of terrorism, economic crises or other
events could result in increased premiums or discounts to the Fund’s net asset value (“NAV”).
Index Risk. Unlike many investment companies, the Fund does not utilize an investing strategy that seeks returns in
excess of the Underlying Index. Therefore, the Fund would not necessarily buy or sell a security
unless that security is added or removed, respectively, from the Underlying Index, even if that
security generally is underperforming. Additionally, the Fund rebalances its portfolio in accordance with the Underlying Index, and, therefore, any changes to the Underlying Index’s rebalance schedule will result in corresponding changes
to the Fund’s rebalance schedule.
Equity Risk. Equity risk is the risk that the value of equity securities, including common stocks, may fall due to both
changes in general economic conditions that impact the market as a whole, as well as factors that
directly relate to a specific company or its industry. Such general economic conditions include changes in interest rates, periods of market turbulence or instability, or general and prolonged periods of economic decline and cyclical change. It is
possible that a drop in the stock market may depress the price of most or all of the common stocks that the Fund holds. In addition, equity risk includes the risk that investor sentiment toward one or more industries will
become negative, resulting in those investors exiting their investments in those industries, which could cause a reduction in the value of companies in those industries more broadly. The value of a company's common stock
may fall solely because of factors, such as an increase in production costs, that negatively impact other companies in the same region, industry or sector of the market. A company's common stock also may decline
significantly in price over a short period of time due to factors specific to that company, including decisions made by its management or lower demand for the company's products or services. For example, an
adverse event, such as an unfavorable earnings report or the failure to make anticipated dividend
payments, may depress the value of common stock.
Small- and Mid-Capitalization Company Risk. Investing in
securities of small- and mid-capitalization companies involves greater risk than customarily is
associated with investing in larger, more established companies. These companies' securities may be more volatile and less liquid than those of more established companies. These securities may have returns that vary, sometimes
significantly, from the overall securities market. Often small- and mid-capitalization companies and the industries in which they focus are still evolving and, as a result, they may be more sensitive to changing market
conditions.
Industry Concentration Risk. In following its methodology, the Underlying Index from time to time may be concentrated to a significant degree in securities of issuers
operating in a single industry or industry group. To the extent that the Underlying Index concentrates in the securities of issuers in a particular industry or industry group, the Fund will also concentrate its investments to
approximately the same extent. By concentrating its investments in an industry or industry group, the Fund may face more risks than if it were diversified broadly over numerous industries or industry groups. Such
industry-based risks, any of which may adversely affect the companies in which the Fund invests, may include, but are not limited to, the following: general economic conditions or cyclical market patterns that could negatively
affect supply and demand in a particular industry; competition for resources; adverse labor relations; political or world events; obsolescence of technologies; and increased competition or new product introductions that may
affect the profitability or viability of companies in an industry. In addition, at times, such industry or industry group may be out of favor and underperform other industries or the market as a whole.
REIT Risk. REITs are pooled investment vehicles that trade like stocks and invest substantially all of their assets in real estate, and may qualify for special tax considerations.
REITs are subject to certain risks inherent in the direct ownership of real estate, including without limitation, a possible lack of mortgage funds and associated interest rate risks, overbuilding, property vacancies, increases in property
taxes and operating expenses, changes in
zoning laws, losses due to environmental damages and changes in neighborhood values and appeal to purchasers.
Further, failure of a company to qualify as a REIT under federal tax law may have adverse
consequences to the REIT’s shareholders. In addition, REITs may have expenses, including
advisory and administration expenses, and REIT shareholders will incur a proportionate share of the underlying expenses.
Issuer-Specific Changes Risk. The value of an individual security or particular type of security may be more volatile than the market as a
whole and may perform differently from the value of the market as a whole.
Non-Correlation Risk. The Fund's return may not match the return of the Underlying Index for a number of reasons. For example, the
Fund incurs operating expenses not applicable to the Underlying Index, and incurs costs in buying
and selling securities, especially when rebalancing the Fund's securities holdings to reflect changes in the composition of the Underlying Index. In addition, the performance of the Fund and the Underlying Index may vary due to asset
valuation differences and differences between the Fund's portfolio and the Underlying Index resulting from legal restrictions, costs or liquidity constraints.
Authorized Participant Concentration Risk. Only authorized participants (“APs”) may engage in creation or redemption transactions directly with the Fund. The
Fund has a limited number of institutions that may act as APs and such APs have no obligation to submit creation or redemption orders. Consequently, there is no assurance that APs will establish or maintain an active trading
market for the Shares. This risk may be heightened to the extent that securities held by the Fund are traded outside a collateralized settlement system. In that case, APs may be required to post collateral on certain
trades on an agency basis (i.e., on behalf of other market participants), which only a limited number of APs may be able to do. In addition, to the extent that APs exit the business or are unable to proceed with creation
and/or redemption orders with respect to the Fund and no other AP is able to step forward to create or redeem Creation Units (as defined below), this may result in a significantly diminished trading market for Shares,
and Shares may be more likely to trade at a premium or discount to the Fund's NAV and to face trading halts and/or delisting. Additionally, investments in non-U.S. securities may have lower trading volumes or could
experience extended market closures or trading halts. To the extent that the Fund invests in non-U.S. securities, it may face increased risks that APs may not be able to effectively create or redeem Creation Units, or that the
Shares may be halted and/or delisted.
Market Trading Risk. The Fund faces numerous market trading risks, including the potential lack of an active market for the Shares, losses from trading in secondary markets, and
disruption in the creation/redemption process of the Fund. In stressed market conditions, the market for Shares may become less liquid in response to deteriorating liquidity in the markets for the Fund’s portfolio
holdings, which may cause a variance in the market price of Shares and their underlying NAV. In addition, an exchange or market may issue trading halts on specific securities or financial instruments. As a result, the ability to trade
certain securities or financial instruments may be restricted, which may disrupt the Fund’s creation/redemption process, potentially affect the price at which Shares trade in the secondary market, and/or result in the Fund being
unable to trade certain securities or financial instruments at all. In these circumstances, the Fund may be unable to rebalance its portfolio, may be unable to accurately price its investments and/or may incur substantial
trading losses. Any of these factors may lead to the Shares trading at a premium or discount to the Fund's NAV.
Operational Risk. The Fund is exposed to operational risks arising from a number of factors, including, but not limited to,
human error, processing and communication errors, errors of the Fund’s service providers,
counterparties or other third-parties, failed or inadequate processes and technology or systems failures. The Fund and the Adviser seek to reduce these operational risks through controls and procedures. However, these measures do not address
every possible risk and may be inadequate to address these risks.