October 31, 2020

1. ORGANIZATION

Axonic Strategic Income Fund (the “Fund”) is registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (“1940 Act”), as a non-diversified, open-end management investment company. The Fund was organized as a Delaware statutory trust on October 17, 2019 pursuant to a Declaration of Trust governed by the laws of the State of Delaware. Axonic Capital LLC (the “Adviser”) acts as the Fund’s investment adviser. The Adviser is a registered investment adviser and is responsible for making the investment decisions for the Fund’s portfolio. The Fund’s investment objective is to seek total return. The Fund’s portfolio will be deemed to be non-diversified under the 1940 Act, meaning it may invest a greater percentage of its assets in a single or limited number of issuers than a diversified fund. Under normal circumstances, the Fund will concentrate its investments (i.e., invest 25% or more of its total assets (measured at the time of purchase)) in Mortgage-Backed Securities (“MBS”) and other mortgage-related securities (such as CMOs), which the Fund treats as investments in a group of industries.

The Fund currently offers Class A and Class I shares. Class A shares commenced operations on July 17, 2020 and Class I commenced operations on December 31, 2019. Class A shares are offered subject to a maximum sales charge of 2.25%. Class I shares are offered at NAV and are not subject to sales charges. The Fund may offer additional classes of shares in the future.

2. SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES

The following is a summary of significant accounting policies followed by the Fund in preparation of its financial statements. These policies are in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“GAAP”). The Fund is considered an investment company for financial reporting purposes under GAAP. The Fund follows the investment company accounting and reporting guidance of the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) Accounting Standard Codification (“ASC”) Topic 946 “Financial Services – Investment Companies” including FASB Accounting Standard Update (“ASU”) 2013-08. The preparation of financial statements requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of income and expenses for the period. Actual results could differ from those estimates.

Securities Valuation – The Fund’s Board of Trustees (the “Board”) has approved pricing policies and procedures and fair valuation policies and procedures pursuant to which the Fund will value its investments. The Adviser has appointed an independent Administrator of the Fund, pursuant to the administration agreement, under which the Administrator independently calculates the daily Net Asset Value per share (“NAV”) of the Fund. In doing so, the Administrator, on a daily basis, in compliance with the policies and procedures described above, independently values the investment positions within the Fund’s portfolio. The Administrator at its discretion may notify the Fund or the Board of any valuation conflicts and/or non-compliance with the policies and procedures. The Administrator and the Adviser will include in quarterly written reports to the Board confirmation that the policies and procedures provide fair and accurate prices. Securities listed on an exchange are valued at the last reported sale price at the close of the regular trading session of the exchange on the business day the value is being determined. Investments in shares of funds, including money market funds, that are not traded on an exchange are valued at the end of day net asset value (“NAV”) per share of such fund.

Structured credit and other similar debt securities including, but not limited to, asset-backed securities, collateralized debt obligations, collateralized loan obligations, collateralized mortgage obligations, mortgage-backed securities, commercial mortgage-backed security, and other securitized investments backed by certain debt or other receivables (collectively, “Structured Credit Securities”), are valued on the basis of valuations provided by independent pricing services and /or dealers in those instruments recommended by the Adviser and approved by the Board. In determining fair value, pricing services and dealers will generally use information with respect to transactions in the securities being valued, quotations from other dealers, market transactions in comparable securities, analyses and evaluations of various relationships between securities, and yield to maturity information. The Adviser will, based on its reasonable judgment, select the pricing service or dealer quotation that most accurately reflects the fair market value of the Structured Credit Security while taking into account the information utilized by the pricing service or dealer to formulate the quotation in addition to any other relevant factors.

When price quotations for certain securities are not readily available, or if the available quotations are not believed to be reflective of market value by the Adviser, those securities will be valued at “fair value” as determined in good faith by the Adviser’s Valuation Committee using the fair valuation policies and procedures adopted by, and under the supervision of, the Board. There can be no assurance that the Fund could purchase or sell a portfolio security at the price used to calculate the Fund’s NAV.

The fair valuation policies and procedures may be used to value a substantial portion of the assets of the Fund. The Fund may use the fair value of a security to calculate its NAV when, for example, (1) a portfolio security is not traded in a public market or the principal market in which the security trades is closed, (2) trading in a portfolio security is suspended and has not resumed prior to the normal market close, (3) a portfolio security is not traded in significant volume for a substantial period, or (4) the Adviser determines that the quotation or price for a portfolio security provided by an independent pricing service and broker-dealer is inaccurate.

