Trust will issue and cause the delivery of the Creation Units. The delivery of Creation Units so created generally will occur no later than the third Business Day following the day on which the purchase order is deemed received by the Distributor. However, the Fund reserves the right to settle Creation Unit transactions on a basis other than the third Business Day following the day on which the purchase order is deemed received by the Distributor in order to accommodate foreign market holiday schedules, to account for different treatment among foreign and U.S. markets of dividend record dates and ex-dividend dates (that is the last day the holder of a security can sell the security and still receive dividends payable on the security), and in certain other circumstances. The Authorized Participant shall be liable to the Fund for losses, if any, resulting from unsettled orders.

 

Creation Units may be purchased in advance of receipt by the Trust of all or a portion of the applicable Deposit Securities as described below. In these circumstances, the initial deposit will have a value greater than the NAV of the Shares on the date the order is placed in proper form since in addition to available Deposit Securities, cash must be deposited in an amount equal to the sum of (i) the Cash Component, plus (ii) an additional amount of cash equal to a percentage of the market value as set forth in the Participant Agreement, of the undelivered Deposit Securities (the “Additional Cash Deposit”), which shall be maintained in a separate non-interest bearing collateral account. An additional amount of cash shall be required to be deposited with the Trust, pending delivery of the missing Deposit Securities to the extent necessary to maintain the Additional Cash Deposit with the Trust in an amount at least equal to the applicable percentage, as set forth in the Participant Agreement, of the daily marked to market value of the missing Deposit Securities. The Participant Agreement will permit the Trust to buy the missing Deposit Securities at any time. Authorized Participants will be liable to the Trust for the costs incurred by the Trust in connection with any such purchases. These costs will be deemed to include the amount by which the actual purchase price of the Deposit Securities exceeds the market value of such Deposit Securities on the day the purchase order was deemed received by the Distributor plus the brokerage and related transaction costs associated with such purchases. The Trust will return any unused portion of the Additional Cash Deposit once all of the missing Deposit Securities have been properly received by the Custodian or purchased by the Trust and deposited into the Trust. In addition, a Transaction Fee as set forth below under “Creation Transaction Fee” will be charged in all cases. The delivery of Creation Units so created generally will occur no later than the Settlement Date.

 

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ACCEPTANCE OF ORDERS OF CREATION UNITS. The Trust reserves the absolute right to reject an order for Creation Units transmitted to it by the Distributor in respect of the Fund including, without limitation, if (a) the order is not in proper form; (b) the Deposit Securities or Deposit Cash, as applicable, delivered by the Participant are not as disseminated through the facilities of the NSCC for that date by the Custodian; (c) the investor(s), upon obtaining the Shares ordered, would own 80% or more of the currently outstanding Shares of the Fund; (d) acceptance of the Deposit Securities would have certain adverse tax consequences to the Fund; (e) the acceptance of the Fund Deposit would, in the opinion of counsel, be unlawful; (f) the acceptance of the Fund Deposit would otherwise, in the discretion of the Trust or the Adviser, have an adverse effect on the Trust or the rights of beneficial owners; (g) the acceptance or receipt of the order for a Creation Unit would, in the opinion of counsel to the Trust, be unlawful; or (h) in the event that circumstances outside the control of the Trust, the Custodian, the Transfer Agent and/or the Adviser make it for all practical purposes not feasible to process orders for Creation Units.

 

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 the Trust, the Distributor, the Custodian, a sub-custodian, the Transfer Agent, DTC, NSCC, Federal Reserve System, or any other participant in the creation process, and other extraordinary events. The Distributor shall notify a prospective creator of a Creation Unit and/or the Authorized Participant acting on behalf of the creator of a Creation Unit of its rejection of the order of such person. The Trust, 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 Fund Deposits nor shall either of them incur any liability for the failure to give any such notification. The Trust, the Transfer Agent, the Custodian and the Distributor shall not be liable for the rejection of any purchase order for Creation Units.

 

All questions as to the number of shares of each security in the Deposit Securities and the validity, form, eligibility and acceptance for deposit of any securities to be delivered shall be determined by the Trust, and the Trust’s determination shall be final and binding.

 

CREATION TRANSACTION FEE. A purchase ( i.e. , creation) transaction fee is imposed for the transfer and other transaction costs associated with the purchase of Creation Units, and investors will be required to pay a creation transaction fee regardless of the number of Creation Units created in the transaction. The Fund may adjust the creation transaction fee from time to time based upon actual experience. An additional charge of up to five (5) times the fixed transaction fee may be imposed for cash purchases, non-standard orders, or partial cash purchases for the Fund. Investors who use the services of a broker or other such intermediary may be charged a fee for such services. Investors are responsible for the costs of transferring the securities constituting the Deposit Securities to the account of the Trust. The Adviser may retain all or a portion of the Transaction Fee to the extent the Adviser bears the expenses that otherwise would be borne by the Trust in connection with the purchase of a Creation Unit, which the Transaction Fee is designed to cover.

 

The standard creation transaction fee for the Fund will be $500.

 

RISKS OF PURCHASING CREATION UNITS. There are certain legal risks unique to investors purchasing Creation Units directly from the Fund. Because the Fund’s Shares may be issued on an ongoing basis, a “distribution” of Shares could be occurring at any time. Certain activities that a shareholder performs as a dealer could, depending on the circumstances, result in the shareholder being deemed a participant in the distribution in a manner that could render the shareholder a statutory underwriter and subject to the prospectus delivery and liability provisions of the Securities Act of 1933. For example, a shareholder could be deemed a statutory underwriter if it purchases Creation Units from the Fund, breaks them down into the constituent Shares, and sells those shares directly to customers, or if a shareholder chooses to couple the creation of a supply of new Shares with an active selling effort involving solicitation of secondary-market demand for Shares. Whether a person is an underwriter depends upon all of the facts and circumstances pertaining to that person's activities, and the examples mentioned here should not be considered a complete description of all the activities that could cause you to be deemed an underwriter.

 

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Dealers who are not “underwriters” but are participating in a distribution (as opposed to engaging in ordinary secondary-market transactions), and thus dealing with the Fund’s Shares as part of an “unsold allotment” within the meaning of Section 4(3)(C) of the Securities Act, will be unable to take advantage of the prospectus delivery exemption provided by Section 4(3) of the Securities Act.

 

REDEMPTION. Shares may be redeemed only in Creation Units at their NAV next determined after receipt of a redemption request in proper form by the Fund through the Transfer Agent and only on a Business Day. EXCEPT UPON LIQUIDATION OF THE FUND, THE TRUST WILL NOT REDEEM SHARES IN AMOUNTS LESS THAN CREATION UNITS. Investors must accumulate enough Shares in the secondary market to constitute a Creation Unit in order to have such Shares redeemed by the Trust. There can be no assurance, however, that there will be sufficient liquidity in the public trading market at any time to permit assembly of a Creation Unit. Investors should expect to incur brokerage and other costs in connection with assembling a sufficient number of Shares to constitute a redeemable Creation Unit.

 

With respect to the Fund, the Custodian, through the NSCC, makes available immediately prior to the opening of business on the Exchange (currently 9:30 a.m., Eastern time) on each Business Day, the list of the names and share quantities of the Fund’s portfolio securities that will be applicable (subject to possible amendment or correction) to redemption requests received in proper form (as defined below) on that day (“Fund Securities”). Fund Securities received on redemption may not be identical to Deposit Securities.

 

Redemption proceeds for a Creation Unit are paid either in-kind or in cash, or combination thereof, as determined by the Trust. With respect to in-kind redemptions of the Fund, redemption proceeds for a Creation Unit will consist of Fund Securities — as announced by the Custodian on the Business Day of the request for redemption received in proper form plus cash in an amount equal to the difference between the NAV of the Shares being redeemed, as next determined after a receipt of a request in proper form, and the value of the Fund Securities (the “Cash Redemption Amount”), less a fixed redemption transaction fee as set forth below. In the event that the Fund Securities have a value greater than the NAV of the Shares, a compensating cash payment equal to the differential is required to be made by or through an Authorized Participant by the redeeming shareholder. Notwithstanding the foregoing, at the Trust’s discretion, an Authorized Participant may receive the corresponding cash value of the securities in lieu of the in-kind securities value representing one or more Fund Securities.

 

REDEMPTION TRANSACTION FEE. A redemption transaction fee is imposed for the transfer and other transaction costs associated with the redemption of Creation Units, and investors will be required to pay a fixed redemption transaction fee regardless of the number of Creation Units created in the transaction, as set forth in the Fund’s Prospectus. The redemption transaction fee is the same no matter how many Creation Units are being redeemed pursuant to any one redemption request. The Fund may adjust the redemption transaction fee from time to time based upon actual experience. An additional charge of up to five (5) times the fixed transaction fee may be imposed for cash redemptions, non-standard orders, or partial cash redemptions (when cash redemptions are available) for the Fund. Investors who use the services of a broker or other such intermediary may be charged a fee for such services. Investors are responsible for the costs of transferring the Fund Securities from the Trust to their account or on their order. The Adviser may retain all or a portion of the Transaction Fee to the extent the Adviser bears the expenses that otherwise would be borne by the Trust in connection with the redemption of a Creation Unit, which the Transaction Fee is designed to cover.

 

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The standard redemption transaction fee for the Fund will be $500.

 

PROCEDURES FOR REDEMPTION OF CREATION UNITS. The Clearing Process is only available for in-kind redemptions and will not be used for cash redemptions. To the extent redemptions are effected in-kind, orders to redeem Creation Units through the Clearing Process must be submitted in proper form to the Transfer Agent by the Cut-Off Time. A redemption request is considered to be in “proper form” if (i) an Authorized Participant has transferred or caused to be transferred to the Trust’s Transfer Agent the Creation Unit(s) being redeemed through the book-entry system of DTC so as to be effective by 2:00 p.m., Eastern time, on the Business Day following the Order Placement Date and (ii) a request in form satisfactory to the Trust is received by the Transfer Agent from the Authorized Participant on behalf of itself or another redeeming investor by the Cut-Off Time. If the Transfer Agent does not receive the investor’s Shares through DTC’s facilities by the times and pursuant to the other terms and conditions set forth above, the redemption request shall be rejected.

 

The Authorized Participant must transmit the request for redemption, in the form required by the Trust, to the Transfer Agent in accordance with procedures set forth above and by the Cut-Off Time. Investors should be aware that their particular broker may not have executed an Authorized Participant Agreement, and that, therefore, requests to redeem Creation Units may have to be placed by the investor’s broker through an Authorized Participant who has executed a Participant Agreement. Investors making a redemption request should be aware that such request must be in the form specified by such Authorized Participant. Investors making a request to redeem Creation Units should allow sufficient time to permit proper submission of the request by an Authorized Participant and transfer of the Shares to the Trust’s Transfer Agent; such investors should allow for the additional time that may be required to effect redemptions through their banks, brokers or other financial intermediaries if such intermediaries are not Authorized Participants.

