Victory Portfolios II - Post Effective Amendment No. 113

VictoryShares WestEnd Dynamic Equity ETF Summary

Principal Investment Strategy

The Fund, under normal circumstances, invests at least 80% of its assets in the shares of exchange-traded funds (“ETFs”) that invest in equity securities. Such ETFs will include U.S. sector-specific equity ETFs and country-specific, broad, market-cap weighted equity ETFs. The Fund’s investments in an ETF will count toward its “80%” policy to the extent that, at the time of purchase of the shares of the ETF, the ETF invests 80% or more of its assets in equity securities.

Victory Capital Management Inc. (the “Adviser”) serves as the Fund’s investment adviser. WestEnd Advisors, LLC (“WestEnd”), an investment franchise of the Adviser, is responsible for the day-to-day investment management of the Fund.

In selecting ETFs for the Fund’s portfolio, WestEnd implements a quantitative process that ranks U.S. sectors and individual countries according to numerous factors across macroeconomic, fundamental, valuation, and market data. Allocations are made to a diversified selection of sectors ranked highly by the Adviser and a diversified selection of countries ranked highly by the Adviser. At least 35% of the Fund’s assets will be invested in ETFs that invest primarily in securities of U.S. issuers. The Fund considers an ETF to be invested primarily in securities of U.S. issuers if, at the time of purchase, the ETF invests 80% or more in securities of issuers that are deemed to be economically tied to the United States if one or more of the following tests are met: (i) the issuer is organized in, or its primary business office or principal trading market of its equity is located in the United States; (ii) a majority of the issuer’s revenues are derived from the United States; or (iii) a majority of the issuer’s assets are located in the United States.

As a result of its investment strategy, the Fund may experience annual portfolio turnover in excess of 100%.

Principal Risks of Investing in the Fund

The Fund’s investments are subject to the following principal risks:

Equity Securities Risk — The value of the equity securities in which the Fund invests may decline in response to developments affecting individual companies and/or general economic conditions in the United States or abroad. A company's earnings or dividends may not increase as expected (or may decline) because of poor management, competitive pressures, reliance on particular suppliers or geographical regions, labor problems or shortages, corporate restructurings, fraudulent disclosures, man-made or natural disasters, military confrontations or wars, terrorism, public health crises, or other events, conditions, and factors. Price changes may be temporary or last for extended periods.

Investing in Other ETFs — ETFs, which generally are registered investment companies, incur their own management and other fees and expenses, such as trustees’ fees, operating expenses, registration fees, and marketing expenses, a proportionate share of which will be borne indirectly by the Fund as a shareholder of an ETF. As a result, the Fund’s investments in an ETF will cause the Fund to indirectly bear the fees and expenses of the ETF and, in turn, the Fund’s performance may be lower than if the Fund were to invest directly in the underlying securities held by the ETF. In addition, the Fund bears all risks of investment strategies employed by ETFs in which it invests. The Fund does not control the investments of these ETFs, which may have different investment objectives and may engage in investment strategies that the Fund would not engage in directly. ETFs may trade in the secondary market (i.e., on a stock exchange) at prices below the value of their underlying portfolios and may not be liquid. An ETF that is not actively managed cannot sell poorly performing stocks or other assets as long as they are represented in its index or other benchmark. ETFs that track an index are subject to tracking error risk (the risk of errors in matching the ETF’s underlying assets to its index or other benchmark).

Foreign Securities Risk — Foreign securities may be subject to risk of loss because of more or less foreign government regulation, less public information, and less economic, political, and social stability in the countries in which the Fund invests. The imposition of exchange controls, sanctions,

VictoryShares WestEnd Dynamic Equity ETF Summary

confiscations, trade restrictions (including tariffs), and other government restrictions by the United States or other governments; or problems in share registration, settlement, or custody also may result in losses. Foreign risk also involves the risk of negative foreign currency rate fluctuations, which may cause the value of securities denominated in such foreign currency (or other instruments through which the Fund has exposure to foreign currencies) to decline in value. Currency exchange rates may fluctuate significantly over short periods of time.

Sector Focus Risk — While the Fund reserves the right to dynamically allocate its assets across economic sectors, listed below are some of the risks associated with the sectors in which the Fund may make significant investments. Market or economic factors impacting those sectors could have a significant effect on the value of the Fund’s investments and could make the Fund’s performance more volatile.

◼

Health Care Sector Risk — Companies in the health care sector may be adversely affected by extensive government regulation, restrictions on government reimbursement for medical expenses, rising or falling costs of medical products and services, pricing pressure, an increased emphasis on outpatient services, limited number of products, product obsolescence, industry innovation, changes in technologies, and other market developments. Companies in the health care sector are heavily dependent on patent protection and the expiration of patents may adversely affect these companies. Many of these companies are subject to extensive litigation based on product liability and similar claims. These companies are subject to competitive forces that may make it difficult to raise prices.

◼

Information Technology Sector Risk — Companies in the information technology sector face intense competition, both domestically and internationally. These companies may be smaller or newer and may have limited product lines, markets, financial resources, or personnel. The products of companies in the information technology sector may face product obsolescence due to rapid technological developments and frequent new product introduction, unpredictable changes in growth rates, and competition for the services of qualified personnel. These companies may be developing or marketing new products or services for which markets are not yet established and may never become established.

◼

Industrials Sector Risk — Companies in the industrials sector are affected by supply and demand both for their specific product or service and for industrials sector products in general. Government regulation, world events and economic conditions also affect the performance of investments in such issuers. Aerospace and defense companies, a component of the industrials sector, can be significantly affected by government spending policies. Transportation companies may experience occasional sharp price movements which may result from changes in the economy, fuel prices, labor agreements, and insurance costs.

◼

Communication Services Sector Risk — Companies in the communication services sector may be dominated by a small number of companies which may lead to additional volatility. These companies are particularly vulnerable to the potential obsolescence of products and services due to technological advances, social media trends and the innovation of competitors. Companies in the communication services sector may also be affected by other competitive pressures, such as pricing competition, as well as research and development costs, substantial capital requirements, and government regulation. Fluctuating domestic and international demand, shifting demographics, and often unpredictable changes in consumer demand can drastically affect a communication services company's profitability. Compliance with governmental regulations, delays or failure to receive regulatory approvals, or the enactment of new regulatory requirements may negatively affect the business of telecommunication services companies.

◼

Consumer Discretionary Sector Risk — Companies in the consumer discretionary sector are subject to the risk that their products or services may become obsolete quickly. The success of these companies can depend heavily on disposable household income and consumer spending

VictoryShares WestEnd Dynamic Equity ETF Summary

◼

Utilities Sector Risk — Companies in the utilities sector may be adversely affected by supply and demand, operating costs, government regulation, environmental factors, liabilities for environmental damage and general civil liabilities, and rate caps or rate changes. The value of regulated utility equity securities may tend to have an inverse relationship to the movement of interest rates. In addition, natural disasters, terrorist attacks, government intervention or other factors may render a utility company's equipment unusable or obsolete and negatively impact these companies. Certain utility companies have experienced full or partial deregulation in recent years. These utility companies are frequently more similar to companies in the industrial sector. The utilities sector also can be significantly affected by financing difficulties, changes in taxation, natural resource conservation, and commodity price fluctuations.

General Market Risk — Overall market risks may affect the value of the Fund. Domestic and international factors such as political events, war, terrorism, trade disputes, inflation rates, interest rate levels, and other fiscal and monetary policy changes; cybersecurity incidents, pandemics, and other public health crises; sanctions against a particular foreign country, its nationals, businesses, or industries; and related geopolitical events, as well as environmental disasters such as earthquakes, fires, and floods, or other catastrophes, may add to instability in global economies and markets generally, and may lead to increased market volatility. Global economies and financial markets are highly interconnected, which increases the possibility that conditions in one country or region might adversely affect issuers in another country or region. The impact of these and other factors may be short-term or may last for extended periods.

Limited History of Operations — The Fund is new and, therefore, has a limited history of operations for investors to evaluate.

Large Shareholder Risk — Certain large shareholders, including other funds advised by the Adviser, may from time to time own a substantial amount of the Fund’s shares. The actions by one shareholder or multiple shareholders may have an impact on the Fund and, therefore, indirectly on other shareholders. Shareholder purchase and redemption activity may affect the per share amount of the Fund’s distributions of its net investment income and net realized capital gains, if any, thereby affecting the tax burden on the Fund’s shareholders subject to federal income tax. To the extent a larger shareholder (including, for example, an affiliated fund that operates as a fund-of-funds or 529 college savings plan) is permitted to invest in the Fund, the Fund may experience large inflows or outflows of cash from time to time. This activity could magnify these adverse effects on the Fund.

Limited Portfolio Holdings Risk — To the extent the Fund invests its assets in a limited number of sectors, a decline in the market value of companies within that sector may affect the Fund’s value more than if the Fund invested in a larger number of sectors. Although the Fund may invest in any number of securities within a particular sector without limitation, to the extent the Fund invests a large portion of its assets in a small number of holdings, it may be more susceptible to the economic or credit risks of such holdings than a fund that invests in a larger number of holdings.

Exchange-Traded Fund (“ETF”) Structure Risk — The Fund is structured as an ETF and, as a result, is subject to special risks, including:

◼

Not Individually Redeemable — The Fund’s shares are not individually redeemable and may be redeemed by the Fund at its net asset value per share (“NAV”) only in large blocks known as Creation Units. The Fund may incur brokerage costs purchasing enough shares to constitute a Creation Unit. Alternatively, the Fund may redeem your shares by selling them on the secondary market at prevailing market prices.

◼

Risk Factors

The following describes the principal risks that you may assume as an investor in the Fund. These risks could adversely affect the net asset value, total return, and the value of the Fund and your investment. The risk descriptions below provide a more detailed explanation of the principal investment risks that correspond to the risks described in the Fund Summary section of this Prospectus. The Fund's exposure to the risks discussed below generally will be through investing directly in equity securities but also may be through the Fund's investments in ETFs.

There is no assurance that the Fund will achieve its investment objective. The Fund’s share price will fluctuate with changes in the market value of its portfolio investments. When you sell your Fund shares, they may be worth less than what you paid for them; and accordingly, you can lose money investing in the Fund. The Fund, by itself, is not intended to be a complete investment program.

Equity Securities Risk — The market prices of equity securities, which may include common stocks and other stock-related securities such as preferred stocks, convertible securities and rights and warrants, may fluctuate, sometimes rapidly or unpredictably. The Fund may continue to accept new subscriptions and to make additional investments in equity securities even under general market conditions that the Fund’s investment team views as unfavorable for equity securities. The value of a security may decline for reasons that directly relate to the issuer, such as management performance, financial leverage, and reduced demand for the issuer’s goods or services or due to general market conditions, such as real or perceived adverse economic conditions, changes in the general outlook for corporate earnings, changes in interest or currency rates, or adverse investor sentiment generally. Unlike debt securities, which have preference to a company’s assets in case of liquidation, common stock, are entitled to the residual value after the company meets its other obligations. Unlike common stock, preferred stock generally pays a fixed dividend from a company’s earnings and may have a preference over common stock on the distribution of a company’s assets in the event of bankruptcy or liquidation. Preferred stockholders’ liquidation rights are subordinate to the company’s debt holders and creditors. If interest rates rise, the fixed dividend on preferred stocks may be less attractive and the price of preferred stocks may decline. Convertible securities generally offer lower interest or dividend yields than non-convertible securities of similar quality. Convertible securities may gain or lose value due to changes in the issuer’s operating results, financial condition, credit rating and changes in interest rates and other general economic, industry and market conditions.

Exchange-Traded Fund (“ETF”) Structure Risk — The Fund is structured as an ETF and, as a result, is subject to special risks, including:

◼

Trading Issues — Trading in shares on the exchange operated by Nasdaq Stock Market LLC (the “Exchange”) may be halted due to market conditions or for reasons that, in the view of the Exchange, make trading in shares inadvisable, such as extraordinary market volatility. There can be no assurance that shares will continue to meet the listing requirements of the Exchange. There is no guarantee that an active secondary market will develop for the shares. In stressed market conditions, authorized participants may be unwilling to participate in the creation/redemption process, particularly if the market for shares becomes less liquid in response to deteriorating liquidity in the markets for the Fund’s underlying portfolio holdings, which may lead to widening of bid-ask spreads and differences between the market price of the shares and the underlying value of those shares.

◼

Market Price Variance Risk — The market prices of shares will fluctuate in response to changes in NAV and supply and demand for shares and will include a bid-ask spread charged by the exchange specialists, market makers, or other participants that trade the particular

Risk Factors

security. There may be times when the market price and the NAV vary significantly, particularly in times of market stress. This means that shares may trade at a premium or discount to NAV and bid-ask spreads may widen.

◼

Authorized Participants Concentration Risk — A limited number of financial institutions may be responsible for all or a significant portion of the creation and redemption activity for the Fund. If these firms exit the business or are unable or unwilling to process creation and/or redemption orders, shares may trade at a premium or discount to NAV and bid-ask spreads may widen.

◼

Intraday Indicative Value (“IIV”) Risk — The Exchange intends to disseminate the approximate per share value of the Fund’s published basket of securities (Deposit Securities) every 15 seconds (the “intraday indicative value” or “IIV”). The IIV is not a real-time update of the NAV per share of the Fund because the IIV may not be calculated in the same manner as the NAV. For example, the calculation of the NAV may be subject to fair valuation at different prices than those used in the calculations of the IIV and, unlike the calculation of NAV, the IIV does not take into account Fund expenses. For securities traded outside of the United States, the IIV calculations are based on local market prices and may not reflect events that occur subsequent to the local market’s close which could affect premiums and discounts between the IIV and the market price of the Fund’s shares. In addition, the IIV is based on the published Deposit Securities and not on the Fund’s actual holdings. The Fund, the Adviser, and their affiliates are not involved in, or responsible for, any aspect of the calculation or dissemination of the IIV and make no warranty as to the accuracy of these calculations.

◼

Tax-Efficiency Risk — Redemptions of shares may be effected for cash, rather than in kind, which means that the Fund may need to sell portfolio securities in order to complete an in-cash redemption, and may recognize net gains on these sales. As a result, investments in the shares may be less tax-efficient than investments in ETFs that redeem solely or principally in kind, and the Fund may pay out higher annual capital gain distributions than if the in-kind redemption process was used.

Foreign Securities Risk

◼

Foreign Investments Risk — Foreign investments involve certain special risks. For example, compared to U.S. companies, there generally is less publicly available information about foreign companies and there may be less governmental regulation and supervision of foreign stock exchanges, brokers, and listed companies. Foreign issuers may not be subject to the uniform accounting, auditing, and financial reporting standards and practices prevalent in the United States. Investments in foreign countries could be affected by factors not present in the United States, including expropriation, confiscation of property, and difficulties in enforcing contracts. These factors can make foreign investments more volatile than U.S. investments. Certain of these risks may also apply to some extent to U.S. investments that are denominated in foreign currencies and to investments in U.S. companies that have significant foreign operations. Investments in depositary receipts (such as American Depositary Receipts and Global Depositary Receipts ) may also involve additional risks associated with the non-uniform terms that apply to depositary receipt programs, credit exposure to the depository bank and to the sponsors and other parties with whom the depository bank establishes the programs, currency risk and the risk of an illiquid market for depositary receipts.

General Market Risk — Stock market risk refers to the fact that stock (equity securities) prices typically fluctuate more than the values of other types of securities, typically in response to changes in the particular company’s financial condition and factors affecting the market in general. Over time, the stock market tends to move in cycles, with periods when stock prices rise, and periods when stock prices decline. A slower-growth or recessionary economic environment could have an adverse effect on stock prices. Consequently, a broad-based market drop may also cause a stock’s price to fall. Portfolio securities may also decline in value due to factors affecting securities markets generally, such

Risk Factors

as real or perceived adverse economic, political, or regulatory conditions, inflation, changes in interest or currency rates or adverse investor sentiment, or due to factors affecting particular industries represented in the securities markets, such as competitive conditions. Changes in the financial condition of a single issuer can impact a market as a whole, and adverse market conditions may be prolonged and may not have the same impact on all types of securities. In addition, the markets may not favor a particular kind of security, including equity securities. Values of securities may fall due to factors affecting a particular issuer, industry, or the securities market as a whole.

Market turmoil may be reflected in perceptions of economic uncertainty, price volatility in the equity and debt markets, and fluctuating trading liquidity. In response, governments may adopt a variety of fiscal and monetary policy changes, including but not limited to, direct capital infusions into companies, new monetary programs, and lower interest rates. These policies may not be successful and any unexpected or quick reversal of these policies could increase volatility in the equity and debt markets. Market conditions and economic risks could have a significant effect on domestic and international economies and could add significantly to the risks of increased volatility and decreased liquidity for the Fund's portfolio.

◼

Geopolitical/Natural Disaster Risk — Global economies and financial markets are increasingly interconnected, which increases the possibilities that conditions in one country or region might adversely affect issuers in another country or region. Geopolitical and other risks, including war, economic sanctions, currency controls or other actions by countries or international bodies, terrorism, trade disputes, embargoes, political or economic dysfunction within some nations, public health crises and related geopolitical events, as well as environmental disasters such as earthquakes, fires, and floods, may add to instability in world economies and markets generally. Changes in trade policies and international trade agreements could affect the economies of many countries in unpredictable ways. Epidemics and/or pandemics, such as the coronavirus (or COVID-19), may result in, among other things, closing borders, disruptions to healthcare service preparation and delivery, quarantines, cancellations, disruptions to supply chains and consumer activity, as well as general concern and uncertainty. The impact may be short-term or may last for extended periods.

◼

Information Technology and Operational Risk — Markets and market participants are increasingly reliant upon both publicly available and proprietary information data systems. Data imprecision, software or other technology malfunctions, programming inaccuracies, unauthorized use or access, and similar circumstances may impair the performance of these systems and may have an adverse impact upon a single issuer, a group of issuers, or the market at large. The information technology and other operational systems upon which the Fund’s service providers rely may be subject to cyber attack or other technological disruptions, and could otherwise disrupt the ability of these service providers to perform essential tasks for the Fund. In certain cases, an exchange or market may close or issue trading halts on either specific securities or even the entire market, which may result in the Fund being, among other things, unable to buy or sell certain securities or financial instruments or accurately price its investments.

Investing in Other ETFs — ETFs, which generally are registered investment companies, incur their own management and other fees and expenses, such as trustees' fees, operating expenses, registration fees, and marketing expenses, a proportionate share of which will be borne indirectly by the Fund as a shareholder of an ETF. As a result, the Fund's investments in an ETF will cause the Fund to indirectly bear the fees and expenses of the ETF and, in turn, the Fund's performance may be lower than if the Fund were to invest directly in the underlying securities held by the ETF. In addition, the Fund bears all risks of investment strategies employed by ETFs in which it invests. The Fund does not control the investments of these ETFs, which may have different investment objectives and may engage in investment strategies that the Fund would not engage in directly. ETFs may trade in the secondary market (i.e., on a stock exchange) at prices below the value of their underlying portfolios and may not

Risk Factors

Sector Focus Risk — While the Fund reserves the right to dynamically allocate its assets across economic sectors, the Fund may make significant investments in one or more sectors, each of which entails associated risks. Additionally, the Fund’s performance may be more volatile when the Fund’s investments are focused in a particular sector.

◼

Health Care Sector Risk — To the extent the Fund focuses on the health care sector, the Fund may be more susceptible to the particular risks that may affect companies in the health care sector than if it were invested in a wider variety of companies in unrelated sectors. The profitability of companies in the health care sector may be adversely affected by the following factors, among others: extensive government regulations, restrictions on government reimbursement for medical expenses, rising costs of medical products and services, pricing pressure, an increased emphasis on outpatient services, changes in the demand for medical products and services, a limited number of products, industry innovation, changes in technologies and other market developments. A number of issuers in the health care sector have recently merged or otherwise experienced consolidation. The effects of this trend toward consolidation are unknown and may be far-reaching. Many health care companies are heavily dependent on patent protection. The expiration of a company's patents may adversely affect that company's profitability. Many health care companies are subject to extensive litigation based on product liability and similar claims. Health care companies are subject to competitive forces that may make it difficult to raise prices and, in fact, may result in price discounting. Many new products in the health care sector may be subject to regulatory approvals. The process of obtaining such approvals may be long and costly, and such efforts ultimately may be unsuccessful. Companies in the health care sector may be thinly capitalized and may be susceptible to product obsolescence. In addition, a number of legislative proposals concerning health care have been considered by the U.S. Congress in recent years. It is unclear what proposals will ultimately be enacted, if any, and what effect they may have on companies in the health care sector.

◼

Information Technology Sector Risk — Information technology companies tend to significantly rely on technological events or advances in their product development, production, or operations and are particularly vulnerable to rapid changes in technological product cycles, government regulation, and competition. Information technology companies may be smaller and less experienced companies, with limited product lines, markets, or financial resources and fewer experienced management or marketing personnel. Information technology company stocks, especially those which are internet-related, have experienced extreme price and volume fluctuations that are often unrelated to their operating performance.

◼

Industrials Sector Risk - Stock prices of issuers in the industrials sector are affected by supply and demand both for their specific product or service and for industrials sector products in general. Government regulation, world events, and economic conditions will also affect the performance of investments in such issuers. Aerospace and defense companies, a component of the industrials sector, can be significantly affected by government spending policies because companies involved in this industry rely to a significant extent on U.S. and other government demand for their products and services. Thus, the financial condition of, and investor interest in, aerospace and defense companies are heavily influenced by government defense spending policies which are typically under pressure from efforts to control government spending budgets. Transportation companies, another component of the industrials sector, are subject to cyclical performance; and therefore, investment in such companies may experience occasional sharp price movements, which may result from changes in the economy, fuel prices, labor agreements, and insurance costs.

◼

Risk Factors

Companies in the communication services sector may also be affected by other competitive pressures, such as pricing competition, as well as research and development costs, substantial capital requirements, and government regulation. Fluctuating domestic and international demand, shifting demographics, and often unpredictable changes in consumer demand can drastically affect a communication services company's profitability. Compliance with governmental regulations, delays or failure to receive regulatory approvals, or the enactment of new regulatory requirements may negatively affect the business of telecommunication services companies. Certain companies in the communication services sector may be particular targets of network security breaches, hacking and potential theft of proprietary or consumer information, or disruptions in services, which would have a material adverse effect on their businesses.

◼

Consumer Discretionary Sector Risk — Companies in the consumer discretionary sector are subject to the performance of the overall international economy, interest rates, competition, and consumer confidence. Success depends heavily on disposable household income and consumer spending. Also, companies in the consumer discretionary sector may be subject to severe competition, which may have an adverse impact on their profitability. Changes in demographics and consumer tastes can also affect the demand for, and success of, consumer products and services in the marketplace.

◼

Consumer Staples Sector Risk — Companies in the consumer staples sector may be affected by general economic conditions, commodity production and pricing, consumer confidence and spending, consumer preferences, interest rates, and product cycles. They are subject to government regulation affecting their products, which may negatively impact such companies' performance. Consumer staples companies depend heavily on disposable household income and consumer spending and may be adversely affected by changes impacting consumer spending. Companies in the consumer staples sector have historically been characterized as non-cyclical in nature and therefore less volatile in times of change. These companies may be subject to severe price competition.

◼

Energy Sector Risk — Companies operating in the energy sector may be cyclical and highly dependent on energy prices. They may be adversely impacted by general economic conditions, worldwide demand, political instability in the regions that the companies operate, government regulation stipulating rates charged by utilities, interest rate sensitivity, oil and other energy price volatility, energy conservation efforts, environmental policies, depletion of resources, the cost of providing the specific utility services, and other factors that they cannot control. Companies in this sector may be subject to substantial government regulation and contractual fixed pricing. In addition, these companies are at risk of civil liability from accidents resulting in injury, loss of life or property, pollution or other environmental damage claims, and risk of loss from terrorism and natural disasters.

◼

Financials Sector Risk — Companies in the financials sector are subject to extensive governmental regulation, which may limit both the amounts and types of loans and other financial commitments they can make, the interest rates and fees they can charge, the scope of their activities, the prices they can charge and the amount of capital they must maintain. Profitability is largely dependent on the availability and cost of capital funds and can fluctuate significantly when interest rates change or due to increased competition. In addition, deterioration of the credit markets generally may cause an adverse impact in a broad range of markets, including U.S. and international credit and interbank money markets generally, thereby affecting a wide range of financial institutions and markets. Credit losses resulting from financial difficulties of borrowers and financial losses associated with investment activities can negatively impact the sector. Insurance companies may be subject to severe price competition. Adverse economic, business, or political developments could adversely affect financial institutions engaged in mortgage finance or other lending or investing activities directly or indirectly connected to the value of real estate.

GENERAL INFORMATION

The Fund is a diversified series of the Trust (formerly named "Compass EMP Funds Trust"), a Delaware statutory trust organized on April 11, 2012. The Trust is registered as an open-end management investment company. The Trust currently consists of 31 series of beneficial interests ("shares"). This SAI relates to the shares of one series of the Trust (the "Fund").

Victory Capital Management Inc. (the "Adviser" or "Victory Capital") is the Fund's investment adviser. The Fund's investment objective(s), restrictions and policies are more fully described below and in the Fund's Prospectus. The Trust's Board of Trustees (the "Board" or "Trustees") may organize and offer shares of a new fund or liquidate the Fund at any time.

Much of the information contained in this SAI expands on subjects discussed in the Fund's Prospectus. Capitalized terms not defined herein are used as defined in the Prospectuses. No investment in shares of the Fund should be made without first reading the Fund's Prospectus.

The Fund's shares are offered at NAV only in aggregations of 10,000 shares per Creation Unit. The Fund will issue and redeem Creation Units principally in exchange for a basket of securities included in the Fund's underlying index (the "Deposit Securities"), together with the deposit of a specified cash payment (the "Cash Component"), plus a transaction fee. The Fund [is approved] for listing on The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC ("NASDAQ" or the "Exchange"). Shares trade on the Exchange at market prices that may be below, at, or above NAV. The Trust reserves the right to adjust the prices of shares in the future to maintain convenient trading ranges for investors. Any adjustments would be accomplished through stock splits or reverse stock splits, which would have no effect on the net assets of the applicable Fund.