October 31, 2020

The “fair value” of securities may be difficult to determine and thus judgment plays a greater role in the valuation process. The fair valuation methodology may include or consider the following guidelines, as appropriate: (1) evaluation of all relevant factors, including but not limited to, pricing history, current market level and supply and demand of the respective security; (2) comparison to the values and current pricing of securities that have comparable characteristics; (3) knowledge of historical market information with respect to the security; and (4) other factors relevant to the security which would include, but not be limited to, duration, yield, fundamental analytical data, the Treasury yield curve and credit quality.

Fair Value Measurements – A three-tier hierarchy has been established to classify fair value measurements for disclosure purposes. Inputs refer broadly to the assumptions that market participants would use in pricing the asset or liability, including assumptions about risk. Inputs may be observable or unobservable. Observable inputs are inputs that reflect the assumptions market participants would use in pricing the asset or liability that are developed based on market data obtained from sources independent of the reporting entity. Unobservable inputs are inputs that reflect the reporting entity’s own assumptions about the assumptions market participants would use in pricing the asset or liability that are developed based on the best information available. In accordance with the authoritative guidance on fair value measurements and disclosure under GAAP, the Fund discloses the fair value of its investments in a hierarchy that prioritizes the inputs to valuation techniques used to measure the fair value.

Various inputs are used in determining the value of the Fund’s investments as of the reporting period end. These inputs are categorized in the following hierarchy under applicable financial accounting standards:

The availability of observable inputs can vary from security to security and is affected by a wide variety of factors, including, for example, the type of security, whether the security is new and not yet established in the marketplace, the liquidity of markets and other characteristics particular to the security. To the extent that valuation is based on models or inputs that are less observable or unobservable in the market, the determination of fair value requires more judgment. Accordingly, the degree of judgment exercised in determining fair value is greatest for instruments categorized in Level 3.

An investment level within the fair value hierarchy is based on the lowest level input, individually or in the aggregate, that is significant to fair value measurement. To the extent practicable, the Adviser generally endeavors to maximize the use of observable inputs and minimize the use of unobservable inputs by requiring that the most observable inputs are to be used when available.

October 31, 2020

The inputs or methodologies used for valuing securities are not necessarily an indication of the risk or liquidity associated with investing in those securities. The following is a summary of the inputs used in valuing the Fund’s investments as of October 31, 2020:

October 31, 2020

Offering Costs - Offering costs incurred by the Fund were treated as deferred charges until operations commenced and are being amortized over a 12-month period using the straight line method. As of October 31, 2020, $105,312 in offering costs have been amortized. Unamortized amounts are included in deferred offering costs in the Statement of Assets and Liabilities.

Indemnification - The Fund indemnifies its officers and trustees for certain liabilities that may arise from the performance of their duties to the Fund. Additionally, in the normal course of business, the Fund enters into contracts that contain a variety of representations and warranties which provide general indemnities. The Fund’s maximum exposure under these arrangements is unknown, as this would involve future claims that may be made against the Fund that have not yet occurred. However, the Fund expects the risk of loss due to these warranties and indemnities to be remote.

3. ADVISORY FEES AND OTHER TRANSACTIONS WITH SERVICE PROVIDERS

Advisory Fees - Pursuant to the investment advisory agreement by and between the Trust, on behalf of the Fund, and the Adviser (the “Investment Advisory Agreement”), and in consideration of the advisory services provided by the Adviser to the Fund, the Adviser is entitled to a management fee equal to 0.85% of the Fund’s average daily net assets. For the period ended October 31, 2020, the Fund incurred $2,037,161 in Advisory fees.

The Adviser has contractually agreed to waive its fees and/or reimburse certain expenses (inclusive of organizational and offering costs, but exclusive of any taxes, interest on borrowings, dividends on securities sold short, brokerage commissions, 12b-1 fees, acquired fund fees and expenses, expenses incurred in connection with any merger or reorganization and extraordinary expenses) to limit the Fund’s Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses after Fee Waiver/Expense Reimbursement to 1.10% of the Fund’s average daily net assets (the “Expense Limit”) through December 31, 2021. The Expense Limit excludes certain expenses and, consequently, the Fund’s Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses after Fee Waiver/Expense Reimbursement may be higher than the Expense Limit. The contractual waiver and expense reimbursement may be changed or eliminated at any time by the Board of Trustees, on behalf of the Fund, upon 60 days’ written notice to the Adviser. The contractual fee waiver and expense reimbursement may not be terminated by the Adviser without the consent of the Board of Trustees. The Adviser may recoup from the Fund any waived amount or reimbursed expenses pursuant to this agreement if such recoupment does not cause the Fund to exceed the current Expense Limit or the Expense Limit in place at the time of the waiver or reimbursement (whichever is lower) and the recoupment is made within three years after the end of the month in which the Adviser incurred the expense. During the period ended October 31, 2020, the Adviser reimbursed expenses of $225,792.

