The Fund seeks to generate positive absolute returns (i.e., total returns that are earned from an investment over time) consistent with the risk/return characteristics of the managed futures industry. It is an actively managed ETF.

AlphaSimplex Group, LLC (“AlphaSimplex”), the Fund’s sub-adviser, uses proprietary quantitative models designed to capture the overall positioning and risk/return characteristics of the managed futures industry. AlphaSimplex believes that investor behavior can lead to trends (or momentum) in market prices and that managers within the managed futures industry are able to benefit from such persistent price trends by actively trading in futures markets. The Fund’s principal investment strategy combines (i) replication techniques (i.e., mathematical techniques for identifying which trends appear to be attracting the most attention among managed futures managers) with (ii) quantitative trend models and risk management approaches (i.e., techniques generally similar to those that managed futures managers use to identify trends to invest in), in an effort to generate returns that are broadly representative of the managed futures industry. As with the portfolios of many managed futures managers, the resulting strategy seeks to capture time-varying opportunities, across a range of different asset classes, held both long and short. AlphaSimplex believes that this combination of techniques, together with active risk management, may allow the Fund to earn a positive expected return overtime that is also representative of the overall managed futures industry.

Under normal market conditions, AlphaSimplex typically will make extensive use of a variety of derivative instruments, including futures and forward contracts, to capture the exposures suggested by its strategy. These market exposures, which are expected to change over time, primarily include exposures to the returns of U.S. and non-U.S. equity and fixed-income securities and securities indices, currencies, and commodities. More specifically, such equity exposures represent equity indices from various countries or groups of countries (including emerging market countries), fixed-income exposures represent benchmark government securities in various developed markets, currency exposures represent the values of various foreign currencies relative to the U.S. dollar, and commodity exposures represent benchmarks within the agriculture, livestock, base metals, precious metals, and energy commodity sectors. AlphaSimplex will have great flexibility to allocate the Fund’s derivatives exposure among various securities, indices, currencies, commodities and other instruments; the amount of the Fund’s assets that may be allocated to derivative strategies and among these various instruments is expected to vary over time. The Fund may take long and/or short positions in these instruments. A “short” exposure will benefit when the asset class underlying the derivatives position decreases in price. A “long” exposure will benefit when the asset class underlying the derivatives position increases in price. AlphaSimplex will scale the notional exposure of the Fund’s derivatives positions with the objective of targeting a relatively stable level of annualized volatility for the Fund’s overall portfolio (meaning, as volatility in a particular asset class rises, AlphaSimplex will generally reduce notional exposure to that asset class and increase notional exposure to a less volatile asset class). AlphaSimplex currently targets an annualized volatility level in line with the managed futures industry (as measured by standard deviation of the industry’s returns). As of December 31, 2023, AlphaSimplex’s estimate of the annualized volatility level of the managed futures industry is 9%. The standard deviation is a measure of how dispersed the data are in relation to the average data point. For a particular time period, the standard deviation of the Fund’s returns is, therefore, a measure of how dispersed daily fund returns are relative to the average daily fund return during this period.

Although the Fund does not intend to invest in physical commodities directly, the Fund expects to seek to gain its exposure to commodities and commodity-related derivatives by investing in a wholly owned subsidiary organized under the laws of the Cayman Islands that will make commodity-related investments (the “Subsidiary”). The Fund may invest up to 25% of its total assets in the Subsidiary. The strategies and risks described herein for the Fund are therefore also applicable to the Subsidiary.

Under normal market conditions, it is expected that no more than 25% of the Fund’s total assets will be dedicated to initial and variation margin payments relating to the Fund’s derivative transactions, including those held by the Subsidiary. The gross notional value of the Fund’s derivative investments, however, will generally exceed 25% of the Fund’s total assets, and may significantly exceed the total value of the Fund’s assets. The Fund expects that under normal market conditions it will invest at least 75% of its total assets in money market instruments (specifically, obligations issued or guaranteed by the U.S. government, its agencies or instrumentalities) and other short-term, high-quality investment-grade, U.S.-dollar denominated securities (such as bankers’ acceptances, certificates of deposit, commercial paper, loan participations, repurchase agreements and time deposits) (the “Cash-Equivalent Portfolio”), although the Fund may invest less than this percentage. AlphaSimplex will determine the percentage of the Fund’s assets that will be invested in the Cash-Equivalent Portfolio at any time. The assets allocated to the Cash-Equivalent Portfolio will be used primarily to serve as margin or collateral for the Fund’s investments in derivatives and, secondarily, to provide the Fund with incremental income and liquidity.

The percentage amounts set forth above pertaining to investments in the Cash-Equivalent Portfolio and initial and variation margin payments are not investment restrictions and the Fund may deviate from those stated amounts from time to time depending upon market conditions and other factors.

The Fund will invest, under normal circumstances, at least 80% of the value of its net assets (plus any borrowings for investment purposes) in futures contracts. The Fund may also engage in active and frequent trading of securities and other instruments, including derivatives.