Securities Act Registration No. 333-178833
Investment Company Act Registration No. 811-22655
As filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on December 4, 2019
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D. C. 20549
REGISTRATION STATEMENT UNDER THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933 ý
¨ | Pre-Effective Amendment No. |
ý | Post-Effective Amendment No. 439 |
and/or
REGISTRATION STATEMENT UNDER THE INVESTMENT COMPANY ACT OF 1940 ý
ý | Amendment No. 442 |
(Check appropriate box or boxes.)
Northern Lights Fund Trust III
(Exact Name of Registrant as Specified in Charter)
225 Pictoria Drive, Suite 450, Cincinnati, OH 45246
(Address of Principal Executive Offices) (Zip Code)
Registrant’s Telephone Number, including Area Code: (402) 895-1600
The Corporation Trust Company
1209 Orange Street
Wilmington, DE 19801
(Name and Address of Agent for Service)
With copy to:
JoAnn M. Strasser, Esq. Thompson Hine LLP 41 South High Street, Suite 1700 Columbus, Ohio 43215 614-469-3265 (phone) 614-469-3361 (fax) |
Richard Malinowski Gemini Fund Services, LLC 80 Arkay Drive, Suite 110 Hauppauge, New York 11788 (631) 470-2600 |
Approximate date of proposed public offering: As soon as practicable after the effective date of the Registration Statement.
It is proposed that this filing will become effective:
ý Immediately upon filing pursuant to paragraph (b)
¨ On (date) pursuant to paragraph (b)
¨ 60 days after filing pursuant to paragraph (a)(1)
¨ On (date) pursuant to paragraph (a)(1)
¨ 75 days after filing pursuant to paragraph (a)(2)
¨ 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.
CP High Yield Trend ETF
HYTR |
PROSPECTUS
December 27, 2019
Adviser:
COUNTERPOINT MUTUAL FUNDS LLC
12760 High Bluff Drive, Suite 2800
San Diego, CA 92130
www.cpetfs.com | 1-844-509-2775 |
This Prospectus provides important information about the Fund that you should know before investing. Please read it carefully and keep it for future reference.
These securities have not been approved or disapproved by the Securities and Exchange Commission nor has the Securities and Exchange Commission passed upon the accuracy or adequacy of this Prospectus. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal offense.
Shares of the Fund are listed and traded on NYSE Arca, Inc. (the “Exchange”).
Beginning on January 1, 2021, as permitted by regulations adopted by the Securities and Exchange Commission, paper copies of the Fund’s shareholder reports will no longer be sent by mail unless you specifically request paper copies of the reports. Instead, the reports will be made available on the Fund’s website www.cpetfs.com, and you will be notified by mail each time a report is posted and provided with a website link to access the report.
If you already elected to receive shareholder reports electronically, you will not be affected by this change and you need not take any action. You may elect to receive shareholder reports and other communications from the Fund electronically by contacting your financial intermediary (such as a broker-dealer or bank) or, if you are a direct investor, by following the instructions included with paper Fund documents that have been mailed to you. You may also elect to receive all future reports in paper free of charge.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
FUND SUMMARY – CP HIGH YIELD TREND ETF
Investment Objective: The Fund seeks to provide investment results that track, before fees and expenses, the performance of the CP High Yield Trend Index (the “Index”).
Fees and Expenses of the Fund: This table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy and hold shares of the Fund. Investors purchasing or selling shares of the Fund in the secondary market may be subject to costs (including customary brokerage commissions) charged by their broker. These costs are not included in the expense example below.
Annual Fund Operating Expenses
(expenses that you pay each year
|
|
Management Fees | 0.50% |
Distribution and Service (12b-1) Fees | 0.00% |
Other Expenses(1) | 0.61% |
Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses(1) | 0.37% |
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses | 1.48% |
Fee Waiver and/or Expense Reimbursement (2) | (0.51%) |
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses After Fee Waiver and/or Expense Reimbursement | 0.97% |
(1) | Estimated for the current fiscal year. |
(2) | Counterpoint Mutual Funds, LLC (the “Adviser”) has contractually agreed to waive its fees and reimburse expenses of the Fund, until at least April 30, 2022 to ensure that total annual fund operating expenses after fee waiver and/or reimbursement (excluding (i) of any front-end or contingent deferred loads; (ii) brokerage fees and commissions; (iii) acquired fund fees and expenses; (iv) fees and expenses associated with investments in other collective investment vehicles or derivative instruments (including for example option and swap fees and expenses); (v) borrowing costs (such as interest and dividend expense on securities sold short); (vi) taxes; and (vii) extraordinary expenses, such as litigation expenses (which may include indemnification of Fund officers and Trustees, contractual indemnification of Fund service providers (other than the Adviser))) will not exceed 0.60% of the Fund’s net assets. This fee waiver and expense reimbursement are subject to possible recoupment from the Fund within the three years after the fees have been waived or reimbursed, if such recoupment can be achieved within the lesser of the foregoing expense limits in place at the time of recapture. This agreement may be terminated only by the Trust’s Board of Trustees on 60 days’ written notice to the Adviser. |
Example: This Example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the Fund with the cost of investing in other mutual funds.
The Example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the Fund for the time periods indicated and then redeem 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 upon these assumptions your costs would be:
1 Year | 3 Years |
$99 | $418 |
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.
Principal Investment Strategies: The Fund seeks to achieve its investment objective by investing at least 80% of its net assets in securities included in the Index. The rules-based index is comprised of a blend of allocations to two asset classes: U.S. high yield corporate bond exchange-traded funds (“ETFs”) and U.S. 3-7 year Treasury ETFs.
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The Adviser sponsors and creates the Index using an active trading strategy and Solactive, A.G., who has contracted with the Adviser, calculates and publishes the Index. The Index’s three components are weighted using quantitative models to determine allocations to the two asset classes when the Index is rebalanced, which can occur daily. The Index is composed, in 20% increments, of U.S. high yield corporate bonds (“junk bonds”) with the remainder in U.S. Treasury ETFs.
The first model determines a recommended allocation to U.S. high yield corporate bonds by evaluating the current market price against the dividend-adjusted moving average price data of the Index’s corporate bond component and the historical momentum returns of that component for the same periods. The model gives 75% weight to the moving average price signals and 25% weight to the historical momentum signals to determine the recommended allocation to high yield corporate bonds.
The second model adjusts the first model’s recommended allocation by rounding the allocation to the nearest 20% increment, but only allows the final allocation to U.S. high yield corporate bonds to move by a 20% increment day-over-day. The final allocation remains unchanged if the rounded allocation from the second model varies by more than 5% from the recommended allocation of the first model.
Principal Investment Risks: The Following describes the risks the Fund bears directly or indirectly through investments in ETFs (“Underlying Funds”). As with all funds, there is the risk that you could lose money through your investment in the Fund. Many factors affect the Fund’s net asset value and performance.
The following describes the risks the Fund bears directly or indirectly through investments in other funds. As with any fund, there is no guarantee that the Fund will achieve its goal.
Allocation Risk: The risk that if the Fund’s strategy for allocating assets among different assets classes does not work as intended, the Fund may not achieve its objective or may underperform other funds with the same or similar investment strategy.
Authorized Participant Risk: Only an Authorized Participant (“AP”) may engage in creation or redemption transactions directly with the Fund. The Fund has a limited number of institutions that may act as APs on an agency basis (i.e., on behalf of other market participants). To the extent that APs exit the business or are unable to proceed with creation or redemption orders with respect to the Fund and no other AP is able to step forward to create or redeem Creation Units, Fund shares may be more likely to trade at a premium or discount to net asset value and possibly face trading halts or delisting. AP concentration risk may be heightened for ETFs that invest in non-U.S. securities or other securities or instruments that have lower trading volumes.
Credit Risk: Credit risk is the risk that the issuer of a security and other instrument is not able to make principal and interest payments when due.
Equity Securities Risk: Fluctuations in the value of equity securities held by the Fund causes the net asset value (“NAV”) of the Fund to fluctuate.
o Common Stock Risks: Common stock of an issuer in the Fund’s portfolio may decline in price if the issuer fails to make anticipated dividend payments. Common stock is subject to greater dividend risk than preferred stocks or debt instruments of the same issuer.
o Preferred Stock Risks: Generally, preferred stockholders have no voting rights with respect to the issuing company unless certain events occur. In addition, preferred stock is subject to greater credit risk than
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debt instruments of an issuer, and could be subject to interest rate risk like fixed income securities, as described below.
ETF Structure Risks: The Fund is structured as an ETF and is subject to the special risks, including:
o Not Individually Redeemable: Shares of the Fund (“Shares”) are not individually redeemable and may be redeemed by the Fund at NAV only in large blocks known as “Creation Units.” You may incur brokerage costs purchasing enough Shares to constitute a Creation Unit.
o Trading Issues: An active trading market for the Shares may not be developed or maintained. Trading in Shares on the Exchange may be halted due to market conditions or for reasons that, in the view of the Exchange, make trading in Shares inadvisable, such as extraordinary market volatility. There can be no assurance that Shares will continue to meet the listing requirements of the Exchange. If the Shares are traded outside a collateralized settlement system, the number of financial institutions that can act as APs that can post collateral on an agency basis is limited, which may limit the market for the Shares.
o | Market Price Variance Risk: The market prices of Shares will fluctuate in response to changes in NAV and supply and demand for Shares and will include a “bid-ask spread” charged by the exchange specialists, market makers or other participants that trade the particular security. There may be times when the market price and the NAV vary significantly. This means that Shares may trade at a discount to NAV. |
Fluctuation of Net Asset Value Risk: The NAV of the Shares generally fluctuates with changes in the market value of the Fund’s holdings. The market prices of the Shares generally fluctuates in accordance with changes in NAV as well as the relative supply of and demand for the shares on the Exchange. The Adviser cannot predict whether the Shares will trade below, at or above their NAV.
Foreign Securities Risk: Since the Fund’s investments may include ETFs with foreign securities, the Fund is subject to risks beyond those associated with investing in domestic securities. Foreign companies are generally not subject to the same regulatory requirements of U.S. companies thereby resulting in less publicly available information about these companies. In addition, foreign accounting, auditing and financial reporting standards generally differ from those applicable to U.S. companies.
Growth Stock Risk: Growth stocks can react differently to issuer, political, market, and economic developments than the market as a whole and other types of stocks. The stocks of such companies can therefore be subject to more abrupt or erratic market movements than stocks of larger, more established companies or the stock market in general.
Income Risk: The Fund’s income may decline when yields fall. This decline can occur because the Fund or the Underlying Fund may subsequently invest in lower-yielding bonds as bonds in its portfolio mature, are near maturity or are called, bonds in the Underlying Fund’s index are substituted, or the Fund or the Underlying Fund otherwise needs to purchase additional bonds.
Index Provider Risk: The Fund seeks to achieve returns that generally correspond, before fees and expenses, to the performance of its index, as published by its Index Provider. There is no assurance that the Index Provider will compile the index accurately, or that the index will be determined, composed or calculated accurately. While the Index Provider gives descriptions of what the index is designed to achieve, the Index Provider does not provide any warranty or accept any liability in relation to the quality, accuracy or completeness of data in the index, and does not guarantee that its index will be in line with its methodology.
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Interest Rate Risk: An increase in interest rates may cause the value of securities held by the Fund or the Underlying Fund to decline, may lead to heightened volatility in the fixed-income markets and may adversely affect the liquidity of certain fixed-income investments. The historically low interest rate environment, together with recent modest rate increases, heightens the risks associated with rising interest rates. The Fund will take positions in ETFs that invest in US Treasuries and other futures and interest rate swaps. As a result, when interest rates decline, the Fund will underperform funds with long-only investments in the same investment grade bonds as the Fund. There is no guarantee that the Fund or Underlying Fund will have positive performance even in environments of sharply rising interest rates. There is no guarantee that the Fund or Underlying Fund will be able to successfully mitigate interest rate risk.
Junk Bonds Risk: Lower-quality bonds, known as “high yield” or “junk” bonds, present greater risk than bonds of higher quality, including an increased risk of default. An economic downturn or period of rising interest rates could adversely affect the market for these bonds and reduce the Fund’s ability to sell its bonds. The lack of a liquid market for these bonds could decrease the Share price.
Limited History of Operations Risk: The Fund is a new fund with a limited history of operations for investors to evaluate.
Securities Market Risk: The value of securities owned by the Fund may go up or down, sometimes rapidly or unpredictably, due to factors affecting particular companies or the securities markets generally. A general downturn in the securities market may cause multiple asset classes to decline in value simultaneously.
Tracking Error Risk: Tracking error is the divergence of the Fund’s performance from that of the index. Tracking error may occur because of imperfect correlation between the Fund’s holdings of portfolio securities and those in the index, pricing differences, the Fund’s holding of cash, difference in timing of the accrual of dividends, changes to the index or the need to meet various regulatory requirements. This risk may be heightened during times of increased market volatility or other unusual market conditions. Tracking error also may result because the Fund incurs fees and expenses while the index does not.
Underlying Funds Risk: ETFs in which the Fund invests are subject to investment advisory and other expenses, which will be indirectly paid by the Fund. As a result, the cost of investing in the Fund is higher than the cost of investing directly in the Underlying Funds and may be higher than other funds that invest directly in stocks and bonds.
US Treasury Obligations Risk: U.S. Treasury obligations are backed by the “full faith and credit” of the U.S. government and generally have negligible credit risk. Changes to the financial condition or credit rating of the U.S. government may cause the value of U.S. Treasury obligations to decline.
Performance: Because the Fund has only recently commenced investment operations, no performance information is presented for the Fund at this time. In the future, performance information will be presented in this section of this Prospectus. Also, shareholder reports containing financial and performance information will be mailed to shareholders semi-annually. Updated performance information will be available at no cost by visiting www.cpetfs.com or by calling 844-509-2775.
Investment Adviser: Counterpoint Mutual Funds, LLC.
Portfolio Managers: Each of Joseph Engelberg, Ph.D., Chief Research Officer of the Adviser, and Michael Krause, CFA, co-founder of the Adviser, has served the Fund as a Portfolio Manager since it commenced operations.
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Purchase and Sale of Fund Shares: The Fund issues and redeems Shares at NAV only in large blocks of 25,000 Shares (each block of Shares is called a “Creation Unit”). Creation Units are issued and redeemed for cash and/or in-kind for securities. Individual Shares may only be purchased and sold in secondary market transactions through brokers. Except when aggregated in Creation Units, the Shares are not redeemable securities of the Fund.
Shares of the Fund are listed for trading on the Exchange and trade at market prices rather than NAV. Shares of the Fund may trade at a price that is greater than, at, or less than NAV.
Tax Information: The Fund’s distributions generally will be taxable as ordinary income or long-term capital gains. A sale of Shares may result in capital gain or loss.
Payments to Broker-Dealers and Other Financial
Intermediaries: If you purchase 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 website for more information.
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ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ABOUT PRINCIPAL INVESTMENT STRATEGIES AND RELATED RISKS
INVESTMENT OBJECTIVE: The Fund seeks to provide investment results that track, before fees and expenses, the performance of the CP High Yield Trend Index (the “Index”).
The Fund’s investment objective may be changed by the Board of Trustees upon 60 days’ written notice to shareholders.
PRINCIPAL INVESTMENT STRATEGIES:
The Fund seeks to achieve its investment objective by investing at least 80% of its net assets, including borrowings for investment purposes but exclusive of collateral held from securities lending, in securities included in the Index. The rules-based index is comprised of a blend of allocations to U.S. high yield corporate bond exchange-traded funds (“ETFs”) and U.S. 3-7 year Treasury ETFs. The Index seeks to provide improved risk-adjusted exposure to the U.S. high yield corporate bond market while reducing risk in times of market turbulence. It uses a blend of trend-following and historic momentum methodologies with a wide range of parameters to reduce model risk. This process seeks to provide a robust method of allocating to U.S. high yield corporate ETFs while attempting to reduce unnecessary portfolio turnover.
The adviser sponsors and creates the Index using an active trading strategy and Solactive, A.G., who has contracted with the adviser, calculates and publishes the Index. The Index’s three components are weighted using quantitative models to determine allocations to the two asset classes when the Index is rebalanced, which can occur daily. The Index is composed, in 20% increments (e.g., 0%, 20%, 40%, 60%, 80% or 100%), of U.S. high yield corporate bonds ETFs with the remainder in U.S. Treasury ETFs.
The first model determines a recommended allocation to U.S. high yield corporate bonds by evaluating the current market price against the dividend-adjusted moving average price data for the entire range of 100-200 day periods of the Index’s corporate bond component and the historical momentum returns of that component for the same periods. The model gives 75% weight to the moving average price signals and 25% weight to the historical momentum signals to determine the recommended allocation to high yield corporate bonds. The model recommends increasing the allocation to U.S. high yield corporate bonds if the current price is above the moving average price and the historical momentum score is above zero.
The second model adjusts the first model’s recommended allocation by rounding the allocation to the nearest 20% increment, but only allows the final allocation to U.S. high yield corporate bonds to move by a 20% increment day-over-day. The final allocation remains unchanged if the rounded allocation from the second model varies by more than 5% from the recommended allocation of the first model.
PRINCIPAL INVESTMENT RISKS
The following describes the risks the Fund bears directly or indirectly through investments in Underlying Funds (“ETFs”). As with all funds, there is a risk that you could lose money through your investment in the Fund. Many factors affect the Fund’s net asset value and performance.
Allocation Risk: The risk that if the Fund’s strategy for allocating assets among different assets classes does not work as intended, the Fund may not achieve its objective or may underperform other funds with the same or similar investment strategy.
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Authorized Participant Risk: Only an Authorized Participant (“AP”) may engage in creation or redemption transactions directly with the Fund. The Fund has a limited number of institutions that may act as APs on an agency basis (i.e., on behalf of other market participants). To the extent that APs exit the business or are unable to proceed with creation or redemption orders with respect to the Fund and no other AP is able to step forward to create or redeem Creation Units, Fund shares may be more likely to trade at a premium or discount to net asset value and possibly face trading halts or delisting. AP concentration risk may be heightened for ETFs that invest in non-U.S. securities or other securities or instruments that have lower trading volumes.
Credit Risk: Credit risk is the risk that the issuer of a security and other instrument is not able to make principal and interest payments when due.
Equity Securities Risk: Fluctuations in the value of equity securities held by the Fund causes the NAV of the Fund to fluctuate.
o Common Stock Risks. Common stock of an issuer in the Fund’s portfolio may decline in price if the issuer fails to make anticipated dividend payments. Common stock is subject to greater dividend risk than preferred stocks or debt instruments of the same issuer. In addition, common stocks have experienced significantly more volatility in returns than other asset classes.
o Preferred Stock Risks. Generally, preferred stockholders have no voting rights with respect to the issuing company unless certain events occur. In addition, preferred stock is subject to greater credit risk than debt instruments of an issuer, and could be subject to interest rate risk like fixed income securities, as described below. An issuer’s board of directors is generally not under any obligation to pay a dividend (even if dividends have accrued), and may suspend payment of dividends on preferred stock at any time. There is also a risk that the issuer of any of the Fund’s holdings will default and fail to make scheduled dividend payments on the preferred stock held by the Fund.
ETF Structure Risk: The Fund is structured as an ETF and as a result is subject to the special risks, including:
o | Not Individually Redeemable. Shares are not individually redeemable and may be redeemed by the Fund at NAV only in large blocks known as “Creation Units.” You may incur brokerage costs purchasing enough Shares to constitute a Creation Unit. |
o | Trading Issues. Trading in Shares on the Exchange may be halted due to market conditions or for reasons that, in the view of the Exchange, make trading in Shares inadvisable, such as extraordinary market volatility. There can be no assurance that Shares will continue to meet the listing requirements of the Exchange. If the Shares are traded outside a collateralized settlement system, the number of financial institutions that can act as authorized participants that can post collateral on an agency basis is limited, which may limit the market for the Shares. |
o | Market Price Variance Risk. Individual Shares that are listed for trading on the Exchange can be bought and sold in the secondary market at market prices. The market prices of Shares will fluctuate in response to changes in NAV and supply and demand for Shares. There may be times when the market price and the NAV vary significantly and you may pay more than NAV when buying Shares on the secondary market, and you may receive less than NAV when you sell those Shares. The market price of Shares, like the price of any exchange-traded security, includes a “bid-ask spread” charged by the exchange specialists, market makers or other participants that trade the particular security. In times of severe market disruption, the bid-ask spread often increases significantly. This means that Shares may trade at a discount to NAV and the discount is likely to be greatest when the price of Shares is falling fastest, which may be the time that you most want to sell your Shares. The Fund’s investment results |
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are measured based upon the daily NAV of the Fund over a period of time. Investors purchasing and selling Shares in the secondary market may not experience investment results consistent with those experienced by those creating and redeeming directly with the Fund.
§ | In times of market stress, market makers may step away from their role market making in shares of ETFs and in executing trades, which can lead to differences between the market value of Shares and the Fund’s NAV. |
§ | To the extent APs exit the business or are unable to process creations or redemptions and no other AP can step in to do so, there may be a significantly reduced trading market in the Shares, which can lead to differences between the market value of Shares and a Fund’s NAV. |
§ | The market price for Shares may deviate from the Fund’s NAV, particularly during times of market stress, with the result that investors may pay significantly more or receive significantly less for Fund shares than the Fund’s NAV, which is reflected in the bid and ask price for Shares or in the closing price. |
§ | When all or a portion of an ETFs underlying securities trade in a market that is closed when the market for the Shares is open, there may be changes from the last quote of the closed market and the quote from a Fund’s domestic trading day, which could lead to differences between the market value of the Shares and the Fund’s NAV. |
§ | In stressed market conditions, the market for Shares may become less liquid in response to the deteriorating liquidity of a Fund’s portfolio. This adverse effect on the liquidity of Shares may, in turn, lead to differences between the market value of Shares and the Fund’s NAV. |
Fluctuation of Net Asset Value Risk: The NAV of the Shares will generally fluctuate with changes in the market value of a Fund’s holdings. The market prices of the Shares will generally fluctuate in accordance with changes in NAV as well as the relative supply of and demand for the Shares on the Exchange. The Adviser cannot predict whether the 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 the Shares will be closely related to, but not identical to, the same forces influencing the prices of a Fund’s holdings trading individually or in the aggregate at any point in time. Index based ETFs have generally traded at prices which closely correspond to NAV per Share.
Foreign Securities Risk: Since the Fund’s investments may include ETFs with foreign securities, the Fund is subject to risks beyond those associated with investing in domestic securities. Foreign companies are generally not subject to the same regulatory requirements of U.S. companies thereby resulting in less publicly available information about these companies. In addition, foreign accounting, auditing and financial reporting standards generally differ from those applicable to U.S. companies. The value of foreign securities is also affected by the value of the local currency relative to the U.S. dollar.
Growth Stock Risk: Growth stocks can react differently to issuer, political, market, and economic developments than the market as a whole and other types of stocks. The stocks of such companies can therefore be subject to more abrupt or erratic market movements than stocks of larger, more established companies or the stock market in general.
Income Risk: The Fund’s income may decline when yields fall. This decline can occur because the Fund or the Underlying Fund may subsequently invest in lower-yielding bonds as bonds in its portfolio mature, are near
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maturity or are called, bonds in the Underlying Fund’s index are substituted, or the Fund or the Underlying Fund otherwise needs to purchase additional bonds.
Index Provider Risk: The Fund seeks to achieve returns that generally correspond, before fees and expenses, to the performance of its index, as published by its Index Provider. There is no assurance that the Index Provider will compile the index accurately, or that the index will be determined, composed or calculated accurately. While the Index Provider gives descriptions of what the index is designed to achieve, the Index Provider does not provide any warranty or accept any liability in relation to the quality, accuracy or completeness of data in the index, and does not guarantee that its index will be in line with its methodology.
Interest Rate Risk: An increase in interest rates may cause the value of securities held by the Fund or the Underlying Fund to decline, may lead to heightened volatility in the fixed-income markets and may adversely affect the liquidity of certain fixed-income investments. The historically low interest rate environment, together with recent modest rate increases, heightens the risks associated with rising interest rates. The Fund will take positions in ETFs that invest in US Treasuries and other futures and interest rate swaps. As a result, when interest rates decline, the Fund will underperform funds with long-only investments in the same investment grade bonds as the Fund. There is no guarantee that the Fund or Underlying Fund will have positive performance even in environments of sharply rising interest rates. There is no guarantee that the Fund or Underlying Fund will be able to successfully mitigate interest rate risk.
Junk Bonds Risk: Lower-quality bonds, known as “high yield” or “junk” bonds, present greater risk than bonds of higher quality, including an increased risk of default. An economic downturn or period of rising interest rates could adversely affect the market for these bonds and reduce the Fund’s ability to sell its bonds. The lack of a liquid market for these bonds could decrease the Share price.
Limited History of Operations Risk: The Fund is a new fund with a limited history of operations for investors to evaluate.
Securities Market Risk: Stock market risk is the risk that the value of securities owned by the Fund may go up or down, sometimes rapidly or unpredictably, due to factors affecting particular companies or the securities markets generally. A general downturn in the securities market may cause multiple asset classes to decline in value simultaneously, although equity securities generally have greater price volatility than fixed income securities. Despite gains in some markets after steep declines during certain periods, negative conditions and price declines may return unexpectedly and dramatically. In addition, the Fund could experience a loss when selling securities in order to meet unusually large or frequent redemption requests in times of overall market turmoil or declining prices for the securities sold. Stock prices change daily, sometimes rapidly, in response to company activity and general economic and market conditions. Certain stocks may decline in value even during periods when the prices of equity securities in general are rising, or may not perform as well as the market in general. Stock prices may also experience greater volatility during periods of challenging market conditions such as the one that the market recently experienced.
Tracking Error Risk: Tracking error is the divergence of the Fund’s performance from that of the index. Tracking error may occur because of imperfect correlation between the Fund’s holdings of portfolio securities and those in the index, pricing differences, the Fund’s holding of cash, difference in timing of the accrual of dividends, changes to the index or the need to meet various regulatory requirements. This risk may be heightened during times of increased market volatility or other unusual market conditions. Tracking error also may result because the Fund incurs fees and expenses while the index does not.
Underlying Funds Risk: Underlying Funds in which the Fund invests are subject to investment advisory and other expenses, which will be indirectly paid by the Fund. As a result, the cost of investing in the Fund will be higher than the cost of investing directly in the Underlying Funds and may be higher than other funds that invest directly
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in stocks and bonds. Each of the Underlying Funds is subject to its own specific risks. The Fund is subject to the principal investments risks of Underlying Funds by virtue of the Fund’s investment in such funds.
US Treasury Obligations Risk: U.S. Treasury obligations are backed by the “full faith and credit” of the U.S. government and generally have negligible credit risk. Changes to the financial condition or credit rating of the U.S. government may cause the value of U.S. Treasury obligations to decline.
TEMPORARY INVESTMENTS: To respond to adverse market, economic, political or other conditions, the Fund may invest 100% of its total assets, without limitation, in high-quality short-term debt securities and money market instruments. These short-term debt securities and money market instruments include: shares of money market mutual funds, commercial paper, certificates of deposit, bankers’ acceptances, U.S. Government securities and repurchase agreements. While the Fund is in a defensive position, the opportunity to achieve its investment objective will be limited. Furthermore, to the extent that the Fund invests in money market mutual funds for cash positions, there will be some duplication of expenses because the Fund pays its pro-rata portion of such money market funds’ advisory fees and operational fees. The Fund may also invest a substantial portion of its assets in such instruments at any time to maintain liquidity or pending selection of investments in accordance with its policies.
PORTFOLIO HOLDINGS DISCLOSURE: A description of the Fund’s policies and procedures regarding the release of portfolio holdings information is available in the Fund’s Statement of Additional Information.
CYBERSECURITY: The computer systems, networks and devices used by the Fund and its service providers to carry out routine business operations employ a variety of protections designed to prevent damage or interruption from computer viruses, network failures, computer and telecommunication failures, infiltration by unauthorized persons and security breaches. Despite the various protections utilized by the Fund and its service providers, systems, networks, or devices potentially can be breached. The Fund and its shareholders could be negatively impacted as a result of a cybersecurity breach.
Cybersecurity breaches can include unauthorized access to systems, networks, or devices; infection from computer viruses or other malicious software code; and attacks that shut down, disable, slow, or otherwise disrupt operations, business processes, or website access or functionality. Cybersecurity breaches may cause disruptions and impact the Fund’s business operations, potentially resulting in financial losses; interference with the Fund’s ability to calculate its NAV; impediments to trading; the inability of the Fund, the adviser, and other service providers to transact business; violations of applicable privacy and other laws; regulatory fines, penalties, reputational damage, reimbursement or other compensation costs, or additional compliance costs; as well as the inadvertent release of confidential information.
Similar adverse consequences could result from cybersecurity breaches affecting issuers of securities in which the Fund invests; counterparties with which the Fund engages in transactions; governmental and other regulatory authorities; exchange and other financial market operators, banks, brokers, dealers, insurance companies, and other financial institutions (including financial intermediaries and service providers for the Fund’s shareholders); and other parties. In addition, substantial costs may be incurred by these entities in order to prevent any cybersecurity breaches in the future.
MANAGEMENT
Investment Adviser: Counterpoint Mutual Funds, LLC., located at 12760 High Bluff Drive, Suite 280, San Diego, Calfiornia 92130, serves as the Fund’s investment adviser. The Adviser is registered with the SEC as an investment adviser under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, as amended. The Adviser manages mutual funds and ETFs and had approximately $406.7 million in assets under management as of September 30, 2019.
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Subject to the supervision of the Board of Trustees, the Adviser is responsible for managing the Fund’s investments, executing transactions and providing related administrative services and facilities under an Investment Advisory Agreement between the Fund and the Adviser.
The management fee set forth in the Investment Advisory Agreement is 0.50% annually, to be paid on a monthly basis. In addition to investment advisory fees, the Fund pays other expenses including costs incurred in connection with the maintenance of securities law registration, printing and mailing prospectuses and statements of additional information to shareholders, certain financial accounting services, taxes or governmental fees, custodial, transfer and shareholder servicing agent costs, expenses of outside counsel and independent accountants, preparation of shareholder reports and expenses of trustee and shareholders meetings.
Counterpoint Mutual Funds, LLC (the “Adviser”) has contractually agreed to waive its fees and reimburse expenses of the Fund, until at least April 30, 2022 to ensure that total annual fund operating expenses after fee waiver and/or reimbursement (excluding (i) of any front-end or contingent deferred loads; (ii) brokerage fees and commissions; (iii) acquired fund fees and expenses; (iv) fees and expenses associated with investments in other collective investment vehicles or derivative instruments (including for example option and swap fees and expenses); (v) borrowing costs (such as interest and dividend expense on securities sold short); (vi) taxes; and (vii) extraordinary expenses, such as litigation expenses (which may include indemnification of Fund officers and Trustees, contractual indemnification of Fund service providers (other than the Adviser))) will not exceed 0.60% of the Fund’s net assets. This fee waiver and expense reimbursement are subject to possible recoupment from the Fund within the three years after the fees have been waived or reimbursed, if such recoupment can be achieved within the lesser of the foregoing expense limits in place at the time of recapture. Fee waiver and reimbursement arrangements can decrease the Fund’s expenses and boost its performance. A discussion regarding the basis for the Board of Trustees’ approval of the Investment Advisory Agreement will be available in the Fund’s annual report to shareholders dated June 30, 2020.
Portfolio Managers
The Fund is managed on a day to day basis by Michael Krause, CFA, and Joseph Engelberg, Ph.D. Mr. Krause and Dr. Engelberg have each served as Portfolio Manager of the Fund since its inception.
Mr. Krause co-founded the Adviser in 2014.
Dr. Engelberg has served as Chief Research Officer of the Adviser since 2015 and is also a Professor of Finance at University California San Diego, Rady School of Management.
The Statement of Additional Information (“SAI”) provides additional information about the Portfolio Manager’s compensation, other accounts managed and ownership of Fund shares.
HOW SHARES ARE PRICED
The NAV and offering price (NAV plus any applicable sales charges) is determined at the close of regular trading on the New York Stock Exchange (normally 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time) on each day the New York Stock Exchange (“NYSE”) is open. NAV is computed by determining the aggregate market value of all assets of the Fund, less its liabilities, divided by the total number of shares outstanding ((assets-liabilities)/number of shares = NAV). The NYSE is closed on weekends and New Year’s Day, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, Presidents’ Day, Good Friday, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day. The NAV takes into account, the expenses and fees of the Fund, including management, administration, and distribution fees, which are accrued daily. The determination of NAV for the Fund for a particular day is applicable to all applications for the purchase of shares, as well as all requests for the redemption of shares, received by the Fund (or an authorized broker or agent, or its authorized designee) before the close of trading on the NYSE on that day.
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Generally, the Fund’s securities are valued each day at the last quoted sales price on each security’s primary exchange. Securities traded or dealt in upon one or more securities exchanges (whether domestic or foreign) for which market quotations are readily available and not subject to restrictions against resale shall be valued at the last quoted sales price on the primary exchange or, in the absence of a sale on the primary exchange, at the mean between the current bid and ask prices on such exchange. Securities primarily traded in the National Association of Securities Dealers’ Automated Quotation System (“NASDAQ”) National Market System for which market quotations are readily available shall be valued using the NASDAQ Official Closing Price. If market quotations are not readily available, securities will be valued at their fair market value as determined using the “fair value” procedures approved by the Board. Fair value pricing involves subjective judgments and it is possible that the fair value determined for a security may be materially different than the value that could be realized upon the sale of that security. The fair value prices can differ from market prices when they become available or when a price becomes available. The Board has delegated execution of these procedures to a fair value committee composed of one or more representatives from each of the (i) Trust, (ii) administrator, and (iii) Adviser. The committee may also enlist third party consultants such as an audit firm or financial officer of a security issuer on an as-needed basis to assist in determining a security-specific fair value. The Board reviews and ratifies the execution of this process and the resultant fair value prices at least quarterly to assure the process produces reliable results.
The Fund may use independent pricing services to assist in calculating the value of the Fund’s securities. In addition, market prices for foreign securities are not determined at the same time of day as the NAV for the Fund. Because the Fund may invest in underlying ETFs that hold portfolio securities primarily listed on foreign exchanges, and these exchanges may trade on weekends or other days when the underlying ETFs do not price their shares, the value of some of the Fund’s portfolio securities may change on days when you may not be able to buy or sell Fund shares. In computing the NAV, the Fund values foreign securities held by the Fund at the latest closing price on the exchange in which they are traded immediately prior to closing of the NYSE. Prices of foreign securities quoted in foreign currencies are translated into U.S. dollars at current rates. If events materially affecting the value of a security in the Fund’s portfolio, particularly foreign securities, occur after the close of trading on a foreign market but before the Fund prices its shares, the security will be valued at fair value. For example, if trading in a portfolio security is halted and does not resume before the Fund calculates its NAV, the Adviser may need to price the security using the Fund’s fair value pricing guidelines. Without a fair value price, short-term traders could take advantage of the arbitrage opportunity and dilute the NAV of long-term investors. Fair valuation of the Fund’s portfolio securities can serve to reduce arbitrage opportunities available to short-term traders, but there is no assurance that fair value pricing policies will prevent dilution of the Fund’s NAV by short term traders. The determination of fair value involves subjective judgments. As a result, using fair value to price a security may result in a price materially different from the prices used by other funds to determine net asset value, or from the price that may be realized upon the actual sale of the security.
With respect to any portion of the Fund’s assets that are invested in one or more open-end management investment companies registered under the 1940 Act, the Fund’s NAV is calculated based upon the NAVs of those open-end management investment companies, and the prospectuses for these companies explain the circumstances under which those companies will use fair value pricing and the effects of using fair value pricing.
Premium/Discount Information
Most investors will buy and Shares in secondary market transactions through brokers at market prices and the Shares will trade at market prices. The market price of Shares may be greater than, equal to, or less than NAV. Market forces of supply and demand, economic conditions and other factors may affect the trading prices of Shares.
Information regarding how often the Shares traded at a price above (at a premium to) or below (at a discount to) the NAV of the Fund during the past four calendar quarters, when available, can be found at www.cpetfs.com.
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How to Buy and Sell Shares
Shares will be listed for trading on NYSE Arca, Inc. under the symbol HYTR. Share prices are reported in dollars and cents per Share. Shares can be bought and sold on the secondary market throughout the trading day like other publicly traded shares at their market price, and Shares typically trade in blocks of less than a Creation Unit. There is no minimum investment required. Shares may only be purchased and sold on the secondary market when the Exchange is open for trading. The Exchange is open for trading Monday through Friday and is closed on weekends and the following holidays, as observed: New Year’s Day, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, Presidents’ Day, Good Friday, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day.
When buying or selling Shares through a broker, you will incur customary brokerage commissions and charges, and you 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.
Only APs may acquire Shares directly from the Fund, and APs may tender their Shares for redemption directly to the Fund, at NAV per Share only in large blocks, or Creation Units, of 25,000 Shares. Purchases and redemptions directly with the Fund must follow the Fund’s procedures, which are described in the SAI.
The Fund may liquidate and terminate at any time without shareholder approval.
Share Trading Prices
The indicative optimized portfolio value of the Shares, an amount representing on a per share basis the sum of the current market price of the securities accepted by the Fund in exchange for Shares and an estimated cash component will be disseminated every 15 seconds throughout the trading day through the facilities of the Consolidated Tape Association. This approximate value should not be viewed as a “real-time” update of the NAV per Share because the approximate value may not be calculated in the same manner as the NAV, which is computed once a day, generally at the end of the business day. The Fund is not involved in, or responsible for, the calculation or dissemination of the approximate value of the Shares, and the Fund does not make any warranty as to the accuracy of these values.
Book Entry
Shares are held in book entry form, which means that no stock certificates are issued. The Depository Trust Company (“DTC”) or its nominee is the record owner of all outstanding Shares and is recognized as the owner of all Shares for all purposes.
Investors owning Shares are beneficial owners as shown on the records of DTC or its participants. DTC serves as the securities depository for all Shares. Participants in DTC include securities brokers and dealers, banks, trust companies, clearing corporations and other institutions that directly or indirectly maintain a custodial relationship with DTC. As a beneficial owner of Shares, you are not entitled to receive physical delivery of stock certificates or to have Shares registered in your name, and you are not considered a registered owner of Shares. Therefore, to exercise any right as an owner of Shares, you must rely upon the procedures of DTC and its participants. These procedures are the same as those that apply to any other securities that you hold in book entry or “street name” form.
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FREQUENT PURCHASES AND REDEMPTIONS OF FUND SHARES
Shares can only be purchased and redeemed directly from the Fund in Creation Units by APs, and the vast majority of trading in Shares occurs on the secondary market. Because the secondary market trades do not directly involve the Fund, it is unlikely those trades would cause the harmful effects of market timing, including dilution, disruption of portfolio management, increases in the Fund’s trading costs and the realization of capital gains. With regard to the purchase or redemption of Creation Units directly with the Fund, to the extent effected in-kind (i.e., for securities), those trades do not cause the harmful effects that may result from frequent cash trades. To the extent trades are effected in whole or in part in cash, those trades could result in dilution to the Fund and increased transaction costs, which could negatively impact the Fund’s ability to achieve its investment objective. However, direct trading by APs is critical to ensuring that Shares trade at or close to NAV. The Fund also employ fair valuation pricing to minimize potential dilution from market timing. In addition, the Fund imposes transaction fees on purchases and redemptions of Shares to cover the custodial and other costs incurred by the Fund in effecting trades. These fees increase if an investor substitutes cash in part or in whole for securities, reflecting the fact that the Fund’s trading costs increase in those circumstances. Given this structure, the Trust has determined that it is not necessary to adopt policies and procedures to detect and deter market timing of the Shares.
DISTRIBUTION AND SERVICE PLAN
The Fund has adopted a distribution and service plan (“Plan”) pursuant to Rule 12b-1 under the 1940 Act. Under the Plan, the Fund is authorized to pay distribution fees to the distributor and other firms that provide distribution and shareholder services (“Service Providers”). If a Service Provider provides these services, the Fund may pay fees at an annual rate not to exceed 0.25% of average daily net assets, pursuant to Rule 12b-1 under the 1940 Act.
No distribution or service fees are currently paid by the Fund, and there are no current plans to impose these fees. In the event Rule 12b-1 fees were charged, over time they would increase the cost of an investment in the Fund.
DIVIDENDS, OTHER DISTRIBUTIONS AND TAXES
Unlike interests in conventional mutual funds, which typically are bought and sold from and to the fund only at closing NAVs, Shares are traded throughout the day in the secondary market on a national securities exchange on an intra-day basis and are created and redeemed in-kind and/or for cash in Creation Units at each day’s next calculated NAV. In-kind arrangements are designed to protect ongoing shareholders from the adverse effects on the Fund’s portfolio that could arise from frequent cash redemption transactions. In a conventional mutual fund, redemptions can have an adverse tax impact on taxable shareholders if the mutual fund needs to sell portfolio securities to obtain cash to meet net fund redemptions. These sales may generate taxable gains for the ongoing shareholders of the mutual fund, whereas the Shares’ in-kind redemption mechanism generally will not lead to a tax event for the Fund or its ongoing shareholders.
Ordinarily, dividends from net investment income, if any, are declared and paid monthly by the Fund. The Fund distributes its net realized capital gains, if any, to shareholders annually.
Distributions in cash may be reinvested automatically in additional whole Shares only if the broker through whom you purchased Shares makes such option available.
Taxes
As with any investment, you should consider how your investment in Shares will be taxed. The tax information in this Prospectus is provided as general information. You should consult your own tax professional about the tax
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consequences of an investment in Shares.
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; |
· | you sell your Shares listed on the Exchange; and |
· | you purchase or redeem Creation Units. |
Taxes on Distributions
As stated above, dividends from net investment income, if any, ordinarily are declared and paid monthly by the Fund. The Fund may also pay a special distribution at the end of a calendar year to comply with federal tax requirements. Distributions from the Fund’s net investment income, including net short-term capital gains, if any, are taxable to you as ordinary income, except that the Fund’s dividends attributable to its “qualified dividend income” (i.e., dividends received on stock of most domestic and certain foreign corporations with respect to which the Fund satisfies certain holding period and other restrictions), if any, generally are subject to federal income tax for non-corporate shareholders who satisfy those restrictions with respect to the Shares at the rate for net capital gain -- a maximum of 15% for taxable years beginning before 2013. A part of the Fund’s dividends also may be eligible for the dividends-received deduction allowed to corporations -- the eligible portion may not exceed the aggregate dividends the Fund receives from domestic corporations subject to federal income tax (excluding REITs) and excludes dividends from foreign corporations -- subject to similar restrictions. However, dividends a corporate shareholder deducts pursuant to that deduction are subject indirectly to the federal alternative minimum tax.
In general, your distributions are subject to federal income tax when they are paid, whether you take them in cash or reinvest them in the Fund (if that option is available). Distributions reinvested in additional Shares through the means of a dividend reinvestment service, if available, will be taxable to shareholders acquiring the additional Shares to the same extent as if such distributions had been received in cash. Distributions of net long-term capital gains, if any, in excess of net short-term capital losses are taxable as long-term capital gains, regardless of how long you have held the Shares.
Distributions in excess of the Fund’s current and accumulated earnings and profits are treated as a tax-free return of capital to the extent of your basis in the Shares and as capital gain thereafter. A distribution will reduce the Fund’s NAV per Share and may be taxable to you as ordinary income or capital gain (as described above) even though, from an investment standpoint, the distribution may constitute a return of capital.
By law, the Fund is required to withhold 28% of your distributions and redemption proceeds if you have not provided the Fund with a correct social security number or other taxpayer identification number and in certain other situations.
Taxes on Exchange-Listed Share Sales
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. The ability to deduct capital losses from sales of Shares may be limited.
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Taxes on Purchase and Redemption of Creation Units
An AP who exchanges securities for Creation Units generally will recognize a gain or a loss equal to the difference between the market value of the Creation Units at the time of the exchange and the sum of the exchanger’s aggregate basis in the securities surrendered plus any Cash Component it pays. An AP who exchanges Creation Units for securities 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 the securities received plus any cash equal to the difference between the NAV of the Shares being redeemed and the value of the securities. The Internal Revenue Service (“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 for other reasons. Persons exchanging securities should consult their own tax advisor with respect to whether wash sale rules apply and when a loss might be deductible.
Any capital gain or loss realized upon redemption of Creation Units 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.
If you purchase or redeem Creation Units, you will be sent a confirmation statement showing how many Shares you purchased or sold and at what price. See “Tax Status” in the SAI for a description of the newly effective requirement regarding basis determination methods applicable to Share redemptions and the Fund’s obligation to report basis information to the Service.
The foregoing discussion summarizes some of the possible 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 Shares under all applicable tax laws. See “Tax Status” in the SAI for more information.
Fund Service Providers
Gemini Fund Services, LLC is the Fund’s administrator and fund accountant. It has its principal office at 17645 Wright Street, Suite 200, Omaha, NE 68130, and is primarily in the business of providing administrative, fund accounting and transfer agent services to retail and institutional mutual funds. It is an affiliate of the Distributor (as defined below).
Brown Brothers Harriman & Co., 50 Post Office Square, Boston, MA 02110 is the Fund’s custodian and transfer agent.
Northern Lights Distributors, LLC (“NLD” or the “Distributor”), 17645 Wright Street, Suite 200, Omaha, NE 68130, is the distributor for the shares of the Fund. The Distributor is a registered broker-dealer and member of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc. (“FINRA”).
Thompson Hine LLP, 41 South High Street, 17th Floor, Columbus, OH 43215, serves as legal counsel to the Trust.
RSM US LLP, 555 Seventeenth Street, Suite 1200, Denver, CO 80202 serves as the Fund’s independent registered public accounting firm. The independent registered public accounting firm is responsible for auditing the annual financial statements of the Fund.
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Other Information
Continuous Offering
The method by which Creation Units are created 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, a “distribution,” as such term is used in the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”), may occur at any point. 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 requirement and liability provisions of the Securities Act.
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 constituent Shares and sells the 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 a characterization 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 in respect of 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 engaging in ordinary secondary market transactions) and thus dealing with the Shares that are part of an overallotment 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. For delivery of prospectuses to exchange members, the prospectus delivery mechanism of Rule 153 under the Securities Act is only available with respect to transactions on a national exchange.
Dealers effecting transactions in the Shares, whether or not participating in this distribution, are generally required to deliver a Prospectus. This is in addition to any obligation of dealers to deliver a Prospectus when acting as underwriters.
Householding: To reduce expenses, the Fund mails only one copy of the prospectus and each annual and semi-annual report to those addresses shared by two or more accounts. If you wish to receive individual copies of these documents, please call the Fund at 844-509-2775 on days the Fund is open for business or contact your financial institution. The Fund will begin sending you individual copies thirty days after receiving your request.
FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS
Because the Fund has only recently commenced investment operations, no financial highlights are available for the Fund at this time. In the future, financial highlights will be presented in this section of the Prospectus.
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Rev. February 2014
PRIVACY NOTICE |
||||
FACTS | WHAT DOES NORTHERN LIGHTS FUND TRUST III DO WITH YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION? | |||
Why? | Financial companies choose how they share your personal information. Federal law gives consumers the right to limit some but not all sharing. Federal law also requires us to tell you how we collect, share, and protect your personal information. Please read this notice carefully to understand what we do. | |||
What? |
The types of personal information we collect and share depend on the product or service you have with us.
This information can include: Social Security number Purchase History Assets Account Balances Retirement Assets Account Transactions Transaction History Wire Transfer Instructions Checking Account Information When you are no longer our customer, we continue to share your information as described in this notice. |
|||
How? | All financial companies need to share customers’ personal information to run their everyday business. In the section below, we list the reasons financial companies can share their customers’ personal information; the reasons Northern Lights Fund Trust III chooses to share; and whether you can limit this sharing. | |||
Reasons we can share your personal information | Does Northern Lights Fund Trust III share? |
Can you limit this sharing? |
||
For our everyday business purposes – such as to process your transactions, maintain your account(s), respond to court orders and legal investigations, or report to credit bureaus |
Yes | No | ||
For our marketing purposes – to offer our products and services to you |
No | We don’t share | ||
For joint marketing with other financial companies | No | We don’t share | ||
For our affiliates’ everyday business purposes – information about your transactions and experiences |
No | We don’t share | ||
For our affiliates’ everyday business purposes – information about your creditworthiness |
No | We don’t share | ||
For nonaffiliates to market to you | No | We don’t share | ||
Questions? | Call (402) 493-4603 | |||
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Who we are | |
Who is providing
this notice? |
Northern Lights Fund Trust III
|
What we do | |
How does Northern Lights Fund Trust III protect my personal information? |
To protect your personal information from unauthorized access and use, we use security measures that comply with federal law. These measures include computer safeguards and secured files and buildings.
Our service providers are held accountable for adhering to strict policies and procedures to prevent any misuse of your nonpublic personal information. |
How does Northern Lights Fund Trust III collect my personal information? |
We collect your personal information, for example, when you
We also collect your personal information from other companies. |
Why can’t I limit all sharing? |
Federal law gives you the right to limit only
State laws and individual companies may give you additional rights to limit sharing. |
Definitions | |
Affiliates |
Companies related by common ownership or control. They can be financial and nonfinancial companies.
|
Nonaffiliates |
Companies not related by common ownership or control. They can be financial and nonfinancial companies.
|
Joint marketing |
A formal agreement between nonaffiliated financial companies that together market financial products or services to you.
|
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CP High Yield Trend ETF
Adviser |
Counterpoint Mutual Funds, LLC 12760 High Bluff Drive, Suite #280 San Diego, CA 92130 |
Distributor |
Northern Lights Distributors, LLC 17645 Wright Street, Suite 200 Omaha, NE 68130 |
Custodian & Transfer Agent |
Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. 50 Post Office Square Boston, MA 02110 |
Legal
Counsel |
Thompson Hine LLP 41 South High Street, Suite 1700 Columbus, OH 43215 |
Administrator |
Gemini Fund Services, LLC 17645 Wright Street, Suite 200 Omaha, NE 68130 |
Independent
Registered
|
RSM US LLP 555 Seventeenth Street, Suite 1200 Denver, CO 80202 |
Additional information about the Fund is included in the Fund’s SAI dated December 27, 2019. The SAI is incorporated into this Prospectus by reference (i.e., legally made a part of this Prospectus). The SAI provides more details about the Fund’s policies and management. Additional information about the Fund’s investments will also be available in the Fund’s Annual and Semi-Annual Reports to Shareholders. In the Fund’s Annual Report, you will find a discussion of the market conditions and investment strategies that significantly affected the Fund’s performance during the last fiscal year.
To obtain a free copy of the SAI and the Annual
and Semi-Annual Reports to Shareholders, or other information about the Fund, or to make shareholder inquiries about the Fund,
please call
844-509-2775. Information relating to the Fund can be found on the website at www.cpetfs.com. You may also write to:
CP High Yield Trend ETF
c/o Gemini Fund Services, LLC
17645 Wright Street, Suite 200
Omaha, Nebraska 68130
Reports and other information about the Fund are available on the EDGAR Database on the SEC’s Internet site at http://www.sec.gov. Copies of the information may be obtained, after paying a duplicating fee, by electronic request at the following E-mail address: publicinfo@sec.gov.
Investment Company Act File # 811-22655
CP High Yield Trend ETF
HYTR |
a series of Northern Lights Fund Trust III
STATEMENT OF ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
December 27, 2019
Listed and traded on:
NYSE Arca, Inc.
This Statement of Additional Information ("SAI") is not a prospectus and should be read in conjunction with the Prospectus of CP High Yield Trend ETF (the "Fund") dated December 27, 2019. The Fund’s Prospectus is hereby incorporated by reference, which means it is legally part of this document. You can obtain copies of the Fund’s Prospectus, annual or semiannual reports without charge by contacting the Fund’s Distributor, Northern Lights Distributors, LLC, 17645 Wright Street, Suite 200 Omaha, NE 68130 or by calling 844-509-2775. You may also obtain a Prospectus by visiting the website at www.cpetfs.com.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
THE FUND | 1 |
TYPES OF INVESTMENTS | 2 |
INVESTMENT RESTRICTIONS | 23 |
POLICIES AND PROCEDURES FOR DISCLOSURE OF PORTFOLIO HOLDINGS | 24 |
MANAGEMENT | 26 |
CONTROL PERSONS AND PRINCIPAL HOLDERS | 31 |
INVESTMENT ADVISER | 32 |
THE DISTRIBUTOR | 34 |
PORTFOLIO MANAGERS | 36 |
ALLOCATION OF PORTFOLIO BROKERAGE | 37 |
PORTFOLIO TURNOVER | 37 |
OTHER SERVICE PROVIDERS | 37 |
DESCRIPTION OF SHARES | 39 |
ANTI-MONEY LAUNDERING PROGRAM | 39 |
PURCHASE, REDEMPTION AND PRICING OF SHARES | 40 |
TAX STATUS | 63 |
INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM | 68 |
LEGAL COUNSEL | 68 |
FINANCIAL STATEMENTS | 68 |
APPENDIX A – PROXY VOTING POLICIES AND PROCEDURES | A-1 |
THE FUND
The Fund is a diversified series of Northern Lights Fund Trust III, a Delaware statutory trust organized on December 5, 2011 (the "Trust"). The Trust is registered as an open-end management investment company. The Trust is governed by its Board of Trustees (the "Board" or "Trustees").