 

In connection with taking delivery of shares of Fund Securities upon redemption of Creation Units, a redeeming shareholder or Authorized Participant acting on behalf of such Shareholder must maintain appropriate custody arrangements with a qualified broker-dealer, bank or other custody providers in each jurisdiction in which any of the Fund Securities are customarily traded, to which account such Fund Securities will be delivered. Deliveries of redemption proceeds generally will be made within three business days of the trade date.

 

ADDITIONAL REDEMPTION PROCEDURES. In connection with taking delivery of shares of Fund Securities upon redemption of Creation Units, the Authorized Participant must maintain appropriate custody arrangements with a qualified broker-dealer, bank or other custody providers in each jurisdiction in which any of the Fund Securities are customarily traded, to which account such Fund Securities will be delivered. Deliveries of redemption proceeds generally will be made within three business days of the trade date. However, due to the schedule of holidays in certain countries, the different treatment among foreign and U.S. markets of dividend record dates and dividend ex-dates (that is the last date the holder of a security can sell the security and still receive dividends payable on the security sold), and in certain other circumstances, the delivery of in-kind redemption proceeds may take longer than three Business Days after the day on which the redemption request is received in proper form. If neither the redeeming Shareholder nor the Authorized Participant acting on behalf of such redeeming Shareholder has appropriate arrangements to take delivery of the Fund Securities in the applicable foreign jurisdiction and it is not possible to make other such arrangements, or if it is not possible to effect deliveries of the Fund Securities in such jurisdiction, the Trust may, in its discretion, exercise its option to redeem such Shares in cash, and the redeeming Shareholders will be required to receive its redemption proceeds in cash.

 

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If it is not possible to make other such arrangements, or it is not possible to effect deliveries of the Fund Securities, the Trust may in its discretion exercise its option to redeem such Shares in cash, and the redeeming investor will be required to receive its redemption proceeds in cash. In addition, an investor may request a redemption in cash that the Fund may, in its sole discretion, permit. In either case, the investor will receive a cash payment equal to the NAV of its Shares based on the NAV of Shares of the Fund next determined after the redemption request is received in proper form (minus a redemption transaction fee and additional charge for requested cash redemptions specified above, to offset the Trust’s brokerage and other transaction costs associated with the disposition of Fund Securities). The Fund may also, in its sole discretion, upon request of a shareholder, provide such redeemer a portfolio of securities that differs from the exact composition of the Fund Securities but does not differ in NAV.

 

Redemptions of Shares for Fund Securities will be subject to compliance with applicable federal and state securities laws and the Fund (whether or not it otherwise permits cash redemptions) reserves the right to redeem Creation Units for cash to the extent that the Trust could not lawfully deliver specific Fund Securities upon redemptions or could not do so without first registering the Fund Securities under such laws. An Authorized Participant or an investor for which it is acting subject to a legal restriction with respect to a particular security included in the Fund Securities applicable to the redemption of Creation Units may be paid an equivalent amount of cash. The Authorized Participant may request the redeeming investor of the Shares to complete an order form or to enter into agreements with respect to such matters as compensating cash payment. Further, an Authorized Participant that is not a “qualified institutional buyer,” (“QIB”) as such term is defined under Rule 144A of the Securities Act, will not be able to receive Fund Securities that are restricted securities eligible for resale under Rule 144A. An Authorized Participant may be required by the Trust to provide a written confirmation with respect to QIB status in order to receive Fund Securities.

 

Because the portfolio securities of the Fund may trade on the relevant exchange(s) on days that the Exchange is closed or are otherwise not Business Days for the Fund, shareholders may not be able to redeem their Shares of the Fund, or to purchase or sell Shares of the Fund on the Exchange, on days when the NAV of the Fund could be significantly affecting by events in the relevant foreign markets.

 

The right of redemption may be suspended or the date of payment postponed with respect to the Fund (1) for any period during which the Exchange is closed (other than customary weekend and holiday closings); (2) for any period during which trading on the Exchange is suspended or restricted; (3) for any period during which an emergency exists, as determined by the SEC, as a result of which disposal of the Shares of the Fund or determination of the NAV of the Shares is not reasonably practicable; or (4) in such other circumstance as is permitted by the SEC.

 

DETERMINATION OF NAV

 

NAV per Share for the Fund is computed 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 Shares outstanding, rounded to the nearest cent. Expenses and fees, including the management fees, are accrued daily and taken into account for purposes of determining NAV. The NAV of the Fund is calculated by the Custodian and determined at the close of the regular trading session on the NYSE (ordinarily 4:00 p.m., Eastern time) on each day that such exchange is open, provided that fixed-income assets may be valued as of the announced closing time for trading in fixed-income instruments on any day that the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (“SIFMA”) announces an early closing time.

 

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In calculating the Fund’s NAV per Share, the Fund’s investments are generally valued using market valuations. A market valuation generally means a valuation (i) obtained from an exchange, a pricing service, or a major market maker (or dealer), (ii) based on a price quotation or other equivalent indication of value supplied by an exchange, a pricing service, or a major market maker (or dealer) or (iii) based on amortized cost. In the case of shares of other funds that are not traded on an exchange, a market valuation means such fund’s published NAV per share. The Sub-Adviser may use various pricing services, or discontinue the use of any pricing service, as approved by the Board from time to time. A price obtained from a pricing service based on such pricing service’s valuation matrix may be considered a market valuation. Any assets or liabilities denominated in currencies other than the U.S. dollar are converted into U.S. dollars at the current market rates on the date of valuation as quoted by one or more sources.

 

In the event that current market valuations are not readily available or such valuations do not reflect current market value, the Trust’s procedures require the Fair Value Committee to determine a security’s fair value if a market price is not readily available. In determining such value the Fair Value Committee may consider, among other things, (i) price comparisons among multiple sources, (ii) a review of corporate actions and news events, and (iii) a review of relevant financial indicators ( e.g., movement in interest rates, market indices, and prices from the Fund’s index provider). In these cases, the Fund’s NAV may reflect certain portfolio securities’ fair values rather than their market prices. Fair value pricing involves subjective judgments and it is possible that the fair value determination for a security is materially different than the value that could be realized upon the sale of the security. In addition, fair value pricing could result in a difference between the prices used to calculate the Fund’s NAV and the prices used by the Fund’s Index. This may result in a difference between the Fund’s performance and the performance of the Fund’s Index. With respect to securities that are primarily listed on foreign exchanges, the value of the Fund’s portfolio securities may change on days when you will not be able to purchase or sell your Shares.

 

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, if any, are declared and paid quarterly by the Trust. Distributions of net realized securities gains, if any, generally are declared and paid once a year, but the Trust may make distributions on a more frequent basis for the Fund to improve index tracking or to comply with the distribution requirements of the Internal Revenue Code, in all events in a manner consistent with the provisions of the 1940 Act.

 

Dividends and other distributions on 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 the Trust.

 

The Trust makes additional distributions to the extent necessary (i) to distribute the entire annual taxable income of the Trust, plus any net capital gains and (ii) to avoid imposition of the excise tax imposed by Section 4982 of the Internal Revenue Code. Management of the Trust reserves the right to declare special dividends if, in its reasonable discretion, such action is necessary or advisable to preserve the status of the Trust as a regulated investment company (“RIC”) or to avoid imposition of income or excise taxes on undistributed income.

 

Dividend Reinvestment Service . The Trust will not make the DTC book-entry dividend reinvestment service available for use by Beneficial Owners for reinvestment of their cash proceeds, but certain individual broker-dealers may make available the DTC book-entry Dividend Reinvestment Service for use by Beneficial Owners of the Fund through DTC Participants for reinvestment of their dividend distributions. Investors should contact their brokers to ascertain the availability and description of these services. Beneficial Owners should be aware that each broker may require investors to adhere to specific procedures and timetables in order to participate in the dividend reinvestment service and investors should ascertain from their brokers such necessary details. If this service is available and used, dividend distributions of both income and realized gains will be automatically reinvested in additional whole Shares issued by the Trust of the same Fund at NAV. Distributions reinvested in additional shares of the Fund will nevertheless be taxable to Beneficial Owners acquiring such additional shares to the same extent as if such distributions had been received in cash.

 

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FEDERAL INCOME TAXES

 

The following is only a summary of certain additional federal income tax considerations generally affecting the Fund and its shareholders that are not described in the Prospectus. No attempt is made to present a detailed explanation of the federal, state, local or foreign tax treatment of the Fund or its shareholders, and the discussion here and in the Prospectus is not intended to be a substitute for careful tax planning.

 

The following general discussion of certain federal income tax consequences is based on provisions of the Internal Revenue Code and the regulations issued thereunder as in effect on the date of this SAI. New legislation, as well as administrative changes or court decisions, may significantly change the conclusions expressed herein, and may have a retroactive effect with respect to the transactions contemplated herein.

 

Shareholders are urged to consult their own tax advisers regarding the application of the provisions of tax law described in this SAI in light of the particular tax situations of the shareholders and regarding specific questions as to federal, state, or local taxes.

 

Congress passed the Regulated Investment Company Modernization Act on December 22, 2010 (the “RIC Mod Act”) which makes certain beneficial changes for RICs and their shareholders, some of which are referenced below. In general, the RIC Mod Act contains simplification provisions effective for taxable years beginning after December 22, 2010, which are aimed at preventing disqualification of a RIC for “inadvertent” failures of the asset diversification and/or qualifying income tests. Additionally, the RIC Mod Act allows capital losses to be carried forward indefinitely and retain the character of the original loss, exempts certain RICs from the preferential dividend rule, and repealed the 60-day designation requirement for certain types of income and gains.

 

Regulated Investment Company (RIC) Status . The Fund will seek to qualify for treatment as a RIC under the Internal Revenue Code. Provided that for each tax year the Fund: (i) meets the requirements to be treated as a RIC (as discussed below); and (ii) distributes at least 90% of the Fund’s net investment income for such year (including, for this purpose, the excess of net realized short-term capital gains over net long-term capital losses), the Fund itself will not be subject to federal income taxes to the extent the Fund’s net investment income and the Fund’s net realized capital gains, if any, are distributed to the Fund’s shareholders. One of several requirements for RIC qualification is that the Fund must receive at least 90% of the Fund’s gross income each year from dividends, interest, payments with respect to securities loans, gains from the sale or other disposition of stock, securities or foreign currencies, or other income derived with respect to the Fund’s investments in stock, securities, foreign currencies and net income from an interest in a qualified publicly traded partnership (the “90% Test”). A second requirement for qualification as a RIC is that the Fund must diversify its holdings so that, at the end of each fiscal quarter of the Fund’s taxable year: (a) at least 50% of the market value of the Fund’s total assets is represented by cash and cash items, U.S. government securities, securities of other RICs, and other securities, with these other securities limited, in respect to any one issuer, to an amount not greater than 5% of the value of the Fund’s total assets or 10% of the outstanding voting securities of such issuer; and (b) not more than 25% of the value of its total assets are invested in the securities (other than U.S. government securities or securities of other RICs) of any one issuer or two or more issuers which the Fund controls and which are engaged in the same, similar, or related trades or businesses, or the securities of one or more qualified publicly traded partnership (the “Asset Test”).