The Fund reserves the right to offer creations and redemptions of shares for cash. In addition, shares may be issued in advance of receipt of Deposit Securities subject to various conditions, including a requirement to maintain on deposit with the Trust a cash value equal to at least 105% of the market value of the missing Deposit Securities. In each instance of such cash creations or redemptions, transaction fees may be imposed and may be higher than the transaction fees associated with in-kind creations or redemptions. See "Purchase and Redemption of Shares" below.

Shares of the Fund are listed for trading and trade throughout the day on NASDAQ.

In order to provide additional information regarding the indicative value of shares of the Fund, the Exchange or a market data vendor will disseminate every 15 seconds through the facilities of the Consolidated Tape Association or other widely disseminated means an updated "intraday indicative value" ("IIV") for the Funds as calculated by an information provider or market data vendor. The Trust is not involved in or responsible for any aspect of the calculation or dissemination of the IIV and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the IIV.

INVESTMENT OBJECTIVES, POLICIES, AND LIMITATIONS

Investment Objectives

The Fund's investment objective is non-fundamental, meaning it may be changed by a vote of the Trustees without a vote of the holders of a majority of the Fund's outstanding voting securities. There can be no assurance that the Fund will achieve its investment objective.

Investment Policies and Limitations of the Funds

Unless a policy of the Fund is expressly deemed to be a fundamental policy, changeable only by an affirmative vote of the holders of a majority of that Fund's outstanding voting securities, the Fund's policies are non-fundamental and may be changed without a shareholder vote.

The Fund may, following notice to its shareholders, employ other investment practices that presently are not contemplated for use by the Fund or that currently are not available but that may be developed to the extent such investment practices are both consistent with the Fund's investment objective and legally permissible for the Fund. Such investment practices, if they arise, may involve risks that exceed those involved in the activities described in the Fund's Prospectus.

The Fund's classification and sub-classification is a matter of fundamental policy. The Fund is classified as an open-end investment company. The Fund is sub-classified as a diversified investment company, which under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended ("1940 Act") means that, with respect to 75% of the Fund's total assets, the Fund may not invest in securities of any issuer if, immediately after such investment, (i) more than 5% of the total assets of the Fund (taken at current value) would be invested in the

securities of that issuer or (ii) more than 10% of the outstanding voting securities of the issuer would be held by the Fund (this limitation does not apply to obligations of the U.S. government, its agencies or instrumentalities, and securities of other investment companies). A diversified fund is not subject to this limitation with respect to the remaining 25% of its total assets. In addition, the Fund has elected to qualify as a "regulated investment company" under the United States Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the "Code"). To qualify as a regulated investment company, the Funds must meet certain diversification requirements as determined at the close of each quarter of each taxable year. The Code's diversification test is described in "TAXES."

The policies and limitations stated in this SAI supplement the Fund's investment policies set forth in the Fund's Prospectus. Unless otherwise noted, whenever an investment policy or limitation states a maximum percentage of the Fund's assets that may be invested in any security or other asset, or sets forth a policy regarding quality standards, such standard or percentage limitation will be determined immediately after and as a result of the Fund's acquisition of such security or other asset except in the case of borrowing (or other activities that may be deemed to result in the issuance of a "senior security" under the 1940 Act). Accordingly, any subsequent change in values, net assets, or other circumstances will not be considered when determining whether the investment complies with the Fund's investment policies and limitations. If the value of the Fund's holdings of illiquid investments at any time exceeds the percentage limitation applicable at the time of acquisition due to subsequent fluctuations in value or other reasons, the Board will consider what actions, if any, are appropriate to maintain adequate liquidity.

Fundamental Investment Policies and Limitations of the Funds

The following investment policies and limitations are fundamental and may not be changed without the affirmative vote of the holders of a majority of the Fund's outstanding voting securities, as defined under the 1940 Act. Under the 1940 Act, the vote of a majority of the outstanding voting securities of the Fund means the affirmative vote of the lesser of (a) 67% or more of the shares of the Fund present at a meeting at which the holders of more than 50% of the outstanding shares of the Fund are represented in person or by proxy, or (b) more than 50% of the outstanding shares of the Fund. Portions of the Fund's fundamental investment restrictions (e.g., references to "except as permitted under the 1940 Act, and as interpreted or modified from time to time by regulatory authorities having jurisdiction") provide the Funds with flexibility to change limitations in connection with changes in applicable law, rules, regulations, or exemptive relief. The language used in these restrictions provides the necessary flexibility to allow the Board to respond efficiently to these kinds of developments without the delay and expense of a shareholder meeting.

Senior Securities

The Fund may not issue senior securities, except as permitted under the 1940 Act, and as interpreted or modified from time to time by regulatory authorities having jurisdiction.

This limitation is not applicable to activities that may be deemed to involve the issuance or sale of a senior security by the Fund, provided that the Fund's engagement in such activities is consistent with or permitted by the 1940 Act the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder or interpretations of the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") or its staff.

Rule 18f-4 under the 1940 Act permits the Fund to enter into Derivatives Transactions (as defined below) and certain other transactions notwithstanding the restrictions on the issuance of "senior securities" under Section 18 of the 1940 Act. Section 18 of the 1940 Act, among other things, prohibits open-end funds, including the Funds, from issuing or selling any "senior security," other than borrowing from a bank (subject to a requirement to maintain 300% "asset coverage").

Under Rule 18f-4, "Derivatives Transactions" include the following: (1) any swap, security-based swap (including a contract for differences), futures contract, forward contract, option (excluding purchased options), any combination of the foregoing, or any similar instrument, under which the Fund is or may be required to make any payment or delivery of cash or other assets during the life of the instrument or at maturity or early termination, whether as margin or settlement payment or otherwise; (2) any short sale borrowing; (3) reverse repurchase agreements and similar financing transactions (e.g., recourse and non-recourse tender option bonds, and borrowed bonds), if the Fund elects to treat these transactions as Derivatives Transactions under Rule 18f-4; and (4) when-issued or forward- settling securities (e.g., firm and standby commitments, including to-be-announced ("TBA") commitments, and dollar rolls) and non- standard settlement cycle securities, unless the Fund intends to physically settle the transaction and the transaction will settle within 35 days of its trade date.

Unless the Fund is relying on the Limited Derivatives User Exception (as defined below), the Fund must comply with Rule 18f-4 with respect to its Derivatives Transactions. Rule 18f-4, among other things, requires the Funds to adopt and implement a comprehensive written derivatives risk management program ("DRMP") and comply with a relative or absolute limit on Fund leverage risk calculated based on value-at-risk ("VaR"). The DRMP is administered by a "derivatives risk manager," who is appointed by the Board, including a majority of Independent Trustees, and periodically reviews the DRMP and reports to the Board.

Rule 18f-4 provides an exception from the DRMP, VaR limit and certain other requirements if the Fund's "derivatives exposure" (as defined in Rule 18f-4) is limited to 10% of its net assets (as calculated in accordance with Rule 18f-4) and the Fund adopts and implements written policies and procedures reasonably designed to manage its derivatives risks (the "Limited Derivatives User Exception").

As of the date of this SAI, the Fund relies on the Limited Derivatives User Exception.

Borrowing

The Fund may not borrow money, except as permitted under the 1940 Act, or by order of the SEC and as interpreted or modified from time to time by regulatory authorities having jurisdiction.

The Fund's ability to borrow money is limited by its investment policies and limitations, by the 1940 Act, and by applicable exemptions, no action letters, interpretations, and other pronouncements issued from time to time by regulatory authorities, including the SEC and its staff. Under the 1940 Act, the Fund is required to maintain continuous asset coverage (that is, total assets including the proceeds of borrowings, less liabilities excluding borrowings) of not less than 300% of the amount borrowed, with an exception for borrowings not in excess of 5% of the fund's total assets made for temporary purposes. Any borrowings for temporary purposes in excess of 5% are subject to the minimum 300% asset coverage requirement. If the value of the assets set aside to meet the 300% asset coverage were to decline below 300% due to market fluctuations or other causes, the Fund may be required to sell some of its portfolio holdings within three days (excluding Sundays and holidays) to reduce the debt and comply with the 300% minimum asset coverage requirement, even in circumstances where it is considered disadvantageous from an investment perspective to sell securities at that time or at the prices then available.

Underwriting, Purchasing Securities on Margin, or Participating on a Joint Basis

The Fund may not underwrite securities issued by others, except to the extent that the Fund may be considered an underwriter within the meaning of the Securities Act of 1933 (the "1933 Act"), in the disposition of restricted securities.

Real Estate

The Fund may not purchase or sell real estate unless acquired as a result of direct ownership of securities or other instruments. This restriction shall not prevent any of these Funds from investing in the following: (i) securities or other instruments backed by real estate; (ii) securities of real estate operating companies; or (iii) securities of companies engaged in the real estate business, including real estate investment trusts. This restriction does not preclude any of these Funds from buying securities backed by mortgages on real estate or securities of companies engaged in such activities.

Concentration

The Fund may not concentrate its investments in a particular industry or group of industries, as the term "concentration" is used in the 1940 Act, and as interpreted or modified from time to time by regulatory authorities having jurisdiction. This restriction shall not prevent the Fund from investing all of its assets in a "master" fund that has adopted similar investment objectives, policies, and restrictions.

For purposes of compliance with this investment policy, the Fund will generally use the industry group classifications provided by GICS® to determine the industries and groups of industries into which the Fund's investments fall, except that for purposes of applying the Global Equity Fund's fundamental investment policy concerning concentration, it is a matter of non-fundamental investment policy that:

•companies in the Communication Services GICS® sector will be classified into the following groups of industries: Media & Entertainment, Interactive Technology, and Telecommunication Services (i.e., the Media & Entertainment, Interactive Technology, and Telecommunication Services will each be considered a separate group of industries);

•companies in the Energy GICS® sector will be classified into the following groups of industries: Energy Equipment & Services, and Oil, Gas & Consumable Fuels (i.e., the Energy Equipment & Services, and Oil, Gas & Consumable Fuels will each be considered a separate group of industries);

•companies in the Materials GICS® sector will be classified into the following groups of industries: Chemicals, Construction Materials, Containers & Packaging, Metals & Mining, and Paper & Forest Products (i.e., the Chemicals, Construction Materials, Containers & Packaging, Metals & Mining, and Paper & Forest Products will each be considered a separate group of industries);

•companies in the Industrials GICS® sector will be classified into the following groups of industries: Aerospace & Defense Capital Goods, Other Industrial Capital Goods, Commercial & Professional Services, and Transportation (i.e., Aerospace & Defense Capital Goods, Other Industrial Capital Goods, Commercial & Professional Services, and Transportation will each be considered a separate group of industries); and

•companies in the Real Estate GICS® sector will be classified into the following groups of industries: Equity Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs), and Real Estate Management & Development (i.e., the Equity Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs), and Real Estate Management & Development will each be considered a separate group of industries);

•companies in the Utilities GICS® sector will be classified into the following groups of industries: Electric Utilities and Non- Electric Utilities (i.e., Electric Utilities and Non-Electric Utilities will each be considered a separate group of industries).

The set of groups of industries used by the Adviser with respect to the Fund may change over time and without notice to investors, and in certain cases, may differ from the set of groups of industries used by the Adviser with respect to other funds managed by the Adviser. The Fund will not treat other investment companies as a particular industry for purposes of its concentration policy. In addition, to the extent the Fund invests in securities of other open- or closed-end investment companies, including ETFs, the Fund will consider the investments held in the portfolios of those underlying open- and closed-end investment companies, to the extent known by the Fund, in determining whether the Fund is concentrated in a particular industry or group of industries. In the case of unaffiliated underlying open- and closed-end investment companies, that determination will be based on portfolio information made publicly available.

Concentration means investing more than 25% of the Fund's net assets in a particular industry or a specified group of industries.

Commodities

The Fund may not purchase or sell physical commodities unless acquired as a result of ownership of securities or other instruments (but this shall not prevent the Fund from purchasing or selling options and futures contracts or from investing in securities or other instruments backed by physical commodities).

Lending

The Fund may not make loans, except as permitted under the 1940 Act, and as interpreted or modified from time to time by regulatory authorities having jurisdiction. Generally, the 1940 Act prohibits loans if the Fund's investment policies do not permit loans, and if the loans are made, directly or indirectly, to persons deemed to control or to be under common control with the registered investment company.

Non-Fundamental Investment Policies and Limitations of the Fund

The following investment policies and restrictions are non-fundamental and may be changed by a vote of a majority of the Trustees.

•The Fund may not purchase the securities of other registered investment companies, except as permitted under the 1940 Act, and as interpreted or modified from time to time by regulatory authorities having jurisdiction. As a matter of policy, however, the Fund will not purchase shares of any registered open-end investment company or registered unit investment trust, in reliance on Section 12(d)(1)(F) or (G) (the "fund of funds" provisions) of the 1940 Act, at any time the Fund has knowledge that its shares are purchased by another investment company investor in reliance on the provisions of subparagraph (G) of Section 12(d)(1).

•The Fund may purchase and redeem shares issued by a money market fund without limit, provided that either: (1) the acquiring Fund pays no "sales charge" or "service fee" (as each of those terms is defined in the FINRA Conduct Rules); or (2) the Adviser waives its advisory fee in an amount necessary to offset any such sales charge or service fee. For purposes of this investment restriction, a "money market fund" is either: (1) an open-end investment company registered under the 1940 Act and regulated as a money market fund in accordance with Rule 2a-7 under the 1940 Act; or (2) a company that is exempt from registration as in investment company under Sections 3(c)(1) or 3(c)(7) of the 1940 Act and that: (a) limits its investments to those permitted under Rule 2a-7 under the 1940 Act; and (b) undertakes to comply with all the other requirements of Rule 2a-7, except that, if the company has no board of directors, the company's investment adviser performs the duties of the board of directors.

•The Fund may not make short sales of securities, other than short sales "against the box," or purchase securities on margin except for short-term credits necessary for clearance of portfolio transactions, provided that this restriction will not be applied to limit

the use of options, futures contracts, and related options, in the manner otherwise permitted by the investment restrictions, policies, and investment program of the Fund.

The Fund has an investment policy that requires it to invest at least 80% of its assets in the type of security suggested by its name. To the extent required by SEC rules, such policy may be changed only upon at least 60 days' prior written notice to the Fund's shareholders.

INVESTMENT PRACTICES, INSTRUMENTS, AND RISKS

In addition to the principal investment strategies and the principal risks of the Fund described in the Prospectus, the Fund may, but will not necessarily, employ other investment practices and may be subject to additional risks which are described further below. The Fund may, but will not necessarily, engage in each of the practices described below.

Common Stock

Common stock represents an equity (ownership) interest in a company, and usually possesses voting rights and earns dividends. Dividends on common stock are not fixed but are declared at the discretion of the issuer. Common stock generally represents the riskiest investment in a company. In addition, common stock generally has the greatest appreciation and depreciation potential because increases and decreases in earnings are usually reflected in a company's stock price. 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.

Convertible Securities

The Fund may invest in convertible securities with no minimum credit rating. Convertible securities include fixed income securities that may be exchanged or converted into a predetermined number of shares of the issuer's underlying common stock at the option of the holder during a specified period. Convertible securities may take the form of convertible preferred stock, convertible bonds or debentures, units consisting of "usable" bonds and warrants or a combination of the features of several of these securities. Convertible securities are senior to common stocks in an issuer's capital structure, but are usually subordinated to similar non-convertible securities. While providing a fixed income stream (generally higher in yield than the income derivable from common stock but lower than that afforded by a similar nonconvertible security), a convertible security also gives an investor the opportunity, through its conversion feature, to participate in the capital appreciation of the issuing company depending upon a market price advance in the convertible security's underlying common stock.

Cover

Transactions using certain derivative instruments, other than purchased options, expose the Fund to an obligation to another party. The Fund will not enter into any such transactions unless it owns either (1) an offsetting ("covered") position in securities, currencies or other options, futures contracts, or forward contracts, or (2) cash or liquid assets with a value, marked-to-market daily, sufficient to cover its potential obligations to the extent not covered as provided in (1) above.

For more information about these practices, see the "Derivatives" section.

Derivatives

Under circumstances in which such instruments are expected by the Adviser to aid in achieving the Fund's investment objective, the Fund may buy and sell certain types of derivatives. Derivatives are instruments that derive their value from the value of one or more underlying assets, reference rates or indices, and may include futures contracts, options on futures contracts, swaps, options on currencies, securities, and securities indices. Derivatives also may possess the characteristics of both futures and securities (e.g., debt instruments with interest and principal payments determined by reference to the value of a commodity or a currency at a future time) and therefore, possess the risks of both futures and securities investments.

Permissible derivative instruments include "market access products," which offer synthetic exposure to an underlying local foreign stock. They include, for example, equity-linked notes, warrants, zero strike options, and total return swaps. Market access products are subject

to the same risks as direct investments in securities of foreign issuers. If the underlying stock decreases in value, the market access product will decrease commensurately. In addition, market access products are subject to counterparty risk due to the fact that the security is issued by a broker. If the broker suffers a significant credit event and cannot perform under the terms of an agreement, a market access product may lose value regardless of the strength of the underlying stock.

Derivatives, such as futures contracts; options on currencies, securities, and securities indexes; options on futures contracts; and swaps enable the Fund to take both "short" positions (positions which anticipate a decline in the market value of a particular asset or index) and "long" positions (positions which anticipate an increase in the market value of a particular asset or index). The Fund also may use strategies that involve simultaneous short and long positions in response to specific market conditions, such as where the Adviser anticipates unusually high or low market volatility.

The Adviser may enter into derivative positions for either hedging or non-hedging purposes. The term "hedging" is applied to defensive strategies designed to protect the Fund from an expected decline in the market value of an asset or group of assets that the Fund owns (in the case of a short hedge) or to protect the Fund from an expected rise in the market value of an asset or group of assets which it intends to acquire in the future (in the case of a long or "anticipatory" hedge). Non-hedging strategies include strategies designed to produce incremental income (such as the option writing strategy described below) or "speculative" strategies, which are undertaken to equitize the cash or cash-equivalent portion of the Fund's portfolio or to profit from (i) an expected decline in the market value of an asset or group of assets which the Fund does not own or (ii) expected increases in the market value of an asset which it does not plan to acquire. Information about specific types of instruments is provided below.

Exchange-Traded Funds ("ETFs")

The Fund may invest in ETFs, which are, with a few exceptions, open-end investment companies that trade throughout the day. ETFs trade on stock exchanges. Because they trade like a stock, they offer trading flexibility desired by both individuals and institutions. The value of the underlying securities held by an ETF is a major factor in determining an ETF's price. However, ETFs do not necessarily trade at their NAV. The price of an ETF also is determined by supply and demand and, as a result, the share price of an ETF may trade at a premium or discount to its NAV.

The Fund may be exposed to the same risks of the ETFs' holdings as the ETFs themselves in direct proportion to the allocation of the Fund's assets among those ETFs. Fund shareholders also will indirectly bear fees and expenses charged by the ETFs in which the Fund may invest in addition to the Fund's direct fees and expenses. In addition, the ETFs in which the Fund may invest are typically "passive investors" that invest in the securities and sectors contained in the indexes they seek to track without regard for or analysis of the prospects of such securities or sectors ("Passive ETFs"). A Passive ETF may invest in all of the securities in such index or in a representative sample of such securities.

Passive ETFs generally do not attempt to take defensive positions in volatile or declining markets or under other conditions. Furthermore, Passive ETFs usually are not able to duplicate exactly the performance of the underlying indexes they track. The difference in performance between a Passive ETF and the index it seeks to track can be due to, among other factors, the expenses that the Passive ETF pays, regulatory constraints, investment strategies, techniques undertaken by the Passive ETF and changes to an underlying index. There also may be a lack of correlation between the securities in an index and those actually held by a Passive ETF. The performance of the Fund that invests in such an ETF could be adversely impacted. In addition, although ETFs (both active and passive) generally are listed on securities exchanges, there can be no assurances that an active trading market for such ETFs will be maintained. Secondary market trading in the ETFs also may be halted by a national securities exchange because of market conditions or for other reasons. There can be no assurances that the requirement necessary to maintain the listing of the ETFs will continue to be met or will remain unchanged.

Equity Securities

Equity securities in which the Fund invests include common stocks, preferred stocks, and securities convertible into common stocks, such as convertible bonds, warrants, rights, and options. The value of equity securities varies in response to many factors, including the activities and financial condition of individual companies, the business market in which individual companies compete and general market and economic conditions. Equity securities fluctuate in value, often based on factors unrelated to the value of the issuer of the securities, and such fluctuations can be significant. Equity Securities generally have greater volatility than debt securities.

Foreign Securities

General. The Fund may invest in foreign securities and ETFs and other investment companies that hold a portfolio of foreign securities. Investing in securities of foreign companies and countries involves certain considerations and risks that are not typically associated with investing in U.S. government securities and securities of domestic companies. There may be less publicly available information about a foreign issuer than a domestic one, and foreign companies are not generally subject to uniform accounting, auditing and financial

standards and requirements comparable to those applicable to U.S. companies. There may also be less government supervision and regulation of foreign securities exchanges, brokers and listed companies than exists in the United States. Interest and dividends paid by foreign issuers may be subject to withholding and other foreign taxes, which may decrease the net return on such investments as compared to dividends and interest paid to the Fund by domestic companies or the U.S. government. There may be the possibility of expropriations, seizure or nationalization of foreign deposits, confiscatory taxation, political, economic, or social instability or diplomatic developments that could affect assets of the Fund held in foreign countries. Finally, the establishment of exchange controls or other foreign governmental laws or restrictions could adversely affect the payment of obligations.

To the extent the Fund's currency exchange transactions do not fully protect the Fund against adverse changes in currency exchange rates, decreases in the value of currencies of the foreign countries in which the Fund will invest relative to the U.S. dollar will result in a corresponding decrease in the U.S. dollar value of the Fund's assets denominated in those currencies (and possibly a corresponding increase in the amount of securities required to be liquidated to meet distribution requirements). Conversely, increases in the value of currencies of the foreign countries in which the Fund invests relative to the U.S. dollar will result in a corresponding increase in the U.S. dollar value of the Fund's assets (and possibly a corresponding decrease in the amount of securities to be liquidated).

Emerging Markets Securities. The Fund may purchase securities of emerging market issuers and ETFs and other investment companies that invest in emerging market securities. Investing in emerging market securities imposes risks different from, or greater than, risks of investing in foreign developed countries. These risks, among others, include: smaller market capitalization of securities markets, which may suffer periods of relative illiquidity; significant price volatility; restrictions on foreign investment; and possible repatriation of investment income and capital. In addition, foreign investors may be required to register the proceeds of sales. Future economic or political crises could lead to price controls, forced mergers, expropriation or confiscatory taxation, seizure, nationalization, or creation of government monopolies. The currencies of emerging market countries may experience significant declines against the U.S. dollar, and devaluation may occur subsequent to investments in these currencies by the Fund. Inflation and rapid fluctuations in inflation rates have had, and may continue to have, negative effects on the economies and securities markets of certain emerging market countries.

Additional risks of emerging markets securities may include: greater social, economic and political uncertainty and instability; more substantial governmental involvement in the economy; less governmental supervision and regulation; unavailability of currency hedging techniques; companies that are newly organized and small; differences in auditing and financial reporting standards, which may result in unavailability of material information about issuers; and less developed legal systems. In addition, emerging securities markets may have different clearance and settlement procedures, which may be unable to keep pace with the volume of securities transactions or otherwise make it difficult to engage in such transactions. Settlement problems may cause the Fund to miss attractive investment opportunities, hold a portion of its assets in cash pending investment, or be delayed in disposing of a portfolio security. Such a delay could result in possible liability to a purchaser of the security.

Investing through Stock Connect. Certain of the Funds may invest in developing markets through trading structures or protocols that subject them to certain risks (such as risks associated with illiquidity, custody of assets, different settlement and clearance procedures, asserting legal title under developing legal and regulatory regimes and other risks) to a greater degree than in developed markets or even other developing markets. For example, the Fund may invest in certain eligible Chinese securities ("China A-Shares") listed and traded on Chinese stock exchanges such as the Shanghai Stock Exchange ("SSE") through the Hong Kong—Shanghai Stock Connect ("Stock Connect") program. Stock Connect is a securities trading and clearing program developed by the Hong Kong Stock Exchange ("SEHK"), SSE, Hong Kong Securities Clearing Company Limited and China Securities Depository and Clearing Corporation Limited for the establishment of mutual market access between SEHK and SSE. Stock Connect is subject to regulations promulgated by regulatory authorities for both SSE and SEHK. Further regulations or restrictions, such as limitations on redemptions or suspension of trading, may adversely affect Stock Connect and the value of the China A-Shares held by the Fund. There is no guarantee that the systems required to operate Stock Connect will function properly or will continue to be adapted to changes and developments in both markets or that both exchanges will continue to support Stock Connect in the future. In the event that the relevant systems do not function properly, trading through Stock Connect could be disrupted.

Although trading through Stock Connect is not subject to individual investment quotas, daily and aggregate investment quotas apply to the aggregate volume of trading on Stock Connect, which may restrict or preclude the Fund's ability to invest in Stock Connect securities or to enter into or exit trades on a timely basis. In addition, Stock Connect securities generally may not be sold, purchased, or otherwise transferred other than through Stock Connect pursuant to the program's rules, which may further subject the Fund to liquidity risk in respect of China A-Shares. Stock Connect can only operate when both Chinese and Hong Kong markets are open for trading and when banking services are available in both markets on the corresponding settlement days. As a result, if either or both of these markets are closed on a U.S. trading day, the Fund may not be able to dispose of its China A-Shares in a timely manner, which could adversely affect the Fund's performance. Because of the way in which China A-Shares are held through Stock Connect, the Fund may not be able to exercise the rights of a shareholder and may be limited in its ability to pursue claims against the issuer of a security, and may suffer losses in the event the depository of the SSE becomes insolvent. Only certain China A shares are eligible to be accessed through Stock Connect. Such securities may lose their eligibility at any time, in which case they presumably could be sold but could no longer be

purchased through Stock Connect. Investments in China A-shares may not be covered by the securities investor protection programs of either exchange and, without the protection of such programs, will be subject to the risk of default by the broker.