The Fund may issue an unlimited number of shares (“Shares”) of beneficial interest. All Shares have equal rights and privileges. Each Share is entitled to one vote on all matters as to which shares are entitled to vote. In addition, each Share is entitled to participate equally with other Shares (i) in dividends and distributions declared by the Fund and (ii) on liquidation to its proportionate share of the assets remaining after satisfaction of outstanding liabilities. Shares are fully paid, non-assessable and fully transferable when issued and have no pre-emptive, conversion or exchange rights. Fractional Shares have proportionately the same rights, including voting rights, as are provided for a full Share.
Counterpoint Mutual Funds LLC (the “Adviser”) is the Fund’s investment adviser. The Fund’s investment objective, restrictions and policies are more fully described here and in the Prospectus. The Board may start other series and offer shares of a new fund under the Trust at any time.
The Fund issues and redeems Shares at net asset value ("NAV") only in aggregations of 25,000 Shares (each a “Creation Unit”). The Fund issues and redeems Creation Units principally in exchange for an in-kind deposit of a basket of designated securities (the “Deposit Securities”), together with the deposit of a specified cash payment (the “Cash Component”), plus a transaction fee. The Fund is expected to be approved for listing, subject to notice of issuance, on NYSE Arca, Inc. (the “Exchange”). Shares will trade on the Exchange at market prices that may be below, at, or above NAV. In the event of the liquidation of the Fund, a share split, reverse split or the like, the Trust may revise the number of Shares in a Creation Unit.
The Fund reserves the right to offer creations and redemptions of Shares for cash. In addition, 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 equal to up to 115% of the market value of the missing Deposit Securities. In each instance of such cash creations or redemptions, transaction fees, may be imposed and may be higher than the transaction fees associated with in-kind creations or redemptions. See PURCHASE, REDEMPTION AND PRICING OF SHARES below.
Exchange Listing and Trading
In order to provide additional information regarding the indicative value of Shares of the Fund, the Exchange or a market data vendor will disseminate every 15 seconds through the facilities of the Consolidated Tape Association or other widely disseminated means an updated “indicative optimized portfolio” (“IOPV”) for the Fund as calculated by an information provider or market data vendor. The Trust is not involved in or responsible for any aspect of the calculation or dissemination of the IOPV and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the IOPV.
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TYPES OF INVESTMENTS
The investment objective of the Fund and the description of the Fund’s principal investment strategies are set forth under “Investment Objective” and “Principal Investment Strategies” in the Prospectus. The Fund’s investment objective is not fundamental and may be changed without the approval of a majority of the outstanding voting securities of the Trust.
The following pages contain more detailed information about the types of instruments in which the Fund may invest directly or indirectly as a principal or non-principal investment strategy. These instruments include other investment companies and strategies the Adviser may employ in pursuit of the Fund’s investment objective and a summary of related risks.
Equity Securities
Equity securities in which the Fund invests include common stocks, preferred stocks and securities convertible into common stocks, such as convertible bonds, warrants, rights and options. The value of equity securities varies in response to many factors, including the activities and financial condition of individual companies, the business market in which individual companies compete and general market and economic conditions. Equity securities fluctuate in value, often based on factors unrelated to the value of the issuer of the securities, and such fluctuations can be significant.
Common Stock
Common stock represents an equity (ownership) interest in a company, and usually possesses voting rights and earns dividends. Dividends on common stock are not fixed but are declared at the discretion of the issuer. Common stock generally represents the riskiest investment in a company. In addition, common stock generally has the greatest appreciation and depreciation potential because increases and decreases in earnings are usually reflected in a company's stock price.
Preferred Stock
The Fund may invest in preferred stock with no minimum credit rating. Preferred stock is a class of stock having a preference over common stock as to the payment of dividends and the recovery of investment should a company be liquidated, although preferred stock is usually junior to the debt securities of the issuer. Preferred stock typically does not possess voting rights and its market value may change based on changes in interest rates.
The fundamental risk of investing in common and preferred stock is the risk that the value of the stock might decrease. Stock values fluctuate in response to the activities of an individual company or in response to general market and/or economic conditions. Historically, common stocks have provided greater long-term returns and have entailed greater short-term risks than preferred stocks, fixed-income securities and money market investments. The market value of all securities, including common and preferred stocks, is based upon the market's perception of value and not necessarily the book value of an issuer or other objective measures of a company's worth.
Fixed Income/Debt/Bond Securities
Yields on fixed income securities are dependent on a variety of factors, including the general conditions of the money market and other fixed income securities markets, the size of a particular offering, the maturity of the
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obligation and the rating of the issue. An investment in the Fund will be subjected to risk even if all fixed income securities in the Fund’s portfolio are paid in full at maturity. All fixed income securities, including U.S. Government securities, can change in value when there is a change in interest rates or the issuer's actual or perceived creditworthiness or ability to meet its obligations.
There is normally an inverse relationship between the market value of securities sensitive to prevailing interest rates and actual changes in interest rates. In other words, an increase in interest rates produces a decrease in market value. The longer the remaining maturity (and duration) of a security, the greater will be the effect of interest rate changes on the market value of that security. Changes in the ability of an issuer to make payments of interest and principal and in the market’s perception of an issuer's creditworthiness will also affect the market value of the debt securities of that issuer. Obligations of issuers of fixed income securities (including municipal securities) are subject to the provisions of bankruptcy, insolvency, and other laws affecting the rights and remedies of creditors, such as the Federal Bankruptcy Reform Act of 1978. In addition, the obligations of municipal issuers may become subject to laws enacted in the future by Congress, state legislatures, or referenda extending the time for payment of principal and/or interest, or imposing other constraints upon enforcement of such obligations or upon the ability of municipalities to levy taxes. Changes in the ability of an issuer to make payments of interest and principal and in the market's perception of an issuer's creditworthiness will also affect the market value of the debt securities of that issuer. The possibility exists, therefore, that, the ability of any issuer to pay, when due, the principal of and interest on its debt securities may become impaired.
The corporate debt securities in which the Fund may invest include corporate bonds and notes and short-term investments such as commercial paper and variable rate demand notes. Commercial paper (short-term promissory notes) is issued by companies to finance their or their affiliate's current obligations and is frequently unsecured. Variable and floating rate demand notes are unsecured obligations typically redeemable upon not more than 30 days' notice. These obligations include master demand notes that permit investment of fluctuating amounts at varying rates of interest pursuant to a direct arrangement with the issuer of the instrument. The issuer of these obligations often has the right, after a given period, to prepay the outstanding principal amount of the obligations upon a specified number of days' notice. These obligations generally are not traded, nor generally is there an established secondary market for these obligations. To the extent a demand note does not have a 7-day or shorter demand feature and there is no readily available market for the obligation, it is treated as an illiquid security.
The Fund may invest in sovereign bonds. Sovereign bonds involve special risks not present in corporate bonds. The governmental authority that controls the repayment of the bonds may be unable or unwilling to make interest payments and/or repay the principal on its bonds. If an issuer of sovereign bonds defaults on payments of principal and/or interest, the Fund may have limited recourse against the issuer. In the past, certain governments of emerging market countries have declared themselves unable to meet their financial obligations on a timely basis, which has resulted in losses to holders of such government’s debt.
A sovereign debtor’s willingness or ability to repay principal and pay interest in a timely manner may be affected by, among other factors, its cash flow situation, the extent of its foreign currency reserves, the availability of sufficient foreign exchange, the relative size of the debt service burden, the sovereign debtor’s policy toward principal international lenders and local political constraints. Sovereign debtors may also be dependent on expected disbursements from foreign governments, multilateral agencies and other entities to reduce principal and interest arrearages on their debt. The failure of a sovereign debtor to implement economic reforms, achieve specified levels of economic performance or repay principal or interest when due may result in the cancellation of third-party commitments to lend funds to the sovereign debtor, which may further impair such debtor’s ability or willingness to service its debts.
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The Fund may invest in debt securities, including non-investment grade debt securities. The following describes some of the risks associated with fixed income debt securities:
Interest Rate Risk. Debt securities have varying levels of sensitivity to changes in interest rates. In general, the price of a debt security can fall when interest rates rise and can rise when interest rates fall. Securities with longer maturities and mortgage securities can be more sensitive to interest rate changes although they usually offer higher yields to compensate investors for the greater risks. The longer the maturity of the security, the greater the impact a change in interest rates could have on the security's price. In addition, short-term and long-term interest rates do not necessarily move in the same amount or the same direction. Short-term securities tend to react to changes in short-term interest rates and long-term securities tend to react to changes in long-term interest rates.
Credit Risk. Fixed income securities have speculative characteristics and changes in economic conditions or other circumstances are more likely to lead to a weakened capacity of those issuers to make principal or interest payments, as compared to issuers of more highly rated securities.
Extension Risk. The Fund is subject to the risk that an issuer will exercise its right to pay principal on an obligation held by the Fund (such as mortgage-backed securities) later than expected. This may happen when there is a rise in interest rates. These events may lengthen the duration (i.e., interest rate sensitivity) and potentially reduce the value of these securities.
Prepayment Risk. Certain types of debt securities, such as mortgage-backed securities, have yield and maturity characteristics corresponding to underlying assets. Unlike traditional debt securities, which may pay a fixed rate of interest until maturity when the entire principal amount comes due, payments on certain mortgage-backed securities may include both interest and a partial payment of principal. Besides the scheduled repayment of principal, payments of principal may result from the voluntary prepayment, refinancing, or foreclosure of the underlying mortgage loans.
Securities subject to prepayment are less effective than other types of securities as a means of “locking in” attractive long-term interest rates. One reason is the need to reinvest prepayments of principal; another is the possibility of significant unscheduled prepayments resulting from declines in interest rates. These prepayments would have to be reinvested at lower rates. As a result, these securities may have less potential for capital appreciation during periods of declining interest rates than other securities of comparable maturities, although they may have a similar risk of decline in market value during periods of rising interest rates. Prepayments may also significantly shorten the effective maturities of these securities, especially during periods of declining interest rates. Conversely, during periods of rising interest rates, a reduction in prepayments may increase the effective maturities of these securities, subjecting them to a greater risk of decline in market value in response to rising interest rates than traditional debt securities, and, therefore, potentially increasing the volatility of the Fund.
At times, some of the mortgage-backed securities in which the Fund may invest will have higher than market interest rates and therefore will be purchased at a premium above their par value. Prepayments may cause losses in securities purchased at a premium, as unscheduled prepayments, which are made at par, will cause the Fund to experience a loss equal to any unamortized premium.
Certificates of Deposit and Bankers' Acceptances
Certificates of deposit are receipts issued by a depository institution in exchange for the deposit of funds. The issuer agrees to pay the amount deposited plus interest to the bearer of the receipt on the date specified on the certificate. The certificate usually can be traded in the secondary market prior to maturity.
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The Fund may invest in insured bank obligations. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (“FDIC”) insures the deposits of federally insured banks and savings and loan associations (collectively referred to as “banks”) up to $250,000. The Fund may purchase bank obligations that are fully insured as to principal by the FDIC. Currently, to remain fully insured as to principal, these investments must be limited to $250,000 per bank; if the principal amount and accrued interest together exceed $250,000, the excess principal and accrued interest will not be insured. Insured bank obligations may have limited marketability.
Bankers' acceptances typically arise from short-term credit arrangements designed to enable businesses to obtain funds to finance commercial transactions. Generally, an acceptance is a time draft drawn on a bank by an exporter or an importer to obtain a stated amount of funds to pay for specific merchandise. The draft is then “accepted” by a bank that, in effect, unconditionally guarantees to pay the face value of the instrument on its maturity date. The acceptance may then be held by the accepting bank as an earning asset or it may be sold in the secondary market at the going rate of discount for a specific maturity. Although maturities for acceptances can be as long as 270 days, most acceptances have maturities of six months or less.
Time Deposits and Variable Rate Notes
The Fund may invest in fixed time deposits, whether or not subject to withdrawal penalties. The commercial paper obligations, which the Fund may buy are unsecured and may include variable rate notes. The nature and terms of a variable rate note (i.e., a “Master Note”) permit the Fund to invest fluctuating amounts at varying rates of interest pursuant to a direct arrangement between the Fund as lender, and the issuer, as borrower. It permits daily changes in the amounts borrowed. The Fund has the right at any time to increase, up to the full amount stated in the note agreement, or to decrease the amount outstanding under the note. The issuer may prepay at any time and without penalty any part of or the full amount of the note. The note may or may not be backed by one or more bank letters of credit. Because these notes are direct lending arrangements between the Fund and the issuer, it is not generally contemplated that they will be traded; moreover, there is currently no secondary market for them. Except as specifically provided in the Prospectus, there is no limitation on the type of issuer from whom these notes may be purchased; however, in connection with such purchase and on an ongoing basis, the Adviser will consider the earning power, cash flow and other liquidity ratios of the issuer, and its ability to pay principal and interest on demand, including a situation in which all holders of such notes made demand simultaneously. Variable rate notes are subject to the Fund’s investment restriction on illiquid securities unless such notes can be put back to the issuer on demand within seven days.
Commercial Paper
The Fund may purchase commercial paper. Commercial paper consists of short-term (usually from 1 to 270 days) unsecured promissory notes issued by corporations in order to finance their current operations. It may be secured by letters of credit, a surety bond or other forms of collateral. Commercial paper is usually repaid at maturity by the issuer from the proceeds of the issuance of new commercial paper. As a result, investment in commercial paper is subject to the risk the issuer cannot issue enough new commercial paper to satisfy its outstanding commercial paper, also known as rollover risk. Commercial paper may become illiquid or may suffer from reduced liquidity in certain circumstances. Like all fixed income securities, commercial paper prices are susceptible to fluctuations in interest rates. If interest rates rise, commercial paper prices will decline. The short-term nature of a commercial paper investment makes it less susceptible to interest rate risk than many other fixed income securities because interest rate risk typically increases as maturity lengths increase. Commercial paper tends to yield smaller returns than longer-term corporate debt because securities with shorter maturities typically have
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lower effective yields than those with longer maturities. As with all fixed income securities, there is a chance that the issuer will default on its commercial paper obligation.
Repurchase Agreements
The Fund may enter into repurchase agreements. In a repurchase agreement, an investor (such as the Fund) purchases a security (known as the “underlying security”) from a securities dealer or bank. Any such dealer or bank must be deemed creditworthy by the Adviser. At that time, the bank or securities dealer agrees to repurchase the underlying security at a mutually agreed upon price on a designated future date. The repurchase price may be higher than the purchase price, the difference being income to the applicable Fund, or the purchase and repurchase prices may be the same, with interest at an agreed upon rate due to the Fund on repurchase. In either case, the income to the Fund generally will be unrelated to the interest rate on the underlying securities. Repurchase agreements must be “fully collateralized,” in that the market value of the underlying securities (including accrued interest) must at all times be equal to or greater than the repurchase price. Therefore, a repurchase agreement can be considered a loan collateralized by the underlying securities.
Repurchase agreements are generally for a short period of time, often less than a week, and will generally be used by the Fund to invest excess cash or as part of a temporary defensive strategy. Repurchase agreements that do not provide for payment within seven days will be treated as illiquid securities. In the event of a bankruptcy or other default by the seller of a repurchase agreement, the Fund could experience both delays in liquidating the underlying security and losses. These losses could result from: (a) possible decline in the value of the underlying security while the Fund is seeking to enforce its rights under the repurchase agreement; (b) possible reduced levels of income or lack of access to income during this period; and (c) expenses of enforcing its rights.
High Yield Securities
The Fund may invest in high yield securities. High yield, high risk bonds are securities that are generally rated below investment grade by the primary rating agencies (BB+ or lower by S&P and Ba1 or lower by Moody's). Other terms used to describe such securities include “lower rated bonds,” “non-investment grade bonds,” “below investment grade bonds,” and “junk bonds.” These securities are considered to be high-risk investments. The risks include the following:
Greater Risk of Loss. These securities are regarded as predominately speculative. There is a greater risk that issuers of lower rated securities will default than issuers of higher rated securities. Issuers of lower rated securities generally are less creditworthy and may be highly indebted, financially distressed, or bankrupt. These issuers are more vulnerable to real or perceived economic changes, political changes or adverse industry developments. In addition, high yield securities are frequently subordinated to the prior payment of senior indebtedness. If an issuer fails to pay principal or interest, the Fund would experience a decrease in income and a decline in the market value of its investments.
Sensitivity to Interest Rate and Economic Changes. The income and market value of lower-rated securities may fluctuate more than higher rated securities. Although non-investment grade securities tend to be less sensitive to interest rate changes than investment grade securities, non-investment grade securities are more sensitive to short-term corporate, economic and market developments. During periods of economic uncertainty and change, the market price of the investments in lower-rated securities may be volatile. The default rate for high yield bonds tends to be cyclical, with defaults rising in periods of economic downturn. For example, in 2000, 2001 and 2002, the default rate for high yield securities was significantly higher than in the prior or subsequent years.
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Valuation Difficulties. It is often more difficult to value lower rated securities than higher rated securities. If an issuer's financial condition deteriorates, accurate financial and business information may be limited or unavailable. In addition, the lower rated investments may be thinly traded and there may be no established secondary market. Because of the lack of market pricing and current information for investments in lower rated securities, valuation of such investments is much more dependent on judgment than is the case with higher rated securities.
Liquidity. There may be no established secondary or public market for investments in lower rated securities. Such securities are frequently traded in markets that may be relatively less liquid than the market for higher rated securities. In addition, relatively few institutional purchasers may hold a major portion of an issue of lower-rated securities at times. As a result, the Fund may be required to sell investments at substantial losses or retain them indefinitely when an issuer's financial condition is deteriorating.
Credit Quality. Credit quality of non-investment grade securities can change suddenly and unexpectedly, and even recently-issued credit ratings may not fully reflect the actual risks posed by a particular high-yield security.
New Legislation. Future legislation may have a possible negative impact on the market for high yield, high risk bonds. As an example, in the late 1980s, legislation required federally-insured savings and loan associations to divest their investments in high yield, high risk bonds. New legislation, if enacted, could have a material negative effect on the Fund’s investments in lower rated securities.
High yield. High risk investments may include the following:
Straight fixed-income debt securities. These include bonds and other debt obligations that bear a fixed or variable rate of interest payable at regular intervals and have a fixed or resettable maturity date. The particular terms of such securities vary and may include features such as call provisions and sinking funds.
Zero-coupon debt securities. These bear no interest obligation but are issued at a discount from their value at maturity. When held to maturity, their entire return equals the difference between their issue price and their maturity value.
Zero-fixed-coupon debt securities. These are zero-coupon debt securities that convert on a specified date to interest-bearing debt securities.
Pay-in-kind bonds. These are bonds which allow the issuer, at its option, to make current interest payments on the bonds either in cash or in additional bonds. These are bonds sold without registration under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (“Securities Act”), usually to a relatively small number of institutional investors.
Convertible Securities. These are bonds or preferred stock that may be converted to common stock.
Preferred Stock. These are stocks that generally pay a dividend at a specified rate and have preference over common stock in the payment of dividends and in liquidation.
Loan Participations and Assignments. These are participations in, or assignments of all or a portion of loans to corporations or to governments, including governments of less developed countries.
Securities issued in connection with Reorganizations and Corporate Restructurings. In connection with reorganizing or restructuring of an issuer, an issuer may issue common stock or other securities to holders of its debt securities. The Fund may hold such common stock and other securities even if it does not invest in such securities.
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Municipal Government Obligations
In general, municipal obligations are debt obligations issued by or on behalf of states, territories and possessions of the United States (including the District of Columbia) and their political subdivisions, agencies and instrumentalities. Municipal obligations generally include debt obligations issued to obtain funds for various public purposes. Certain types of municipal obligations are issued in whole or in part to obtain funding for privately operated facilities or projects. Municipal obligations include general obligation bonds, revenue bonds, industrial development bonds, notes and municipal lease obligations. Municipal obligations also include additional obligations, the interest on which is exempt from federal income tax, that may become available in the future as long as the Board of Trustees determines that an investment in any such type of obligation is consistent with the Fund’s investment objectives. Municipal obligations may be fully or partially backed by local government, the credit of a private issuer, current or anticipated revenues from a specific project or specific assets or domestic or foreign entities providing credit support such as letters of credit, guarantees or insurance.
Bonds and Notes. General obligation bonds are secured by the issuer's pledge of its full faith, credit and taxing power for the payment of interest and principal. Revenue bonds are payable only from the revenues derived from a project or facility or from the proceeds of a specified revenue source. Industrial development bonds are generally revenue bonds secured by payments from and the credit of private users. Municipal notes are issued to meet the short-term funding requirements of state, regional and local governments. Municipal notes include tax anticipation notes, bond anticipation notes, revenue anticipation notes, tax and revenue anticipation notes, construction loan notes, short-term discount notes, tax-exempt commercial paper, demand notes and similar instruments.
Municipal Lease Obligations. Municipal lease obligations may take the form of a lease, an installment purchase or a conditional sales contract. They are issued by state and local governments and authorities to acquire land, equipment and facilities, such as vehicles, telecommunications and computer equipment and other capital assets. The Fund may invest in Underlying Funds that purchase these lease obligations directly, or it may purchase participation interests in such lease obligations (See “Participation Interests” section). States have different requirements for issuing municipal debt and issuing municipal leases. Municipal leases are generally subject to greater risks than general obligation or revenue bonds because they usually contain a “non-appropriation” clause, which provides that the issuer is not obligated to make payments on the obligation in future years unless funds have been appropriated for this purpose each year. Such non-appropriation clauses are required to avoid the municipal lease obligations from being treated as debt for state debt restriction purposes. Accordingly, such obligations are subject to “non-appropriation” risk. Municipal leases may be secured by the underlying capital asset and it may be difficult to dispose of any such asset in the event of non-appropriation or other default.
Master Limited Partnerships (“MLPs”)
An MLP is an entity that is generally taxed as a partnership for federal income tax purposes and that derives each year at least 90% of its gross income from “Qualifying Income”. Qualifying Income for MLPs includes interest, dividends, real estate rents, gain from the sale or disposition of real property, income and gain from commodities or commodity futures, and income and gain from mineral or natural resources activities that generate Qualifying Income. MLP interests (known as units) are traded on securities exchanges or over-the-counter. An MLP’s organization as a partnership and compliance with the Qualifying Income rules generally eliminates federal tax at the entity level.
An MLP has one or more general partners (who may be individuals, corporations, or other partnerships) which manage the partnership, and limited partners, which provide capital to the partnership but have no role in its
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management. Typically, the general partner is owned by company management or another publicly traded sponsoring corporation. When an investor buys units in an MLP, the investor becomes a limited partner.
MLPs are formed in several ways. A nontraded partnership may decide to go public. Several nontraded partnerships may roll up into a single MLP. A corporation may spin-off a group of assets or part of its business into an MLP of which it is the general partner, to realize the assets’ full value on the marketplace by selling the assets and using the cash proceeds received from the MLP to address debt obligations or to invest in higher growth opportunities, while retaining control of the MLP. A corporation may fully convert to an MLP, although since 1986 the tax consequences have made this an unappealing option for most corporations. Unlike the ways described above, it is also possible for a newly formed entity to commence operations as an MLP from its inception.
The sponsor or general partner of an MLP, other energy companies, and utilities may sell assets to MLPs in order to generate cash to fund expansion projects or repay debt. The MLP structure essentially transfers cash flows generated from these acquired assets directly to MLP limited partner unitholders.
In the case of an MLP buying assets from its sponsor or general partner the transaction is intended to be based upon comparable terms in the acquisition market for similar assets. To help insure that appropriate protections are in place, the board of the MLP generally creates an independent committee to review and approve the terms of the transaction. The committee often obtains a fairness opinion and can retain counsel or other experts to assist its evaluation. Since both parties normally have a significant equity stake in the MLP, both parties are aligned to see that the transaction is accretive and fair to the MLP.
As a motivation for the general partner to successfully manage the MLP and increase cash flows, the terms of MLPs typically provide that the general partner receives a larger portion of the net income as distributions reach higher target levels. As cash flow grows, the general partner receives a greater interest in the incremental income compared to the interest of limited partners. Although the percentages vary among MLPs, the general partner’s marginal interest in distributions generally increases from 2% to 15% at the first designated distribution target level moving up to 25% and ultimately 50% as pre-established distribution per unit thresholds are met. Nevertheless, the aggregate amount distributed to limited partners will increase as MLP distributions reach higher target levels. Given this incentive structure, the general partner has an incentive to streamline operations and undertake acquisitions and growth projects in order to increase distributions to all partners.
Because the MLP itself generally does not pay federal income tax, its income or loss is allocated to its investors, irrespective of whether the investors receive any cash payment or other distributions from the MLP. An MLP typically makes quarterly cash distributions. Although they resemble corporate dividends, MLP distributions are treated differently for tax purposes. The MLP distribution is treated as a return of capital to the extent of the investor’s basis in his MLP interest and, to the extent the distribution exceeds the investor’s basis in the MLP, generally as capital gain. The investor’s original basis is the price paid for the units. The basis is adjusted downwards with each distribution and allocation of deductions (such as depreciation) and losses, and upwards with each allocation of taxable income and gain.
The partner will not incur federal income tax on distributions until: (1) he sells his MLP units and pays tax on his gain, which gain is increased due to the basis decrease due to prior distributions; or (2) his basis reaches zero. When the units are sold, the difference between the sales price and the investor’s adjusted basis is gain or loss for federal income tax purposes.
The business of certain MLPs is affected by supply and demand for energy commodities because such MLPs derive revenue and income based upon the volume of the underlying commodity produced, transported,
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processed, distributed, and/or marketed. Pipeline MLPs have indirect commodity exposure to gas and oil price volatility because although they do not own the underlying energy commodity, the general level of commodity prices may affect the volume of the commodity that the MLP delivers to its customers and the cost of providing services such as distributing natural gas liquids (“NGLs”). The costs of natural gas pipeline MLPs to perform services may exceed the negotiated rates under “negotiated rate” contracts. Specifically, processing MLPs may be directly affected by energy commodity prices. Propane MLPs own the underlying energy commodity, and therefore have direct exposure to energy commodity prices, although the Adviser intends to target high quality MLPs that seek to mitigate or manage direct margin exposure to commodity prices. However, the MLP industry in general could be hurt by market perception that an MLP’s performance and valuation are directly tied to commodity prices.
Real Estate Investment Trusts (“REITs”)
The Fund may invest in the equity securities of REITs focused on the energy industry. A REIT is a corporation or business trust that invests in real estate and derives its income from rents or sales of real property or interest on loans secured by mortgages on real property. The market value of REITs may be affected by numerous factors, including decreases in the value of real estate, vacancies, decreases in lease rates, defaults by lessees, changes in the tax laws or by their inability to qualify for the tax-free pass-through of their income.
Energy Trust Securities
The Fund may invest in U.S. royalty trusts. U.S. royalty trusts are generally not subject to U.S. federal corporate income taxation at the trust or entity level. Instead, each unitholder of the U.S. royalty trust is required to take into account its share of all items of the U.S. royalty trust’s income, gain, loss, deduction and expense. It is possible that the Fund’s share of taxable income from a U.S. royalty trust may exceed the cash actually distributed to it from the U.S. royalty trust in a given year. In such a case, the Fund will have less after-tax cash available for distribution to shareholders.
Exchange-Traded Notes (“ETNs”)
The Fund may invest in ETNs, which are senior, unsecured, unsubordinated debt securities whose returns are linked to the performance of a particular market benchmark or strategy, minus applicable fees. ETNs are traded on an exchange (e.g., the New York Stock Exchange) during normal trading hours; however, investors also can hold ETNs until they mature. At maturity, the issuer pays to the investor a cash amount equal to the principal amount, subject to the day‘s market benchmark or strategy factor. ETNs do not make periodic coupon payments or provide principal protection. ETNs are subject to credit risk, including the credit risk of the issuer, and the value of the ETN may drop due to a downgrade in the issuer‘s credit rating, despite the underlying market benchmark or strategy remaining unchanged. The value of an ETN also may be influenced by time to maturity, level of supply and demand for the ETN, volatility and lack of liquidity in underlying assets, changes in the applicable interest rates, changes in the issuer‘s credit rating, and economic, legal, political, or geographic events that affect the referenced underlying asset. When the Fund invests in ETNs, it will bear its proportionate share of any fees and expenses borne by the ETN. A decision by the Fund to sell ETN holdings may be limited by the availability of a secondary market. In addition, although an ETN may be listed on an exchange, the issuer may not be required to maintain the listing, and there can be no assurance that a secondary market will exist for an ETN.
ETNs also are subject to tax risk. No assurance can be given that the IRS will accept, or a court will uphold, how a Fund characterizes and treats ETNs for tax purposes.
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An ETN that is tied to a specific market benchmark or strategy may not be able to replicate and maintain exactly the composition and relative weighting of securities, commodities or other components in the applicable market benchmark or strategy. Some ETNs that use leverage can, at times, be relatively illiquid, and thus they may be difficult to purchase or sell at a fair price. Leveraged ETNs are subject to the same risk as other instruments that use leverage in any form. The market value of ETNs may differ from their market benchmark or strategy. This difference in price may be due to the fact that the supply and demand in the market for ETNs at any point in time is not always identical to the supply and demand in the market for the securities, commodities or other components underlying the market benchmark or strategy that the ETN seeks to track. As a result, there may be times when an ETN trades at a premium or discount to its market benchmark or strategy.
United States Government Obligations
These consist of various types of marketable securities issued by the United States Treasury, i.e., bills, notes and bonds. Such securities are direct obligations of the United States government and differ mainly in the length of their maturity. Treasury bills, the most frequently issued marketable government security, have a maturity of up to one year and are issued on a discount basis. The Fund may also invest in Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities (“TIPS”). TIPS are special types of treasury bonds that were created in order to offer bond investors protection from inflation. The values of the TIPS are automatically adjusted to the inflation rate as measured by the Consumer Price Index (“CPI”). If the CPI goes up by half a percent, the value of the bond (the TIPS) would also go up by half a percent. If the CPI falls, the value of the bond does not fall because the government guarantees that the original investment will stay the same. TIPS decline in value when real interest rates rise. However, in certain interest rate environments, such as when real interest rates are rising faster than nominal interest rates, TIPS may experience greater losses than other fixed income securities with similar duration.
United States Government Agency Obligations
These consist of debt securities issued by agencies and instrumentalities of the United States government, including the various types of instruments currently outstanding or which may be offered in the future. Agencies include, among others, the Federal Housing Administration, Government National Mortgage Association (“GNMA”), Farmer's Home Administration, Export-Import Bank of the United States, Maritime Administration, and General Services Administration. Instrumentalities include, for example, each of the Federal Home Loan Banks, the National Bank for Cooperatives, the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (“FHLMC”), the Farm Credit Banks, the Federal National Mortgage Association (“FNMA”), and the United States Postal Service. These securities are either: (i) backed by the full faith and credit of the United States government (e.g., United States Treasury Bills); (ii) guaranteed by the United States Treasury (e.g., GNMA mortgage-backed securities); (iii) supported by the issuing agency's or instrumentality's right to borrow from the United States Treasury (e.g., FNMA Discount Notes); or (iv) supported only by the issuing agency's or instrumentality's own credit (e.g., Tennessee Valley Association). On September 7, 2008, the U.S. Treasury Department and the Federal Housing Finance Authority (the “FHFA”) announced that FNMA and FHLMC had been placed into conservatorship, a statutory process designed to stabilize a troubled institution with the objective of returning the entity to normal business operations. The U.S. Treasury Department and the FHFA at the same time established a secured lending facility and a Secured Stock Purchase Agreement with both FNMA and FHLMC to ensure that each entity had the ability to fulfill its financial obligations. The FHFA announced that it does not anticipate any disruption in pattern of payments or ongoing business operations of FNMA and FHLMC.
Government-related guarantors (i.e., not backed by the full faith and credit of the United States Government) include FNMA and FHLMC. FNMA is a government-sponsored corporation owned entirely by private stockholders. It is subject to general regulation by the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development.
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FNMA purchases conventional (i.e., not insured or guaranteed by any government agency) residential mortgages from a list of approved seller/servicers which include state and federally chartered savings and loan associations, mutual savings banks, commercial banks and credit unions and mortgage bankers. Pass-through securities issued by FNMA are guaranteed as to timely payment of principal and interest by FNMA but are not backed by the full faith and credit of the United States Government.
FHLMC was created by Congress in 1970 for the purpose of increasing the availability of mortgage credit for residential housing. It is a government-sponsored corporation formerly owned by the twelve Federal Home Loan Banks and now owned entirely by private stockholders. FHLMC issues Participation Certificates (“PCs”), which represent interests in conventional mortgages from FHLMC's national portfolio. FHLMC guarantees the timely payment of interest and ultimate collection of principal, but PCs are not backed by the full faith and credit of the United States Government. Commercial banks, savings and loan institutions, private mortgage insurance companies, mortgage bankers and other secondary market issuers also create pass-through pools of conventional residential mortgage loans. Such issuers may, in addition, be the originators and/or servicers of the underlying mortgage loans as well as the guarantors of the mortgage-related securities. Pools created by such nongovernmental issuers generally offer a higher rate of interest than government and government-related pools because there are no direct or indirect government or agency guarantees of payments in the former pools. However, timely payment of interest and principal of these pools may be supported by various forms of insurance or guarantees, including individual loan, title, pool and hazard insurance and letters of credit. The insurance and guarantees are issued by governmental entities, private insurers and the mortgage poolers.
Securities of Other Investment Companies
The Fund’s investments in exchange traded funds (“ETFs”), mutual funds and closed-end funds involve certain additional expenses and certain tax results, which would not be present in a direct investment in the underlying fund. Generally, the Fund may not purchase securities of another investment company if, as a result: (i) more than 10% of the Fund’s total assets would be invested in securities of other investment companies, (ii) such purchase would result in more than 3% of the total outstanding voting securities of any such investment company being held by the Fund, or (iii) more than 5% of the Fund’s total assets would be invested in any one such investment company. However, many ETFs have obtained exemptive relief from the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) to permit unaffiliated funds to invest in the ETFs’ shares beyond the above statutory limitations, subject to certain conditions and pursuant to a contractual arrangement between the particular ETF and the investing fund. The Fund may rely on these exemptive orders to invest in unaffiliated ETFs. In the alternative, the Fund intends to rely on Rule 12d1-3, which allows unaffiliated mutual funds and ETFs to exceed the 5% limitation and the 10% limitation, provided the aggregate sales loads any investor pays (i.e., the combined distribution expenses of both the acquiring fund and the acquired fund) does not exceed the limits on sales loads established by FINRA for funds of funds. In addition to ETFs, the Fund may invest in other investment companies such as open-end mutual funds or exchange-traded closed-end funds, within the limitations described above.
Closed-End Investment Companies
The Fund may invest its assets in “closed-end” investment companies (or “closed-end funds”), subject to the investment restrictions set forth above. Shares of closed-end funds are typically offered to the public in a one-time initial public offering by a group of underwriters who retain a spread or underwriting commission of between 4% or 6% of the initial public offering price. Such securities are then listed for trading on the New York Stock Exchange, the National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotation System (commonly known as “NASDAQ”) and, in some cases, may be traded in other over-the-counter markets. Because the shares of closed-
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end funds cannot be redeemed upon demand to the issuer like the shares of an open-end investment company (such as the Fund), investors seek to buy and sell shares of closed-end funds in the secondary market.
The Fund generally will purchase shares of closed-end funds only in the secondary market. The Fund will incur normal brokerage costs on such purchases similar to the expenses the Fund would incur for the purchase of securities of any other type of issuer in the secondary market. The Fund may, however, also purchase securities of a closed-end fund in an initial public offering when, in the opinion of the Adviser, based on a consideration of the nature of the closed-end fund's proposed investments, the prevailing market conditions and the level of demand for such securities, they represent an attractive opportunity for growth of capital. The initial offering price typically will include a dealer spread, which may be higher than the applicable brokerage cost if the Fund purchased such securities in the secondary market.
The shares of many closed-end funds, after their initial public offering, frequently trade at a price per share, which is less than the net asset value (“NAV”) per share, the difference representing the “market discount” of such shares. This market discount may be due in part to the investment objective of long-term appreciation, which is sought by many closed-end funds, as well as to the fact that the shares of closed-end funds are not redeemable by the holder upon demand to the issuer at the next determined NAV but rather are subject to the principles of supply and demand in the secondary market. A relative lack of secondary market purchasers of closed-end fund shares also may contribute to such shares trading at a discount to their NAV.
The Fund may invest in shares of closed-end funds that are trading at a discount to NAV or at a premium to NAV. There can be no assurance that the market discount on shares of any closed-end fund purchased by the Fund will ever decrease. In fact, it is possible that this market discount may increase and the Fund may suffer realized or unrealized capital losses due to further decline in the market price of the securities of such closed-end funds, thereby adversely affecting the NAV of the Fund’s shares. Similarly, there can be no assurance that any shares of a closed-end fund purchased by the Fund at a premium will continue to trade at a premium or that the premium will not decrease subsequent to a purchase of such shares by the Fund.
Closed-end funds may issue senior securities (including preferred stock and debt obligations) for the purpose of leveraging the closed-end fund's common shares in an attempt to enhance the current return to such closed-end fund's common shareholders. The Fund’s investment in the common shares of closed-end funds that are financially leveraged may create an opportunity for greater total return on its investment, but at the same time may be expected to exhibit more volatility in market price and NAV than an investment in shares of investment companies without a leveraged capital structure.
Open-End Investment Companies
The Fund and any “affiliated persons,” as defined by the 1940 Act, may purchase in the aggregate only up to 3% of the total outstanding securities of any underlying fund. Accordingly, when affiliated persons hold shares of any of the underlying fund, the Fund’s ability to invest fully in shares of those funds is restricted, and the Adviser must then, in some instances, select alternative investments that would not have been its first preference. The 1940 Act also provides that an underlying fund whose shares are purchased by the Fund when relying on certain exemptions to limitations on investments in other investment companies will be obligated to redeem shares held by the Fund only in an amount up to 1% of the underlying fund's outstanding securities during any period of less than 30 days. Therefore, shares held by the Fund when relying on certain exemptions to limitations on investments in other investment companies under the 1940 Act in excess of 1% of an underlying fund's outstanding securities will be considered not readily marketable securities, which, together with other such securities, may not exceed 15% of the Fund's total assets.
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Under certain circumstances, an underlying fund may determine to make payment of a redemption by the Fund wholly or partly by a distribution in kind of securities from its portfolio, in lieu of cash, in conformity with the rules of the SEC. In such cases, the Fund may hold securities distributed by an underlying fund until the Adviser determines that it is appropriate to dispose of such securities.
Investment decisions by the investment advisers of the underlying fund(s) are made independently of the Fund and the Adviser. Therefore, the investment adviser of one underlying fund may be purchasing shares of the same issuer whose shares are being sold by the investment adviser of another such fund. The result would be an indirect expense to the Fund without accomplishing any investment purpose.
Exchange Traded Funds (“ETFs”)
ETFs are generally passive funds that track their related index and have the flexibility of trading like a security. They are managed by professionals and provide the investor with diversification, cost and tax efficiency, liquidity, marginability, are useful for hedging, have the ability to go long and short, and some provide quarterly dividends. Additionally, some ETFs are unit investment trusts. ETFs typically have two markets. The primary market is where institutions swap “creation units” in block-multiples of, for example, 50,000 shares for in-kind securities and cash in the form of dividends. The secondary market is where individual investors can trade as little as a single share during trading hours on the exchange. This is different from open-ended mutual funds that are traded after hours once the NAV is calculated. ETFs share many similar risks with open-end and closed-end funds.
Foreign Securities
General. The Fund may invest in foreign securities and ETFs and other investment companies that hold a portfolio of foreign securities. Investing in securities of foreign companies and countries involves certain considerations and risks that are not typically associated with investing in U.S. government securities and securities of domestic companies. There may be less publicly available information about a foreign issuer than a domestic one, and foreign companies are not generally subject to uniform accounting, auditing and financial standards and requirements comparable to those applicable to U.S. companies. There may also be less government supervision and regulation of foreign securities exchanges, brokers and listed companies than exists in the United States. Interest and dividends paid by foreign issuers may be subject to withholding and other foreign taxes, which may decrease the net return on such investments as compared to dividends and interest paid to the Fund by domestic companies or the U.S. government. There may be the possibility of expropriations, seizure or nationalization of foreign deposits, confiscatory taxation, political, economic or social instability or diplomatic developments that could affect assets of the Fund held in foreign countries. Finally, the establishment of exchange controls or other foreign governmental laws or restrictions could adversely affect the payment of obligations.
To the extent the Fund's currency exchange transactions do not fully protect the Fund against adverse changes in currency exchange rates, decreases in the value of currencies of the foreign countries in which the Fund will invest relative to the U.S. dollar will result in a corresponding decrease in the U.S. dollar value of the Fund’s assets denominated in those currencies (and possibly a corresponding increase in the amount of securities required to be liquidated to meet distribution requirements). Conversely, increases in the value of currencies of the foreign countries in which the Fund invests relative to the U.S. dollar will result in a corresponding increase in the U.S. dollar value of the Fund’s assets (and possibly a corresponding decrease in the amount of securities to be liquidated).
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Securities Options
The Fund may purchase and write (i.e., sell) put and call options. Such options may relate to particular securities or stock indices, and may or may not be listed on a domestic or foreign securities exchange and may or may not be issued by the Options Clearing Corporation. Options trading is a highly specialized activity that entails greater than ordinary investment risk. Options may be more volatile than the underlying instruments, and therefore, on a percentage basis, an investment in options may be subject to greater fluctuation than an investment in the underlying instruments themselves.
A call option for a particular security gives the purchaser of the option the right to buy, and the writer (seller) the obligation to sell, the underlying security at the stated exercise price at any time prior to the expiration of the option, regardless of the market price of the security. The premium paid to the writer is in consideration for undertaking the obligation under the option contract. A put option for a particular security gives the purchaser the right to sell the security at the stated exercise price at any time prior to the expiration date of the option, regardless of the market price of the security.
Stock index options are put options and call options on various stock indices. In most respects, they are identical to listed options on common stocks. The primary difference between stock options and index options occurs when index options are exercised. In the case of stock options, the underlying security, common stock, is delivered. However, upon the exercise of an index option, settlement does not occur by delivery of the securities comprising the index. The option holder who exercises the index option receives an amount of cash if the closing level of the stock index upon which the option is based is greater than, in the case of a call, or less than, in the case of a put, the exercise price of the option. This amount of cash is equal to the difference between the closing price of the stock index and the exercise price of the option expressed in dollars times a specified multiple. A stock index fluctuates with changes in the market value of the stocks included in the index. For example, some stock index options are based on a broad market index, such as the Standard & Poor's 500® Index or the Value Line Composite Index or a narrower market index, such as the Standard & Poor's 100®. Indices may also be based on an industry or market segment, such as the AMEX Oil and Gas Index or the Computer and Business Equipment Index. Options on stock indices are currently traded on the Chicago Board Options Exchange, the New York Stock Exchange, and NASDAQ PHLX.
The Fund’s obligation to sell an instrument subject to a call option written by it, or to purchase an instrument subject to a put option written by it, may be terminated prior to the expiration date of the option by the Fund’s execution of a closing purchase transaction, which is effected by purchasing on an exchange an option of the same series (i.e., same underlying instrument, exercise price and expiration date) as the option previously written. A closing purchase transaction will ordinarily be effected to realize a profit on an outstanding option, to prevent an underlying instrument from being called, to permit the sale of the underlying instrument or to permit the writing of a new option containing different terms on such underlying instrument. The cost of such a liquidation purchase plus transactions costs may be greater than the premium received upon the original option, in which event the Fund will have paid a loss in the transaction. There is no assurance that a liquid secondary market will exist for any particular option. An option writer unable to effect a closing purchase transaction will not be able to sell the underlying instrument or liquidate the assets held in a segregated account, as described below, until the option expires or the optioned instrument is delivered upon exercise. In such circumstances, the writer will be subject to the risk of market decline or appreciation in the instrument during such period.
If an option purchased by the Fund expires unexercised, the Fund realizes a loss equal to the premium paid. If the Fund enters into a closing sale transaction on an option purchased by it, the Fund will realize a gain if the premium received by the Fund on the closing transaction is more than the premium paid to purchase the option, or
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a loss if it is less. If an option written by the Fund expires on the stipulated expiration date or if the Fund enters into a closing purchase transaction, it will realize a gain (or loss if the cost of a closing purchase transaction exceeds the net premium received when the option is sold). If an option written by the Fund is exercised, the proceeds of the sale will be increased by the net premium originally received and the Fund will realize a gain or loss.
Certain Risks Regarding Options
There are several risks associated with transactions in options. For example, there are significant differences between the securities and options markets that could result in an imperfect correlation between these markets, causing a given transaction not to achieve its objectives. In addition, a liquid secondary market for particular options, whether traded over-the-counter or on an exchange, may be absent for reasons which include the following: there may be insufficient trading interest in certain options; restrictions may be imposed by an exchange on opening transactions or closing transactions or both; trading halts, suspensions or other restrictions may be imposed with respect to particular classes or series of options or underlying securities or currencies; unusual or unforeseen circumstances may interrupt normal operations on an exchange; the facilities of an exchange or the Options Clearing Corporation may not at all times be adequate to handle current trading value; or one or more exchanges could, for economic or other reasons, decide or be compelled at some future date to discontinue the trading of options (or a particular class or series of options), in which event the secondary market on that exchange (or in that class or series of options) would cease to exist, although outstanding options that had been issued by the Options Clearing Corporation as a result of trades on that exchange would continue to be exercisable in accordance with their terms.
Successful use by the Fund of options on stock indices will be subject to the ability of the Adviser to correctly predict movements in the directions of the stock market. This requires different skills and techniques than predicting changes in the prices of individual securities. In addition, the Fund's ability to effectively hedge all or a portion of the securities in its portfolio, in anticipation of or during a market decline, through transactions in put options on stock indices, depends on the degree to which price movements in the underlying index correlate with the price movements of the securities held by the Fund. Inasmuch as the Fund’s securities will not duplicate the components of an index, the correlation will not be perfect. Consequently, the Fund bears the risk that the prices of its securities being hedged will not move in the same amount as the prices of its put options on the stock indices. It is also possible that there may be a negative correlation between the index and the Fund’s securities that would result in a loss on both such securities and the options on stock indices acquired by the Fund.
The hours of trading for options may not conform to the hours during which the underlying securities are traded. To the extent that the options markets close before the markets for the underlying securities, significant price and rate movements can take place in the underlying markets that cannot be reflected in the options markets. The purchase of options is a highly specialized activity that involves investment techniques and risks different from those associated with ordinary portfolio securities transactions. The purchase of stock index options involves the risk that the premium and transaction costs paid by the Fund in purchasing an option will be lost as a result of unanticipated movements in prices of the securities comprising the stock index on which the option is based.
There is no assurance that a liquid secondary market on an options exchange will exist for any particular option, or at any particular time, and for some options no secondary market on an exchange or elsewhere may exist. If the Fund is unable to close out a call option on securities that it has written before the option is exercised, the Fund may be required to purchase the optioned securities in order to satisfy its obligation under the option to deliver such securities. If the Fund is unable to effect a closing sale transaction with respect to options on securities that it has purchased, it would have to exercise the option in order to realize any profit and would incur transaction costs upon the purchase and sale of the underlying securities.
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Cover for Options Positions
Transactions using options (other than options that the Fund has purchased) expose the Fund to an obligation to another party. The Fund will not enter into any such transactions unless it owns either (i) an offsetting (“covered”) position in securities or other options or (ii) cash or liquid securities with a value sufficient at all times to cover its potential obligations not covered as provided in (i) above. The Fund will comply with SEC guidelines regarding cover for these instruments and, if the guidelines so require, set aside cash or liquid securities in a segregated account with the Fund’s custodian in the prescribed amount. Under current SEC guidelines, the Fund will segregate assets to cover transactions in which the Fund writes or sells options.
Assets used as cover or held in a segregated account cannot be sold while the position in the corresponding option is open, unless they are replaced with similar assets. As a result, the commitment of a large portion of the Fund’s assets to cover or segregated accounts could impede portfolio management or the Fund's ability to meet redemption requests or other current obligations.
Options on Futures Contracts
The Fund may purchase and sell options on the same types of futures in which it may invest. Options on futures are similar to options on underlying instruments except that options on futures give the purchaser the right, in return for the premium paid, to assume a position in a futures contract (a long position if the option is a call and a short position if the option is a put), rather than to purchase or sell the futures contract, at a specified exercise price at any time during the period of the option. Upon exercise of the option, the delivery of the futures position by the writer of the option to the holder of the option will be accompanied by the delivery of the accumulated balance in the writer's futures margin account which represents the amount by which the market price of the futures contract, at exercise, exceeds (in the case of a call) or is less than (in the case of a put) the exercise price of the option on the futures contract. Purchasers of options who fail to exercise their options prior to the exercise date suffer a loss of the premium paid.
Dealer Options
The Fund may engage in transactions involving dealer options as well as exchange-traded options. Certain additional risks are specific to dealer options. While the Fund might look to a clearing corporation to exercise exchange-traded options, if the Fund were to purchase a dealer option it would need to rely on the dealer from which it purchased the option to perform if the option were exercised. Failure by the dealer to do so would result in the loss of the premium paid by the Fund as well as loss of the expected benefit of the transaction.
Exchange-traded options generally have a continuous liquid market while dealer options may not. Consequently, the Fund may generally be able to realize the value of a dealer option it has purchased only by exercising or reselling the option to the dealer who issued it. Similarly, when the Fund writes a dealer option, it may generally be able to close out the option prior to its expiration only by entering into a closing purchase transaction with the dealer to whom the Fund originally wrote the option. While the Fund will seek to enter into dealer options only with dealers who will agree to and which are expected to be capable of entering into closing transactions with the Fund, there can be no assurance that the Fund will at any time be able to liquidate a dealer option at a favorable price at any time prior to expiration. Unless the Fund, as a covered dealer call option writer, is able to effect a closing purchase transaction, it will not be able to liquidate securities (or other assets) used as cover until the option expires or is exercised. In the event of insolvency of the other party, the Fund may be unable to liquidate a dealer option. With respect to options written by the Fund, the inability to enter into a closing transaction may result in material losses to the Fund. For example, because the Fund must maintain a secured position with respect to any
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call option on a security it writes, the Fund may not sell the assets which it has segregated to secure the position while it is obligated under the option. This requirement may impair the Fund’s ability to sell portfolio securities at a time when such sale might be advantageous.
The Staff of the SEC has taken the position that purchased dealer options are illiquid securities. The Fund may treat the cover used for written dealer options as liquid if the dealer agrees that the Fund may repurchase the dealer option it has written for a maximum price to be calculated by a predetermined formula. In such cases, the dealer option would be considered illiquid only to the extent the maximum purchase price under the formula exceeds the intrinsic value of the option. Accordingly, the Fund will treat dealer options as subject to the Fund’s limitation on illiquid securities. If the SEC changes its position on the liquidity of dealer options, the Fund will change its treatment of such instruments accordingly.
Futures Contracts
A futures contract provides for the future sale by one party and purchase by another party of a specified amount of a specific financial instrument (e.g., units of a stock index) for a specified price, date, time and place designated at the time the contract is made. Brokerage fees are paid when a futures contract is bought or sold and margin deposits must be maintained. Entering into a contract to buy is commonly referred to as buying or purchasing a contract or holding a long position. Entering into a contract to sell is commonly referred to as selling a contract or holding a short position.
Unlike when the Fund purchases or sells a security, no price would be paid or received by the Fund upon the purchase or sale of a futures contract. Upon entering into a futures contract, and to maintain the Fund’s open positions in futures contracts, the Fund would be required to deposit with its custodian or futures broker in a segregated account in the name of the futures broker an amount of cash, U.S. government securities, suitable money market instruments, or other liquid securities, known as “initial margin.” The margin required for a particular futures contract is set by the exchange on which the contract is traded, and may be significantly modified from time to time by the exchange during the term of the contract. Futures contracts are customarily purchased and sold on margins that may range upward from less than 5% of the value of the contract being traded.