 

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If the Fund fails to satisfy the qualifying income or diversification requirements in any taxable year, the Fund may be eligible for relief provisions if the failures are due to reasonable cause and not willful neglect and if a penalty tax is paid with respect to each failure to satisfy the applicable requirements. Additionally, relief is provided for certain de minimis failures of the diversification requirements where the Fund corrects the failure within a specified period of time. In the event of a failure by the Fund to qualify as a RIC, and the relief provisions are not available, the Fund’s distributions, to the extent such distributions are derived from the Fund’s current or accumulated earnings and profits, would constitute dividends that would be taxable to the shareholders of the Fund as ordinary income and would be eligible for the dividends received deduction for corporate shareholders and as qualified dividend income for individual shareholders, subject to certain limitations. This treatment would also apply to any portion of the distributions that might have been treated in the shareholder’s hands as long-term capital gains, as discussed below, had the Fund qualified as a RIC. In addition, the Fund could be required to recognize unrealized gains, pay substantial taxes and interest and make substantial distributions before requalifying as a RIC. The Board reserves the right not to maintain the qualification of the Fund as a RIC if it determines such course of action to be beneficial to shareholders. If the Fund determines that it will not qualify as a RIC the Fund will establish procedures to reflect the anticipated tax liability in the Fund’s NAV.

 

The RIC Mod Act provides that for taxable years beginning after December 22, 2010, the Fund may elect to treat part or all of any “qualified late year loss” as if it had been incurred in the succeeding taxable year in determining such Fund’s taxable income, net capital gain, net short-term capital gain, and earnings and profits. The effect of this election is to treat any such “qualified late year loss” as if it had been incurred in the succeeding taxable year in characterizing Fund distributions for any calendar. A “qualified late year loss” generally includes net capital loss, net long-term capital loss, or net short-term capital loss incurred after October 31 of the current taxable year (commonly referred to as “post-October losses”) and certain other late-year losses.

 

The RIC Mod Act also changed the treatment of capital loss carryovers for RICs. The new rules are similar to those that apply to capital loss carryovers of individuals are made applicable to RICs and provide that such losses are carried over by the Fund indefinitely. Thus, if the Fund has a “net capital loss” (that is, capital losses in excess of capital gains) for a taxable year beginning after December 22, 2010, the excess of the Fund’s net short-term capital losses over its net long-term capital gains is treated as a short-term capital loss arising on the first day of such Fund’s next taxable year, and the excess (if any) of the Fund’s net long-term capital losses over its net short-term capital gains is treated as a long-term capital loss arising on the first day of the Fund’s next taxable year. Certain transition rules require post-enactment capital losses (i.e., capital losses incurred in taxable years beginning after December 22, 2010) to be utilized first, which, depending on the circumstances for the Fund, may result in the expiration of unused pre-enactment losses. In addition, the carryover of capital losses may be limited under the general loss limitation rules if the Fund experiences an ownership change as defined in the Internal Revenue Code.

 

The Fund will generally be subject to a nondeductible 4% federal excise tax to the extent it fails to distribute by the end of any calendar year 98% of its ordinary income for the year and 98.2% of its capital gain net income for the one-year period ending on October 31 of that year, plus certain other amounts. The Fund intends to make sufficient distributions, or deemed distributions, to avoid imposition of the excise tax, but can make no assurances that all such tax liability will be eliminated.

 

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The Fund intends to distribute substantially all its net investment income quarterly and net realized capital gains to shareholders annually. The distribution of net investment income and net realized capital gains will be taxable to Fund shareholders regardless of whether the shareholder elects to receive these distributions in cash or in additional shares. All or a portion of the net investment income distributions may be treated as qualified dividend income (which is currently eligible for a reduced maximum rate to individuals of 15% (lower rates apply to individuals in lower tax brackets)) to the extent that the Fund receives qualified dividend income. Qualified dividend income is, in general, dividend income from taxable domestic corporations and certain foreign corporations ( i.e. , foreign corporations incorporated in a possession of the United States or in certain countries with a comprehensive tax treaty with the United States, or the stock of which is readily tradable on an established securities market in the United States).

 

A dividend will not be treated as qualified dividend income to the extent that (i) the shareholder has not held the shares on which the dividend was paid for more than 60 days during the 121-day period that begins on the date that is 60 days before the date on which the shares become “ex-dividend” (which is the day on which declared distributions (dividends or capital gains) are deducted from each Fund’s assets before it calculates the net asset value) with respect to such dividend, (ii) each Fund has not satisfied similar holding period requirements with respect to the securities it holds that paid the dividends distributed to the shareholder), (iii) the shareholder is under an obligation (whether pursuant to a short sale or otherwise) to make related payments with respect to substantially similar or related property, or (iv) the shareholder elects to treat such dividend as investment income under section 163(d)(4)(B) of the Code. Distributions by the Funds of their net short-term capital gains will be taxable as ordinary income. Capital gain distributions consisting of the Funds’ net capital gains will be taxable as long-term capital gains. The Funds will report annually to their shareholders the amount of the Funds’ distributions that qualify for the reduced tax rates on qualified dividend income.

 

Absent further legislation, the maximum 15% tax rate (as well as the lower tax rates applicable to individuals in lower tax brackets) on qualified dividend income and long-term capital gains will cease to apply in taxable years beginning after December 31, 2012.

 

In determining the amount a Fund may designate as capital gain dividends, the Fund generally must treat any net capital loss or any net long-term capital loss incurred after October 31 as if it had been incurred in the succeeding year.

 

Treasury Regulations permit the Fund, in determining its taxable income, to elect to treat all or a part of any net capital loss, any net long-term capital loss or any foreign currency loss incurred after October 31 as if it had been incurred in the succeeding year.

 

To the extent that the Fund makes a distribution of income received by the Fund in lieu of dividends (a “substitute payment”) with respect to securities on loan pursuant to a securities lending transaction, such income will not constitute qualified dividend income to individual shareholders and will not be eligible for the dividends received deduction for corporate shareholders.

 

Recent legislation effective beginning in 2013 provides that U.S. individuals with income exceeding $200,000 ($250,000 if married and filing jointly) will be subject to a new 3.8% Medicare contribution tax on their “net investment income,” including interest, dividends, and capital gains (including capital gains realized on the sale or exchange of shares of the Fund).

 

Shareholders who have not held Fund shares for a full year should be aware that the Fund may designate and distribute, as ordinary income or capital gain, a percentage of income that is not equal to the actual amount of such income earned during the period of investment in the Fund.

 

If the Fund’s distributions exceed its taxable income and capital gains realized during a taxable year, all or a portion of the distributions made in the same taxable year may be recharacterized as a return of capital to shareholders. A return of capital distribution will generally not be taxable, but will reduce each shareholder’s cost basis in the Fund and result in a higher reported capital gain or lower reported capital loss when those shares on which the distribution was received are sold.

 

A sale or exchange of shares in the Fund may give rise to a gain or loss. In general, any gain or loss realized upon a taxable disposition of shares will be treated as long-term capital gain or loss if the shares have been held for more than 12 months. Otherwise, the gain or loss on the taxable disposition of shares will be treated as short-term capital gain or loss. Any loss realized upon a taxable disposition of shares held for six months or less will be treated as long-term, rather than short-term, to the extent of any long-term capital gain distributions received (or deemed received) by the shareholder with respect to the shares. All or a portion of any loss realized upon a taxable disposition of shares will be disallowed if other substantially identical shares of the Fund are purchased (through reinvestment of dividends or otherwise) within 30 days before or after the disposition. In such a case, the basis of the newly purchased shares will be adjusted to reflect the disallowed loss.

 

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As noted above, U.S. individuals with income exceeding $200,000 ($250,000 if married and filing jointly) will be subject to a new 3.8% Medicare contribution tax on their “net investment income,” including capital gains realized on the sale or exchange of shares of a Fund.

 

An Authorized Participant who exchanges securities for Creation Units generally will 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 sum of the exchanger’s aggregate basis in the securities surrendered plus the amount of cash paid for such Creation Units. A person who redeems Creation Units will generally recognize a gain or loss equal to the difference between the exchanger’s basis in the Creation Units and the sum of the aggregate market value of any securities received plus the amount of any cash received for such Creation Units. The Internal Revenue Service, however, may assert that a loss realized upon an exchange of securities for Creation Units cannot be deducted currently under the rules governing “wash sales,” or on the basis that there has been no significant change in economic position.

 

Any capital gain or loss realized upon the creation of Creation Units will generally be treated as long-term capital gain or loss if the securities exchanged for such Creation Units have been held for more than one year. Any capital gain or loss realized upon the redemption of Creation Units will generally be treated as long-term capital gain or loss if the shares comprising the Creation Units have been held for more than one year. Otherwise, such capital gains or losses will be treated as short-term capital gains or losses.

 

The Trust on behalf of the Fund has the right to reject an order for a purchase of shares of the Trust if the purchaser (or group of purchasers) would, upon obtaining the shares so ordered, own 80% or more of the outstanding shares of the Fund and if, pursuant to Section 351 of the Internal Revenue Code, the Fund would have a basis in the securities different from the market value of such securities on the date of deposit. The Trust also has the right to require information necessary to determine beneficial share ownership for purposes of the 80% determination.

 

Persons purchasing or redeeming Creation Units should consult their own tax advisors with respect to the tax treatment of any creation or redemption transaction.

 

Foreign Investments . Income received by the Fund from sources within foreign countries (including, for example, dividends or interest on stock or securities of non-U.S. issuers) may be subject to withholding and other taxes imposed by such countries. Tax treaties between such countries and the U.S. may reduce or eliminate such taxes. If as of the end of the Fund’s taxable year more than 50% of the Fund’s assets consist of the securities of foreign corporations, that Fund may elect to permit shareholders to claim a credit or deduction on their income tax returns for their pro rata portions of qualified taxes paid by that Fund during that taxable year to foreign countries in respect of foreign securities the Fund has held for at least the minimum period specified in the Internal Revenue Code. In such a case, shareholders will include in gross income from foreign sources their pro rata shares of such taxes. A shareholder’s ability to claim a foreign tax credit or deduction in respect of foreign taxes paid by the Fund may be subject to certain limitations imposed by the Internal Revenue Code, which may result in the shareholder not getting a full credit or deduction for the amount of such taxes. Shareholders who do not itemize on their federal income tax returns may claim a credit, but not a deduction, for such foreign taxes.