Special Risk Considerations of Investing in China. Investing in securities of Chinese issuers involves certain risks and considerations not typically associated with investing in securities of U.S. issuers, including, among others, more frequent trading suspensions and government interventions (including by nationalization of assets), currency exchange rate fluctuations or blockages, limits on the use of brokers and on foreign ownership, different financial reporting standards, higher dependence on exports and international trade, potential for increased trade tariffs, sanctions, embargoes and other trade limitations, custody risks, and potential adverse tax consequences. U.S. sanctions or other investment restrictions could preclude the Fund from investing in certain Chinese issuers or cause the Fund to sell investments at a disadvantageous time. Significant portions of the Chinese securities markets may become rapidly illiquid, as Chinese issuers have the ability to suspend the trading of their equity securities, and have shown a willingness to exercise that option in response to market volatility and other events.

The government of China provided new guidance to and placed restrictions on China-based companies raising capital offshore, including through associated offshore shell companies. These developments include government-led cybersecurity reviews of certain companies raising capital through offshore entities. In a number of sectors in China in which the Fund may invest, companies are not allowed to have foreign ownership and cannot directly list on exchanges outside of China. To raise money on such exchanges, many China-based operating companies are structured as Variable Interest Entities ("VIEs"). In such an arrangement, a China-based operating company often establishes an offshore shell company in another jurisdiction to issue stock to public shareholders. That shell company enters into service and other contracts with the China-based operating company, then issues shares on a foreign exchange, such as the NYSE. While the shell company has no equity ownership in the China-based operating company, for accounting purposes the shell company is able to consolidate the operating company into its financial statements. For an investor such as the Fund, this arrangement creates "exposure" to the China-based operating company, though only through a series of service contracts and other contracts.

Uncertainty about future actions by the government of China could significantly affect the operating company's financial performance and the enforceability of the contractual arrangements. The government of China could determine at any time and without notice that the underlying contractual arrangements on which control of the VIE is based violate Chinese law. In addition, if either the China-based company (or its officers, directors, or Chinese equity owners) breach those contracts with the U.S.-listed shell company, or Chinese law changes in a way that affects the enforceability of these arrangements, or those contracts are otherwise not enforceable under Chinese law, investors, such as the Fund, may suffer significant losses with little or no recourse available. Moreover, if the parties to these contracts do not meet their obligations as intended or there are effects on the enforceability of these arrangements from changes in Chinese law or practice, the U.S.-listed company may lose control over the China-based company, and investments in its securities may suffer significant economic losses. Additional risks, among others, could entail that a breach of the contractual agreements between the U.S.-listed company and the China-based VIE (or its officers, directors, or Chinese equity owners) will likely be subject to Chinese law and jurisdiction, and investments in the U.S.-listed company may be affected by conflicts of interest and duties between the legal owners of the China-based VIE and the stockholders of the U.S.-listed company.

Futures Contracts

A futures contract provides for the future sale by one party and purchase by another party of a specified amount of a specific financial instrument (e.g., units of a stock index or reference item such as stock volatility) for a specified price, date, time, and place designated at the time the contract is made. Brokerage fees are paid when a futures contract is bought or sold and margin deposits must be maintained. Entering into a contract to buy is commonly referred to as buying or purchasing a contract or holding a long position. Entering into a contract to sell is commonly referred to as selling a contract or holding a short position.

Unlike when the Fund purchases or sells a security, no price would be paid or received by the Fund upon the purchase or sale of a futures contract. Upon entering into a futures contract, and to maintain the Fund's open positions in futures contracts, the Fund would be required to deposit with its custodian or futures broker in a segregated account in the name of the futures broker an amount of cash, U.S. government securities, suitable money market instruments, or other liquid securities, known as "initial margin." The margin required for a particular futures contract is set by the exchange on which the contract is traded, and may be significantly modified from time to time by the exchange during the term of the contract. Futures contracts are customarily purchased and sold on margins that may range upward from less than 5% of the value of the contract being traded.

If the price of an open futures contract changes (by increase in underlying instrument or index in the case of a sale or by decrease in the case of a purchase) so that the loss on the futures contract reaches a point at which the margin on deposit does not satisfy margin requirements, the broker will require an increase in the margin. However, if the value of a position increases because of favorable price changes in the futures contract so that the margin deposit exceeds the required margin, the broker will pay the excess to the Fund.

These subsequent payments, called "variation margin," to and from the futures broker, are made on a daily basis as the price of the underlying assets fluctuate making the long and short positions in the futures contract more or less valuable, a process known as "marking to the market." The Fund expects to earn interest income on its margin deposits.

Although certain futures contracts, by their terms, require actual future delivery of and payment for the underlying instruments, in practice most futures contracts are usually closed out before the delivery date. Closing out an open futures contract purchase or sale is effected by entering into an offsetting futures contract sale or purchase, respectively, for the same aggregate amount of the identical underlying instrument or index and the same delivery date. If the offsetting purchase price is less than the original sale price, the Fund realizes a gain; if it is more, the Fund realizes a loss. Conversely, if the offsetting sale price is more than the original purchase price, the Fund realizes a gain; if it is less, the Fund realizes a loss. The transaction costs must also be included in these calculations. There can be no assurance, however, that the Fund will be able to enter into an offsetting transaction with respect to a particular futures contract at a particular time. If the Fund is not able to enter into an offsetting transaction, the Fund will continue to be required to maintain the margin deposits on the futures contract. For example, one contract in the Financial Times Stock Exchange 100 Index future is a contract to buy 25 pounds sterling multiplied by the level of the UK Financial Times 100 Share Index on a given future date. Settlement of a stock index futures contract may or may not be in the underlying instrument or index. If not in the underlying instrument or index, then settlement will be made in cash, equivalent over time to the difference between the contract price and the actual price of the underlying asset at the time the stock index futures contract expires.

Illiquid Investments and Restricted Securities

The Fund may invest up to 15% of its net assets in illiquid investments. Rule 22e-4 under the 1940 Act defines an illiquid investment as investments that the Fund reasonably expects cannot be sold or disposed of in current market conditions in seven calendar days or less without the sale or disposition significantly changing the market value of the investment. Illiquid investments include investments subject to contractual or legal restrictions on resale (e.g., because they have not been registered under the 1933 Act) and investments that are otherwise not readily marketable (e.g., because trading in the security is suspended or because market makers do not exist or will not entertain bids or offers). Investments that have not been registered under the 1933 Act are referred to as private placements or restricted securities and are purchased directly from the issuer or in the secondary market. Foreign securities that are freely tradable in their principal markets are not considered to be illiquid.

Restricted and other illiquid investments may be subject to the potential for delays on resale and uncertainty in valuation. The Fund might be unable to dispose of illiquid investments promptly or at reasonable prices and might thereby experience difficulty in satisfying redemption requests from shareholders. The Fund might have to register restricted securities in order to dispose of them, resulting in additional expense and delay. Adverse market conditions could impede such a public offering of securities.

A large institutional market exists for certain securities that are not registered under the 1933 Act, including foreign securities. The fact that there are contractual or legal restrictions on resale to the general public or to certain institutions may not be indicative of the liquidity of such investments. Rule 144A under the 1933 Act allows such a broader institutional trading market for securities otherwise subject to restrictions on resale to the general public.

Rule 144A establishes a "safe harbor" from the registration requirements of the 1933 Act for resale of certain securities to qualified institutional buyers. Rule 144A has produced enhanced liquidity for many restricted securities, and market liquidity for such securities may continue to expand as a result of this regulation and the consequent existence of the PORTAL system, which is an automated system for the trading, clearance, and settlement of unregistered securities of domestic and foreign issuers sponsored by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc. ("FINRA").

Under guidelines adopted by the Trust's Board, the Adviser may determine that particular Rule 144A securities, and commercial paper issued in reliance on the private placement exemption from registration afforded by Section 4(a)(2) of the 1933 Act, are liquid even though they are not registered. A determination of whether such a security is liquid or not is a question of fact. In making this determination, the Adviser will consider, as it deems appropriate under the circumstances and among other factors: (1) the frequency of trades and quotes for the security; (2) the number of dealers willing to purchase or sell the security; (3) the number of other potential purchasers of the security; (4) dealer undertakings to make a market in the security; (5) the nature of the security (e.g., debt or equity, date of maturity, terms of dividend or interest payments, and other material terms) and the nature of the marketplace trades (e.g., the time needed to dispose of the security, the method of soliciting offers, and the mechanics of transfer); and (6) the rating of the security and the financial condition and prospects of the issuer. In the case of commercial paper, the Adviser will also determine that the paper

(1)is not traded flat or in default as to principal and interest, and (2) is rated in one of the two highest rating categories by at least two National Statistical Rating Organizations ("NRSROs") or, if only one NRSRO rates the security, by that NRSRO, or, if the security is unrated, the Adviser determines that it is of equivalent quality. Rule 144A securities and Section 4(a)(2) commercial paper that have been deemed liquid as described above will continue to be monitored by the Adviser to determine if the security is no longer liquid as the result of changed conditions. Investing in Rule 144A securities or Section 4(a)(2) commercial paper could have the effect of

increasing the amount of the Fund's assets invested in illiquid investments if institutional buyers are unwilling to purchase such securities.

Victory Capital, under oversight of the Board, determines whether a particular investment is deemed to be liquid based on the trading markets for the specific security and other factors.

Impact of Activity by Other Shareholders

The Fund, like all mutual funds, pool the investments of many investors. Actions by one shareholder or multiple shareholders may have an impact on the Fund and, therefore, indirectly on other shareholders. For example, significant levels of new investments in the Fund by shareholders may cause the Fund to have more cash than would otherwise be the case, which may have a positive or negative impact on Fund performance. Similarly, redemption activity might cause the Fund to sell portfolio securities, which may increase transaction costs that, in effect, would be borne by all shareholders, not just the redeeming shareholders. The sale of portfolio securities to cover redemption requests may accelerate the realization of income and cause the Fund to make taxable distributions to shareholders earlier than the Fund otherwise could have. In addition, under certain circumstances, non-redeeming shareholders may be treated as receiving a disproportionately large taxable distribution during or with respect to a year in which there are large redemptions. To the extent a larger shareholder invests in the Fund or the markets are highly volatile, the Fund may experience large inflows or outflows of cash from time to time. This activity could magnify these adverse effects on the Fund.

Income Trusts

The Fund may invest in income trusts, which are investment trusts that hold assets that are income producing. The income is passed on to the "unitholders." Each income trust has an operating risk based on its underlying business. The term may also be used to designate a legal entity, capital structure and ownership vehicle for certain assets or businesses. Shares or "trust units" are traded on securities exchanges just like stocks. Income is passed on to the investors, called unitholders, through monthly or quarterly distributions. Historically, distributions have typically been higher than dividends on common stocks. The unitholders are the beneficiaries of a trust, and their units represent their right to participate in the income and capital of the trust. Income trusts generally invest funds in assets that provide a return to the trust and its beneficiaries based on the cash flows of an underlying business. This return is often achieved through the acquisition by the trust of equity and debt instruments, royalty interests or real properties. The trust can receive interest, royalty or lease payments from an operating entity carrying on a business, as well as dividends and a return of capital.

Each income trust has an operating risk based on its underlying business; and, typically, the higher the yield, the higher the risk. They also have additional risk factors, including, but not limited to, poorer access to debt markets. Similar to a dividend paying stock, income trusts do not guarantee minimum distributions or even return of capital. If the business starts to lose money, the trust can reduce or even eliminate distributions; this is usually accompanied by sharp losses in a unit's market value. Since the yield is one of the main attractions of income trusts, there is the risk that trust units will decline in value if interest rates offering in competing markets, such as in the cash/treasury market, increase. Interest rate risk is also present within the trusts themselves because they hold very long term capital assets (e.g. pipelines, power plants, etc.), and much of the excess distributable income is derived from a maturity (or duration) mismatch between the life of the asset, and the life of the financing associated with it. In an increasing interest rate environment, not only does the attractiveness of trust distributions decrease, but quite possibly, the distributions may themselves decrease, leading to a double whammy of both declining yield and substantial loss of unitholder value. Because most income is passed on to unitholders, rather than reinvested in the business, in some cases, a trust can become a wasting asset unless more equity is issued. Because many income trusts pay out more than their net income, the unitholder equity (capital) may decline over time. To the extent that the value of the trust is driven by the deferral or reduction of tax, any change in government tax regulations to remove the benefit will reduce the value of the trusts. Generally, income trusts also carry the same risks as dividend paying stocks that are traded on stock markets.

Initial Public Offerings ("IPOs")

The Fund may invest in IPOs, which subject the Fund to the risk that the market value of IPO shares will fluctuate considerably due to factors such as the absence of a prior public market, unseasoned trading, a potentially small number of shares available for trading, and limited information about the issuer. The purchase of IPO shares may involve high transaction costs. IPO shares are subject to market risk and liquidity risk. When the Fund's asset base is small, a significant portion of the Fund's performance could be attributable to investments in IPOs, because such investments would have a magnified impact on the Fund. As the Fund's assets grow, the effect of the Fund's investments in IPOs on the Fund's performance may decline, which could reduce the Fund's performance.

Lending of Portfolio Securities

The Fund may, from time to time, lend securities from their portfolios to broker-dealers, banks, financial institutions, and institutional borrowers of securities and receive collateral in the form of cash or U.S. government obligations. Under the Fund's current practices

(which are subject to change), the Fund must receive initial collateral at least equal to the maintenance requirements (e.g., 102% for U.S. equity securities and 105% for non-U.S. securities). This collateral must be valued daily and should the market value of the loaned securities increase, the borrower must furnish additional collateral to the Fund sufficient to maintain the value of the collateral equal to at least 100% of the value of the loaned securities. The lending agent receives a pre-negotiated percentage of the net earnings on the investment of the collateral. The Fund will not lend portfolio securities to: (a) any "affiliated person" (as that term is defined in the 1940 Act) of any Fund; (b) any affiliated person of the Adviser; or (c) any affiliated person of such an affiliated person. During the time portfolio securities are on loan, the borrower will pay the Fund any dividends or interest paid on such securities plus any fee negotiated between the parties to the lending agreement. Loans will be subject to termination by the Funds or the borrower at any time. While the Fund will not have the right to vote securities on loan, they intend to terminate loans and regain the right to vote if that is considered important with respect to the investment. The Fund will enter into loan arrangements only with broker-dealers, banks, or other institutions that either the Adviser or the lending agent has determined are creditworthy under guidelines established by the Board. Although these loans are fully collateralized, there are risks associated with securities lending. The Fund's performance could be hurt if a borrower defaults or becomes insolvent, or if the Fund wishes to sell a security before its return can be arranged. The return on invested cash collateral will result in gains and losses for the Funds. The Fund will limit its securities lending to 33-1/3% of its total assets.

Limitations and Risks of Options and Futures Activity

The Fund may engage in both hedging and non-hedging strategies. Although effective hedging can generally capture the bulk of a desired risk adjustment, no hedge is completely effective. The Fund's ability to hedge effectively through transactions in futures and options depends on the degree to which price movements in the hedged asset correlate with price movements of the futures and options.

Non-hedging strategies typically involve special risks. The profitability of the Fund's non-hedging strategies will depend on the ability of the Adviser to analyze both the applicable derivatives market and the market for the underlying asset or group of assets. Derivatives markets are often more volatile than corresponding securities markets and a relatively small change in the price of the underlying asset or group of assets can have a magnified effect upon the price of a related derivative instrument.

Derivatives markets also are often less liquid than the market for the underlying asset or group of assets. Some positions in futures and options may be closed out only on an exchange that provides a secondary market. There can be no assurance that a liquid secondary market will exist for any particular futures contract or option at any specific time. Thus, it may not be possible to close such an option or futures position prior to maturity. The inability to close options and futures positions also could have an adverse impact on the Fund's ability to effectively carry out its derivative strategies and might, in some cases, require the fund to deposit cash to meet applicable margin requirements.

Under certain circumstances, futures exchanges may establish daily limits on the amount that the price of a futures contract or an option on a futures contract can vary from the previous day's settlement price; once that limit is reached, no trades may be made that day at a price beyond the limit. Daily price limits do not limit potential losses because prices could move to the daily limit for several consecutive days with little or no trading, thereby preventing liquidation of unfavorable positions.

If the Fund were unable to liquidate a futures contract or an option on a futures position due to the absence of a liquid secondary market or the imposition of price limits, it could incur substantial losses. The Fund would continue to be subject to market risk with respect to the position.

Historically, advisers of registered investment companies trading commodity interests (such as futures contracts, options on futures contracts, and swaps), such as the Fund, have been excluded from regulation as Commodity Pool Operators ("CPOs") pursuant to Commodity Futures Trading Commission ("CFTC") Regulation 4.5. In February 2012, the CFTC announced substantial amendments to the permissible exclusions, and to the conditions for reliance on the permissible exclusions, from registration as a CPO. To qualify for an exclusion under these amendments to CFTC Regulation 4.5, if the Fund uses commodity interests (such as futures contracts, options on futures contracts, and swaps) other than for bona fide hedging purposes (as defined by the CFTC), the aggregate initial margin and premiums required to establish these positions, determined at the time the most recent position was established, may not exceed 5% of the Fund's NAV (after taking into account unrealized profits and unrealized losses on any such positions and excluding the amount by which options that are "in-the-money" at the time of purchase are "in-the-money") or, alternatively, the aggregate net notional value of those positions, determined at the time the most recent position was established, may not exceed 100% of the Fund's NAV (after taking into account unrealized profits and unrealized losses on any such positions). In addition, to qualify for an exclusion, the Fund must satisfy a marketing test, which requires, among other things, that the Fund not hold itself out as a vehicle for trading commodity interests. The amendments to CFTC Regulation 4.5 became effective on April 24, 2012. The regulatory requirements could change at any time and additional regulations could also be adopted, which may adversely affect the Fund.

The Adviser currently claims an exclusion (under CFTC Regulation 4.5) from registration as a CPO with respect to the Fund and, in its management of the Fund, intends to comply with one of the two alternative trading limitations described above and the marketing

limitation. Complying with the trading limitations may restrict the Adviser's ability to use derivatives as part of the Fund's investment strategies. Although the Adviser expects to be able to execute the Fund's investment strategies within the limitations, the Fund's performance could be adversely affected. In addition, new rules may limit the availability of certain derivatives, may make the use of derivatives by portfolios more costly and may otherwise adversely impact the performance and value of derivatives.

New or Smaller Funds

A fund with limited operating history and/or small asset base may involve additional risk. For example, there can be no assurance that a new or smaller fund will grow to or maintain an economically viable size. Should the Fund not grow to or maintain an economically viable size, the Board may determine to liquidate the Fund. Although the interests of shareholders in the Fund are the principal concern of the Board, in the event the Board determines to liquidate the Fund, the timing of any possible liquidation might not be favorable to certain individual shareholders.

Options

The use of derivatives is a highly specialized activity that can involve investment techniques and risks different from, and in some respects greater than, those associated with investing in more traditional investments such as stocks and bonds. Derivatives may have a return that is tied to a formula based upon an interest rate, index, or other measurement, which may differ from the return of a simple security of the same maturity. A formula may have a cap or other limitation on the rate of interest to be paid. Derivatives may have varying degrees of volatility at different times, or under different market conditions, and may perform in unanticipated ways. New regulation of derivatives may make them more costly, or may otherwise adversely affect their liquidity, value, or performance.

The Fund may purchase and write (i.e., sell) put and call options. Such options may relate to particular securities, stock indices, other index, reference asset or reference item and may or may not be listed on a domestic or foreign securities exchange and may or may not be issued by the Options Clearing Corporation. Options trading is a highly specialized activity that entails greater than ordinary investment risk. Options may be more volatile than the underlying instruments, and therefore, on a percentage basis, an investment in options may be subject to greater fluctuation than an investment in the underlying instruments themselves.

A call option for a particular security gives the purchaser of the option the right to buy, and the writer (seller) the obligation to sell, the underlying security at the stated exercise price at any time prior to the expiration of the option, regardless of the market price of the security. The premium paid to the writer is in consideration for undertaking the obligation under the option contract. A put option for a particular security gives the purchaser the right to sell the security at the stated exercise price at any time prior to the expiration date of the option, regardless of the market price of the security.

Stock index options are put options and call options on various stock indices. In most respects, they are identical to listed options on common stocks. The primary difference between stock options and index options occurs when index options are exercised. In the case of stock options, the underlying security, common stock, is delivered. However, upon the exercise of an index option, settlement does not occur by delivery of the securities comprising the index. The option holder who exercises the index option receives an amount of cash if the closing level of the stock index upon which the option is based is greater than, in the case of a call, or less than, in the case of a put, the exercise price of the option. This amount of cash is equal to the difference between the closing price of the stock index and the exercise price of the option expressed in dollars times a specified multiple. A stock index fluctuates with changes in the market value of the stocks included in the index. For example, some stock index options are based on a broad market index, such as the S&P 500® Index or the Value Line Composite Index or a narrower market index, such as the S&P 100®.

Indices may also be based on an industry or market segment, such as the AMEX Oil and Gas Index or the Computer and Business Equipment Index. Options on stock indices are currently traded on the Chicago Board Options Exchange, the New York Stock Exchange, the American Stock Exchange, the Pacific Stock Exchange, and the Philadelphia Stock Exchange.

The Fund's obligation to sell an instrument subject to a call option written by it, or to purchase an instrument subject to a put option written by it, may be terminated prior to the expiration date of the option by the Fund's execution of a closing purchase transaction, which is effected by purchasing on an exchange an option of the same series (i.e., same underlying instrument, exercise price and expiration date) as the option previously written. A closing purchase transaction will ordinarily be effected to realize a profit on an outstanding option, to prevent an underlying instrument from being called, to permit the sale of the underlying instrument or to permit the writing of a new option containing different terms on such underlying instrument. The cost of such a liquidation purchase plus transactions costs may be greater than the premium received upon the original option, in which event the Fund will have paid a loss in the transaction. There is no assurance that a liquid secondary market will exist for any particular option. An option writer unable to effect a closing purchase transaction will not be able to sell the underlying instrument or liquidate the assets held in a segregated account, as described below, until the option expires or the optioned instrument is delivered upon exercise. In such circumstances, the writer will be subject to the risk of market decline or appreciation in the instrument during such period.

If an option purchased by the Fund expires unexercised, the Fund realizes a loss equal to the premium paid. If the Fund enters into a closing sale transaction on an option purchased by it, the Fund would realize a gain if the premium received by the Fund on the closing transaction is more than the premium paid to purchase the option, or a loss if it is less. If an option written by the Fund expires on the stipulated expiration date or if the Fund enters into a closing purchase transaction, it will realize a gain (or loss if the cost of a closing purchase transaction exceeds the net premium received when the option is sold). If an option written by the Fund is exercised, the proceeds of the sale will be increased by the net premium originally received and the Fund will realize a gain or loss.

Certain Risks Regarding Options. There are several risks associated with transactions in options. For example, there are significant differences between the securities and options markets that could result in an imperfect correlation between these markets, causing a given transaction not to achieve its objectives. In addition, a liquid secondary market for particular options, whether traded over-the- counter or on an exchange, may be absent for reasons which include the following: there may be insufficient trading interest in certain options; restrictions may be imposed by an exchange on opening transactions or closing transactions or both; trading halts, suspensions or other restrictions may be imposed with respect to particular classes or series of options or underlying securities or currencies; unusual or unforeseen circumstances may interrupt normal operations on an exchange; the facilities of an exchange or the Options Clearing Corporation may not at all times be adequate to handle current trading value; or one or more exchanges could, for economic or other reasons, decide or be compelled at some future date to discontinue the trading of options (or a particular class or series of options), in which event the secondary market on that exchange (or in that class or series of options) would cease to exist, although outstanding options that had been issued by the Options Clearing Corporation as a result of trades on that exchange would continue to be exercisable in accordance with their terms.

Successful use by the Fund of options on stock indices will be subject to the ability of the Adviser to correctly predict movements in the directions of the stock market. This requires different skills and techniques than predicting changes in the prices of individual securities. In addition, the Fund's ability to effectively hedge all or a portion of the securities in its portfolio, in anticipation of or during a market decline, through transactions in put options on stock indices, depends on the degree to which price movements in the underlying index correlate with the price movements of the securities held by the Fund. Inasmuch as the Fund's securities will not duplicate the components of an index, the correlation will not be perfect. Consequently, the Fund bears the risk that the prices of its securities being hedged will not move in the same amount as the prices of its put options on the stock indices. It is also possible that there may be a negative correlation between the index and the Fund's securities that would result in a loss on both such securities and the options on stock indices acquired by the Fund.

The hours of trading for options may not conform to the hours during which the underlying securities are traded. To the extent that the options markets close before the markets for the underlying securities, significant price and rate movements can take place in the underlying markets that cannot be reflected in the options markets. The purchase of options is a highly specialized activity that involves investment techniques and risks different from those associated with ordinary portfolio securities transactions. The purchase of stock index options involves the risk that the premium and transaction costs paid by the Fund in purchasing an option will be lost as a result of unanticipated movements in prices of the securities comprising the stock index on which the option is based.

There is no assurance that a liquid secondary market on an options exchange will exist for any particular option, or at any particular time, and for some options no secondary market on an exchange or elsewhere may exist. If the Fund is unable to close out a call option on securities that it has written before the option is exercised, the Fund may be required to purchase the optioned securities in order to satisfy its obligation under the option to deliver such securities. If the Fund is unable to effect a closing sale transaction with respect to options on securities that it has purchased, it would have to exercise the option in order to realize any profit and would incur transaction costs upon the purchase and sale of the underlying securities.