If the price of an open futures contract changes (by increase in underlying instrument or index in the case of a sale or by decrease in the case of a purchase) so that the loss on the futures contract reaches a point at which the margin on deposit does not satisfy margin requirements, the broker will require an increase in the margin. However, if the value of a position increases because of favorable price changes in the futures contract so that the margin deposit exceeds the required margin, the broker will pay the excess to the Fund.
These subsequent payments, called “variation margin,” to and from the futures broker, are made on a daily basis as the price of the underlying assets fluctuate making the long and short positions in the futures contract more or less valuable, a process known as “marking to the market.” The Fund expects to earn interest income on its margin deposits.
Although certain futures contracts, by their terms, require actual future delivery of and payment for the underlying instruments, in practice most futures contracts are usually closed out before the delivery date. Closing out an open futures contract purchase or sale is effected by entering into an offsetting futures contract sale or purchase, respectively, for the same aggregate amount of the identical underlying instrument or index and the same delivery date. If the offsetting purchase price is less than the original sale price, the Fund realizes a gain; if it is more, the Fund realizes a loss. Conversely, if the offsetting sale price is more than the original purchase price, the Fund realizes a gain; if it is less, the Fund realizes a loss. The transaction costs must also be included in these calculations.
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There can be no assurance, however, that the Fund will be able to enter into an offsetting transaction with respect to a particular futures contract at a particular time. If the Fund is not able to enter into an offsetting transaction, the Fund will continue to be required to maintain the margin deposits on the futures contract.
For example, one contract in the Financial Times Stock Exchange 100 Index future is a contract to buy 25 pounds sterling multiplied by the level of the UK Financial Times 100 Share Index on a given future date. Settlement of a stock index futures contract may or may not be in the underlying instrument or index. If not in the underlying instrument or index, then settlement will be made in cash, equivalent over time to the difference between the contract price and the actual price of the underlying asset at the time the stock index futures contract expires.
Swap Agreements
The Fund may enter into swap agreements for purposes of attempting to gain exposure to equity, debt, commodities or other asset markets without actually purchasing those assets, or to hedge a position. Swap agreements are two-party contracts entered into primarily by institutional investors for periods ranging from a day to more than one year. In a standard “swap” transaction, two parties agree to exchange the returns (or differentials in rates of return) earned or realized on particular predetermined investments or instruments. The gross returns to be exchanged or “swapped” between the parties are calculated with respect to a “notional amount,” i.e., the return on or increase in value of a particular dollar amount invested in a “basket” of securities representing a particular index.
Most swap agreements entered into by the Fund calculate the obligations of the parties to the agreement on a “net basis.” Consequently, the Fund’s current obligations (or rights) under a swap agreement will generally be equal only to the net amount to be paid or received under the agreement based on the relative values of the positions held by each party to the agreement (the “net amount”). Payments may be made at the conclusion of a swap agreement or periodically during its term.
Swap agreements do not involve the delivery of securities or other underlying assets. Accordingly, if a swap is entered into on a net basis, if the other party to a swap agreement defaults, the Fund's risk of loss consists of the net amount of payments that the Fund is contractually entitled to receive, if any.
The net amount of the excess, if any, of the Fund’s obligations over its entitlements with respect to a swap agreement entered into on a net basis will be accrued daily and an amount of cash or liquid asset having an aggregate NAV at least equal to the accrued excess will be maintained in an account with the Custodian. The Fund will also establish and maintain such accounts with respect to its total obligations under any swaps that are not entered into on a net basis. Obligations under swap agreements so covered will not be construed to be “senior securities” for purposes of the Fund’s investment restriction concerning senior securities.
Because they are two-party contracts and because they may have terms of greater than seven days, swap agreements may be considered to be illiquid for the Fund’s illiquid investment limitations. The Fund will not enter into any swap agreement unless the Adviser believes that the other party to the transaction is creditworthy. The Fund bears the risk of loss of the amount expected to be received under a swap agreement in the event of the default or bankruptcy of a swap agreement counter-party.
The Fund may enter into a swap agreement in circumstances where the Adviser believes that it may be more cost effective or practical than buying the securities represented by such index or a futures contract or an option on such index. The counter-party to any swap agreement will typically be a bank, investment banking firm or broker/dealer. The counter-party will generally agree to pay the Fund the amount, if any, by which the notional
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amount of the swap agreement would have increased in value had it been invested in the particular stocks represented in the index, plus the dividends that would have been received on those stocks. The Fund will agree to pay to the counter-party a floating rate of interest on the notional amount of the swap agreement plus the amount, if any, by which the notional amount would have decreased in value had it been invested in such stocks. Therefore, the return to the Fund on any swap agreement should be the gain or loss on the notional amount plus dividends on the stocks less the interest paid by the Fund on the notional amount.
The swap market has grown substantially in recent years with a large number of banks and investment banking firms acting both as principals and as agents utilizing standardized swap documentation. As a result, the swap market has become relatively liquid in comparison with the markets for other similar instruments that are traded in the over-the-counter market.
Regulation as a Commodity Pool Operator
The Trust, on behalf of the Fund, has filed with the National Futures Association, a notice claiming an exclusion from the definition of the term “commodity pool operator” under the Commodity Exchange Act, as amended, and the rules of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission promulgated thereunder, with respect to the Fund’s operations. Accordingly, the Fund is not currently subject to registration or regulation as a commodity pool operator.
When-Issued, Forward Commitments and Delayed Settlements
The Fund may purchase and sell securities on a when-issued, forward commitment or delayed settlement basis. In this event, the Custodian (as defined under the section entitled “Custodian”) will segregate liquid assets equal to the amount of the commitment in a separate account. Normally, the Custodian will set aside portfolio securities to satisfy a purchase commitment. In such a case, the Fund may be required subsequently to segregate additional assets in order to assure that the value of the account remains equal to the amount of the Fund's commitment. It may be expected that the Fund’s net assets will fluctuate to a greater degree when it sets aside portfolio securities to cover such purchase commitments than when it sets aside cash.
The Fund does not intend to engage in these transactions for speculative purposes but only in furtherance of its investment objectives. Because the Fund will segregate liquid assets to satisfy its purchase commitments in the manner described, the Fund's liquidity and the ability of the Adviser to manage them may be affected in the event the Fund's forward commitments, commitments to purchase when-issued securities and delayed settlements ever exceeded 15% of the value of its net assets.
The Fund will purchase securities on a when-issued, forward commitment or delayed settlement basis only with the intention of completing the transaction. If deemed advisable as a matter of investment strategy, however, the Fund may dispose of or renegotiate a commitment after it is entered into, and may sell securities it has committed to purchase before those securities are delivered to the Fund on the settlement date. In these cases, the Fund may realize a taxable capital gain or loss. When the Fund engages in when-issued, forward commitment and delayed settlement transactions, it relies on the other party to consummate the trade. Failure of such party to do so may result in the Fund incurring a loss or missing an opportunity to obtain a price credited to be advantageous.
The market value of the securities underlying a when-issued purchase, forward commitment to purchase securities, or a delayed settlement and any subsequent fluctuations in their market value is taken into account when determining the market value of the Fund starting on the day the Fund agrees to purchase the securities. The Fund
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does not earn interest on the securities it has committed to purchase until it has paid for and delivered on the settlement date.
Illiquid and Restricted Securities
The Fund may invest up to 15% of its net assets in illiquid securities. Illiquid securities include securities subject to contractual or legal restrictions on resale (e.g., because they have not been registered under the Securities Act) and securities that are otherwise not readily marketable (e.g., because trading in the security is suspended or because market makers do not exist or will not entertain bids or offers). Securities that have not been registered under the Securities Act are referred to as private placements or restricted securities and are purchased directly from the issuer or in the secondary market. Foreign securities that are freely tradable in their principal markets are not considered to be illiquid.
Restricted and other illiquid securities may be subject to the potential for delays on resale and uncertainty in valuation. The Fund might be unable to dispose of illiquid securities promptly or at reasonable prices and might thereby experience difficulty in satisfying redemption requests from shareholders. The Fund might have to register restricted securities in order to dispose of them, resulting in additional expense and delay. Adverse market conditions could impede such a public offering of securities.
A large institutional market exists for certain securities that are not registered under the Securities Act, including foreign securities. The fact that there are contractual or legal restrictions on resale to the general public or to certain institutions may not be indicative of the liquidity of such investments. Rule 144A under the Securities Act allows such a broader institutional trading market for securities otherwise subject to restrictions on resale to the general public. Rule 144A establishes a “safe harbor” from the registration requirements of the Securities Act for resale of certain securities to qualified institutional buyers. Rule 144A has produced enhanced liquidity for many restricted securities, and market liquidity for such securities may continue to expand as a result of this regulation and the consequent existence of the PORTAL system, which is an automated system for the trading, clearance and settlement of unregistered securities of domestic and foreign issuers sponsored by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc. (“FINRA”).
Under guidelines adopted by the Board, the Adviser may determine that particular Rule 144A securities, and commercial paper issued in reliance on the private placement exemption from registration afforded by Section 4(a)(2) of the Securities Act, are liquid even though they are not registered. A determination of whether such a security is liquid or not is a question of fact. In making this determination, the Adviser will consider, as it deems appropriate under the circumstances and among other factors: (1) the frequency of trades and quotes for the security; (2) the number of dealers willing to purchase or sell the security; (3) the number of other potential purchasers of the security; (4) dealer undertakings to make a market in the security; (5) the nature of the security (e.g., debt or equity, date of maturity, terms of dividend or interest payments, and other material terms) and the nature of the marketplace trades (e.g., the time needed to dispose of the security, the method of soliciting offers, and the mechanics of transfer); and (6) the rating of the security and the financial condition and prospects of the issuer. In the case of commercial paper, the Adviser will also determine that the paper (1) is not traded flat or in default as to principal and interest, and (2) is rated in one of the two highest rating categories by at least two Nationally Recognized Statistical Rating Organizations (“NRSROs”) or, if only one NRSRO rates the security, by that NRSRO, or, if the security is unrated, the Adviser determines that it is of equivalent quality.
Rule 144A securities and Section 4(a)(2) commercial paper that have been deemed liquid as described above will continue to be monitored by the Adviser to determine if the security is no longer liquid as the result of changed conditions. Investing in Rule 144A securities or Section 4(a)(2) commercial paper could have the effect of increasing
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the amount of the Fund's assets invested in illiquid securities if institutional buyers are unwilling to purchase such securities.
Lending Portfolio Securities
For the purpose of achieving income, the Fund may lend its portfolio securities, provided (1) the loan is secured continuously by collateral consisting of U.S. Government securities or cash or cash equivalents (cash, U.S. Government securities, negotiable certificates of deposit, bankers' acceptances or letters of credit) maintained on a daily mark-to-market basis in an amount at least equal to the current market value of the securities loaned, (2) the Fund may at any time call the loan and obtain the return of securities loaned, (3) the Fund will receive any interest or dividends received on the loaned securities, and (4) the aggregate value of the securities loaned will not at any time exceed one-third of the total assets of the Fund.
Short Sales
Short Sales “Against the Box.” The Fund may engage in short sales ”against the box.” In a short sale, the Fund sells a borrowed security and has a corresponding obligation to the lender to return the identical security. The seller does not immediately deliver the securities sold and is said to have a short position in those securities until delivery occurs. The Fund may engage in a short sale if at the time of the short sale the Fund owns or has the right to obtain without additional cost an equal amount of the security being sold short. This investment technique is known as a short sale “against the box.” It may be entered into by the Fund to, for example, lock in a sale price for a security the Fund does not wish to sell immediately. If the Fund engages in a short sale, the collateral for the short position will be segregated in an account with the Fund’s custodian or qualified sub-custodian. No more than 10% of the Fund’s net assets (taken at current value) may be held as collateral for short sales against the box at any one time.
The Fund may make a short sale as a hedge, when it believes that the price of a security may decline, causing a decline in the value of a security owned by the Fund (or a security convertible or exchangeable for such security). In such case, any future losses in the Fund’s long position should be offset by a gain in the short position and, conversely, any gain in the long position should be reduced by a loss in the short position. The extent to which such gains or losses are reduced will depend upon the amount of the security sold short relative to the amount the Fund owns. There will be certain additional transaction costs associated with short sales ”against the box,” but the Fund will endeavor to offset these costs with the income from the investment of the cash proceeds of short sales.
If the Fund effect a short sale of securities at a time when it has an unrealized gain on the securities, it may be required to recognize that gain as if it had actually sold the securities (as a “constructive sale”) on the date it effects the short sale. However, such constructive sale treatment may not apply if the Fund close out the short sale with securities other than the appreciated securities held at the time of the short sale and if certain other conditions are satisfied. Uncertainty regarding the tax consequences of effecting short sales may limit the extent to which the Fund may effect short sales.
Short Sales (excluding Short Sales “Against the Box”). The Fund may sell securities short. A short sale is a transaction in which the Fund sells securities it does not own in anticipation of a decline in the market price of the securities.
To deliver the securities to the buyer, the Fund must arrange through a broker to borrow the securities and, in so doing, the Fund become obligated to replace the securities borrowed at their market price at the time of replacement, whatever that price may be. The Fund will make a profit or incur a loss as a result of a short sale
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depending on whether the price of the securities decreases or increases between the date of the short sale and the date on which the Fund purchase the security to replace the borrowed securities that have been sold. The amount of any loss would be increased (and any gain decreased) by any premium or interest the Fund is required to pay in connection with a short sale.
The Fund’s obligation to replace the securities borrowed in connection with a short sale will be secured by cash or liquid securities deposited as collateral with the broker. In addition, the Fund will place in a segregated account with its custodian or a qualified sub-custodian an amount of cash or liquid securities equal to the difference, if any, between (i) the market value of the securities sold at the time they were sold short and (ii) any cash or liquid securities deposited as collateral with the broker in connection with the short sale (not including the proceeds of the short sale). Until it replaces the borrowed securities, the Fund will maintain the segregated account daily at a level so that (a) the amount deposited in the account plus the amount deposited with the broker (not including the proceeds from the short sale) will equal the current market value of the securities sold short and (b) the amount deposited in the account plus the amount deposited with the broker (not including the proceeds from the short sale) will not be less than the market value of the securities at the time they were sold short.”
INVESTMENT RESTRICTIONS
The Fund has adopted the following investment restrictions that may not be changed without approval by a “majority of the outstanding shares” of the Fund, which, as used in this SAI, means the vote of the lesser of (a) 67% or more of the shares of the Fund represented at a meeting, if the holders of more than 50% of the outstanding shares of the Fund are present or represented by proxy, or (b) more than 50% of the outstanding shares of the Fund. The Fund may not:
1. Issue senior securities, except as otherwise permitted under the 1940 Act, and the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder;
2. Borrow money, except (a) from a bank, provided that immediately after such borrowing there is an asset coverage of 300% for all borrowings of the Fund; or (b) from a bank or other persons for temporary purposes only, provided that such temporary borrowings are in an amount not exceeding 5% of the Fund’s total assets at the time when the borrowing is made. This limitation does not preclude the Fund from entering into reverse repurchase transactions, provided that the Fund has an asset coverage of 300% for all borrowings and repurchase commitments of the Fund pursuant to reverse repurchase transactions;
3. Purchase securities on margin, participate on a joint or joint and several basis in any securities trading account, or underwrite securities. This limitation does not preclude the Fund from obtaining such short-term credit as may be necessary for the clearance of purchases and sales of its portfolio securities, and except to the extent that the Fund may be deemed an underwriter under the Securities Act, by virtue of disposing of portfolio securities;
4. Purchase or sell real estate or interests in real estate. This limitation is not applicable to investments in marketable securities that are secured by or represent interests in real estate. This limitation does not preclude the Fund from investing in mortgage-related securities or investing in companies engaged in the real estate business or that have a significant portion of their assets in real estate (including real estate investment trusts);
5. Invest more than 25% of the market value of its assets in the securities of companies engaged in any one industry or group of industries. This limitation does not apply to investment in the securities of the U.S. Government, its agencies or instrumentalities;
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6. Purchase or sell commodities (unless acquired as a result of ownership of securities or other investments) or commodity futures contracts, except that the Fund may purchase and sell futures contracts and options to the full extent permitted under the 1940 Act, sell foreign currency contracts in accordance with any rules of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, invest in securities or other instruments backed by commodities, and invest in companies that are engaged in a commodities business or have a significant portion of their assets in commodities; or
7. Make loans to others, except that the Fund may, in accordance with its investment objective and policies, (i) lend portfolio securities, (ii) purchase and hold debt securities or other debt instruments, including but not limited to loan participations and sub-participations, assignments, and structured securities, (iii) make loans secured by mortgages on real property, (iv) enter into repurchase agreements, (v) enter into transactions where each loan is represented by a note executed by the borrower, and (vi) make time deposits with financial institutions and invest in instruments issued by financial institutions. For purposes of this limitation, the term “loans” shall not include the purchase of a portion of an issue of publicly distributed bonds, debentures or other securities.
If a restriction on the Fund’s investments is adhered to at the time an investment is made, a subsequent change in the percentage of Fund assets invested in certain securities or other instruments of the Fund’s investment portfolio, resulting from changes in the value of the Fund’s total assets, will not be considered a violation of the restriction; provided, however, that the asset coverage requirement applicable to borrowings shall be maintained in the manner contemplated by applicable law.
With respect to Fundamental Investment Restriction # 2, if the Fund’s asset coverage falls below 300%, the Fund will reduce borrowing within 3 days in order to ensure that the Fund has 300% asset coverage.
With respect to Fundamental Investment Restriction # 5, if the Fund invests in one or more investment companies that concentrates its investments in a particular industry, the Fund will examine its other investment company holdings to ensure that the Fund is not indirectly concentrating its investments in a particular industry.
Although Fundamental Investment Restriction # 7 reserves for the Fund the ability to make loans, there is no present intent to loan money or portfolio securities and additional disclosure will be provided if such a strategy is implemented in the future.
POLICIES AND PROCEDURES FOR DISCLOSURE OF PORTFOLIO HOLDINGS
The Trust has adopted a policy regarding the disclosure of information about the Fund's portfolio holdings. The Fund and it’s service providers may not receive compensation or any other consideration (which includes any agreement to maintain assets in the Fund or in other investment companies or accounts managed by the Adviser or any affiliated person of the Adviser) in connection with the disclosure of portfolio holdings information of the Fund. The Trust’s policy is implemented and overseen by the Chief Compliance Officer of the Fund, subject to the oversight of the Board. Periodic reports regarding these procedures will be provided to the Board. The Trust, the Adviser and the Fund’s distributor will not disseminate non-public information concerning the Trust. The Board must approve all material amendments to this policy.
Each business day, the Fund’s portfolio holdings information will generally be provided for dissemination through the facilities of the National Securities Clearing Corporation (“NSCC”) and/or other fee-based subscription services to NSCC members and/or subscribers to those other fee-based subscription services, including APs, and to entities that publish and/or analyze such information in connection with the process of
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purchasing or redeeming Creation Units or trading shares of the Fund in the secondary market. This information typically reflects the Fund’s anticipated holdings as of the next Business Day.
Access to information concerning the Fund's portfolio holdings may be permitted to personnel of third party service providers, including the Fund’s custodian, transfer agent, auditors and counsel, as may be necessary to conduct business in the ordinary course in a manner consistent with such service providers' agreements with the Trust on behalf of the Fund.
The Fund discloses on the Adviser’s website at www.cpetfs.com at the start of each Business Day the identities and quantities of the securities and other assets held by the Fund that will form the basis of the Fund’s calculation of its NAV on that Business Day. The portfolio holdings so disclosed will be based on information as of the close of business on the prior Business Day and/or trades that have been completed prior to the opening of business on that Business Day and that are expected to settle on that Business Day. The Fund may also concurrently disclose this portfolio holdings information directly to ratings agencies on a daily basis.
Quarterly Portfolio Schedule. The Trust is required to disclose, after its first and third fiscal quarters, the complete schedule of the Fund's portfolio holdings with the SEC on Form N-Q. The Trust will also disclose a complete schedule of the Fund's portfolio holdings with the SEC on Form N-CSR after its second and fourth quarters.
Form N-Q and Form N-CSR for the Fund will be available on the SEC's website at www.sec.gov. The Fund's Form N-Q and Form N-CSR, when available, may also be reviewed and copied at the SEC's Public Reference Room in Washington, D.C., and information on the operation of the Public Reference Room may be obtained by calling 202-551-8090. The Fund's Form N-Q and Form N-CSR will be available without charge, upon request, by calling 844-509-2775 by visiting www.cpetfs.com, or by writing to: CP High Yield Trend ETF, c/o Gemini Fund Services, LLC, 80 Arkay Drive, Suite 110, Hauppauge, New York 11788.
The Adviser. Personnel of the Adviser, including personnel responsible for managing the Fund’s portfolio, may have full daily access to Fund portfolio holdings since that information is necessary in order for the Adviser to provide its management, administrative, and investment services to the Fund. As required for purposes of analyzing the impact of existing and future market changes on the prices, availability, as demand and liquidity of such securities, as well as for the assistance of portfolio managers in the trading of such securities, Adviser personnel may also release and discuss certain portfolio holdings with various broker-dealers.
Gemini Fund Services, LLC. Gemini Fund Services, LLC is the fund accountant, administrator, and custody administrator for the Fund; therefore, its personnel have full daily access to the Fund’s portfolio holdings since that information is necessary in order for them to provide the agreed-upon services for the Trust.
Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. is custodian and transfer agent for the Fund; therefore, its personnel have full daily access to the Fund’s portfolio holdings since that information is necessary in order for them to provide the agreed-upon services for the Trust.
RSM US LLP. RSM US LLP is the Fund’s independent registered public accounting firm; therefore, its personnel have access to the Fund’s portfolio holdings in connection with auditing of the Fund’s annual financial statements and providing other audit, tax and related services for the Fund.
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Thompson Hine LLP. Thompson Hine LLP is counsel to the Fund; therefore, its personnel have access to the Fund’s portfolio holdings in connection with review of the Fund’s annual and semi-annual shareholder reports and SEC filings.
Additions to List of Approved Recipients
The Trust’s Chief Compliance Officer is the person responsible, and whose prior approval is required, for any disclosure of the Fund’s portfolio securities at any time or to any persons other than those described above. In such cases, the recipient must have a legitimate business need for the information and must be subject to a duty to keep the information confidential. There are no ongoing arrangements in place with respect to the disclosure of portfolio holdings. In no event shall the Fund, the Adviser, or any other party receive any direct or indirect compensation in connection with the disclosure of information about the Fund’s portfolio holdings.
Compliance with Portfolio Holdings Disclosure Procedures
The Trust’s Chief Compliance Officer will report periodically to the Board with respect to compliance with the Fund’s portfolio holdings disclosure procedures, and from time to time will provide the Board any updates to the portfolio holdings disclosure policies and procedures.
There is no assurance that the Trust's policies on disclosure of portfolio holdings will protect the Fund from the potential misuse of holdings information by individuals or firms in possession of that information.
MANAGEMENT
The business of the Trust is managed under the direction of the Board in accordance with the Agreement and Declaration of Trust and the Trust's By-laws (the “Governing Documents”), which have been filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission and are available upon request. The Board consists of five (5) individuals, each of whom are not “interested persons” (as defined under the 1940 Act) of the Trust or any investment adviser to any series of the Trust (“Independent Trustees”). Pursuant to the Governing Documents, the Trustees shall elect officers including a President, a Secretary, a Treasurer, a Principal Executive Officer and a Principal Accounting Officer. The Board retains the power to conduct, operate and carry on the business of the Trust and has the power to incur and pay any expenses, which, in the opinion of the Board, are necessary or incidental to carry out any of the Trust's purposes. The Trustees, officers, employees and agents of the Trust, when acting in such capacities, shall not be subject to any personal liability except for his or her own bad faith, willful misfeasance, gross negligence or reckless disregard of his or her duties.
Board Leadership Structure
The Board of Trustees is led by John V. Palancia, who has served as the Chairman of the Board since May 2014. The Board of Trustees has not appointed a Lead Independent Trustee because all Trustees are Independent Trustees. Under the Governing Documents, the Chairman of the Board is responsible for (a) presiding at Board meetings, (b) calling special meetings on an as-needed basis, and (c) execution and administration of Trust policies, including (i) setting the agendas for Board meetings and (ii) providing information to Board members in advance of each Board meeting and between Board meetings. Generally, the Trust believes it best to have a non-executive Chairman of the Board, who together with the President (principal executive officer), are seen by our shareholders, business partners and other stakeholders as providing strong leadership. The Trust believes that its Chairman, the independent chair of the Audit Committee, and, as an entity, the full Board of Trustees, provide effective leadership that is in the best interests of the Trust, its Funds and each shareholder.
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Board Risk Oversight
The Board of Trustees is comprised entirely of Independent Trustees with an Audit Committee with a separate chair. The Board of Trustees is responsible for overseeing risk management, and the full Board of Trustees regularly engages in discussions of risk management and receives compliance reports that inform its oversight of risk management from its Chief Compliance Officer at quarterly meetings and on an ad hoc basis, when and if necessary. The Audit Committee considers financial and reporting the risk within its area of responsibilities. Generally, the Board believes that its oversight of material risks is adequately maintained through the compliance-reporting chain where the Chief Compliance Officer is the primary recipient and communicator of such risk-related information.
Trustee Qualifications
Generally, the Fund believes that each Trustee is competent to serve because of his or her individual overall merits including: (i) experience, (ii) qualifications, (iii) attributes and (iv) skills.
James Jensen has over 40 years of business experience in a wide range of industries including the financial services industry. His experience includes over 25 years of mutual fund board experience with service as chairman of the Audit Committee, chairman of the Nominating and Governance Committee and, for the past eight years, as Chairman of the Board of Wasatch Funds. Since April 2008, Mr. Jensen has served as the Chief Executive Officer of Clearwater Law & Governance Group, where he devotes himself full time to corporate law practice, board governance consulting for operating companies and private investing. In May 2014, Mr. Jensen and his firm conducted the 11th Green River Conference on Corporate Governance for lawyers, accountants, directors and service providers. In 2001, Mr. Jensen co-founded Intelisum, Inc., a company pursuing computer and measurement technology and products, and was Chairman of the Board from 2001 to 2008. From 1986 to 2004, Mr. Jensen held key positions with NPS Pharmaceuticals, Inc., including Vice President, Corporate Development, Legal Affairs and General Counsel and Secretary. In addition to his business experience, Mr. Jensen was Chairman of the Board of Agricon Global Corporation, formerly BayHill Capital Corporation from 2008 to 2014 and was a Director of the University of Utah Research Foundation from 2000 to 2018. Mr. Jensen was the founder and first President of the MountainWest Venture Group (now “MountainWest Capital Network”) in 1983. Mr. Jensen is a member of the National Association of Corporate Directors. Mr. Jensen graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Utah in 1967 and received degrees of Juris Doctor and Master of Business Administration from Columbia University in 1971.
Patricia Luscombe, CFA, has more than 25 years in financial advisory and valuation services. She has delivered a broad range of corporate finance advice including fairness opinions and valuations. Ms. Luscombe joined Lincoln International in 2007 as a Managing Director and co-head of Lincoln's Valuations & Opinions Group. In this position, she assists regulated investment funds, business development companies, private equity funds and hedge funds in the valuation of illiquid securities for fair value accounting purposes. Ms. Luscombe's clients range from closely-held businesses to large, publicly-traded companies. Previously, Ms. Luscombe spent 16 years with Duff & Phelps Corporation, as a Managing Director in the firm's valuation and financial advisory business. Prior to joining Duff & Phelps Corporation, Ms. Luscombe was an Associate at Smith Barney, a division of Citigroup Capital Markets, Inc., where she managed a variety of financial transactions, including mergers and acquisitions, leveraged buyouts, and equity and debt financings. Ms. Luscombe is a member of the Chicago Chapter of the Association for Corporate Growth, the Chartered Financial Analyst Society of Chicago and former president of the Chicago Finance Exchange. Ms. Luscombe holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics from Stanford University, a Master's degree in economics from the University of Chicago and a Master of Business Administration degree from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. In addition, Ms. Luscombe is licensed under the Series 24, 79 and 63 of FINRA.
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John V. Palancia has over 40 years of business experience in the financial services industry including serving as the Director of Global Futures Operations for Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith, Inc. (“Merrill Lynch”) Mr. Palancia possesses an in depth understanding of broker-dealer operations from having served in various management capacities and has held industry registrations in both securities and futures. Based on his service at Merrill Lynch, he also possesses a strong understanding of risk management, balance sheet analysis, compliance and the regulatory framework under which regulated financial entities must operate. Additionally, he is well versed in the regulatory framework under which investment companies must operate based on his service as a member of three other mutual fund boards. This practical and extensive experience in the securities industry provides valuable insight into fund operations and enhances his ability to effectively serve as chairman of the Board. Mr. Palancia holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Economics.
Mark H. Taylor has 30 years of academic and professional experience in the accounting and auditing fields which makes him particularly qualified to serve as the Trust’s Audit Committee chair. He holds PhD, Master’s and Bachelor’s degrees in Accounting and is a licensed Certified Public Accountant. Dr. Taylor is a Director of the Lynn Pippenger School of Accountancy at the Muma College of Business at the University of South Florida. Since August 2017, Dr. Taylor has been serving a three-year term as Vice President-Finance on the Board of Directors of the American Accounting Association (AAA). From 2012 to 2015, he served a 3-year term as President of the Auditing Section of the AAA (Vice-President 2012-2013, President 2013-2014, and Past President (2014-2015). Dr. Taylor serves as a member of two other mutual fund boards within the Northern Lights Fund Complex, and completed a fellowship in the Professional Practice Group of the Office of the Chief Accountant at the headquarters of the United States Securities Exchange Commission. He also served a three-year term on the AICPA’s Auditing Standards Board (2010-2012). Dr. Taylor is a member of two research teams that recently received grants from the Center for Audit Quality to study how auditors manage the process of auditing fair value measurements in financial statements and how accounting firms’ tone-at-the top messaging impacts audit performance. Dr. Taylor teaches corporate governance and accounting policy as well as auditing and assurance services and possesses a strong understanding of the regulatory framework under which investment companies operate.
Jeffery D. Young has over 40 years of business management experience, including in the transportation industry and operations and information technologies. He is currently Co-owner and Vice President of the Latin America Agriculture Development Corporation, an agribusiness exporting fruit to the United States and other Central American countries. He has served as Assistant Vice President of Transportation Systems at Union Pacific Railroad Company, where he was responsible for the development and implementation of large scale command and control systems that support railroad operations and safety. In this position, Mr. Young was heavily involved in the regulatory compliance of safety and mission critical systems. Mr. Young also served as Chairman of the Association of American Railroads Policy Committee and represented both Union Pacific Railroad and the railroad industry in safety and regulatory hearings with the National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Railroad Administration in Washington, DC. Mr. Young was a member of the Board of Directors of PS Technologies, a Union Pacific affiliate serving as a technology supplier to the railroad industry. His practical business experience and understanding of regulatory compliance provides a different perspective that will bring diversity to Board deliberations.
Trustees and Officers. The Trustees and officers of the Trust, together with information as to their principal business occupations during the past five years and other information, are shown below. Unless otherwise noted, the address of each Trustee and officer is 17645 Wright Street, Suite 200, Omaha, Nebraska 68130.
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Independent Trustees | |||||
Name, Address, Year of Birth | Position(s) Held with Registrant | Length of Service and Term | Principal Occupation(s) During Past 5 Years | Number of Funds Overseen In The Fund Complex* | Other Directorships Held During Past 5 Years** |
James U. Jensen 1944 |
Trustee | Since February 2012, Indefinite | Chief Executive Officer, ClearWater Law & Governance Group, LLC (an operating board governance consulting company) (since 2004). | 5 | Northern Lights Fund Trust III (for series not affiliated with the Funds since 2012); Wasatch Funds Trust, (since 1986); University of Utah Research Foundation (April 2000 to May 2018); Agricon Global Corporation, formerly Bayhill Capital Corporation (large scale farming in Ghana, West Africa) (October 2009 to June 2014). |
Patricia Luscombe 1961 |
Trustee | Since January 2015, Indefinite | Managing Director of the Valuations & Opinions Group, Lincoln International LLC (since August 2007). | 5 | Northern Lights Fund Trust III (for series not affiliated with the Funds since 2015); Monetta Mutual Funds (since November 2015). |
John V. Palancia 1954 |
Trustee, Chairman | Trustee, since February 2012, Indefinite; Chairman of the Board since May 2014 | Retired (since 2011); Formerly, Director of Global Futures Operations Control, Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith, Inc. (1975-2011). | 5 | Northern Lights Fund Trust III (for series not affiliated with the Funds since 2012); Northern Lights Fund Trust (since 2011); Northern Lights Variable Trust (since 2011); Alternative Strategies Fund (since 2012). |
Mark H. Taylor 1964 |
Trustee, Chairman of the Audit Committee | Since February 2012, Indefinite | Director, Lynn Pippenger School of Accountancy, Muma College of Business, University of South Florida (since August 2019); Chair, Department of Accountancy and Andrew D. Braden Professor of Accounting and Auditing, Weatherhead School of Management, Case Western Reserve University (2009-2019); Vice President-Finance, American Accounting Association (2017-2020); President, Auditing Section of the American Accounting Association (2012-15). | 5 | Northern Lights Fund Trust III (for series not affiliated with the Funds since 2012); Northern Lights Fund Trust (since 2007); Northern Lights Variable Trust (since 2007); Alternative Strategies Fund (since June 2010). |
Jeffery D. Young 1956 |
Trustee | Since January 2015, Indefinite | Co-owner and Vice President, Latin America Agriculture Development Corp. (since May 2015); Formerly Asst. Vice President - Transportation Systems, Union Pacific Railroad Company (June 1976 to April 2014); President, Celeritas Rail Consulting (since June 2014). | 5 | Northern Lights Fund Trust III (for series not affiliated with the Funds since 2015); PS Technology, Inc. (2010-2013). |
* As of September 30, 2019, the Trust was comprised of 36 active portfolios managed by 15 unaffiliated investment advisers. The term “Fund Complex” applies only to the Funds. The Funds do not hold themselves out as related to any other series within the Trust for investment purposes, nor do they share the same investment adviser with any other series.
** Only includes directorships held within the past 5 years in a company with a class of securities registered pursuant to Section 12 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 or subject to the requirements of Section 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, or any company registered as an investment company under the 1940 Act.
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Officers of the Trust
Name, Address, Year of Birth | Position(s) Held with Registrant | Length of Service and Term | Principal Occupation(s) During Past 5 Years |
Richard Malinowski 80 Arkay Drive, Hauppauge, NY 11788 1983 |
President |
Since August 2017, indefinite |
Senior Vice President (since 2017), Vice President and Counsel (2015-2016) and Assistant Vice President (2012–2015), Gemini Fund Services, LLC; Vice President and Manager, BNY Mellon Investment Servicing (US), Inc., (2011-2012). |
Brian Curley 80 Arkay Drive, Hauppauge, NY 11788 1970 |
Treasurer |
Since February 2013, indefinite |
Vice President, Gemini Fund Services, LLC (since 2015), Assistant Vice President, Gemini Fund Services, LLC (2012-2014); Senior Controller of Fund Treasury, The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (2008-2012); Senior Associate of Fund Administration, Morgan Stanley (1999-2008). |
Eric Kane 80 Arkay Drive, Hauppauge, NY 11788 1981 |
Secretary |
Since November 2013, indefinite |
Vice President and Counsel, Gemini Fund Services, LLC (since 2017), Assistant Vice President, Gemini Fund Services, LLC (2014- 2017), Staff Attorney, Gemini Fund Services, LLC (2013-2014), Law Clerk, Gemini Fund Services, LLC (2009-2013), Legal Intern, NASDAQ OMX (2011), Hedge Fund Administrator, Gemini Fund Services, LLC (2008), Mutual Fund Accountant/Corporate Action Specialist, Gemini Fund Services, LLC (2006-2008). |
William Kimme 1962 |
Chief Compliance Officer |
Since February 2012, indefinite |
Senior Compliance Officer of Northern Lights Compliance Services, LLC (since 2011); Due Diligence and Compliance Consultant, Mick & Associates (2009-2011); Assistant Director, FINRA (2000-2009). |
Audit Committee. The Board of Trustees has an Audit Committee that consists solely of Trustees who are not “interested persons” of the Trust within the meaning of the 1940 Act. The Audit Committee's responsibilities include: (i) recommending to the Board the selection, retention or termination of the Trust's independent auditors; (ii) reviewing with the independent auditors the scope, performance and anticipated cost of their audit; (iii) discussing with the independent auditors certain matters relating to the Trust's financial statements, including any adjustment to such financial statements recommended by such independent auditors, or any other results of any audit; (iv) reviewing on a periodic basis a formal written statement from the independent auditors with respect to their independence, discussing with the independent auditors any relationships or services disclosed in the statement that may impact the objectivity and independence of the Trust's independent auditors and recommending that the Board of Trustees take appropriate action in response thereto to satisfy itself of the auditor's independence; and (v) considering the comments of the independent auditors and management's responses thereto with respect to the quality and adequacy of the Trust's accounting and financial reporting policies and practices and internal controls. The Audit Committee operates pursuant to an Audit Committee Charter. Dr. Taylor is Chairman of the Audit Committee. During the past fiscal year, the Audit Committee held four meetings.
Compensation of Directors. Effective April 1, 2019, each Trustee who is not affiliated with the Trust or an investment adviser to any series of the Trust will receive a quarterly fee of $21,500, allocated among each of the various portfolios comprising the Trust, for his or her attendance at the regularly scheduled meetings of the Board of Trustees, to be paid in advance of each calendar quarter, as well as reimbursement for any reasonable expenses incurred. From January 1, 2017 through March 31, 2019, each Trustee who is not affiliated with the Trust or an investment adviser to any series of the Trust received a quarterly fee of $20,000 for his or her attendance at the regularly scheduled meetings of the Board of Trustees, paid in advance of each calendar quarter, as well as reimbursement for any reasonable expenses incurred. Since January 1, 2017, in addition to the quarterly fees and reimbursements, the Chairman of the Board receives a quarterly fee of $5,000, and the Audit Committee Chairmen receive a quarterly fee of $3,750.
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Additionally, in the event an in-person meeting of the Board of Trustees other than its regularly scheduled meetings (a “Special Meeting”) is required, each Independent Trustee will receive a fee of $2,500 per Special Meeting, as well as reimbursement for any reasonable expenses incurred, to be paid by the relevant series of the Trust or its investment adviser depending on the circumstances necessitating the Special Meeting. None of the executive officers receive compensation from the Trust.
None of the executive officers receive compensation from the Trust.
The table below details the amount of compensation the Trustees are expected to receive from the Fund and the Trust during the initial fiscal period ending December 31, 2019. Each Independent Trustee is expected to attend all quarterly meetings during the period. The Trust does not have a bonus, profit sharing, pension or retirement plan.
Name and Position |
Estimated Aggregate Compensation From HYTR
|
Pension or Retirement Benefits Accrued as Part of Funds Expenses | Estimated Annual Benefits Upon Retirement | Estimated Total Compensation From Funds and Fund Complex* Paid to Trustees |
James U. Jensen | $2,700 | $2,700 | None | $11,854 |
Patricia Luscombe | $2,700 | $2,700 | None | $11,854 |
John V. Palancia | $3,600 | $3,600 | None | $15,806 |
Mark H. Taylor | $3,300 | $3,300 | None | $14,488 |
Jeffery D. Young | $2,700 | $2,700 | None | $11,854 |
* There are currently numerous series comprising the Trust. The term “Fund Complex” refers only to the Funds managed by the Adviser and not to any other series of the Trust.
Management and Trustee Ownership
As of December 31, 2018, the Trustees beneficially owned the following amounts in the Fund:
Name of Trustee | Dollar Range of Equity Securities in the Fund | Aggregate Dollar Range of Equity Securities in All Registered Investment Companies Overseen by Trustee in Family of Investment Companies* |
James U. Jensen | None | $10,001-$50,000 |
Patricia Luscombe | None | $10,001-$50,000 |
John V. Palancia | None | $10,001-$50,000 |
Mark H. Taylor | None | $10,001-$50,000 |
Jeffery D. Young | None | None |
CONTROL PERSONS AND PRINCIPAL HOLDERS
A principal shareholder is any person who owns (either of record or beneficially) 5% or more of the outstanding shares of a fund. A control person is one who owns, either directly or indirectly more than 25% of the voting securities of a company or acknowledges the existence of control. A control person is one who owns beneficially or through controlled companies more than 25% of the voting securities of a company or acknowledged the existence of control.
As of the date of this SAI, no shareholder(s) of record owned 5% or more of the outstanding Shares of the Fund.
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INVESTMENT ADVISER
Investment Adviser and Advisory Agreement
Counterpoint Mutual Funds, LLC, 12760 High Bluff Drive, Suite 2800, San Diego, CA 92130 serves as the Fund’s investment adviser. The Adviser is registered with the SEC as an investment adviser under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, as amended.
Subject to the oversight of the Board, the Adviser is responsible for the overall management of the Fund’s investment-related business affairs. Pursuant to an investment advisory agreement (the “Advisory Agreement”) with the Trust, on behalf of the Fund, the Adviser, subject to the supervision of the Board, and in conformity with the stated policies of the Fund, manages the portfolio investment operations of the Fund. The Adviser has overall supervisory responsibilities for the general management and investment of the Fund’s securities portfolio, as detailed below, which are subject to review and approval by the Board of Trustees. In general, the Adviser's duties include setting the Fund’s overall investment strategies and asset allocation.
Pursuant to the Advisory Agreement, the Adviser, under the supervision of the Board of Trustees, agrees to invest the assets of the Fund in accordance with applicable law and the investment objective, policies and restrictions set forth in the Fund’s current Prospectus and Statement of Additional Information, and subject to such further limitations as the Trust may from time to time impose by written notice to the Adviser. The Adviser shall act as the investment adviser to the Fund and, as such shall, (i) obtain and evaluate such information relating to the economy, industries, business, securities markets and securities as it may deem necessary or useful in discharging its responsibilities here under, (ii) formulate a continuing program for the investment of the assets of the Fund in a manner consistent with its investment objective, policies and restrictions, and (iii) determine from time to time securities to be purchased, sold, retained or lent by the Fund, and implement those decisions, including the selection of entities with or through which such purchases, sales or loans are to be effected; provided, that the Adviser or its designee, directly, will place orders pursuant to its investment determinations either directly with the issuer or with a broker or dealer, and if with a broker or dealer, (a) will attempt to obtain the best price and execution of its orders, and (b) may nevertheless in its discretion purchase and sell portfolio securities from and to brokers who provide the Adviser with research, analysis, advice and similar services and pay such brokers in return a higher commission or spread than may be charged by other brokers. The Adviser also provides the Fund with all necessary office facilities and personnel for servicing the Fund’s investments, compensates all officers, Trustees and employees of the Trust who are officers, directors or employees of the Adviser, and all personnel of the Fund or the Adviser performing services relating to research, statistical and investment activities.
In addition, the Adviser, subject to the supervision of the Board of Trustees, provides the management and supplemental administrative services necessary for the operation of the Fund. These services include providing assisting in the supervising of relations with custodians, transfer and pricing agents, accountants, underwriters and other persons dealing with the Fund; assisting in the preparing of all general shareholder communications and conducting shareholder relations; assisting in maintaining the Fund’s records and the registration of the Shares under federal securities laws and making necessary filings under state securities laws; assisting in developing management and shareholder services for the Fund; and furnishing reports, evaluations and analyses on a variety of subjects to the Trustees.
The Fund pays an annual management fee (computed daily and payable monthly) of 0.50% of the Fund’s average daily net assets to the Adviser pursuant to the Advisory Agreement.
Counterpoint Mutual Funds, LLC (the “Adviser”) has contractually agreed to waive its fees and reimburse expenses of the Fund, until at least April 30, 2022 to ensure that total annual fund operating expenses after fee
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waiver and/or reimbursement (excluding (i) of any front-end or contingent deferred loads; (ii) brokerage fees and commissions; (iii) acquired fund fees and expenses; (iv) fees and expenses associated with investments in other collective investment vehicles or derivative instruments (including for example option and swap fees and expenses); (v) borrowing costs (such as interest and dividend expense on securities sold short); (vi) taxes; and (vii) extraordinary expenses, such as litigation expenses (which may include indemnification of Fund officers and Trustees, contractual indemnification of Fund service providers (other than the Adviser))) will not exceed 0.60% of the Fund’s net assets. This fee waiver and expense reimbursement are subject to possible recoupment from the Fund within the three years after the fees have been waived or reimbursed, if such recoupment can be achieved within the lesser of the foregoing expense limits in place at the time of recapture.
Expenses not expressly assumed by the Adviser under the Advisory Agreement are paid by the Fund. Under the terms of the Advisory Agreement, the Fund is responsible for the payment of the following expenses among others: (a) the fees payable to the Adviser, (b) the fees and expenses of Trustees who are not affiliated persons of the Adviser or the Fund’s distributor (c) the fees and certain expenses of the custodian and transfer and dividend disbursing agent, including the cost of maintaining certain required records of the Fund and of pricing the Shares, (d) the charges and expenses of legal counsel and independent accountants for the Fund, (e) brokerage commissions and any issue or transfer taxes chargeable to the Fund in connection with its securities transactions, (f) all taxes and corporate fees payable by the Fund to governmental agencies, (g) the fees of any trade association of which the Fund may be a member, (h) the cost of fidelity and liability insurance, (i) the fees and expenses involved in registering and maintaining registration of the Fund and of shares with the SEC, qualifying its shares under state securities laws, including the preparation and printing of the Fund’s registration statements and prospectuses for such purposes, (j) all expenses of shareholders and Trustees' meetings (including travel expenses of trustees and officers of the Trust who are not directors, officers or employees of the Adviser) and of preparing, printing and mailing reports, proxy statements and prospectuses to shareholders in the amount necessary for distribution to the shareholders and (k) litigation and indemnification expenses and other extraordinary expenses not incurred in the ordinary course of the Fund’s business.
The Advisory Agreement will continue in effect for two (2) years initially and thereafter shall continue from year to year provided such continuance is approved at least annually by (a) a vote of the majority of the Independent Trustees, cast in person at a meeting specifically called for the purpose of voting on such approval and by (b) the majority vote of either all of the Trustees or the vote of a majority of the outstanding shares of the Fund. The Advisory Agreement may be terminated without penalty on 60 days written notice by a vote of a majority of the Trustees or by the Adviser, or by holders of a majority of the Fund’s outstanding shares (with respect to the Fund). The Advisory Agreement shall terminate automatically in the event of its assignment.
Code of Ethics
The Trust, the Adviser, and the Fund’s distributor have each adopted codes of ethics (each a “Code”) under Rule 17j-1 under the 1940 Act that governs the personal securities transactions of their board members, officers and employees who may have access to current trading information of the Trust. Under the Codes, the Trustees are permitted to invest in securities that may also be purchased by the Fund.
In addition, the Trust has adopted a code of ethics (the “Trust Code”), which applies only to the Trust's executive officers to ensure that these officers promote professional conduct in the practice of corporate governance and management. The purpose behind these guidelines is to promote (i) honest and ethical conduct, including the ethical handling of actual or apparent conflicts of interest between personal and professional relationships; (ii) full, fair, accurate, timely, and understandable disclosure in reports and documents that the Trust files with, or submits to, the SEC and in other public communications made by the Fund; (iii) compliance with applicable governmental laws, rule and regulations; (iv) the prompt internal reporting of violations of the Trust
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Code to an appropriate person or persons identified in the Trust Code; and (v) accountability for adherence to the Trust Code.
Proxy Voting Policies
The Board has adopted Proxy Voting Policies and Procedures (“Policies”) on behalf of the Trust, which delegate the responsibility for voting proxies to the Adviser or its designee, subject to the Board's continuing oversight. The Policies require that the Adviser or its designee vote proxies received in a manner consistent with the best interests of the Fund and shareholders. The Policies also require the Adviser or its designee to present to the Board, at least annually, the Adviser's Proxy Policies, or the proxy policies of the Adviser's designee, and a record of each proxy voted by the Adviser or its designee on behalf of the Fund, including a report on the resolution of all proxies identified by the Adviser as involving a conflict of interest.
Where a proxy proposal raises a material conflict between the Adviser's interests and the Fund’s interests, the Adviser will resolve the conflict by voting in accordance with the policy guidelines or at the client's directive using the recommendation of an independent third party. If the third party's recommendations are not received in a timely fashion, the Adviser will abstain from voting the securities held by that client's account. A copy of the Adviser's and proxy voting policies is attached hereto as Appendix A.
More information. Information regarding how the Fund voted proxies relating to portfolio securities held by the Fund during the most recent 12-month period ending June 30 will be available (1) without charge, upon request, by calling the Fund at 844-509-2775; and (2) on the SEC’s website at http://www.sec.gov. In addition, a copy of the Fund’s proxy voting policies and procedures are also available by calling 844-509-2775 and will be sent within three business days of receipt of a request.
THE DISTRIBUTOR
Northern Lights Distributors, LLC, located at 17645 Wright Street, Suite 200, Omaha, Nebraska 68130 (the “Distributor”) serves as the principal underwriter and national distributor for the shares of the Fund pursuant to an ETF distribution agreement with the Trust (the “Distribution Agreement”). The Distributor is registered as a broker-dealer under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and each state's securities laws and is a member of the FINRA. The offering of Shares is continuous. The Distribution Agreement provides that the Distributor, as agent in connection with the distribution of Shares, will use reasonable efforts to facilitate the sale of the Shares.
The Distribution Agreement provides that, unless sooner terminated, it will continue in effect for two years initially and thereafter shall continue from year to year, subject to annual approval by (a) the Board or a vote of a majority of the outstanding shares, and (b) by a majority of the Trustees who are not interested persons of the Trust or of the Distributor by vote cast in person at a meeting called for the purpose of voting on such approval.
The Distribution Agreement may be terminated by the Fund at any time, without the payment of any penalty, by vote of a majority of the entire Board of the Trust or by vote of a majority of the outstanding shares of the Fund on 60 days written notice to the Distributor, or by the Distributor at any time, without the payment of any penalty, on 60 days written notice to the Fund. The Distribution Agreement will automatically terminate in the event of its assignment.
Rule 12b-1 Plan
The Trust, with respect to the Fund, has adopted Master Distribution and Shareholder Servicing Plans pursuant to Rule 12b-1 under the 1940 Act (the “Plans”) for Shares pursuant to which the Fund is authorized to pay the Distributor, as compensation for Distributor's account maintenance services under the Plans. The Board
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has approved a distribution and shareholder servicing fee at the rate of up to 0.25% of the Fund’s average daily net assets. Such fees are to be paid by the Fund quarterly, or at such other intervals as the Board shall determine. Such fees shall be based upon the Fund’s average daily net assets during the preceding month, and shall be calculated and accrued daily. The Fund may pay fees to the Distributor at a lesser rate, as agreed upon by the Board of Trustees of the Trust and the Distributor. The Plans authorize payments to the Distributor as compensation for providing account maintenance services to Fund shareholders, including arranging for certain securities dealers or brokers, administrators and others (“Recipients”) to provide these services and paying compensation for these services. The Fund will bear its own costs of distribution with respect to its shares. The Plans were adopted in order to permit the implementation of the Fund’s method of distribution. No fees are currently paid by the Fund under the Plans, and there are no current plans to impose such fees. In the event such fees were to be charged, over time they would increase the cost of an investment in the Fund.
The services to be provided by Recipients may include, but are not limited to, the following: assistance in the offering and sale of Shares and in other aspects of the marketing of the shares to clients or prospective clients of the respective recipients; answering routine inquiries concerning the Fund; assisting in the establishment and maintenance of accounts or sub-accounts in the Fund and in processing purchase and redemption transactions; making the Fund’s investment plan and shareholder services available; and providing such other information and services to investors in shares of the Fund as the Distributor or the Trust, on behalf of the Fund, may reasonably request. The distribution services shall also include any advertising and marketing services provided by or arranged by the Distributor with respect to the Fund.
The Distributor is required to provide a written report, at least quarterly to the Board of Trustees of the Trust, specifying in reasonable detail the amounts expended pursuant to the Plans and the purposes for which such expenditures were made. Further, the Distributor will inform the Board of any Rule 12b-1 fees to be paid by the Distributor to Recipients.
The Plans may not be amended to increase materially the amount of the Distributor's compensation to be paid by the Fund, unless such amendment is approved by the vote of a majority of the outstanding voting securities of the affected class of the Fund (as defined in the 1940 Act). All material amendments must be approved by a majority of the Board of Trustees of the Trust and a majority of the Rule 12b-1 Trustees by votes cast in person at a meeting called for the purpose of voting on the Plans. During the term of the Plans, the selection and nomination of non-interested Trustees of the Trust will be committed to the discretion of current non-interested Trustees. The Distributor will preserve copies of the Plans, any related agreements, and all reports, for a period of not less than six years from the date of such document and for at least the first two years in an easily accessible place.