 

Foreign Currency Transactions . Under the Internal Revenue Code, gains or losses attributable to fluctuations in exchange rates which occur between the time the Fund accrues income or other receivables or accrues expenses or other liabilities denominated in a foreign currency and the time the Fund actually collects such receivables or pays such liabilities generally are treated as ordinary income or loss. Similarly, on the disposition of debt securities denominated in a foreign currency and on the disposition of certain other instruments, gains or losses attributable to fluctuations in the value of the foreign currency between the date of acquisition of the security or contract and the date of disposition are also treated as ordinary gain or loss. The gains and losses may increase or decrease the amount of the Fund’s investment company taxable income to be distributed to its shareholders as ordinary income.

 

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Options, Swaps and Other Complex Securities . The Fund may invest in complex securities such as equity options, index options, repurchase agreements, foreign currency contracts, hedges and swaps, and futures contracts. These investments may be subject to numerous special and complex tax rules. These rules could affect whether gains and losses recognized by the Fund are treated as ordinary income or capital gain, accelerate the recognition of income to the Fund and/or defer the Fund’s ability to recognize losses. In turn, those rules may affect the amount, timing or character of the income distributed by the Fund. The Fund may be subject to foreign withholding taxes on income they may earn from investing in foreign securities, which may reduce the return on such investments.

 

With respect to investments in zero coupon securities which are sold at original issue discount and thus do not make periodic cash interest payments, the Fund will be required to include as part of its current income the imputed interest on such obligations even though the Fund has not received any interest payments on such obligations during that period. Because the Fund distributes all of its net investment income to its shareholders, the Fund may have to sell Fund securities to distribute such imputed income which may occur at a time when the Advisor would not have chosen to sell such securities and which may result in taxable gain or loss.

 

The Fund is required, for federal income tax purposes, to mark to market and recognize as income for each taxable year its net unrealized gains and losses as of the end of such year on certain regulated futures contracts, foreign currency contracts and options that qualify as Section 1256 Contracts in addition to the gains and losses actually realized with respect to such contracts during the year. Except with respect to certain foreign currency transactions, gain or loss from Section 1256 Contracts that are required to be marked to market annually will generally be 60% long-term and 40% short-term capital gain or loss. Application of this rule may alter the timing and character of distributions to shareholders.

 

The Fund may invest in certain MLPs which may be treated as qualified publicly traded partnerships. Income from qualified publicly traded partnerships is qualifying income for purposes of the 90% Test, but the Fund’s investment in one or more of such qualified publicly traded partnerships is limited under the Asset Test to no more than 25% of the value of the Fund’s assets. The Fund will monitor its investment in such qualified publicly traded partnerships in order to ensure compliance with the Asset Test.

 

The Fund may invest in REITs. Investments in REIT equity securities may require the Fund to accrue and distribute income not yet received. To generate sufficient cash to make the requisite distributions, the Fund may be required to sell securities in its portfolio (including when it is not advantageous to do so) that it otherwise would have continued to hold. The Fund’s investments in REIT equity securities may at other times result in the Fund’s receipt of cash in excess of the REIT’s earnings; if the Fund distributes these amounts, these distributions could constitute a return of capital to the Fund’s shareholders for federal income tax purposes. Dividends received by the Fund from a REIT generally will not constitute qualified dividend income.

 

If the Fund purchases shares in certain foreign investment entities, called “passive foreign investment companies” (“PFICs”), it may be subject to U.S. federal income tax on a portion of any “excess distribution” or gain from the disposition of such shares even if such income is distributed as a taxable dividend by the Fund to its shareholders. Additional charges in the nature of interest may be imposed on the Fund in respect of deferred taxes arising from such distributions or gains.

 

If the Fund were to invest in a PFIC and elect to treat the PFIC as a “qualified electing fund” under the Code, in lieu of the foregoing requirements, the Fund might be required to include in income each year a portion of the ordinary earnings and net capital gains of the qualified electing fund, even if not distributed to the Fund, and such amounts would be subject to the 90% and excise tax distribution requirements described above. In order to make this election, the Fund would be required to obtain certain annual information from the PFICs in which it invests, which may be difficult or impossible to obtain. Alternatively, the Fund may make a mark-to-market election that will result in such Fund being treated as if it had sold and repurchased its PFIC stock at the end of each year. In such case, a Fund would report any such gains as ordinary income and would deduct any such losses as ordinary losses to the extent of previously recognized gains. The election must be made separately for each PFIC owned by a Fund and, once made, would be effective for all subsequent taxable years, unless revoked with the consent of the Internal Revenue Service (the “IRS”). By making the election, the Fund could potentially ameliorate the adverse tax consequences with respect to its ownership of shares in a PFIC, but in any particular year may be required to recognize income in excess of the distributions it receives from PFICs and its proceeds from dispositions of PFIC stock. The Fund may have to distribute this “phantom” income and gain to satisfy the 90% distribution requirement and to avoid imposition of the 4% excise tax. The Fund will make the appropriate tax elections, if possible, and take any additional steps that are necessary to mitigate the effect of these rules.

 

Tax-Exempt Shareholders. Under current law, income of a Fund that would be treated as unrelated business taxable income (“UBTI”) if earned directly by a tax-exempt entity generally will not be attributed as UBTI to a tax-exempt entity that is a shareholder in the RIC. Notwithstanding this “blocking” effect, a tax-exempt shareholder could realize UBTI by virtue of its investment in the Fund if shares in the Fund constitute debt-financed property in the hands of the tax-exempt shareholder within the meaning of Code Section 514(b) or if the Fund invests in real estate investment trusts (“REITs”) that hold residual interests in real estate mortgage investment conduits (“REMICs”).

 

Back-Up Withholding . The Fund will be required in certain cases to withhold at the applicable withholding rate and remit to the U.S. Treasury the withheld amount of taxable dividends paid to any shareholder who (1) fails to provide a correct taxpayer identification number certified under penalty of perjury; (2) is subject to withholding by the Internal Revenue Service for failure to properly report all payments of interest or dividends; (3) fails to provide a certified statement that he or she is not subject to “backup withholding;” or (4) fails to provide a certified statement that he or she is a U.S. person (including a U.S. resident alien). Backup withholding is not an additional tax and any amounts withheld may be credited against the shareholder’s ultimate U.S. tax liability.

 

Foreign Shareholders . Foreign shareholders ( i.e. , nonresident alien individuals and foreign corporations, partnerships, trusts and estates) are generally subject to U.S. withholding tax at the rate of 30% (or a lower tax treaty rate) on distributions derived from net investment income and short-term capital gains. Gains from the sale or other disposition of shares of the Fund generally are not subject to U.S. taxation, unless the recipient is an individual who either (1) meets the Internal Revenue Code’s definition of “resident alien” or (2) is physically present in the U.S. for 183 days or more per year. For taxable years of the Fund beginning before January 1, 2012, the Fund may, under certain circumstances, designate all or a portion of a dividend as an "interest related dividend" or "short-term capital gain dividend" which if received by a nonresident alien individual or foreign entity generally would be exempt from the 30% U.S. withholding tax, provided certain other requirements are satisfied. Different tax consequences may result if the foreign shareholder is engaged in a trade or business within the United States. In addition, the tax consequences to a foreign shareholder entitled to claim the benefits of a tax treaty may be different than those described above.

 

For taxable years beginning after December 31, 2013, a U.S. withholding tax at a 30% rate will be imposed on dividends and proceeds from the sale of Fund shares received by Fund shareholders who own their shares through foreign accounts or foreign intermediaries if certain disclosure requirements related to U.S. accounts or ownership are not satisfied.

 

In order for a foreign investor to qualify for an exemption from backup withholding, the foreign investor must comply with special certification and filing requirements. Foreign investors in the Fund should consult their tax advisors in this regard. Backup withholding is not an additional tax. Any amounts withheld may be credited against the shareholder’s U.S. federal income tax liability, provided the appropriate information is furnished to the Internal Revenue Service.

 

50
 

 

A beneficial holder of shares who is a foreign person may be subject to state and local tax and to the U.S. federal estate tax in addition to the federal income tax consequences referred to above. If a shareholder is eligible for the benefits of a tax treaty, any effectively connected income or gain will generally be subject to U.S. federal income tax on a net basis only if it is also attributable to a permanent establishment maintained by the shareholder in the United States.

 

Tax Shelter Reporting Regulations . Under U.S. Treasury regulations, generally, if a shareholder recognizes a loss of $2 million or more for an individual shareholder or $10 million or more for a corporate shareholder, the shareholder must file with the Internal Revenue Service a disclosure statement on Form 8886. Direct shareholders of portfolio securities are in many cases excepted from this reporting requirement, but under current guidance shareholders of a RIC are not excepted. Future guidance may extend the current exception from this reporting requirement to shareholders of most or all RICs. The fact that a loss is reportable under these regulations does not affect the legal determination of whether the taxpayer’s treatment of the loss is proper. Shareholders should consult their tax advisors to determine the applicability of these regulations in light of their individual circumstances.

 

Other Issues . The Fund may be subject to tax or taxes in certain states where the Fund does business. Furthermore, in those states which have income tax laws, the tax treatment of the Fund and of Fund shareholders with respect to distributions by the Fund may differ from federal tax treatment.

 

The foregoing discussion is based on federal tax laws and regulations which are in effect on the date of this Statement of Additional Information. Such laws and regulations may be changed by legislative or administrative action. Shareholders are advised to consult their tax advisors concerning their specific situations and the application of state, local and foreign taxes.

 

51
 

 

Appendix A

 

Proxy Voting Policies and Procedures

 

I. General

 

Index Management Solutions, LLC (the “Sub-Adviser”) recognizes its obligation to vote proxies for investments held by clients over which it exercises discretionary voting authority in the clients’ best interest. Unless a client specifically reserves the right, in writing, to vote its own proxies, the Sub-Adviser will vote all proxies and act on all other corporate actions in a timely manner in accordance with these Proxy Voting Policies and Procedures (the “Proxy Voting Policies”). The Sub-Adviser will notify clients in writing if it declines the responsibility of voting proxies and will make provisions for its clients to receive proxy information.