Cover for Options Positions. Transactions using options (other than options that the Fund has purchased) expose the Fund to an obligation to another party. The Fund will not enter into any such transactions unless it owns either (i) an offsetting ("covered") position in securities or other options or (ii) cash or liquid securities with a value sufficient at all times to cover its potential obligations not covered as provided in (i) above.

For more information about these practices, see the "Derivatives" section.

Options on Futures Contracts. The Fund may purchase and sell options on the same types of futures in which it may invest. Options on futures are similar to options on underlying instruments except that options on futures give the purchaser the right, in return for the premium paid, to assume a position in a futures contract (a long position if the option is a call and a short position if the option is a put), rather than to purchase or sell the futures contract, at a specified exercise price at any time during the period of the option. Upon exercise of the option, the delivery of the futures position by the writer of the option to the holder of the option will be accompanied by the delivery of the accumulated balance in the writer's futures margin account which represents the amount by which the market price of

the futures contract, at exercise, exceeds (in the case of a call) or is less than (in the case of a put) the exercise price of the option on the futures contract. Purchasers of options who fail to exercise their options prior to the exercise date suffer a loss of the premium paid.

Dealer Options. The Fund may engage in transactions involving dealer options as well as exchange-traded options. Certain additional risks are specific to dealer options. While the Fund might look to a clearing corporation to exercise exchange-traded options, if the Fund were to purchase a dealer option it would need to rely on the dealer from which it purchased the option to perform if the option were exercised. Failure by the dealer to do so would result in the loss of the premium paid by the Fund as well as loss of the expected benefit of the transaction.

Exchange-traded options generally have a continuous liquid market while dealer options may not. Consequently, the Fund may generally be able to realize the value of a dealer option it has purchased only by exercising or reselling the option to the dealer who issued it. Similarly, when the Fund writes a dealer option, it may generally be able to close out the option prior to its expiration only by entering into a closing purchase transaction with the dealer to whom the Fund originally wrote the option. While the Fund will seek to enter into dealer options only with dealers who will agree to and which are expected to be capable of entering into closing transactions with the Fund, there can be no assurance that the Fund will at any time be able to liquidate a dealer option at a favorable price at any time prior to expiration. Unless the Fund, as a covered dealer call option writer, is able to effect a closing purchase transaction, it will not be able to liquidate securities (or other assets) used as cover until the option expires or is exercised. In the event of insolvency of the other party, the Fund may be unable to liquidate a dealer option. With respect to options written by the Fund, the inability to enter into a closing transaction may result in material losses to the Fund. For example, because the Fund must maintain a secured position with respect to any call option on a security it writes, the Fund may not sell the assets, which it has segregated to secure the position while it is obligated under the option. This requirement may impair the Fund's ability to sell portfolio securities at a time when such sale might be advantageous.

The Staff of the SEC has taken the position that purchased dealer options are illiquid investments. The Fund may treat the cover used for written dealer options as liquid if the dealer agrees that the Fund may repurchase the dealer option it has written for a maximum price to be calculated by a predetermined formula. In such cases, the dealer option would be considered illiquid only to the extent the maximum purchase price under the formula exceeds the intrinsic value of the option. Accordingly, the Fund will treat dealer options as subject to the Fund's limitation on illiquid investments. If the SEC changes its position on the liquidity of dealer options, the Fund will change its treatment of such instruments accordingly.

Spread Transactions

The Fund may purchase covered spread options from securities dealers. These covered spread options are not presently exchange-listed or exchange-traded. The purchase of a spread option gives the Fund the right to put securities that it owns at a fixed dollar spread or fixed yield spread in relationship to another security that the Fund does not own, but which is used as a benchmark. The risk to the Fund, in addition to the risks of dealer options described above, is the cost of the premium paid as well as any transaction costs. The purchase of spread options will be used to protect the Fund against adverse changes in prevailing credit quality spreads, i.e., the yield spread between high quality and lower quality securities. This protection is provided only during the life of the spread options.

Options on Securities and Securities Indexes

The Fund may purchase and sell options on securities or securities indexes to implement its investment strategy. There are two basic types of options: "puts" and "calls." Each type of option can be used to establish either a long or a short position, depending upon whether the Fund is the purchaser or a writer of the option. A call option on a security, for example, gives the purchaser of the option the right to buy, and the writer of the option the obligation to sell, the underlying asset at the exercise price during the option period. Conversely, a put option on a security gives the purchaser the right to sell, and the writer of the option the obligation to buy, the underlying asset at the exercise price during the option period.

Purchased options have limited risk equal to the amount of the premium paid for the option. Such options afford the opportunity for gain corresponding to the increase or decrease in the value of the optioned asset. In general, a purchased put increases in value as the value of the underlying security falls and a purchased call increases in value as the value of the underlying security rises.

The principal reason to write options is to generate extra income (the premium paid by the buyer). Written options have varying degrees of risk. An uncovered written call option theoretically carries unlimited risk, as the market price of the underlying asset could rise far above the exercise price before its expiration. This risk is tempered when the call option is covered; that is, when the option writer owns the underlying asset. In this case, the writer runs the risk of the lost opportunity to participate in the appreciation in value of the asset rather than the risk of an out-of-pocket loss. A written put option has defined risk; that is, the difference between the agreed-upon price that the Fund must pay to the buyer upon exercise of the put and the value, which could be zero, of the asset at the time of exercise.

The obligation of the writer of an option continues until the writer effects a closing purchase transaction or until the option expires. To secure its obligation to deliver the underlying asset in the case of a call option, or to pay for the underlying asset in the case of a put option, a covered writer is required to deposit in escrow the underlying security or other assets in accordance with the rules of the applicable clearing corporation and exchanges.

Among the options that the Fund may purchase or sell are options on a securities index. In general, options on an index of securities are similar to options on the securities themselves, except that delivery requirements are different. For example, a put option on an index of securities does not give the holder the right to make actual delivery of a basket of securities, but instead gives the holder the right to receive an amount of cash upon exercise of the option if the value of the underlying index has fallen below the exercise price. The amount of cash received will be equal to the difference between the closing price of the index and the exercise price of the option expressed in dollars times a specified multiple. As with options on equity securities, or futures contracts, the Fund may offset its position in index options prior to expiration by entering into a closing transaction on an exchange or it may let the option expire unexercised.

A securities index assigns relative values to the securities included in the index and the index options are based on a broad market index. In connection with the use of such options, the Fund may cover its position by identifying assets having a value equal to the aggregate face value of the option position taken.

Indexed securities are instruments whose prices are indexed to the prices of other securities, securities indices, commodities indices, currencies, precious metals or other commodities, or other financial indicators. Indexed securities typically, but not always, are debt securities or deposits whose value at maturity or coupon rate is determined by reference to a specific instrument or statistic. Inflation- protected securities, for example, can be indexed to a measure of inflation, such as the Consumer Price Index ("CPI"). Commodity- indexed securities, for example, can be indexed to a commodities index such as the Dow Jones-UBS Commodity Index Total Return.

The performance of indexed securities depends to a great extent on the performance of the security, currency, commodity, or other instrument or measure to which they are indexed, and also may be influenced by interest rate changes in the United States and abroad. Indexed securities may be more volatile than the underlying instruments or measures. Indexed securities also are subject to the credit risks associated with the issuer of the security, and their values may decline substantially if the issuer's creditworthiness deteriorates. Recent issuers of indexed securities have included banks, corporations, the U.S. Treasury, and certain other U.S. government agencies. In calculating the Fund's dividends, if any, index-based adjustments may be considered income.

Participation Notes

The Fund may buy participation notes from a bank or broker-dealer ("issuer") that entitle the Fund to a return measured by the change in value of an identified underlying security or basket of securities (collectively, the "underlying security"). Participation notes are typically used when a direct investment in the underlying security is restricted due to country-specific regulations. Investing in participation notes involves the same risks associated with a direct investment in the shares of the companies the notes seek to replicate. However, the performance results of participation notes will not replicate exactly the performance of the issuers or markets that the notes seek to replicate due to transaction costs and other expenses. In addition, participation notes are subject to counterparty risks. Participation notes may be considered illiquid.

Preferred Stock

The Fund may invest in preferred stock with no minimum credit rating. Preferred stock is a class of stock having a preference over common stock as to the payment of dividends and the recovery of investment should a company be liquidated, although preferred stock is usually subordinate to the debt securities of the issuer. Preferred stock typically does not possess voting rights and its market value may change based on changes in interest rates.

The fundamental risk of investing in common and preferred stock is the risk that the value of the stock might decrease. Stock values fluctuate in response to the activities of an individual company or in response to general market and/or economic conditions.

Historically, common stocks have provided greater long-term returns and have entailed greater short-term risks than preferred stocks, fixed income securities and money market investments. The market value of all securities, including common and preferred stocks, is based upon the market's perception of value and not necessarily the book value of an issuer or other objective measures of a company's worth.

Publicly Traded Partnerships

The Fund may invest in publicly traded partnerships ("PTPs"). PTPs are limited partnerships the interests in which (known as "units") are traded on public exchanges, just like corporate stock. PTPs are limited partnerships that provide an investor with a direct interest in

a group of assets (generally, oil and gas properties). Publicly traded partnership units typically trade publicly, like stock, and thus may provide the investor more liquidity than ordinary limited partnerships. Publicly traded partnerships are also called master limited partnerships and public limited partnerships. A limited partnership has one or more general partners (they may be individuals, corporations, partnerships, or another entity) which manage the partnership, and limited partners, which provide capital to the partnership but have no role in its management. When an investor buys units in a PTP, he or she becomes a limited partner. PTPs are formed in several ways. A non-traded partnership may decide to go public. Several non-traded partnerships may "roll up" into a single PTP. A corporation may spin off a group of assets or part of its business into a PTP of which it is the general partner, either to realize what it believes to be the assets' full value or as an alternative to issuing debt. A corporation may fully convert to a PTP, although since 1986 the tax consequences have made this an unappealing option; or a newly formed company may operate as a PTP from its inception.

There are different types of risks to investing in PTPs including regulatory risks and interest rate risks. Currently most partnerships enjoy pass through taxation of their income to partners, which avoids double taxation of earnings. If the government were to change PTP business tax structure, unitholders would not be able to enjoy the relatively high yields in the sector for long. In addition, PTP's which charge government-regulated fees for transportation of oil and gas products through their pipelines are subject to unfavorable changes in government-approved rates and fees, which would affect a PTPs revenue stream negatively. PTPs also carry some interest rate risks. During increases in interest rates, PTPs may not produce decent returns to shareholders.

Real Estate Investment Trusts

The Fund may invest in securities of real estate investment trusts ("REITs"). REITs are corporations or trusts that specialize in financing or acquiring, holding, and managing residential, commercial, or industrial real estate. A REIT is generally not subject to U.S. federal income tax at the entity level on income distributed to its shareholders or unitholders if it distributes to shareholders or unitholders at least 90% of its taxable income for each taxable year and complies with regulatory requirements relating to its organization, ownership, assets, and income.

REITs generally can be classified as "Equity REITs", "Mortgage REITs" and "Hybrid REITs." An Equity REIT invests the majority of its assets directly in real property and derives its income primarily from rents and from capital gains on real estate appreciation, which are realized through property sales. A Mortgage REIT invests the majority of its assets in real estate mortgage loans; the main source of their income is mortgage interest payments. A Hybrid REIT combines the characteristics of an Equity REIT and a Mortgage REIT. Although the Fund can invest in all three kinds of REITs, its emphasis is expected to be on investments in Equity REITs.

Investments in the real estate industry involve particular risks. The real estate industry has been subject to substantial fluctuations and declines on a local, regional, and national basis in the past and may continue to be in the future. Real property values and income from real property may decline due to general and local economic conditions, overbuilding and increased competition, increases in property taxes and operating expenses, changes in zoning laws, casualty or condemnation losses, regulatory limitations on rents, changes in neighborhoods and in demographics, increases in market interest rates, or other factors. Factors such as these may adversely affect companies that own and operate real estate directly, companies that lend to such companies, and companies that service the real estate industry.

Investments in REITs also involve risks. Equity REITs will be affected by changes in the values of and income from the properties they own, while Mortgage REITs may be affected by the credit quality of the mortgage loans they hold. In addition, REITs are dependent on specialized management skills and on their ability to generate cash flow for operating purposes and to satisfy distribution requirements. REITs also may have limited diversification and have limited financial resources, as well as to the risk of self-liquidation. REITs may also fail to qualify for the "dividends paid deduction" under the Code, which allows REITs to reduce their corporate taxable income for dividends paid to their shareholders, or fail to maintain an exemption from registration under the 1940 Act. By investing in REITs indirectly through the Fund, a shareholder bears not only a proportionate share of the expenses of the Fund, but also may indirectly bear similar expenses of some of the REITs in which it invests. In addition, as REITs generally pay a higher rate of dividends (on a pre-tax basis) than operating companies, to the extent application of the Fund's investment strategy results in the Fund investing in REIT shares, the percentage of the Fund's dividend income received from REIT shares will likely exceed the percentage of the Fund's portfolio which is comprised of REIT shares. The real estate industry has been subject to substantial fluctuations and declines on a local, regional, and national basis in the past and may continue to be in the future.

Recent Market Conditions and Events

Global economies and financial markets are increasingly interconnected, which increases the possibilities that conditions in one country or region might adversely affect issuers in another country or region. Geopolitical and other risks, including war, terrorism, trade disputes, political or economic dysfunction within some nations, public health crises and related geopolitical events, as well as environmental disasters such as earthquakes, fires, and floods, may add to instability in world economies and markets generally. Changes in trade policies and international trade agreements could affect the economies of many countries in unpredictable ways. Likewise, systemic

market dislocations of the kind that occurred during the financial crisis that began in 2008, if repeated, would be highly disruptive to economies and markets, adversely affecting individual companies and industries, securities markets, interest rates, credit ratings, inflation, investor sentiment, and other factors affecting the value of the Fund's investments.

Political and diplomatic events within the United States, including a contentious domestic political environment, changes in political party control of one or more branches of the U.S. government, the U.S. government's inability at times to agree on a long-term budget and deficit reduction plan, the threat of a U.S. government shutdown, and disagreements over, or threats not to increase, the U.S. government's borrowing limit (or "debt ceiling"), as well as political and diplomatic events abroad, may affect investor and consumer confidence and may adversely impact financial markets and the broader economy, perhaps suddenly and to a significant degree. A downgrade of the ratings of U.S. government debt obligations, or concerns about the U.S. government's credit quality in general, could have a substantial negative effect on the U.S. and global economies. Moreover, although the U.S. government has honored its credit obligations, there remains a possibility that the United States could default on its obligations. The consequences of such an unprecedented event are impossible to predict, but it is likely that a default by the United States would be highly disruptive to the U.S. and global securities markets and could significantly impair the value of the Fund's investments.

Certain illnesses spread rapidly and have the potential to significantly and adversely affect the global economy and the value of the Fund's investments. Outbreaks of illnesses and diseases, such as severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), influenza of various types and, most recently, COVID-19, or other similarly infectious diseases, may have material adverse impacts on the Fund and its performance. Epidemics and/or pandemics, such as COVID-19, have and may further result in, among other things, border closings and other significant travel restrictions and disruptions, significant disruptions to business operations, supply chains and customer activity, significant challenges to healthcare service preparation and delivery, and quarantines and stay-at-home orders, as well as general concern and uncertainty that has negatively affected the economic environment. These impacts have caused significant volatility and declines in global financial markets, which have caused losses for investors. The impact of COVID-19, and other epidemics and/or pandemics that may arise in the future, and may affect the economies of many nations, individual companies and the global securities and commodities markets, including their liquidity, in ways that cannot necessarily be foreseen at the present time. Historical patterns of correlation among asset classes may break down in unanticipated ways during times of high volatility, disrupting investment programs and potentially causing losses. The impact of public health crises, including COVID-19, may continue to last for an extended period of time.

The U.S. government and certain foreign central banks have taken a variety of unprecedented actions to stabilize the economy and calm the financial markets and may continue to do so, but the ultimate impact of these efforts and interventions is uncertain. In the future, the U.S. government or other governments may take actions that could affect the overall economy as well as the securities in which the Fund invests, the markets in which they trade, or the issuers of such securities, in ways that cannot necessarily be foreseen at the present time. Governmental and quasi-governmental authorities and regulators throughout the world, such as the U.S. Federal Reserve (the "Fed"), have in the past responded to major economic disruptions with a variety of significant fiscal and monetary policy changes, including but not limited to, direct capital infusions into companies, new monetary programs, and changes to interest rates. Certain of those policy changes, for example, were implemented in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Fed has spent hundreds of billions of dollars to keep credit flowing through short-term money markets since mid-September 2019 when a shortage of liquidity caused a spike in overnight borrowing rates, and again in 2020 with large stimulus initiatives intended to respond to economic stresses stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic. The impact of infectious diseases in developing and emerging market countries, however, may be greater due to less established health care systems and fewer government resources to bolster their economies. Public health crises may exacerbate other pre-existing political, social, and economic risks in certain countries.

Instability in the global capital markets may result in disruptions in liquidity in the debt capital markets, significant write-offs in the financial services sector (including banking), the repricing of credit risk in credit markets and the failure of domestic and international financial institutions. Precise interest rate predictions are difficult to make, and interest rates may change unexpectedly and dramatically in response to extreme changes in market or economic conditions. As a result, the value of fixed income securities may vary widely under certain market conditions and may result in heightened market volatility and a decline in the value of the Fund's portfolio. Changes in government policies or central banks could negatively affect the value and liquidity of the Fund's investments and cause it to lose money. The markets could react strongly to expectations for changes in government policies, which could increase volatility, especially if the market's expectations are not borne out. There can be no assurance that the initiatives undertaken by governments and central banks will be successful.

COVID-19, and future epidemics or pandemics, could also impair the information technology and other operational systems upon which the Fund's service providers rely, and could otherwise disrupt the ability of the Fund's service providers to perform essential tasks. These could impair the Fund's ability to maintain operational standards (such as with respect to satisfying redemption requests), disrupt the operations of the Fund's service providers, and negatively impact the Fund's performance. In certain cases, an exchange or market may close or issue trading halts on either specific securities or even the entire market, which may result in the Fund being, among other things, unable to buy or sell certain securities or financial instruments or accurately value its investments.

Markets generally and the energy sector specifically, including MLPs and energy companies in which the Fund may invest, may also be adversely impacted by reduced demand for oil and other energy commodities as a result of a slowdown in economic activity and by price competition among key oil producing countries. In the recent past, global oil prices have declined significantly and experienced significant volatility, including a period where an oil-price futures contract fell into negative territory for the first time in history, as demand for oil has slowed and oil storage facilities reach their storage capacities. Although the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and other oil-producing countries responded, oil price volatility may adversely impact MLPs and energy infrastructure companies. Such companies' growth prospects and ability to pay dividends may be negatively impacted, which could adversely impact the Fund's performance. Additionally, an extended period of reduced oil prices may significantly lengthen the time the energy sector would need to recover after a stabilization of prices.

Some countries, including the United States, are adopting more protectionist trade policies and are moving away from the tighter financial industry regulations that followed the 2008 financial crisis. The United States may also be considering significant new investments in infrastructure and national defense which, coupled with potentially lower federal taxes, could lead to sharply increased government borrowing and higher interest rates. The exact shape of these policies is still being considered through the political process, but the equity and debt markets may react strongly to expectations, which could increase volatility, especially if the market's expectations for changes in government policies are not borne out.

High public debt in the United States and other countries creates ongoing systemic and market risks and policymaking uncertainty. There may be additional increases in the amount of debt due to the economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Because there is little precedent for this situation, it is difficult to predict the impact on various markets. Over the longer term, rising interest rates may present a greater risk than has historically been the case due to the recent period of historically low rates, the effect of government fiscal and monetary policy initiatives, and potential market reactions to those initiatives.

Some countries where economic conditions are still recovering from the 2008 crisis are perceived as still fragile. The crisis caused strains among countries in the euro-zone that have not been fully resolved, and it is not yet clear what measures, if any, European Union ("EU") or individual country officials may take in response. Withdrawal of government support, failure of efforts in response to the strains, or investor perception that such efforts are not succeeding could adversely impact the value and liquidity of certain securities and currencies.

In addition, global climate change may have an adverse effect on property and security values. A rise in sea levels, an increase in powerful windstorms and/or a storm-driven increase in flooding could cause coastal properties to lose value or become unmarketable altogether. Large wildfires driven by high winds and prolonged drought may devastate entire communities and may be very costly to any business found to be responsible for the fire or conducting operations in affected areas. These losses could adversely affect corporate borrowers and mortgage lenders, the value of mortgage-backed securities, the bonds of municipalities that depend on tax revenues and tourist dollars generated by such properties, and insurers of the property and/or of corporate, municipal, or mortgage-backed securities. Since property and security values are driven largely by buyers' perceptions, it is difficult to know the time period over which these effects might unfold. Economists warn that, unlike previous declines in the real estate market, properties in affected coastal zones may never recover their value. Regulatory changes and divestment movements tied to concerns about climate change could adversely affect the value of certain land and the viability of industries whose activities or products are seen as accelerative to climate change.

Some market participants have expressed concern that passively managed index funds and other indexed products inflate the value of their component securities. If the component securities in such indices decline in value for this and other reasons, the value of the Fund's investments in these securities will also decline.

Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and corresponding events in late February 2022, have had, and could continue to have, severe adverse effects on regional and global economic markets for securities and commodities. Following Russia's actions, various governments, including the United States, have issued broad-ranging economic sanctions against Russia, including, among other actions, a prohibition on doing business with certain Russian companies, large financial institutions, officials and oligarchs; the removal by certain countries and the EU of selected Russian banks from the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications (SWIFT), the electronic banking network that connects banks globally; and restrictive measures to prevent the Russian Central Bank from undermining the impact of the sanctions. The current events, including sanctions and the potential for future sanctions, including any impacting Russia's energy sector, and other actions, and Russia's retaliatory responses to those sanctions and actions, may continue to adversely impact the Russian and Ukrainian economies and may result in the further decline of the value and liquidity of Russian and Ukrainian securities, a continued weakening of the ruble and hryvnia and continued exchange closures, and may have other adverse consequences on the Russian and Ukrainian economies that could impact the value of these investments and impair the ability of the Fund to buy, sell, receive or deliver those securities. Moreover, those events have, and could continue to have, an adverse effect on global markets performance and liquidity, thereby negatively affecting the value of the Fund's investments beyond any direct exposure to Russian and Ukrainian issuers. The duration of ongoing hostilities and the vast array of sanctions and related events cannot be predicted. Those events present material uncertainty and risk with respect to markets globally and the performance of the Funds and their investments or operations could be negatively impacted.

Risks Related to Cybersecurity. The Funds and their service providers have administrative and technical safeguards in place with respect to information security. Nevertheless, the Funds and their service providers are potentially susceptible to operational and information security risks resulting from a cyber-attack as the Funds are highly dependent upon the effective operation of their computer systems and those of their business partners. These risks include, among other things, the theft, misuse, corruption and destruction of data maintained online or digitally, denial of service on websites and other operational disruption and unauthorized release of confidential customer information. Cyber-attacks affecting the Adviser, Victory Capital Services, Inc. (the "Distributor,"), the Funds, the custodian, the transfer agent, financial intermediaries and other affiliated or third-party service providers may adversely affect the Funds and their shareholders. For instance, cyber-attacks may interfere with the processing of Fund transactions, including the processing of orders, impact the Fund's ability to calculate net asset values, cause the release and possible destruction of confidential customer or business information, impede trading, subject the Fund and/or its service providers and intermediaries to regulatory fines and financial losses and/or cause reputational damage. Cybersecurity risks may also affect the issuers of securities in which the Fund invests, which may cause the Fund's investments to lose value. The Fund may also incur additional costs for cybersecurity risk management in the future. Although the Funds and their service providers have adopted security procedures to minimize the risk of a cyber-attack, there can be no assurance that the Funds or their service providers will avoid losses affecting the Funds due to cyber-attacks or information security breaches in the future.

Responsible Investing Risk. The Fund may incorporate specific responsible, environmental, social and governance ("ESG"), impact or sustainability considerations into its investment objectives, strategies, and/or processes, as described in the applicable Fund's Prospectus. These considerations will vary depending on the Fund's particular investment strategy and the investment process followed by the particular investment team that manages the Fund. A team may include consideration of third-party research as well as consideration of proprietary research across the ESG risks and opportunities regarding an issuer. The investment team considers those ESG characteristics it deems relevant or additive when making investment decisions for the Fund. The ESG characteristics utilized in the Fund's investment process are anticipated to evolve over time and one or more characteristics may not be relevant with respect to all issuers that are eligible for investment.

ESG characteristics are not the sole considerations when making investment decisions for the Fund. Further, investors can differ in their views of what constitutes positive or negative ESG characteristics. As a result, the Fund may invest in issuers that do not reflect the beliefs and values with respect to ESG of any particular investor. ESG considerations may affect the Fund's exposure to certain companies or industries and the Fund may forego certain investment opportunities. While the Adviser views ESG considerations as having the potential to contribute to the Fund's long-term performance, there is no guarantee that such results will be achieved.

Brexit. The United Kingdom ("UK") ceased to be a member of the EU on January 31, 2020 ("Brexit"). During a prescribed period (the "Transition Period"), certain transitional arrangements were in effect, such that the UK continued to be treated, in most respects, as if it were still a member of the EU, and generally remained subject to EU law. The Transition Period ended on December 31, 2020. On December 24, 2020, the EU and the UK reached an agreement in principle on the terms of certain agreements and declarations governing the ongoing relationship between the EU and the UK, including the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement (the "Agreement"). The Agreement entered into force on May 1, 2021. The Agreement is limited in its scope primarily to the trade of goods, transport, energy links and fishing, and uncertainties remain relating to certain aspects of the UK's future economic, trading, and legal relationships with the EU and with other countries. The actual or potential consequences of Brexit, and the associated uncertainty, could adversely affect economic and market conditions in the UK, in the EU and its member states and elsewhere, and could contribute to instability in global financial markets.

