As filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on September 23, 2016

File Nos. 333-157876 and 811-22110

U.S. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM N-1A

REGISTRATION STATEMENT

UNDER

THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933	x
Pre-Effective Amendment No.	¨
Post-Effective Amendment No. 111	x

and/or

REGISTRATION STATEMENT

UNDER

THE INVESTMENT COMPANY ACT OF 1940	x
Amendment No. 113	x

AdvisorShares Trust

(Exact Name of Registrant as Specified in Charter)

4800 Montgomery Lane, Suite 150, Bethesda, Maryland 20814

(Address of Principal Executive Offices, Zip Code)

(877) 843-3831

(Registrant’s Telephone Number, including Area Code)

Noah Hamman

AdvisorShares Trust

4800 Montgomery Lane, Suite 150

Bethesda, Maryland  20814

(Name and Address of Agent for Service)

Copy to:

W. John McGuire

Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP

1111 Pennsylvania Avenue NW

Washington, DC 20004

It is proposed that this filing will become effective (check appropriate box):

x Immediately upon filing pursuant to paragraph (b) of Rule 485

¨ On (date) pursuant to paragraph (b)(1)(v) of Rule 485

¨ 60 days after filing pursuant to paragraph (a)(1) of Rule 485

¨ On (date) pursuant to paragraph (a)(1) of Rule 485

¨ 75 days after filing pursuant to paragraph (a)(2) of Rule 485

¨ On (date) pursuant to paragraph (a)(2) of Rule 485

EXPLANATORY NOTE

This Post-Effective Amendment No. 111 relates to the AdvisorShares Focused Equity ETF (the “Fund”), a separate series of AdvisorShares Trust (the “Trust”). The sole purpose of this filing is to file as an exhibit to the Trust’s registration statement, risk/return information in interactive data format for the Fund.

SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933 (the “Securities Act”) and the Investment Company Act of 1940, the Registrant certifies that it meets all of the requirements for effectiveness of this Registration Statement under Rule 485(b) under the Securities Act and has duly caused this Post-Effective Amendment No. 111 to the Registration Statement to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereto duly authorized, in the City of Bethesda, State of Maryland, on this 23^rd day of September, 2016.

AdvisorShares Trust

/s/ Noah Hamman 

Noah Hamman

President

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act, this Post-Effective Amendment No. 111 to the Registration Statement has been signed below by the following persons in the capacity and on the date indicated.

Signature	Title	Date
/s/ Noah Hamman Noah Hamman	Trustee and President	September 23, 2016
*	Trustee	September 23, 2016
Elizabeth Piper/Bach
*	Trustee	September 23, 2016
William G. McVay
*	Treasurer	September 23, 2016
Dan Ahrens
/s/ Noah Hamman
* Noah Hamman, Power of Attorney

Exhibit Index

Exhibit Number	Description
EX-101.INS	XBRL Instance Document
EX-101.SCH	XBRL Taxonomy Extension Schema Document
EX-101.CAL	XBRL Taxonomy Extension Calculation Linkbase
EX-101.DEF	XBRL Taxonomy Extension Definition Linkbase
EX-101.LAB	XBRL Taxonomy Extension Labels Linkbase
EX-101.PRE	XBRL Taxonomy Extension Presentation Linkbase