 

II. Disclosure of Proxy Voting Policies

 

     A. General Requirements of Rule 206(4)-6

 

     Pursuant to the requirements of Rule 206(4)-6 under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 (the “Advisers Act”), the Sub-Adviser: (i) has adopted these Proxy Voting Policies that are reasonably designed to ensure that the Sub-Adviser votes client securities in the best interest of such clients; (ii) will disclose to clients how they may obtain information on how the Sub-Adviser voted their proxies; and (iii) will describe to clients its Proxy Voting Policies and, upon their request, provide copies to clients upon request.

 

     B. Disclosure of Proxy Voting Policies and Voting Information

 

     The Sub-Adviser’s Proxy Voting Procedures will be described in Form ADV Part 2A. The disclosure will state that a client may obtain a copy of the complete Proxy Voting Policies upon request. The Sub-Adviser’s Form ADV Part 2A will also indicate that clients may obtain information from the Sub-Adviser on how their securities were voted.

 

III. Proxy Voting Policies - Procedures and Guidelines

 

     A. Procedures

 

     The Sub-Adviser’s portfolio managers are ultimately responsible for ensuring that all proxies received by Sub-Adviser are voted in a timely manner and in a manner consistent with the Sub-Adviser’s determination of the client’s best interests.

 

     B. Guidelines

 

     The following guidelines summarize the Sub-Adviser’s positions on various issues and give a general indication as to how the Sub-Adviser will vote shares on each issue. Although the Sub-Adviser will usually vote proxies in accordance with these guidelines, the Sub-Adviser reserves the right to vote certain issues counter to the guidelines if, after a thorough review of the matter, the Sub-Adviser determines that a client’s best interests would be served by such a vote. The Sub-Adviser, in good faith, shall consider such additional factors as it determines relevant, depending on current issues and issues particular to any company. Moreover, the list of guidelines below may not include all potential voting issues. To the extent that the guidelines do not cover potential voting issues, the Sub-Adviser will vote on such issues in a manner that is consistent with the spirit of these guidelines and that promotes the best interests of the client.

 

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      1. Routine Matters . Routine proposals are those that do not change the structure, bylaws or operations of a corporation. Given the routine nature of these proposals, proxies will normally be voted with management. Traditionally, these issues include:

 

· Election of auditors recommended by management, unless seeking to replace auditors due to a dispute over policies.

 

· Date and place of annual meeting.

 

· Ratification of directors’ actions on routine matters since previous annual meeting.

 

· Reasonable Employee Stock Purchase Plans.

 

· Establishing reasonable 401 (k) Plans.

 

      2. Board of Directors . If a company’s performance has been poor over a period of time or other negative factors exist, such as unusual litigation, the Sub-Adviser may consider withholding its proxy in favor of any incumbent members of board of directors or voting against an incumbent member. The Sub-Adviser also considers it important that publicly held companies maintain a board of directors independent from management and qualified in their own respect. Board of directors should also be independent from influence and otherwise from any investment consulting or banking firm for the company. Subject to the foregoing, the Sub-Adviser will generally vote in favor of the incumbent Board’s share.

 

      3. Management Compensation . The Sub-Adviser generally votes in favor of proposals to align management compensation with the interests of stockholders. However, the Sub-Adviser considers excessive compensation to be against the best interest of stockholders. It may also consider such compensation as a factor to vote against any incumbent director.

 

      4. Change of Control Provisions . The Sub-Adviser disfavors change of control provisions in whatever format, and will generally vote against these provisions absent good reasons to the contrary. The Sub-Adviser generally votes against any management proposal that is not deemed to be in the shareholders’ best interests as entrenching management. Proposals in this category include issues regarding the issuer’s board or management entrenchment and anti-takeover measures such as the following:

 

· Proposals to stagger board members’ terms;

 

· Proposals to limit the ability of shareholders to call special meetings;

 

· Proposals to require super majority votes;

 

· Proposals requesting excessive increases in authorized common or preferred shares where management provides no explanation for the use or need of these additional shares;

 

· Proposals regarding “poison pill” provisions;

 

· Permitting “green mail;” and

 

· Providing cumulative voting rights.

 

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      5. Capital Structures . The Sub-Adviser votes on capital structure proposals according to the reasons for the proposals and in a manner to increase stockholder value. For example, proposals to increase the number of authorized shares of stock for acquisitions or to raise capital are favored over proposals to increase the number of authorized shares for management compensation. Proposals to buy back shares of common stock are generally favored. Proposals to issue shares in such a manner to prevent a change of control are generally disfavored.

 

      6. Auditor Approval . In determining whether to ratify the appointment of outside auditors, the Sub-Adviser considers the integrity, qualifications, and disciplinary history of the proposed accounting firm. Any firm with a significant amount of disciplinary history or legal claims against it is disfavored. The Sub-Adviser does not necessarily consider the size of the accounting firm to be one of the more important factors. A qualified, independent, and active audit committee’s recommendation is given deference in ratifying the appointed independent auditors.

 

      7. Corporate Governance . Any provisions furthering good corporate governance, integrity and informed decisions by the board of directors, management or otherwise are endorsed by the Sub-Adviser.

 

      8. Shareholder Action . If proxy materials relate to shareholder action, the Sub-Adviser shall review the matter with regard to the best interests of the client and to recover the most value possible or to maintain the highest value of the investment. Within the consideration of the recovery of an investment with respect to a lawsuit, the time value of money and the risks and nature of the lawsuit shall be considered.

 

      9. Director Management Retirement and Compensation . The Sub-Adviser reviews director/management mandatory retirement policy; option and stock grants to management and directors, pay and retirement packages to management and directors each issue in this category on a case-by-case basis. Voting decisions will be made based on clients’ long-term financial interest.

 

      10. Shareholder Proposals . The Sub-Adviser reviews shareholder proposals individually and determines each proposal on its own individual merits. The Sub-Adviser balances the needs of the company to maintain flexibility in its business operations against other considerations proposed by shareholders.

 

     C. Limitations.

 

     In certain circumstances, in accordance with a client’s investment advisory contract (or other written directive) or where the Sub-Adviser has determined that it is in the client’s best interest, the Sub-Adviser will not vote proxies received. The following are circumstances in which the Sub-Adviser may limit its role in voting proxies:

 

      1. Client Maintains Proxy Voting Authority . Where client specifies in writing that it will maintain the authority to vote proxies itself or that it has delegated the right to vote proxies to a third party, the Sub-Adviser will not vote the securities and will direct the relevant custodian to sent the proxy material directly to the client. If any proxy material is received by the Sub-Adviser, it will promptly be forwarded to the client or specified third party.

 

      2. Terminated Account . Once a client account has been terminated with the Sub-Adviser in accordance with its investment advisory agreement, the Sub-Adviser will not vote any proxies received after the termination. However, the client may specify in writing that proxies should be directed to the client or a specified third party for action.

 

A- 3
 

 

      3. Limited Value . If the Sub-Adviser determines that the value of a client’s economic interest or the value of the portfolio holding is indeterminable or insignificant, the Sub-Adviser may abstain from voting a client’s proxies. The Sub-Adviser also will not vote proxies received for securities which are no longer held by the client’s account. In addition, the Sub-Adviser may determine in its discretion not to vote securities where the economic value of the securities in the client account is less than $10,000 .

 

      4. Securities Lending Programs . When securities are out on loan, they are transferred into the borrower’s name and are voted by the borrower, in its discretion. However, where the Sub-Adviser determines that a proxy vote, or other shareholder action, is materially important to the client’s account, the Sub-Adviser will recall the security for purposes of voting.

 

      5. Unjustifiable Costs . In certain circumstances, after doing a cost-benefit analysis, the Sub-Adviser may abstain from voting where the cost of voting a client’s proxy would exceed any anticipated benefits to the client of the proxy proposal.

 

     D. Conflict of Interest.

 

     If a potential conflict of interest exists between a client and the interest of the Sub-Adviser in voting proxies, any of the following procedures may be followed to resolve the conflict:

 

      1. Vote in Accordance with the Guidelines . The Sub-Adviser may address its potential conflict of interest by voting in accordance with the pre-determined guidelines set forth by these Proxy Voting Policies.

 

      2. Obtain Consent of Clients . The Sub-Adviser may address its potential conflict by disclosing the conflict to the relevant clients and obtaining their consent to the proposed vote prior to voting the proxy. The disclosure to the client will include sufficient detail regarding the matter to be voted on and the nature of the Sub-Adviser’s conflict so that the client is able to make an informed decision regarding the vote. If a client does not respond to such a conflict disclosure request or denies the request, the Sub-Adviser will abstain from voting the securities held by that client’s account.

 

     E. Client Directions

 

     The Sub-Adviser follows and adheres to any policies, procedures and directions of clients regarding the voting of proxies. Such directions must be in writing, duly authorized by the client and delivered to the Sub-Adviser sufficiently in advance to vote the proxies as directed.

 

     F. Third Party

 

     If the Sub-Adviser determines to use a third party service provider to vote proxies, the Sub-Adviser must assure that the third party complies with Rule 206(4)-6, these Proxy Voting Policies and maintains required records.

 

IV. Record Keeping

 

     A. Maintenance

 

     The Sub-Adviser maintains:

 

A- 4
 

 

· these Proxy Voting Policies, and all amendments thereto;

 

· all proxy statements received regarding client securities; provided, however, that the Sub-Adviser may rely on the proxy statement filed on EDGAR as its records;

 

· a record of all votes cast on behalf of clients;

 

· records of all client requests for proxy voting information;

 

· any documents prepared by the Sub-Adviser that were material to making a decision how to vote or that memorialized the basis for the decision; and

 

· all records relating to requests made to clients regarding conflicts of interest in voting the proxy.

 

     B. Form N-PX

 

     The Sub-Adviser will coordinate with any exchange-traded fund (“ETF”) it advises or sub-advises to assist it in the provision of all information required to be filed by the ETF on Form N-PX.

 

A- 5
 

 

PART C: OTHER INFORMATION

 

Item 28 . Exhibits

 

(a)(1) Certificate of Trust dated July 17, 2009 of Exchange Traded Concepts Trust (formerly, FaithShares Trust) (the “Trust” or the “Registrant”) is incorporated herein by reference to Exhibit (a)(1) of Pre-Effective Amendment No. 1 to the Registrant’s Registration Statement on Form N-1A (File Nos. 333-156529 and 811-22263), as filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) via EDGAR Accession No. 0000950123-09-023575 on July 20, 2009.

 

(a)(2) Written Instrument amending the Certificate of Trust, dated July 14, 2011, is incorporated herein by reference to Exhibit (a)(2) of Post-Effective Amendment No. 2 to the Registrant’s Registration Statement on Form N-1A (File Nos. 333-156529 and 811-22263), as filed with the SEC via EDGAR Accession No. 0000950123-11-078120 on August 17, 2011.