As of October 31, 2020, the following amounts were available for recoupment by the Adviser based upon their potential expiration dates:

Chief Compliance Officer ("CCO") Services - The CCO of the Fund is an affiliate of the Fund. For the period ended October 31, 2020, the total related amounts paid by the Fund for CCO fees are included in Chief Compliance Officer fees on the Fund’s Statement of Operations.

Fund Accounting and Administration Fees and Expenses - ALPS Fund Services, Inc. (“ALPS”) serves as the Fund’s administrator and accounting agent (the “Administrator”) and receives customary fees from the Fund for such services.

Transfer Agent - DST Systems Inc., an affiliate of ALPS, serves as transfer, dividend paying and shareholder servicing agent for the Fund (“Transfer Agent”).

Distributor - The Fund has entered into a distribution agreement with ALPS Distributors, Inc. (the “Distributor”) to provide distribution services to the Fund. There are no fees paid to the Distributor pursuant to the distribution agreement.

The Distributor acts as the Fund’s principal underwriter in a continuous public offering of the Fund’s shares. The Distributor is an affiliate of ALPS. During the period ended October 31, 2020, no fees were retained by the Distributor.

October 31, 2020

Trustees - Officers of the Trust and the Trustees who are interested persons of the Trust or the Adviser receive no salary from the Trust. The Independent Trustees also serve as independent trustees on the Board of Trustees of the Axonic Alternative Income Fund, a closed-end interval fund for which Axonic Capital LLC also serves as the investment adviser. For their service on the Board and the Board of Trustees of Axonic Alternative Income Fund, the Independent Trustees receive the following fees, which are split between the Fund and the Axonic Alternative Income Fund pro rata based on assets under management: an annual retainer of $4,000 and a fee of $2,000 for each Board meeting attended in person and $1,000 for each Board meeting attended by telephone. The Fund reimburses each Trustee and officer of the Trust for his or her travel and other expenses relating to attendance at Board or committee meetings.

4. INVESTMENT TRANSACTIONS

The cost of purchases and proceeds from the sale of securities, other than short-term securities, for the year ended October 31, 2020, amounted to $630,613,982 and $117,637,174, respectively.

5. TAX BASIS INFORMATION

Distributions are determined in accordance with federal income tax regulations, which differ from GAAP, and, therefore, may differ significantly in amount or character from net investment income and realized gains for financial reporting purposes. Financial reporting records are adjusted for permanent book/tax differences to reflect tax character but are not adjusted for temporary differences.

For the year ended October 31, 2020, the following reclassifications, which had no impact on results of operations or net assets, were recorded to reflect tax character. The main cause of the permanent differences was non-deductible expenses for tax purposes.

The tax character of distributions paid for the period ended October 31, 2020, was as follows:

As of October 31, 2020, the components of distributable earnings / (accumulated deficit) on a tax basis were as follows:

As of October 31, 2020, net unrealized appreciation/(depreciation) of investments based on the federal tax cost were as follows:

October 31, 2020

On June 10, 2020, the Fund entered into a $40,000,000 uncommitted, secured, revolving line of credit agreement (“Credit Agreement”) with U.S. Bank National Association for redemption purposes, subject to annual renewal and other limitations of the 1940 Act for borrowings. Borrowings under the Credit Agreement bear interest of the lender’s prime rate at the time of borrowing. Borrowings under the Credit Agreement are secured by a perfected, first priority security interest in the assets of the Fund. The Fund had no borrowings during the period ended October 31, 2020.

The beneficial ownership, either directly or indirectly, of more than 25% of the voting securities of a Fund creates a presumption of control of the Fund under Section 2(a)(9) of the 1940 Act. As of October 31, 2020, the following entities owned beneficially more than 25% of the Fund’s outstanding shares. The shares may be held under omnibus accounts (whereby the transactions of two or more shareholders are combined and carried in the name of the originating broker rather than designated separately). Any transaction by these investors could have a material impact on the share class.

To the Shareholders of Axonic Strategic Income Fund

and Board of Trustees of Axonic Funds