Any agreement related to the Plans will be in writing and provide that: (a) it may be terminated by the Trust or the Fund at any time upon sixty days written notice, without the payment of any penalty, by vote of a majority of the respective Rule 12b-1 Trustees, or by vote of a majority of the outstanding voting securities of the Trust or the Fund; (b) it will automatically terminate in the event of its assignment (as defined in the 1940 Act); and (c) it will continue in effect for a period of more than one year from the date of its execution or adoption only so long as such continuance is specifically approved at least annually by a majority of the Board and a majority of the Rule 12b-1 Trustees by votes cast in person at a meeting called for the purpose of voting on such agreement.
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PORTFOLIO MANAGERS
As described in the Prospectus, the portfolio managers listed below are responsible for the management of the Fund and, as of September 30, 2019, the other accounts set forth in the following tables.
Other Registered Investment Companies |
Other Pooled
Investment Vehicles |
Other Accounts | ||||
Portfolio Manager | Number | Total Assets | Number | Total Assets | Number | Total Assets |
Michael Krause | 4 | $406,663,000 | None | $0 | 347 | $65,536,000 |
Joseph Engelberg | 4 | $406,663,000 | None | $0 | None | $0 |
Of the accounts above, the following are subject to performance-based fees.
Other Registered Investment Companies |
Other Pooled
Investment Vehicles |
Other Accounts | ||||
Portfolio Manager | Number | Total Assets | Number | Total Assets | Number | Total Assets |
Michael Krause | None | $0 | None | $0 | None | $0 |
Joseph Engelberg | None | $0 | None | $0 | None | $0 |
Conflicts of Interest
As a general matter, certain conflicts of interest may arise in connection with a portfolio manager's management of the Fund’s investments, on the one hand, and the investments of other accounts for which the portfolio manager is responsible, on the other. For example, it is possible that the various accounts managed could have different investment strategies that, at times, might conflict with one another to the possible detriment of the Fund. Alternatively, to the extent that the same investment opportunities might be desirable for more than one account, possible conflicts could arise in determining how to allocate them. Other potential conflicts might include conflicts created by specific portfolio manager compensation arrangements, and conflicts relating to selection of brokers or dealers to execute the Fund’s portfolio trades and/or specific uses of commissions from the Fund’s portfolio trades (for example, research, or “soft dollars”, if any). The Adviser has adopted policies and procedures and has structured the portfolio managers' compensation in a manner reasonably designed to safeguard the Fund from being negatively affected as a result of any such potential conflicts.
Compensation
Mr. Krause shares in the profits of the Adviser due to his one-third ownership of the Adviser. Dr. Engelberg receives a percentage of the Adviser’s net profits from some of its Funds.
Ownership of Securities
As of the date of this SAI, Mr. Krause beneficially owned the following amounts in the Fund:
Fund |
Dollar Range of Shares Beneficially Owned |
CP High Yield Trend ETF | $0 |
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ALLOCATION OF PORTFOLIO BROKERAGE
Specific decisions to purchase or sell securities for the Fund are made by the portfolio managers who are employees of the Adviser. The Adviser is authorized by the Trustees to allocate the orders placed by them on behalf of the Fund to brokers or dealers who may, but need not, provide research or statistical material or other services to the Fund or the Adviser for the Fund’s use. Such allocation is to be in such amounts and proportions as the Adviser may determine.
In selecting a broker or dealer to execute each particular transaction, the Adviser will take the following into consideration:
Brokers or dealers executing a portfolio transaction on behalf of the Fund may receive a commission in excess of the amount of commission another broker or dealer would have charged for executing the transaction if the Adviser determines in good faith that such commission is reasonable in relation to the value of brokerage and research services provided to the Fund. In allocating portfolio brokerage, the Adviser may select brokers or dealers who also provide brokerage, research and other services to other accounts over which the Adviser exercises investment discretion. Some of the services received as the result of Fund transactions may primarily benefit accounts other than the Fund, while services received as the result of portfolio transactions effected on behalf of those other accounts may primarily benefit the Fund.
PORTFOLIO TURNOVER
The Fund portfolio turnover rate is calculated by dividing the lesser of purchases or sales of portfolio securities for the fiscal year by the monthly average of the value of the portfolio securities owned by the Fund during the fiscal year. The calculation excludes from both the numerator and the denominator securities with maturities at the time of acquisition of one year or less. High portfolio turnover involves correspondingly greater brokerage commissions and other transaction costs, which will be borne directly by the Fund. A 100% turnover rate would occur if all of the Fund’s portfolio securities were replaced once within a one-year period.
OTHER SERVICE PROVIDERS
Fund Administration, Fund Accounting and Transfer Agent Services
Gemini Fund Services, LLC (the “Administrator” or “GFS”), which has its principal office at 80 Arkay Drive, Hauppauge, New York 11788, serves as administrator and fund accountant for the Fund pursuant to the ETF Services Agreement with the Trust and subject to the supervision of the Board of Trustees. GFS is primarily in the business of providing administrative, fund accounting and transfer agent services to retail and institutional mutual funds. GFS is an affiliate of the Distributor. GFS may also provide persons to serve as officers of the Fund. Such officers may be directors, officers or employees of GFS or its affiliates.
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The ETF Services Agreement is dated August 29, 2019. The ETF Services Agreement will remain in effect for two years from the effective date of the agreement, and will remain in effect subject to annual approval of the Board for one-year periods thereafter. The ETF Services Agreement is terminable by the Board or the Administrator on ninety days' written notice and may be assigned provided the non-assigning party provides prior written consent. This ETF Services Agreement provides that in the absence of willful misfeasance, bad faith or gross negligence on the part of the Administrator or reckless disregard of its obligations thereunder, the Administrator shall not be liable for any action or failure to act in accordance with its duties thereunder.
Under the ETF Services Agreement, the Administrator provides facilitating administrative services, including: (i) providing services of persons competent to perform such administrative and clerical functions as are necessary to provide effective administration of the Fund; (ii) facilitating the performance of administrative and professional services to the Fund by others, including the Fund’s custodian; (iii) preparing, but not paying for, the periodic updating of the Fund’s Registration Statement, Prospectus and Statement of Additional Information in conjunction with Fund counsel, including the printing of such documents for the purpose of filings with the SEC and state securities administrators, and preparing reports to the Fund’s shareholders and the SEC; (iv) preparing in conjunction with Fund counsel, but not paying for, all filings under the securities or “Blue Sky” laws of such states or countries as are designated by the Distributor, which may be required to register or qualify, or continue the registration or qualification, of the Fund and/or its shares under such laws; (v) preparing notices and agendas for meetings of the Board and minutes of such meetings in all matters required by the 1940 Act to be acted upon by the Board; and (vi) monitoring daily and periodic compliance with respect to all requirements and restrictions of the 1940 Act, the Internal Revenue Code and the Prospectuses.
GFS also provides the Fund with accounting services, including: (i) daily computation of NAV; (ii) maintenance of security ledgers and books and records as required by the 1940 Act; (iii) production of the Fund’s listing of portfolio securities and general ledger reports; (iv) reconciliation of accounting records; (v) calculation of yield and total return for the Fund; (vi) maintenance of certain books and records described in Rule 31a-1 under the 1940 Act, and reconciliation of account information and balances among the Fund’s custodian and Adviser; and (vii) monitoring and evaluation of daily income and expense accruals, and sales and redemptions of Shares.
For the services rendered to the Fund under the Agreement the Fund pays GFS the greater of an annual minimum fee or an asset-based fee, which scales downward based upon net assets. The Fund also pays GFS for any out-of-pocket expenses.
Effective February 1, 2019, NorthStar Financial Services Group, LLC, the parent company of GFS, the Distributor, and Northern Lights Compliance Services, LLC (collectively, the “Gemini Companies”), sold its interest in the Gemini Companies to a third party private equity firm that contemporaneously acquired Ultimus Fund Solutions, LLC (an independent mutual fund administration firm) and its affiliates (collectively, the “Ultimus Companies”). As a result of these separate transactions, the Gemini Companies and the Ultimus Companies are now indirectly owned through a common parent entity, The Ultimus Group, LLC.
Transfer Agent
Brown Brothers Harriman & co., located at 50 Post Office Square, Boston, MA 02110 acts as transfer, dividend disbursing, and shareholder servicing agent for the Fund pursuant to the Custodian and Transfer Agency Agreement between BBH and the Trust on behalf of the Fund (the “Transfer Agent”). Under the Agreement, the Transfer Agent is responsible for administering and performing transfer agent functions, dividend distribution, shareholder administration, and maintaining necessary records in accordance with applicable rules and regulations.
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Custodian
Brown Brothers Harriman & Co., located at 50 Post Office Square, Boston, MA 02110 (the “Custodian”), serves as the custodian of the Fund’s assets pursuant to a custody agreement (the “Custody Agreement”) by and between the Custodian and the Trust on behalf of the Fund. The Custodian's responsibilities include safeguarding and controlling the Fund’s cash and securities, handling the receipt and delivery of securities, and collecting interest and dividends on the Fund’s investments. Pursuant to the Custody Agreement, the Custodian also maintains original entry documents and books of record and general ledgers; posts cash receipts and disbursements; and records purchases and sales based upon communications from the Adviser. The Fund may employ foreign sub-custodians that are approved by the Board to hold foreign assets.
Compliance Officer
Northern Lights Compliance Services, LLC (“NLCS”), 17645 Wright Street, Suite 200, Omaha, NE 68130, an affiliate of GFS and the Distributor, provides a Chief Compliance Officer to the Trust as well as related compliance services pursuant to a consulting agreement between NLCS and the Trust. NLCS’s compliance services consist primarily of reviewing and assessing the policies and procedures of the Trust and its service providers pertaining to compliance with applicable federal securities laws, including Rule 38a-1 under the 1940 Act. For the compliance services rendered to the Fund, the Fund pays NLCS a one-time fee plus an annual asset based fee, which scales downward based upon net assets. The Fund also pays NLCS for any out-of-pocket expenses.
DESCRIPTION OF SHARES
Each Share of beneficial interest of the Trust has one vote in the election of Trustees. Cumulative voting is not authorized for the Trust. This means that the holders of more than 50% of the Shares voting for the election of Trustees can elect 100% of the Trustees if they choose to do so, and, in that event, the holders of the remaining Shares will be unable to elect any Trustees.
Shareholders of the Trust and any other future series of the Trust will vote in the aggregate and not by series except as otherwise required by law or when the Board determines that the matter to be voted upon affects only the interest of the shareholders of a particular series or classes. Matters such as election of Trustees are not subject to separate voting requirements and may be acted upon by shareholders of the Trust voting without regard to series.
The Trust is authorized to issue an unlimited number of Shares of beneficial interest. Each share has equal, per-class, dividend, distribution and liquidation rights. There are no conversion or preemptive rights applicable to any Shares. All Shares issued are fully paid and non-assessable.
ANTI-MONEY LAUNDERING PROGRAM
The Trust has established an Anti-Money Laundering Compliance Program (the “Program”) as required by the Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001 (“USA PATRIOT Act”). To ensure compliance with this law, the Trust's Program provides for the development of internal practices, procedures and controls, designation of anti-money laundering compliance officers, an ongoing training program and an independent audit function to determine the effectiveness of the Program. The Trust's secretary serves as its Anti-Money Laundering Compliance Officer.
Procedures to implement the Program include, but are not limited to, determining that a Fund’s Distributor and Transfer Agent have established proper anti-money laundering procedures, reporting suspicious and/or fraudulent activity and a providing a complete and thorough review of all new opening account applications. The Trust will not transact business with any person or entity whose identity cannot be adequately verified under the provisions of the USA PATRIOT Act.
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As a result of the Program, the Trust may be required to “freeze” the account of a shareholder if the shareholder appears to be involved in suspicious activity or if certain account information matches information on government lists of known terrorists or other suspicious persons, or the Trust may be required to transfer the account or proceeds of the account to a governmental agency.
PURCHASE, REDEMPTION AND PRICING OF SHARES
Calculation of Share Price
As indicated in the Prospectus under the heading “How Shares are Priced,” NAV of a Share is determined by dividing the total value of the Fund's portfolio investments and other assets, less any liabilities, by the total number of shares outstanding of the Fund.
The Administrator calculates the Fund’s NAV at the close of regular trading (normally 4:00 p.m., Eastern time) every day that the New York Stock Exchange (“NYSE”) is open. NAV is calculated by deducting all of the Fund’s liabilities from the total value of its assets and dividing the result by the number of Shares outstanding, rounding to the nearest cent. All valuations are subject to review by the Trust’s Board or its delegate.
In determining NAV, expenses are accrued and applied daily and securities and other assets for which market quotations are readily available are valued at market value. The NAV for the Fund will be calculated and disseminated daily. The value of the Fund’s portfolio securities is based on market value when market quotations are readily available.
Exchange-traded securities, such as common and preferred stocks, ETFs, ETPs, ETNs, closed-end funds, REITs, MLPs, real estate operating companies and similar instruments, generally are valued by using market quotations, but may be valued on the basis of prices furnished by a pricing service when the Adviser believes such prices accurately reflect the fair market value of such securities. Securities that are traded on any stock exchange or on the Exchange are generally valued by the pricing service at the last quoted sale price. Lacking a last sale price, an equity security is generally valued by the pricing service at its last bid price. When market quotations are not readily available, when the Adviser determines that the market quotation or the price provided by the pricing service does not accurately reflect the current market value, or when restricted or illiquid securities are being valued, such securities are valued as determined in good faith by the Adviser. If a security’s market price is not readily available, the security will be valued at fair value as determined by the Trust’s Fair Value Committee in accordance with the Trust’s valuation policies and procedures approved by the Board. The values of assets denominated in foreign currencies are converted into U.S. dollars based on the mean of the current bid and asked prices by major banking institutions and currency dealers.
Bonds, notes, debentures or similar instruments are valued by a pricing service when the Adviser believes such prices are accurate and reflect the fair market value of such securities. If the Adviser decides that a price provided by the pricing service does not accurately reflect the fair market value of the securities, when prices are not readily available from a pricing service, or when restricted or illiquid securities are being valued, securities are valued at fair value as determined in good faith by the Adviser, subject to review by the Board of Trustees. Short-term investments having a maturity of 60 days or less may be amortized to maturity, provided such valuations represent par value.
Futures contracts listed for trading on a futures exchange or board of trade for which market quotations are readily available are valued at the last quoted sales price or, in the absence of a sale, at the mean of the last bid and ask prices.
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Even when market quotations are available, they may be stale or unreliable because the validity of market quotations appears to be questionable; the number of quotations is such as to indicate that there is a thin market in the security; a significant event occurs after the close of a market but before the Fund's NAV calculation that may affect a security's value; or the Adviser is aware of any other data that calls into question the reliability of market quotations such as issuer-specific events, which may include a merger or insolvency, events which affect a geographical area or an industry segment, such as political events or natural disasters, or market events, such as a significant movement in the U.S. market. Where market quotations are not readily available, including where the Adviser determines that the closing price of the security is unreliable, the Adviser will value the security at fair value in good faith using procedures approved by the Board. Fair value pricing involves subjective judgments and it is possible that a fair value determination for a security is materially different than the value that could be realized upon the sale of the security.
Because foreign markets may be open on different days than the days during which a shareholder may purchase Shares, the value of the Fund’s investments may change on days when shareholders are not able to purchase Shares.
Creation Units
The Fund sells and redeems Shares in Creation Units on a continuous basis through the Distributor, without a sales load, at the NAV next determined after receipt of an order in proper form on any Business Day. A “Business Day” is any day on which the NYSE is open for business. As of the date of this SAI, the NYSE observes the following holidays: New Year’s Day, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, Presidents’ Day, Good Friday, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day.
A Creation Unit is an aggregation of 25,000 Shares. The Board may declare a split or a consolidation in the number of Shares outstanding of a Fund or Trust, and make a corresponding change in the number of Shares in a Creation Unit.
Authorized Participants
To purchase or redeem any Creation Units, you must be, or transact through, an AP. In order to be an AP, you must be either a broker-dealer or other participant (“Participating Party”) in the Continuous Net Settlement System (“Clearing Process”) of the National Securities Clearing Corporation (“NSCC”) or a participant in DTC with access to the DTC system (“DTC Participant”), and you must execute an agreement (“Participant Agreement”) with the Distributor that governs transactions in Creation Units.
Investors who are not APs but want to transact in Creation Units may contact the Distributor for the names of APs. An AP may require investors to enter into a separate agreement to transact through it for Creation Units and may require orders for purchases of shares placed with it to be in a particular form. Investors transacting through a broker that is not itself an AP and therefore must still transact through an AP may incur additional charges. There are expected to be a limited number of AP at any one time.
Orders must be transmitted by an AP by telephone or other transmission method acceptable to the Distributor. Market disruptions and telephone or other communication failures may impede the transmission of orders.
Transaction Fees
A fixed fee payable to the Custodian is imposed on each creation and redemption transaction regardless of the number of Creation Units involved in the transaction (“Fixed Fee”). Purchases and redemptions of Creation
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Units for cash or involving cash-in-lieu (as defined below) are required to pay an additional variable charge to compensate the Fund and its ongoing shareholders for brokerage and market impact expenses relating to Creation Unit transactions (“Variable Charge,” and together with the Fixed Fee, the “Transaction Fees”). With the approval of the Board, the Adviser may waive or adjust the Transaction Fees, including the Fixed Fee and/or Variable Charge (shown in the table below), from time to time. In such cases, the AP will reimburse the Fund for, among other things, any difference between the market value at which the securities and/or financial instruments were purchased by a Fund and the cash-in-lieu amount, applicable registration fees, brokerage commissions and certain taxes. In addition, purchasers of Creation Units are responsible for the costs of transferring the Deposit Securities to the account of a Fund.
Investors who use the services of a broker, or other such intermediary may be charged a fee for such services. The Transaction Fees for the Fund are listed in the table below.
Fee for In-Kind and Cash Purchases | Maximum Additional Variable Charge for Cash Purchases* |
$500 | 2.00% |
* As a percentage of the amount invested.
The Clearing Process
Transactions by an AP that is a Participating Party using the NSCC system are referred to as transactions “through the Clearing Process.” Transactions by an AP that is a DTC Participant using the DTC system are referred to as transactions “outside the Clearing Process.” The Clearing Process is an enhanced clearing process that is available only for certain securities and only to DTC participants that are also participants in the Continuous Net Settlement System of the NSCC. In-kind (portions of) purchase orders not subject to the Clearing Process will go through a manual clearing process run by DTC. Portfolio Deposits that include government securities must be delivered through the Federal Reserve Bank wire transfer system (“Federal Reserve System”). Fund Deposits that include cash may be delivered through the Clearing Process or the Federal Reserve System. In-kind deposits of securities for orders outside the Clearing Process must be delivered through the Federal Reserve System (for government securities) or through DTC (for corporate securities).
Foreign Securities
Because the portfolio securities of the Fund may trade 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 affected by events in the relevant foreign markets.
Purchasing Creation Units
Portfolio Deposit
The consideration for a Creation Unit generally consists of the Deposit Securities and a Cash Component. Together, the Deposit Securities and the Cash Component constitute the “Portfolio Deposit.” The Cash Component serves the function of compensating for any differences between the NAV per Creation Unit and the Deposit Securities. Thus, the Cash Component is equal to the difference between (x) the NAV per Creation Unit of the Fund and (y) the market value of the Deposit Securities. If (x) is more than (y), the AP will pay the Cash Component to the Fund. If (x) is less than (y), the AP will receive the Cash Component from the Fund.
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On each Business Day, prior to the opening of business on the Exchange (currently 9:30 a.m., Eastern Time), the Adviser through the Custodian makes available through NSCC the name and amount of each Deposit Security in the current Portfolio Deposit (based on information at the end of the previous Business Day) for the Fund and the (estimated) Cash Component, effective through and including the previous Business Day, per Creation Unit. The Deposit Securities announced are applicable to purchases of Creation Units until the next announcement of Deposit Securities.
Payment of any stamp duty or the like shall be the sole responsibility of the AP purchasing a Creation Unit. The AP must ensure that all Deposit Securities properly denote change in beneficial ownership.
Custom Orders and Cash-in-Lieu
The Fund may, in its sole discretion, permit or require the substitution of an amount of cash (“cash-in-lieu”) to be added to the Cash Component to replace any Deposit Security. The Fund may permit or require cash-in-lieu when, for example, a Deposit Security may not be available in sufficient quantity for delivery or may not be eligible for transfer through the systems of DTC or the Clearing Process. Similarly, the Fund may permit or require cash-in-lieu of Deposit Securities when, for example, the AP or its underlying investor is restricted under U.S. or local securities laws or policies from transacting in one or more Deposit Securities. The Fund will comply with the federal securities laws in accepting Deposit Securities including that the Deposit Securities are sold in transactions that would be exempt from registration under the Securities Act. All orders involving cash-in-lieu are considered to be “Custom Orders.”
Purchase Orders
To order a Creation Unit, an AP must submit an irrevocable purchase order to the Distributor.
Timing of Submission of Purchase Orders
An AP must submit an irrevocable purchase order no later than the earlier of (i) 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time or (ii) the closing time of the bond markets and/or the trading session on the Exchange, on any Business Day in order to receive that Business Day’s NAV (“Cut-off Time”). The Cut-off Time for Custom Orders is generally two hours earlier. The Business Day the order is deemed received by the Distributor is referred to as the “Transmittal Date.” An order to create Creation Units is deemed received on a Business Day if (i) such order is received by the Distributor by the Cut-off Time on such day and (ii) all other procedures set forth in the Participant Agreement are properly followed. Persons placing or effectuating custom orders and/or orders involving cash should be mindful of time deadlines imposed by intermediaries, such as DTC and/or the Federal Reserve Bank wire system, which may impact the successful processing of such orders to ensure that cash and securities are transferred by the “Settlement Date,” which is generally the Business Day immediately following the Transmittal Date (“T+1”) for cash and the second Business Day following the Transmittal Date for securities (“T+2”).
Orders Using the Clearing Process
If available, (portions of) orders may be settled through the Clearing Process. In connection with such orders, the Distributor transmits, on behalf of the AP, such trade instructions as are necessary to effect the creation order. Pursuant to such trade instructions, the AP agrees to deliver the requisite Portfolio Deposit to the Fund, together with such additional information as may be required by the Distributor. Cash Components will be delivered using either the Clearing Process or the Federal Reserve System.
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Orders Outside the Clearing Process
If the Clearing Process is not available for (portions of) an order, Portfolio Deposits will be made outside the Clearing Process. Orders outside the Clearing Process must state that the DTC Participant is not using the Clearing Process and that the creation of Creation Units will be effected through DTC. The Portfolio Deposit transfer must be ordered by the DTC Participant on the Transmittal Date in a timely fashion so as to ensure the delivery of Deposit Securities (whether standard or custom) through DTC to a Fund account by 11:00 a.m., Eastern time, on T+1. The Cash Component, along with any cash-in-lieu and Transaction Fee, must be transferred directly to the Custodian through the Federal Reserve System in a timely manner so as to be received by the Custodian no later than 12:00 p.m., Eastern Time, on T+1. If the Custodian does not receive both the Deposit Securities and the cash by the appointed time, the order may be canceled. A canceled order may be resubmitted the following Business Day but must conform to that Business Day’s Portfolio Deposit. APs that submit a canceled order will be liable to the Fund for any losses incurred by the Fund in connection therewith.
Orders involving foreign Deposit Securities are expected to be settled outside the Clearing Process. Thus, upon receipt of an irrevocable purchase order, the Distributor will notify the Adviser and the Custodian of such order. The Custodian , who will have caused the appropriate local sub-custodian(s) of the Fund to maintain an account into which an AP may deliver Deposit Securities (or cash-in-lieu), with adjustments determined by the Fund, will then provide information of the order to such local sub-custodian(s). The ordering AP will then deliver the Deposit Securities (and any cash-in-lieu) to the Fund’s account at the applicable local sub-custodian. The AP must also make available on or before the contractual settlement date, by means satisfactory to the Fund, immediately available or same day funds in U.S. dollars estimated by a Fund to be sufficient to pay the Cash Component and Transaction Fee. When a relevant local market is closed due to local market holidays, the local market settlement process will not commence until the end of the local holiday period. Settlement must occur by 2:00 p.m., Eastern Time, on the contractual settlement date.
Acceptance of Purchase Order
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 Fund. The Fund’s determination shall be final and binding.
The Fund reserves the absolute right to reject or revoke acceptance of a purchase order transmitted to it by the Distributor if (a) the order is not in proper form; (b) the investor(s), upon obtaining the shares ordered, would own 80% or more of the currently outstanding shares of the Fund; (c) the Deposit Securities delivered do not conform to the Deposit Securities for the applicable date; (d) acceptance of the Deposit Securities would have certain adverse tax consequences to the Fund; (e) the acceptance of the Portfolio Deposit would, in the opinion of counsel, be unlawful; (f) the acceptance of the Portfolio Deposit would otherwise, in the discretion of the Trust, Fund or the Adviser, have an adverse effect on the Trust, Fund or the rights of beneficial owners; or (g) in the event that circumstances outside the control of the Trust, the Distributor and the Adviser make it for all practical purposes impossible to process purchase orders. Examples of such circumstances include acts of God; public service or utility problems resulting in telephone, telecopy or computer failures; fires, floods or extreme weather conditions; market conditions or activities causing trading halts; systems failures involving computer or other informational systems affecting the Trust, the Distributor, DTC, NSCC, the Adviser, the Custodian, a sub-custodian or any other participant in the creation process; and similar extraordinary events. The Distributor shall notify an AP of its rejection of the order. The Fund, 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 Portfolio Deposits, and they shall not incur any liability for the failure to give any such notification.
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Issuance of a Creation Unit
Once the Fund has accepted an order, upon next determination of the Fund’s NAV, the Fund will confirm the issuance of a Creation Unit, against receipt of payment, at such NAV. The Distributor will transmit a confirmation of acceptance to the AP that placed the order.
Except as provided below, a Creation Unit will not be issued until the Fund obtains good title to the Deposit Securities and the Cash Component, along with any cash-in-lieu and Transaction Fee. The delivery of Creation Units will generally occur no later than T+2.
In certain cases, APs will create and redeem Creation Units on the same trade date. In these instances, the Trust reserves the right to settle these transactions on a net basis.
With respect to orders involving foreign Deposit Securities, when the applicable local sub-custodian(s) have confirmed to the Custodian that the Deposit Securities (or cash -in-lieu) have been delivered to a Fund’s account at the applicable local sub-custodian(s), the Distributor and the Adviser shall be notified of such delivery, and the Fund will issue and cause the delivery of the Creation Unit. While, as stated above, Creation Units are generally delivered on T+2, the Fund may settle Creation Unit transactions on a basis other than T+2 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 Fund may issue a Creation Unit prior to receiving good title to the Deposit Securities, under the following circumstances. Pursuant to the applicable Participant Agreement, the Fund may issue a Creation Unit notwithstanding that (certain) Deposit Securities have not been delivered, in reliance on an undertaking by the relevant AP to deliver the missing Deposit Securities as soon as possible, which undertaking is secured by such AP’s delivery to and maintenance with the Custodian of collateral having a value equal to at least 115% of the value of the missing Deposit Securities (“Collateral”), as adjusted by time to time by the Adviser. Such Collateral will have a value greater than the NAV of the Creation Unit on the date the order is placed. Such collateral must be delivered no later than 2:00 p.m., Eastern Time, on T+1. The only Collateral that is acceptable to the Fund is cash in U.S. Dollars.
While (certain) Deposit Securities remain undelivered, the Collateral shall at all times have a value equal to at least 115% (as adjusted by the Adviser) of the daily marked-to-market value of the missing Deposit Securities. At any time, the Fund may use the Collateral to purchase the missing securities, and the AP will be liable to the Fund for any costs incurred thereby or losses resulting therefrom, whether or not they exceed the amount of the Collateral, including any Transaction Fee, any amount by which the purchase price of the missing Deposit Securities exceeds the market value of such securities on the Transmittal Date, brokerage and other transaction costs. The Trust will return any unused Collateral once all of the missing securities have been received by the Fund. More information regarding the Fund’s current procedures for collateralization is available from the Distributor.
Cash Purchase Method
When cash purchases of Creation Units are available or specified for the Fund, they will be effected in essentially the same manner as in-kind purchases In the case of a cash purchase, the investor must pay the cash equivalent of the Portfolio Deposit. In addition, cash purchases will be subject to Transaction Fees, as described above.
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Notice to Texas Shareholders
Under section 72.1021(a) of the Texas Property Code, initial investors in the Fund who are Texas residents may designate a representative to receive notices of abandoned property in connection with Shares. Texas shareholders who wish to appoint a representative should notify the Trust’s Transfer Agent by writing to the address below to obtain a form for providing written notice to the Trust:
CP High Yield Trend ETF
c/o Brown Brothers Harriman & co.
50 Post Office Square
Boston, Massachusetts 02110
Redeeming a Creation Unit
Redemption Basket
The consideration received in connection with the redemption of a Creation Unit generally consists of an in-kind basket of designated securities (“Redemption Securities”) and a Cash Component. Together, the Redemption Securities and the Cash Component constitute the “Redemption Basket.”
There can be no assurance that there will be sufficient liquidity in Shares in the secondary market to permit assembly of a Creation Unit. In addition, investors may incur brokerage and other costs in connection with assembling a Creation Unit.
The Cash Component serves the function of compensating for any differences between the NAV per Creation Unit and the Redemption Securities. Thus, the Cash Component is equal to the difference between (x) the NAV per Creation Unit of the Fund and (y) the market value of the Redemption Securities. If (x) is more than (y), the AP will receive the Cash Component from the Fund. If (x) is less than (y), the AP will pay the Cash Component to the Fund.
If the Redemption Securities on a Business Day are different from the Deposit Securities, prior to the opening of business on the Exchange (currently 9:30 a.m., Eastern Time), the Adviser through the Custodian makes available through NSCC the name and amount of each Redemption Security in the current Redemption Basket (based on information at the end of the previous Business Day) for a Fund and the (estimated) Cash Component, effective through and including the previous Business Day, per Creation Unit. If the Redemption Securities on a Business Day are different from the Deposit Securities, all redemption requests that day will be processed outside the Clearing Process.
The right of redemption may be suspended or the date of payment postponed: (i) for any period during which the NYSE is closed (other than customary weekend and holiday closings); (ii) for any period during which trading on the NYSE is suspended or restricted; (iii) for any period during which an emergency exists as a result of which disposal of the Shares or determination of the ETF’s NAV is not reasonably practicable; or (iv) in such other circumstances as permitted by the SEC, including as described below.
Custom Redemptions and Cash-in-Lieu
The Fund may, in its sole discretion, permit or require the substitution of cash-in-lieu to be added to the Cash Component to replace any Redemption Security. The Fund may permit or require cash-in-lieu when, for example, a Redemption Security may not be available in sufficient quantity for delivery or may not be eligible for transfer through the systems of DTC or the Clearing Process. Similarly, the Fund may permit or require cash-in-
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lieu of Redemption Securities when, for example, the AP or its underlying investor is restricted under U.S. or local securities law or policies from transacting in one or more Redemption Securities. The Fund will comply with the federal securities laws in satisfying redemptions with Redemption Securities, including that the Redemption Securities are sold in transactions that would be exempt from registration under the Securities Act. All redemption requests involving cash-in-lieu are considered to be “Custom Redemptions.”
Redemption Requests
To redeem a Creation Unit, an AP must submit an irrevocable redemption request to the Distributor.
An AP submitting a redemption request is deemed to represent to the Fund that it or, if applicable, the investor on whose behalf it is acting, (i) owns outright or has full legal authority and legal beneficial right to tender for redemption the Creation Unit to be redeemed and can receive the entire proceeds of the redemption, and (ii) all of the Shares that are in the Creation Unit to be redeemed have not been borrowed, loaned or pledged to another party nor are they the subject of a repurchase agreement, securities lending agreement or such other arrangement that would preclude the delivery of such Shares to the Fund. The Fund reserves the absolute right, in its sole discretion, to verify these representations, but will typically require verification in connection with higher levels of redemption activity and/or short interest in the Fund. If the AP, upon receipt of a verification request, does not provide sufficient verification of the requested representations, the redemption request will not be considered to be in proper form and may be rejected by the Fund.
Timing of Submission of Redemption Requests
An AP must submit an irrevocable redemption order no later than the Cut-off Time. The Cut-off Time for Custom Orders is generally two hours earlier. The Business Day the order is deemed received by the Distributor is referred to as the “Transmittal Date.” A redemption request is deemed received if (i) such order is received by the Distributor by the Cut-off Time on such day and (ii) all other procedures set forth in the Participant Agreement are properly followed. Persons placing or effectuating Custom Redemptions and/or orders involving cash should be mindful of time deadlines imposed by intermediaries, such as DTC and/or the Federal Reserve System, which may impact the successful processing of such orders to ensure that cash and securities are transferred by the Settlement Date, as defined above.
Requests Using the Clearing Process
If available, (portions of) redemption requests may be settled through the Clearing Process. In connection with such orders, the Distributor transmits on behalf of the AP, such trade instructions as are necessary to effect the redemption. Pursuant to such trade instructions, the AP agrees to deliver the requisite Creation Unit(s) to the Fund, together with such additional information as may be required by the Distributor. Cash Components will be delivered using either the Clearing Process or the Federal Reserve System, as described above.
Requests Outside the Clearing Process
If the Clearing Process is not available for (portions of) an order, Redemption Baskets will be delivered outside the Clearing Process. Orders outside the Clearing Process must state that the DTC Participant is not using the Clearing Process and that the redemption will be effected through DTC. The AP must transfer or cause to be transferred the Creation Unit(s) of shares being redeemed through the book-entry system of DTC so as to be delivered through DTC to the Custodian by 10:00 a.m., Eastern Time, on received T+1. In addition, the Cash Component must be received by the Custodian by 12:00 p.m., Eastern Time, on T+1. If the Custodian does not receive the Creation Unit(s) and Cash Component by the appointed times on T+1, the redemption will be rejected,
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except in the circumstances described below. A rejected redemption request may be resubmitted the following Business Day.
Orders involving foreign Redemption Securities are expected to be settled outside the Clearing Process. Thus, upon receipt of an irrevocable redemption request, the Distributor will notify the Adviser and the Custodian. The Custodian will then provide information of the redemption to the Fund’s local sub-custodian(s). The redeeming AP, or the investor on whose behalf is acting, will have established appropriate arrangements with a broker-dealer, bank or other custody provider in each jurisdiction in which the Redemption Securities are customarily traded and to which such Redemption Securities (and any cash-in-lieu) can be delivered from the Fund’s accounts at the applicable local sub-custodian(s).
Acceptance of Redemption Requests
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. The Trust’s determination shall be final and binding.
Delivery of Redemption Basket
Once a Fund has accepted a redemption request, upon next determination of the Fund’s NAV, the Fund will confirm the issuance of a Redemption Basket, against receipt of the Creation Unit(s) at such NAV, any cash-in-lieu and Transaction Fee. A Creation Unit tendered for redemption and the payment of the Cash Component, any cash-in-lieu and Transaction Fee will be effected through DTC. The AP, or the investor on whose behalf it is acting, will be recorded on the book-entry system of DTC.
The Redemption Basket will generally be delivered to the redeeming AP within T+2. Except under the circumstances described below, however, a Redemption Basket generally will not be issued until the Creation Unit(s) are delivered to the Fund, along with the Cash Component, any cash-in-lieu and Transaction Fee.
In certain cases, APs will create and redeem Creation Units on the same trade date. In these instances, the Trust reserves the right to settle these transactions on a net basis.
With respect to orders involving foreign Redemption Securities, the Fund may settle Creation Unit transactions on a basis other than T+2 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. When a relevant local market is closed due to local market holidays, the local market settlement process will not commence until the end of the local holiday period. Listed below are the dates in calendar year 2019 in which the regular holidays in non-U.S. markets may impact Fund settlement. This list is based on information available to the Fund. The list may not be accurate or complete and is subject to change:
Market | Holiday Date | Holiday Name |
Argentina | Wednesday, January 01, 2020 | New Year’s Day |
Argentina | Monday, February 24, 2020 | Carnival |
Argentina | Tuesday, February 25, 2020 | Carnival |
Argentina | Monday, March 23, 2020 | Bridge Holiday for Tourism |
Argentina | Tuesday, March 24, 2020 | Memorial Day |
Argentina | Thursday, April 02, 2020 | Malvinas Islands Memorial Day |
Argentina | Thursday, April 09, 2020 | Holy Thursday |
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Argentina | Friday, April 10, 2020 | Good Friday |
Argentina | Friday, May 01, 2020 | Labour Day |
Argentina | Monday, May 25, 2020 | May Revolution's Day |
Argentina | Monday, June 15, 2020 | Martin Miguel Guemes Memorial |
Argentina | Thursday, July 09, 2020 | Independence Day |
Argentina | Friday, July 10, 2020 | Bridge Holiday for Tourism |
Argentina | Monday, August 17, 2020 | San Martin's Memorial Day |
Argentina | Monday, October 12, 2020 | Respect to Cultural Diversity |
Argentina | Friday, November 06, 2020 | Banking Labor Day |
Argentina | Monday, November 23, 2020 | Day of National Sovereignty |
Argentina | Monday, December 07, 2020 | Bridge Holiday for Tourism |
Argentina | Tuesday, December 08, 2020 | Virgin Mary's Day |
Argentina | Friday, December 25, 2020 | Christmas Day |
Australia | Wednesday, January 01, 2020 | New Year’s Day |
Australia | Friday, April 10, 2020 | Good Friday |
Australia | Monday, April 13, 2020 | Easter Monday |
Australia | Thursday, December 24, 2020 | Christmas Eve |
Australia | Friday, December 25, 2020 | Christmas Day |
Australia | Thursday, December 31, 2020 | New Year’s Eve |
Austria | Wednesday, January 01, 2020 | New Year’s Day |
Austria | Monday, January 06, 2020 | Epiphany Day |
Austria | Friday, April 10, 2020 | Good Friday |
Austria | Monday, April 13, 2020 | Easter Monday |
Austria | Friday, May 01, 2020 | Labour Day |
Austria | Thursday, May 21, 2020 | Ascension Day |
Austria | Monday, June 01, 2020 | Whit Monday |
Austria | Thursday, June 11, 2020 | Corpus Christi Day |
Austria | Monday, October 26, 2020 | National Holiday |
Austria | Tuesday, December 08, 2020 | Immaculate Conception |
Austria | Thursday, December 24, 2020 | Christmas Eve |
Austria | Friday, December 25, 2020 | Christmas Day |
Austria | Thursday, December 31, 2020 | New Year’s Eve |
Bahrain | Wednesday, January 01, 2020 | New Year’s Day |
Bahrain | Sunday, May 03, 2020 | Labour Day |
Bahrain | Sunday, May 24, 2020 | Eid al-Fitr |
Bahrain | Monday, May 25, 2020 | Eid al-Fitr |
Bahrain | Thursday, July 30, 2020 | Eid al-Adha |
Bahrain | Friday, July 31, 2020 | Eid al-Adha |
Bahrain | Wednesday, December 16, 2020 | National Day |
Bahrain | Thursday, December 17, 2020 | National Day |
Belgium | Wednesday, January 01, 2020 | New Year’s Day |
Belgium | Friday, April 10, 2020 | Good Friday |
Belgium | Monday, April 13, 2020 | Easter Monday |
Belgium | Friday, May 01, 2020 | Labour Day |
Belgium | Friday, December 25, 2020 | Christmas Day |
Bermuda | Wednesday, January 01, 2020 | New Year’s Day |
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Bermuda | Friday, April 10, 2020 | Good Friday |
Bermuda | Monday, May 25, 2020 | Bermuda Day |
Bermuda | Monday, June 15, 2020 | National Heroes' Day |
Bermuda | Thursday, July 30, 2020 | Emancipation and Somers Day |
Bermuda | Friday, July 31, 2020 | Emancipation and Somers Day |
Bermuda | Monday, September 07, 2020 | Labour Day |
Bermuda | Wednesday, November 11, 2020 | Remembrance Day |
Bermuda | Friday, December 25, 2020 | Christmas Day |
Bermuda | Monday, December 28, 2020 | Boxing Day (Observed) |
Bosnia-Herzegovina | Wednesday, January 01, 2020 | New Year’s Day |
Bosnia-Herzegovina | Thursday, January 02, 2020 | New Year’s Holiday |
Bosnia-Herzegovina | Tuesday, January 07, 2020 | Orthodox Christmas |
Bosnia-Herzegovina | Thursday, January 09, 2020 | Republic Day |
Bosnia-Herzegovina | Monday, April 13, 2020 | Easter Monday |
Bosnia-Herzegovina | Friday, April 17, 2020 | Orthodox Good Friday |
Bosnia-Herzegovina | Monday, April 20, 2020 | Orthodox Easter Monday |
Bosnia-Herzegovina | Friday, May 01, 2020 | Labour Day |
Bosnia-Herzegovina | Monday, May 25, 2020 | Eid-al-Fitr/Ramadan |
Bosnia-Herzegovina | Friday, July 31, 2020 | Eid-al-Adha/Hajj |
Bosnia-Herzegovina | Saturday, November 21, 2020 | Dayton Peace Agreement Day |
Bosnia-Herzegovina | Wednesday, November 25, 2020 | Statehood Day |
Bosnia-Herzegovina | Friday, December 25, 2020 | Christmas Day |
Botswana | Wednesday, January 01, 2020 | New Year’s Day |
Botswana | Friday, April 10, 2020 | Good Friday |
Botswana | Monday, April 13, 2020 | Easter Monday |
Botswana | Friday, May 01, 2020 | Labour Day |
Botswana | Thursday, May 21, 2020 | Ascension Day |
Botswana | Wednesday, July 01, 2020 | Sir Seretse Khama Day |
Botswana | Monday, July 20, 2020 | Presidents' Day |
Botswana | Tuesday, July 21, 2020 | Presidents' Day |
Botswana | Wednesday, September 30, 2020 | Independence Day |
Botswana | Friday, December 25, 2020 | Christmas Day |
Bulgaria | Wednesday, January 01, 2020 | New Year’s Day |
Bulgaria | Tuesday, March 03, 2020 | Liberation Day |
Bulgaria | Friday, April 17, 2020 | Good Friday |
Bulgaria | Monday, April 20, 2020 | Easter Monday |
Bulgaria | Friday, May 01, 2020 | Labour Day |
Bulgaria | Wednesday, May 06, 2020 | Saint George's Day |
Bulgaria | Monday, May 25, 2020 | Culture and Literacy Day |
Bulgaria | Monday, September 07, 2020 | Unification Day |
Bulgaria | Tuesday, September 22, 2020 | Independence Day |
Bulgaria | Thursday, December 24, 2020 | Christmas Eve |
Bulgaria | Friday, December 25, 2020 | Christmas Day |
Canada | Wednesday, January 01, 2020 | New Year’s Day |
Canada | Monday, February 17, 2020 | Family Day |
Canada | Friday, April 10, 2020 | Good Friday |
50 |
Canada | Monday, May 18, 2020 | Victoria Day |
Canada | Wednesday, July 01, 2020 | Canada Day |
Canada | Monday, August 03, 2020 | Civic Holiday |
Canada | Monday, September 07, 2020 | Labour Day |
Canada | Monday, October 12, 2020 | Thanksgiving Day |
Canada | Wednesday, November 11, 2020 | Remembrance Day |
Canada | Friday, December 25, 2020 | Christmas Day |
Canada | Monday, December 28, 2020 | Boxing Day (Observed) |
Chile | Wednesday, January 01, 2020 | New Year’s Day |
Chile | Friday, April 10, 2020 | Good Friday |
Chile | Friday, May 01, 2020 | Labour Day |
Chile | Thursday, May 21, 2020 | Navy Day |
Chile | Monday, June 29, 2020 | St. Peter and St. Paul Dinner |
Chile | Thursday, July 16, 2020 | Our Lady of Mount Carmel |
Chile | Friday, September 18, 2020 | Independence Day |
Chile | Monday, October 12, 2020 | Day of the Race |
Chile | Tuesday, December 08, 2020 | Immaculate Conception |
Chile | Friday, December 25, 2020 | Christmas Day |
China | Wednesday, January 01, 2020 | New Year’s Day |
China | Friday, January 24, 2020 | Chinese New Year |
China | Monday, January 27, 2020 | Chinese New Year |
China | Tuesday, January 28, 2020 | Chinese New Year |
China | Wednesday, January 29, 2020 | Chinese New Year |
China | Thursday, January 30, 2020 | Chinese New Year |
China | Friday, May 01, 2020 | Labour Day |
China | Thursday, June 25, 2020 | Dragon Boat Festival |
China | Friday, June 26, 2020 | Dragon Boat Festival |
China | Thursday, October 01, 2020 | National Day Holiday |
China | Friday, October 02, 2020 | National Day Holiday |
China | Monday, October 05, 2020 | National Day Holiday |
China | Tuesday, October 06, 2020 | National Day Holiday |
China | Wednesday, October 07, 2020 | National Day Holiday |
Costa Rica | Wednesday, January 01, 2020 | New Year’s Day |
Costa Rica | Thursday, April 09, 2020 | Holy Thursday |
Costa Rica | Friday, April 10, 2020 | Good Friday |
Costa Rica | Friday, May 01, 2020 | Labour Day |
Costa Rica | Tuesday, September 15, 2020 | Independence Day |
Costa Rica | Monday, October 12, 2020 | Culture Encounter Day |
Costa Rica | Friday, December 25, 2020 | Christmas Day |
Croatia | Wednesday, January 01, 2020 | New Year’s Day |
Croatia | Monday, January 06, 2020 | Epiphany Day |
Croatia | Friday, April 10, 2020 | Good Friday |
Croatia | Monday, April 13, 2020 | Easter Monday |
Croatia | Friday, May 01, 2020 | Labour Day |
Croatia | Thursday, June 11, 2020 | Corpus Christi Day |
Croatia | Monday, June 22, 2020 | Day of Antifascist Struggle |
51 |
Croatia | Thursday, June 25, 2020 | Statehood Day |
Croatia | Wednesday, August 05, 2020 | Victory and Homeland Day |
Croatia | Thursday, October 08, 2020 | Independence Day |
Croatia | Thursday, December 24, 2020 | Christmas Eve |
Croatia | Friday, December 25, 2020 | Christmas Day |
Croatia | Thursday, December 31, 2020 | New Year’s Eve |
Cyprus | Wednesday, January 01, 2020 | New Year’s Day |
Cyprus | Wednesday, March 11, 2020 | Green Monday |
Cyprus | Wednesday, March 25, 2020 | Greek Independence Day |
Cyprus | Wednesday, April 01, 2020 | Cyprus National Day |
Cyprus | Friday, April 10, 2020 | Good Friday |
Cyprus | Monday, April 13, 2020 | Easter Monday |
Cyprus | Friday, April 17, 2020 | Orthodox Good Friday |
Cyprus | Monday, April 20, 2020 | Orthodox Easter Monday |
Cyprus | Tuesday, April 21, 2020 | Orthodox Easter Tuesday |
Cyprus | Friday, May 01, 2020 | Labour Day |
Cyprus | Monday, June 08, 2020 | Pentecost |
Cyprus | Thursday, June 25, 2020 | Public Holiday |
Cyprus | Thursday, October 01, 2020 | Independence Day |
Cyprus | Wednesday, October 28, 2020 | Greek National Day |
Cyprus | Thursday, December 24, 2020 | Christmas Eve |
Cyprus | Friday, December 25, 2020 | Christmas Day |
Czech Republic | Wednesday, January 01, 2020 | New Year’s Day |
Czech Republic | Friday, April 10, 2020 | Good Friday |
Czech Republic | Monday, April 13, 2020 | Easter Monday |
Czech Republic | Friday, May 01, 2020 | May Day |
Czech Republic | Thursday, December 24, 2020 | Christmas Eve |
Czech Republic | Friday, December 25, 2020 | Christmas Day |
Denmark | Wednesday, January 01, 2020 | New Year’s Day |
Denmark | Friday, April 10, 2020 | Good Friday |
Denmark | Monday, April 13, 2020 | Easter Monday |
Denmark | Friday, May 01, 2020 | May Day |
Denmark | Monday, June 01, 2020 | Whit Monday |
Denmark | Thursday, December 24, 2020 | Christmas Eve |
Denmark | Friday, December 25, 2020 | Christmas Day |
Eswatini | Wednesday, January 01, 2020 | New Year’s Day |
Eswatini | Friday, April 10, 2020 | Good Friday |
Eswatini | Monday, April 13, 2020 | Easter Monday |
Eswatini | Monday, April 20, 2020 | King's Birthday Holiday |
Eswatini | Friday, May 01, 2020 | Women's Day |
Eswatini | Thursday, May 21, 2020 | Ascension Day |
Eswatini | Wednesday, July 22, 2020 | King Father's Birthday |
Eswatini | Monday, September 07, 2020 | Somhlolo Day Holiday |
Eswatini | Friday, December 25, 2020 | Christmas Day |
Eswatini | Monday, December 28, 2020 | Incwala Day |
France | Wednesday, January 01, 2020 | New Year’s Day |
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France | Friday, April 10, 2020 | Good Friday |
France | Monday, April 13, 2020 | Easter Monday |
France | Friday, May 01, 2020 | Labour Day |
France | Friday, December 25, 2020 | Christmas Day |
Germany | Wednesday, January 01, 2020 | New Year’s Day |
Germany | Friday, April 10, 2020 | Good Friday |
Germany | Monday, April 13, 2020 | Easter Monday |
Germany | Friday, May 01, 2020 | Labour Day |
Germany | Thursday, May 21, 2020 | Ascension Day |
Germany | Monday, June 01, 2020 | Whit Monday |
Germany | Thursday, June 11, 2020 | Corpus Christi Day |
Germany | Thursday, December 24, 2020 | Christmas Eve |
Germany | Friday, December 25, 2020 | Christmas Day |
Germany | Thursday, December 31, 2020 | New Year’s Eve |
Ghana | Wednesday, January 01, 2020 | New Year’s Day |
Ghana | Friday, March 06, 2020 | Independence Day |
Ghana | Friday, April 10, 2020 | Good Friday |
Ghana | Monday, April 13, 2020 | Easter Monday |