 

(a)(3) Registrant’s Agreement and Declaration of Trust dated October 13, 2009 is incorporated herein by reference to Exhibit (a)(2) of Pre-Effective Amendment No. 3 to the Registrant’s Registration Statement on Form N-1A (File Nos. 333-156529 and 811-22263), as filed with the SEC via EDGAR Accession No. 0000950123-09-068184 on December 4, 2009.

 

(a)(4) Registrant’s Amended and Restated Agreement and Declaration of Trust, as of October 3, 2011, is incorporated herein by reference to Exhibit (a)(4) of Post-Effective Amendment No. 4 to the Registrant’s Registration Statement on Form N-1A (File Nos. 333-156529 and 811-22263), as filed with the SEC via EDGAR Accession No. 0000950123-11-100027 on November 22, 2011.

 

(b)(1) Registrant’s By-Laws dated October 20, 2009 are incorporated herein by reference to Exhibit (b) of Pre-Effective Amendment No. 1 to the Registrant’s Registration Statement on Form N-1A (File Nos. 333-156529 and 811-22263), as filed with the SEC via EDGAR Accession No. 0000950123-09-023575 on July 20, 2009.

 

(b)(2) Registrant’s Amended and Restated By-Laws dated October 3, 2011, are incorporated herein by reference to Exhibit (b)(2) of Post-Effective Amendment No. 4 to the Registrant’s Registration Statement on Form N-1A (File Nos. 333-156529 and 811-22263), as filed with the SEC via EDGAR Accession No. 0000950123-11-100027 on November 22, 2011.

 

(c) Not applicable.

 

(d)(1) Advisory Agreement, dated March 2, 2012, between the Registrant and Exchange Traded Concepts, LLC, is incorporated herein by reference to Exhibit (d)(l) of Post-Effective Amendment No. 11 to the Registrant’s Registration Statement on Form N-1A (File Nos. 333-156529 and 811-22263), as filed with the SEC via EDGAR Accession No. 0001144204-12-014210 on March 12, 2012.

 

(d)(2) Schedule A to the Advisory Agreement dated March 2, 2012, as last amended June 8, 2012, between the Registrant and Exchange Traded Concepts, LLC, is filed herewith.

 

1
 

 

(d)(3) Sub-Advisory Agreement by and between, Exchange Traded Concepts, LLC and Krane Funds Advisors LLC, relating to the KraneShares Funds, to be filed by amendment.

 

(d)(4) Sub-Advisory Agreement, dated March 7, 2012, between Exchange Traded Concepts, LLC and Yorkville ETF Advisors, LLC, relating to the Yorkville High Income MLP ETF, is incorporated herein by reference to Exhibit (d)(5) of Post-Effective Amendment No. 11 to the Registrant’s Registration Statement on Form N-1A (File Nos. 333-156529 and 811-22263), as filed with the SEC via EDGAR Accession No. 0001144204-12-014210 on March 12, 2012.

 

(d)(5) Schedule A to the Sub-Advisory Agreement dated March 7, 2012, as last amended, between Exchange Traded Concepts, LLC and Yorkville ETF Advisors, LLC to be filed by amendment.

 

(d)(6) Sub-Advisory Agreement, dated March 2, 2012, between Exchange Traded Concepts, LLC and Index Management Solutions, LLC, is incorporated herein by reference to Exhibit (d)(6) of Post-Effective Amendment No. 11 to the Registrant’s Registration Statement on Form N-1A (File Nos. 333-156529 and 811-22263), as filed with the SEC via EDGAR Accession No. 0001144204-12-014210 on March 12, 2012.

 

(d)(7) Schedule A to the Sub-Advisory Agreement, dated March 2, 2012, as last amended June 8, 2012, between Exchange Traded Concepts, LLC and Index Management Solutions, LLC is filed herewith.

 

(e)(1) Amended and Restated Distribution Agreement dated November 10, 2011 between the Registrant and SEI Investments Distribution Co., is incorporated herein by reference to Exhibit (e)(l) of Post-Effective Amendment No. 11 to the Registrant’s Registration Statement on Form N-1A (File Nos. 333-156529 and 811-22263), as filed with the SEC via EDGAR Accession No. 0001144204-12-014210 on March 12, 2012.

 

(e)(2) Form of Authorized Participant Agreement is incorporated herein by reference to Exhibit (e)(2) of Post-Effective Amendment No. 11 to the Registrant’s Registration Statement on Form N-1A (File Nos. 333-156529 and 811-22263), as filed with the SEC via EDGAR Accession No. 0001144204-12-014210 on March 12, 2012.

 

(f) Not applicable.

 

(g)(1) Custodian Agreement dated March 2, 2012, between the Registrant and JPMorgan Chase Bank, National Association, is incorporated herein by reference to Exhibit (g) of Post-Effective Amendment No. 11 to the Registrant’s Registration Statement on Form N-1A (File Nos. 333-156529 and 811-22263), as filed with the SEC via EDGAR Accession No. 0001144204-12-014210 on March 12, 2012.

 

(g)(2) Custodian Agreement dated September 28, 2009 between the Registrant and Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. is incorporated herein by reference to Exhibit (g) of Pre-Effective Amendment No. 2 to the Registrant’s Registration Statement on Form N-1A (File Nos. 333-156529 and 811-22263), as filed with the SEC via EDGAR Accession No. 0000950123-09-059434 on November 6, 2009.

 

2
 

 

(h)(1) Amended and Restated Administration Agreement dated November 10, 2011 between the Registrant and SEI Investments Global Fund Services, is incorporated herein by reference to Exhibit (h)(l) of Post-Effective Amendment No. 11 to the Registrant’s Registration Statement on Form N-1A (File Nos. 333-156529 and 811-22263), as filed with the SEC via EDGAR Accession No. 0001144204-12-014210 on March 12, 2012 .

 

(h)(2) Transfer Agency Services Agreement dated March 2, 2012 between the Registrant and JPMorgan Chase Bank, National Association, is incorporated herein by reference to Exhibit (h)(2) of Post-Effective Amendment No. 11 to the Registrant’s Registration Statement on Form N-1A (File Nos. 333-156529 and 811-22263), as filed with the SEC via EDGAR Accession No. 0001144204-12-014210 on March 12, 2012.

 

(h)(3) Transfer Agency Services Agreement dated September 28, 2009 between the Registrant and Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. is incorporated herein by reference to Exhibit (h) of Pre-Effective Amendment No. 2 to the Registrant’s Registration Statement on Form N-1A (File Nos. 333-156529 and 811-22263), as filed with the SEC via EDGAR Accession No. 0000950123-09-059434 on November 6, 2009.

 

(h)(4) Amendment to the Transfer Agency and Services Agreement dated May 17, 2012 between the Registrant and Brown Brothers Harriman & Co., is filed herewith.

 

(h)(5) Amended and Restated Services Agreement dated November 10, 2011 between Exchange Traded Concepts, LLC and SEI Investments Distribution Co., is incorporated herein by reference to Exhibit (h)(3) of Post-Effective Amendment No. 11 to the Registrant’s Registration Statement on Form N-1A (File Nos. 333-156529 and 811-22263), as filed with the SEC via EDGAR Accession No. 0001144204-12-014210 on March 12, 2012.

 

(i) Opinion and Consent of Counsel, Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP, relating to shares of the Sustainable North American Oil Sands ETF, is filed herewith.

 

(j) Not Applicable.

 

(k) Not Applicable.

 

(l) Seed Capital Subscription Agreement between the Registrant and Exchange Traded Concepts, LLC (formerly, FaithShares Advisors, LLC) is incorporated herein by reference to Exhibit (l) of Pre-Effective Amendment No. 3 to the Registrant’s Registration Statement on Form N-1A (File Nos. 333-156529 and 811-22263), as filed with the SEC via EDGAR Accession No. 0000950123-09-068184 on December 4, 2009.

 

(m)(1) Distribution and Service Plan, dated October 20, 2009, is incorporated herein by reference to Exhibit (m)(1) of Pre-Effective Amendment No. 2 to the Registrant’s Registration Statement on Form N-1A (File Nos. 333-156529 and 811-22263), as filed with the SEC via EDGAR Accession No. 0000950123-09-059434 on November 6, 2009.

 

(m)(2) Amended Exhibit A to the Distribution and Service Plan, dated October 20, 2009, to be filed by amendment.

 

(n) Not Applicable.

 

(o) Not Applicable.

 

3
 

 

(p)(1) Code of Ethics of the Registrant is incorporated herein by reference to Exhibit (p)(l) of Post-Effective Amendment No. 11 to the Registrant’s Registration Statement on Form N-1A (File Nos. 333-156529 and 811-22263), as filed with the SEC via EDGAR Accession No. 0001144204-12-014210 on March 12, 2012.

 

(p)(2) Code of Ethics of Exchange Traded Concepts, LLC is incorporated herein by reference to Exhibit (p)(2) of Post-Effective Amendment No. 11 to the Registrant’s Registration Statement on Form N-1A (File Nos. 333-156529 and 811-22263), as filed with the SEC via EDGAR Accession No. 0001144204-12-014210 on March 12, 2012.

 

(p)(3) Code of Ethics of Krane Funds Advisors LLC, to be filed by amendment.

 

(p)(4) Code of Ethics of Index Management Solutions, LLC, to be filed by amendment.

 

(p)(5) Code of Ethics of Yorkville ETF Advisors, LLC is incorporated herein by reference to Exhibit (p)(5) of Post-Effective Amendment No. 11 to the Registrant’s Registration Statement on Form N-1A (File Nos. 333-156529 and 811-22263), as filed with the SEC via EDGAR Accession No. 0001144204-12-014210 on March 12, 2012.

 

(p)(6) Code of Ethics of SEI Investments Distribution Co. is incorporated herein by reference to Exhibit (p)(3) of Pre-Effective Amendment No. 2 to the Registrant’s Registration Statement on Form N-1A (File Nos. 333-156529 and 811-22263), as filed with the SEC via EDGAR Accession No. 0000950123-09-059434 on November 6, 2009.

 

(q)(1) Powers of Attorney dated February, 2012 for Messrs. Gary L. French, Edward A. Kerbs, David M. Mahle, Mark A. Zurack, and Richard Hogan are incorporated herein by reference to Exhibit (q) of Post-Effective Amendment No. 11 to the Registrant’s Registration Statement on Form N-1A (File Nos. 333-156529 and 811-22263), as filed with the SEC via EDGAR Accession No. 0001144204-12-014210 on March 12, 2012.

 

(q)(2) Power of Attorney, dated February 2012, for Mr. Kurt A. Wolfgruber, is filed herewith.

 

Item 29 . Persons Controlled by or under Common Control with the Fund

 

Not Applicable.

