The Fund employs a “passive management” — or indexing — investment approach designed to track the performance of the Underlying Index, which was developed by IndexIQ LLC (“IndexIQ”), an affiliate of IndexIQ Advisors LLC, the Fund’s investment advisor (the “Advisor”). The Underlying Index seeks to provide exposure to innovative companies by investing in the equities of US large cap companies that have high research and development (“R&D”) spending. The Underlying Index includes securities of large-capitalization companies that trade in the U.S. As of June 30, 2023, the market capitalization range of the Underlying Index was approximately $641 million to $3.05 trillion. As of June 30, 2023, the primary sectors within the Underlying Index were communication services, health care and information technology. The Fund invests, under normal circumstances, at least 80% of its net assets, plus the amount of any borrowings for investment purposes, in the investments included in its Underlying Index.

The securities eligible for inclusion in the Underlying Index are those securities included in the Russell 1000® Index. The Underlying Index consists of the 100 eligible component securities with the highest dollar amount of research and development spending during the previous year. Research and development spending includes expenditures on research and development intended for the development of concepts or ideas for new products or services by which the issuer can increase revenues.

Securities selected for inclusion in the Underlying Index are weighted based on the issuer’s total R&D spending relative to the other securities selected for inclusion in the Underlying Index, subject to a maximum weight at the time of rebalance of the greater of  (i) 5%, or (ii) the weight of a component’s issuer in the Russell1000® Growth Index plus 2% (“Component Weight Cap”). To the extent a component would exceed the Component Weight Cap at the time of rebalance, the excess percentage is allocated proportionately among the other components of the Underlying Index. The Underlying Index is reconstituted and rebalanced quarterly.

Additionally, at the time of rebalance, the Underlying Index limits the maximum weight of all securities within each sector to the greater of  (i) 30% of the Underlying Index, or (ii) the weight of the sector in the Russell 1000 Growth Index plus 5% (“Sector Weight Cap”). To the extent the securities within a sector would exceed the Sector Weight Cap at the time of rebalance, the excess percentage is allocated proportionately among securities within the other sectors of the Underlying Index.

The Fund generally will invest in all of the securities that comprise its Underlying Index in proportion to their weightings in the Underlying Index. The Fund has adopted a policy to invest, under normal circumstances, at least 80% of the value of its assets (net assets plus the amount of any borrowings for investment purposes) in securities of U.S. large-capitalization issuers.

The Underlying Index may include as a component one or more ETFs advised by the Advisor (“Affiliated ETFs”) and the Fund will typically invest in any Affiliated ETF included in the Underlying Index. The Fund also may invest in Affiliated ETFs that are not components of the index if such an investment will help the Fund track the Underlying Index.