Ghana | Friday, May 01, 2020 | May Day |
Ghana | Sunday, May 24, 2020 | Eid al-Fitr |
Ghana | Monday, May 25, 2020 | Africa Unity Day |
Ghana | Wednesday, July 01, 2020 | Republic Day |
Ghana | Friday, July 31, 2020 | Eid al-Adha |
Ghana | Tuesday, August 04, 2020 | Founders Day |
Ghana | Monday, September 21, 2020 | Memorial Day |
Ghana | Friday, December 04, 2020 | Farmers' Day |
Ghana | Friday, December 25, 2020 | Christmas Day |
Greece | Wednesday, January 01, 2020 | New Year’s Day |
Greece | Monday, January 06, 2020 | Epiphany Day |
Greece | Monday, March 02, 2020 | Ash Monday |
Greece | Wednesday, March 25, 2020 | Independence Day |
Greece | Friday, April 10, 2020 | Good Friday |
Greece | Monday, April 13, 2020 | Easter Monday |
Greece | Friday, April 17, 2020 | Orthodox Good Friday |
Greece | Monday, April 20, 2020 | Orthodox Easter Monday |
Greece | Friday, May 01, 2020 | Labour Day |
Greece | Monday, June 01, 2020 | Whit Monday |
Greece | Wednesday, October 28, 2020 | National Holiday |
Greece | Thursday, December 24, 2020 | Christmas Eve |
Greece | Friday, December 25, 2020 | Christmas Day |
Hong Kong SAR | Wednesday, January 01, 2020 | New Year’s Day |
Hong Kong SAR | Friday, January 24, 2020 | Lunar New Year |
Hong Kong SAR | Monday, January 27, 2020 | Lunar New Year |
Hong Kong SAR | Tuesday, January 28, 2020 | Lunar New Year |
Hong Kong SAR | Wednesday, January 29, 2020 | Chinese New Year |
Hong Kong SAR | Thursday, January 30, 2020 | Chinese New Year |
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Hong Kong SAR | Friday, April 10, 2020 | Good Friday |
Hong Kong SAR | Monday, April 13, 2020 | Easter Monday |
Hong Kong SAR | Thursday, April 30, 2020 | Buddha Birthday |
Hong Kong SAR | Friday, May 01, 2020 | Labour Day |
Hong Kong SAR | Thursday, June 25, 2020 | Tuen Ng Festival |
Hong Kong SAR | Wednesday, July 01, 2020 | Holiday |
Hong Kong SAR | Thursday, October 01, 2020 | National Day |
Hong Kong SAR | Friday, October 02, 2020 | Mid-Autumn Festival |
Hong Kong SAR | Monday, October 05, 2020 | National Day Holiday |
Hong Kong SAR | Tuesday, October 06, 2020 | National Day Holiday |
Hong Kong SAR | Wednesday, October 07, 2020 | National Day Holiday |
Hong Kong SAR | Monday, October 26, 2020 | Chung Yeung Festival |
Hong Kong SAR | Thursday, December 24, 2020 | Christmas Eve |
Hong Kong SAR | Friday, December 25, 2020 | Christmas Day |
Hong Kong SAR | Thursday, December 31, 2020 | New Year’s Eve |
Hungary | Wednesday, January 01, 2020 | New Year’s Day |
Hungary | Friday, April 10, 2020 | Good Friday |
Hungary | Monday, April 13, 2020 | Easter Monday |
Hungary | Friday, May 01, 2020 | Labour Day |
Hungary | Monday, June 01, 2020 | Whit Monday |
Hungary | Thursday, August 20, 2020 | Saint Stephen's Day |
Hungary | Friday, August 21, 2020 | Bridge Holiday |
Hungary | Friday, October 23, 2020 | Anniversary of 1956 Revolution |
Hungary | Thursday, December 24, 2020 | Christmas Eve |
Hungary | Friday, December 25, 2020 | Christmas Day |
Hungary | Thursday, December 31, 2020 | New Year’s Eve |
Iceland | Wednesday, January 01, 2020 | New Year’s Day |
Iceland | Thursday, April 09, 2020 | Maundy Thursday |
Iceland | Friday, April 10, 2020 | Good Friday |
Iceland | Monday, April 13, 2020 | Easter Monday |
Iceland | Thursday, April 23, 2020 | First Day of Summer |
Iceland | Friday, May 01, 2020 | Labour Day |
Iceland | Thursday, May 21, 2020 | Ascension Day |
Iceland | Monday, June 01, 2020 | Whit Monday |
Iceland | Wednesday, June 17, 2020 | Independence Day |
Iceland | Monday, August 03, 2020 | Commerce Day |
Iceland | Thursday, December 24, 2020 | Christmas Eve |
Iceland | Friday, December 25, 2020 | Christmas Day |
Iceland | Thursday, December 31, 2020 | New Year’s Eve |
Indonesia | Wednesday, January 01, 2020 | New Year’s Day |
Indonesia | Wednesday, March 25, 2020 | Day of Silence |
Indonesia | Friday, April 10, 2020 | Good Friday |
Indonesia | Friday, May 01, 2020 | Labour Day |
Indonesia | Thursday, May 07, 2020 | Vesak Day |
Indonesia | Thursday, May 21, 2020 | Ascension Day |
Indonesia | Friday, May 22, 2020 | Holiday |
54 |
Indonesia | Monday, May 25, 2020 | Holiday |
Indonesia | Monday, June 01, 2020 | Birth of Pancasila |
Indonesia | Friday, July 31, 2020 | Holiday |
Indonesia | Monday, August 17, 2020 | Independence Day |
Indonesia | Thursday, August 20, 2020 | Islamic New Year |
Indonesia | Thursday, October 29, 2020 | Prophet Muhammad's Birthday |
Indonesia | Thursday, December 24, 2020 | Christmas Eve |
Indonesia | Friday, December 25, 2020 | Christmas Day |
Ireland | Wednesday, January 01, 2020 | New Year’s Day |
Ireland | Friday, April 10, 2020 | Good Friday |
Ireland | Monday, April 13, 2020 | Easter Monday |
Ireland | Friday, May 01, 2020 | May Day |
Ireland | Monday, June 01, 2020 | Holiday |
Ireland | Friday, December 25, 2020 | Christmas Day |
Italy | Wednesday, January 01, 2020 | New Year’s Day |
Italy | Friday, April 10, 2020 | Good Friday |
Italy | Monday, April 13, 2020 | Easter Monday |
Italy | Friday, May 01, 2020 | Labour Day |
Italy | Thursday, December 24, 2020 | Christmas Eve |
Italy | Friday, December 25, 2020 | Christmas Day |
Italy | Thursday, December 31, 2020 | New Year’s Eve |
Ivory Coast | Wednesday, January 01, 2020 | New Year’s Day |
Ivory Coast | Monday, April 13, 2020 | Easter Monday |
Ivory Coast | Friday, May 01, 2020 | Labour Day |
Ivory Coast | Wednesday, May 20, 2020 | Revelation of Quran |
Ivory Coast | Thursday, May 21, 2020 | Ascension Day |
Ivory Coast | Sunday, May 24, 2020 | Korite |
Ivory Coast | Monday, June 01, 2020 | Whit Monday |
Ivory Coast | Friday, July 31, 2020 | Tabaski |
Ivory Coast | Friday, August 07, 2020 | Independence Day |
Ivory Coast | Saturday, August 15, 2020 | Assumption Day |
Ivory Coast | Thursday, October 29, 2020 | Prophet’s Birthday |
Ivory Coast | Sunday, November 01, 2020 | All Saints' Day |
Ivory Coast | Sunday, November 15, 2020 | National Peace Day |
Ivory Coast | Friday, December 25, 2020 | Christmas Day |
Japan | Wednesday, January 01, 2020 | New Year’s Day |
Japan | Thursday, January 02, 2020 | Bank Holiday |
Japan | Friday, January 03, 2020 | Bank Holiday |
Japan | Monday, January 13, 2020 | Coming-of-Age Day |
Japan | Tuesday, February 11, 2020 | National Foundation Day |
Japan | Monday, February 24, 2020 | Emperor's Birthday Observed |
Japan | Friday, March 20, 2020 | Vernal Equinox Day |
Japan | Wednesday, April 29, 2020 | Showa Day |
Japan | Monday, May 04, 2020 | Greenery Day |
Japan | Tuesday, May 05, 2020 | Children's Day |
Japan | Wednesday, May 06, 2020 | Memorial Day Observed |
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56 |
Luxembourg | Monday, April 13, 2020 | Easter Monday |
Luxembourg | Friday, May 01, 2020 | Labour Day |
Luxembourg | Thursday, December 24, 2020 | Christmas Eve |
Luxembourg | Friday, December 25, 2020 | Christmas Day |
Luxembourg | Thursday, December 31, 2020 | New Year’s Eve |
Malaysia | Wednesday, January 01, 2020 | New Year’s Day |
Malaysia | Friday, May 01, 2020 | Women's Day |
Malaysia | Thursday, May 07, 2020 | Wesak Day |
Malaysia | Monday, May 25, 2020 | Eid-ul-Fitri |
Malaysia | Friday, July 31, 2020 | Eid-ul-Adha |
Malaysia | Thursday, August 20, 2020 | Holiday |
Malaysia | Monday, August 31, 2020 | National Day |
Malaysia | Wednesday, September 16, 2020 | Malaysia Day |
Malaysia | Thursday, October 29, 2020 | Prophet’s Birthday |
Malaysia | Friday, December 25, 2020 | Christmas Day |
Mauritius | Wednesday, January 01, 2020 | New Year’s Day |
Mauritius | Thursday, January 02, 2020 | New Year’s Holiday |
Mauritius | Friday, February 21, 2020 | Maha Shivaratree |
Mauritius | Thursday, March 12, 2020 | Independence Day |
Mauritius | Wednesday, March 25, 2020 | Ugaadi |
Mauritius | Friday, May 01, 2020 | Labour Day |
Mauritius | Monday, November 02, 2020 | Indentured Labourers |
Mauritius | Friday, December 25, 2020 | Christmas Day |
Mexico | Wednesday, January 01, 2020 | New Year’s Day |
Mexico | Monday, February 03, 2020 | Constitution Day |
Mexico | Monday, March 16, 2020 | Benito Juarez Day |
Mexico | Thursday, April 09, 2020 | Holy Thursday |
Mexico | Friday, April 10, 2020 | Good Friday |
Mexico | Friday, May 01, 2020 | Labour Day |
Mexico | Wednesday, September 16, 2020 | Independence Day |
Mexico | Monday, November 02, 2020 | All Souls Day |
Mexico | Monday, November 16, 2020 | Revolution Day |
Mexico | Friday, December 25, 2020 | Christmas Day |
Namibia | Wednesday, January 01, 2020 | New Year’s Day |
Namibia | Friday, April 10, 2020 | Good Friday |
Namibia | Monday, April 13, 2020 | Easter Monday |
Namibia | Friday, May 01, 2020 | Women's Day |
Namibia | Monday, May 04, 2020 | Cassinga Day |
Namibia | Thursday, May 21, 2020 | Ascension Day |
Namibia | Monday, May 25, 2020 | Africa Day |
Namibia | Wednesday, August 26, 2020 | Heroes Day |
Namibia | Thursday, December 10, 2020 | Women's Day |
Namibia | Friday, December 25, 2020 | Christmas Day |
Netherlands | Wednesday, January 01, 2020 | New Year’s Day |
Netherlands | Friday, April 10, 2020 | Good Friday |
Netherlands | Monday, April 13, 2020 | Easter Monday |
57 |
Netherlands | Friday, May 01, 2020 | Labour Day |
Netherlands | Friday, December 25, 2020 | Christmas Day |
New Zealand | Wednesday, January 01, 2020 | New Year’s Day |
New Zealand | Thursday, January 02, 2020 | New Year’s Holiday |
New Zealand | Monday, January 20, 2020 | Wellington Anniversary Day |
New Zealand | Monday, January 27, 2020 | Auckland Anniversary Day |
New Zealand | Thursday, February 06, 2020 | Waitangi Day |
New Zealand | Friday, April 10, 2020 | Good Friday |
New Zealand | Monday, April 13, 2020 | Easter Monday |
New Zealand | Monday, April 27, 2020 | ANZAC Day Observed |
New Zealand | Monday, June 01, 2020 | Queen's Birthday |
New Zealand | Monday, October 26, 2020 | Labour Day |
New Zealand | Friday, December 25, 2020 | Christmas Day |
New Zealand | Monday, December 28, 2020 | Boxing Day (Observed) |
Nigeria | Wednesday, January 01, 2020 | New Year’s Day |
Nigeria | Friday, April 10, 2020 | Good Friday |
Nigeria | Monday, April 13, 2020 | Easter Monday |
Nigeria | Friday, May 01, 2020 | Labour Day |
Nigeria | Monday, May 25, 2020 | Id el Fitri Holiday |
Nigeria | Friday, June 12, 2020 | Democracy Day |
Nigeria | Friday, July 31, 2020 | Id el Kabir |
Nigeria | Thursday, October 01, 2020 | National Day |
Nigeria | Thursday, October 29, 2020 | Id el Maulud |
Nigeria | Friday, December 25, 2020 | Christmas Day |
Oman | Sunday, May 24, 2020 | Eid al-Fitr |
Oman | Monday, May 25, 2020 | Eid al-Fitr |
Oman | Tuesday, May 26, 2020 | Eid al-Fitr |
Oman | Thursday, July 23, 2020 | Renaissance Day |
Oman | Thursday, July 30, 2020 | Eid al-Adha |
Oman | Friday, July 31, 2020 | Eid al-Adha |
Oman | Wednesday, August 19, 2020 | Islamic New Year |
Pakistan | Wednesday, February 05, 2020 | Kashmir Day |
Pakistan | Monday, March 23, 2020 | Pakistan Day |
Pakistan | Friday, May 01, 2020 | Labour Day |
Pakistan | Monday, May 25, 2020 | Eid al-Fitr |
Pakistan | Tuesday, May 26, 2020 | Eid al-Fitr |
Pakistan | Wednesday, May 27, 2020 | Eid al-Fitr |
Pakistan | Friday, July 31, 2020 | Eid al-Adha |
Pakistan | Sunday, August 02, 2020 | Eid al-Adha |
Pakistan | Friday, August 14, 2020 | Independence Day |
Pakistan | Friday, August 28, 2020 | First Day of Ashura |
Pakistan | Thursday, October 29, 2020 | Eid Milad un-Nabi |
Pakistan | Friday, December 25, 2020 | Christmas Day |
Philippines | Wednesday, January 01, 2020 | New Year’s Day |
Philippines | Thursday, April 09, 2020 | Maundy Thursday |
Philippines | Friday, April 10, 2020 | Good Friday |
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Philippines | Friday, May 01, 2020 | Labour Day |
Philippines | Friday, June 12, 2020 | Independence Day |
Philippines | Friday, August 21, 2020 | Ninoy Aquino Day |
Philippines | Monday, August 31, 2020 | National Heroes' Day |
Philippines | Monday, November 02, 2020 | All Saints' Day |
Philippines | Thursday, December 24, 2020 | Christmas Eve |
Philippines | Friday, December 25, 2020 | Christmas Day |
Philippines | Wednesday, December 30, 2020 | Rizal Day |
Philippines | Thursday, December 31, 2020 | Last Day of the Year |
Portugal | Wednesday, January 01, 2020 | New Year’s Day |
Portugal | Friday, April 10, 2020 | Good Friday |
Portugal | Monday, April 13, 2020 | Easter Monday |
Portugal | Friday, May 01, 2020 | Labour Day |
Portugal | Friday, December 25, 2020 | Christmas Day |
Qatar | Wednesday, January 01, 2020 | New Year’s Day |
Qatar | Tuesday, February 11, 2020 | Sports Day |
Qatar | Sunday, May 24, 2020 | Eid al-Fitr |
Qatar | Monday, May 25, 2020 | Eid al-Fitr |
Qatar | Tuesday, May 26, 2020 | Eid al-Fitr |
Qatar | Thursday, July 30, 2020 | Eid al-Adha |
Qatar | Friday, July 31, 2020 | Eid al-Adha |
Qatar | Saturday, August 01, 2020 | Eid al-Adha |
Qatar | Friday, December 18, 2020 | National Day |
Rwanda | Wednesday, January 01, 2020 | New Year’s Day |
Rwanda | Thursday, January 02, 2020 | New Year’s Holiday |
Rwanda | Monday, February 03, 2020 | National Heroes' Day |
Rwanda | Tuesday, April 07, 2020 | Memorial Day |
Rwanda | Friday, April 10, 2020 | Good Friday |
Rwanda | Friday, May 01, 2020 | Labour Day |
Rwanda | Monday, May 25, 2020 | Eid al-Fitr |
Rwanda | Wednesday, July 01, 2020 | Independence Day |
Rwanda | Monday, July 06, 2020 | Liberation Day |
Rwanda | Friday, August 07, 2020 | Umuganura Day |
Rwanda | Monday, August 17, 2020 | Holiday |
Rwanda | Friday, December 25, 2020 | Christmas Day |
Rwanda | Monday, December 28, 2020 | Boxing Day (Observed) |
Serbia | Wednesday, January 01, 2020 | New Year’s Day |
Serbia | Thursday, January 02, 2020 | New Year’s Holiday |
Serbia | Tuesday, January 07, 2020 | Orthodox Christmas Day |
Serbia | Monday, February 17, 2020 | Serbia National Day |
Serbia | Friday, April 17, 2020 | Orthodox Good Friday |
Serbia | Monday, April 20, 2020 | Orthodox Easter Monday |
Serbia | Friday, May 01, 2020 | Labour Day |
Serbia | Wednesday, November 11, 2020 | Armistice Day |
Serbia | Thursday, December 31, 2020 | New Year’s Eve |
Singapore | Wednesday, January 01, 2020 | New Year’s Day |
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Singapore | Monday, January 27, 2020 | Chinese New Year |
Singapore | Friday, April 10, 2020 | Good Friday |
Singapore | Friday, May 01, 2020 | Labour Day |
Singapore | Thursday, May 07, 2020 | Vesak Day |
Singapore | Monday, May 25, 2020 | Hari Raya Puasa |
Singapore | Friday, July 31, 2020 | Hari Raya Haji |
Singapore | Monday, August 10, 2020 | National Day |
Singapore | Friday, December 25, 2020 | Christmas Day |
Slovenia | Wednesday, January 01, 2020 | New Year’s Day |
Slovenia | Thursday, January 02, 2020 | New Year’s Holiday |
Slovenia | Friday, April 10, 2020 | Good Friday |
Slovenia | Monday, April 13, 2020 | Easter Monday |
Slovenia | Monday, April 27, 2020 | Holiday |
Slovenia | Friday, May 01, 2020 | Labour Day |
Slovenia | Thursday, June 25, 2020 | Statehood Day |
Slovenia | Thursday, December 24, 2020 | Christmas Eve |
Slovenia | Friday, December 25, 2020 | Christmas Day |
Slovenia | Thursday, December 31, 2020 | New Year’s Eve |
South Africa | Wednesday, January 01, 2020 | New Year’s Day |
South Africa | Friday, April 10, 2020 | Good Friday |
South Africa | Monday, April 13, 2020 | Family Day |
South Africa | Monday, April 27, 2020 | Freedom Day |
South Africa | Friday, May 01, 2020 | Women's Day |
South Africa | Tuesday, June 16, 2020 | Youth Day |
South Africa | Monday, August 10, 2020 | Women's Day |
South Africa | Thursday, September 24, 2020 | Heritage Day |
South Africa | Wednesday, December 16, 2020 | Reconciliation Day |
South Africa | Friday, December 25, 2020 | Christmas Day |
Spain | Wednesday, January 01, 2020 | New Year’s Day |
Spain | Friday, April 10, 2020 | Good Friday |
Spain | Monday, April 13, 2020 | Easter Monday |
Spain | Friday, May 01, 2020 | Labour Day |
Spain | Thursday, December 24, 2020 | Christmas Eve |
Spain | Friday, December 25, 2020 | Christmas Day |
Spain | Thursday, December 31, 2020 | New Year’s Eve |
Switzerland | Wednesday, January 01, 2020 | New Year’s Day |
Switzerland | Thursday, January 02, 2020 | Bank Holiday |
Switzerland | Friday, April 10, 2020 | Good Friday |
Switzerland | Monday, April 13, 2020 | Easter Monday |
Switzerland | Friday, May 01, 2020 | Labour Day |
Switzerland | Thursday, May 21, 2020 | Ascension Day |
Switzerland | Monday, June 01, 2020 | Whit Monday |
Switzerland | Friday, December 25, 2020 | Christmas Day |
Tanzania | Wednesday, January 01, 2020 | New Year’s Day |
Tanzania | Tuesday, April 07, 2020 | Karume Day |
Tanzania | Friday, April 10, 2020 | Good Friday |
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Tanzania | Monday, April 13, 2020 | Easter Monday |
Tanzania | Friday, May 01, 2020 | Women's Day |
Tanzania | Tuesday, July 07, 2020 | Saba Saba |
Tanzania | Friday, July 31, 2020 | Eid al-Adha |
Tanzania | Wednesday, October 14, 2020 | Mwalimu Nyerere Day |
Tanzania | Thursday, October 29, 2020 | Maulid |
Tanzania | Wednesday, December 09, 2020 | Independence Day |
Tanzania | Friday, December 25, 2020 | Christmas Day |
Thailand | Wednesday, January 01, 2020 | New Year’s Day |
Thailand | Monday, February 10, 2020 | Makha Bucha Day (Observed) |
Thailand | Monday, April 06, 2020 | Memorial Day |
Thailand | Monday, April 13, 2020 | Songkran Festival |
Thailand | Tuesday, April 14, 2020 | Songkran Festival |
Thailand | Wednesday, April 15, 2020 | Songkran Festival |
Thailand | Friday, May 01, 2020 | Labour Day |
Thailand | Monday, May 04, 2020 | Coronation Day |
Thailand | Wednesday, May 06, 2020 | Vesak Day |
Thailand | Wednesday, June 03, 2020 | Queen Suthida's Birthday |
Thailand | Monday, July 06, 2020 | Asarnha Bucha Day (Observed) |
Thailand | Tuesday, July 28, 2020 | H.M. the King's Birthday |
Thailand | Wednesday, August 12, 2020 | Mother’s Day |
Thailand | Tuesday, October 13, 2020 | Great Memorial Day |
Thailand | Friday, October 23, 2020 | Chulalongkorn Day |
Thailand | Monday, December 07, 2020 | National Day |
Thailand | Thursday, December 10, 2020 | Constitution Day |
Thailand | Thursday, December 31, 2020 | New Year’s Eve |
Tunisia | Wednesday, January 01, 2020 | New Year’s Day |
Tunisia | Tuesday, January 14, 2020 | Revolution National Day |
Tunisia | Friday, March 20, 2020 | Independence Day |
Tunisia | Thursday, April 09, 2020 | Martyrs' Day |
Tunisia | Friday, May 01, 2020 | Working National Day |
Tunisia | Monday, May 25, 2020 | Aid El Fitr |
Tunisia | Tuesday, May 26, 2020 | Aid El Fitr |
Tunisia | Friday, July 31, 2020 | Aid El Idha |
Tunisia | Thursday, August 13, 2020 | Women National Day |
Tunisia | Monday, August 31, 2020 | Islamic New Year |
Tunisia | Thursday, October 15, 2020 | Evacuation Day |
Tunisia | Thursday, October 29, 2020 | Prophet’s Birthday |
Turkey | Wednesday, January 01, 2020 | New Year’s Day |
Turkey | Thursday, April 23, 2020 | National Sovereignty |
Turkey | Friday, May 01, 2020 | Labour Day |
Turkey | Tuesday, May 19, 2020 | Youth and Sports Day |
Turkey | Monday, May 25, 2020 | Ramadan Holiday |
Turkey | Wednesday, July 15, 2020 | National Unity Day |
Turkey | Thursday, July 30, 2020 | Sacrifice Feast |
Turkey | Friday, July 31, 2020 | Sacrifice Feast |
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Turkey | Monday, August 03, 2020 | Sacrifice Feast |
Turkey | Sunday, August 30, 2020 | Victory Day |
Turkey | Wednesday, October 28, 2020 | Republic Day |
Turkey | Thursday, October 29, 2020 | Republic Day |
Uganda | Wednesday, January 01, 2020 | New Year’s Day |
Uganda | Friday, April 10, 2020 | Good Friday |
Uganda | Monday, April 13, 2020 | Easter Monday |
Uganda | Friday, May 01, 2020 | Labour Day |
Uganda | Wednesday, June 03, 2020 | Martyrs' Day |
Uganda | Tuesday, June 09, 2020 | National Heroes' Day |
Uganda | Friday, July 31, 2020 | Eid al-Adha |
Uganda | Friday, October 09, 2020 | Independence Day |
Uganda | Friday, December 25, 2020 | Christmas Day |
United Arab Emirates | Wednesday, January 01, 2020 | New Year’s Day |
United Arab Emirates | Sunday, May 24, 2020 | Eid al-Fitr |
United Arab Emirates | Monday, May 25, 2020 | Eid al-Fitr |
United Arab Emirates | Tuesday, May 26, 2020 | Eid al-Fitr |
United Arab Emirates | Friday, July 31, 2020 | Eid al-Adha |
United Arab Emirates | Sunday, August 02, 2020 | Eid al-Adha |
United Arab Emirates | Wednesday, December 02, 2020 | National Day |
Uruguay | Wednesday, January 01, 2020 | New Year’s Day |
Uruguay | Monday, January 06, 2020 | Children's Day |
Uruguay | Monday, February 24, 2020 | Carnival Monday |
Uruguay | Tuesday, February 25, 2020 | Carnival Tuesday |
Uruguay | Thursday, April 09, 2020 | Holy Thursday |
Uruguay | Friday, April 10, 2020 | Good Friday |
Uruguay | Friday, May 01, 2020 | Labour Day |
Uruguay | Monday, May 18, 2020 | Las Piedras Battle Day |
Uruguay | Friday, June 19, 2020 | Artigas Day |
Uruguay | Tuesday, August 25, 2020 | Independence Day |
Uruguay | Monday, October 12, 2020 | Columbus Day |
Uruguay | Monday, November 02, 2020 | All Souls Day |
Uruguay | Friday, December 25, 2020 | Christmas Day |
Zambia | Wednesday, January 01, 2020 | New Year’s Day |
Zambia | Monday, March 09, 2020 | International Women's Day |
Zambia | Thursday, March 12, 2020 | Youth Day |
Zambia | Friday, April 10, 2020 | Good Friday |
Zambia | Monday, April 13, 2020 | Easter Monday |
Zambia | Friday, May 01, 2020 | Labour Day |
Zambia | Monday, May 25, 2020 | Africa Freedom Day |
Zambia | Monday, July 06, 2020 | Heroes' Day |
Zambia | Tuesday, July 07, 2020 | Unity Day |
Zambia | Monday, August 03, 2020 | Farmers' Day |
Zambia | Friday, December 25, 2020 | Christmas Day |
Zimbabwe | Wednesday, January 01, 2020 | New Year’s Day |
Zimbabwe | Friday, February 21, 2020 | Robert Mugabe National Youth Day |
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Cash Redemption Method
When cash redemptions of Creation Units are available or specified for the Fund, they will be effected in essentially the same manner as in-kind redemptions. In the case of a cash redemption, the investor will receive the cash equivalent of the Redemption Basket minus any Transaction Fees, as described above.
TAX STATUS
The following discussion is general in nature and should not be regarded as an exhaustive presentation of all possible tax ramifications. All shareholders should consult a qualified tax advisor regarding their investment in the Fund.
The Fund has qualified and intends to continue to qualify and has elected to be treated as a regulated investment company under Subchapter M of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Tax Code”), and intends to continue to so qualify, which requires compliance with certain requirements concerning the sources of its income, diversification of its assets, and the amount and timing of its distributions to shareholders. Such qualification does not involve supervision of management or investment practices or policies by any government agency or bureau. By so qualifying, the Fund should not be subject to federal income or excise tax on its net investment income or net capital gain, which are distributed to shareholders in accordance with the applicable timing requirements. Net investment income and net capital gain of the Fund will be computed in accordance with Section 852 of the Tax Code.
Net investment income is made up of dividends and interest less expenses. Net capital gain for a fiscal year is computed by taking into account any capital loss carryforward of the Fund. Capital losses incurred after January 31, 2011 may now be carried forward indefinitely and retain the character of the original loss. Under pre-enacted laws, capital losses could be carried forward to offset any capital gains for eight years, and carried forward as short-term capital, irrespective of the character of the original loss. Capital loss carry forwards are available to offset future realized capital gains. To the extent that these carry forwards are used to offset future capital gains it is probable that the amount offset will not be distributed to shareholders.
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The Fund intends to distribute all of its net investment income, any excess of net short-term capital gains over net long-term capital losses, and any excess of net long-term capital gains over net short-term capital losses in accordance with the timing requirements imposed by the Tax Code and therefore should not be required to pay any federal income or excise taxes. Dividends from net investment income, if any, are declared and paid quarterly by the Fund. The Fund distributes it’s net realized capital gains, if any, to shareholders annually no later than December 31 of each year. Both types of distributions will be in shares of the Fund unless a shareholder elects to receive cash.
To be treated as a regulated investment company under Subchapter M of the Tax Code, the Fund must also (a) derive at least 90% of its gross income from dividends, interest, payments with respect to securities loans, net income from certain publicly traded partnerships and gains from the sale or other disposition of securities or foreign currencies, or other income (including, but not limited to, gains from options, futures or forward contracts) derived with respect to the business of investing in such securities or currencies, and (b) diversify its holding so that, at the end of each fiscal quarter, (i) at least 50% of the market value of the Fund's assets is represented by cash, U.S. government securities and securities of other regulated investment companies, and other securities (for purposes of this calculation, generally limited in respect of any one issuer, to an amount not greater than 5% of the market value of the Fund's assets and 10% of the outstanding voting securities of such issuer) and (ii) not more than 25% of the value of its assets is invested in the securities of (other than U.S. government securities or the securities of other regulated investment companies) any one issuer, two or more issuers that the Fund controls and that are determined to be engaged in the same or similar trades or businesses, or the securities of certain publicly traded partnerships.
If the Fund fails to qualify as a regulated investment company under Subchapter M in any fiscal year, it will be treated as a corporation for federal income tax purposes. As such, the Fund would be required to pay income taxes on its net investment income and net realized capital gains, if any, at the rates generally applicable to corporations. Shareholders of the Fund generally would not be liable for income tax on the Fund's net investment income or net realized capital gains in their individual capacities. Distributions to shareholders, whether from the Fund's net investment income or net realized capital gains, would be treated as taxable dividends to the extent of current or accumulated earnings and profits of the Fund.
The Fund is subject to a 4% nondeductible excise tax on certain undistributed amounts of ordinary income and capital gain under a prescribed formula contained in Section 4982 of the Tax Code. The formula requires payment to shareholders during a calendar year of distributions representing at least 98% of a Fund's ordinary income for the calendar year and at least 98.2% of its capital gain net income (i.e., the excess of its capital gains over capital losses) realized during the one-year period ending October 31 during such year plus 100% of any income that was neither distributed nor taxed to the Fund during the preceding calendar year. Under ordinary circumstances, the Fund expects to time its distributions so as to avoid liability for this tax.
The following discussion of tax consequences is for the general information of shareholders that are subject to tax. Shareholders that are IRAs or other qualified retirement plans are exempt from income taxation under the Tax Code.
Distributions of taxable net investment income and the excess of net short-term capital gain over net long-term capital loss are taxable to shareholders as ordinary income.
Distributions of net capital gain (“capital gain dividends”) generally are taxable to shareholders as long-term capital gain; regardless of the length of time the shares of the Trust have been held by such shareholders.
Certain U.S. shareholders, including individuals and estates and trusts, are subject to an additional 3.8% Medicare tax on all or a portion of their “net investment income,” which should include dividends from the Fund and net gains from the disposition of Shares. U.S. shareholders are urged to consult their own tax advisors regarding the implications of the additional Medicare tax resulting from an investment in the Fund.
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Redemption of Shares by a shareholder will result in the recognition of taxable gain or loss in an amount equal to the difference between the amount realized and the shareholder's tax basis in his or her Shares. Such gain or loss is treated as a capital gain or loss if the shares are held as capital assets. However, any loss realized upon the redemption of Shares within six months from the date of their purchase will be treated as a long-term capital loss to the extent of any amounts treated as capital gain dividends during such six-month period. All or a portion of any loss realized upon the redemption of Shares may be disallowed to the extent shares are purchased (including shares acquired by means of reinvested dividends) within 30 days before or after such redemption.
Distributions of taxable net investment income and net capital gain will be taxable as described above, whether received in additional cash or shares. Shareholders electing to receive distributions in the form of additional shares will have a cost basis for federal income tax purposes in each Share so received equal to the NAV of a Share on the reinvestment date.
All distributions of taxable net investment income and net capital gain, whether received in Shares or in cash, must be reported by each taxable shareholder on his or her federal income tax return. Dividends or distributions declared in October, November or December as of a record date in such a month, if any, will be deemed to have been received by shareholders on December 31, if paid during January of the following year. Redemptions of Shares may result in tax consequences (gain or loss) to the shareholder and are also subject to these reporting requirements.
Under the Tax Code, the Fund will be required to report to the Internal Revenue Service all distributions of taxable income and capital gains as well as gross proceeds from the redemption or exchange of Shares, except in the case of certain exempt shareholders. Under the backup withholding provisions of Section 3406 of the Code, distributions of taxable net investment income and net capital gain and proceeds from the redemption or exchange of the shares of a regulated investment company may be subject to withholding of federal income tax in the case of non-exempt shareholders who fail to furnish the investment company with their taxpayer identification numbers and with required certifications regarding their status under the federal income tax law, or if the Fund is notified by the IRS or a broker that withholding is required due to an incorrect TIN or a previous failure to report taxable interest or dividends. If the withholding provisions are applicable, any such distributions and proceeds, whether taken in cash or reinvested in additional shares, will be reduced by the amounts required to be withheld.
Options, Futures, Forward Contracts and Swap Agreements
To the extent such investments are permissible for the Fund, the Fund's transactions in options, futures contracts, hedging transactions, forward contracts, straddles and foreign currencies will be subject to special tax rules (including mark-to-market, constructive sale, straddle, wash sale and short sale rules), the effect of which may be to accelerate income to the Fund, defer losses to the Fund, cause adjustments in the holding periods of the Fund's securities, convert long-term capital gains into short-term capital gains and convert short-term capital losses into long-term capital losses. These rules could therefore affect the amount, timing and character of distributions to shareholders.
To the extent such investments are permissible, certain of the Fund's hedging activities (including its transactions, if any, in foreign currencies or foreign currency-denominated instruments) are likely to produce a difference between its book income and its taxable income. If the Fund's book income exceeds its taxable income, the distribution (if any) of such excess book income will be treated as (i) a dividend to the extent of the Fund's remaining earnings and profits (including earnings and profits arising from tax-exempt income), (ii) thereafter, as a return of capital to the extent of the recipient's basis in the shares, and (iii) thereafter, as gain from the sale or exchange of a capital asset. If the Fund's book income is less than taxable income, the Fund could be required to make distributions exceeding book income to qualify as a regulated investment company that is accorded special tax treatment.
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Passive Foreign Investment Companies
Investment by the Fund in certain passive foreign investment companies (“PFICs”) could subject the Fund to a U.S. federal income tax (including interest charges) on distributions received from the company or on proceeds received from the disposition of shares in the company, which tax cannot be eliminated by making distributions to Fund shareholders. However, the Fund may elect to treat a PFIC as a qualified electing fund (“QEF”), in which case the Fund will be required to include its share of the company's income and net capital gains annually, regardless of whether it receives any distribution from the company.
The Fund also may make an election to mark the gains (and to a limited extent losses) in such holdings “to the market” as though it had sold and repurchased its holdings in those PFICs on the last day of the Fund's taxable year. Such gains and losses are treated as ordinary income and loss. The QEF and mark-to-market elections may accelerate the recognition of income (without the receipt of cash) and increase the amount required to be distributed for the Fund to avoid taxation. Making either of these elections, therefore, may require a Fund to liquidate other investments (including when it is not advantageous to do so) to meet its distribution requirement, which also may accelerate the recognition of gain and affect the Fund's total return.
Foreign Currency Transactions
The Fund's transactions in foreign currencies, foreign currency-denominated debt securities and certain foreign currency options, futures contracts and forward contracts (and similar instruments) may give rise to ordinary income or loss to the extent such income or loss results from fluctuations in the value of the foreign currency concerned.
Foreign Taxation
Income received by the Fund from sources within foreign countries may be subject to withholding and other taxes imposed by such countries. Tax treaties and conventions between certain countries and the U.S. may reduce or eliminate such taxes. If more than 50% of the value of the Fund's total assets at the close of its taxable year consists of securities of foreign corporations, the Fund may be able to elect to “pass through” to the Fund's shareholders the amount of eligible foreign income and similar taxes paid by the Fund. If this election is made, a shareholder generally subject to tax will be required to include in gross income (in addition to taxable dividends actually received) his or her pro rata share of the foreign taxes paid by the Fund, and may be entitled either to deduct (as an itemized deduction) his or her pro rata share of foreign taxes in computing his or her taxable income or to use it as a foreign tax credit against his or her U.S. federal income tax liability, subject to certain limitations. In particular, a shareholder must hold his or her shares (without protection from risk of loss) on the ex-dividend date and for at least 15 more days during the 30-day period surrounding the ex-dividend date to be eligible to claim a foreign tax credit with respect to a gain dividend. No deduction for foreign taxes may be claimed by a shareholder who does not itemize deductions. Each shareholder will be notified within 60 days after the close of the Fund's taxable year whether the foreign taxes paid by the Fund will “pass through” for that year.
Generally, a credit for foreign taxes is subject to the limitation that it may not exceed the shareholder's U.S. tax attributable to his or her total foreign source taxable income. For this purpose, if the pass-through election is made, the source of the Fund's income will flow through to shareholders of the Fund. With respect to the Fund, gains from the sale of securities will be treated as derived from U.S. sources and certain currency fluctuation gains, including fluctuation gains from foreign currency-denominated debt securities, receivables and payables will be treated as ordinary income derived from U.S. sources. The limitation on the foreign tax credit is applied separately to foreign source passive income, and to certain other types of income. A shareholder may be unable to claim a credit for the full amount of his or her proportionate share of the foreign taxes paid by the Fund. The foreign tax credit can be used to offset only 90% of the revised alternative minimum tax imposed on corporations and individuals and foreign taxes generally are not deductible in computing alternative minimum taxable income.
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Original Issue Discount and Pay-In-Kind Securities
Current federal tax law requires the holder of a U.S. Treasury or other fixed income zero coupon security to accrue as income each year a portion of the discount at which the security was purchased, even though the holder receives no interest payment in cash on the security during the year. In addition, pay-in-kind securities will give rise to income, which is required to be distributed and is taxable even though the Fund holding the security receives no interest payment in cash on the security during the year.
Some of the debt securities (with a fixed maturity date of more than one year from the date of issuance) that may be acquired by the Fund may be treated as debt securities that are issued originally at a discount. Generally, the amount of the original issue discount (“OID”) is treated as interest income and is included in income over the term of the debt security, even though payment of that amount is not received until a later time, usually when the debt security matures. A portion of the OID includable in income with respect to certain high-yield corporate debt securities (including certain pay-in-kind securities) may be treated as a dividend for U.S. federal income tax purposes.
Some of the debt securities (with a fixed maturity date of more than one year from the date of issuance) that may be acquired by the Fund in the secondary market may be treated as having market discount. Generally, any gain recognized on the disposition of, and any partial payment of principal on, a debt security having market discount is treated as ordinary income to the extent the gain, or principal payment, does not exceed the “accrued market discount” on such debt security. Market discount generally accrues in equal daily installments. The Fund may make one or more of the elections applicable to debt securities having market discount, which could affect the character and timing of recognition of income.
Some debt securities (with a fixed maturity date of one year or less from the date of issuance) that may be acquired by the Fund may be treated as having acquisition discount, or OID in the case of certain types of debt securities. Generally, the Fund will be required to include the acquisition discount, or OID, in income over the term of the debt security, even though payment of that amount is not received until a later time, usually when the debt security matures. The Fund may make one or more of the elections applicable to debt securities having acquisition discount, or OID, which could affect the character and timing of recognition of income.
If the Fund holds the foregoing kinds of securities, it may be required to pay out as an income distribution each year an amount that is greater than the total amount of cash interest the Fund actually received. Such distributions may be made from the cash assets of the Fund or by liquidation of portfolio securities, if necessary (including when it is not advantageous to do so). The Fund may realize gains or losses from such liquidations. In the event the Fund realizes net capital gains from such transactions, its shareholders may receive a larger capital gain distribution, if any, than they would in the absence of such transactions.
Shareholders of the Fund may be subject to state and local taxes on distributions received from the Fund and on redemptions of Shares.
A brief explanation of the form and character of the distribution accompany each distribution. In January of each year the Fund issues to each shareholder a statement of the federal income tax status of all distributions.
Shareholders should consult their tax advisors about the application of federal, state and local and foreign tax law in light of their particular situation.
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INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM
The Board has selected RSM US LLP, located at 555 Seventeenth Street, Suite 1200, Denver, Colorado 80202, as the Fund’s independent registered public accounting firm for the current fiscal period. The firm provides services including the annual audit of the Fund’s financial statements, and other audit, tax and related services to the Fund.
LEGAL COUNSEL
Thompson Hine LLP, 41 South High Street, Suite 1700, Columbus, Ohio 43215, serves as the Trust's legal counsel.
FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
The Fund has not yet commenced operations and, therefore, has not produced financial statements. Once produced, you can obtain a copy of the financial statements contained in the Fund’s Annual or Semi-Annual Report without charge by calling the Fund at 844-509-2775.
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APPENDIX A
PROXY VOTING POLICIES AND PROCEDURES
COUNTERPOINT MUTUAL FUNDS, LLC
Proxy Voting
Pursuant to Rule 206(4)-6 of the Advisers Act, a registered investment adviser who exercises voting authority with respect to client securities must adopt and implement written policies and procedures:
Additionally, pursuant to the rule advisers must disclose to clients how they may obtain information from the adviser about how the adviser voted with respect to their securities; and describe to clients the adviser’s proxy voting policies and procedures and, upon request, furnish a copy of the policies and procedures to the requesting client.
These policies and procedures, which may be amended from time to time, apply to the voting of proxies by Counterpoint Mutual Funds, LLC (“Adviser”) for accounts over which Adviser has proxy voting authority. These policies and procedures, as dated above, supersede all previously dated versions.
SECTION 1 - PROXY VOTING GUIDELINES
Adviser has hired Broadridge Investor Communication Solutions, Inc. (“Broadridge”) to provide to Adviser through the ProxyEdge® platform, the corporate governance voting recommendations provided by Egan-Jones Proxy Service (“Egan-Jones”) to vote proxies for its clients. Adviser therefore has adopted and implemented this Proxy Voting Policy and Procedures, based on those of Egan-Jones. Any questions about this document should be directed to Adviser’s Chief Compliance Officer.
The fundamental guideline followed by Adviser in voting proxies is to make every effort to confirm that the manner in which shares are voted is in the best interest of clients and the value of the investment. Absent special circumstances of the types described below, it is the policy of Adviser to exercise its proxy voting discretion in accordance with the Egan-Jones Proxy Voting Principles summarize in Exhibit A (the “Proxy Voting Guidelines”). The Proxy Voting Guidelines are applicable to the voting of domestic and global proxies.
SECTION 2 - PROXY VOTING PROCEDURES
Adviser has implemented the following procedures to confirm that proxies are voted in the best interest of its clients:
1. | Adviser will maintain a list of all clients for which it votes proxies. |
2. | Adviser will confirm that Egan-Jones is the designated party to receive proxy voting materials from companies or intermediaries. |
3. | Egan-Jones will receive all proxy voting materials and will be responsible for ensuring that proxies are voted and submitted in a timely manner. |
SECTION 3 - ERISA ACCOUNTS
Plans governed by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended (“ERISA”), are to be administered consistent with the terms of the governing plan documents and applicable provisions of ERISA. In cases where sole proxy voting discretion rests with Adviser, the foregoing policies and procedures will be followed, subject to the fiduciary responsibility standards of ERISA. These standards generally require fiduciaries to act prudently and to discharge their
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duties solely in the interests of participants and beneficiaries. The Department of Labor has indicated that the voting decisions of ERISA fiduciaries must generally focus on the course that would most likely increase the value of the stock being voted.
The documents governing ERISA individual account plans may set forth various procedures for voting “employer securities” held by the plan. Where authority over the investment of plan assets is granted to plan participants, many individual account plans provide that proxies for employer securities will be voted in accordance with directions received from plan participants as to shares allocated to their plan accounts. In some cases, the governing plan documents may further provide that unallocated shares and/or allocated shares for which no participant directions are received will be voted in accordance with a proportional voting method in which such shares are voted proportionately in the same manner as are allocated shares for which directions from participants have been received. Consistent with Labor Department positions, it is the policy of Adviser to follow the provisions of a plan’s governing documents in the voting of employer securities, unless it determines that to do so would breach its fiduciary duties under ERISA.
SECTION 4 - CLOSED-END AND OPEN-END MUTUAL FUNDS
Proxies for securities held within closed-end and open-end registered management investment companies (the “Fund”) that we manage will be voted subject to any applicable investment restrictions of the Fund and, to the extent applicable, in accordance with any resolutions or other instructions approved by authorized persons of the Fund.
Adviser intends to comply with the safe harbor of section 12(d)(1)(F) and Rule 12d1-3 of the Investment Company Act of 1940. Adviser will mirror vote proposals on proxies issued by underlying investment companies. Mirror voting means that the Fund votes its shares in the same proportion that all shares of the underlying funds are voted, or in accordance with instructions received from fund shareholders.
Adviser will provide such records and reports as required by the Fund for the Fund to file Form N-PX.
SECTION 5 - OTHER SPECIAL SITUATIONS
Adviser may choose not to vote proxies in certain situations or for certain accounts, such as: 1) where a client has informed Adviser that it wishes to retain the right to vote the proxy, Adviser will instruct the custodian to send the proxy material directly to the client, 2) where Adviser deems the cost of voting would exceed any anticipated benefit to the client, 3) where a proxy is received for a client account that has been terminated with Adviser, 4) where a proxy is received for a security that Adviser no longer manages (e.g., Adviser had previously sold the entire position), and/or 5) where the exercise of voting rights could restrict the ability of an account's portfolio manager to freely trade the security in question (as is the case, for example, in certain foreign jurisdictions known as “blocking markets”).
In addition, if any accounts over which Adviser has proxy-voting discretion participate in securities lending programs administered by the custodian or a third party, Adviser will be unable to vote any security that is out on loan to a borrower because title to loaned securities passes to the borrower. If Adviser has investment discretion over such account(s), however, it reserves the right to instruct the lending agent to terminate a loan in situations where the matter to be voted upon is deemed to be material to the investment and the benefits of voting the security are deemed to outweigh the costs of terminating the loan.
SECTION 6 – CLASS ACTIONS
Adviser has hired Broadridge to seek recovery in class action settlements. Broadridge will file class action proof of claim forms with the claims administrator. The claims administrator dispenses the money from the settlement fund to those persons or entities with valid claims. Broadridge is entitled to a contingency fee of 20% of the total reimbursement of securities class action settlements it collects of behalf of Adviser’s clients.
SECTION 7 - CONFLICTS OF INTEREST
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Adviser may occasionally be subject to conflicts of interest in the voting of proxies due to business or personal relationships it maintains with persons having an interest in the outcome of certain votes. For example, Adviser and/or one of its employees may occasionally have business or personal relationships with other proponents of proxy proposals, participants in proxy contests, corporate directors or candidates for directorships.
If at any time the CCO or Egan-Jones become aware of any type of potential or actual conflict of interest relating to a particular proxy proposal, such conflict will be handled in accordance with the following:
1. | Where the Egan-Jones Proxy Voting Principles outline a voting position as either “for” or “against” such proxy proposal, voting will be in accordance with Egan-Jones Proxy Voting Principles. |
2. | Where the Egan-Jones Proxy Voting Principles outline a voting position to be determined on a “case by case” basis for such proxy proposal, or such proposal is not listed in the Egan-Jones Proxy Voting Principles, then one of the two following methods will be selected by Adviser depending upon the facts and circumstances of each situation and the requirements of applicable law: |
A. | Voting the proxy in accordance with the voting recommendation of Egan-Jones. |
B. | Voting the proxy pursuant to client direction. |
SECTION 8 - PROXY VOTING RECORDS
Adviser will maintain the following records under these policies and procedures:
1. | A copy of all policies and procedures. |
2. | A copy of each proxy statement Adviser receives regarding client’s securities. |
3. | A record of each vote cast by Adviser on behalf of a client. |
4. | A copy of any document created by Adviser that was material to making a decision on how to vote proxies on behalf of a client or that memorialize the basis for that decision. |
5. | A copy of each written client request for information on how Adviser voted proxies on behalf of the requesting client, and a copy of any written response by Adviser to any (written or oral) client request for information on how Adviser voted proxies on behalf of the requesting client. |
The foregoing records will be retained for such period of time as is required to comply with applicable laws and regulations. Adviser may rely on one or more third parties to create and retain the records referred to in these policies.
SECTION 9 - CLIENT DISCLOSURES
A copy of these policies and procedures will be provided to clients upon request. In addition, copies of the above outlined records, as they relate to particular clients, will be provided to those clients upon request.
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PART C
OTHER INFORMATION
Item 28. Exhibits.
(a) Articles of Incorporation.
(i) Registrant's Amended Agreement and Declaration of Trust, dated May 30, 2019 as previously filed on June 7, 2019 to the Registrant’s Registration Statement in Post-Effective Amendment No. 411, and hereby incorporated by reference.
(ii) Certificate of Trust, which was filed as an exhibit to the Registrant's Registration Statement on Form N-1A on December 30, 2011, is incorporated by reference.
(b) By-Laws. Registrant's By-Laws as previously filed on August 19, 2013 to the Registrant's Registration Statement in Post-Effective Amendment No. 62, and hereby incorporated by reference.
(c) Instruments Defining Rights of Security Holder. None other than in the Declaration of Trust and By-Laws of the Registrant.
(d) Investment Advisory Contracts.
(i) Investment Advisory Agreement between Swan Capital Management, Inc. and Registrant, with respect to the Swan Defined Risk Fund as previously filed on November 13, 2012 to the Registrant's Registration Statement in Post-Effective Amendment No. 17, and hereby incorporated by reference.
(ii) Investment Advisory Agreement between Persimmon Capital Management, LP, and Registrant, with respect to the Persimmon Long/Short Fund as previously filed on December 17, 2012 to the Registrant's Registration Statement in Post-Effective Amendment No. 23, and hereby incorporated by reference.
(ii)(a) Amendment to the Investment Advisory Agreement between Persimmon Capital Management, LP and Registrant, with respect to the Persimmon Long/Short Fund as previously filed on July 8, 2014 to the Registrant's Registration Statement in Post-Effective Amendment No. 119, and hereby incorporated by reference.
(ii)(b) Amendment to the Investment Advisory Agreement between Persimmon Capital Management, LP and Registrant, with respect to the Persimmon Long/Short Fund as previously filed on January 22, 2019 to the Registrant's Registration Statement in Post-Effective Amendment No. 379, and hereby incorporated by reference.
(ii)(c) Amendment to the Investment Advisory Agreement between Persimmon Capital Management, LP and Registrant, with respect to the Persimmon Long/Short Fund to be filed by subsequent amendment.
(iii) Investment Advisory Agreement between Good Harbor Financial, LLC and Registrant, with respect to the Good Harbor Tactical Core US Fund as previously filed on December 26, 2012 to the Registrant's Registration Statement in Post-Effective Amendment No. 24, and hereby incorporated by reference.
(iii)(a) Amendment to the Investment Advisory Agreement between Good Harbor Financial, LLC and Registrant, with respect to the Good Harbor Tactical Core US Fund as previously filed on June 17, 2016 to the Registrant's Registration Statement in Post-Effective Amendment No. 247, and hereby incorporated by reference.
(iii)(b) Amendment to the Investment Advisory Agreement between Good Harbor Financial, LLC and Registrant, with respect to the Good Harbor Tactical Core US Fund as previously filed on January 22, 2019 to the Registrant's Registration Statement in Post-Effective Amendment No. 379, and hereby incorporated by reference.
(iv) Investment Advisory Agreement between Gratus Capital, LLC and Registrant, with respect to the Marathon Value Portfolio as previously filed on January 18, 2018 to the Registrant's Registration Statement in Post-Effective Amendment No. 314, and hereby incorporated by reference.
(iv) (a) Interim Investment Advisory Agreement between Gratus Capital, LLC and Registrant, with respect to the Marathon Value Portfolio as previously filed on January 8, 2018 to the Registrant's Registration Statement in Post-Effective Amendment No. 313, and hereby incorporated by reference.
(v) Investment Advisory Agreement between Pinnacle Family Advisors, LLC and Registrant, with respect to the Pinnacle Sherman Tactical Allocation Fund as previously filed on May 15, 2013 to the Registrant's Registration Statement in Post-Effective Amendment No. 51, and hereby incorporated by reference.
(vi) Investment Advisory Agreement between Stonebridge Capital Advisors, LLC and Registrant, with respect to the Covered Bridge Fund as previously filed on August 19, 2013 to the Registrant's Registration Statement in Post-Effective Amendment No. 62, and hereby incorporated by reference.
(vi)(a) First Amendment to the Investment Advisory Agreement between Stonebridge Capital Advisors, LLC and Registrant, with respect to the Covered Bridge Fund as previously filed on October 25, 2017 to the Registrant's Registration Statement in Post-Effective Amendment No. 305, and hereby incorporated by reference.
(vii) Investment Advisory Agreement between Good Harbor Financial, LLC and Registrant, with respect to the Leland Real Asset Opportunities Fund as previously filed on September 23, 2013 to the Registrant's Registration Statement in Post-Effective Amendment No. 70, and hereby incorporated by reference.
(vii)(a) Amendment to the Investment Advisory Agreement between Good Harbor Financial, LLC and Registrant, with respect to the Leland Real Asset Opportunities Fund as previously filed on January 22, 2019 to the Registrant's Registration Statement in Post-Effective Amendment No. 379, and hereby incorporated by reference.
(viii) Investment Advisory Agreement between First Associated Investment Advisors, Inc. and Registrant, with respect to The Teberg Fund as previously filed on December 13, 2013 to the Registrant's Registration Statement in Post-Effective Amendment No. 86, and hereby incorporated by reference.
(ix) Investment Advisory Agreement between RESQ Investment Partners, LLC and Registrant, with respect to the RESQ Absolute Equity Fund and RESQ Absolute Income Fund as previously filed on December 13, 2013 to the Registrant's Registration Statement in Post-Effective Amendment No. 85, and hereby incorporated by reference.