 

Item 30 . Indemnification

 

The Trustees shall not be responsible or liable in any event for any neglect or wrongdoing of any officer, agent, employee, adviser or principal underwriter of the Trust, nor shall any Trustee be responsible for the act or omission of any other Trustee, and, subject to the provisions of the By-Laws, the Trust out of its assets may indemnify and hold harmless each and every Trustee and officer of the Trust from and against any and all claims, demands, costs, losses, expenses, and damages whatsoever arising out of or related to such Trustee’s or officer’s performance of his or her duties as a Trustee or officer of the Trust; provided that nothing herein contained shall indemnify, hold harmless or protect any Trustee or officer from or against any liability to the Trust or any Shareholder to which he or she would otherwise be subject by reason of willful misfeasance, bad faith, gross negligence or reckless disregard of the duties involved in the conduct of his or her office.

 

4
 

 

Every note, bond, contract, instrument, certificate or undertaking and every other act or thing whatsoever issued, executed or done by or on behalf of the Trust or the Trustees or any of them in connection with the Trust shall be conclusively deemed to have been issued, executed or done only in or with respect to their or his or her capacity as Trustees or Trustee, and such Trustees or Trustee shall not be personally liable thereon.

 

Insofar as indemnification for liability arising under the Securities Act of 1933 (the “Securities Act”) may be permitted to Trustees, officers and controlling persons of the Registrant pursuant to the foregoing provisions, or otherwise, the registrant has been advised that in the opinion of the SEC such indemnification is against public policy as expressed in the Act and is, therefore, unenforceable. In the event that a claim for indemnification against such liabilities (other than the payment by the Registrant of expenses incurred or paid by a director, officer or controlling person of the Registrant in the successful defense of any action, suit or proceeding) is asserted by such Trustee, officer, or controlling person in connection with the securities being registered, the Registrant will, unless in the opinion of its counsel the matter has been settled by controlling precedent, submit to a court of appropriate jurisdiction the question whether such indemnification by it is against public policy as expressed in the Act and will be governed by the final adjudication of such issue.

 

Item 31 . Business and other Connections of the Investment Adviser

 

Exchange Traded Concepts, LLC (the “Adviser”) serves as the investment adviser for each series of the Trust. The principal address of the Adviser is 2545 S. Kelly Avenue, Suite C, Edmond, Oklahoma 73013. Krane Funds Advisors LLC (“Krane”) and Index Management Solutions, LLC (“IMS”) (each a “Sub-Adviser” and together, the “Sub-Advisers”) serve as Sub-Advisers for the KraneShares Dow Jones Global Luxury Consumer ETF, KraneShares Dow Jones China Alternative Energy ETF, KraneShares CSI China Internet ETF, KraneShares CSI China Consumer Staples ETF, KraneShares CSI China Consumer Discretionary ETF, KraneShares CSI China Five Year Plan ETF, and KraneShares CSI China Urbanization ETF. Yorkville ETF Advisors, LLC (“Yorkville”) and IMS serve as the Sub-Advisers for the Yorkville High Income MLP ETF, Yorkville High Income Composite MLP ETF and Yorkville High Income Composite Infrastructure MLP ETF. IMS also serves as the Sub-Adviser for the Sustainable North American Oil Sands ETF. The principal address of Krane is 152 West 57th Street, 16th Floor, New York, New York 10019. The principal address of IMS is 2005 Market Street, One Commerce Square, Suite 2020, Philadelphia Pennsylvania 19103. The principal address of Yorkville is 950 Third Avenue, 23rd Floor, New York, New York 10022. The Adviser and the Sub-Advisers are investment advisers registered with the SEC under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940.

 

Any other business, profession, vocation or employment of a substantial nature in which each director or principal officer of the Adviser and Sub-Adviser is or has been, at any time during the last two fiscal years, engaged for his or her own account or in the capacity of director, officer, employee, partner or trustee are as follows:

 

Adviser

 

Name and Position with        
Investment Adviser   Name of Other Company   Connection with Other Company

J. Garrett Stevens
Chief Executive Officer

  T.S. Phillips Investments, Inc.   Vice President
  Phillips Capital Advisors, Inc.   Vice President
  Phillips Capital Advisors, Inc.   Vice President

Darren R. Schuringa
Treasurer and Chief Financial
Officer

  Yorkville Capital Management LLC   Managing Member and Portfolio Manager
  Yorkville ETF Advisors, LLC   Director and Portfolio Manager

James J. Baker, Jr

Managing Partner

  Yorkville ETF Advisors, LLC   Managing Partner
  Goldman Sachs & Co.   Vice President

 

5
 

 

Name and Position with        
Sub-Adviser   Name of Other Company   Connection with Other Company
Managing director   Goldman Sachs & co   Vice  President

 

Krane [To be completed by amendment]

 

Name and Position with Sub-        
Adviser   Name of Other Company   Connection with Other Company
         

 

IMS

 

Name and Position with Sub-        
Adviser   Name of Other Company   Connection with Other Company
Michael Gompers   VTL Associates, LLC   Chief Compliance Officer and Chief
Chief Executive Officer       Operating Officer

 

Yorkville

 

Name and Position with Sub-        
Adviser   Name of Other Company   Connection with Other Company

James J. Baker, Jr.
Managing Partner

  Exchange Traded Concepts, LLC   Managing Partner
  Goldman Sachs & Co.   Vice President

Darren R. Schuringa
Director and Portfolio Manager

  Exchange Traded Concepts, LLC   Treasurer and Chief Financial Officer
  Yorkville Capital Management, LLC   Managing Member and Portfolio Manager

Richard Hogan
Director

  Exchange Traded Concepts Trust   Treasurer and Secretary

 

Additional information as to any other business, profession, vocation or employment of a substantial nature engaged in by each such officer and director is included in the Trust’s Statement of Additional Information.

 

Item 32 . Principal Underwriters

 

(a) Furnish the name of each investment company (other than the Registrant) for which each principal underwriter currently distributing the securities of the Registrant also acts as a principal underwriter, distributor or investment adviser.

 

6
 

 

The Registrant’s distributor, SEI Investments Distribution Co. (the “Distributor”), acts as distributor for:

 

SEI Daily Income Trust July 15, 1982
SEI Liquid Asset Trust November 29, 1982
SEI Tax Exempt Trust   December 3, 1982
SEI Institutional Managed Trust January 22, 1987
SEI Institutional International Trust August 30, 1988
The Advisors' Inner Circle Fund November 14, 1991
The Advisors' Inner Circle Fund II January 28, 1993
Bishop Street Funds January 27, 1995
SEI Asset Allocation Trust April 1, 1996
SEI Institutional Investments Trust June 14, 1996
CNI Charter Funds April 1, 1999
iShares Inc. January 28, 2000
iShares Trust     April 25, 2000
Optique Funds, Inc. November 1, 2000
Causeway Capital Management Trust September 20, 2001
BlackRock Funds III (f/k/a Barclays Global Investors Funds) March 31, 2003
The Arbitrage Funds May 17, 2005
ProShares Trust            November 14, 2005
Community Reinvestment Act Qualified Investment Fund January 8, 2007
SEI Alpha Strategy Portfolios, LP June 29, 2007
TD Asset Management USA Funds July 25, 2007
SEI Structured Credit Fund, LP July 31, 2007
Wilshire Mutual Funds, Inc. July 12, 2008
Wilshire Variable Insurance Trust July 12, 2008
Global X Funds October 24, 2008
ProShares Trust II November 17, 2008
Exchange Traded Concepts Trust August 7, 2009
Schwab Strategic Trust October 12, 2009
RiverPark Funds September 8, 2010
Adviser Managed Trust February 16, 2011

 

The Distributor provides numerous financial services to investment managers, pension plan sponsors, and bank trust departments. These services include portfolio evaluation, performance measurement and consulting services (“Funds Evaluation”) and automated execution, clearing and settlement of securities transactions (“MarketLink”).

 

(b) Furnish the Information required by the following table with respect to each director, officer or partner of each principal underwriter named in the answer to Item 20 of Part B. Unless otherwise noted, the business address of each director or officer is Oaks, PA 19456.

 

    Position and Office   Positions and Offices
Name   with Underwriter   with Registrant
William M. Doran   Director  
Edward D. Loughlin   Director  
Wayne M. Withrow   Director  
Kevin P. Barr   President & Chief Executive Officer  
Maxine J. Chou   Chief Financial Officer, Chief Operations  
    Officer, & Treasurer    
Karen E. LaTourette   Chief Compliance Officer, Anti-Money    
    Laundering Officer & Assistant Secretary  
John C. Munch   General Counsel & Secretary  
Mark J. Held   Senior Vice President  
Lori L. White   Vice President & Assistant Secretary  
John P. Coary   Vice President & Assistant Secretary  
John J. Cronin   Vice President  
Robert M. Silvestri   Vice President  

 

7
 

 

Item 33. Location of Accounts and Records:

 

State the name and address of each person maintaining principal possession of each account, book or other document required to be maintained by section 31(a) of the 1940 Act Section 15 U.S.C. 80a-30(a) and the rules under that section.

 

All accounts, books, and other documents required to be maintained by Section 31(a) of the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, and the rules promulgated thereunder are maintained at the following offices:

 

(a) Registrant:
  c/o Exchange Traded Concepts Trust
  2545 S. Kelly Avenue, Suite C
  Edmond, Oklahoma 73013
   
(b) Adviser:
  Exchange Traded Concepts, LLC
  2545 S. Kelly Avenue, Suite C
  Edmond, Oklahoma 73013
   
(c) Sub-Advisers:
  Krane Funds Advisors LLC
  152 West 57th Street, 16th Floor
  New York, New York 10019
   
(d) Index Management Solutions, LLC
  2005 Market Street
  One Commerce Square, Suite 2020,
   Philadelphia Pennsylvania 19103
   
(e) Yorkville ETF Advisors, LLC
  950 Third Avenue, 23rd Floor,
  New York, New York 10022
   
(f) Principal Underwriter:
  SEI Investments Distribution Co.
  One Freedom Valley Drive
  Oaks, Pennsylvania 19456
   
(g) Custodian:
  JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A.
  4 New York Plaza
  New York, New York 10004
   
(h) Brown Brothers Harriman
  40 Water Street
  Boston, MA 02109
   

 

8
 

 

Item 34 . Management Services

 

Not Applicable.

 

Item 35 . Undertakings

 

Not Applicable.

 

9
 

 

SIGNATURES

 

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933 (the “Securities Act”) and the Investment Company Act of 1940, the Registrant certifies that it meets all of the requirements for effectiveness of this Registration Statement under Rule 485(b) under the Securities Act and has duly caused this Post-Effective Amendment No. 21 to Registration Statement No. 333-156529 to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereto duly authorized, in the City of Edmond, State of Oklahoma on this 8th day of June, 2012.