The impact of such events on the Fund is difficult to predict but they may adversely affect the return on the Funds and their investments. There may be detrimental implications for the value of the Fund's investments, its ability to enter into transactions or to value or realize such investments or otherwise to implement its investment program. It is possible that the Fund's investments may need to be restructured to enable the Fund's objectives to be pursued fully. This may increase costs or make it more difficult for the Fund to pursue its investment objective.

Reference Rate Transition Risk. The London Interbank Offered Rate ("LIBOR") had historically been the principal floating rate benchmark in the financial markets. However, LIBOR is being discontinued as a floating rate benchmark, although certain synthetic U.S. dollar LIBOR tenors will be published through September 30, 2024, for certain legacy contracts. Then-existing LIBOR obligations have been transitioned or will transition to another benchmark, depending on the LIBOR currency and tenor. For some existing LIBOR- based obligations, the contractual consequences of the discontinuation of LIBOR may not be clear.

As an alternative to LIBOR, the market has generally coalesced around the use of the Secured Overnight Financing Rate ("SOFR") as a replacement for U.S. dollar LIBOR. Various SOFR-based rates, including SOFR-based term rates, and various non-SOFR-based rates have developed in response to the discontinuation of U.S. dollar LIBOR, which may create various risks for the Fund and the financial markets more generally. There are non-LIBOR forward-looking floating rates that are not based on SOFR and that may be considered

by participants in the financial markets as LIBOR alternatives. Unlike forward-looking SOFR-based term rates, such rates are intended reflect a bank credit spread component.

Non-LIBOR floating rate obligations, including obligations based on the SOFR, may have returns and values that fluctuate more than those of floating rate debt obligations that are based on LIBOR or other rates. Also, because SOFR and some alternative floating rates are relatively new market indexes, markets for certain non-LIBOR obligations may never develop or may not be liquid. Market terms for non-LIBOR floating rate obligations, such as the spread over the index reflected in interest rate provisions, may evolve over time, and prices of non-LIBOR floating rate obligations may be different depending on when they are issued and changing views about correct spread levels.

It is not clear how replacement rates for LIBOR–including SOFR-based rates and non-SOFR-based rates–will continue to develop and to what extent they will be used. There is no assurance that these replacement rates will be suitable substitutes for LIBOR, and thus the substitution of such rates for LIBOR could have an adverse effect on the Funds and the financial markets more generally. Concerns about market depth and stability could affect the development of non-SOFR-based term rates, and such rates may create various risks, which may or may not be similar to the risks relating to SOFR.

Regulation as a Commodity Pool Operator

The Fund has filed with the National Futures Association ("NFA"), a notice claiming an exclusion from the definition of the term "commodity pool operator" under the Commodity Exchange Act, as amended, and the rules of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission promulgated thereunder, with respect to the Fund's operations. Accordingly, the Funds will not be subject to registration or regulation as a commodity pool.

Repurchase Agreements

The Fund may enter into repurchase agreements. In a repurchase agreement, an investor (such as the Fund) purchases a security (known as the "underlying security") from a securities dealer or bank. Any such dealer or bank must be deemed creditworthy by the Adviser. At that time, the bank or securities dealer agrees to repurchase the underlying security at a mutually agreed upon price on a designated future date. The repurchase price may be higher than the purchase price, the difference being income to the Fund, or the purchase and repurchase prices may be the same, with interest at an agreed upon rate due to the Fund on repurchase. In either case, the income to the Fund generally will be unrelated to the interest rate on the underlying securities. Repurchase agreements must be "fully collateralized," in that the market value of the underlying securities (including accrued interest) must at all times be equal to or greater than the repurchase price. Therefore, a repurchase agreement can be considered a loan collateralized by the underlying securities.

Repurchase agreements are generally for a short period of time, often less than a week, and will generally be used by the Fund to invest excess cash or as part of a temporary defensive strategy. Repurchase agreements that do not provide for payment within seven days will be treated as illiquid investments. In the event of a bankruptcy or other default by the seller of a repurchase agreement, the Fund could experience both delays in liquidating the underlying security and losses. These losses could result from: (a) possible decline in the value of the underlying security while the Fund is seeking to enforce its rights under the repurchase agreement; (b) possible reduced levels of income or lack of access to income during this period; and (c) expenses of enforcing its rights.

Securities of Other Investment Companies

General. Except as described in the following paragraphs, the Fund currently intends to limit its investments in securities issued by other investment companies so that, as determined immediately after a purchase of such securities is made: (1) not more than 5% of the value of the Fund's total assets will be invested in the securities of any one investment company; (2) not more than 10% of the value of its total assets will be invested in the aggregate in securities of investment companies as a group; and (3) not more than 3% of the outstanding voting stock of any one investment company will be owned by the Fund.

The Fund may also purchase and redeem shares issued by a money market fund without limit, provided that either: (1) the Fund pays no "sales charge" or "service fee" (as each of those terms is defined in the FINRA Conduct Rules); or (2) the Adviser waives its advisory fee in an amount necessary to offset any such sales charge or service fee.

Pursuant to an order issued by the SEC exempting certain exchange-traded funds ("ETFs") from Section 12(d)(1) of the 1940 Act (SEC Order and Rule 12d1-4 under the 1940 Act), in addition to procedures approved by the Board, the Fund may invest in such ETFs in excess of the 5% and 10% limits described above, provided that the Fund complies with relevant regulatory conditions, enters into a participation agreement, and any other applicable investment limitations.

As a shareholder of an investment company, the Fund indirectly will bear its proportionate share of any management fees and other expenses paid by such investment company in addition to the fees and expenses the Fund bears directly in connection with its own operations. These securities represent interests in professionally managed portfolios that may invest in various types of instruments pursuant to a wide range of investment styles. The Fund would also bear the risk of all of the underlying investments held by the other investment company. An investment company may not achieve its investment objective.

ETFs are investment companies, many of which pursue investment objectives to achieve the same rate of return as a particular market index or commodity while trading throughout the day on an exchange. Certain ETFs are actively managed portfolios rather than being based upon an underlying index. ETF shares are sold initially in the primary market in units, often consisting of 50,000 or more shares ("creation units"). A creation unit represents a bundle of securities or commodities that replicates, or is a representative sample of, a particular index or commodity and that is deposited with the ETF. Once owned, the individual shares comprising each creation unit are traded on an exchange in secondary market transactions for cash. The secondary market for ETF shares allows them to be readily converted into cash, like commonly traded stocks. The combination of primary and secondary markets permits ETF shares to be traded throughout the day close to the value of the ETF's underlying portfolio securities. The Fund would purchase and sell individual shares of ETFs in the secondary market. These secondary market transactions require the payment of commissions.

Unit Investment Trusts. ("UITs") are investment companies that hold a fixed portfolio of securities until the fixed maturity date of the UIT. The Fund would generally only purchase UITs in the secondary market for cash, which would result in the payment of commissions.

Risk Factors Associated with Investments in ETFs and UITs. ETF and UIT shares are subject to the same risk of price fluctuation due to supply and demand as any other stock traded on an exchange, which means that the Fund could receive less from the sale of shares of an ETF or UIT it holds than it paid at the time it purchased those shares. Furthermore, there may be times when the exchange halts trading, in which case the Fund owning ETF or UIT shares would be unable to sell them until trading is resumed. There can be no assurance that an ETF or UIT will continue to meet the listing requirements of the exchange or that an active secondary market will develop for shares. In addition, because ETFs and UITs invest in a portfolio of common stocks or other instruments or commodities, the value of an ETF or UIT could decline if prices of those instruments or commodities decline. An overall decline of those instruments or commodities comprising an ETF's or UIT's benchmark index could have a greater impact on the ETF or UIT and investors than might be the case in an investment company with a more widely diversified portfolio. Losses could also occur if the ETF or UIT is unable to replicate the performance of the chosen benchmark index. There may be times when the market price for an ETF or UIT and its NAV vary significantly and the Fund may pay more than (premium) or less than (discount) NAV when buying shares on the secondary market. The market price of an ETF's or UIT's shares includes a "bid-ask spread" charged by the exchange specialists, market makers or other participants that trade the particular security. In times of severe market disruption, the bid-ask spread often increases significantly. This means that the shares may trade at a discount to NAV and the discount is likely to be greatest when the price of shares is falling fastest.

Other risks associated with ETFs and UITs include the possibility that: (i) an ETF's or UIT's distributions may decline if the issuers of the ETF's or UIT's portfolio securities fail to continue to pay dividends; and (ii) under certain circumstances, an ETF or UIT could be terminated. Should termination occur, the ETF or UIT could have to liquidate its portfolio securities when the prices for those securities are falling. In addition, inadequate or irregularly provided information about an ETF or UIT or its investments, because ETFs and UITs are generally passively managed, could expose investors in ETFs and UITs to unknown risks. Actively managed ETFs are also subject to the risk of underperformance relative to their chosen benchmark.

Short Sales

The Fund may sell securities short as an outright investment strategy and to offset potential declines in long positions in similar securities. A short sale is a transaction in which the Fund sells a security it does not own or have the right to acquire (or that it owns but does not wish to deliver) in anticipation that the market price of that security will decline.

When the Fund makes a short sale, the broker-dealer through which the short sale is made must borrow the security sold short and deliver it to the party purchasing the security. The Fund is required to make a margin deposit in connection with such short sales; the Fund may have to pay a fee to borrow particular securities and will often be obligated to pay over any dividends and accrued interest on borrowed securities.

If the price of the security sold short increases between the time of the short sale and the time the Fund covers its short position, the Fund will incur a loss; conversely, if the price declines, the Fund will realize a capital gain. Any gain will be decreased, and any loss increased, by the transaction costs described above. The successful use of short selling may be adversely affected by imperfect correlation between movements in the price of the security sold short and the securities being hedged.

To the extent the Fund sells securities short, it will provide collateral to the broker-dealer and (except in the case of short sales "against the box") will maintain additional asset coverage in the form of cash, U.S. government securities or other liquid securities with its

custodian in a segregated account in an amount at least equal to the difference between the current market value of the securities sold short and any amounts required to be deposited as collateral with the selling broker (not including the proceeds of the short sale). The Fund does not intend to enter into short sales (other than short sales "against the box") if immediately after such sales the aggregate of the value of all collateral plus the amount in such segregated account exceeds 30% of the value of the Fund's net assets. This percentage may be varied by action of the Board. A short sale is "against the box" to the extent the Fund contemporaneously owns, or has the right to obtain at no added cost, securities identical to those sold short.

Swap Agreements

The Fund may enter into swap agreements for purposes of attempting to gain exposure to equity, debt, commodities, or other asset markets without actually purchasing those assets, or to hedge a position. The Fund does not invest more than 25% of its assets in swap contracts with any one counterparty. Security investments are made without restriction as to the issuer's country. Swap agreements are two-party contracts entered into primarily by institutional investors for periods ranging from a day to more than one year. In a standard "swap" transaction, two parties agree to exchange the returns (or differentials in rates of return) earned or realized on particular predetermined investments or instruments. The gross returns to be exchanged or "swapped" between the parties are calculated with respect to a "notional amount," i.e., the return on or increase in value of a particular dollar amount invested in a "basket" of securities representing a particular index.

Most swap agreements entered into by the Fund calculate the obligations of the parties to the agreement on a "net basis." Consequently, the Fund's current obligations (or rights) under a swap agreement will generally be equal only to the net amount to be paid or received under the agreement based on the relative values of the positions held by each party to the agreement (the "net amount"). Payments may be made at the conclusion of a swap agreement or periodically during its term.

Swap agreements do not involve the delivery of securities or other underlying assets. Accordingly, if a swap is entered into on a net basis, if the other party to a swap agreement defaults, the Fund's risk of loss consists of the net amount of payments that the Fund is contractually entitled to receive, if any.

The net amount of the excess, if any, of the Fund's obligations over its entitlements with respect to a swap agreement entered into on a net basis will be accrued daily and an amount of cash or liquid asset having an aggregate net asset value at least equal to the accrued excess will be maintained in an account with the Custodian. The Fund will also establish and maintain such accounts with respect to its total obligations under any swaps that are not entered into on a net basis. Obligations under swap agreements so covered will not be construed to be "senior securities" for purposes of the Fund's investment restriction concerning senior securities.

Because they are two-party contracts and because they may have terms of greater than seven days, swap agreements may be considered to be illiquid for the Fund's illiquid investment limitations. The Fund will not enter into any swap agreement unless the Adviser believes that the other party to the transaction is creditworthy. The Fund bears the risk of loss of the amount expected to be received under a swap agreement in the event of the default or bankruptcy of a swap agreement counter-party.

The Fund may enter into a swap agreement in circumstances where the Adviser believes that it may be more cost effective or practical than buying the securities represented by such index or a futures contract or an option on such index. The counter-party to any swap agreement will typically be a bank, investment banking firm or broker/dealer. The counter-party will generally agree to pay the Fund the amount, if any, by which the notional amount of the swap agreement would have increased in value had it been invested in the particular stocks represented in the index, plus the dividends that would have been received on those stocks. The Fund will agree to pay to the counter-party a floating rate of interest on the notional amount of the swap agreement plus the amount, if any, by which the notional amount would have decreased in value had it been invested in such stocks. Therefore, the return to the Fund on any swap agreement should be the gain or loss on the notional amount plus dividends on the stocks less the interest paid by the Fund on the notional amount.

The swap market has grown substantially in recent years with a large number of banks and investment banking firms acting both as principals and as agents utilizing standardized swap documentation. As a result, the swap market has become relatively liquid in comparison with the markets for other similar instruments that are traded in the OTC market.

Temporary Defensive Strategies

At times, the Adviser may judge that market conditions make pursuing the Fund's basic investment strategy inconsistent with the best interests of its shareholders. At such times, the Adviser may (but will not necessarily), without notice, temporarily use alternative strategies, primarily designed to reduce fluctuations in the values of the Fund's assets. In implementing these "defensive strategies," the Fund may hold assets in cash and cash equivalents and in other investments an Adviser believes to be consistent with the Fund's best interests. If any such a temporary defensive strategy is implemented, the Fund may not achieve its investment objective.

Warrants

The Fund may invest in warrants. Warrants are options to purchase common stock at a specific price (usually at a premium above the market value of the optioned common stock at issuance) valid for a specific period of time. Warrants may have a life ranging from less than one year to twenty years, or they may be perpetual. However, most warrants have expiration dates after which they are worthless. In addition, a warrant is worthless if the market price of the common stock does not exceed the warrant's exercise price during the life of the warrant. Warrants have no voting rights, pay no dividends, and have no rights with respect to the assets of the corporation issuing them. The percentage increase or decrease in the market price of the warrant may tend to be greater than the percentage increase or decrease in the market price of the optioned common stock. Warrants can provide a greater potential for profit or loss than an equivalent investment in the underlying security. Prices of warrants do not necessarily move in tandem with the prices of the underlying securities and therefore are highly volatile and speculative investments. If a warrant held by the Fund is not exercised by the date of its expiration, the Fund would lose the entire purchase price of the warrant.

INVESTMENTS IN THE FUNDS BY OTHER REGISTERED INVESTMENT COMPANIES

Section 12(d)(1) of the 1940 Act restricts investments by registered investment companies in the securities of other investment companies, including shares of the Fund. Other registered investment companies (typically structured as a "fund of funds") are not permitted to invest in the Fund beyond the limits set forth in Section 12(d)(1) except as permitted by any rules and regulations adopted under applicable law, including that such investment companies enter into an agreement with the Trust on behalf of the Fund.

DETERMINING NET ASSET VALUE ("NAV") AND VALUING PORTFOLIO SECURITIES

The Fund's NAV is determined, and the shares of the Fund are priced normally as of the valuation time(s) indicated in the Prospectus on each Business Day. A "Business Day" is a day on which the NYSE is open. The NYSE generally is closed in observance of the following holidays: New Year's Day, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, Presidents' Day, Good Friday, Memorial Day, Juneteenth, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, and Christmas Day. In addition to closing in observance of the same holidays as the NYSE, the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland is also closed on Columbus Day and Veterans Day.

In the event of an emergency or other disruption in trading on the NYSE, the Fund's share price normally will be determined based upon the close of the NYSE.

The Fund generally values its investments based upon its last reported sale prices, market quotations, or estimates of value provided by an independent pricing service as of the time as of which the Fund's share price is calculated. The Board has designated the Adviser as the "valuation designee" in accordance with Rule 2a-5 under the 1940 Act.

Investment Company Securities

Shares of another open-end investment company (mutual fund) held by the Fund are valued at the latest closing NAV of such mutual fund. Shares of any ETFs held by the Fund are valued in the manner described below under "Equity Securities."

Fixed Income Securities

Fixed income securities held by the Fund are valued on the basis of security valuations provided by an independent pricing service, approved by the Board, that determines value by using, among other things, information with respect to transactions of a security, quotations from dealers, market transactions in comparable securities and various relationships between securities. Specific investment securities that are not priced by the approved pricing service will be valued according to quotations obtained from dealers who are market makers in those securities. Investment securities with less than 60 days to maturity when purchased are valued at amortized cost that approximates market value. Investment securities not having readily available market quotations will be priced at fair value using a methodology approved in good faith by the Board or its designee in accordance with applicable Rules under the 1940 Act subject to Board oversight.

Convertible Fixed Income Securities

Convertible fixed income securities are valued in the same manner as any fixed income security. Non-convertible fixed income securities are valued on the basis of prices provided by independent pricing services. Prices provided by the pricing service may be determined without exclusive reliance on quoted prices and may reflect appropriate factors such as institution-sized trading in similar groups of

securities, developments related to special securities, yield, quality, coupon rate, maturity, type of issue, individual trading characteristics, and other market data. Securities for which market quotations are not readily available are valued at fair value as determined in good faith by or under the supervision of the Trust's officers in a manner specially authorized by the Board or its designee in accordance with applicable Rules under the 1940 Act, subject to Board oversight. Short-term obligations having 60 days or less to maturity are valued on the basis of amortized cost, except for convertible fixed income securities.

Equity Securities

Each equity security (including ETFs) held by the Fund is valued at the closing price on the exchange where the security is principally traded. Each security traded in the over-the-counter market (but not including securities the trading activity of which is reported on Nasdaq's Automated Confirmation Transaction ("ACT") System) is valued at the bid based upon quotes furnished by market makers for such securities. Each security the trading activity of which is reported on Nasdaq's ACT System is valued at the Nasdaq Official Closing Price.

Futures and Options Contracts

For purposes of determining NAV, futures and options contracts generally will be valued 15 minutes after the close of trading of the NYSE.

Funds that Invest a Significant Amount of their Assets in Foreign Securities

Time zone arbitrage. Funds that invest a significant amount of their assets in foreign securities, may be exposed to attempts by investors to engage in "time-zone arbitrage." Using this technique, investors seek to take advantage of differences in the values of foreign securities that might result from events that occur after the close of the foreign securities market on which a security is traded and before the close of the NYSE that day, when the Funds calculate their NAV.

If successful, time zone arbitrage might dilute the interests of other shareholders. These Funds use "fair value pricing" under certain circumstances, to adjust the closing market prices of foreign securities to reflect what the Board or its designee in accordance with applicable Rules under the 1940 Act subject to Board oversight considers to be their fair value. Fair value pricing may also help to deter time zone arbitrage.

Fair Value Pricing

If market quotations are not readily available, or (in the Adviser's judgment) do not accurately reflect the fair value of a security, or if after the close of the principal market on which a security held by the Fund is traded and before the time as of which the Fund's net asset value is calculated that day, an event occurs that the Adviser learns of and believes in the exercise of its judgment will cause a material change in the value of that security from the closing price of the security on the principal market on which it is traded, that security may be valued by another method that the Board or its designee in accordance with applicable Rules under the 1940 Act subject to Board oversight believes would more accurately reflect the security's fair value.

The Fund's use of fair value pricing procedures involves subjective judgments, and it is possible that the fair value determined for a security may be materially different from the value that could be realized upon the sale of that security. Accordingly, there can be no assurance that the Fund will obtain the fair value assigned to a security if it were to sell the security at approximately the same time at which the Fund determines its NAV per share.

Other Valuation Information

Under the 1940 Act, the Fund is required to act in good faith in determining the fair value of portfolio securities. The SEC has recognized that a security's valuation may differ depending on the method used for determining value. The fair value ascertained for a security is an estimate and there is no assurance, given the limited information available at the time of fair valuation, that a security's fair value will be the same as or close to the subsequent opening market price for that security.

The Board has adopted valuation procedures for the Fund and has delegated the day-to-day responsibility for fair valuation determinations to the Adviser and the Adviser's Pricing Committee. Those determinations may include consideration of recent transactions in comparable securities, information relating to a specific security, developments in and performance of foreign securities markets, current valuations of foreign or U.S. indices, and adjustment co-efficients based on fair value models developed by independent service providers. The Adviser may, for example, adjust the value of portfolio securities based on fair value models supplied by the service provider when the Adviser believes that the adjustments better reflect actual prices as of the close of the NYSE.

Generally, trading in foreign securities, corporate bonds, U.S. government securities and money market instruments is substantially completed each day at various times prior to the close of the NYSE. The values of such securities used in computing the NAV of the Fund's shares generally are determined at such times. Foreign currency exchange rates are also generally determined prior the close of the NYSE. Occasionally, events affecting the values of such securities and such exchange rates may occur between the times at which such values are determined and the close of the NYSE. If events affecting the value of securities occur during such a period, and the Fund's NAV is materially affected by such changes in the value of the securities, then these securities will be valued at their fair value as determined in good faith by the Adviser in accordance with applicable law. Other securities and assets for which market quotations are not readily available or for which valuation cannot be provided are valued as determined in good faith of the Adviser in accordance with applicable law.

When the NYSE is closed, or when trading is restricted for any reason other than its customary weekend or holiday closings, or under emergency circumstances as determined by the SEC to warrant such action, the Funds may not be able to accept purchase or redemption requests. The Fund's NAV may be affected to the extent that its securities are traded on days that are not Business Days. The Fund reserves the right to reject any purchase order in whole or in part.

PURCHASE AND REDEMPTION OF SHARES

Creation Units

The Fund issues and redeems Shares in Creation Units on a continuous basis through the Distributor (as defined below), without a sales load, at the NAV next determined after receipt of an order in proper form on any Business Day. A "Business Day" is any day on which the NYSE is open for business.

Currently, a Creation Unit is an aggregation of 10,000 shares in the case of the Fund. In its discretion, the Trust reserves the right to increase or decrease the number of the Fund's shares that constitute a Creation Unit. The Board reserves the right to declare a split or a consolidation in the number of shares outstanding of the Fund, and to make changes in the number of shares constituting a Creation Unit, including in the event that the per share price in the secondary market rises (or declines) to an amount that falls outside the range deemed desirable by the Board.

Authorized Participants

To purchase or redeem any Creation Units, you must be, or transact through, an Authorized Participant. In order to be an Authorized Participant, you must be either a broker-dealer or other participant ("Participating Party") in the Continuous Net Settlement System ("Clearing Process") of the National Securities Clearing Corporation ("NSCC") or a participant in DTC with access to the DTC system ("DTC Participant"), and you must execute an agreement ("Participant Agreement") with the Distributor that governs transactions in the Fund's Creation Units.

Investors who are not Authorized Participants but want to transact in Creation Units may contact the Distributor for the names of Authorized Participants. An Authorized Participant may require investors to enter into a separate agreement to transact through it for Creation Units and may require orders for purchases of shares placed with it to be in a particular form. Investors transacting through a broker that is not itself an Authorized Participant and, therefore, must still transact through an Authorized Participant, may incur additional charges. There are expected to be a limited number of Authorized Participants at any one time.

Investors who are not Authorized Participants may purchase and sell shares of the Fund through an Authorized Participant or on the secondary market.

Orders must be transmitted by an Authorized Participant by telephone or other transmission method acceptable to the Distributor. Market disruptions and telephone or other communication failures may impede the transmission of orders.

Transaction Fees

A fixed fee payable to the Custodian (as defined below) is imposed on each creation and redemption transaction regardless of the number of Creation Units involved in the transaction ("Fixed Fee"). Purchases and redemptions of Creation Units for cash or involving cash-in- lieu (as defined below) are required to pay an additional variable charge to compensate the Fund and its ongoing shareholders for brokerage and market impact expenses relating to Creation Unit transactions ("Variable Charge," and together with the Fixed Fee, the "Transaction Fees"). With the approval of the Board, the Adviser may waive or adjust the Transaction Fees, including the Fixed Fee and/or Variable Charge (shown in the table below), from time to time. In such cases, the Authorized Participant will reimburse the Fund for, among other things, any difference between the market value at which the securities and/or financial instruments were purchased by

the Fund and the cash-in-lieu amount, applicable registration fees, brokerage commissions and certain taxes and other costs and expenses related to the execution of trades resulting from such transaction (up to the maximum amount shown below). In addition, purchasers of Creation Units are responsible for the costs of transferring the Deposit Securities to the account of the Fund (as defined below). Investors who use the services of a broker, or other such intermediary, may be charged a fee for such services.

The following table sets forth the Fund's standard Transaction Fees and maximum additional charge (as described above):

		Maximum
		Additional Variable
	Fee for In-Kind and	Charge for Cash
	Cash Purchases and	Purchases and
	Redemptions	Redemptions*
VictoryShares Dynamic Equity ETF	$ 250	2.00%

*As a percentage of the amount invested.

The Clearing Process

Transactions by an Authorized Participant that is a Participating Party using the NSCC system are referred to as transactions "through the Clearing Process." Transactions by an Authorized Participant that is a DTC Participant using the DTC system are referred to as transactions "outside the Clearing Process." The Clearing Process is an enhanced clearing process that is available only for certain securities and only to DTC participants that are also participants in the Continuous Net Settlement System of the NSCC. In-kind (portions of) purchase orders not subject to the Clearing Process will go through a manual clearing process run by DTC. Portfolio Deposits that include government securities must be delivered through the Federal Reserve Bank wire transfer system ("Federal Reserve System"). Fund Deposits that include cash may be delivered through the Clearing Process or the Federal Reserve System. In-kind deposits of securities for orders outside the Clearing Process must be delivered through the Federal Reserve System (for government securities) or through DTC (for corporate securities).