(x)(a) Amendment to the Investment Advisory Agreement between RESQ Investment Partners, LLC and Registrant, with respect to the RESQ Absolute Equity Fund and RESQ Absolute Income Fund as previously filed on February 26, 2016 to the Registrant's Registration Statement in Post-Effective Amendment No. 236, and hereby incorporated by reference.
(xi) Investment Advisory Agreement between Horizon Capital Management, Inc. and Registrant, with respect to the Issachar Fund as previously filed on February 10, 2014 to the Registrant's Registration Statement in Post-Effective Amendment No. 93, and hereby incorporated by reference.
(xi)(a) First Amendment to the Investment Advisory Agreement between Horizon Capital Management, Inc. and Registrant, with respect to the Issachar Fund as previously filed on July 25, 2019 to the Registrant’s Registration Statement in Post-Effective Amendment No. 416, and hereby incorporated by reference.
(xii) Investment Advisory Agreement between Newfound Research LLC and Registrant, with respect to the Newfound Risk Managed Global Sectors Fund as previously filed on April 25, 2014 to the Registrant's Registration Statement in Post-Effective Amendment No. 107, and hereby incorporated by reference.
(xii) (a) Second Amendment to the Investment Advisory Agreement between Newfound Research LLC and Registrant with respect to Newfound Risk Managed Global Sectors Fund, Newfound Multi-Asset Income Fund and Newfound Risk Managed U.S. Sectors Fund as previously filed on July 28, 2017 to the Registrant’s Registration Statement in Post-Effective Amendment No. 300, and hereby incorporated by reference.
(xii) (b) Third Amendment to the Investment Advisory Agreement between Newfound Research LLC and Registrant with respect to Newfound Risk Managed Global Sectors Fund as previously filed on April 25, 2019 to the Registrant's Registration Statement in Post-Effective Amendment No. 404, and hereby incorporated by reference.
(xiii) Investment Advisory Agreement between Howard Capital Management, Inc., and the Registrant with respect to the HCM Tactical Growth Fund as previously filed on July 8, 2014 to the Registrant's Registration Statement in Post-Effective Amendment No. 119, and hereby incorporated by reference.
(xiii)(a) First Amendment to the Investment Advisory Agreement between Howard Capital Management, Inc., and the Registrant with respect to the HCM Tactical Growth Fund as previously filed on April 28, 2017 to the Registrant's Registration Statement in Post-Effective Amendment No. 294, and hereby incorporated by reference.
(xiv) Investment Advisory Agreement between Good Harbor Financial, LLC and Registrant, with respect to the Good Harbor Tactical Select Fund as previously filed on May 15, 2014 to the Registrant's Registration Statement in Post-Effective Amendment No. 113 under the 1940 Act, and hereby incorporated by reference.
(xiv)(a) Amendment to the Investment Advisory Agreement between Good Harbor Financial, LLC and Registrant, with respect to the Good Harbor Tactical Select Fund as previously filed on January 22, 2019 to the Registrant's Registration Statement in Post-Effective Amendment No. 379, and hereby incorporated by reference.
(xv) Investment Advisory Agreement between Newfound Research LLC and Registrant, with respect to the Newfound Multi-Asset Income Fund as previously filed on September 3, 2014 to the Registrant's Registration Statement in Post-Effective Amendment No. 130, and hereby incorporated by reference.
(xv)(a) Third Amendment to the Investment Advisory Agreement between Newfound Research LLC and Registrant with respect to Newfound Multi-Asset Income Fund as previously filed on July 24, 2018 to the Registrant’s Registration Statement in Post-Effective Amendment No. 341, and hereby incorporated by reference.
(xv)(b) Fourth Amendment to the Investment Advisory Agreement between Newfound Research LLC and Registrant with respect to Newfound Multi-Asset Income Fund as previously filed on October 26, 2018 to the Registrant’s Registration Statement in Post-Effective Amendment No. 352, and hereby incorporated by reference.
(xvi) Investment Advisory Agreement between Counterpoint Mutual Funds, LLC and Registrant, with respect to the Counterpoint Tactical Income Fund as previously filed on September 24, 2015 to the Registrant’s Registration Statement in Post-Effective Amendment No. 203, and hereby incorporated by reference.
(xvii) Investment Advisory Agreement between Swan Capital Management, Inc. and Registrant, with respect to the Swan Defined Risk Emerging Markets Fund as previously filed on December 3, 2014 to the Registrant’s Registration Statement in Post-Effective Amendment No. 143, and hereby incorporated by reference.
(xvii)(a) Amendment to the Investment Advisory Agreement between Swan Capital Management, Inc. and Registrant, with respect to the Swan Defined Risk Emerging Markets Fund as previously filed on January 23, 2017 to the Registrant's Registration Statement in Post-Effective Amendment No. 270, and hereby incorporated by reference.
(xviii) Investment Sub-Advisory Agreement between Swan Capital Management, Inc., and Swan Global Management, LLC, with respect to the Swan Defined Risk Fund as previously filed on January 13, 2015 to the Registrant’s Registration Statement in Post-Effective Amendment No. 149, and hereby incorporated by reference.
(xviii)(a) Amendment to the Investment Sub-Advisory Agreement between Swan Capital Management, Inc., and Swan Global Management, LLC, with respect to the Swan Defined Risk Fund and Swan Defined Risk Emerging Markets Fund as previously filed on January 23, 2017 to the Registrant's Registration Statement in Post-Effective Amendment No. 270, and hereby incorporated by reference.
(xix) Investment Sub-Advisory Agreement between Swan Capital Management, Inc., and Swan Global Management, LLC, with respect to the Swan Defined Risk Emerging Markets Fund as previously filed on January 13, 2015 to the Registrant’s Registration Statement in Post-Effective Amendment No. 149, and hereby incorporated by reference.
(xx) Investment Advisory Agreement between Ascendant Capital Management, LLC and Registrant, with respect to ACM Dynamic Opportunity Fund, as previously filed on January 13, 2015 to the Registrant’s Registration Statement in Post-Effective Amendment No. 149, and hereby incorporated by reference.
(xxi) Investment Advisory Agreement between Howard Capital Management, Inc. and Registrant, with respect to HCM Dividend Sector Plus Fund, as previously filed on March 3, 2015 to the Registrant’s Registration Statement in Post-Effective Amendment No. 160, and hereby incorporated by reference.
(xxii) Investment Advisory Agreement between Newfound Research LLC and Registrant, with respect to the Newfound Risk Managed U.S. Sectors Fund, as previously filed on June 2, 2015 to the Registrant’s Registration Statement in Post-Effective Amendment No. 171, and hereby incorporated by reference.
(xxii)(a) First Amendment to the Investment Advisory Agreement between Newfound Research LLC and Registrant, with respect to the Newfound Risk Managed U.S. Sectors Fund as previously filed on April 28, 2017 to the Registrant's Registration Statement in Post-Effective Amendment No. 294, and hereby incorporated by reference.
(xxii)(b) Second Amendment to the Investment Advisory Agreement between Newfound Research LLC and Registrant, with respect to the Newfound Risk Managed U.S. Sectors Fund as previously filed on April 25, 2019 to the Registrant's Registration Statement in Post-Effective Amendment No. 404, and hereby incorporated by reference.
(xxiii) Investment Advisory Agreement between Good Harbor Financial LLC and Registrant with respect to the Leland Thomson Reuters Venture Capital Index Fund and Leland Thomson Reuters Private Equity Index Fund as previously filed on September 24, 2015 to the Registrant’s Registration Statement in Post-Effective Amendment No. 203, and hereby incorporated by reference.
(xxiv) Investment Advisory Agreement between Pinnacle Family Advisors, LLC and Registrant, with respect to the Pinnacle Sherman Multi-Strategy Core Fund as previously filed on September 3, 2015 to the Registrant’s Registration Statement in Post-Effective Amendment No. 202, and hereby incorporated by reference.
(xxv) Investment Advisory Agreement between Absolute Capital Management, LLC and Registrant, with respect to the Absolute Capital Asset Allocator Fund and Absolute Capital Defender Fund as previously filed on December 14, 2018 to the Registrant’s Registration Statement in Post-Effective Amendment No. 373, and hereby incorporated by reference.
(xxvi) Interim Investment Advisory Agreement between Absolute Capital Management, LLC and Registrant, with respect to the Absolute Capital Asset Allocator Fund and Absolute Capital Defender Fund as previously filed on July 24, 2018 to the Registrant’s Registration Statement in Post-Effective Amendment No. 341, and hereby incorporated by reference.
(xxvii) Investment Advisory Agreement between Counterpoint Mutual Funds, LLC and Registrant, with respect to the Counterpoint Tactical Equity Fund as previously filed on October 19, 2015 to the Registrant’s Registration Statement in Post-Effective Amendment No. 208, and hereby incorporated by reference.
(xxvii)(a) Amendment to the Investment Advisory Agreement between Counterpoint Mutual Funds, LLC and Registrant, with respect to the Counterpoint Tactical Income Fund as previously filed on October 25, 2017 to the Registrant's Registration Statement in Post-Effective Amendment No. 305, and hereby incorporated by reference.
(xxviii) Investment Advisory Agreement between Swan Capital Management, LLC and Registrant, with respect to the Swan Defined Risk Foreign Developed Fund and Swan Defined Risk U.S. Small Cap Fund as previously filed on October 27, 2015 to the Registrant’s Registration Statement in Post-Effective Amendment No. 210, and hereby incorporated by reference.
(xxix) Investment Sub-Advisory Agreement between Swan Capital Management, LLC, and Swan Global Management, LLC, with respect to the Swan Defined Risk Foreign Developed Fund and Swan Defined Risk U.S. Small Cap Fund as previously filed on October 27, 2015 to the Registrant’s Registration Statement in Post-Effective Amendment No. 210, and hereby incorporated by reference.
(xxx) Investment Advisory Agreement between Boyd Watterson Asset Management, LLC and Registrant, with respect to the Boyd Watterson Short Duration Enhanced Income Fund as previously filed on June 17, 2016 to the Registrant's Registration Statement in Post-Effective Amendment No. 247, and hereby incorporated by reference.
(xxxi) Investment Advisory Agreement between Howard Capital Management, Inc., and the Registrant with respect to the HCM Income Plus Fund as previously filed on January 23, 2017 to the Registrant's Registration Statement in Post-Effective Amendment No. 270, and hereby incorporated by reference.
(xxxi)(a) First Amendment to the Investment Advisory Agreement between Howard Capital Management, Inc. and the Registrant with respect to the HCM Income Plus Fund as previously filed on July 24, 2018 to the Registrant’s Registration Statement in Post-Effective Amendment No. 341, and hereby incorporated by reference.
(xxxii) Investment Advisory Agreement between Counterpoint Mutual Funds, LLC and Registrant, with respect to the Counterpoint Long-Short Equity Fund as previously filed on July 14, 2017 to the Registrant's Registration Statement in Post-Effective Amendment No. 297, and hereby incorporated by reference.
(xxxiii) Investment Advisory Agreement between Counterpoint Mutual Funds, LLC and Registrant, with respect to the Counterpoint Tactical Municipal Fund as previously filed on May 1, 2018 to the Registrant’s Registration Statement in Post-Effective Amendment No. 338, and hereby incorporated by reference.
(xxxiv) Investment Advisory Agreement between Pinnacle Family Advisors, LLC and Registrant, with respect to the Pinnacle TrendRating Innovative Equity Fund and Pinnacle Dynamic Growth Fund as previously filed on November 16, 2018 to the Registrant’s Registration Statement in Post-Effective Amendment No. 365, and hereby incorporated by reference.
(xxxv) Investment Advisory Agreement between Swan Capital Management, LLC and Registrant, with respect to the Swan Defined Risk Growth Fund as previously filed on November 16, 2018 to the Registrant’s Registration Statement in Post-Effective Amendment No. 364, and hereby incorporated by reference.
(xxxvi) Investment Sub-Advisory Agreement between Swan Capital Management, LLC, and Swan Global Management, LLC, with respect to the Swan Defined Risk Growth Fund as previously filed on December 14, 2018 to the Registrant’s Registration Statement in Post-Effective Amendment No. 373, and hereby incorporated by reference.
(xxxvii) Investment Advisory Agreement between Ascendant Capital Management, LLC and Registrant, with respect to ACM Tactical Income Fund as previously filed on December 21, 2018 to the Registrant’s Registration Statement in Post-Effective Amendment No. 377, and hereby incorporated by reference.
(xxxviii) Investment Advisory Agreement between Howard Capital Management, Inc., and Registrant with respect to the HCM Defender 100 Index ETF and HCM Defender 500 Index ETF as previously filed on September 6, 2019 to the Registrant’s Registration Statement in Post-Effective Amendment No. 426, and hereby incorporated by reference.
(xxxix) Investment Advisory Agreement between Counterpoint Mutual Funds, LLC and Registrant, with respect to the CP High Yield Trend ETF is filed herewith.
(e) Underwriting Contracts.
(i) Underwriting Agreement between the Registrant and Northern Lights Distributors, LLC as previously filed on June 7, 2019 to the Registrant’s Registration Statement in Post-Effective Amendment No. 411, and hereby incorporated by reference.
(ii) ETF Underwriting Agreement between the Registrant and Northern Lights Distributors, LLC as previously filed on September 6, 2019 to the Registrant’s Registration Statement in Post-Effective Amendment No. 426, and hereby incorporated by reference.
(f) Bonus or Profit Sharing Contracts. None.
(g) Custodial Agreement.
(i) Custody Agreement between the Registrant and The Huntington National Bank as previously filed on August 28, 2012 to the Registrant's Registration Statement on Form N-1A, and hereby incorporated by reference.
(ii) Custody Agreement between the Registrant and Union Bank, N.A. as previously filed on August 28, 2012 to the Registrant's Registration Statement on Form N-1A, and hereby incorporated by reference.
(iii) Custody Agreement between the Registrant and U.S. Bank, N.A. as previously filed on February 10, 2014 to the Registrant's Registration Statement in Post-Effective Amendment No. 93, and hereby incorporated by reference.
(iii)(a) Amendment to Custody Agreement between the Registrant and U.S. Bank, N.A. as previously filed on May 15, 2014 to the Registrant's Registration Statement in Post-Effective Amendment No. 113 under the 1940 Act, and hereby incorporated by reference.
(iv) Custody Agreement between the Registrant and First National Bank of Omaha as previously filed on October 14, 2014 to the Registrant’s Registration Statement in Post-Effective Amendment No. 139, and hereby incorporated by reference.
(v) Custody Agreement between the Registrant and Fifth Third Bank as previously filed on July 14, 2017 to the Registrant's Registration Statement in Post-Effective Amendment No. 297, and hereby incorporated by reference.
(vi) Custody and Transfer Agency Agreement between the Registrant and Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. as previously filed on September 6, 2019 to the Registrant’s Registration Statement in Post-Effective Amendment No. 426, and hereby incorporated by reference.
(h) Other Material Contracts.
(i) Fund Services Agreement as previously filed on April 9, 2012 to the Registrant's Registration Statement on Form N-1A, and hereby incorporated by reference.
(ii) Expense Limitation Agreement between Swan Capital Management, Inc. and the Registrant, with respect to the Swan Defined Risk Fund as previously filed on November 13, 2012 to the Registrant's Registration Statement in Post-Effective Amendment No. 17, and hereby incorporated by reference.
(iii) Expense Limitation Agreement between Persimmon Capital Management, LP, and Registrant, with respect to the Persimmon Long/Short Fund as previously filed on December 17, 2012 to the Registrant's Registration Statement in Post-Effective Amendment No. 23, and hereby incorporated by reference.
(iii)(a) Amendment to the Expense Limitation Agreement between Persimmon Capital Management, LP, and Registrant, with respect to the Persimmon Long/Short Fund as previously filed on January 23, 2017 to the Registrant's Registration Statement in Post-Effective Amendment No. 270, and hereby incorporated by reference.
(iii)(b) Amendment to the Expense Limitation Agreement between Persimmon Capital Management, LP, and Registrant, with respect to the Persimmon Long/Short Fund as previously filed on January 22, 2019 to the Registrant's Registration Statement in Post-Effective Amendment No. 379, and hereby incorporated by reference.
(iii)(c) Amendment to the Expense Limitation Agreement between Persimmon Capital Management, LP, and Registrant, with respect to the Persimmon Long/Short Fund to be filed by subsequent amendment.
(iv) Expense Limitation Agreement between Good Harbor Financial, LLC and Registrant, with respect to the Good Harbor Tactical Core U.S. Fund as previously filed on December 26, 2012 to the Registrant's Registration Statement in Post-Effective Amendment No. 24, and hereby incorporated by reference.
(iv)(a) Amendment to the Expense Limitation Agreement between Good Harbor Financial, LLC and Registrant, with respect to the Good Harbor Tactical Core U.S. Fund as previously filed on January 22, 2019 to the Registrant's Registration Statement in Post-Effective Amendment No. 379, and hereby incorporated by reference.
(v) Expense Limitation Agreement between Pinnacle Family Advisors, LLC and Registrant, with respect to the Pinnacle Sherman Tactical Allocation Fund as previously filed on May 15, 2013 to the Registrant's Registration Statement in Post-Effective Amendment No. 51, and hereby incorporated by reference.
(vi) Expense Limitation Agreement between Stonebridge Capital Advisors, LLC and Registrant, with respect to The Covered Bridge Fund as previously filed on August 19, 2013 to the Registrant's Registration Statement in Post-Effective Amendment No. 62, and hereby incorporated by reference.
(vi)(a) Amendment to the Expense Limitation Agreement between Stonebridge Capital Advisors, LLC and Registrant, with respect to The Covered Bridge Fund as previously filed on April 28, 2015 to the Registrant’s Registration Statement in Post-Effective No. 163, and hereby incorporated by reference.
(vi)(b) Amendment to the Expense Limitation Agreement between Stonebridge Capital Advisors, LLC and Registrant, with respect to The Covered Bridge Fund as previously filed on October 25, 2017 to the Registrant's Registration Statement in Post-Effective Amendment No. 305, and hereby incorporated by reference.
(vii) Expense Limitation Agreement between Good Harbor Financial, LLC and Registrant, with respect to the Leland Real Asset Opportunities Fund as previously filed on September 23, 2013 to the Registrant's Registration Statement in Post-Effective Amendment No. 70, and hereby incorporated by reference.
(vii)(a) Amendment to the Expense Limitation Agreement between Good Harbor Financial, LLC and Registrant, with respect to the Leland Real Asset Opportunities Fund as previously filed on January 22, 2019 to the Registrant's Registration Statement in Post-Effective Amendment No. 379, and hereby incorporated by reference.
(viii) Expense Limitation Agreement between First Associated Investment Advisors, Inc. and Registrant, with respect to The Teberg Fund as previously filed on December 13, 2013 to the Registrant's Registration Statement in Post-Effective Amendment No. 86, and hereby incorporated by reference.
(ix) Expense Limitation Agreement between RESQ Investment Partners, LLC and Registrant, with respect to the RESQ Absolute Equity Fund and RESQ Absolute Income Fund as previously filed on January 8, 2018 to the Registrant's Registration Statement in Post-Effective Amendment No. 313, and hereby incorporated by reference.
(x) Expense Limitation Agreement between Horizon Capital Management, Inc. and Registrant, with respect to the Issachar Fund as previously filed on February 27, 2014 to the Registrant's Registration Statement in Post-Effective Amendment No. 98, and hereby incorporated by reference.
(x)(a) First Amendment to the Expense Limitation Agreement between Horizon Capital Management, Inc. and Registrant, with respect to the Issachar Fund, as previously filed on July 25, 2019 to the Registrant’s Registration Statement in Post-Effective Amendment No. 416, and hereby incorporated by reference.
(xi) Expense Limitation Agreement between Newfound Research LLC and Registrant, with respect to the Newfound Risk Managed Global Sectors Fund as previously filed on April 25, 2014 to the Registrant's Registration Statement in Post-Effective Amendment No. 107, and hereby incorporated by reference.
(xii) Expense Limitation Agreement between Good Harbor Financial, LLC and Registrant, with respect to the Good Harbor Tactical Select Fund as previously filed on May 15, 2014 to the Registrant's Registration Statement in Post-Effective Amendment No. 113 under the 1940 Act, and hereby incorporated by reference.
(xii)(a) First Amendment to the Expense Limitation Agreement between Good Harbor Financial, LLC and Registrant, with respect to the Good Harbor Tactical Select Fund as previously filed on January 22, 2019 to the Registrant's Registration Statement in Post-Effective Amendment No. 379, and hereby incorporated by reference.
(xiii) Expense Limitation Agreement between Newfound Research LLC and Registrant, with respect to the Newfound Multi-Asset Income Fund as previously filed on September 3, 2014 to the Registrant's Registration Statement in Post-Effective Amendment No. 130, and hereby incorporated by reference.
(xiv) Expense Limitation Agreement between Howard Capital Management, Inc., and Registrant, with respect to the HCM Tactical Growth Fund as previously filed on July 8, 2014 to the Registrant's Registration Statement in Post-Effective Amendment No. 119, and hereby incorporated by reference.
(xv) Expense Limitation Agreement between Counterpoint Mutual Funds, LLC and Registrant, with respect to the Counterpoint Tactical Income Fund as previously filed on September 24, 2015 to the Registrant’s Registration Statement in Post-Effective Amendment No. 203, and hereby incorporated by reference.
(xvi) Expense Limitation Agreement between Swan Capital Management, Inc. and Registrant, with respect to the Swan Defined Risk Emerging Markets Fund as previously filed on December 3, 2014 to the Registrant’s Registration Statement in Post-Effective Amendment No. 143, and hereby incorporated by reference.
(xvii) Expense Limitation Agreement between Ascendant Capital Management, LLC and Registrant, with respect to the ACM Dynamic Opportunity Fund as previously filed on January 13, 2015 to the Registrant’s Registration Statement in Post-Effective Amendment No. 149, and hereby incorporated by reference.
(xviii) Expense Limitation Agreement between Howard Capital Management, Inc. and Registrant, with respect to HCM Dividend Sector Plus Fund as previously filed on March 3, 2015 to the Registrant’s Registration Statement in Post-Effective Amendment No. 160, and hereby incorporated by reference.
(xviii)(a) First Amendment to the Expense Limitation Agreement between Howard Capital Management, Inc. and Registrant, with respect to HCM Dividend Sector Plus Fund as previously filed on April 25, 2019 to the Registrant's Registration Statement in Post-Effective Amendment No. 404, and hereby incorporated by reference.
(xix) Expense Limitation Agreement between Newfound Research LLC and Registrant, with respect to the Newfound Risk Managed U.S. Sectors Fund as previously filed on June 2, 2015 to the Registrant’s Registration Statement in Post-Effective Amendment No. 160, and hereby incorporated by reference.
(xx) Expense Limitation Agreement between Good Harbor Financial, LLC and Registrant, with respect to the Leland Thomson Reuters Venture Capital Index Fund as previously filed on July 24, 2015 to the Registrant’s Registration Statement in Post-Effective Amendment No. 177, and hereby incorporated by reference.
(xxi) Expense Limitation Agreement between Good Harbor Financial, LLC and Registrant, with respect to the Leland Thomson Reuters Private Equity Index Fund as previously filed on July 24, 2015 to the Registrant’s Registration Statement in Post-Effective Amendment No. 177, and hereby incorporated by reference.
(xxii) Expense Limitation Agreement between Pinnacle Family Advisors, LLC and Registrant, with respect to the Pinnacle Sherman Multi-Strategy Core Fund as previously filed on September 3, 2015 to the Registrant’s Registration Statement in Post-Effective Amendment No. 202, and hereby incorporated by reference.
(xxiii) Expense Limitation Agreement between Absolute Capital Management, LLC and Registrant, with respect to the Absolute Capital Asset Allocator Fund and Absolute Capital Defender Fund as previously filed on October 13, 2015 to the Registrant’s Registration Statement in Post-Effective Amendment No. 207, and hereby incorporated by reference.
(xxiv) Expense Limitation Agreement between Counterpoint Mutual Funds, LLC and Registrant, with respect to the Counterpoint Tactical Equity Fund as previously filed on October 19, 2015 to the Registrant’s Registration Statement in Post-Effective Amendment No. 208, and hereby incorporated by reference.
(xxv) Consulting Services Agreement between Registrant and Northern Lights Compliance Services, LLC, as previously filed on July 24, 2015 to the Registrant’s Registration Statement in Post-Effective Amendment No. 177, and hereby incorporated by reference.
(xxvi) Expense Limitation Agreement between Swan Capital Management, LLC and Registrant with respect of the Swan Defined Risk Foreign Developed Fund and Swan Defined Risk U.S. Small Cap Fund as previously filed on October 27, 2015 to the Registrant’s Registration Statement in Post-Effective Amendment No. 210, and hereby incorporated by reference.
(xxvii) Expense Limitation Agreement between Boyd Watterson Asset Management, LLC and Registrant, with respect to the Boyd Watterson Limited Duration Enhanced Income Fund as previously filed on June 17, 2016 to the Registrant's Registration Statement in Post-Effective Amendment No. 247, and hereby incorporated by reference.
(xxvii)(a) First Amendment to the Expense Limitation Agreement between Boyd Watterson Asset Management, LLC and Registrant, with respect to the Boyd Watterson Limited Duration Enhanced Income Fund as previously filed on April 28, 2017 to the Registrant's Registration Statement in Post-Effective Amendment No. 294, and hereby incorporated by reference.
(xxvii)(b) Second Amendment to the Expense Limitation Agreement between Boyd Watterson Asset Management, LLC and Registrant, with respect to the Boyd Watterson Limited Duration Enhanced Income Fund as previously filed on October 29, 2018 to the Registrant’s Registration Statement in Post-Effective Amendment No. 355, and hereby incorporated by reference.
(xxvii)(c) Third Amendment to the Expense Limitation Agreement between Boyd Watterson Asset Management, LLC and Registrant, with respect to the Boyd Watterson Limited Duration Enhanced Income Fund as previously filed on February 27, 2019 to the Registrant’s Registration Statement in Post-Effective Amendment No. 401, and hereby incorporated by reference.
(xxviii) Expense Limitation Agreement between Howard Capital Management, Inc., and Registrant, with respect to the HCM Income Plus Fund as previously filed on January 23, 2017 to the Registrant's Registration Statement in Post-Effective Amendment No. 270, and hereby incorporated by reference.
(xxix) Expense Limitation Agreement between Counterpoint Mutual Funds, LLC and Registrant, with respect to the Counterpoint Long-Short Equity Fund as previously filed on July 14, 2017 to the Registrant's Registration Statement in Post-Effective Amendment No. 297, and hereby incorporated by reference.
(xxx) Expense Limitation Agreement between Counterpoint Mutual Funds, LLC and Registrant, with respect to the Counterpoint Tactical Municipal Fund as previously filed on May 1, 2018 to the Registrant’s Registration Statement in Post-Effective Amendment No. 338, and hereby incorporated by reference.
(xxxi) Expense Limitation Agreement between Pinnacle Family Advisors, LLC and Registrant, with respect to the Pinnacle TrendRating Innovative Equity Fund and Pinnacle Dynamic Growth Fund as previously filed on November 16, 2018 to the Registrant’s Registration Statement in Post-Effective Amendment No. 365, and hereby incorporated by reference.
(xxxii) Expense Limitation Agreement between Swan Capital Management, LLC and Registrant, with respect to the Swan Defined Risk Fund, Swan Defined Risk Emerging Markets Fund, Swan Defined Risk Foreign Developed Fund and Swan Defined Risk U.S. Small Cap Fund as previously filed on November 2, 2018 to the Registrant's Registration Statement in Post-Effective Amendment No. 356, and hereby incorporated by reference.
(xxxiii) Expense Limitation Agreement between Swan Capital Management, LLC and Registrant, with respect to Swan Defined Risk Growth Fund as previously filed on November 16, 2018 to the Registrant’s Registration Statement in Post-Effective Amendment No. 364, and hereby incorporated by reference.
(xxxiv) Expense Limitation Agreement between Ascendant Capital Management, LLC and Registrant, with respect to the ACM Tactical Income Fund as previously filed on December 21, 2018 to the Registrant’s Registration Statement in Post-Effective Amendment No. 377, and hereby incorporated by reference.
(xxxv) Expense Limitation Agreement between Howard Capital Management, Inc., and Registrant, with respect to the HCM Income Plus Fund as previously field on July 9, 2019 to the Registrant’s Registration Statement in Post-Effective Amendment No. 414, and hereby incorporated by reference.
(xxxvi) ETF Fund Services Agreement between Registrant and Gemini Fund Services, LLC as previously filed on September 6, 2019 to the Registrant’s Registration Statement in Post-Effective Amendment No. 426, and hereby incorporated by reference.
(xxxvii) Expense Limitation Agreement between Counterpoint Mutual Funds, LLC and Registrant, with respect to the CP High Yield Trend ETF is filed herewith.
(i) Legal Opinion and Consent is filed herewith.
(j) Other Opinions. None
(k) Omitted Financial Statements. None.
(l) Initial Capital Agreements. None.
(m) Rule 12b-1 Plans.
(i) Master Distribution and Shareholder Servicing Plan Pursuant to Rule 12b-1 for Class A Shares as previously filed on April 22, 2014 to the Registrant's Registration Statement in Post-Effective Amendment No. 104, and hereby incorporated by reference.
(i)(a) Amended and Restated exhibit A to Master Distribution and Shareholder Servicing Plan Pursuant to Rule 12b-1 for Class A Shares as previously filed on December 21, 2018 to the Registrant’s Registration Statement in Post-Effective Amendment No. 377, and hereby incorporated by reference.
(ii) Master Distribution and Shareholder Servicing Plan Pursuant to Rule 12b-1 for Class C Shares as previously filed on April 22, 2014 to the Registrant's Registration Statement in Post-Effective Amendment No. 104, and hereby incorporated by reference.
(ii)(a) Amended and Restated exhibit A to Master Distribution and Shareholder Servicing Plan Pursuant to Rule 12b-1 for Class C Shares as previously filed on November 16, 2018 to the Registrant’s Registration Statement in Post-Effective Amendment No. 364, and hereby incorporated by reference.
(iii) Master Distribution and Shareholder Servicing Plan Pursuant to Rule 12b-1 for Class N Shares as previously filed on April 22, 2014 to the Registrant's Registration Statement in Post-Effective Amendment No. 104, and hereby incorporated by reference.
(iv) Master Distribution and Shareholder Servicing Plan Pursuant to Rule 12b-1 for No-Load Shares as previously filed on August 19, 2013 to the Registrant's Registration Statement in Post-Effective Amendment No. 62, and hereby incorporated by reference.
(v) Master Distribution and Shareholder Servicing Plan Pursuant to Rule 12b-1 for Non-Designated Class as previously filed on April 22, 2014 to the Registrant's Registration Statement in Post-Effective Amendment No. 104, and hereby incorporated by reference.
(vi) Master Distribution and Shareholder Servicing Plan Pursuant to Rule 12b-1 for Class R Shares as previously filed on July 8, 2014 to the Registrant's Registration Statement in Post-Effective Amendment No. 119, and hereby incorporated by reference.
(vi)(a) Amended and Restated exhibit A to Master Distribution and Shareholder Servicing Plan Pursuant to Rule 12b-1 for Class R as previously filed on June 17, 2016 to the Registrant's Registration Statement in Post-Effective Amendment No. 247, and hereby incorporated by reference.
(vii) Master Distribution and Shareholder Servicing Plan Pursuant to Rule 12b-1 for Class A1 as previously filed on March 3, 2015 to the Registrant’s Registration Statement in Post-Effective Amendment No. 160, and hereby incorporated by reference.
(viii) Master Distribution and Shareholder Servicing Plan Pursuant to Rule 12b-1 for Investor Class Shares as previously filed on March 3, 2015 to the Registrant’s Registration Statement in Post-Effective Amendment No. 160, and hereby incorporated by reference.
(viii)(a) Amended and Restated exhibit A to Master Distribution and Shareholder Servicing Plan Pursuant to Rule 12b-1 for Investor Class Shares as previously filed on April 28, 2017 to the Registrant's Registration Statement in Post-Effective Amendment No. 294, and hereby incorporated by reference.
(ix) Master Distribution and Shareholder Servicing Plan Pursuant to Rule 12b-1 for ETF Shares is filed herewith.
(n) (i) Rule 18f-3 Plan as previously filed on July 8, 2014 to the Registrant's Registration Statement in Post-Effective Amendment No. 119, and hereby incorporated by reference.
(i)(a) Amended and Restated Appendix A to Rule 18f-3 Plan as previously filed on June 7, 2019 to the Registrant’s Registration Statement in Post-Effective Amendment No. 411, and hereby incorporated by reference.
(o) Reserved.
(p) Code of Ethics.
(i) Code of Ethics for the Trust as previously filed on April 25, 2018 to the Registrant’s Registration Statement in Post-Effective Amendment No. 337, and hereby incorporated by reference.
(ii) Code of Ethics for Northern Lights Distributors, LLC as previously filed on October 26, 2018 to the Registrant’s Registration Statement in Post-Effective Amendment No. 352, and hereby incorporated by reference.
(iii) Code of Ethics of Swan Capital Management, Inc. as previously filed on June 8, 2012 to the Registrant's Registration Statement in Post-Effective Amendment No. 4, and hereby incorporated by reference.
(iv) Code of Ethics of Persimmon Capital Management LP as previously filed on December 14, 2018 to the Registrant’s Registration Statement in Post-Effective Amendment No. 373, and hereby incorporated by reference.
(v) Code of Ethics of Good Harbor Financial, LLC as previously filed on June 7, 2019 to the Registrant’s Registration Statement in Post-Effective Amendment No. 411, and hereby incorporated by reference.
(vi) Code of Ethics of Pinnacle Family Advisors, LLC as previously filed on May 15, 2013 to the Registrant's Registration Statement in Post-Effective Amendment No. 51, and hereby incorporated by reference.
(vii) Code of Ethics of Stonebridge Capital Advisors, LLC as previously filed on July 26, 2017 to the Registrant's Registration Statement in Post-Effective Amendment No. 298, and hereby incorporated by reference.
(viii) Code of Ethics of First Associated Investment Advisors, Inc. as previously filed on April 25, 2018 to the Registrant’s Registration Statement in Post-Effective Amendment No. 337, and hereby incorporated by reference.
(ix) Code of Ethics of RESQ Investment Partners, LLC as previously filed on September 6, 2019 to the Registrant’s Registration Statement in Post-Effective Amendment No. 426, and hereby incorporated by reference.
(x) Code of Ethics of Horizon Capital Management, Inc. as previously filed on April 25, 2018 to the Registrant’s Registration Statement in Post-Effective Amendment No. 337, and hereby incorporated by reference.
(xi) Code of Ethics of Newfound Research LLC as previously filed on June 7, 2019 to the Registrant’s Registration Statement in Post-Effective Amendment No. 411, and hereby incorporated by reference.
(xii) Code of Ethics of Howard Capital Management, Inc. as previously filed on July 26, 2017 to the Registrant's Registration Statement in Post-Effective Amendment No. 298, and hereby incorporated by reference.
(xiii) Code of Ethics of Counterpoint Mutual Funds, LLC as previously filed on April 25, 2018 to the Registrant’s Registration Statement in Post-Effective Amendment No. 337, and hereby incorporated by reference.
(xiv) Code of Ethics of Ascendant Capital Management, LLC as previously filed on January 13, 2015 to the Registrant's Registration Statement in Post-Effective Amendment No. 149, and hereby incorporated by reference.
(xv) Code of Ethics of Swan Global Management, LLC as previously filed on January 22, 2016 to the Registrant's Registration Statement in Post-Effective Amendment No. 221, and hereby incorporated by reference.
(xvi) Code of Ethics of Absolute Capital Management, LLC as previously filed on June 7, 2019 to the Registrant’s Registration Statement in Post-Effective Amendment No. 411, and hereby incorporated by reference.
(xvii) Code of Ethics of Boyd Watterson Asset Management, LLC is filed herewith.
(xviii) Code of Ethics for Gratus Capital, LLC is filed herewith.
(q) Powers of Attorney.
(i) Power of Attorney for the Trust, and a certificate with respect thereto, and each executive officer, as previously filed on May 30, 2013 to the Registration Statement in Post-Effective Amendment No. 53, and hereby incorporated by reference.
(ii) Power of Attorney for each trustee as previously filed on February 26, 2015 to the Registrant’s Registration Statement in Post-Effective Amendment No. 159, and hereby incorporated by reference.
(iii) Power of Attorney for the Trust, and a certificate with respect thereto, for Brian Curley as previously filed on June 17, 2016 to the Registrant's Registration Statement in Post-Effective Amendment No. 247, and hereby incorporated by reference.
(iv) Power of Attorney for the Trust, and a certificate with respect thereto, and each executive officer, as previously filed on October 25, 2017 to the Registrant's Registration Statement in Post-Effective Amendment No. 305, and hereby incorporated by reference.
Item 29. Control Persons. None.
Item 30. Indemnification.
Generally, certain of the agreements with the Trust, or related to the Trust, provide indemnification of the Trust’s Trustees, officers, the underwriter, and certain Trust affiliates. Insurance carried by the Trust provides indemnification of the Trustees and officers. The details of these sources of indemnification and insurance follow.
Article VIII, Section 2(a) of the Agreement and Declaration of Trust provides that to the fullest extent that limitations on the liability of Trustees and officers are permitted by the Delaware Statutory Trust Act of 2002, the officers and Trustees shall not be responsible or liable in any event for any act or omission of: any agent or employee of the Trust; any investment adviser or principal underwriter of the Trust; or with respect to each Trustee and officer, the act or omission of any other Trustee or officer, respectively. The Trust, out of the Trust Property, is required to indemnify and hold harmless each and every officer and Trustee from and against any and all claims and demands whatsoever arising out of or related to such officer’s or Trustee’s performance of his or her duties as an officer or Trustee of the Trust. This limitation on liability applies to events occurring at the time a person serves as a Trustee or officer of the Trust whether or not such person is a Trustee or officer at the time of any proceeding in which liability is asserted. Nothing contained in the Agreement and Declaration of Trust indemnifies, holds harmless or protects any officer or Trustee from or against any liability to the Trust or any shareholder to which such person would otherwise be subject by reason of willful misfeasance, bad faith, gross negligence or reckless disregard of the duties involved in the conduct of such person’s office.
Article VIII, Section 2(b) provides that every note, bond, contract, instrument, certificate or undertaking and every other act or document whatsoever issued, executed or done by or on behalf of the Trust, the officers 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 such Person’s capacity as Trustee and/or as officer, and such Trustee or officer, as applicable, shall not be personally liable therefore, except as described in the last sentence of the first paragraph of Section 2 of Article VIII.
Insofar as indemnification for liabilities arising under the Securities Act of 1933 may be permitted to trustees, officers and controlling persons of the Registrant pursuant to the provisions of Delaware law and the Agreement and Declaration of the Registrant or the By-Laws of the Registrant, or otherwise, the Registrant has been advised that in the opinion of the Securities and Exchange Commission 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 trustee, officer or controlling person of the Trust 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.
Pursuant to the Underwriting Agreement between the Trust and Northern lights Distributors, LLC (“NLD”), the Trust agrees to indemnify, defend and hold NLD, its several officers and managers, and any person who controls NLD within the meaning of Section 15 of the Securities Act free and harmless from and against any and all claims, demands, liabilities and expenses (including the reasonable cost of investigating or defending such claims, demands or liabilities and any reasonable counsel fees incurred in connection therewith) which NLD, its officers and managers, or any such controlling persons, may incur under the Securities Act, the 1940 Act, or common law or otherwise, arising out of or based upon: (i) any untrue statement, or alleged untrue statement, of a material fact required to be stated in either any Registration Statement or any Prospectus, (ii) the breach of any representations, warranties or obligations set forth in the Underwriting Agreement, (iii) any omission, or alleged omission, to state a material fact required to be stated in any Registration Statement or any Prospectus or necessary to make the statements in any of them not misleading, (iv) the Trust’s failure to maintain an effective Registration statement and Prospectus with respect to Shares of the Funds that are the subject of the claim or demand, (v) the Trust’s failure to provide NLD with advertising or sales materials to be filed with the FINRA on a timely basis, (vi) the Trust’s failure to properly register Fund Shares under applicable state laws, or (vii) reasonable actions taken by NLD resulting from NLD’s reliance on instructions received from an officer, agent or legal counsel of the Trust.
Pursuant to the Underwriting Agreement, NLD agrees to indemnify, defend and hold the Trust, its several officers and Board members, and any person who controls the Trust within the meaning of Section 15 of the Securities Act, free and harmless from and against any and all claims, demands, liabilities and expenses (including the reasonable cost of investigating or defending such claims, demands or liabilities and any reasonable counsel fees incurred in connection therewith) which the Trust, its officers or Board members, or any such controlling person, may incur under the Securities Act, the 1940 Act, or under common law or otherwise, but only to the extent that such liability or expense incurred by the Trust , its officers or Board members, or such controlling person results from such claims or demands: (i) arising out of or based upon any sales literature, advertisements, information, statements or representations made by NLD and unauthorized by the Trust or any Disqualifying Conduct in connection with the offering and sale of any Shares, or (ii) arising out of or based upon any untrue, or alleged untrue, statement of a material fact contained in information furnished in writing by NLD to the Fund specifically for use in the Trust’s Registration Statement and used in the answers to any of the items of the Registration Statement or in the corresponding statements made in the Prospectus, or shall arise out of or be based upon any omission, or alleged omission, to state a material fact in connection with such information furnished in writing by NLD to the Trust and required to be stated in such answers or necessary to make such information not misleading.
The Registrant maintains a mutual fund directors and officers liability policy. The policy, under certain circumstances, such as the inability of the Trust to indemnify Trustees and officers provides coverage to Trustees and officers. Coverage under the policy would include losses by reason of any act, error, omission, misstatement, misleading statement, neglect or certain breaches of duty.
Generally, each management agreement or investment advisory agreement provides that neither the adviser nor any director, manager, officer or employee of the adviser performing services for the Trust at the direction or request of the adviser in connection with the adviser's discharge of its obligations under the agreement shall be liable for any error of judgment or mistake of law or for any loss suffered by the Trust in connection with any matter to which the agreement relates, and the adviser shall not be responsible for any action of the Trustees of the Trust in following or declining to follow any advice or recommendation of the adviser or any sub-adviser retained by the adviser pursuant to Section 9 of the agreement; PROVIDED, that nothing contained in the agreement shall be construed (i) to protect the adviser against any liability to the Trust or its shareholders to which the adviser would otherwise be subject by reason of willful misfeasance, bad faith, or gross negligence in the performance of the adviser's duties, or by reason of the adviser's reckless disregard of its obligations and duties under the agreement, or (ii) to protect any director, manager, officer or employee of the adviser who is or was a Trustee or officer of the Trust against any liability of the Trust or its shareholders to which such person would otherwise be subject by reason of willful misfeasance, bad faith, gross negligence or reckless disregard of the duties involved in the conduct of such person's office with the Trust. Additionally, generally, each sub-advisory agreement provides that the subadviser shall indemnify the adviser, the Trust and each Fund, and their respective affiliates and controlling persons for any liability and expenses, including without limitation reasonable attorneys' fees and expenses, which the adviser, the Trust and/or the Fund and their respective affiliates and controlling persons may sustain as a result of the subadviser's willful misfeasance, bad faith, gross negligence, reckless disregard of its duties hereunder or violation of applicable law, including, without limitation, the federal and state securities laws. Generally, each sub-advisory agreement provides that adviser shall indemnify the subadviser, its affiliates and its controlling persons, for any liability and expenses, including without limitation reasonable attorneys’ fees and expenses, which may be sustained as a result of the adviser’s willful misfeasance, bad faith, gross negligence, reckless disregard of its duties hereunder or violation of applicable law, including, without limitation, the federal and state securities laws.
Item 31. Activities of Investment Advisor and Sub-Advisor.
Certain information pertaining to the business and other connections of each Advisor of each series of the Trust is hereby incorporated herein by reference to the section of the respective Prospectus captioned "Investment Advisor" and to the section of the respective Statement of Additional Information captioned "Investment Advisory and Other Services." The information required by this Item 31 with respect to each director, officer or partner of each Advisor is incorporated by reference to the Advisor's Uniform Application for Investment Adviser Registration ("Form ADV") on file with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"). Each Advisor's Form ADV may be obtained, free of charge, at the SEC's website at www.adviserinfo.sec.gov, and may be requested by File No. as follows:
Swan Capital Management, LLC the Advisor of the Swan Defined Risk Fund, Swan Defined Risk Emerging Markets Fund, Swan Defined Risk Foreign Developed Fund, Swan Defined Risk U.S. Small Cap Fund and Swan Defined Risk Growth Fund – File No. 801-76701.
Swan Global Management, LLC, a Sub-Adviser of the Swan Defined Risk Fund, Swan Defined Risk Emerging Markets Fund, Swan Defined Risk Foreign Developed Fund, Swan Defined Risk U.S. Small Cap Fund and Swan Defined Risk Growth Fund – File No. 801-80552.
Persimmon Capital Management, LP, the Adviser of the Persimmon Long/Short Fund – File No. 801-56210.
Good Harbor Financial, LLC, the Adviser of the Good Harbor Tactical Select Fund, Good Harbor Tactical Core US Fund, Leland Real Asset Opportunities Fund, Leland Thomson Reuters Venture Capital Index Fund and Leland Thomson Reuters Private Equity Index Fund – File No. 801-71064.
Gratus Capital, LLC, the Adviser of the Marathon Value Portfolio – File No. 801-40286.
Pinnacle Family Advisors, LLC, the Adviser of the Pinnacle Sherman Tactical Allocation Fund, Pinnacle Sherman Multi-Strategy Core Fund, Pinnacle TrendRating Innovative Equity Fund and Pinnacle Dynamic Growth Fund – File No. 801-78013.
Stonebridge Capital Advisors, LLC, the Adviser of The Covered Bridge Fund– File No. 801-53760.
First Associated Investment Advisors, the Adviser of The Teberg Fund – File No. 801-60972.
RESQ Investment Partners, LLC, the Adviser of the RESQ Absolute Equity Fund and RESQ Absolute Income Fund – File No. 801-78822.
Horizon Capital Management, Inc., the Adviser of the Issachar Fund – File No. 801-26038.
Newfound Research LLC the Adviser of the Newfound Risk Managed Global Sectors Fund, Newfound Multi-Asset Income Fund and Newfound Risk Managed U.S. Sectors Fund – File No. 801-73042.
Howard Capital Management, Inc. the Adviser of the HCM Tactical Growth Fund, HCM Dividend Sector Plus Fund, HCM Income Plus Fund, HCM Defender 500 Index ETF and HCM Defender 100 Index ETF – File No. 801-69763.
Counterpoint Mutual Funds, LLC the Adviser of the Counterpoint Tactical Income Fund, Counterpoint Tactical Equity Fund, Counterpoint Long-Short Equity Fund and Counterpoint Tactical Municipal Fund – File No. 801-80197.
Ascendant Capital Management, LLC the Adviser of ACM Dynamic Opportunity Fund and ACM Tactical Income Fund – File No. 801-80770.
Absolute Capital Management, LLC the Adviser of Absolute Capital Asset Allocator Fund and Absolute Capital Defender Fund – File No. 801-61336.
Boyd Watterson Asset Management, LLC the Adviser of Boyd Watterson Limited Duration Enhanced Income Fund – File No. 801-57468.
Item 32. Principal Underwriter.
(a) NLD is the principal underwriter for all series of Northern Lights Fund Trust III. NLD also acts as principal underwriter for the following:
AdvisorOne Funds, Arrow ETF Trust, Arrow Investments Trust, Centerstone Investors Trust, Copeland Trust, Equinox Funds Trust, Miller Investment Trust, Mutual Fund Series Trust, Mutual Fund and Variable Insurance Trust, North Country Funds, Northern Lights Fund Trust, Northern Lights Fund Trust II, Northern Lights Fund Trust III, Northern Lights Fund Trust IV, Northern Lights Variable Trust, OCM Mutual Fund, PREDEX, The Saratoga Advantage Trust, Tributary Funds, Inc.
(b) NLD is registered with Securities and Exchange Commission as a broker-dealer and is a member of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”). The principal business address of NLD is 17645 Wright Street, Suite 200, Omaha, Nebraska 68130. NLD is an affiliate of Gemini Fund Services, LLC. To the best of the Registrant’s knowledge, the following are the members and officers of NLD:
Name | Positions and Offices with Underwriter | Positions and Offices with the Trust |
William J. Strait | President, Secretary, General Counsel and Manager | None |
Mike Nielsen | Chief Compliance Officer and AML Compliance Officer | None |
Stephen Preston | Financial Operations Principal | None |
David Young | Manager | None |
(c) Not applicable.
Item 33. Location of Accounts and Records.
All accounts, books and documents required to be maintained by the Registrant pursuant to Section 31(a) of the Investment Company Act of 1940 and Rules 31a-1 through 31a-3 thereunder are maintained at the office of the Registrant, Adviser, Sub-Adviser, Principal Underwriter, Transfer Agent, Fund Accountant, Administrator and Custodian at the addresses stated in the SAI.
Swan Capital Management, LLC 1099 Main Ave., Ste. 260, Durango, CO 81301, pursuant to the Investment Advisory Agreement with the Trust, maintains all records required pursuant to such agreement with respect to the Swan Defined Risk Fund, Swan Defined Risk Emerging Markets Fund, Swan Defined Risk Foreign Developed Fund, Swan Defined Risk U.S. Small Cap Fund and Swan Defined Risk Growth Fund.
Persimmon Capital Management, LP, 1777 Sentry Parkway, Gwynedd Hall, Suite 102, Blue Bell, PA 19422 pursuant to the Advisory Agreement with the Trust, maintains all records required pursuant to such agreement with respect to the Persimmon Long/Short Fund.
Good Harbor Financial, LLC, 330 East Main Street, Third Floor, Barrington, IL 60010, pursuant to the Advisory Agreements with Trust, maintains all records required pursuant to such agreement with respect to the Good Harbor Tactical Select Fund, Good Harbor Tactical Core US Fund, Leland Real Asset Opportunities Fund, Leland Thomson Reuters Venture Capital Index Fund and Leland Thomson Reuters Private Equity Index Fund.
Gratus Capital, LLC, 3350 Riverwood Parkway, Suite 1550, Atlanta, GA, 30339 pursuant to the Advisory Agreement with Trust, maintains all records required pursuant to such agreement with respect to the Marathon Value Portfolio.
Pinnacle Family Advisors, LLC, 620 W. Republic Road, Suite 104, Springfield, MO 65810 pursuant to the Advisory Agreement with Trust, maintains all records required pursuant to such agreement with respect to the Pinnacle Sherman Tactical Allocation Fund, Pinnacle Sherman Multi-Strategy Core Fund, Pinnacle TrendRating Innovative Equity Fund and Pinnacle Dynamic Growth Fund.
Stonebridge Capital Advisors, LLC, 2550 University Avenue West, Suite 180 South, Saint Paul, MN 55114 pursuant to the Advisory Agreement with Trust, maintains all records required pursuant to such agreement with respect to The Covered Bridge Fund.
First Associated Investment Advisors, Inc., 5161 Miller Trunk Highway Duluth, MN 55811 pursuant to the Advisory Agreement with Trust, maintains all records required pursuant to such agreement with respect to The Teberg Fund.
RESQ Investment Partners, LLC 9383 East Bahia Drive, Suite 120, Scottsdale, AZ 85260 pursuant to the Advisory Agreement with Trust, maintains all records required pursuant to such agreement with respect to RESQ Dynamic Allocation Fund and RESQ Strategic Income Fund.
Horizon Capital Management, Inc. 106 Valerie Drive, Lafayette, LA 70508 pursuant to the Advisory Agreement with Trust, maintains all records required pursuant to such agreement with respect to the Issachar Fund.
Newfound Research LLC, 425 Boylston Street, Third Floor, Boston, MA 02116 pursuant to the Advisory Agreement with Trust, maintains all records required pursuant to such agreement with respect to the Newfound Risk Managed Global Sectors Fund, Newfound Multi-Asset Income Fund and Newfound Risk Managed U.S. Sectors Fund.
Howard Capital Management, Inc., 1145 Hembree Road, Rosewell, GA 30076 pursuant to the Advisory Agreement with Trust, maintains all records required pursuant to such agreement with respect to the HCM Tactical Growth Fund, HCM Dividend Sector Plus Fund, HCM Income Plus Fund, HCM Defender 500 Index ETF and HCM Defender 100 Index ETF.