 

  Exchange Traded Concepts Trust
   
  /s/ J. Garrett Stevens
  J. Garrett Stevens
  Trustee and President

 

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act, this Post-Effective Amendment No. 21 has been signed below by the following persons in the capacity and on the date indicated.

 

Signature   Title   Date
         
*   Trustee   June 8, 2012
Gary L. French        
         
*   Trustee   June 8, 2012
Edward A. Kerbs        
         
*   Trustee   June 8, 2012
David M. Mahle        
         
*   Trustee   June 8, 2012
Kurt Wolfgruber        
         
*   Trustee   June 8, 2012
Mark A. Zurack        
         
/s/ J. Garrett Stevens   Trustee and President   June 8, 2012
J. Garrett Stevens        
         
*   Treasurer and Secretary   June 8, 2012
Richard Hogan        
         
*/s/ J. Garrett Stevens        
  J. Garrett Stevens        

 

* Attorney-in-Fact, pursuant to power of attorney.

 

10
 

 

EXHIBIT INDEX

 

Exhibit Number Exhibit:  
EX-99.D2 Schedule A to the Advisory Agreement between the Registrant and Exchange Traded Concepts, LLC
   
EX-99.D7 Schedule A to the Sub-Advisory Agreement between Exchange Traded Concepts, LLC and Index Management Solutions, LLC
   
EX-99.H4 Amendment to the Transfer Agency and Services Agreement between the Registrant and Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.
   
EX-99.I Opinion and Consent of Counsel, Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP
   
EX-99.Q2 Power of Attorney, dated February, 2012 for Mr. Kurt A. Wolfgruber

 

11

 

 

SCHEDULE A

to the

ADVISORY AGREEMENT

dated March 2, 2012,

as amended June 8, 2012

 

(additions are included in bold and underlined)

 

between

EXCHANGE TRADED CONCEPTS TRUST

and

EXCHANGE TRADED CONCEPTS, LLC

 

The Trust will pay to the Adviser as compensation for the Adviser’s services rendered, a fee, computed daily at an annual rate based on the average daily net assets of the respective Fund in accordance the following fee schedule:

 

Fund Rate
Yorkville High Income MLP ETF………… The greater of 82 bps or $25,000
Sustainable North American Oil Sands ETF The greater of 50 bps or $25,000

 

A- 1

 

 

Schedule A

to the

Sub-Advisory Agreement

by and between

Exchange Traded Concepts LLC

and

Index Management Solutions LLC

 

As of March 2, 2012,

as amended June 8, 2012

 

(additions are included in bold and underlined)

 

Fund Fee
Yorkville High Income MLP ETF The greater of: 5.5 bps or $10,000 annual minimum
Sustainable North American Oil Sands ETF The greater of: 5.5 bps or $10,000 annual minimum

 

 

 

 

AMENDMENT TO TRANSFER AGENCY SERVICES AGREEMENT

 

THIS AMENDMENT is dated as of May 17, 2012 (the “Amendment”), to the Transfer Agency Services Agreement between Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. (the “BBH”), a limited partnership organized under the State of New York and Exchange Traded Concepts Trust (formerly known as FaithShares Trust) (the “Trust”), an open-end investment company registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended.

 

WHEREAS, BBH and the Trust are parties to a Transfer Agency Services Agreement dated September 28, 2009, (together with any schedules, exhibits, annexes thereto, and as otherwise modified, supplemented, and/or amended prior to the date hereof, the “Agreement”); and

 

WHEREAS, pursuant to the Agreement, BBH has been appointed by the Trust to provide transfer agency services to the series of shares (each a “Fund”) listed on Schedule A thereto; and

 

WHEREAS, the parties desire to amend the Agreement as hereinafter set forth.

 

ACCORDINGLY, in consideration of the mutual agreements herein contained, the parties hereby agree as follows:

 

1. Amendments to the Agreement .

 

(A) Section 7 of the Agreement is hereby amended to include the provision below as 7 (j):

 

“(j) Without limiting the generality of any of the foregoing provisions , BBH shall have no liability for any damages arising out of (i) the failure of any Authorized Participant to perform its obligations under a Participant Agreement (“Participant Agreement” defined for this purpose as any Participant Agreement between the Distributor and an Authorized Participant acknowledged by the BBH); (ii) activities or statements of sales or wholesaler personnel who are employed by any distributor (or its affiliates); or (iii) the failure of any Authorized Participant to deposit with the Custodian sufficient collateral, or to provide additional collateral upon request by BBH, in connection with the monitoring services provided for herein on the Services Schedule; or (b) any errors in the computation of collateral requirements based upon or arising out of quotations or information received by BBH from the Fund’s accounting agent or any other source on which BBH reasonably relies.”

 

(B) The Services as contemplated in Section 2 of the Agreement and as described in the Services Schedule is hereby amended to include the following provisions:

 

“Services Related to the Monitoring of Cash Collateral.

 

(a) Monitor the collateralization levels as set forth in Authorized Participant Agreements in connection with cash collateral posted by Authorized Participants in connection with Creation Basket or activity.
(b) Mark to market daily the value of such cash collateral using a pricing source from the Fund’s accounting agent or any other source on which BBH reasonably relies.
(c) Monitor collateral levels daily and communicate calls for additional collateral to the Authorized Participants as necessary based upon daily collateral requirement calculations using ratios set forth in Participant Agreements.”

 

2. Representations.

 

Each party represents to the other party that all representations contained in the Agreement are true and accurate as of the date of this Amendment, and that such representations are deemed to be given or repeated by each party, as the case may be, on the date of this Amendment.

 

 
 

 

 

3. Miscellaneous .

 

(A) This Amendment may be executed and delivered in counterparts (through facsimile transmission or otherwise in writing), each such counterpart shall be deemed an original, and all such counterparts, together, shall constitute a single agreement.

 

(B) This Amendment, together with the Agreement, constitutes the entire agreement of the parties with respect to its subject matter and supersedes all oral communications and prior writings with respect thereto. Upon execution and delivery of this Amendment, the Agreement shall be modified and amended in accordance with the terms herein and shall continue in full force and effect.

 

(C) This Amendment shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of New York without reference to choice of law doctrine.

 

(D) The headings used in this Amendment are for convenience of reference only and are not to affect the construction of or to be taken into consideration in interpreting this Amendment. All capitalized terms used herein which are not defined herein shall have the meanings set forth in the Agreement.

 

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties have executed this Amendment as of the date first above written.

 

BROWN BROTHERS HARRIMAN & CO.   Exchange Traded Concepts Trust
     
     
By: /s/ James R. Kent                             By: _ /s/ J. Garrett Steven                              
Name: James R. Kent   Name: J. Garrett Stevens
Title: Managing Director   Title: CEO

 

 
 

 

Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP

1111 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW

Washington, DC 20004

Tel: 202.739.3000

Fax: 202.739.3001

www.morganlewis.com

 

June 8, 2012

 

Exchange Traded Concepts Trust

2545 South Kelly Avenue, Suite C

Edmond, Oklahoma 73013

 

Re: Opinion of Counsel Regarding Post-Effective Amendment No. 21 to the Registration Statement
Filed on Form N-1A Under the Securities Act of 1933 (File No. 333-156529)

 

Ladies and Gentlemen:

 

We have acted as counsel to Exchange Traded Concepts Trust, a Delaware statutory trust (the “Trust”), in connection with the above-referenced registration statement on Form N-1A (the “Registration Statement”) which relates to the Trust’s shares of beneficial interest, without par value (collectively, the “Shares”) of the Sustainable North American Oil Sands ETF (the “Fund”). This opinion is being delivered to you in connection with the Trust’s filing of Post-Effective Amendment No. 21 to the Registration Statement (the “Amendment”) to be filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission pursuant to Rule 485(b) under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “1933 Act”). With your permission, all assumptions and statements of reliance herein have been made without any independent investigation or verification on our part except to the extent otherwise expressly stated, and we express no opinion with respect to the subject matter or accuracy of such assumptions or items relied upon.

 

In connection with this opinion, we have reviewed, among other things, the following documents:

 

(a) a certificate of the State of Delaware as to the existence and good standing of the Trust;

 

(b) copies of the Trust’s Agreement and Declaration of Trust and Amended and Restated By-Laws, and all amendments thereto (the “Declaration of Trust” and “By-Laws” respectively);

 

(c) a certificate executed by J. Garrett Stevens, President of the Trust, certifying, and attaching copies of, the Trust’s Declaration of Trust and By-Laws, and certain resolutions adopted by the Board of Trustees of the Trust authorizing the issuance of the Shares of the Fund; and

 

(d) a printer’s proof of the Amendment.

 

 
 

 

In our capacity as counsel to the Trust, we have examined the originals or certified, conformed or reproduced copies of all records, agreements, instruments and documents as we have deemed relevant or necessary as the basis for the opinion hereinafter expressed. In all such examinations, we have assumed the legal capacity of all natural persons executing documents, the genuineness of all signatures, the authenticity of all original or certified copies, and the conformity to original or certified copies of all copies submitted to us as conformed or reproduced copies. As to various questions of fact relevant to such opinion, we have relied upon, and assume the accuracy of, certificates and oral or written statements of public officials and officers or representatives of the Trust. We have assumed that the Amendment, as filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, will be in substantially the form of the printer's proof referred to in paragraph (d) above.

 

Based upon, and subject to, the limitations set forth herein, we are of the opinion that the Shares, when issued and sold in accordance with the Declaration of Trust and By-Laws, and for the consideration described in the Registration Statement, will be legally issued, fully paid and non-assessable under the laws of the State of Delaware.

 

We hereby consent to the filing of this opinion as an exhibit to the Registration Statement. In giving this consent, we do not concede that we are in the category of persons whose consent is required under Section 7 of the 1933 Act.

 

Very truly yours,

 

/s/ Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP

 

 
 

 

 

LIMITED POWER OF ATTORNEY

 

KNOW ALL MEN BY THESE PRESENTS, that the undersigned hereby constitutes and appoints J. Garrett Stevens, or any of them, his or her true and lawful attorney-in-fact and agent, with full power of substitution and resubstitution, for him or her and in his or her name, place and stead, in any and all capacities to sign the Registration Statements of Exchange Traded Concepts Trust, a Delaware corporation, on Form N-1A under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, and any or all amendments thereto, and to file the same, with all exhibits thereto and other documents in connection therewith, with the Securities and Exchange Commission, granting unto said attorney-in-fact and agent full power and authority to do and perform each and every act and thing requisite and necessary to be done in and about the premises, as fully as all intents and purposes as he might or could do in person, hereby ratifying and confirming all said attorney-in-fact and agent may lawfully do or cause to be done by virtue hereof.

 

Dated:  February 28, 2012 /s/ Kurt Wolfgruber
  Trustee