Foreign Securities

Because the portfolio securities of the Fund may trade on days that the Exchange is closed or are otherwise not Business Days for the Fund, shareholders may not be able to redeem their shares of the Fund, or to purchase or sell shares of the Fund on the Exchange, on days when the NAV of the Fund could be significantly affected by events in the relevant foreign markets.

Purchasing Creation Units

Portfolio Deposits

The consideration for a Creation Unit generally consists of the in-kind deposit of designated securities ("Deposit Securities") and an amount of cash in U.S. dollars ("Cash Component"). Together, the Deposit Securities and the Cash Component constitute the "Portfolio Deposit." The Cash Component serves the function of compensating for any differences between the net asset value per Creation Unit and the Deposit Securities. Thus, the Cash Component is equal to the difference between (x) the net asset value per Creation Unit of the Fund and (y) the market value of the Deposit Securities. If (x) is more than (y), the Authorized Participant will pay the Cash Component to the Fund. If (x) is less than (y), the Authorized Participant will receive the Cash Component from the Fund.

On each Business Day, prior to the opening of business on the Exchange (currently 9:30 a.m., Eastern Time), the Adviser through the Custodian makes available through NSCC the name and amount of each Deposit Security in the current Portfolio Deposit (based on information at the end of the previous Business Day) for the Fund and the (estimated) Cash Component, effective through and including the previous Business Day, per Creation Unit. The Deposit Securities announced are applicable, subject to any adjustments as described below, to purchases of Creation Units until the next announcement of Deposit Securities.

The Deposit Securities may change, for example, as rebalancing adjustments and corporate action events of the Index are reflected from time to time by the Adviser in the Fund's portfolio. The Deposit Securities may also change in response to the rebalancing and/or reconstitution of the Index. These adjustments will reflect changes known to the Adviser on the date of announcement to be in effect by the time of delivery of the Portfolio Deposit.

Payment of any stamp duty or the like shall be the sole responsibility of the Authorized Participant purchasing a Creation Unit. The Authorized Participant must ensure that all Deposit Securities properly denote change in beneficial ownership.

Custom Orders and Cash-in-lieu

The Fund may, in its sole discretion, permit or require the substitution of an amount of cash ("cash-in-lieu") to be added to the Cash Component to replace any Deposit Security. The Fund may permit or require cash-in-lieu when, for example, a Deposit Security may not be available in sufficient quantity for delivery or may not be eligible for transfer through the systems of DTC or the Clearing Process. Similarly, the Fund may permit or require cash in lieu of Deposit Securities when, for example, the Authorized Participant or its underlying investor is restricted under U.S. or local securities laws or policies from transacting in one or more Deposit Securities. The Fund will comply with the federal securities laws in accepting Deposit Securities including that the Deposit Securities are sold in transactions that would be exempt from registration under the 1933 Act. All orders involving cash-in-lieu are considered to be "Custom Orders."

Purchase Orders

To order a Creation Unit, an Authorized Participant must submit an irrevocable purchase order to the Distributor.

Timing of Submission of Purchase Orders — Non-International Funds

All orders to purchase shares directly from any Fund (other than an International Fund) directly from the Fund must be placed for one or more Creation Units and in the manner and by 4:00 p.m. Eastern time or such earlier time that the Exchange or bond market closes (the "Cut-off Time") in order to receive the NAV calculated on the Transmittal Date. The "Transmittal Date" is the date on which such an order to purchase Creation Units (or an order to redeem Creation Units, as set forth below).

Timing of Submission of Purchase Orders — International Funds

All orders to purchase shares directly from an International Fund on the next Business Day must be submitted as a "Future Dated Trade" for one or more Creation Units between 4:00 p.m. Eastern time and 5:00 p.m. Eastern time on the prior Business Day in order to receive the NAV calculated on the Transmittal Date. For purposes of the International Funds, the "Transmittal Date" is the Business Day following the day on which such an order is submitted to purchase Creation Units (or an order to redeem Creation Units, as set forth below).

Intermediary Deadlines

Persons placing or effectuating custom orders and/or orders involving cash should be mindful of time deadlines imposed by intermediaries, such as DTC and/or the Federal Reserve Bank wire system, which may impact the successful processing of such orders to ensure that cash and securities are transferred by the "Settlement Date," which is generally the Business Day immediately following the Transmittal Date ("T+1") for cash and the second Business Day following the Transmittal Date for domestic securities ("T+2").

Orders Using the Clearing Process

If available, (portions of) orders may be settled through the Clearing Process. In connection with such orders, the Distributor or its agent transmits, on behalf of the Authorized Participant, such trade instructions as are necessary to effect the creation order. Pursuant to such trade instructions, the Authorized Participant agrees to deliver the requisite Portfolio Deposit to the Fund, together with such additional information as may be required by the Distributor. Cash Components will be delivered using either the Clearing Process or the Federal Reserve System.

Orders Outside the Clearing Process

If the Clearing Process is not available for (portions of) an order, Portfolio Deposits will be made outside the Clearing Process. Orders outside the Clearing Process must state that the DTC Participant is not using the Clearing Process and that the creation of Creation Units will be effected through DTC. The Portfolio Deposit transfer must be ordered by the DTC Participant on the Transmittal Date in a timely fashion so as to ensure the delivery of Deposit Securities (whether standard or custom) through DTC to the Fund account by 11:00 a.m., Eastern time, on T+1. The Cash Component, along with any cash-in-lieu and Transaction Fee, must be transferred directly to the Custodian through the Federal Reserve System in a timely manner so as to be received by the Custodian no later than 12:00 p.m., Eastern Time, on T+1. If the Custodian does not receive both the Deposit Securities and the cash by the appointed time, the order may be canceled. A canceled order may be resubmitted the following Business Day but must conform to that Business Day's Portfolio Deposit. Authorized Participants that submit a canceled order will be liable to the Fund for any losses incurred by the Fund in connection therewith.

Orders involving foreign Deposit Securities are expected to be settled outside the Clearing Process. Thus, upon receipt of an irrevocable purchase order, the Distributor will notify the Adviser and the Custodian of such order. The Custodian, who will have caused the appropriate local sub-custodian(s) of the Fund to maintain an account into which an Authorized Participant may deliver Deposit Securities (or cash -in-lieu), with adjustments determined by the Fund, will then provide information of the order to such local sub- custodian(s). The ordering Authorized Participant will then deliver the Deposit Securities (and any cash-in-lieu) to the Fund's account at the applicable local sub-custodian. The Authorized Participant must also make available on or before the contractual settlement date, by means satisfactory to the Fund, immediately available or same day funds in U.S. dollars estimated by the Fund to be sufficient to pay the Cash Component and Transaction Fee. When a relevant local market is closed due to local market holidays, the local market settlement process will not commence until the end of the local holiday period. Settlement must occur by 2:00 p.m., Eastern Time, on the contractual settlement date.

Acceptance of Purchase Order

All questions as to the number of shares of each security in the Deposit Securities and the validity, form, eligibility, and acceptance for deposit of any securities to be delivered shall be determined by the Fund. The Fund's determination shall be final and binding.

The Fund reserves the right to reject or revoke acceptance of a purchase order transmitted to it by the Distributor, provided that such action does not result in a suspension of sales of Creation Units in contravention of Rule 6c-11 under the 1940 Act and the SEC's positions thereunder. For example, the Fund may reject or revoke acceptance of a creation order including, but not limited to, when (a) the order is not in proper form; (b) the investor(s), upon obtaining the shares ordered, would own 80% or more of the currently outstanding shares of the Fund; (c) the Deposit Securities delivered do not conform to the Deposit Securities for the applicable date; (d) the acceptance of the Portfolio Deposit would, in the opinion of counsel, be unlawful; or (e) in the event that circumstances outside the control of the Trust, the Distributor and the Adviser make it for all practical purposes impossible to process purchase orders. Examples of such circumstances include acts of God; public service or utility problems resulting in telephone, telecopy, or computer failures; fires, floods, or extreme weather conditions; market conditions or activities causing trading halts; systems failures involving computer or other informational systems affecting the Trust, the Distributor, DTC, NSCC, the Adviser, the Fund's Custodian, a sub-custodian, or any other participant in the creation process; and similar extraordinary events. The Distributor shall notify an Authorized Participant of its rejection of the order. The Fund, the Custodian, any sub-custodian, and the Distributor are under no duty, however, to give notification of any defects or irregularities in the delivery of Portfolio Deposits, and they shall not incur any liability for the failure to give any such notification.

Issuance of a Creation Unit

Once the Fund has accepted an order, upon next determination of the Fund's NAV, the Fund will confirm the issuance of a Creation Unit against receipt of payment, at such NAV. The Distributor will transmit a confirmation of acceptance to the Authorized Participant that placed the order.

Except as provided below, a Creation Unit will not be issued until the Fund obtains good title to the Deposit Securities, along with any cash-in-lieu and Transaction Fee. The delivery of Creation Units generally will occur no later than T+2.

In certain cases, Authorized Participants will create and redeem Creation Units on the same trade date. In these instances, the Trust reserves the right to settle these transactions on a net basis.

With respect to orders involving foreign Deposit Securities, when a local sub-custodian has confirmed to the Custodian that the Deposit Securities (or cash-in-lieu) have been delivered to the Fund's account with the sub-custodian, the Fund will issue and deliver the Creation Unit. As stated above, Creation Units are generally delivered on T+2. However, the Fund may settle Creation Unit transactions on a basis other than T+2 in order to accommodate foreign market holiday schedules, to account for different treatment among foreign and U.S. markets of dividend record dates and ex-dividend dates (that is the last day the holder of a security can sell the security and still receive dividends payable on the security), and in certain other circumstances.

The Fund may issue a Creation Unit prior to receiving good title to the Deposit Securities under the following circumstances if, pursuant to the applicable Participant Agreement, the relevant Authorized Participant provides an undertaking to deliver the missing Deposit Securities as soon as possible, which undertaking is secured by such Authorized Participant's delivery of cash in U.S. Dollars to the Custodian having a value equal to at least 105% of the value of the missing Deposit Securities ("Collateral") as adjusted by time to time by the Adviser. The Collateral will have a value greater than the NAV of the Creation Unit on the date the order is placed and must be delivered no later than 2:00 p.m., Eastern Time, on T+1. The value of the missing Deposit Securities is marked to market daily and the amount of Collateral is adjusted to make sure the Collateral value is at least 105% of the marked value. At any time, the Fund may use the Collateral to purchase the missing Deposit Securities, and the Authorized Participant will be liable to the Fund for any costs incurred thereby or losses resulting therefrom, whether or not they exceed the amount of the Collateral, including any Transaction Fee, any

amount by which the purchase price of the missing Deposit Securities exceeds the market value of such securities on the Transmittal Date, brokerage, and other transaction costs. The Trust will return any unused Collateral once all of the missing Deposit Securities have been received by the Fund. More information regarding the Fund's current procedures for collateralization is available from the Funds.

Cash Purchase Method

When cash purchases of Creation Units are available or specified for the Fund, they will be effected in essentially the same manner as in-kind purchases. In the case of a cash purchase, the investor must pay the cash equivalent of the Portfolio Deposit. In addition, cash purchases will be subject to Transaction Fees, as described above.

The Fund reserves the right to offer purchases of Creation Units solely in cash if, on a given Business Day, the Fund announces before the open of trading that all purchases on that day will be made entirely in cash. The Fund may also, on a given Business Day, require all Authorized Participants purchasing Creation Units on that day to deposit cash in lieu of some or all of the Deposit Securities because:

(i)such securities are not eligible for transfer either through the NSCC or DTC or (ii) in the case of Foreign Funds holding non-U.S. investments, such securities are not eligible for trading due to local trading restrictions, local restrictions on securities transfers or other similar circumstances.

The Fund also may permit an Authorized Participant to deposit cash in lieu of some or all of the Deposit Securities because: (i) such securities are not available in sufficient quantity or (ii) such securities are not eligible for trading by an Authorized Participant or the investor on whose behalf the Authorized Participant is acting.

Redeeming a Creation Unit

Shares of the Fund may be redeemed only in Creation Units at their NAV next determined after receipt of a redemption request made in proper form by the Distributor on any Business Day. The Fund will not redeem shares in amounts less than Creation Units.

Redemption Basket

The consideration received in connection with the redemption of a Creation Unit generally consists of an in-kind basket of designated securities ("Redemption Securities") and an amount of cash in U.S. dollars ("Cash Component"). Together, the Redemption Securities and the Cash Component constitute the "Redemption Basket."

There can be no assurance that there will be sufficient liquidity in shares in the secondary market to permit assembly of a Creation Unit. In addition, investors may incur brokerage and other costs in connection with assembling a Creation Unit.

The Cash Component serves the function of compensating for any differences between the net asset value per Creation Unit and the Redemption Securities. Thus, the Cash Component is equal to the difference between (x) the net asset value per Creation Unit of the Fund and (y) the market value of the Redemption Securities. If (x) is more than (y), the Authorized Participant will receive the Cash Component from the Fund. If (x) is less than (y), the Authorized Participant will pay the Cash Component to the Fund.

If the Redemption Securities on a Business Day are different from the Deposit Securities, prior to the opening of business on the Exchange (currently 9:30 a.m., Eastern Time), the Adviser through the Custodian makes available through NSCC the name and amount of each Redemption Security in the current Redemption Basket (based on information at the end of the previous Business Day) for the Fund and the (estimated) Cash Component, effective through and including the previous Business Day, per Creation Unit. If the Redemption Securities on a Business Day are different from the Deposit Securities, all redemption requests that day will be processed outside the Clearing Process.

The Redemption Securities may change as rebalancing adjustments and corporate action events are reflected from time to time by the Adviser in the Fund's portfolio. These adjustments will reflect changes known to the Adviser on the date of announcement to be in effect by the time of delivery of the Redemption Basket.

The right of redemption may be suspended or the date of payment postponed: (i) for any period during which the NYSE is closed (other than customary weekend and holiday closings); (ii) for any period during which trading on the NYSE is suspended or restricted; (iii) for any period during which an emergency exists as a result of which disposal of the shares or determination of the ETF's NAV is not reasonably practicable; or (iv) in such other circumstances as permitted by the SEC, including as described below.

Custom Redemptions and Cash-in-lieu

The Fund may, in its sole discretion, permit or require the substitution of an amount of cash ("cash-in-lieu") to be added to the Cash Component to replace any Redemption Security. The Fund may permit or require cash-in-lieu when, for example, a Redemption Security may not be available in sufficient quantity for delivery or may not be eligible for transfer through the systems of DTC or the Clearing Process. Similarly, the Fund may permit or require cash-in-lieu of Redemption Securities when, for example, the Authorized Participant or its underlying investor is restricted under U.S. or local securities law or policies from transacting in one or more Redemption Securities. The Fund will comply with the federal securities laws in satisfying redemptions with Redemption Securities, including that the Redemption Securities are sold in transactions that would be exempt from registration under the 1933 Act. All redemption requests involving cash-in-lieu are considered to be "Custom Redemptions."

Redemption Requests

To redeem a Creation Unit, an Authorized Participant must submit an irrevocable redemption request to the Distributor. An Authorized Participant will represent to the Fund that it will not attempt to place a redemption order for the purpose of redeeming any Creation Units, unless it first ascertains or has reasonable grounds to believe that as of the time of the settlement date: (i) it, or its customer, as the case may be, will own outright (or have full legal authority and legal beneficial right to tender) the requisite number of Fund shares for redemption, and (ii) all of the shares that are in the Creation Unit to be redeemed have not been loaned or pledged to another party and are not the subject of a repurchase agreement, securities lending agreement or such other arrangement that would preclude the delivery of such shares to the Fund on the settlement date. The Fund reserves the absolute right, in its sole discretion, to verify these representations, but will typically require verification in connection with higher levels of redemption activity and /or short interest in the Fund. If the Authorized Participant, upon receipt of a verification request, does not provide sufficient verification of the requested representations, the redemption request will not be considered to be in proper form and may be rejected by the Fund.

Timing of Submission of Redemption Requests – Non-International Funds

All orders to redeem shares directly from any Fund (other than an International Fund) directly from the Fund must be placed for one or more Creation Units by the Cut-off Time in order to receive the NAV calculated on the Transmittal Date.

Timing of Submission of Redemption Requests – International Funds

All orders to redeem shares directly from an International Fund that invests a significant amount of its assets in foreign securities directly from the Funds on the next Business Day must be submitted as a "Future Dated Trade" for one or more Creation Units between 4:30 p.m. Eastern time and 5:30 p.m. Eastern time on the prior Business Day in order to receive the NAV calculated on the Transmittal Date. The Transmittal Date is the Business Day following the day on which such an order is submitted to redeem Creation Units.

Intermediary Deadlines

A redemption request is deemed received if (i) such order is received by the Distributor by the Cut-off Time on such day and (ii) all other procedures set forth in the Participant Agreement are properly followed. Persons placing or effectuating Custom Redemptions and/or orders involving cash should be mindful of time deadlines imposed by intermediaries, such as DTC and/or the Federal Reserve System, which may impact the successful processing of such orders to ensure that cash and securities are transferred by the Settlement Date, as defined above.

Requests Using the Clearing Process

If available, (portions of) redemption requests may be settled through the Clearing Process. In connection with such orders, the Distributor transmits on behalf of the Authorized Participant, such trade instructions as are necessary to effect the redemption. Pursuant to such trade instructions, the Authorized Participant agrees to deliver the requisite Creation Unit(s) to the Fund, together with such additional information as may be required by the Distributor. Cash Components will be delivered using either the Clearing Process or the Federal Reserve System, as described above.

Requests Outside the Clearing Process

If the Clearing Process is not available for (portions of) an order, Redemption Baskets will be delivered outside the Clearing Process. Orders outside the Clearing Process must state that the DTC Participant is not using the Clearing Process and that the redemption will be effected through DTC. The Authorized Participant must transfer or cause to be transferred the Creation Unit(s) of shares being redeemed through the book-entry system of DTC so as to be delivered through DTC to the Custodian by 10:00 a.m., Eastern Time, on received T+1. In addition, the Cash Component must be received by the Custodian by 12:00 p.m., Eastern Time, on T+1. If the Custodian

does not receive the Creation Unit(s) and Cash Component by the appointed times on T+1, the redemption will be rejected, except in the circumstances described below. A rejected redemption request may be resubmitted the following Business Day.

Orders involving foreign Redemption Securities are expected to be settled outside the Clearing Process. Thus, upon receipt of an irrevocable redemption request, the Distributor will notify the Adviser and the Custodian. The Custodian will then provide information of the redemption to the Fund's local sub-custodian(s). The redeeming Authorized Participant, or the investor on whose behalf is acting, will have established appropriate arrangements with a broker-dealer, bank, or other custody provider in each jurisdiction in which the Redemption Securities are customarily traded and to which such Redemption Securities (and any cash-in-lieu) can be delivered from the Fund's accounts at the applicable local sub-custodian(s).

Acceptance of Redemption Requests

All questions as to the number of shares of each security in the Deposit Securities and the validity, form, eligibility, and acceptance for deposit of any securities to be delivered shall be determined by the Trust. The Trust's determination shall be final and binding.

The Fund reserves the right to reject a redemption order if the order is not in proper form. In addition, the right of redemption may be suspended or the date of payment postponed with respect to the Fund (i) for any period during which the NYSE is closed (other than customary weekend and holiday closings), (ii) for any period during which trading on the NYSE is suspended or restricted, (iii) for any period during which an emergency exists as a result of which disposal of the shares of the Fund's portfolio securities or determination of its NAV is not reasonably practicable; or (iv) in such other circumstance as is permitted by the SEC. The Funds or Distributor will notify the Authorized Participant of such rejection, but the Funds, Custodian, sub-custodian, and Distributor shall not be liable for any failure to give such notification.

Delivery of Redemption Basket

Once the Fund has accepted a redemption request, upon next determination of the Fund's NAV, the Fund will confirm the issuance of a Redemption Basket, against receipt of the Creation Unit(s) at such NAV, any cash-in-lieu and Transaction Fee. A Creation Unit tendered for redemption and the payment of the Cash Component, any cash-in-lieu and Transaction Fee will be effected through DTC. The Authorized Participant, or the investor on whose behalf it is acting, will be recorded on the book-entry system of DTC.

The Redemption Basket generally will be delivered to the redeeming Authorized Participant within T+2. Except under the circumstances described below; however, a Redemption Basket generally will not be issued until the Creation Unit(s) are delivered to the Fund, along with the Cash Component, any cash-in-lieu and Transaction Fee.

In certain cases, Authorized Participants will create and redeem Creation Units on the same trade date. In these instances, the Trust reserves the right to settle these transactions on a net basis.

With respect to orders involving foreign Redemption Securities, the Fund may settle Creation Unit transactions on a basis other than T+2 in order to accommodate foreign market holiday schedules, to account for different treatment among foreign and U.S. markets of dividend record dates and ex-dividend dates (that is the last day the holder of a security can sell the security and still receive dividends payable on the security), and in certain other circumstances. When a relevant local market is closed due to local market holidays, the local market settlement process will not commence until the end of the local holiday period.

Cash Redemption Method. The Fund reserves the right to redeem Creation Units solely in cash if, on a given Business Day, the Fund announces before the open of trading that all redemptions on that day will be made entirely in cash. The Fund also may, on a given Business Day, require all Authorized Participants redeeming Creation Units on that day to receive cash in lieu of some or all of the Deposit Securities because: (i) such securities are not eligible for transfer either through the NSCC or DTC or (ii) in the case of International Funds holding non-U.S. investments, such securities are not eligible for trading due to local trading restrictions, local restrictions on securities transfers or other similar circumstances. The Funds also may permit an Authorized Participant to receive cash in lieu of some or all of the Deposit Securities because: (i) such securities are not available in sufficient quantity, (ii) such securities are not eligible for trading by an Authorized Participant or the investor on whose behalf the Authorized Participant is acting, or (iii) a holder of shares of the Fund holding non-U.S. investments would be subject to unfavorable income tax treatment if the holder receives redemption proceeds in kind. When cash redemptions of Creation Units are available or specified for the Fund, they will be effected in essentially the same manner as in-kind redemptions. In the case of a cash redemption, the investor will receive the cash equivalent of the Redemption Basket minus any Transaction Fees, as described above.

Independent Trustees

						Other
		Position	Date		Number of Portfolios	Directorships
		Position	Date		Number of Portfolios	Held During
	Name and	Held with	Commenced	Principal Occupation	in Fund Complex	the
	Date of Birth	the Trust	Service	During Past 5 Years	Overseen by Trustee	Past 5 Years
	David Brooks	Trustee	May 2015	Consultant (since 2006)	75 portfolios comprised	None
	Adcock,				of 31 portfolios in the
	Born October				Trust, 38 portfolios in
1951					Victory Portfolios, and 6
					portfolios in Victory
					Variable Insurance
					Funds

	Nigel D.T.	Trustee	May 2015	Retired	75 portfolios comprised	Director,
	Andrews,				of 31 portfolios in the	Carlyle Secured
	Born April 1947				Trust, 38 portfolios in	Lending, Inc.
					Victory Portfolios, and 6	(formerly TCG
					portfolios in Victory	BDC I, Inc.)
					Variable Insurance	(since 2012);
					Funds	Director,
						Carlyle Credit
						Solutions, Inc.
						(formerly TCG
						BDC II, Inc.)
						(since 2017);
						Trustee, Carlyle
						Secured
						Lending III
						(since 2021)

	E. Lee Beard*,	Trustee	May 2015	Retired	75 portfolios comprised	None
	Born August				of 31 portfolios in the
1951					Trust, 38 portfolios in
					Victory Portfolios, and 6
					portfolios in Victory
					Variable Insurance
					Funds

	John L. Kelly,	Chair and	May 2015	Managing Partner,	75 portfolios comprised	Director,
	Born April 1953	Trustee		Active Capital	of 31 portfolios in the	Caledonia
				Partners LLC, a	Trust, 38 portfolios in	Mining
				strategic consultant	Victory Portfolios, and 6	Corporation
				(since October 2017)	portfolios in Victory	(since May
					Variable Insurance	2012)
					Funds
	David L. Meyer,	Trustee	May 2015	Retired	75 portfolios comprised	None
	Born April 1957				of 31 portfolios in the
					Trust, 38 portfolios in
					Victory Portfolios, and 6
					portfolios in Victory

Variable Insurance

Funds

						Other
						Directorships
		Position	Date		Number of Portfolios	Held During
	Name and	Held with	Commenced	Principal Occupation	in Fund Complex	the
	Date of Birth	the Trust	Service	During Past 5 Years	Overseen by Trustee	Past 5 Years
	Gloria S.	Trustee	July 2016	Chair, CEO, and	75 portfolios comprised	TriLinc Global
	Nelund,			Co-Founder of TriLinc	of 31 portfolios in the	Impact Fund,
	Born May 1961			Global, LLC, an	Trust, 38 portfolios in	LLC (since
				investment firm	Victory Portfolios, and 6	2012)
					portfolios in Victory
					Variable Insurance
					Funds
	Timothy Pettee,	Trustee	January 2023	Chief Investment	75 portfolios comprised	None
	Born April 1958			Officer, Hoya Capital	of 31 portfolios in the
				Real Estate LLC (since	Trust, 38 portfolios in
				February 2022); Chief	Victory Portfolios, and 6
				Investment Officer, Sun	portfolios in Victory
				America Asset	Variable Insurance
				Management Corp.	Funds
				(January 2003-July
	Leigh A. Wilson,	Trustee	May 2015	Private Investor	75 portfolios comprised	Chair (since
	Born December				of 31 portfolios in the	2013),
1944					Trust, 38 portfolios in	Caledonia
					Victory Portfolios, and 6	Mining
					portfolios in Victory	Corporation
					Variable Insurance
					Funds
Interested Trustee

						Other
						Directorships
		Position	Date		Number of Portfolios	Held During
	Name and	Held with	Commenced	Principal Occupation	in Fund Complex	the
	Date of Birth	the Trust	Service	During Past 5 Years	Overseen by Trustee	Past 5 Years
	David C.	Trustee	May 2015	Chief Executive Officer	119 portfolios	Trustee, Victory
	Brown**,			and Chairman	comprised of 31	Portfolios III;
	Born May 1972			(2013-present), Victory	portfolios in the Trust,	Board Member,
				Capital	38 portfolios in Victory	Victory Capital
				Management Inc.; Chief	Portfolios, 6 portfolios in	Services, Inc.
				Executive Officer and	Victory Variable
				Chairman	Insurance Funds, and 45
				(2013-present), Victory	portfolios in Victory
				Capital Holdings, Inc.;	Portfolios III.
				Director, Victory Capital
				Services, Inc. (2013-
				present); Director,
				Victory Capital Transfer
				Agency, Inc. (2019-
				present)

*The Board has designated Ms. Beard as its Audit Committee Financial Expert.