Counterpoint Mutual Funds, LLC 12760 High Bluff Drive, Suite 280, San Diego, CA 92130 pursuant to the Advisory Agreement with Trust, maintains all records required pursuant to such agreement with respect to the Counterpoint Tactical Income Fund, Counterpoint Tactical Equity Fund, Counterpoint Long-Short Equity Fund and Counterpoint Tactical Municipal Fund.
Ascendant Capital Management, LLC 10866 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 1600, Los Angeles, CA 90024 pursuant to the Advisory Agreement with Trust, maintains all records required pursuant to such agreement with respect to the ACM Dynamic Opportunity Fund and ACM Tactical Income Fund.
Swan Global Management, LLC 41 Shell Castle, Humacao, PR 00791 pursuant to the Sub-Advisory Agreement with Swan Capital Management, Inc., maintains all records required pursuant to such agreement with respect to the Swan Defined Risk, Swan Defined Risk Emerging Markets Fund, Swan Defined Risk Foreign Developed Fund, Swan Defined Risk U.S. Small Cap Fund and Swan Defined Risk Growth Fund.
Absolute Capital Management, LLC 101 Pennsylvania Boulevard, Pittsburgh, PA 15228 pursuant to the Advisory Agreement with Trust, maintains all records required pursuant to such agreement with respect to the Absolute Capital Asset Allocator Fund and Absolute Capital Defender Fund.
Boyd Watterson Asset Management, LLC 1301 East 9th Street, Suite 2900, Cleveland, OH 44114 pursuant to the Advisory Agreement with Trust, maintains all records required pursuant to such agreement with respect to the Boyd Watterson Limited Duration Enhanced Income Fund.
Item 34. Management Services. Not applicable.
Item 35. Undertakings. The Registrant undertakes that each Subsidiary and each Director of each Subsidiary hereby consents to service of process within the United States, and to examination of its books and records.
SIGNATURES
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, the Registrant certifies that it meets all of the requirements for effectiveness of the registration statement under rule 485(b) under the Securities Act and has duly caused this registration statement to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, duly authorized, in the City of Hauppauge, and State of New York, on the 27th day of December, 2019.
Northern Lights Fund Trust III
By: /s/ Richard Malinowski
Richard Malinowski, President
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act, this registration statement has been signed below by the following persons in the capacities indicated on the dates indicated.
Northern Lights Fund Trust III
Name | Title |
/s/ Richard Malinowski | President |
Brian Curley* | Treasurer |
James U. Jensen* | Independent Trustee |
Patricia Luscombe* | Independent Trustee |
John V. Palancia* | Independent Trustee |
Mark H. Taylor* | Independent Trustee |
Jeffery D. Young* | Independent Trustee |
*By: Date:
/s/ Eric D. Kane December 27, 2019
Eric D. Kane, Esq.
*Attorney-in-Fact – Pursuant to Powers of Attorney as previously filed February 26, 2015, June 17, 2016 and October 25, 2017.
EXHIBIT INDEX
INVESTMENT ADVISORY AGREEMENT
Between
NORTHERN LIGHTS FUND TRUST III
and
COUNTERPOINT MUTUAL FUNDS LLC
This AGREEMENT is made as of November 20, 2019 between NORTHERN LIGHTS FUND TRUST III, a Delaware statutory trust (the “Trust”), and Counterpoint Mutual Funds LLC, a Delaware Corporation (the “Adviser”) located at 12760 High Bluff Drive, Suite 2800 San Diego, CA 92130.
RECITALS:
WHEREAS, the Trust is an open-end management investment company and is registered as such under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “Act”);
WHEREAS, the Trust is authorized to issue shares of beneficial interest in separate series, each having its own investment objective or objectives, policies and limitations;
WHEREAS, the Trust offers shares in the series named on Appendix A hereto (such series, together with all other series subsequently established by the Trust and made subject to this Agreement in accordance with Section 1.3, being herein referred to as a “Fund”);
WHEREAS, the Adviser is or soon will be registered as an investment adviser under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940; and
WHEREAS, the Trust desires to retain the Adviser to render investment advisory services to the Trust with respect to the Fund in the manner and on the terms and conditions hereinafter set forth;
NOW, THEREFORE, the parties hereto agree as follows:
1. Services of the Adviser.
1.1 Investment Advisory Services. The Adviser shall act as the investment adviser to the Fund and, as such, shall (i) obtain and evaluate such information relating to the economy, industries, business, securities markets and securities as it may deem necessary or useful in discharging its responsibilities hereunder, (ii) formulate a continuing program for the investment of the assets of each Fund in a manner consistent with its investment objective(s), policies and restrictions, and (iii) determine from time to time securities to be purchased, sold, retained or lent by the Fund, and implement those decisions, including the selection of entities with or through which such purchases, sales or loans are to be effected; provided, that the Adviser will place orders pursuant to its investment determinations either directly with the issuer or with a broker or dealer, and if with a broker or dealer, (a) will attempt to obtain the best price and execution of its orders, and (b) may nevertheless in its discretion purchase and sell portfolio securities from and to brokers who provide the Adviser with research, analysis, advice and similar services and pay such brokers in return a higher commission than may be charged by other brokers.
The Trust hereby authorizes any entity or person associated with the Adviser or any sub-adviser retained by the Adviser pursuant to Section 9 of this Agreement, which is a member of a national securities exchange, to effect any transaction on the exchange for the account of the Trust which is permitted by Section 11(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 11a2-2(T) thereunder, and the Trust hereby consents to the retention of compensation for such transactions in accordance with Rule 11a2-2(T)(a)(2)(iv) provided the transaction complies with the Trust’s Rule 17e-1 policies and procedures.
The Adviser shall carry out its duties with respect to each Fund’s investments in accordance with applicable law and the investment objectives, policies and restrictions set forth in each Fund’s then-current Prospectus and Statement of Additional Information, and subject to such further limitations as the Trust may from time to time impose by written notice to the Adviser.
1.2 Administrative Services. The Trust has engaged the services of an administrator. The Adviser shall provide such additional administrative services as reasonably requested by the Board of Trustees or officers of the Trust; provided, that the Adviser shall not have any obligation to provide under this Agreement any direct or indirect services to Trust shareholders, any services related to the distribution of Trust shares, or any other services which are the subject of a separate agreement or arrangement between the Trust and the Adviser. Subject to the foregoing, in providing administrative services hereunder, the Adviser shall:
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1.2.1 Office Space, Equipment and Facilities. Provide such office space, office equipment and office facilities as are adequate to fulfill the Adviser’s obligations hereunder.
1.2.2 Personnel. Provide, without remuneration from or other cost to the Trust, the services of individuals competent to perform the administrative functions which are not performed by employees or other agents engaged by the Trust or by the Adviser acting in some other capacity pursuant to a separate agreement or arrangement with the Trust.
1.2.3 Agents. Assist the Trust in selecting and coordinating the activities of the other agents engaged by the Trust, including the Trust’s shareholder servicing agent, custodian, administrator, independent auditors and legal counsel.
1.2.4 Trustees and Officers. Authorize and permit the Adviser’s directors, officers and employees who may be elected or appointed as Trustees or officers of the Trust to serve in such capacities, without remuneration from or other cost to the Trust.
1.2.5 Books and Records. Assure that all financial, accounting and other records required to be maintained and preserved by the Adviser on behalf of the Trust are maintained and preserved by it in accordance with applicable laws and regulations.
1.2.6 Reports and Filings. Assist in the preparation of (but not pay for) all periodic reports by each Fund to its shareholders and all reports and filings required to maintain the registration and qualification of the Fund and Fund shares, or to meet other regulatory or tax requirements applicable to each Fund, under federal and state securities and tax laws.
1.3 Additional Series. In the event that the Trust establishes one or more series after the effectiveness of this Agreement (“Additional Series”), Appendix A to this Agreement may be amended to make such Additional Series subject to this Agreement upon the approval of the Board of Trustees of the Trust and the shareholder(s) of the Additional Series, in accordance with the provisions of the Act. The Trust or the Adviser may elect not to make any such series subject to this Agreement.
1.4 Change in Management or Control. The Adviser shall provide at least sixty (60) days’ prior written notice to the Trust of any change in the ownership or management of the Adviser, or any event or action that may constitute a change in “control,” as that term is defined in Section 2 of the Act. The Adviser shall provide prompt notice of any change in the portfolio manager(s) responsible for the day-to-day management of the Fund.
2. Expenses of the Fund.
2.1 Expenses to be Paid by Adviser. The Adviser shall pay all salaries, expenses and fees of the officers, Trustees and employees of the Trust who are officers, directors, members or employees of the Adviser.
In the event that the Adviser pays or assumes any expenses of the Trust not required to be paid or assumed by the Adviser under this Agreement, the Adviser shall not be obligated hereby to pay or assume the same or any similar expense in the future; provided, that nothing herein contained shall be deemed to relieve the Adviser of any obligation to the Fund under any separate agreement or arrangement between the parties.
2.2 Expenses to be Paid by the Fund. The Fund shall bear all expenses of its operation, except those specifically allocated to the Adviser under this Agreement or under any separate agreement between the Trust and the Adviser. Subject to any separate agreement or arrangement between the Trust and the Adviser, the expenses hereby allocated to the Fund, and not to the Adviser, include but are not limited to:
2.2.1 Custody. All charges of depositories, custodians, and other agents for the transfer, receipt, safekeeping, and servicing of the Fund’s cash, securities, and other property.
2.2.2 Shareholder Servicing. All expenses of maintaining and servicing shareholder accounts, including but not limited to the charges of any shareholder servicing agent, dividend disbursing agent, transfer agent or other agent engaged by the Trust to service shareholder accounts.
2.2.3 Shareholder Reports. All expenses of preparing, setting in type, printing and distributing reports and other communications to shareholders.
2.2.4 Prospectuses. All expenses of preparing, converting to EDGAR format, filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission or other appropriate regulatory body, setting in type, printing and mailing annual or more frequent revisions of each Fund’s Prospectus and Statement of Additional Information and any supplements thereto and of supplying them to shareholders.
2.2.5 Pricing and Portfolio Valuation. All expenses of computing each Fund’s net asset value per share, including any equipment or services obtained for the purpose of pricing shares or valuing each Fund’s investment portfolio.
2.2.6 Communications. All charges for equipment or services used for communications between the Adviser or the Trust and any custodian, shareholder servicing agent, portfolio accounting services agent, or other agent engaged by the Trust.
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2.2.7 Legal and Accounting Fees. All charges for services and expenses of the Trust’s legal counsel and independent accountants.
2.2.8 Trustees’ Fees and Expenses. All compensation of Trustees other than those affiliated with the Adviser, all expenses incurred in connection with such unaffiliated Trustees’ services as Trustees, and all other expenses of meetings of the Trustees and committees of the Trustees.
2.2.9 Shareholder Meetings. All expenses incidental to holding meetings of shareholders, including the printing of notices and proxy materials, and proxy solicitations therefor.
2.2.10 Federal Registration Fees. All fees and expenses of registering and maintaining the registration of each Fund under the Act and the registration of the Fund’s shares under the Securities Act of 1933 (the “1933 Act”), including all fees and expenses incurred in connection with the preparation, converting to EDGAR format, setting in type, printing, and filing of any Registration Statement, Prospectus and Statement of Additional Information under the 1933 Act or the Act, and any amendments or supplements that may be made from time to time.
2.2.11 State Registration Fees. All fees and expenses of taking required action to permit the offer and sale of each Fund’s shares under securities laws of various states or jurisdictions, and of registration and qualification of each Fund under all other laws applicable to the Trust or its business activities (including registering the Trust as a broker-dealer, or any officer of the Trust or any person as agent or salesperson of the Trust in any state).
2.2.12 Confirmations. All expenses incurred in connection with the issue and transfer of Fund shares, including the expenses of confirming all share transactions.
2.2.13 Bonding and Insurance. All expenses of bond, liability, and other insurance coverage required by law or regulation or deemed advisable by the Trustees of the Trust, including, without limitation, such bond, liability and other insurance expenses that may from time to time be allocated to each Fund in a manner approved by its Trustees.
2.2.14 Brokerage Commissions. All brokers’ commissions and other charges incident to the purchase, sale or lending of the Fund’s portfolio securities.
2.2.15 Taxes. All taxes or governmental fees payable by or with respect to each Fund to federal, state or other governmental agencies, domestic or foreign, including stamp or other transfer taxes.
2.2.16 Trade Association Fees. All fees, dues and other expenses incurred in connection with the Trust’s membership in any trade association or other investment organization.
2.2.18 Compliance Fees. All charges for services and expenses of the Trust’s Chief Compliance Officer.
2.2.19 Nonrecurring and Extraordinary Expenses. Such nonrecurring and extraordinary expenses as may arise including the costs of actions, suits, or proceedings to which the Trust is a party and the expenses the Trust may incur as a result of its legal obligation to provide indemnification to its officers, Trustees and agents.
3. Advisory Fee.
As compensation for all services rendered, facilities provided and expenses paid or assumed by the Adviser under this Agreement, each Fund shall pay the Adviser on the last day of each month, or as promptly as possible thereafter, a fee calculated by applying a monthly rate, based on an annual percentage rate, to each Fund’s average daily net assets for the month. The annual percentage rate applicable to each Fund is set forth in Appendix A to this Agreement, as it may be amended from time to time in accordance with Section 1.3 of this Agreement. If this Agreement shall be effective for only a portion of a month with respect to a Fund, the aforesaid fee shall be prorated for the portion of such month during which this Agreement is in effect for the Fund.
4. Proxy Voting.
The Adviser will vote, or make arrangements to have voted, all proxies solicited by or with respect to the issuers of securities in which assets of each Fund may be invested from time to time. Such proxies will be voted in a manner that the Adviser deems, in good faith, to be in the best interest of the Fund and in accordance with the Adviser’s proxy voting policy. The Adviser agrees to provide a copy of its proxy voting policy to the Trust prior to the execution of this Agreement, and any amendments thereto promptly.
5. Records.
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5.1 Tax Treatment. Both the Adviser and the Trust shall maintain, or arrange for others to maintain, the books and records of the Trust in such a manner that treats each Fund as a separate entity for federal income tax purposes.
5.2 Ownership. All records required to be maintained and preserved by the Trust pursuant to the provisions or rules or regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission under Section 31(a) of the Act and maintained and preserved by the Adviser on behalf of the Trust are the property of the Trust and shall be surrendered by the Adviser promptly on request by the Trust; provided, that the Adviser may at its own expense make and retain copies of any such records.
6. Reports to Adviser.
The Trust shall furnish or otherwise make available to the Adviser such copies of each Fund’s Prospectus, Statement of Additional Information, financial statements, proxy statements, reports and other information relating to its business and affairs as the Adviser may, at any time or from time to time, reasonably require in order to discharge its obligations under this Agreement.
7. Reports to the Trust.
The Adviser shall prepare and furnish to the Trust such reports, statistical data and other information in such form and at such intervals as the Trust may reasonably request.
8. Code of Ethics.
The Adviser has adopted a written code of ethics complying with the requirements of Rule 17j-1 under the Act and will provide the Trust with a copy of the code and evidence of its adoption. Within 45 days of the last calendar quarter of each year while this Agreement is in effect, the Adviser will provide to the Board of Trustees of the Trust a written report that describes any issues arising under the code of ethics since the last report to the Board of Trustees, including, but not limited to, information about material violations of the code and sanctions imposed in response to the material violations; and which certifies that the Adviser has adopted procedures reasonably necessary to prevent “access persons” (as that term is defined in Rule 17j-1) from violating the code.
9. Retention of Sub-Adviser.
Subject to the Trust’s obtaining the initial and periodic approvals required under Section 15 of the Act, the Adviser may retain one or more sub-advisers, at the Adviser’s own cost and expense, for the purpose of managing the investments of the assets of one or more Fund of the Trust. Retention of one or more sub-advisers shall in no way reduce the responsibilities or obligations of the Adviser under this Agreement and the Adviser shall, subject to Section 11 of this Agreement, be responsible to the Trust for all acts or omissions of any sub-adviser in connection with the performance of the Adviser’s duties hereunder.
10. Services to Other Clients.
Nothing herein contained shall limit the freedom of the Adviser or any affiliated person of the Adviser to render investment management and administrative services to other investment companies, to act as investment adviser or investment counselor to other persons, firms or corporations, or to engage in other business activities.
11. Limitation of Liability of Adviser and its Personnel.
Neither the Adviser nor any director, manager, officer or employee of the Adviser performing services for the Trust at the direction or request of the Adviser in connection with the Adviser’s discharge of its obligations hereunder shall be liable for any error of judgment or mistake of law or for any loss suffered by the Trust in connection with any matter to which this Agreement relates, and the Adviser shall not be responsible for any action of the Trustees of the Trust in following or declining to follow any advice or recommendation of the Adviser or any sub-adviser retained by the Adviser pursuant to Section 9 of this Agreement; PROVIDED, that nothing herein contained shall be construed (i) to protect the Adviser against any liability to the Trust or its shareholders to which the Adviser would otherwise be subject by reason of willful misfeasance, bad faith, or gross negligence in the performance of the Adviser’s duties, or by reason of the Adviser’s reckless disregard of its obligations and duties under this Agreement, or (ii) to protect any director, manager, officer or employee of the Adviser who is or was a Trustee or officer of the Trust against any liability of the Trust or its shareholders to which such person would otherwise be subject by reason of willful misfeasance, bad faith, gross negligence or reckless disregard of the duties involved in the conduct of such person’s office with the Trust.
12. Effect of Agreement.
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Nothing herein contained shall be deemed to require to the Trust to take any action contrary to its Declaration of Trust or its By-Laws or any applicable law, regulation or order to which it is subject or by which it is bound, or to relieve or deprive the Trustees of the Trust of their responsibility for and control of the conduct of the business and affairs of the Trust.
13. Term of Agreement.
With respect to the Fund, the term of this Agreement shall begin as of the date and year upon which the Fund commence investment operations, and unless sooner terminated as hereinafter provided, this Agreement shall remain in effect for a period of two years. Thereafter, this Agreement shall continue in effect with respect to the Fund from year to year, subject to the termination provisions and all other terms and conditions hereof; PROVIDED, such continuance with respect to a Fund is approved at least annually by vote of the holders of a majority of the outstanding voting securities of the Fund or by the Trustees of the Trust; PROVIDED, that in either event such continuance is also approved annually by the vote, cast in person at a meeting called for the purpose of voting on such approval, of a majority of the Trustees of the Trust who are not parties to this Agreement or interested persons of either party hereto. The Adviser shall furnish to the Trust, promptly upon its request, such information as may reasonably be necessary to evaluate the terms of this Agreement or any extension, renewal or amendment thereof.
14. Amendment or Assignment of Agreement.
Any amendment to this Agreement shall be in writing signed by the parties hereto; PROVIDED, that no such amendment shall be effective unless authorized (i) by resolution of the Trustees of the Trust, including the vote or written consent of a majority of the Trustees of the Trust who are not parties to this Agreement or interested persons of either party hereto, and (ii) by vote of a majority of the outstanding voting securities of the Fund affected by such amendment if required by applicable law. This Agreement shall terminate automatically and immediately in the event of its assignment.
15. Termination of Agreement.
This Agreement may be terminated as to any Fund at any time by either party hereto, without the payment of any penalty, upon sixty (60) days’ prior written notice to the other party; PROVIDED, that in the case of termination by any Fund, such action shall have been authorized (i) by resolution of the Trust’s Board of Trustees, including the vote or written consent of Trustees of the Trust who are not parties to this Agreement or interested persons of either party hereto, or (ii) by vote of majority of the outstanding voting securities of each Fund.
16. Use of Name.
The Trust is named the Northern Lights Fund Trust III and each Fund may be identified, in part, by the name “Northern Lights.”
17. Declaration of Trust.
The Adviser is hereby expressly put on notice of the limitation of shareholder liability as set forth in the Trust’s Declaration of Trust and agrees that the obligations assumed by the Trust or a Fund, as the case may be, pursuant to this Agreement shall be limited in all cases to the Trust or a Fund, as the case may be, and its assets, and the Adviser shall not seek satisfaction of any such obligation from the shareholders or any shareholder of the Trust. In addition, the Adviser shall not seek satisfaction of any such obligations from the Trustees or any individual Trustee. The Adviser understands that the rights and obligations of any Fund under the Declaration of Trust are separate and distinct from those of any and all other Fund. The Adviser further understands and agrees that no Fund of the Trust shall be liable for any claims against any other Fund of the Trust and that the Adviser must look solely to the assets of the pertinent Fund of the Trust for the enforcement or satisfaction of any claims against the Trust with respect to that Fund.
18. Confidentiality.
The Adviser agrees to treat all records and other information relating to the Trust and the securities holdings of the Fund as confidential and shall not disclose any such records or information to any other person unless (i) the Board of Trustees of the Trust has approved the disclosure or (ii) such disclosure is compelled by law. In addition, the Adviser and the Adviser’s officers, directors, members and employees are prohibited from receiving compensation or other consideration, for themselves or on behalf of a Fund, as a result of disclosing the Fund’s portfolio holdings. The Adviser agrees that, consistent with the Adviser’s Code of Ethics, neither the Adviser nor the Adviser’s officers, directors, members or employees may engage in personal securities transactions based on nonpublic information about a Fund’s portfolio holdings.
19. Governing Law.
This Agreement shall be governed and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of New York.
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20. Interpretation and Definition of Terms.
Any question of interpretation of any term or provision of this Agreement having a counterpart in or otherwise derived from a term or provision of the Act shall be resolved by reference to such term or provision of the Act and to interpretation thereof, if any, by the United States courts, or, in the absence of any controlling decision of any such court, by rules, regulations or orders of the Securities and Exchange Commission validly issued pursuant to the Act. Specifically, the terms “vote of a majority of the outstanding voting securities,” “interested persons,” “assignment” and “affiliated person,” as used in this Agreement shall have the meanings assigned to them by Section 2(a) of the Act. In addition, when the effect of a requirement of the Act reflected in any provision of this Agreement is modified, interpreted or relaxed by a rule, regulation or order of the Securities and Exchange Commission, whether of special or of general application, such provision shall be deemed to incorporate the effect of such rule, regulation or order.
21. Captions.
The captions in this Agreement are included for convenience of reference only and in no way define or delineate any of the provisions hereof or otherwise affect their construction or effect.
22. Execution in Counterparts.
This Agreement may be executed simultaneously in counterparts, each of which shall be deemed an original, but both of which together shall constitute one and the same instrument.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties have caused this Agreement to be signed by their respective officers thereunto duly authorized as of the date and year first above written.
NORTHERN LIGHTS FUND TRUST III
By: /s/ Richard Malinowski
Name: Richard Malinowski
Title: President
Counterpoint Mutual Funds, LLC
By: /s/ Michael Krause
Name: Michael Krause
Title: Partner
6 |
NORTHERN LIGHTS FUND TRUST III
INVESTMENT ADVISORY AGREEMENT
APPENDIX A
FUND OF THE TRUST
NAME OF FUND |
ANNUAL ADVISORY FEE AS A % OF AVERAGE NET ASSETS OF THE FUND |
CP High Yield Trend ETF | 0.50% |
7 |
NORTHERN LIGHTS FUND TRUST III
OPERATING EXPENSES LIMITATION
AND SECURITY AGREEMENT
COUNTERPOINT MUTUAL FUNDS LLC
THIS OPERATING EXPENSES LIMITATION AND SECURITY AGREEMENT (the “Agreement”) is made as of the 13th day of December, 2019, by and between NORTHERN LIGHTS FUND TRUST III, a Delaware statutory trust (the “Trust”), on behalf of CP High Yield Trend ETF (a “Fund”) a series of the Trust, and the advisor of the Fund, COUNTERPOINT MUTUAL FUNDS LLC (the “Advisor”).
RECITALS:
WHEREAS, the Advisor renders advice and services to the Fund pursuant to the terms and provisions of an Investment Advisory
Agreement between the Trust and the Advisor dated as of the 13th day of December, 2019 (the “Advisory Agreement”);
and
WHEREAS, the Fund is responsible for, and have assumed the obligation for, payment of certain expenses pursuant to the Advisory
Agreement that have not been assumed by the Advisor; and
WHEREAS, the Advisor desires to limit the Fund’s Operating Expenses (as that term is defined in Paragraph 2 of this
Agreement) pursuant to the terms and provisions of this Agreement, and the Trust (on behalf of the Fund) desires to allow the Advisor
to implement those limits; and
WHEREAS, as a condition to the continuation of its contractual relationship with the Advisor, the Trust has required that Advisor grant to the Trust a continuing security interest in Milestone Treasury Fund and to a designated account of the Advisor established with Gemini Fund Services, LLC, or its successor and assigns (the “Securities Intermediary”), for so long as the Fund’s assets remain below $25 million;
NOW THEREFORE, in consideration of the covenants and the mutual promises hereinafter set forth, the parties, intending to
be legally bound hereby, mutually agree as follows:
1. Limit on Operating Expenses. The Advisor hereby agrees to limit the Fund’s current Operating Expenses to
an annual rate, expressed as a percentage of the Fund’s average daily net assets for the month, to the amounts listed in
Appendix A (the “Annual Limit”). In the event that the current Operating Expenses of the Fund, as accrued
each month, exceed its Annual Limit, the Advisor will pay to the Fund, on a monthly basis, the excess expense within the first
ten days of the month following the month in which such Operating Expenses were incurred (each payment, a “Fund Reimbursement
Payment”).
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2. Definition. For purposes of this Agreement, the term “Operating Expenses” with respect to the Fund are defined to include all expenses necessary or appropriate for the operation of the Fund and including the Advisor’s investment advisory or management fee detailed in the Advisory Agreement, any Rule 12b-l fees and other expenses described in the Advisory Agreement, but does not include: (i) any front-end or contingent deferred loads; (ii) brokerage fees and commissions, (iii) acquired fund fees and expenses; (iv) fees and expenses associated with investments in other collective investment vehicles or derivative instruments (including for example option and swap fees and expenses); (v) borrowing costs (such as interest and dividend expense on securities sold short); (vi) taxes; and (vii) extraordinary expenses, such as litigation expenses (which may include indemnification of Fund officers and Trustees, contractual indemnification of Fund service providers (other than the Adviser)).
3. Reimbursement of Fees and Expenses. The Advisor retains its right to receive in future years on a rolling three year basis, reimbursement of any Fund Reimbursement Payments paid by the Advisor pursuant to this Agreement, if such reimbursement can be achieved within the lesser of the Annual Limit in place at the time of waiver or those in place at the time of recapture.
4. Collateral Account and Security Interest. At any time when the Fund’s assets are below $30 million, the Advisor, for value received, hereby pledges, assigns, sets over and grants to the Trust a continuing security interest in Milestone Treasury Fund and to an account to be established and maintained by the Advisor with the Securities Intermediary and designated as a collateral account (the “Collateral Account”), including any replacement account established with any successor, together with all dividends, interest, stock-splits, distributions, profits and all cash and non-cash proceeds thereof and any and all other rights as may now or hereafter derive or accrue therefrom (collectively, the “Collateral”) to secure the payment of any required Fund Reimbursement Payment or Liquidation Expenses (as defined in Paragraph 5 of this Agreement). For so long as this Agreement is in effect, any transfers or conveyances of Collateral to any party shall require the approval of the Board of Trustees of the Trust (the “Board”), except as specified in Section 7(a)(ii) of this Agreement, below. In addition, the Trust will not issue entitlement orders, redeem or otherwise take any action with respect to the Collateral or Collateral Account unless a Collateral Event (defined below under Section 5 of this Agreement) has occurred or is continuing.
5. Collateral Event. In the event that either (a) the Advisor does not make the Fund Reimbursement Payment due in connection with a particular calendar month by the tenth day of the following calendar month or (b) the Board enacts a resolution calling for the liquidation of the Fund (either (a) or (b), a “Collateral Event”), then, in either event, the Board shall have absolute discretion to redeem any shares or other Collateral held in the Collateral Account and utilize the proceeds from such redemptions or such other Collateral to make any required Fund Reimbursement Payment, or to cover any costs or expenses which the Board, in its sole and absolute discretion, estimates will be required in connection with the liquidation of the Fund (the “Liquidation Expenses”). Pursuant to the terms of Paragraph 6 of this Agreement, upon authorization from the Board, but subject to the provisions of the Control Agreement, no further instructions shall be required from the Advisor for the Securities Intermediary to transfer any
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Collateral from the account in the Milestone Treasury Fund to the Fund. The Advisor acknowledges that in the event the Collateral available in the Milestone Treasury Fund Account is insufficient to cover the full cost of any Fund Reimbursement Payment or Liquidation Expenses, the Fund shall retain the right to receive from the Advisor any costs in excess of the value of the Collateral.
6. Control Agreement; Appointment of Attorney-in-Fact. The Advisor agrees to execute and deliver to the Board, in form and substance satisfactory to the Board, a Control Agreement by, between and among the Trust, the Advisor and the Securities Intermediary (the “Control Agreement”) pursuant to and consistent with Section 8-106(c) of the New York Uniform Commercial Code, which shall terminate when the Collateral Account is no longer required under this Agreement. Without limiting the foregoing, for so long as the Collateral Account is required under the Agreement, the Advisor hereby irrevocably constitutes and appoints the Trust, through any officer thereof, with full power of substitution, as Advisor's true and lawful Attorney-in-Fact, with full irrevocable power and authority in place and stead of the Advisor and in the name of the Advisor or in the Trust's own name, from time to time, for the purpose of carrying out the terms of this Agreement, to take any and all appropriate actions and to execute and deliver any and all documents and instruments which the Board deems necessary to accomplish the purpose of this Agreement, which power of attorney is coupled with an interest and shall be irrevocable. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, the Trust shall have the right and power following any Collateral Event to receive, endorse and collect all checks and other orders for the payment of money made payable to the Advisor representing any interest payment, dividend, or other distribution payable in respect of or to the Collateral, or any part thereof, and to give full discharge for the same. So long as a Collateral Event has occurred and is continuing, the Board, in its discretion, may direct the Advisor or Advisor's agent to transfer the Collateral in certificated or uncertificated form into the name and account of the Trust or its designee.
7. Covenants. So long as this Agreement shall remain in effect, the Advisor represents and covenants as follows:
(a) | No later than 120 days after the Fund becomes operational, the Advisor shall invest at least $30,000 (the “Collateral Amount”) in the Collateral Account, unless the Fund’s assets have reached $25 million by that time (in which case no Collateral Account is required until the Fund’s assets fall below $25 million for more than 30 days). Once the Collateral Account is established: (i) the Advisor will maintain at least $30,000 in said account, such that additional amounts will be deposited by the Advisor where Fund outflows or negative performance reduce the Collateral Account below $30,000 for a period of more than thirty days; (ii) when the Fund’s combined assets reach $25 million or more in net assets, the Advisor may withdraw all assets from said account, less the minimum amount required to maintain the account open; and (iii) the Advisor hereby agrees to deposit and maintain $30,000 in the Milestone Treasury Fund Account Collateral Account within 30 days of Fund’s assets falling below $25 million, where assets |
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have not risen above $25 million at the end of that 30-day period. The Collateral Account may be closed completely upon Fund assets reaching $35 million.
(b) | To the fullest extent permitted by law, the Advisor agrees not to challenge any action taken by the Board or the Trust in executing the terms of this Agreement; provided that the action does not constitute willful misfeasance, bad faith, gross negligence, or reckless disregard of the duties of the Board under this Agreement, the Advisory Agreement, or to the Fund’s shareholders. |
(c) | The Trust will not issue entitlement orders, redeem or otherwise take any action with respect to the Collateral or Collateral Account unless a Collateral Event (defined above under Section 5 of this Agreement) has occurred or is continuing. |
8. Term. This Agreement shall become effective on the Fund’s effective date and shall remain in effect until at least April 30, 2022, unless sooner terminated as provided in Paragraph 9 of this Agreement, and shall continue in effect for successive twelve-month periods provided that such continuance is specifically approved at least annually by a majority of the Trustees of the Trust.
9. Termination. This Agreement may be terminated at any time, and without payment of any penalty, by the Board, on
behalf of the Fund, upon sixty (60) days’ written notice to the Advisor. This Agreement may not be terminated by the Advisor
without the consent of the Board. This Agreement and the Control Agreement will automatically terminate, with respect to the Fund
listed in Appendix A if the Advisory Agreement for the Fund is terminated and the Fund continues to operate under
the management of a new investment adviser, with such termination effective upon the effective date of the Advisory Agreement’s
termination for the Fund.
10. Assignment. This Agreement and all rights and obligations hereunder may not be assigned without the written consent
of the other party.
11. Severability. If any provision of this Agreement shall be held or made invalid by a court decision, statute or
rule, or shall be otherwise rendered invalid, the remainder of this Agreement shall not be affected thereby.
12. Governing Law. This Agreement shall be governed by, and construed in accordance with, the laws of the State of
New York without giving effect to the conflict of laws principles thereof; provided that nothing herein shall be construed to preempt,
or to be inconsistent with, any federal law, regulation or rule, including the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, and
the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, as amended, and any rules and regulations promulgated thereunder.
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IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties hereto have caused this Agreement to be duly executed and attested by their duly authorized officers, all on the day and year first above written.
NORTHERN LIGHTS FUND TRUST III |
COUNTERPOINT MUTUAL FUNDS LLC
|
on behalf of CP High Yield Trend ETF | |
By: /s/ Richard Malinowski________________ | By: /s/ Michael Krause____________________ |
Name: Richard Malinowski | Name: Michael Krause |
Title: President | Title: Partner |
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Appendix A
Fund | Operating Expense Limit |
CP High Yield Trend ETF | 0.60% |
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December 27, 2019
Northern Lights Fund Trust III
225 Pictoria Drive, Suite 450
Cincinnati, OH 45246
Ladies and Gentlemen:
This letter is in response to your request for our opinion in connection with the filing of Post-Effective Amendment No. 439 to the Registration Statement, File Nos. 333-178833 and 811-22655 (the “Registration Statement”), of Northern Lights Fund Trust III (the “Trust”).
We have examined a copy of the Trust’s Agreement and Declaration of Trust, the Trust’s By-laws, the Trust’s record of the various actions by the Trustees thereof, and all such agreements, certificates of public officials, certificates of officers and representatives of the Trust and others, and such other documents, papers, statutes and authorities as we deem necessary to form the basis of the opinion hereinafter expressed. We have assumed the genuineness of the signatures and the conformity to original documents of the copies of such documents supplied to us as copies thereof.
Based upon the foregoing, we are of the opinion that, after Post-Effective Amendment No. 439 is effective for purposes of applicable federal and state securities laws, the shares of each fund listed on the attached Exhibit A (the “Funds”), if issued in accordance with the then current Prospectus and Statement of Additional Information of the applicable Fund, will be legally issued, fully paid and non-assessable.
The opinions expressed herein are limited to matters of Delaware statutory trust law and United States Federal law as such laws exist today; we express no opinion as to the effect of any applicable law of any other jurisdiction. We assume no obligation to update or supplement our opinion to reflect any facts or circumstances that may hereafter come to our attention, or changes in law that may hereafter occur.
We hereby give you our permission to file this opinion with the Securities and Exchange Commission as an exhibit to Post-Effective Amendment No. 439 to the Registration Statement. This opinion may not be filed with any subsequent amendment, or incorporated by reference into a subsequent amendment, without our prior written consent. This opinion is prepared for the Trust and its shareholders and may not be relied upon by any other person or organization without our prior written approval.
Very truly yours,
/s/ Thompson Hine LLP
THOMPSON HINE LLP
AJD/CWB
EXHIBIT A
1. Absolute Capital Asset Allocator Fund |
2. Absolute Capital Defender Fund |
3. ACM Dynamic Opportunity Fund |
4. ACM Tactical Income Fund |
5. Boyd Watterson Limited Duration Enhanced Income Fund |
6. Counterpoint Long-Short Equity Fund |
7. Counterpoint Tactical Equity Fund |
8. Counterpoint Tactical Income Fund |
9. Counterpoint Tactical Municipal Fund |
10. CP High Yield Trend ETF |
11. Good Harbor Tactical Core US Fund |
12. Good Harbor Tactical Core Select Fund |
13. HCM Defender 100 Index ETF |
14. HCM Defender 500 Index ETF |
15. HCM Dividend Sector Plus Fund |
16. HCM Tactical Growth Fund |
17. HCM Income Plus Fund |
18. Issachar Fund |
19. Leland Real Asset Opportunities Fund |
20. Leland Thomson Reuters Private Equity Buyout Index Fund |
21. Leland Thomson Reuters Venture Capital Index Fund |
22. Marathon Value Portfolio |
23. Newfound Multi-Asset Income Fund |
24. Newfound Risk Managed Global Sectors Fund |
25. Newfound Risk Managed U.S. Sectors Fund |
26. Persimmon Long/Short Fund |
27. Pinnacle Dynamic Growth Fund |
28. Pinnacle Sherman Multi-Strategy Core Fund |
29. Pinnacle Sherman Tactical Allocation Fund |
30. Pinnacle TrendRating Innovative Equity Fund |
31. RESQ Dynamic Allocation Fund |
32. RESQ Strategic Income Fund |
33. Swan Defined Risk Fund |
34. Swan Defined Risk Emerging Markets Fund |
35. Swan Defined Risk Foreign Developed Fund |
36. Swan Defined Risk Growth Fund |
37. Swan Defined Risk U.S. Small Cap Fund |
38. The Covered Bridge Fund |
39. The Teberg Fund |
ETF DISTRIBUTION PLAN
PURSUANT TO RULE 12B-1
UNDER THE INVESTMENT COMPANY ACT OF 1940
NORTHERN LIGHTS FUND TRUST III
Adopted August 29, 2019
WHEREAS, Northern Lights Fund Trust III (the “Trust”) is an open-end management investment company registered as such under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “1940 Act”), and organized as a series trust; and
WHEREAS, the Board of Trustees of the Trust (“Trustees”) desires to adopt a plan of distribution pursuant to Rule 12b-1 under the 1940 Act with respect to the shares of beneficial interest (“Shares”) of the series listed on Schedule A (each a “Fund”, collectively, the “Funds”), and the Trustees have determined that there is a reasonable likelihood that adoption of this ETF Distribution Plan (the “Plan”) will benefit each Fund and holders of such Fund’s Shares.
NOW, THEREFORE, on behalf of each Fund, the Trust hereby adopts this Plan in accordance with Rule 12b-1 under the 1940 Act on the following terms and conditions (capitalized terms not otherwise defined herein have the meanings assigned thereto in the Trust’s registration statement under the 1940 Act and under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, as such registration statement is amended by any amendments thereto at the time in effect).
SECTION 1. The Trust has adopted this Plan to enable the Trust to directly or indirectly bear expenses relating to the distribution of the Shares of the Trust.
SECTION 2. With respect to each Fund, the Trust may pay a monthly fee up to the amount set forth in Schedule A (“Limit”) to finance any activity primarily intended to result in the sale of Shares as described in the Trust’s registration statement (“Creation Units”) of each Fund or the provision of investor services, including but not limited to (a) compensation paid to registered representatives of the Funds’ distributor (“the “Distributor”) and other persons that have entered into agreements with the Distributor, (b) salaries and other expenses of the Distributor or other parties relating to selling or servicing efforts, including travel, communications and the provision of sales personnel, (c) expenses of organizing and conducting sales seminars, printing of prospectuses, statements of additional information and reports for other than existing shareholders, (d) preparation and distribution of advertising materials and sales literature and other marketing and sales promotion expenses, (e) distribution and/or shareholder service assistance through financial institutions and intermediaries such as banks, savings and loan associations, insurance companies and investment counselors, broker-dealers, and the affiliates and subsidiaries of the Trust’s service providers, (f) delivering any notices of shareholder meetings and proxy statements accompanying such notices in connection with general and special meetings of interest holders of the Trust, and/or (g) ongoing services to shareholders which facilitate the continued retention of investors as shareholders of a Fund.
The Distributor may use all or any portion of the amount received pursuant to this Plan to compensate securities dealers or other persons that are Authorized Participants (“third parties”) for providing distribution assistance, including broker-dealer and shareholder support and educational and promotional services, pursuant to agreements with the Distributor, or to pay any of the expenses associated with other activities authorized under this paragraph. All expenses covered by this Plan shall be deemed incurred whether paid directly by the Distributor or by a third party to the extent reimbursed therefor by the Distributor.
Fees shall be payable by the Trust on behalf of any Fund regardless of whether such fees are greater or less than the actual expenses incurred by the Distributor or third party with respect to such Fund during the relevant period. Although the Fund is not permitted to pay any expenses in excess of the relevant Limit, such excess expenses may be reimbursed during any of the Fund’s subsequent three fiscal years, provided and to the extent that the current expenses plus the excess expenses do not exceed the Limit for that subsequent year and are approved in the manner provided in Section 3 herein.
SECTION 3. Nothing in this Plan shall operate or be construed to prohibit or limit additional compensation derived from sales charges or other sources that may be paid to the Distributor pursuant to the aforementioned Distribution Agreement. In addition, nothing in this Plan shall operate or be construed to limit the extent to which the Trust’s investment adviser or any other person, other than the Trust, may incur costs and bear expenses associated with the distribution of Shares of a Fund. It is recognized that the Trust’s investment adviser and other persons may use its advisory revenues, past profits and other resources to make payments to the Distributor with respect to any expenses incurred in connection with the distribution of Shares. Accordingly, the Trust’s investment adviser and other persons, directly or indirectly, may from time to time make payments to third parties who engage in the sale of Shares or render shareholder support or transfer agency services. If such payments are deemed to be indirect financing of an activity primarily intended to result in the sale of shares issued by a Fund within the context of Rule 12b-1 under the 1940 Act, such payments shall be deemed to be authorized by this Plan.
SECTION 4. This Plan shall not take effect with respect to any Fund until it has been approved, together with any related agreements, by votes of the majority of both (a) the Trustees and (b) the Qualified Trustees (as defined in Section 10 herein), cast in person at a meeting of the Trustees called for the purpose of voting on this Plan or such agreement.
SECTION 5. This Plan shall continue in effect for a period of more than one year after it takes effect, only for so long as such continuance is specifically approved at least annually in the manner provided in Section 4 herein for the approval of this Plan.
SECTION 6. Any person authorized to direct the disposition of monies paid or payable by the Trust pursuant to this Plan or any related agreement shall provide to the Trustees, at least quarterly, a written report of the amounts so expended and the purposes for which such expenditures were made.
SECTION 7. This Plan may be terminated at any time, without payment of any penalty, by the vote of a majority of the Qualified Trustees or by vote of a majority of the outstanding voting securities of the Shares of the Funds.
SECTION 8. All agreements with any person relating to implementation of this Plan shall be in writing, and any agreement related to this Plan shall provide (a) that such agreement may be terminated at any time, without payment of any penalty, by the vote of a majority of the Qualified Trustees or by the vote of a majority of the outstanding voting securities of the Shares of the Funds, on not more than 60 days written notice to any other party to the agreement; and (b) that such agreement shall terminate automatically in the event of its assignment.
SECTION 9. This Plan may not be amended to increase materially the amount of distribution expenses permitted with respect to any Fund pursuant to Section 2 hereof without the approval of Shareholders holding a majority of the outstanding voting securities of the Shares of the Fund, and all material amendments to this Plan shall be approved in the manner provided in Part (b) of Section 4 herein for the approval of this Plan.
SECTION 10. As used in this Plan, the term “Qualified Trustees” shall mean those Trustees of the Trust who are not interested persons of the Trust, and have no direct or indirect financial interest in the operation of this Plan or any agreements related to it. The terms “assignment,” “interested person,” and “majority of the outstanding voting securities” shall have the respective meanings specified in the 1940 Act and the rules and regulations thereunder, subject to such exemptions as may be granted by the Securities and Exchange Commission.
SECTION 11. While this Plan is in effect, the selection and nomination of those Trustees who are not interested persons of the Trust within the meaning of section 2(a)(19) of the 1940 Act shall be committed to the discretion of the Trustees then in office who are not interested persons of the Trust.
SECTION 12. This Plan shall not obligate the Trust or any other party to enter into an agreement with any particular person.
SECTION 13. If any provision of the Plan shall be held or made invalid, the remainder of the Plan shall not be affected thereby.
SECTION 14. The Trust shall preserve
copies of this Plan, each agreement related hereto and each report referred to in Section 6 hereof for a period of at least six
years, the first two years in an easily accessible place.
SCHEDULE A
NORTHERN LIGHTS FUND TRUST III
Date Last Amended: November 20, 2019
The following series of Northern Lights Fund Trust III are subject to this Plan, at the fee rates specified:
Fund | Fee (as a Percentage of Average Daily Net Assets of the Fund)* |
HCM Defender 100 Index ETF | 0.25% |
HCM Defender 500 Index ETF | 0.25% |
CP High Yield Trend ETF | 0.25% |
* The determination of daily net assets shall be made at the close of business each day throughout the month and computed in the manner specified in the then current Prospectus for the determination of the net asset value of Creation Units. Plan payments shall be made within ten (10) days of the end of each calendar month unless otherwise agreed by the parties and approved or ratified by the Trustees.
Acknowledged and Approved by:
Northern Lights Fund Trust III:
By: /s/ Richard Malinowski___________ Richard Malinowski President |
Northern Lights Distributors, LLC:
By: /s/ William J. Strait________________ William J. Strait President |
2 CODE OF ETHICS |
2.1 | OVERVIEW |
Boyd has many important assets, but the most valuable is our established and unquestioned reputation for integrity. As professionals, we are judged by our conduct, and we must act in a manner that merits the trust and confidence of our customers and the public in general. Because of the nature of the investment advisory business, many people hold us to a higher standard than the general business world. Boyd has adopted this Code of Ethics (Code) to help ensure that it retains its integrity and continues to merit trust and confidence. Additionally, Boyds employees that are CFA Institute members are also expected to comply with CFA Institutes Code of Ethics and Standards of Professional Conduct.
Boyd and its employees owe an undivided duty of loyalty to Boyds clients and must place client interests first at all times. Employees will, in varying degrees, participate in or be aware of fiduciary and investment services provided to registered investment companies, institutional investment clients, employee benefit trusts and other types of investment advisory clients. Our fiduciary relationship mandates adherence to the highest standards of conduct and integrity.
Accordingly, employees acting in a fiduciary capacity must carry out their duties for the exclusive benefit of client accounts. Employees must avoid any activity that might create an actual or potential conflict of interest and should never take unfair advantage of their positions with Boyd. Employees may not cause a client to take action (or fail to take action) for the employees personal benefit, rather than for the benefit of the client.
2.2 | DEFINITIONS |
The following terms are used commonly throughout this Code. There are several other technical definitions that may apply to the requirements set forth in the Code, and you are encouraged to consult with Compliance for clarification, if needed.
1. | An Access Person of Boyd is any employee that: |
● | Has access to non-public information regarding any clients purchase or sale of securities, or non-public information regarding the portfolio holdings of any mutual fund that Boyd advises; or |
● | Is involved in making securities recommendations to clients, or who has access to such recommendations that are non-public. |
2. | An Advised Fund is a registered investment company for which Boyd serves as adviser or sub-adviser. |
3. | An ARM is an account relationship manager. |
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4. | Reportable Security is as defined in Section 2.6.2 of this Code. |
2.3 | GENERAL GUIDANCE |
In most situations, our personal values and integrity will guide us to the right decision. However, we must always keep in mind how our actions affect the credibility of Boyd. For this reason, our business ethics must reflect the highest values and standards of conduct outlined in this Code. We encourage each employee to ask questions, seek guidance and express any concerns they may have. When in doubt, directors, officers and employees should ask themselves the following questions:
● | Is my action legal? If so, is it also ethical? |
● | Are my actions honest in every respect? |
● | Would I be proud to read about my action in the newspaper? |
● | Can I defend my action with a clear conscience? |
● | Would it be helpful to ask for guidance before taking any action? |
If your answers to these questions are troubling in any respect, it may be that whatever you are considering is not the correct or appropriate course of action and you should contact Compliance or a member of Executive Management with any questions.
2.4 | CONFLICTS OF INTEREST |
A major component of carrying out our fiduciary duties to our clients involves the awareness and disclosure of actual and potential conflicts of interest. A conflict of interest occurs when the best interests of Boyd and/or its employees are contrary to the interests of our clients. A conflict situation can arise if you have a personal financial or other interest that may make it difficult to perform your duties objectively and effectively. Conflicts of interest may also arise if you or a family member or another organization in which you have an interest receives a personal benefit as a result of your position with Boyd.
All Access Persons must disclose actual or potential conflicts of interest to Compliance, so that they may be adequately disclosed and mitigated.
2.5 | COMPLIANCE WITH FEDERAL SECURITIES LAWS, RULES, AND REGULATIONS |
You must conduct yourself in a manner which is in full compliance with all applicable laws, rules and regulations, including Rule 204A-1 of the Advisers Act and Rule 17j-1 of the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the Investment Company Act), as well as with all of Boyds other policies and procedures. Activity or behavior which would be criminally or civilly actionable is deemed not to be in compliance. Boyds Chief Compliance Officer has an open door policy and all employees may feel free to seek guidance whenever a regulatory matter comes into question.
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2.6 | PERSONAL SECURITIES HOLDINGS AND TRANSACTIONS |
The following provisions apply to all securities accounts in which Access Persons have a direct or indirect beneficial ownership interest. Beneficial ownership interest includes securities held in the name of your spouse, minor children and other relatives (including adult children) resident in your home and unrelated persons in circumstances where you are entitled to share in any profit derived from a transaction in those securities. If there is any question as to whether a particular account is subject to these requirements, Compliance should be consulted for guidance.
2.6.1 | TRADING RESTRICTIONS |
Diversion of Investment Opportunity
Access Persons should not acquire a security that would be suitable for a client account without first considering whether to recommend or purchase that security to or for the clients account.
Prohibition of Front Running
Front running is generally considered to be the practice of effecting a securities transaction with advance knowledge of another transaction in the same or related security for client accounts, typically a block transaction, in order to personally benefit from the effect of the block transaction upon the price of the security or related security. Front running is a prohibited practice and Access Persons personal securities transactions will be reviewed periodically by Compliance for evidence of front running.
Blackout Periods
Pending Trades
Access Persons may not purchase or sell a security in an account under the Access Persons control on a day during which any client account, including any Advised Fund, has a pending order in the same security. This restriction applies until the clients order has been executed or cancelled.
Securities Under Consideration
Access Persons may not purchase or sell a security if the reviewer or the Access Person has knowledge of, or a decision has been made to effect, a transaction in the same security for a client account or if the Access Person knows that a transaction in the same security is being considered for a client account, including any Advised Fund(s), for the same day.
Frequent Trading
Frequent trading by Access Persons is discouraged. While there is no objective measure of excess frequency, Compliance and Executive Management will use their best judgment to
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determine if an Access Person is spending too much time trading for his or her own account and limits may be set accordingly on a case-by-case basis.
2.6.2 | PRE-CLEARANCE OF SECURITIES TRANSACTIONS |
Access Persons must pre-clear all personal transactions in Reportable Securities, except as provided below. Access Persons are personally responsible for ensuring that the proposed transaction does not violate Boyds policies or applicable securities laws and regulations.
Reportable Security is defined by SEC Rule 204A-1(e)(10) and is broad in scope. Examples of a Reportable Security include, without limitation, a physical stock certificate, a bond, or an equity security such as company stock in a retirement plan account. However, a Reportable Security does not include:
- | Direct obligations of the U.S. government; |
- | Money market instruments, including bankers acceptances, bank certificates of deposit, commercial paper, repurchase agreements, and other high-quality short-term debt instruments; |
- | Shares issued by money market funds; |
- | Shares issued by open-end mutual funds (other than Advised Funds); and |
- | Shares issued by open-end unit investment trusts (UITs) if the UIT is invested exclusively in open end mutual funds (other than Advised Funds). |
Pre-clearance is also required for a transaction in any security that is on any restricted securities list maintained by Boyd.
Access Persons shall submit a pre-clearance request through Schwab Compliance Technologies system for review by at least one designated reviewer, which will be an employee in Portfolio Management, Trading, or a Compliance Officer. The request will not be approved by the designee(s) if a decision has been made to engage in a transaction in the same security for a client account or if either reviewer knows that a transaction in the same security is being considered for a client account. Once reviewed, the Access Person will receive notification as to whether the transaction has been approved or denied. A record of the pre-clearance request and its review will be maintained by the system in accordance with Boyds books and records obligations.
An approval is only valid until the close of business on the same day it is granted. If the order is not placed during that period or is placed but not executed, a new approval must be obtained.
