The Fund’s Investment Strategy

The Fund employs a “passive management” (or indexing) investment approach designed to track the performance, before fees and expenses, of the Index. The Fund employs two different investment strategies depending on whether the Index anticipates a bull market or a bear market.

When a bull market is anticipated, the Fund’s portfolio will generally reflect a classic aggressive portfolio having approximately 70/30 domestic/international equity allocation weights. In that case, the Fund will generally invest in six ETFs that are considered geopolitical sector ETFs or economic sector ETFs.

Conversely, when a bear market is anticipated, the Fund will generally invest in at least four ETFs that typically have a more conservative risk profile compared to the bull market ETFs. However, except as noted below, even when a bear market is anticipated, the Fund may invest in ETFs that are considered high-risk or are subject to equity market volatility, such as junk bond funds and equity funds. When a bear market is anticipated, the Fund will invest primarily in ETFs that are considered inflation protected, medium- and long-term treasury funds, aggregate bond funds, long-term bond funds, corporate bond funds, high-yield bond funds, gold funds, and broad-based U.S. equity market funds. However, if the Index anticipates a bear market due to excess market volatility, the Index will be limited to inflation protected, medium- and long-term treasury ETFs.

The sector categories described above are viewed as general guidelines and the scope of each category is interpreted broadly. As a result, a single ETF may be included in more than one category. Also, in some instances, the Index may select a broad U.S. equity market ETF instead of an ETF from one of the categories described above.

Under normal circumstances, at least 80% of the Fund’s total assets (exclusive of collateral held from securities lending) will be invested in the component securities of the Index.

The Fund will generally use a “replication” strategy to seek to achieve its investment objective, meaning the Fund will invest in all of the component securities of the Index in the same approximate proportions as in the Index, but may, when Empowered Funds, LLC, dba EA Advisers (the “Adviser”) believes it is in the best interests of the Fund, use a “representative sampling” strategy, meaning the Fund may invest in a sample of the securities in the Index whose risk, return and other characteristics closely resemble the risk, return and other characteristics of the Index as a whole.

Up to 20% of the Fund’s assets may be held in cash and cash equivalents (including U.S. treasury bills), or in other ETFs not included in the Index but which the Adviser believes will help the Fund track the Index or as may be necessary for the Fund to comply with regulatory constraints (for example, potential limitations on investments in some underling ETFs).

The Fund will be considered to be non-diversified, which means that it may invest more of its assets in the securities of a single issuer or a smaller number of issuers than if it were a diversified fund. 

The Index

The Index seeks to determine whether U.S. equity markets appear to be in an advancing market (a “Bull” indicator) or appear to have an elevated risk of market decline (a “Bear” indicator). The Index uses a computer algorithm to make the assessment. The Index will remain in a Bull mode (or a Bear mode), as the case may be, until the algorithm determines to shift from Bull to Bear (or vice versa). Shifts generally occur at calendar month end, but may occur mid-month if the algorithm anticipates significant market shifts. The Index uses a form of artificial intelligence that seeks to evolve and improve the selection of ETFs over time.

A more detailed description of the Index’s methodology is provided below under the heading “Additional Information About the Indices.”

As of September 30, 2022, the Index was weighted as follows: Vanguard Long-Term Treasury Index Fund (35%), SPDR Portfolio Long Term Treasury ETF (30%), iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF (20%), iShares 10-20 Year Treasury Bond ETF (15%).