**Mr. Brown is an "Interested Person" by reason of his relationship with the Adviser.

Trustee Qualifications

The following summarizes the experience and qualifications of the Trustees.

•David Brooks Adcock. Mr. Adcock served for many years as general counsel to Duke University and Duke University Health System, where he provided oversight to complex business transactions such as mergers and acquisitions and dispositions. He has served for more than 20 years as a public interest arbitrator for, among others, the New York Stock Exchange, the American Stock Exchange, the National Futures Association, FINRA, and the American Arbitration Association. The Board believes that Mr. Adcock's knowledge of complex business transactions and the securities industry combined with his previous service on the boards of other mutual funds qualifies him to serve on the Board.

•Nigel D.T. Andrews. Mr. Andrews served for many years as a management consultant for a nationally recognized consulting company and as a senior executive at GE, including Vice President of Corporate Business Development, reporting to the Chairman, and as Executive Vice President of GE Capital. He also served as a Director and member of the Audit and Risk Committee of Old Mutual plc, a large publicly traded company whose shares are traded on the London Stock Exchange. Mr. Andrews also formerly served as the non-executive chairman of Old Mutual's U.S. asset management business, where he also served on the audit and risk committee. Mr. Andrews also served as a Governor of the London Business School. He serves as a director of Carlyle Secured Lending, Inc. (formerly TCG BDC I, Inc.) and Carlyle Credit Solutions, Inc., (formerly TCG BDC II, Inc.), and as a Trustee for Carlyle Secured Lending III, each a business development company. The Board believes that his experience in these positions, particularly with respect to oversight of risk and the audit function of public companies, as well as his previous service on the boards of other mutual funds qualifies him to serve as a Trustee.

•E. Lee Beard. Ms. Beard, a certified public accountant, has served as the president, chief executive officer and director, and as a chief financial officer, of public, federally insured depository institutions. As such, Ms. Beard is familiar with issues relating to audits of financial institutions. The Board believes that Ms. Beard's experience as the chief executive officer of a depository institution, her service on the boards of other mutual funds and her knowledge of audit and accounting matters qualifies her to serve as a Trustee.

•David C. Brown. Mr. Brown serves as the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (since 2013) of the Adviser and, as such, is an "interested person" of the Trust. Previously, he served as Co-Chief Executive Officer (2011 - 2013), and President — Investments and Operations (2010 - 2011) and Chief Operating Officer (2004 - 2011) of the Adviser. The Board believes that his position and experience with the Adviser and his previous experience in the investment management business qualifies him to serve as a Trustee.

•John L. Kelly. Mr. Kelly has more than 35 years of experience and leadership roles in the financial services industry including institutional electronic trading, capital markets, corporate and investment banking, retail brokerage, private equity, asset/wealth management, institutional services, mutual funds, and related technology enabled services. He previously served as an Independent Trustee of Victory Portfolios, Victory Institutional Funds, and Victory Variable Insurance Funds from 2008 to 2011. The Board believes that this experience qualifies him to serve as a Trustee.

•David L. Meyer. For six years, Mr. Meyer served as chief operating officer, Investment Wealth Management Division, of Mercantile Bankshares Corp (now PNC Financial Services Corp.) and has served as an officer or on the boards of other mutual funds for many years. The Board believes that his experience, particularly as it related to the operation of registered investment companies, qualifies him to serve as a Trustee.

•Gloria S. Nelund. Ms. Nelund has executive and investment management industry experience, including service as chief executive officer of two investment advisory firms. Ms. Nelund also has experience as a co-founder and chief executive officer of an investment firm. Ms. Nelund previously served as the Chairman and Trustee of the boards of the RS Investment Trust and RS Variable Products Trust. The Board believes that this experience qualifies her to serve as a Trustee.

•Timothy Pettee. Mr. Pettee served for many years as Chief Investment Officer and Lead Portfolio Manager (Rules Based Funds) of SunAmerica Asset Management Corp., where he was responsible for investment oversight, portfolio management, and securities selection. At SunAmerica, Mr. Pettee also was Chair of the Portfolio Policy and Brokerage and Soft Dollar Committees, and a member of the Proxy and Executive Committees. The Board believes that Mr. Pettee's experience with other mutual funds and his knowledge qualifies him to serve as a Trustee.

•Leigh A. Wilson. Mr. Wilson was Chair of the Victory Funds through 2021. He served for many years as Chief Executive Officer of Paribas North America and as such has extensive experience in the financial sector. He serves as an Independent Non- Executive Director and Chairman of the Board of Caledonia Mining Corporation, a Canadian mining company listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange. As a former director of the Mutual Fund Directors Forum ("MFDF"), he is familiar with the operation and regulation of registered investment companies. He served on a MFDF steering committee created at the request of then-SEC Chairman William Donaldson to recommend best practices to independent mutual fund directors. He received the Small Fund Trustee of the Year award from Institutional Investor Magazine in 2006. The Board believes that this experience and his previous service on the boards of other mutual funds qualifies him to serve as a Trustee.

Committees of the Board

The following standing Committees of the Board are currently in operation: Audit and Risk Oversight, Compliance, Continuing Education, Investment, Service Provider, Board Governance and Nominating, and Agenda. In addition to these standing Committees, the Board may form temporary Sub- or Special Committees to address particular areas of concern. A Committee may form a Sub- Committee to address particular areas of concern to that Committee.

•The members of the Audit and Risk Oversight Committee, all of whom are Independent Trustees, are Ms. Beard (Chair), Mr. Andrews, Mr. Kelly, Ms. Nelund, and Mr. Wilson. The primary purpose of this Committee is to oversee the Trust's accounting and financial reporting policies, practices, and internal controls, as required by the statutes and regulations administered by the SEC, including the 1940 Act. The Committee also has overall responsibility for reviewing periodic reports with respect to compliance and enterprise risk, including operational risk and personnel. The Board has designated Mr. Meyer and Ms. Beard as its Audit Committee Financial Experts.

•The members of the Compliance Committee are Mr. Adcock (Chair), Mr. Andrews, Ms. Beard, Mr. Kelly, Ms. Nelund, and Mr. Wilson. The Compliance Committee oversees matters related to the Fund's compliance program and compliance with applicable laws, rules and regulations and meets regularly with the Trust's Chief Compliance Officer.

•The members of the Continuing Education Committee are Mr. Meyer (Chair), Mr. Adcock, Mr. Andrews, Ms. Beard, Mr. Kelly, and Ms. Nelund. The function of this Committee is to develop programs to educate the Trustees to enhance their effectiveness as a Board and individually.

•The members of the Investment Committee are Mr. Pettee (Chair), Mr. Adcock, Mr. Kelly, and Mr. Meyer. The function of this Committee is to oversee the Fund's compliance with investment objectives, policies, and restrictions, including those imposed by law or regulation, and assist the Board in its annual review of the Fund's investment advisory agreements.

•The members of the Service Provider Committee are Ms. Nelund (Chair), Mr. Andrews, Ms. Beard, Mr. Kelly, and Mr. Wilson. This Committee oversees the negotiation of the terms of the written agreements with the Fund's service providers, evaluates the quality of periodic reports from the service providers (including reports submitted by sub-service providers) and assists the Board in its review of the Fund's service providers, other than the investment adviser and independent auditors.

•The Board Governance and Nominating Committee consists of all of the Independent Trustees. Mr. Andrews currently serves as the Chair of this Committee. The functions of this Committee are: to oversee Fund governance, including the nomination and selection of Trustees; to evaluate and recommend to the Board the compensation and expense reimbursement policies applicable to Trustees; and periodically, to coordinate and facilitate an evaluation of the performance of the Board.

•The Board Governance and Nominating Committee will consider nominee recommendations from Fund shareholders, in accordance with procedures established by the Committee. The Fund shareholder should submit a nominee recommendation in writing to the attention of the Chair of the Trust, 4900 Tiedeman Road, Brooklyn, Ohio 44144. The Committee (or a designated sub-committee) will screen shareholder recommendations in the same manner as it screens nominations received from other sources, such as current Trustees, management of the Fund or other individuals, including professional recruiters. The Committee need not consider any recommendations when no vacancy on the Board exists, but the Committee will consider any such recommendation if a vacancy occurs within six months after receipt of the recommendation. In administering the shareholder recommendation process, the Chair, in the Chair's sole discretion, may retain the services of counsel to the Trust or to the Independent Trustees, management of the Fund or any third party. The Committee will communicate the results of the evaluation of any shareholder recommendation to the shareholder who made the recommendation.

•The Agenda Committee consists of the Chair of the Board and the Chair of each other Committee.

During the fiscal year ended June 30, 2023, the Board held [six] meetings. The Audit and Risk Oversight Committee held four meetings; the Compliance Committee held [four] meetings; the Investment Committee held [five] meetings; the Service Provider Committee held [four] meetings; and the Board Governance and Nominating Committee held [four] meetings. The Continuing Education Committee met informally during the fiscal year.

Officers of the Trust

The officers of the Trust are elected by the Board to actively supervise the Trust's day-to-day operations. The officers of the Trust, their dates of birth, the length of time served, and their principal occupations during the past five years, are detailed in the following table. Each individual holds the same position with the other registered investment companies in the Victory Fund Complex, and each officer serves until the earlier of his or her resignation, removal, retirement, death, or the election of a successor. The mailing address of each officer of the Trust is 15935 La Cantera Parkway, San Antonio, TX 78256. The officers of the Trust receive no compensation directly from the Trust for performing the duties of their offices.

		Date
Name and	Position with	Commenced	Principal Occupation
Date of Birth	the Trust	Service	During Past 5 Years
James K. De Vries	President	May 2023	Head of Fund Administration (5/1/23-present);Vice
Born April 1969			President, Victory Capital Transfer Agency, Inc.
			(4/20/23-present); Executive Director, the Adviser
			(7/1/19-4/30/23 present); Executive Director, Investment
			and Financial Administration, USAA (2012-6/30/19);
			Treasurer, USAA Mutual Funds Trust (2018-4/30/23).
			Mr. De Vries also serves as the Principal Executive
			Officer for the Funds, Victory Portfolios, Victory
			Portfolios III, and Victory Variable Insurance Funds.

Scott A. Stahorsky,	Vice President	May 2015	Director, Third-Party Dealer Services & Reg
Born July 1969			Administration, Fund Administration, the Adviser
			(5/1/2023-present); Vice President, Victory Capital
			Transfer Agency, Inc. (4/20/23-present); Manager, Fund
			Administration, the Adviser (4/30/23- 2015). Mr.
			Stahorsky also serves as Vice President of Victory
			Portfolios, Victory Portfolios III, and Victory Variable
			Insurance Funds.

Thomas	Secretary	May 2022	Director, Fund Administration, the Adviser; Treasurer
Dusenberry,			and Principal Financial Officer (May 2023-present);
Born July 1977			Manager, Fund Administration, the Adviser; Treasurer
			and Principal Financial Officer (2020-2022), Assistant
			Treasurer (2019), Salient MF Trust, Salient Midstream,
			MLP Fund and Forward Funds; Principal Financial
			Officer (2018-2021) and Treasurer (2020-2021), Salient
			Private Access Funds and Endowment PMF Funds;
			Senior Vice President of Fund Accounting and
			Operations, Salient Partners (2020-2022); Director of
			Fund Operations, Salient Partners (2016-2019). Mr.
			Dusenberry also serves as Secretary of Victory
			Portfolios, Victory Portfolios III, and Victory Variable
			Insurance Funds.
Allan Shaer,	Treasurer	December 2017	Senior Vice President, Financial Administration, Citi
Born March 1965			Fund Services Ohio, Inc. (since 2016); Vice President,
			Mutual Fund Administration. Mr. Shaer also serves as
			Treasurer of Victory Portfolios, Victory Portfolios III,
			and Victory Variable Insurance Funds.

	Name and	Position with	Date		Principal Occupation
	Name and	Position with	Commenced		Principal Occupation
	Date of Birth	the Trust	Service		During Past 5 Years
	Christopher Ponte,	Assistant	May 2015*		Director, Fund and Broker Dealer Finance, Fund
	Born March 1984	Treasurer			Administration, (5/1/23-present); Victory Capital
					Transfer Agency, Inc. (May 2023-present); Manager,
					Fund Administration, the Adviser (2017-2023); Chief
					Financial Officer, Victory Capital Services, Inc. (since
					2018). Mr. Ponte also serves as Assistant Treasurer of
					Victory Portfolios, Victory Portfolios III, and Victory
					Variable Insurance Funds.

	Carol D. Trevino	Assistant	February 2023		Director, Financial Reporting, Fund Administration
	Born October 1965	Treasurer			(5/1/23-present); Director, Accounting and Finance, the
					Adviser (7/1/19-4/30/23); Accounting/ Financial
					Director, USAA (12/13-6/30/19). Ms. Trevino also
					serves as Assistant Treasurer of Victory Portfolios,
					Victory Portfolios III, and Victory Variable Insurance
					Funds.
	Sean Fox,	Chief	June 2022		Sr. Compliance Officer, the Adviser (2019-Present);
	Born September	Compliance			Compliance Officer, the Adviser (2015-2019). Mr. Fox
1976		Officer			also serves as Chief Compliance Officer for Victory
					Portfolios, Victory Portfolios III, and Victory Variable
					Insurance Funds.

	Michael Bryan,	Anti-Money	May 2023		Vice President, CCO Compliance Support Services, Citi
	Born December	Laundering			Fund Services Ohio, Inc. (2008-present). Mr. Bryan also
1962		Compliance			serves as the Anti-Money Laundering Compliance
		Officer and		Officer and Identity Theft Officer for Victory Portfolios,
		Identity Theft		Victory Portfolios III, and Victory Variable Insurance
		Officer		Funds.

	Jay G. Baris,	Assistant	May 2015		Partner, Sidley Austin LLP (since 2020); Partner,
	Born January 1954	Secretary			Shearman & Sterling LLP (2018-2020).

*On December 5, 2017, Mr. Ponte resigned as Treasurer and accepted the position of Assistant Treasurer of the Trust.

Fund Ownership

The following tables show the dollar ranges of Fund shares (and of shares of all series of the Victory Fund Complex) beneficially owned by each Trustee as of December 31, 2023. No Independent Trustee (or any immediate family member) owns beneficially or of record an interest in the Adviser or the Distributor or in any person directly or indirectly controlling, controlled by, or under common control with the Adviser or the Distributor (other than Funds in the Victory Funds Complex). As of December 31, 2023, the Trustees and officers as a group owned beneficially less than 1% of each class of outstanding shares of those series of the Trust.

Independent Trustees

			Aggregate Dollar
			Range of Ownership
			of Shares of
		Dollar Range of Beneficial	All Series of the
	Trustee	Ownership of Fund Shares	Victory Fund Complex
	Mr. Adcock	None	Over $100,000
	Mr. Andrews	None	Over $100,000

	Ms. Beard	None	Over $100,000

	Mr. Kelly	None	Over $100,000

	Mr. Meyer	None	Over $100,000

	Ms. Nelund	None	Over $100,000

	Mr. Pettee	None	None

	Mr. Wilson	None	None
Interested Trustee

			Aggregate Dollar
			Range of Ownership
			of Shares of
		Dollar Range of Beneficial	All Series of the
	Trustee	Ownership of Fund Shares	Victory Fund Complex
	Mr. Brown*	None	Over $100,000

* Mr. Brown is an "Interested Person" by reason of his relationship with the Adviser.

Compensation

The Victory Fund Complex pays each Independent Trustee $344,000 per year for his or her services to the Complex. The Board Chair is paid an additional retainer of $150,000 per year. While the Board reserves the right to award reasonable compensation to any Interested Trustee, as of the date of this SAI no Interested Trustee receives compensation for services as a Trustee.

The following tables indicate the compensation received by each Trustee from the Funds covered in this SAI and from the Victory Fund Complex for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2023. As of June 30, 2023, there were 69 funds in the Victory Fund Complex for which the Trustees listed below were compensated. The Trust does not maintain a retirement plan for its Trustees.

Independent Trustees

	Trustee	Aggregate Compensation	Total Compensation from the
	Trustee	from the Funds	Victory Fund Complex
	Mr. Adcock	None	$344,000
	Mr. Andrews*	None	$344,000
	Ms. Beard	None	$344,000
	Mr. Kelly	None	$494,000
	Mr. Meyer	None	$344,000
	Ms. Nelund	None	$344,000
	Mr. Pettee**	None	$172,000
	Mr. Wilson	None	$344,000

*Mr. Andrews no longer elects to receive a portion of his compensation as deferred compensation. As of June 30, 2023, the value of Mr. Andrews' deferred compensation account was $575,153.02.

**Appointed effective January 2024.

Interested Trustee

	Trustee	Aggregate Compensation	Total Compensation from the
	Trustee	from the Funds	Victory Fund Complex
	Mr. Brown*	None	None

*Mr. Brown is an "Interested Person" by reason of his relationship with the Adviser.

Deferred Compensation

Each Trustee may elect to defer a portion of his or her compensation from the Victory Fund Complex in accordance with a Deferred Compensation Plan adopted by the Board (the "Plan"). Such amounts are invested in one or more Funds in the Victory Fund Complex offered under the Plan or a money market fund, as selected by the Trustee.

As of the most recent fiscal year ended June 30, 2023, the following current Trustees have elected to defer a portion of his or her compensation from the Victory Fund Complex.

Trustee	Aggregate Compensation	Total Compensation from the
Trustee	from the Funds	Victory Fund Complex
Mr. Adcock*	$4,994	$51,600
Ms. Beard**	$4,514	$46,440

*As of June 30, 2023, the value of Mr. Adcock's deferred compensation account was $259,115.

**As of June 30, 2023, the value of Ms. Beard's deferred compensation account was $65,015.

	CONTROL PERSONS AND PRINCIPAL SHAREHOLDERS
As of [	], 2024, there were no shareholders who owned 5% or more of the Fund. Each shareholder that beneficially owns more

than 25% of the voting securities of a class of the Fund may be deemed a control person of the Fund's outstanding shares and, thereby, may influence the outcome of matters on which shareholders are entitled to vote. Since the economic benefit of investing in the Fund and related voting authority is passed through to the underlying investors of the record owners, it is expected that these record owners generally will not be considered the beneficial owners of the Fund's shares or control persons of the Fund.

INVESTMENT ADVISER AND OTHER SERVICE PROVIDERS

Investment Adviser

Victory Capital, a New York corporation registered as an investment adviser with the SEC, serves as investment adviser to the Funds. Victory Capital's principal business address is 15935 La Cantera Parkway, San Antonio, TX 78256. Subject to the authority of the Board, the Adviser is responsible for the overall management and administration of the Fund's business affairs. Each of the Adviser's multiple investment teams, referred to separately as investment franchises utilizes its own independent approach to investing. The Adviser is responsible for selecting the Fund's investments according to its investment objective, policies, and restrictions. The Adviser is an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of Victory Capital Holdings, Inc. ("VCH"), a publicly traded Delaware corporation. As of May 31, 2023, the Adviser managed assets totaling in excess of $[ ] billion for numerous clients including large corporate and public retirement plans, Taft-Hartley plans, foundations and endowments, high net worth individuals and mutual funds.

The Adviser is a diversified global asset manager comprised of multiple investment teams, referred to as investment franchises, each of which utilizes an independent approach to investing.

The Advisory Agreement

The Adviser serves as the Fund's investment adviser pursuant to an advisory agreement dated as of May 1, 2015 (the "Advisory Agreement"). Unless sooner terminated, the Advisory Agreement between the Adviser and the Trust, on behalf of the Funds, provides that it will continue in effect as to the Funds for two years and for consecutive one-year terms thereafter, provided that such renewal is approved at least annually by the Trustees or by vote of the majority of the outstanding shares of each such Fund (as defined under

"Miscellaneous" below) and, in either case, by a majority of the Trustees who are not parties to the Advisory Agreement or "interested persons" (as defined in the 1940 Act) of any party to the Advisory Agreement, by votes cast in person at a meeting called for such purpose. The Advisory Agreement is terminable as to any particular Fund at any time on 60 days' written notice without penalty by a vote of the majority of the outstanding shares of the Fund, by vote of the Trustees, or as to all applicable Funds by the Adviser. The Advisory Agreement also terminates automatically in the event of any assignment, as defined by the 1940 Act.

The Advisory Agreement provides that the Adviser shall not be liable for any error of judgment or mistake of law or for any loss suffered by the Funds in connection with the performance of the services pursuant thereto, except a loss resulting from a breach of fiduciary duty with respect to the receipt of compensation for services or a loss resulting from willful misfeasance, bad faith, gross negligence on the part of the Adviser in the performance of its duties, or from reckless disregard by the Adviser of its duties and obligations thereunder.

Under the Advisory Agreement, the Adviser may delegate a portion of its responsibilities to a sub-adviser. In addition, the agreements provide that the Adviser may render services through its own employees or the employees of one or more affiliated companies that are qualified to act as an investment adviser of the Fund provided all such persons are functioning as part of an organized group of persons, managed by authorized officers of the Adviser.

The following schedule lists the advisory fees for the Fund, as an annual percentage of its average daily net assets.

	Fund	Advisory Fee
	VictoryShares Dynamic Equity ETF	0.65%
No advisory fees have been paid by the Fund as it had not yet commenced operations prior to the date of this SAI.

Management Fee Waiver/Expense Reimbursement

The Adviser has contractually agreed to waive its management fee and/or reimburse Fund expenses so that the total annual operating expenses (excluding any acquired fund fees and expenses and certain other items such as interest, taxes, dividend and interest expenses on short sales and brokerage commissions) of the Fund (by share class) do not exceed a certain percentage for a predetermined amount of time. In these instances, the fee and expense table in the Fund's Prospectus provides more details about this arrangement and shows the impact it will have on the Fund's total annual fund operating expenses. Under its contractual agreement with the Funds, the Adviser is permitted to recoup advisory fees waived and expenses reimbursed for up to three years after the date of the waiver or reimbursement, subject to the lesser of any operating expense limits in effect at the time of: (a) the original waiver or expense reimbursement; or (b) the recoupment, after giving effect to the recoupment amount. This agreement may only be terminated by the Board. From time to time, the Adviser may also voluntarily waive its management fee and/or reimburse expenses for the Fund. These voluntary reductions are not reflected in the fee and expense table in the Fund's Prospectus.

From time to time, the Manager may, without prior notice to shareholders, waive all or any portion of fees or agree to reimburse expenses incurred by the Fund.

No information is provided for the Fund as it had not yet commenced operations prior to the date of this SAI.

Compliance Services

The Trust and the Adviser are parties to the Agreement to Provide Compliance Services (the "Compliance Agreement") pursuant to which the Adviser furnishes its compliance personnel, including the services of the CCO, and other resources reasonably necessary to provide the Trust with compliance oversight services related to the design, administration, and oversight of a compliance program for the Trust in accordance with Rule 38a-1 under 1940 Act. The funds in the Victory Fund Complex, in the aggregate, compensate the Adviser for these services.

No compliance fees have been paid by the Fund to Victory Capital under the Compliance Agreement as the Fund had not yet commenced operations prior to the date of this SAI.

Administrator and Fund Accountant

Victory Capital serves as the administrator and fund accountant to the Trust pursuant to an agreement dated July 1, 2006, as amended (the "Administration and Fund Accounting Agreement"). Citi Fund Services Ohio, Inc. ("Citi") serves as sub-administrator and sub- fund accountant to the Trust pursuant to an agreement with Victory Capital dated October 1, 2015, as amended (the "Sub-Administration and Sub-Fund Accounting Agreement"). As administrator, Victory Capital supervises the Trust's operations, including the services that

Citi provides to the Funds as sub-administrator and sub-fund accountant, but excluding those that Victory Capital supervises as investment adviser, subject to the supervision of the Board.

Under the Administration and Fund Accounting Agreement, for the administration and fund accounting services that Victory Capital renders to the Funds, the Trust, Victory Portfolios ("VP"), and Victory Variable Insurance Funds ("VVIF") pay Victory Capital an annual fee, accrued daily and paid monthly, at the following annual rates based on the aggregate average daily net assets of the Trust, VP, and VVIF: 0.08% of the first $15 billion in aggregate Trust, VP, and VVIF net assets, plus 0.05% of aggregate Trust, VP, and VVIF net assets in excess of $15 billion to $30 billion, plus 0.04% of aggregate Trust, VP, and VVIF net assets in excess of $30 billion. Victory Capital may periodically waive all or a portion of the amount of its fee that is allocated to any Fund in order to increase the Fund's net income available for distribution to shareholders. In addition, the Trust, VP, and VVIF reimburse Victory Capital for all of its reasonable out-of-pocket expenses incurred as a result of providing the services under the Administration and Fund Accounting Agreement, including costs associated with implementing new reports required by the new RIC Modernization rules adopted by the SEC under the 1940 Act.