Exemptions to Pre-Clearance Requirement
Except as provided in Section 2.6.3 below, the following types of transactions are exempt from pre-clearance:
1. | Securities purchased or sold in fully discretionary accounts managed by a third party |
2. | Open-end U.S. mutual fund shares, other than transactions in Advised Fund(s) not made through a 401(k) plan or other automatic investment plan |
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3. | Exchange-traded funds (ETFs) |
4. | Reorganizations (e.g., tender offers) |
5. | Futures and options on indices |
6. | Option exercises |
7. | Other securities that are not Reportable Securities |
2.6.3 | IPOS AND PRIVATE PLACEMENTS |
Prior to effecting a transaction in an initial public offering (IPO) or in a limited offering, Access Persons must obtain the approval of Compliance and/or Executive Management. In evaluating such requests, the reviewer should consider all relevant factors, including:
1. | Whether the investment opportunity is being made available to the Access Person due to the Access Persons position with Boyd; |
2. | Whether the investment opportunity creates a conflict of interest relating to the Access Persons fiduciary responsibilities at Boyd; and |
3. | Whether the investment opportunity is suitable for and should be reserved for Boyds clients. |
Approvals of an Access Persons request to participate in an IPO or in a limited offering will be recorded on SCT.
If an Access Person has acquired securities in an IPO or in a limited offering, he or she must disclose that interest to Compliance before the Access Person may play a material role in a decision to recommend or cause an Advised Fund to invest in securities of the same issuer. This disclosure is required even if the Access Person has complied with the preclearance and reporting requirements of the Code.
2.6.4 | TRANSACTIONS IN VIRTUAL CURRENCY |
Depending on the nature of the virtual security and the Access Persons attached rights and benefits, transactions in virtual currency may or may not need to be pre-cleared and/or disclosed.
If a cryptocurrency network is sufficiently decentralized, then it will not fall under these policies because it is not a security, as defined by the SEC. For example, the SEC has stated that both Bitcoin and Ethereum are not securities. Therefore, these two types of virtual currency are not subject to these policies.
If the cryptocurrency has been launched by centralized teams, it may fall under SEC rules, and therefore be subject to these policies. Trades in virtual currency tokens offered or previously offered as part of an Initial Coin Offering (ICO) may constitute securities and certain types of ICOs are therefore, subject to these policies.
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Access persons who intend to purchase these types of tokens should consult with compliance in advance about whether the tokens are securities depending on particular attached rights and benefits.
2.6.5 | SECURITIES HOLDINGS DISCLOSURE AND TRANSACTION REPORTING |
Access Persons must disclose all securities and applicable accounts (including fully discretionary accounts), provided that the following personal securities accounts are not reportable under the Code unless they hold Reportable Securities:
- | 401(k) and 403(b) retirement plan accounts that only hold open end mutual funds |
- | Accounts held directly at mutual fund companies (mutual fund only accounts) |
- | Accounts held directly at 529 college savings plans |
To ensure compliance with this requirement, Access Persons must instruct any bank, broker or other financial institution that maintains such accounts to send duplicate copies of all trade confirmations and account statements promptly to the attention of Compliance.
In order to comply with applicable requirements, Boyd must receive account statements no later than 30 days after the end of any calendar month or quarter (depending on account activity).
Holdings Reports
Within ten (10) days of becoming an Access Person, and annually thereafter, each Access Person must submit holding information for all Reportable Securities to Compliance. The information in the holdings report must be current as of a date no more than 45 days before the report is submitted.
Quarterly Transaction Reports
Within thirty (30) days of the end of each calendar quarter, all Access Persons must review, report and certify all trading activity in Reportable Securities for the quarter. All Access Persons must also report any new Accounts opened during the calendar quarter. All purchases or sales of an Advised Fund must be reported quarterly.
2.6.6 | REVIEW OF PERSONAL TRANSACTIONS |
Compliance is responsible for monitoring personal securities trading for compliance with the Code. On a periodic basis (but at least quarterly,) Compliance will review a sampling of the statements and reports submitted pursuant to the Code. Any unusual trading activity, patterns of transactions, or indications of violations of this Code will be addressed as necessary.
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2.7 | INSIDER TRADING AND CONFIDENTIALITY |
2.7.1 | POLICY STATEMENT |
Boyd strictly prohibits employees from effecting securities transactions while in possession of material, non-public information. Employees are also prohibited from disclosing such information to others. The prohibition against insider trading applies not only to the security to which the inside information directly relates, but also to related securities, such as options.
No employee who has material non-public information regarding any company may buy or sell securities of that company or a related company, directly or indirectly, or engage in any other action to take personal advantage of that information, or disclose such information to others, such as family, relatives, and business or social acquaintances.
2.7.2 | MATERIAL NON-PUBLIC INFORMATION |
For purposes of this Policy, material information is any information that a reasonable investor would likely consider important in a decision to buy, hold or sell securities. Non-public information is any information which has not been disclosed generally to the marketplace.
Remember: if your securities transactions become the subject of scrutiny, they will be viewed after the fact with the benefit of hindsight. As a result, before engaging in any transaction, you should carefully consider how regulators and others might view your transaction in hindsight.
Any employee who believes that they may have come into possession of material non-public information should discuss the matter with Compliance or Executive Management immediately. Further, if any employees have personal relationships that may result in the employee obtaining such information (e.g., a spouse who holds a high level position in a publicly traded company, a friend who works in investment banking and deals with public companies, etc.), Compliance should also be notified.
2.7.3 | EXAMPLES |
While there are various legal nuances regarding the true definition of insider trading, insider trading generally includes the following scenarios:
1. | Classical Scenario: Trading by an insider who owes a duty to the issuer of the security traded; |
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2. | Misappropriation Scenario: Trading based on material nonpublic information in breach of a duty owed to someone other than the issuer; |
3. | Tipping Scenario: The tippee assumes the same liability as the tipper if the tippee knows or should have known that the tipper is breaching a duty by transmitting the information. |
2.7.4 | CONFIDENTIALITY |
Another source of potential material non-public information may include confidential Boyd information regarding investment recommendations and client account holdings and transactions. Employees should:
● | Not discuss confidential information, except as necessary to perform their duties to Boyd |
● | Not store confidential information in plain view in public areas of the office |
● | Not discuss confidential information in public areas, including airports, elevators, etc. |
● | Not share confidential information outside Boyd, including with spouses, friends, etc. |
2.7.5 | MANAGEMENT ACTIONS |
Upon determination that the information may represent material inside information, Compliance and Executive Management will take the following actions, as deemed appropriate:
1. | Consider a halt to all firm trading activity in the security; |
2. | Consider a halt to all recommendations of the security; |
3. | Consider requesting the issuer or other appropriate parties to disseminate the information promptly to the public if the information is valid and nonpublic; |
4. | Take steps to ensure all files containing material, nonpublic information is sealed and access to computer files containing material, nonpublic information is restricted; |
5. | Consult with other senior members of the firm; and |
6. | Notify legal counsel and request advice as to what further steps should be taken before transactions or recommendations in the securities are resumed. |
In addition, Compliance and Executive Management will confidentially document the firms actions in addressing the material inside information.
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2.7.6 | LIABILITY |
A violation of The Insider Trading and Securities Fraud Enforcement Act of 1988 may result in criminal and civil penalties of $1,000,000 or more. There are also very substantial criminal and civil penalties (including imprisonment) for improper insider trading or tipping. Litigation and investigations of insider trading cases are extremely burdensome, expensive, frequently publicized, and can be based on appearance alone.
If material non-public information is inadvertently disclosed, no matter what the circumstances, by any employee, the person making or discovering such disclosure should immediately report the facts to Compliance.
2.8 | GIFT POLICY |
Giving, receiving or soliciting gifts in a business setting may create an appearance of impropriety, raise a potential conflict of interest, or be an improper payment in violation of applicable law. Boyd has adopted the policies set forth below to guide all employees in this area. In general, gifts are distinguishable from permitted business meals and business entertainment. However, under Boyds policies, gifts include, without limitation, golf outings, sporting events, concerts, and other entertainment where the employee or other business party is not present and/or a business meeting or discussion is not held before, at or after the event.
2.8.1 | GENERAL POLICY |
Boyds policy with respect to business entertainment and workplace gifts is as follows:
● | Employees should not accept or provide any gifts or favors that might influence the decisions the employee or the recipient must make in business transactions involving Boyd, or that others might reasonably believe would influence those decisions; |
● | Modest gifts and favors, which would not be regarded by others as improper, and which otherwise conform to generally accepted business practices, may be accepted or given on an occasional basis. |
● | Business meals and entertainment (such as athletic or cultural events) which are consistent with general business practices and that are not extravagant (i.e. cost is not unusually high in comparison to other business meals or entertainment in similar venues, geographical locations and settings) or frequent in nature also are permissible. Unless otherwise provided in this Code or in other policies of Boyd, business meals and business entertainment associated with or incident to a business meeting or function that comply these requirements, are not considered to be gifts, gratuities, hospitalities or similar offerings. |
● | Employees are prohibited from giving or accepting cash, cash equivalents and securities. This includes items that could be redeemed for cash, such as checks, tickets and cash-redeemable gift certificates. This policy does not include gift certificates that can only be redeemed for goods and services. |
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● | Where there is a law or rule that applies to the conduct of a particular business or the acceptance of gifts of even nominal value, the law or rule must be followed. |
● | Acceptance of loans from banks or financial institutions on terms generally available to the public at large, acceptance of discounts or rebates on merchandise or services on terms generally available to the public at large or on terms generally available to Boyd employees, and gifts based upon a family relationship or close personal relationship predating your involvement with Boyd, are permissible. |
● | Gifts of alcohol, such as the receipt or giving of bottles of wine and other alcoholic beverages, are generally prohibited. |
2.8.2 | REPORTING, SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS FOR GIFTS RECEIVED BY EMPLOYEES |
General Gift Limit
Employees are prohibited from receiving any gift, gratuity, hospitality or similar offering of more than $250.00 in aggregated value during a calendar year from any person or entity doing business with Boyd without the prior consent of Compliance, with the exception of accounts subject to Department of Labor (DOL) oversight (such as ERISA qualified accounts), whereby Boyd imposes different rules based on Boyds understanding of current DOL accepted standards.
Cash gifts are not allowed.
Receipt of Gifts from ERISA Service Providers
Employees are prohibited from accepting gifts from vendors or service providers in connection with any services provided by Boyd to a client that is a pension plan (subject to Form 5500 Schedule C reporting obligations), unless the following three conditions are all met: (i) the gift is tax deductible for federal income tax purposes for the vendor or service provider and would not be taxable income to Boyd or any employee; (ii) the gift does not exceed $50; and (iii) gifts from any one vendor or service provider do not exceed $100 during a calendar year. Additional policies with respect to pension plan clients are set forth in Exhibit A to Boyds Travel, and Entertainment and Business Expense Policies.
Gifts from multiple employees of one vendor or service provider to Boyd will be treated as a single source when calculating whether the $100 limit applies. However, in applying the limit to an occasional gift received by multiple employees from a single vendor or service provider, the amount received by each employee may be separately determined in applying the $100 limit. Employees may accept occasional gifts of less than $10 without the gift counting toward the $100 limit. Employees may also accept promotional gifts of little intrinsic value that display a company logo (for example, pens with the company name). Cash gifts are not allowed.
If a vendor or service provider provides services to Boyd relating to Boyds pension plan clients and its non-pension plan clients, a pro rata share of the value of any gift received will be counted toward the $50 and $100 limits.
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Additional gift and gratuity policies with respect to pension plan clients are set forth are set forth in Exhibit A to Boyds Travel, and Entertainment and Business Expense Policies.
2.8.3 | REPORTING, SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS FOR GIFTS GIVEN BY EMPLOYEES |
General Gift Limit
Employees are prohibited from giving any gift, gratuity, hospitality or similar offering of more $250 in aggregated value during a calendar year to any person or entity doing business with Boyd, without the prior written consent of Compliance, with the exception of accounts subject to Department of Labor (DOL) oversight (such as ERISA qualified accounts), whereby Boyd imposes different rules based on Boyds understanding of current DOL accepted standards.
Cash gifts are not allowed.
Gifts to ERISA Plan Fiduciaries
In general, Boyd and its employees may not provide any person who is a fiduciary of an ERISA plan gifts, entertainment or other consideration with an aggregate value of $250.00 or more during a calendar year. Additional gift and gratuity policies with respect to pension plan clients are set forth in Exhibit A to Boyds Travel, and Entertainment and Business Expense Policies.
Cash gifts and gifts of more than $50 in value are not allowed.
Gifts to State Government Plans
State government employee benefit plans are not generally subject to ERISA. However, state government employee benefit plans may have their own limits and requirements with respect to gifts provided to plan representatives. Employees should consult with Compliance before providing any gift to a government plan officer or trustee.
2.8.4 | BEQUESTS |
If an employee becomes aware that he or she is a beneficiary of a gift or bequest under a will or trust agreement of a customer, former customer, or supplier (other than someone related by blood or marriage), the employee should promptly report it to Compliance. Depending on the circumstances, the employee may be required to take all reasonable steps to have the will or trust instrument amended to remove himself or herself as a beneficiary. In certain circumstances, if the employee is not removed as a beneficiary, the employee may be terminated in order to avoid the perception of a conflict of interest or improper influence. Likewise, an employee may not accept a bequest or devise from a customer, former customer, or supplier without prior approval of Compliance.
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2.8.5 | GIFT LOG |
Procedural Summary
Who: | All employees |
What: | Notify Compliance of gifts received |
When: | On an ongoing basis |
Evidence: | Compliance will retain a Gift Log |
When an employee receives a gift, it is their responsibility to report it to Compliance for tracking on Boyds Gift Log. Gifts of nominal value (less than $10.00 in value) do not need to be reported, nor do promotional gifts of little intrinsic value that display a company logo, typical holiday gifts, such as food and fruit baskets, or personal gifts such as bereavement and congratulatory food and fruit baskets or gifts
Compliance will periodically review the gift log to identify any unusual patterns involving gifts or entertainment indicating a potential conflict of interest.
If an employee has any questions as to whether any proposed or contemplated gift or business entertainment activity complies with the above policy, please contact Compliance.
2.9 | REPORTING VIOLATIONS OF THE CODE |
2.9.1 | YOUR DUTY TO REPORT |
You have a duty to adhere to this Code and all other existing company policies and to report any suspected violations by yourself or any other employee, officer or director of Boyd. You should report violations of this Code by contacting Compliance. Your report will be dealt with anonymously and confidentially.
2.9.2 | INVESTIGATIONS |
The responsibility for administering the Code, investigating alleged violations and determining corrective and disciplinary action rests with various groups within Boyd. Compliance is responsible for maintaining and updating the Code. Compliance may work together with other relevant parties in order to promptly handle investigations and recommend corrective and disciplinary actions. Depending on the circumstances, in some cases senior managers and other officers will be involved to consider and determine the appropriate corrective or disciplinary action. Compliance will periodically report Code violations and the corrective actions taken to Boyds Executive Management. In some cases, Executive Management will be responsible for conducting the investigation and determining the actions to be taken.
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2.9.3 | PROTECTIONS FOR EMPLOYEES WHO REPORT |
Our commitment to promoting the highest ethical standards includes a responsibility to foster an environment that allows our employees to report violations without the fear of retaliation or retribution. You will not be disciplined, lose your job, or be retaliated against in any other way for asking questions or voicing concerns about our legal or ethical obligations, as long as you are acting in good faith. Good faith does not mean that you have to be right, but it does mean that you believe that you are providing truthful information. The important thing is that you bring your question or concern to Boyds attention through one of the available channels.
Our employees must never be discouraged from using any available channel within the organization. Even simple questioning of a person reporting a violation can lead to unintentional retaliation, as it may make that person feel that he or she did something wrong by choosing one method over another. Persons reporting a violation under this Code must be able to choose whichever method they are most comfortable with to communicate their concern.
Any employee who retaliates against another employee for reporting known or suspected violations of our legal or ethical obligations will be in violation of the Code and subject to disciplinary action, up to and including dismissal. Retaliation also may be a violation of the law and, as such, could subject both the individual offender and Boyd to legal liability.
2.10 | DISTRIBUTION OF CODE |
Compliance is responsible for providing new Access Persons with a copy of the most recent version of the Code upon employment and providing any amendments to the Code to all Access Persons thereafter. Any time an access person is provided with the Code, a signed acknowledgement of receipt and understanding will be required.
2.11 | DISCIPLINE |
If an Employee has violated the Code, Boyd may take whatever discipline and other remedial action it deems appropriate. Discipline will vary but may include reprimand, censure, limitation or prohibition of personal trading, unwinding the transaction, profit disgorgement, and suspension or termination of employment, monetary fines and other sanctions.
All monetary fines or sanctions imposed shall be made payable anonymously to one or more charities that Boyd supports.
Advised Fund Board Reporting
Compliance will prepare, or supervise the preparation of, a written report that describes any issues arising under the Code during each calendar quarter as may be required by Advised Funds. Such reports may address any material violation of these policies and procedures and any sanctions imposed in response. In addition, Boyd may be required to certify that it has adopted procedures reasonably necessary to prevent violations of its Code.
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2.12 | WAIVERS |
Under certain circumstances, it may be appropriate for a provision of the Code to be waived for a particular employee or particular group(s). Any employee seeking a waiver should confer with Executive Management and/or Compliance regarding the circumstances surrounding the waiver request. Approval for waiver requests or group exemptions will be granted in writing.
2.13 | RECORD-KEEPING |
Compliance will maintain records in a manner and to the extent set forth below, which records shall be available for examination by representatives of the appropriate regulatory authority.
1. | A copy of this Code and any other code, which is or at any time within the past five (5) years has been in effect, shall be preserved in an easily accessible place. |
2. | A record of any violation of this Code and of any action taken as a result of such violation shall be preserved in an easily accessible place for a period of not less than five (5) years following the end of the fiscal year in which the violation occurs. |
3. | A copy of each quarterly and annual report, including any brokerage statements, made by an Access Person pursuant to this Code shall be preserved for a period of not less than five (5) years following the end of the fiscal year in which the reports occur, the first two (2) years in an easily accessible place. |
4. | A copy of each preclearance or similar request, and the reasons supporting the approval of such request, if applicable, shall be preserved for a period of not less than five (5) years following the end of the fiscal year in which the reports occur, the first two (2) years in an easily accessible place. |
5. | A list of all Access Persons who are, or within the past (5) years have been, required to make reports pursuant to this Code shall be maintained and preserved for a period of not less than five (5) years following the end of the fiscal year in which the reports occur, the first two (2) years in an easily accessible place. |
6. | Records related to political contributions, as described in Section 3.1.5 of this Manual. |
7. | All written documents acknowledging receipt of the Code or any amendments to the Code by all current Access Persons or those who were Access Persons within the past five (5) years. |
Confidential
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Investment Adviser
COMPLIANCE MANUAL
Gratus Capital, LLC
August 26, 2019
THE REFERENCES TO LAWS AND VARIOUS REGULATIONS CONTAINED WITHIN THIS MANUAL WILL BE PERIODICALLY REVIEWED AND UPDATED TO INSURE THEY ARE CURRENT WITH FUTURE AMENDMENTS OR NEWLY ADOPTED REGULATION.
XIII CODE OF ETHICS AND INSIDER TRADING POLICY
A. | Code of Ethics |
1. | Statement of General Policy |
This Code of Ethics has been adopted by Gratus Capital, LLC and applies to all of its personnel. The basic principle to govern all persons is that their functions should be performed with loyalty to our Clients. All personnel receive annually, in January, a copy of this Code including updates or amendments, if any. Each person must submit an acknowledgement of receipt and certify that he or she has complied with the Code throughout the previous year.
In adhering to the foregoing basic principle of loyalty, a person must not profit, directly or indirectly, from his or her position with the company. No such person shall take for personal benefit any corporate opportunity for profit, which that person learns about from his or her position.
All persons are required to report immediately to the Advisor’s CCO or Managing Directors any violations of this Code of Ethics.
2. | Definition of Terms Used |
(a) | "Advisor" means Gratus Capital, LLC |
(b) | "Fund" means any investment company advised by the Advisor, whether directly or through a subadvisory arrangement, and any entity |
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exempt from registration under the Investment Company Act of 1940 pursuant paragraphs (1) or (7) of Section 3 (c) of that Act.
(c) | "Client" means any investment Client of the Advisor including a Fund. |
(d) | "Investment department personnel" mean all employees who work in the Advisor's investment department, including portfolio managers, research analysts, trading personnel and staff. |
(e) | "Beneficial interest" includes: (i) the ownership of any security held in the name of a person or a spouse, minor child or relative of a person or relative of a spouse of a person sharing the same household; and (ii) any contract, understanding, relationship, agreement or other arrangement by which a person obtains present or future benefits substantially equivalent to an ownership interest in a security. Beneficial interest does not include activities of such spouse, children or relatives of a person in his or her capacity as an employee or owner of a business that sells or buys securities for non-Advisor (third party) Clients, or advises non-Advisor (third party) Clients as to securities. |
(f) | "Personal benefit" includes any intended benefit for oneself or any other individual, company, group or organization of any kind whatsoever except a benefit for a Client, but such term does not include any investment advisory fee payable to the Advisor by a Client or, in the case of any Fund, payment in the nature of a dividend or distribution paid by the Client on terms governing the payment of such dividends and distributions to all owners of such entity. |
(g) | "Security" includes without limitation any and all stocks, bonds, notes, bills, debentures and any interest commonly known as a security including any interest that might be selected for, or be included in, a Client's portfolio and also includes puts, calls, other options or rights in such securities, securities-based futures contracts and ETFs or inverse index ETF’s. |
3. | Transactions With The Clients |
No person shall sell to, or purchase from, a Client any security or other property (except merchandise in the ordinary course of business), in which such person has or would acquire a beneficial interest, unless such purchase or sale involves solely securities of that Client.
4. | Disclosure of Information |
No person shall discuss with or otherwise inform others of any actual or contemplated security transaction by a Client or the Adviser except in the performance of employment duties or in an official capacity and then only for the benefit of the
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Client or the Adviser, as appropriate, and in no event for personal benefit or for the benefit of others.
No person shall release information to dealers or brokers or others (except to those concerned with the execution of the transaction) as to any investment portfolio changes, proposed or in process, except (i) upon the completion of such changes, or
(ii) when the disclosure results from the publication of a Fund prospectus, or (iii) in conjunction with a regular report to Clients or to any governmental authority resulting in such information becoming public knowledge or (iv) in connection with any report to which Clients are entitled.
5. | Preferential Treatment, Gifts, and Entertainment |
No person shall seek or accept favors, preferential treatment, or any other personal benefit because of his or her association with a Client or the Adviser, except those usual and normal benefits directly provided by such Client or the Adviser.
No person shall accept any entertainment, gift or other personal benefit that may create or appear to create a conflict between the interests of such person and any Client or the Adviser. In addition, investment department personnel are prohibited from receiving any gift or other thing of more than de minimis value ($250.00) from any person or entity that does business with or on behalf of any Client or the Adviser.
6. | Conflicts of Interest |
If any person is aware of a personal interest that is, or might be, in conflict with the interest of a Client, that person should disclose the situation or transaction and the nature of the conflict to the President of the Adviser for appropriate consideration.
7. | Service as a Director |
Investment department personnel are prohibited from serving on the boards of directors of publicly traded companies, absent prior authorization by the President of the Adviser based upon a determination that the board service would be consistent with the interests of the Clients and that adequate procedures exist to ensure isolation from those making investment decisions.
8. | Inside Information |
Securities laws and regulations prohibit the misuse of "inside" or "material non- public" information when trading or recommending securities.
Inside information obtained by any person from any source must be kept strictly confidential. All inside information should be kept secure, and access to files and computer files containing such information should be restricted. Persons shall not act upon or disclose material non-public or insider information except as may be necessary for legitimate business purposes on behalf of a Client or the Adviser as
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appropriate. Questions and requests for assistance regarding insider information should be promptly directed to the Adviser's legal counsel.
Inside information may include, but is not limited to, knowledge of pending orders or research recommendations, corporate finance activity, mergers or acquisitions, and other material non-public information that could affect the price of a security.
Client and Client account information is also confidential and must not be discussed with any individual whose responsibilities do not require knowledge of such information.
9. | Personal Security Transactions |
No person shall knowingly take advantage of a corporate opportunity of the Adviser or Client for personal benefit, or take action inconsistent with such person's obligations to the Adviser or Clients. All personal securities transactions must be consistent with this Code of Ethics and must avoid any actual or potential conflict of interest or any abuse of any person's position of trust and responsibility. The following rules apply to all accounts in which a person has a beneficial interest:
a) | All Persons: |
(1) No person shall purchase or sell any security which such person knows that the Adviser either is purchasing or selling, or is considering for purchase or sale, for one or more Clients.
(2) No person shall knowingly purchase or sell a security during any period when there is an open order for the purchase or sale of that security by a Client and, subject to sub-paragraph (f) below, for three days after such order has been executed or cancelled.
(3) No person shall purchase any securities in an initial public offering without prior written authorization of the acquisition by the Chief Compliance Officer.
(4) No person shall purchase any securities in a limited offering without prior written authorization of the acquisition by the Chief Compliance Officer.
b) | Related Instruments: |
When anything in this paragraph prohibits the purchase or sale of a security, it also prohibits the purchase or sale of any related securities, such as puts, calls, other options or rights in such securities.
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c) | Disgorgement: |
Any person who trades in violation of this paragraph 8 must unwind the trade or disgorge the profits.
d) | Exceptions: |
(1) Under unusual circumstances, such as a personal financial emergency, employee stock ownership plans, stock option plans and certain personal trusts, or when it is clear that no conflict of interest or other breach of duty is involved, application for an exception may be made to the CCO of the Adviser, with a copy of the request delivered to the President of the Adviser, which application may be granted or denied. To request consideration of an exception, submit a written request containing the details of your circumstances, reasons for the exception and the exception requested. The request should be sent to the CCO of the Adviser.
(2) This paragraph shall not apply to transactions involving U.S. Government securities, bankers' acceptances, bank certificates of deposit, commercial paper, and non-volitional purchases and sales, such as dividend reinvestment programs or "calls” or redemptions of securities.
(3) The clearance and reporting provisions of this chapter shall not apply to transactions by or for any client, ownership by the Adviser or an Affiliate of the Adviser of a qualifying interest in a Client (such as shares of a Fund) shall not disqualify the Client from this exception.
(4) Purchases or sales of securities involving less than 2,000 shares of any security included in the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index.
(5) Purchases or sales of securities involving less than 2,000 shares of a security of a company with a market capitalization in excess of
$200 million and average daily trading volume in excess of 50,000 shares for the past ten days.
(6) Purchase or sales of options contracts on a broad-based market index.
(7) Purchases or sales of securities effected in any account in which the Adviser personnel has no beneficial ownership.
e) | Clearance |
A person who wishes to purchase or sell a security which the Adviser is purchasing or selling for a Client, and who is prohibited from executing such transaction, may later request pre-clearance to execute such transaction once
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the portfolio manager responsible for the Client transactions confirms to the CCO by a time stamped writing, that all transactions in the subject security have been completed for all Clients, and a transaction may be effected pursuant to this procedure notwithstanding the fact that a Client transaction has occurred within the preceding three day period. For the purposes of approving transactions pursuant to this paragraph (f), the CCO may deem all transactions in a security for Clients to be completed if the only factor which may result in further transactions in such security will be the unanticipated addition of funds to, or removal of funds from, a client account. Trades taking place within proprietary accounts that are included on the firms list of managed accounts and traded alongside client accounts require allocations to be done only after all allocations have been made to client accounts. These trades may take place within the same block trade as client accounts.
f) | Open End Investment Company |
When an employee places a personal securities transaction in shares of an open-end investment company, the employee shall not knowingly request, direct, or authorize the transaction to be placed or executed at any price that is not consistent with the laws and regulations governing pricing of such transactions. An employee shall not place any transaction intended to benefit from short-term trading of any open-end investment company security if such transaction is not consistent with the publicly disclosed policies and practices announced by that investment company. EMPLOYEES MUST PRE- CLEARPERSONAL TRANSACTIONS IN ANY FUND MANAGED BY
GRATUS, and shall never engage in such a practice in any fund with which Gratus is affiliated.
10. | Procedures |
Each person must follow these procedures for all securities or accounts in which he or she has a beneficial interest:
Pre-clearance:
All employees are required to strictly comply with the firm’s policies and procedures regarding personal securities transactions, including transactions in any fund managed by Gratus. Employees are required to custody their investment accounts at Schwab.
IPOs: Employees are required to receive prior approval before acquiring any securities in an initial public offering. Requests are to be submitted through Schwab Compliance Technologies. The CCO reviews and either approves or denies the request.
Focus Financial Partners Inc. (FOCS): Employees are required to receive prior approval for any acquisition of securities in FOCS. Requests are to be submitted through Schwab Compliance
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Technologies. The CCO reviews and either approves or denies the request. Selling FOCS short is prohibited. Derivative trades in FOCS that are the equivalent of short sales are prohibited.
Limited Offering/Private Placement: Employees are required to receive prior approval for any acquisition of securities in a limited offering, including private funds managed by Gratus. This prior approval will take into account whether the investment opportunity should be reserved for clients and whether the opportunity is being offered to an individual by virtue of his or her position with the adviser. Investment personnel who have been authorized to acquire securities in a private placement are required to disclose that investment when they play a part in any client’s subsequent consideration of an investment in the issuer and the decision to purchase the securities of the issuer for the client should be made by another employee. Requests are to be submitted through Schwab Compliance Technologies. The CCO reviews and either approves or denies the request.
Trade Approval and Holding Period: Employees are required to receive prior approval before executing trades in their personal brokerage accounts. Requests are to be submitted through Schwab Compliance Technologies. The CCO reviews and either approves or denies the request.
Approval can be granted by the Director of Investments or the Chief Operating Officer or the CCO.
Employees are required to hold securities for at least 30 days.
Employees may petition the CCO for an exception to the 30 day minimum holding period by making a formal request within Schwab Compliance Technologies (SCT). Covered exceptions to the 30 day minimum holding period are:
· | Strong price movement in a security; |
· | Public announcements relating to the security; |
· | Employee experiences unexpected personal financial hardship. |
In order for an exception to the minimum holding period to be considered, an employee must:
1. | Complete a pre-clearance request within Schwab Compliance Technologies and |
2. | Explain which covered exception on which they are petitioning the CCO and why they are making the petition for a minimum |
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holding period exception. Once complete, the preclearance request must be submitted for review in SCT.
3. | Wait for the CCO to review the request which will either be approved or denied. |
Employees are prohibited from:
· | Executing a securities transaction on a day during which any client has a pending “buy” or “sell” order in the same or a related security until that order is executed unless the employee is participating in a block trade with the client and both the client and employee will receive the same average execution price and a prorate number of shares should the block only partially execute. |
· | Using knowledge about pending or currently considered securities transactions for clients to profit personally, directly or indirectly, as a result of such transactions, including by purchasing or selling such securities or related securities such as options. |
· | Executing a securities transaction in options or other securities related to the holdings in our managed portfolios unless the employee is participating in a block trade with the client and both the client and employee will receive the same average execution price and a prorated number of shares should the block only partially execute. Buying calls in options related to the holdings in our managed portfolios is permitted with prior approval as long as there is not pending buy or sell order in the same or related security until that order is executed. |
· | Executing a securities transaction in the securities or related securities (options) on our Securities Watchlist. |
Reports - All Persons:
(1) Securities positions: Each person shall report to the CCO of the Adviser all purchases or sales of any security in which such person has, or by virtue of such transaction acquires, any beneficial interest via the Schwab Compliance Technologies.
(2) Form of Report: All such reports shall be in shall be made prior to any such purchase or sale that was effected, and shall set forth the title of the security, the date and nature of the transaction, the number or amount of securities involved, the purchase or sale price, the broker/dealer or bank through whom the transaction is to be effected and the extent of such person's interest in the transaction. Reports are compiled and stored using Schwab Compliance Technologies.
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(3) Broker confirms and statements: Each person must provide to the CCO of the Adviser all securities or commodities brokerage accounts in which that person has a beneficial interest. Each person shall cause to be provided on a timely basis copies of periodic statements for all securities accounts in which that person has a beneficial interest. Such Securities and Commodities Brokerage Account Reports and periodic statements shall be directed to the CCO of the Adviser. As of January 2016, all employee statements are compiled and stored using Schwab Compliance Technologies.
11. | Delegation |
The President, Managing Directors or CCO of the Adviser may delegate any of the responsibilities, powers and authorities conferred by this Code of Ethics. Such delegation may be to an individual, such as a compliance officer, or a committee, such as an Ethics Committee, or both.
12. | Research Reports |
The fact that a security has been the subject of a formal or informal research report shall not, in and of itself, indicate that the security is under consideration for purchase or sale. No person shall be considered as knowing, nor be said to be in a position of knowing, that a security was under consideration for purchase or sale or that such security had been purchased or sold solely on the basis of receipt of a research report thereon.
13. | Condition of Employment or Service |
All persons shall conduct themselves at all times in the best interests of the Clients. Compliance with this Code of Ethics shall be a condition of employment or continued affiliation with the Adviser, and conduct not in accordance with this Code of Ethics shall constitute grounds for actions including termination of employment or removal from office. All persons shall certify annually that they have read and agree to comply in all respects with this Code of Ethics and that they have disclosed or reported all personal securities transactions, holdings and accounts required to be disclosed or reported by this Code of Ethics.
14. | Pooled investment vehicles managed by Gratus |
Pooled investment vehicles managed by Gratus will be treated pari-passu with other client entities even if an affiliate of Gratus has an interest in the entity, and Advisor will not prefer this entity over other clients. This will include the right to participate in suitable investments, such as IPOs.
B. | Gratus’s Policy Statement on Insider Trading |
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Gratus forbids any officer, director, employee, or their family members from trading, either personally or on behalf of others, including mutual funds and private accounts managed by Gratus, using material non-public information or communicating material non-public information to others in violation of the law. This conduct is frequently referred to as "insider trading." This policy applies to every officer, director and employee of Gratus and extends to activities within and outside their duties at Gratus. Every officer, director and employee must read and retain this policy statement. Any questions regarding Gratus's policy and procedures should be referred to the CCO, Managing Directors or his/her designee.
The term "insider trading" is not defined in the federal securities laws, but generally is used to refer to the use of material non-public information to trade in securities (whether or not one is an "insider") or to communications of material non-public information to others.
While the law concerning insider trading is not static, it is generally understood that the law prohibits:
-trading by an insider, while in possession of material non-public information, or
-trading by a non-insider, while in possession of material non-public information, where the information either was disclosed to the non-insider in violation of an insider's duty to keep it confidential or was misappropriated, or
-communicating material non-public information to others.
The elements of insider trading and the penalties for such unlawful conduct are discussed below. If, after reviewing this policy statement, you have any questions, you should' consult CCO, Managing Directors or any designee.
1. | Who is an Insider? |
The concept of "insider" is broad. It includes officers, directors and employees of a company. In addition, a person can be a "temporary insider" if he or she enters into a special, confidential relationship in the conduct of a company's affairs and as a result is given access to information solely for the company's purposes. A temporary insider can include, among others, a company's attorneys, accountants, consultants, bank lending officers, and the employees of such organizations. In addition, Gratus may become a temporary insider of a company it advises or for which it performs other services. According to the Supreme Court, in order for an outsider to be considered an insider, the company must expect the outsider to keep the disclosed non-public information confidential.
2. | What is Material Information? |
Trading on inside information is not a basis for liability unless the information is material. "Material information" generally is defined as information for which there is a substantial likelihood that a reasonable investor would consider it is important in
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making his or her investment decisions, or information that is reasonably certain to have a substantial effect on the price of a company's securities. Information that officers, directors and employees should consider material includes, but is not limited to: dividend changes, earnings' estimates, changes in previously released earnings' estimates, significant merger or acquisition proposals or agreements, major litigation, liquidation problems, and extraordinary management developments.
Material information does not have to relate to a company's business. For example, in Carpenter v. U.S., 108 U.S. 316 (1987), the Supreme Court considered as material certain information about the contents of a forthcoming newspaper column that was expected to affect the market price of a security. In that case, a Wall Street Journal reporter was found criminally liable for disclosing to others the dates that reports on various companies would appear in the Journal and whether those reports would be favorable or not.
In the case of Gratus, weekly Net Asset Values (NAVs) on our publicly traded funds are considered material information.
3. | What is Non Public Information? |
Information is non-public until it has been effectively communicated to the marketplace. One must be able to point to some fact to show that the information is generally public. For example, information found in a report filed with the SEC, or appearing in Dow Jones, Reuters Economic Service, The Wall Street Journal or other publications of general circulation would be considered public.
4. | Bases for Liability |
a) | Fiduciary Duty Theory. |
In 1980, the Supreme Court found that there is no general duty to disclose before trading on material non-public information, but that such a duty arises only where there is a fiduciary relationship. That is, there must be a relationship between parties to the transaction such that one party has a right to expect that the other party will not disclose any material; non-public information or refrain from trading.
In Dirks v. SEC, the Supreme Court stated alternate theories under which non-insiders can acquire the fiduciary duties of insiders: they can enter into a confidential relationship with the company through which they gain information (e.g., attorneys, accountants), or they can acquire a fiduciary duty to the company's shareholders as "tippies" if they are aware or should have been aware that they have been given confidential information by an insider who has violated his fiduciary duty to the company's shareholders.
b) | Misappropriation Theory. |
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Another basis for insider trading liability is the "misappropriation" theory, where liability is established when trading occurs on material non-public information that was stolen or misappropriated from any other person. In Carpenter v. U.S., the Court found in 1987 a columnist defrauded The Wall Street Journal when he stole information from the Journal and used it for trading in the securities markets. It should be noted that the misappropriation theory can be used to reach a variety of individuals (such as printers, taxi drivers, etc.) not previously thought to be encompassed under the fiduciary duty theory.
4. | Penalties for Insider Trading. |
Penalties for trading on or communicating material non-public information are severe, both for individuals involved in such unlawful conduct and their employers. A person can be subject to some or all the penalties below even if he or she does not personally benefit from the violation. Penalties include:
-civil injunctions
-treble damages
-disgorgement of profits
-jail sentences
-fines for the person who committed the violation of up to three times the profit gained or loss avoided, whether or not the person actually benefited
-fines for the employer or other controlling person of up to the greater of
$1,000,000 or three times the amount of the profit gained or loss avoided.
In addition, any violation of this policy statement can be expected to result in serious sanctions by Gratus, including dismissal of the persons involved.
5. | Procedures to Implement Gratus’ Policy. |
The following procedures have been established to aid the officers, directors and employees of Gratus in avoiding insider trading, and to aid Gratus in preventing, detecting and imposing sanctions against insider trading. Every officer, director and employee of Gratus must follow these procedures or risk serious sanctions, including dismissal, substantial personal liability and criminal penalties. If you have any questions about these procedures, you should consult with Gratus's CCO, Managing Directors or any designee.
a) | Identifying Insider Information. |
Before trading for yourself or others, including investment companies or private accounts managed by Gratus, in the securities of a company about which you may have potential inside information, ask yourself the following questions:
Is the information material?
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Is this information that an investor would consider important in making his or her investment decisions?
Is this information that would substantially affect the market price of the securities if generally disclosed?
Is the information non-public?
To whom has this information been provided?
Has the information been effectively communicated to the marketplace by being published in Reuters, The Wall Street Journal or other publications of general circulation?
If, after consideration of the above, you believe that the information is material and non-public, or if you have questions as to whether the information is material and nonpublic, you should take the following steps:
-Report the matter immediately to Gratus's CCO, Managing Directors, or any designee.
-Do not purchase or sell the securities on behalf of yourself or others, including investment companies or private accounts managed by Gratus.
-Do not communicate the information believed to be material inside or outside Gratus other than to the CCO or the Managing Directors.
-After Gratus's Managing Directors, or any designee has reviewed the issue, you will be instructed to continue the prohibitions against trading and communication, or you will be allowed to trade and communicate the information.
b) | Quarterly Compliance Review. |
The Compliance Department will circulate copies of the Insider Trading Policy and Procedures to all officers, directors and employees of Gratus annually. Each employee will be requested to read and familiarize themselves with Gratus' Insider Trading Policies and Procedures and will be required to complete and electronically acknowledge a Compliance Acknowledgment that confirms their understanding and compliance with Gratus’ Insider Trading Policy and Procedures.
6. | Restricting Access to Material Non Public Information. |
Information in your possession that you identify as material and non-public may not be communicated to anyone, including persons within Gratus, except as provided in paragraph 1 above. In addition, care should be taken so that such information is secure. For example, files containing material non-public information should be restricted.
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C. | Communications with Media |
1) | All requests for interviews should be directed to the Chief Compliance Officer. |
2) | Employees should not identify nor discuss specific private client accounts. |
3) | Employees should not discuss specific client account performance and should use caution when discussing sample account performance. Any performance information provided should include the full information provided in Gratus’ written materials. |
4) | Employees should not guarantee, promise or predict a specific level of investment performance. |
5) | Employees should not discuss firm confidential information, including legal or regulatory issues. |
6) | Employees should not discuss competitors of Gratus. |
7) | Any written materials that will be provided, printed, or displayed, including those that are given for broadcast, must be approved in writing by the CCO prior to use. |
8) | Employees should use care when discussing investments, and should present information in a balanced manner. A discussion of an investments positive attributes should be balanced with its drawbacks or negative features. |
Print Media
9) | Employees should clearly communicate to the reporter when they wish to go “off the record” |
10) | If, after completing or during an interview, an employee becomes uncomfortable with the integrity or agenda of the reporter, the employee should either discontinue the interview or request a list of quotes to be used in the publication before it is published. |
Broadcast Media (e.g., TV and Radio)
11) | Employees should not discuss the firm’s performance in verbal interviews, as the employee would not be able to relate all disclosure language that Gratus requires to be accompanied with performance information. |
12) | Each employee should assume s/he is “on the air” as soon as the employee is seated in front of the interviewer. |
13) | Employees should not answer questions they are not comfortable answering, even with pressure from the media. Rather, the employee should indicate that s/he would need to look into the question further before answering. |
D. | Political Contributions by Investment Advisers (Pay-to-Play) |
1. | Background: |
Rule 206(4)-5 of the Advisers Act provides that an adviser who makes political contributions to an elected official who is in a position to influence the selection of the adviser to provide to a government entity will be barred for two years from providing for compensation to that government entity. The rule applies to the adviser as well as certain executives and employees of the adviser. Form more specific information on this rule, please see Appendix A.
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2. | Restrictions on Political Contributions. |
Rule 206(4)-5 makes it unlawful for an adviser to receive compensation for providing to a government entity for a two-year period after the adviser or any of its covered associates makes a political contribution to an elected official or candidate of a government entity that is in a position to directly or indirectly influence the hiring of the adviser or has the authority to appoint an person who could directly or indirectly influence the hiring of the adviser.
3. | Prohibition on the Use of Third-Party Solicitors. |
Rule 206(4)-5(a)(2)(i) makes it unlawful for an adviser subject to the rule and its covered associates to make or agree to make payments to any third-party solicitor or placement agent, directly or indirectly, to solicit a government entity for advisory business, unless the solicitor or placement agent is a “regulated person” subject to prohibitions against engaging in pay-to-play practices.
4. | Ban on Solicitation or Coordination of Contributions. |
Rule 206(4)-5(a)(2)(ii) makes it unlawful for an adviser subject to the rule and its covered associates to coordinate or solicit any person or PAC to make contributions to an official of a government entity to which the adviser is providing or seeking to provide investment , or to make payments to a political party of a state or locality where the adviser is providing or seeking to provide investment to a government entity.
5. | Prohibition on Certain Indirect Activities. |
To ensure that advisers and government officials do not structure pay-to-play arrangements in a way that attempts to evade the prohibitions of the rule, the rule includes a provision that makes it unlawful for an adviser or any of its covered associates to do anything indirectly that, if done directly, would result in a violation of the rule. As a result, an adviser and its covered associates may not funnel payments through third parties, including, for example, consultants, attorneys, family members, friends, or companies affiliated with the adviser as a means to circumvent the rule.
6. | Application to Covered Investment Pools. |
An adviser to certain pooled investment vehicles in which a government entity invests or is solicited to invest, is treated as though the adviser were providing or seeking to provide investment services directly to the government entity. Thus, a political contribution to a government official that would, under the rule, trigger the two-year time-out from providing advice for compensation to the government entity would also trigger a two-year time-out from the receipt of compensation for the management of those assets through a covered investment pool. Covered investment pools include registered investment companies, hedge funds, private equity funds, and collective investment trusts.
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7. | Sub-advisers. |
By the terms of the rule, if an adviser or sub-adviser makes a contribution that triggers the two-year time-out, the sub-adviser or adviser, as applicable, that did not make the triggering contribution could continue to receive compensation from the government entity, unless the arrangement were a means to do indirectly what the adviser or sub-adviser could not do directly under the rule. Advisers to underlying funds in a fund-of-funds arrangement are not required to look through the investing fund to determine whether a government entity is an investor in the investing fund unless the investment was made in that manner as a means for the adviser to do indirectly what it could not do directly under the rule.
8. | SEC Exemptions. |
Rule 206(4)-5 contains a provision authorizing the SEC to exempt advisers from the time-out requirements where the adviser discovers the contributions that trigger the compensation ban only after they have been made or when the imposition of the prohibitions is unnecessary to achieve the rule’s intended purpose. Rule 206(4)-5(e) lists the factors to be considered by the SEC in determining whether to grant an exemption. An adviser seeking an exemption could place into an escrow account any advisory fees earned between the date of the contribution triggering the prohibition and the date on which the SEC determines whether to grant an exemption. The escrow account would be payable to the adviser if the SEC grants the exemption. If the SEC does not grant the exemption, the fees contained in the account would be returned to the government entity client.
9. | Recordkeeping Requirements. |
Rule 204-2 under the Advisers Act requires an adviser who is registered or required to be registered with the SEC to make and keep records of contributions made by the adviser and covered associates to government officials and candidates, payments to state or local political parties and PACs, and the names of regulated persons the adviser pays for solicitation services. The amendments only require advisers to make and keep records of their covered associates, and their own and their covered associates’ contributions, if they provide advisory services to a government client.
However, an adviser who does not maintain these records because it currently does not have any government entity clients risks violating Rule 206(4)-5 and subjecting itself to the two-year time-out if it ultimately obtains a government entity client.
The records of contributions and payments are required to be in chronological order and indicate the name and title of the contributor, the name and title of the recipient, the amount and date of each contribution or payment, and whether the contribution or payment was subject to an exception provided by the rule. The records would need to be maintained for five years, the first two in the office of the investment adviser.
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10. | Procedures: |
1. | Prior to commencement of employment, all new covered associates must disclose in writing all political contributions to elected officials or candidates for office made within the last 24 months. The disclosure shall include: |
a. | The name of the elected official or candidate; |
b. | The name of the elected office held by the official or sought by the candidate; |
c. | The date of the contribution; and |
d. | The amount contributed. |
2. | All covered associates must obtain pre-clearance before contributing the following to an elected official or candidate for office: |
a. | Gifts; |
b. | Subscriptions; |
c. | Loans, advances, or deposits of money; |
d. | Payment of debt incurred in connection with an election; |
e. | Transition or inaugural expenses; or |
f. | Anything of value made for the purpose of influencing an election for federal, state, or local office. |
3. | All covered associates must obtain pre-clearance before donating time to the election campaign of an elected official or candidate for elected office. |
4. | Covered associates must obtain pre-clearance before hosting a fundraising meeting or conference for a candidate or official, or volunteering to bear expenses associated with such fundraising meeting or conference. |
5. | On an annual basis, all covered associates must disclose in writing all political contributions to elected officials or candidates for office and volunteer in connection with the campaigns of such elected officials or candidates for office made within the last 24 months. Disclosures are made through Schwab Compliance Technologies. |
6. | If the Advisers discovers a political contributions made in violation of Rule 206(4)-5 for which an exception is not available: |
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a. | If assets of the government entity are managed in a separate account, the Adviser shall: |
(1) | Return all compensation promptly upon discovering the triggering contribution; and |
(2) | waive the advisory fee or terminate the contract with the governmental entity. |
b. | If the government entity is invested in a private pool, the Adviser shall: |
(1) | cause the pool to redeem the investment of the government entity; or |
(2) | waive or rebate the portion of its fees or any performance allocation or carried interest attributable to assets of the government client. |
c. | If the government entity is invested in a registered investment company, the Adviser shall: |
(1) | waive its advisory fee for the fund as a whole in an amount approximately equal to fees attributable to the government entity; or |
(2) | rebate the government entities portion of the advisory fee to the fund as a whole. |
EXHIBIT 8
Section 2 (a) (9) of
The Investment Company Act
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Investment Company Act and Rules
(9) "Control" means the power to exercise a controlling influence over the management or policies of a company, unless such power is solely the result of an official position with such company
Any person who owns beneficially, either directly or through one or more controlled companies, more than 25 per centum of the voting securities of a company shall be presumed to control such company Any person who does not so own more than 25 per centum of the voting securities of any company shall be presumed not to control such company A natural person shall be presumed not to be a controlled person within the meaning of this title. Any such presumption may be rebutted by evidence, but except as hereinafter provided, shall continue until a determination to the contrary made by the Commission by order either on its own motion or on application by an interested person. If an application filed hereunder is not granted or denied by the Commission within sixty days after filing thereof, the determination sought by the application shall be deemed to have been temporarily granted pending final determination of the Commission thereon. The Commission, upon its own motion or upon application, may by order revoke or modify any order issued under this paragraph whenever it shall find that the determination embraced in such original order is no longer consistent with the facts.
(10) "Convicted" includes a verdict, judgment, or plea of guilty, or a finding of guilt on a plea of nolo contenders, if such verdict, judgment, plea, or finding has not been reversed, set aside, or withdrawn, whether or not sentence has been imposed.
(11) "Dealer" means any person regularly engaged in the business of buying and selling securities for his own account, through a broker or otherwise, but does not include a bank, insurance company, or investment company, or any person insofar as he is engaged in investing, reinvesting, or trading in securities, or in owning or holding securities, for his own account, either individually or in some fiduciary capacity, but not as a part of a regular business.
(12) "Director" means any director of a corporation or any person performing similar functions with respect to any organization, whether incorporated or unincorporated, including any natural person who is a member of a board of trustees of a management company created as a common-law trust.
(13) "Employees’ securities company" means any investment company or similar issuer all of the outstanding securities of which (other than short-term paper) are beneficially owned (A) by the employees or persons on retainer a single employer of two or more employers each of which is an affiliated company of the other, (B) by former employees of such employer or employers, (C) by members of the immediate family of such employees, persons on retainer, or former employees, (D) by any two or more of the foregoing classes of persons, or (E) by such employer or employers together with any one or more of the foregoing classes of persons.
(14) "Exchange" means any organization, association, or group of persons, whether incorporated or unincorporated, which constitutes, maintains, or provides a marketplace or facilities for bringing together purchasers and sellers of securities or for otherwise performing with respect to securities the
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functions commonly performed by a stock exchange as that term is generally understood, and includes the market place and the market facilities maintained by such exchange.
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EXHIBIT 9
Employee Questionnaire
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EXHIBIT 9
GRATUS
EMPLOYEE
QUESTIONNAIRE
Name (please print)
ANY MISREPRESENTATION OR OMISSION OF INFORMATION WILL RESULT IN IMMEDIATE TERMINATION.
1. | Have you been convicted or pleaded guilty to any FELONY or MISDEMEANOR within the United States within the last ten years? |
____ ____
YES NO
2. | Have you been convicted or pleaded guilty to any criminal or civil offense within the last ten years, which would be considered a FELONY or MISDEMEANOR if committed in the United States or been found to have violated any foreign securities regulation or statute? |
____ ____
YES NO
3. | Have you ever been permanently or temporarily enjoined by any state or federal court from engaging in any conduct relating to any securities, commodities, insurance or banking matters? |
____ ____
YES NO
4. | Have you ever been the subject of any action or proceeding by any regulatory or |
self-regulatory organization, or been found to have violated (or aided, abetted, induced or failed to supervise the violation of) any of the federal securities or commodities laws?
____ ____
YES NO
5. | Have you ever been the cause of an investment related business having its authorization to do business denied, suspended, revoked or restricted? |
____ ____
YES NO
6. | Has any regulatory body ever revoked, suspended or denied your registration or |
license, prevented you from associating with an investment related business, or otherwise restricted your activities (including licensing as an attorney or accountant)?
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____ ____
YES NO
7. | Has any regulatory body ever found you to have made a false statement or omission or been dishonest, unfair or unethical? |
____ ____
YES NO
8. | Have you ever been affiliated with a securities firm that has been declared bankrupt, had a trustee appointed under SIPC, or had a direct payment procedure begun? |
____ ____
YES NO
9. | Are you now the subject of any proceeding that could result in a "YES" answer to any of these questions? |
____ ____
YES NO
If "'YES", please explain in detail:
Signature:
Print Name:
Date:
You must notify the Chief Compliance Officer immediately if any event occurs which renders this information inaccurate.
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