Except as otherwise provided in the Administration and Fund Accounting Agreement, Victory Capital pays all expenses that it incurs in performing its services and duties as administrator. Unless sooner terminated, the Administration and Fund Accounting Agreement continues in effect for a period of three years and for consecutive one-year terms thereafter, provided that such continuance is approved by the Board or by vote of a majority of the outstanding shares of the Fund and, in either case, by a majority of the Independent Trustees. The Administration and Fund Accounting Agreement provides that Victory Capital shall not be liable for any error of judgment or mistake of law or any loss suffered by the Trust in connection with the matters to which the Agreement relates, except a loss resulting from bad faith, willful misfeasance, negligence or reckless disregard of its obligations and duties under the Agreement.

Under the Administration and Fund Accounting Agreement, Victory Capital, among other things, coordinates the preparation, filing and distribution of amendments to the Trust's registration statement on Form N-1A, supplements to prospectuses and SAIs, and proxy materials in connection with shareholder meetings; drafts shareholder communications, including annual and semi-annual reports; administers the Trust's other service provider contracts; monitors compliance with investment restrictions imposed by the 1940 Act, the Fund's investment objective, defined investment policies, and restrictions, tax diversification, and distribution and income requirements; coordinates the Fund's service arrangements with financial institutions that make the Fund's shares available to their customers; assists with regulatory compliance; supplies individuals to serve as Trust officers; prepares Board meeting materials; and annually determines whether the services that it provides (or the services that Citi provides as sub-administrator) are adequate and complete.

Victory Capital also performs fund accounting services for the Fund, excluding those services that Citi performs as sub-fund accountant. The fund accountant calculates the Fund's NAV, its dividend and capital gain distribution, if any, and its yield. The fund accountant also provides a current security position report, a summary report of transactions and pending maturities, a current cash position report, and maintains the general ledger accounting records for the Funds. The fees that Citi receives for sub-administration and sub-fund accounting services are described in the SAI section entitled "Sub-Administrator and Sub-Fund Accountant."

The Fund has not accrued fees as it had not yet commenced operations prior to the date of this SAI.

Sub-Administrator and Sub-Fund Accountant

Citi serves as sub-administrator and sub-fund accountant to the Funds pursuant to the Sub-Administration and Sub-Fund Accounting Agreement dated October 1, 2015, as amended, by and between Victory Capital and Citi (the "Sub-Administration and Sub-Fund Accounting Agreement.") Citi assists in supervising all operations of the Funds (other than those performed by Victory Capital either as investment adviser or administrator), subject to the supervision of the Board.

Unless sooner terminated, the Sub-Administration and Sub-Fund Accounting Agreement continues in effect as to the Fund for a period of three years and for consecutive one-year terms thereafter. The Sub-Administration and Sub-Fund Accounting Agreement provides that Citi shall not be liable for any error of judgment or mistake of law or any loss suffered by the Trust in connection with the matters to which the Agreement relates, except a loss resulting from bad faith, willful misfeasance, negligence, or reckless disregard of its obligations and duties under the Agreement.

Under the Sub-Administration and Sub-Fund Accounting Agreement, Citi calculates Trust expenses and make disbursements; calculates capital gain and distribution information; registers the Fund's shares with the states; prepares shareholder reports and reports to the SEC on Forms N-CEN and N-PORT; coordinates dividend payments; calculates the Fund's performance information; files the Trust's tax returns; supplies individuals to serve as Trust officers; monitors the Fund's status as regulated investment companies under the Code; assists in developing portfolio compliance procedures; reports to the Board amounts paid under shareholder service agreements; assists with regulatory compliance; obtains, maintains and files fidelity bonds and trustees' and officers'/errors and omissions insurance policies

for the Trust; assists with liquidity and derivatives risk management services; and assists in the annual audit of the Fund, among other services.

Transfer Agent

Citibank, N.A. ("Citibank" or the "Custodian"), 388 Greenwich St., New York, New York 10013, serves as transfer agent for the Fund pursuant to a Transfer Agency Services Agreement. Under its agreement with the Fund, Citibank has agreed, among other things, to (1) perform and facilitate the performance of purchases and redemptions of Creation Units by Authorized Participants; (2) record and calculate the number of outstanding Fund shares; (3) maintain shareholder accounts; (4) perform duties relating to anti-money laundering and identity theft prevention; and (5) make periodic reports to the Board and regulators regarding its operations.

Custodian

General. Citibank, 388 Greenwich St., New York, New York 10013, ("Citibank" or the "Custodian") serves as the custodian of the assets of the Fund pursuant to the Global Custodial Services Agreement dated August 5, 2008, as amended (the "Custody Agreement"). The Custodian's responsibilities include safeguarding and controlling the Fund's cash and securities, handling the receipt and delivery of securities, and collecting interest and dividends on the Fund's investments. Pursuant to the Custody Agreement, the Custodian also maintains original entry documents and books of record and general ledgers; posts cash receipts and disbursements; and records purchases and sales based upon communications from the Adviser. The Custodian may, with the approval of the Fund and at its own expense, open and maintain a sub-custody account or accounts on behalf of the Fund, provided that it shall remain liable for the performance of all of its duties under the Custody Agreement.

Foreign Custody. Rule 17f-5 under the 1940 Act, which governs the custody of investment company assets outside the United States, allows a mutual fund's board of directors to delegate to a "Foreign Custody Manager" the selection and monitoring of foreign sub- custodian arrangements for the Trust's assets. Accordingly, the Board delegated these responsibilities to the Custodian pursuant to the Custody Agreement. As Foreign Custody Manager, the Custodian must (a) determine that the assets of the Fund held by a foreign sub- custodian will be subject to reasonable care, based on the standards applicable to custodians in the relevant market; (b) determine that the Trust's foreign custody arrangements are governed by written contracts in compliance with Rule 17f-5 (or, in the case of a compulsory depository, by such a contract and/or established practices or procedures); and (c) monitor the appropriateness of these arrangements and any material change in the relevant contract, practices or procedures. In determining appropriateness, the Custodian will not evaluate a particular country's investment risks, such as (a) the use of compulsory depositories, (b) such country's financial infrastructure, (c) such country's prevailing custody and settlement practices, (d) nationalization, expropriation or other governmental actions, (e) regulation of the banking or securities industry, (f) currency controls, restrictions, devaluations or fluctuations, and (g) market conditions that affect the orderly execution of securities transactions or affect the value of securities. The Custodian will provide to the Board quarterly written reports regarding the Trust's foreign custody arrangements.

Line of Credit. The Fund, along with other funds managed by the Adviser, participates in a 364-day committed credit facility and a 364-day uncommitted, demand credit facility with Citibank. Each such credit facility may be renewed if so agreed by the parties. Under the current agreement with Citibank, the Funds may borrow up to $600 million, of which $300 million is committed and $300 million is uncommitted. Of this amount, $40 million of the committed line of credit and $60 million of the uncommitted line of credit are reserved for use by the Victory Floating Rate Fund (a series of Victory Portfolios), with that Fund paying the related commitment fees for that amount. The purpose of each agreement is to meet temporary or emergency cash needs. For the committed credit facility, Citibank received an annual commitment fee of 0.15%. The Fund pays a pro-rata portion (adjusted for the amount of credit reserved for the Victory Floating Rate Fund) of these fees and pays the interest on any amount that it borrows. The Fund paid a pro-rata portion of the renewal fee.

Securities Lending

The Fund, through a Securities Lending Agreement with Citibank, N.A. ("Citibank"), may lend its securities to qualified financial institutions, such as certain broker-dealers and banks, to earn additional income, net of income retained by Citibank. Borrowers are required to initially secure their loans for collateral in the amount of at least 102% of the value of U.S. securities loaned or at least 105% of the value of non-U.S. securities loaned, marked-to-market daily. Any collateral shortfalls associated with increases in the valuation of the securities loaned generally are cured the next business day. The collateral can be received in the form of cash collateral and/or non-cash collateral. Non-cash collateral can include U.S. government securities and other securities as permitted by SEC guidelines. The cash collateral is invested in short-term instruments or cash equivalents, primarily open-end investment companies. The Fund effectively do not have control of the non-cash collateral. Collateral requirements are determined daily based on the value of the Fund's securities on loan as of the end of the prior business day. During the time portfolio securities are on loan, the borrower will pay the Fund any dividends or interest paid on such securities plus any fee negotiated between the parties to the lending agreement. The Fund also earns a return from the collateral. The Fund pays Citibank various fees in connection with the investment of cash collateral and fees based on

the investment income received from securities lending activities. Loans are terminable upon demand and the borrower must return the loaned securities within the lesser of one standard settlement period or five business days. Although risk is mitigated by the collateral, the Fund could experience a delay in recovering its securities and possible loss of income or value if the borrower fails to return them. In addition, there is a risk that the value of the short-term investments will be less than the amount of cash collateral required to be returned to the borrower.

The Fund's agreement with Citibank does not include master netting provisions. Non-cash collateral received by the Fund may not be sold or repledged, except to satisfy borrower default.

No information is provided for income and fees/compensation related to the Fund's securities lending activities as it had not yet commenced operations prior to the date of this SAI.

Distributor

Foreside Fund Services, LLC serves as the distributor of Creation Units (the "Distributor") for the Fund on an agency basis. Under the ETF Distribution Agreement most recently entered into as of December 6, 2022, as may be amended ("Distribution Agreement"), the Distributor receives orders from Authorized Participants to create and redeem shares in Creation Unit aggregations and transmits such orders to the Trust's Custodian and transfer agent. The Distributor's principal address is Three Canal Plaza, Portland, Maine 04101. The Distributor is a broker-dealer registered under the 1934 Act and a member of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc. ("FINRA"). Shares will be continuously offered for sale only in Creation Units. Shares in less than a Creation Unit are not distributed by the Distributor. The Distributor has no role in determining the investment policies of the Funds or which securities are to be purchased or sold by the Fund. No compensation is payable by the Trust to the Distributor for such distribution services. However, the Adviser has entered into an agreement with the Distributor under which it makes payments to the Distributor in consideration for its services under the Distribution Agreement. The payments made by the Adviser to the Distributor do not represent an additional expense to the Trust or its shareholders.

Under the Distribution Agreement, the Distributor, as agent for the Trust, will solicit orders for the purchase of shares, provided that any subscriptions and orders will not be binding on the Trust until accepted by the Trust. The Distributor will deliver Prospectuses and, upon request, SAIs to persons purchasing Creation Units. The Distributor is a broker-dealer registered under the Exchange Act and a member of FINRA.

The Distributor may also enter into agreements with securities dealers ("Soliciting Dealers") who will solicit purchases of Creation Units of shares. Such Soliciting Dealers may also be Authorized Participants (as discussed in "Procedures for Creation of Creation Units" below) or DTC participants (as defined below).

The Distribution Agreement will continue for two years from its effective date and is renewable thereafter. The continuance of the Distribution Agreement must be specifically approved at least annually (i) by the vote of the Trustees or by a vote of the shareholders of the Fund and (ii) by the vote of a majority of the Trustees who are not "interested persons" of the Trust and have no direct or indirect financial interest in the operations of the Distribution Agreement or any related agreement, cast in person at a meeting called for the purpose of voting on such approval. The Distribution Agreement is terminable, without penalty, by the Trust on 60 days' written notice when authorized either by majority vote of its outstanding voting shares or by a vote of a majority of its Board (including a majority of the Independent Trustees), or by the Distributor on 60 days' written notice, and will automatically terminate in the event of its assignment. The Distribution Agreement provides that in the absence of willful misfeasance, bad faith, or gross negligence on the part of the Distributor, or reckless disregard by it of its obligations thereunder, the Distributor shall not be liable for any action or failure to act in accordance with its duties thereunder.

PORTFOLIO MANAGERS

This section includes information about the Fund's portfolio managers, including information concerning other accounts managed, the dollar range of Fund shares owned, and compensation.

Other Accounts

The following table lists the number and types of accounts managed by the portfolio managers and assets under management in those accounts as of the end of the last completed fiscal year:

Registered

Investment

Pooled Investment

Company Accounts

Vehicle Accounts

Other Accounts

Assets

Number

Assets

Number of

Managed

Number of

Managed

Accounts

(In Millions)

Accounts

(In Millions)

Accounts

(In Millions)

WestEnd

Fritz Porter

[

]

[

]

[

]

Ned Durden

[

]

[

]

[

]

Ty Peebles

[

]

[

]

[

]

Jacob Buchanan

[

]

[

]

[

]

The following table sets forth performance-based accounts for which the Fund's portfolio managers were primarily responsible for the day-to-day portfolio management as of the last completed fiscal year:

Registered

Investment

Pooled Investment

Company Accounts

Vehicle Accounts

Other Accounts

Assets

Number

Assets

Number of

Managed

Number of

Managed

Accounts

(In Millions)

Accounts

(In Millions)

Accounts

(In Millions)

WestEnd

Fritz Porter

[

]

[

]

[

]

Ned Durden

[

]

[

]

[

]

Ty Peebles

[

]

[

]

[

]

Jacob Buchanan

[

]

[

]

[

]

Fund Ownership

Since the Fund had not commenced operations prior to the date of this SAI, no shares of the Fund were owned by the portfolio managers.

Portfolio Manager Compensation

The Adviser has designed the structure of its portfolio managers' compensation to (1) align portfolio managers' interests with those of the Adviser's clients with an emphasis on long-term, risk-adjusted investment performance, (2) help the Adviser attract and retain high- quality investment professionals, and (3) contribute to the Adviser's overall financial success. Each of the portfolio managers receives a base salary plus an annual incentive bonus for managing the Fund, separate accounts, other investment companies, other pooled investment vehicles and other accounts (including any accounts for which the Adviser receives a performance fee) (together, "Accounts"). A portfolio manager's base salary is dependent on the manager's level of experience and expertise. The Adviser monitors each manager's base salary relative to salaries paid for similar positions with peer firms by reviewing data provided by various independent third-party consultants that specialize in competitive salary information. Such data, however, is not considered to be a definitive benchmark.

Each of the Adviser's investment franchises may earn incentive compensation based on a percentage of the Adviser's revenue attributable to fees paid by Accounts managed by the team. The chief investment officer or a senior member of each team, in coordination with the Adviser, determines the allocation of the incentive compensation earned by the team among the team's portfolio managers by establishing a "target" incentive for each portfolio manager based on the manager's level of experience and expertise in the manager's investment style. Individual performance is based on objectives established annually using performance metrics such as portfolio structure and positioning, research, stock selection, asset growth, client retention, presentation skills, marketing to prospective clients and contribution to the Adviser's philosophy and values, such as leadership, risk management and teamwork. The annual incentive bonus also factors in individual investment performance of each portfolio manager's portfolio or Fund relative to a selected peer group(s). The overall performance results for a manager are based on the composite performance of all Accounts managed by that manager on a

combination of one-, three-, and five-year rolling performance periods as compared to the performance information of a peer group of similarly managed competitors.

The Adviser's portfolio managers may participate in the equity ownership plan of the Adviser's parent company. There is an ongoing annual equity pool granted to certain employees based on their contribution to the firm. Eligibility for participation in these incentive programs depends on the manager's performance and seniority.

Conflicts of Interest

The Adviser's portfolio managers are often responsible for managing one or more Funds as well as other accounts, such as separate accounts, and other pooled investment vehicles, such as collective trust funds or unregistered hedge funds. A portfolio manager may manage other accounts which have materially higher fee arrangements than the Fund and may, in the future, manage other accounts which have a performance-based fee. A portfolio manager also may make personal investments in accounts he or she manages or supports. The side-by-side management of the Funds along with other accounts may raise potential conflicts of interest by incenting a portfolio manager to direct a disproportionate amount of: (1) their attention; (2) limited investment opportunities, such as less-liquid securities or initial public offering; and/or (3) desirable trade allocations, to such other accounts. In addition, certain trading practices, such as cross-trading between Funds or between the Fund and another account, raise conflict of interest issues. The Adviser has adopted numerous compliance policies and procedures, including a Code of Ethics, and brokerage and trade allocation policies and procedures, which seek to address the conflicts associated with managing multiple accounts for multiple clients. In addition, the Adviser has a designated Chief Compliance Officer (selected in accordance with the federal securities laws) and compliance staff whose activities are focused on monitoring the activities of the Adviser's investment franchises and employees in order to detect and address potential and actual conflicts of interest. However, there can be no assurance that the Adviser's compliance program will achieve its intended result.

DISTRIBUTION AND SERVICE PLAN

The Trust has adopted a Distribution Plan pursuant to Rule 12b-1 under the 1940 Act ("Rule 12b-1 Plan" or "Plan"). In accordance with its Plan, the Fund is authorized to pay an amount up to 0.25% of its average daily net assets each year for certain distribution-related activities. In addition, if the payment of management fees by the Fund is deemed to be indirect financing by the Fund of the distribution of its shares, such payment is authorized by the Rule 12b-1 Plan. The Plan specifically recognizes that the Adviser and other persons may use management fee revenue, as well as past profits or other resources, to pay for expenses incurred in connection with providing services intended to result in the sale of shares. The Adviser and such other persons, as well as their affiliates, may pay amounts to third parties for distribution or marketing services on behalf of the Funds. The making of the types of payments described in this paragraph could create a conflict of interest for the party receiving such payments.

The Rule 12b-1 Plan was adopted in order to permit the implementation of the Fund's method of distribution. No fees are currently paid by the Fund under the Plan, and there are no current plans to impose such fees. In the event such fees were to be charged, over time they would increase the cost of an investment in the Fund.

The Distributor is required to provide a written report, at least quarterly to the Board, specifying in reasonable detail the amounts (if any) expended pursuant to the Rule 12b-1 Plan and the purposes for which such expenditures were made. Further, the Distributor will inform the Board of any Rule 12b-1 fees to be paid by the Distributor to Recipients. From time to time, the Adviser, at its expense, may provide additional compensation to dealers that sell or arrange for the sale of shares of the Fund. Such compensation provided by the Adviser may include financial assistance to dealers that enable the Adviser to participate in and/or present at conferences or seminars, sales, or training programs for invited registered representatives and other employees, client and investor events and other dealer-sponsored events. Other compensation may be offered to the extent not prohibited by state laws or any self-regulatory agency, such as FINRA. The Adviser may make payments for events it deems appropriate, subject to applicable law. These payments may vary depending upon the nature of the event.

The Rule 12b-1 Plan may not be amended to increase materially the amount of the Distributor's compensation to be paid by the Fund, unless such amendment is approved by the vote of a majority of the outstanding voting securities of the affected Fund (as defined in the 1940 Act). All material amendments must be approved by a majority of the Board and a majority of the Rule 12b-1 Trustees by votes cast in person at a meeting called for the purpose of voting on a Rule 12b-1 Plan. During the term of the Rule 12b-1 Plan, the selection and nomination of non-interested Trustees of the Trust will be committed to the discretion of current non-interested Trustees. The Distributor will preserve copies of the Rule 12b-1 Plan, any related agreements, and all reports, for a period of not less than six years from the date of such document and for at least the first two years in an easily accessible place.

Any agreement related to the Rule 12b-1 Plan will be in writing and provide that: (a) it may be terminated by the Trust or the applicable Fund at any time upon sixty days' written notice, without the payment of any penalty, by vote of a majority of the respective Rule 12b-

1 Trustees, or by vote of a majority of the outstanding voting securities of the Trust or the Fund; (b) it will automatically terminate in the event of its assignment (as defined in the 1940 Act); and (c) it will continue in effect for a period of more than one year from the date of its execution or adoption only so long as such continuance is specifically approved at least annually by a majority of the Board and a majority of the Rule 12b-1 Trustees by votes cast in person at a meeting called for the purpose of voting on such agreements.

CODE OF ETHICS

The Trust and the Adviser each have adopted a Code of Ethics in accordance with Rule 17j-1 under the 1940 Act. The Adviser's Code of Ethics applies to all of the Adviser's directors and officers and employees with investment advisory duties ("Access Personnel") and all of the Adviser's directors, officers, and employees ("Supervised Personnel"). Each Code of Ethics provides that Access Personnel must refrain from certain trading practices. Each Code also requires all Access Personnel (and, in the Adviser Code, all Supervised Personnel) to report certain personal investment activities, including, but not limited to, purchases or sales of securities that may be purchased or held by the Fund. Violations of any Code of Ethics can result in penalties, suspension, or termination of employment.

PROXY VOTING POLICIES AND PROCEDURES

In accordance with the 1940 Act, the Trust has adopted policies and procedures for voting proxies related to equity securities held by the Fund (the "Proxy Voting Policy"). The Trust's Proxy Voting Policy is designed to: (i) ensure that proxies are voted in the best interests of shareholders of the Funds with a view toward maximizing the value of their investments; (ii) address conflicts of interests between these shareholders, on the one hand, and affiliates of the Fund, the Adviser or the Distributor, on the other, that may arise regarding the voting of proxies; and (iii) provide for the disclosure of the Fund's proxy voting records and the Proxy Voting Policy.

The Proxy Voting Policy delegates to the Adviser the obligation to vote the Fund's proxies in the best interests of the Fund and its shareholders, subject to oversight by the Board.

To assist the Adviser in making proxy-voting decisions, the Adviser has adopted a Proxy Voting Policy ("Policy") that establishes voting guidelines ("Proxy Voting Guidelines") with respect to certain recurring issues. The Policy is reviewed on an annual basis by the Adviser's Proxy Committee ("Proxy Committee") and revised when the Committee determines that a change is appropriate. The Board annually reviews the Trust's Proxy Voting Policy and the Adviser's Policy and determines whether amendments are necessary or advisable. Voting under the Adviser's Policy may be executed through administrative screening per established guidelines with oversight by the Proxy Committee or upon vote by a quorum of the Proxy Committee. The Adviser delegates to Institutional Shareholder Services ("ISS"), an independent service provider, the non-discretionary administration of proxy voting for the Trust, subject to oversight by the Adviser's Proxy Committee. In no circumstances shall ISS have the authority to vote proxies except in accordance with standing or specific instructions given to it by the Adviser.

The Adviser votes proxies in the best interests of the Funds and their shareholders. This entails voting client proxies with the objective of increasing the long-term economic value of Fund assets. The Adviser's Proxy Committee determines how proxies are voted by following established guidelines, which are intended to assist in voting proxies and are not considered to be rigid rules. The Proxy Committee is directed to apply the guidelines as appropriate. On occasion, however, a contrary vote may be warranted when such action is in the best interests of the Funds or if required by the Board or the Fund's Proxy Voting Policy. In such cases, the Adviser may consider, among other things:

•the effect of the proposal on the underlying value of the securities

•the effect on marketability of the securities

•the effect of the proposal on future prospects of the issuer

•the composition and effectiveness of the issuer's board of directors

•the issuer's corporate governance practices

•the quality of communications from the issuer to its shareholders

The Adviser may also take into account independent third-party, general industry guidance or other corporate governance review sources when making decisions. It may additionally seek guidance from other senior internal sources with special expertise on a given topic

where it is appropriate. The Adviser generally votes on a case-by-case basis, taking into consideration whether implementation of an Environmental, Social, and Governance ("ESG")-related proposal is likely to enhance or protect shareholder value. The investment team's opinion concerning the management and prospects of the issuer may be taken into account in determining whether a vote for or against a proposal is in the Fund's best interests. Insufficient information, onerous requests or vague, ambiguous wording may indicate that a vote against a proposal is appropriate, even when the general principal appears to be reasonable.

The following examples illustrate the Adviser's policy with respect to some common proxy votes. This summary is not an exhaustive list of all the issues that may arise or of all matters addressed in the Guidelines, and whether the Adviser supports or opposes a proposal will depend upon the specific facts and circumstances described in the proxy statement and other available information.

Directors

•The Adviser generally supports the election of directors in uncontested elections, except when there are issues of accountability, responsiveness, composition, and/or independence.

•The Adviser generally supports proposals for an independent chair taking into account factors such as the current board leadership structure, the company's governance practices, and company performance.

•The Adviser generally supports proxy access proposals that are in line with the market standards regarding the ownership threshold, ownership duration, aggregation provisions, cap on nominees, and do not contain any other unreasonably restrictive guidelines.

•The Adviser reviews contested elections on a case-by-case basis taking into account such factors as the company performance, particularly the long-term performance relative to the industry; the management track record; the nominee qualifications and compensatory arrangements; the strategic plan of the dissident and its critique of the current management; the likelihood that the proposed goals and objectives can be achieved; the ownership stakes of the relevant parties; and any other context that is particular to the company and the nature of the election.

Capitalization & Restructuring

•The Adviser generally supports capitalization proposals that facilitate a corporate transaction that is also being supported and for general corporate purposes so long as the increase is not excessive and there are no issues of superior voting rights, company performance, previous abuses of capital, or insufficient justification for the need for additional capital.

Mergers and Acquisitions

•The Adviser reviews mergers and acquisitions on a case-by-case basis to balance the merits and drawbacks of the transaction and factors such as valuation, strategic rationale, negotiations and process, conflicts of interest, and the governance profile of the company post-transaction.

Compensation

•The Adviser reviews all compensation proposals for pay-for-performance alignment, with emphasis on long-term shareholder value; arrangements that risk pay for failure; independence in the setting of compensation; inappropriate pay to non-executive directors, and the quality and rationale of the compensation disclosure.

•The Adviser will generally vote FOR advisory votes on executive compensation ("say on pay") unless there is a pay-for- performance misalignment; problematic pay practice or non-performance based element; incentive for excessive risk-taking, options backdating; or a lack of compensation committee communication and/or responsiveness to shareholder concerns.

•The Adviser will vote case-by-case on equity based compensation plans taking into account factors such as the plan cost; the plan features; and the grant practices as well as any overriding factors that may have a significant negative impact on shareholder interests.

Social and Environmental Issues

•The Adviser will vote case-by-case on topics such as consumer and product safety; environment and energy; labor standards and human rights; workplace and board diversity; and corporate and political issues, taking into account factors such as the implementation of the proposal is likely to enhance or protect shareholder value; whether the company has already responded in

an appropriate and sufficient manner to the issue raised; whether the request is unduly burdensome; and whether the issue is more appropriately or effectively handled through legislation or other regulations.

Occasionally, conflicts of interest arise between the Adviser's interests and those of the Fund or another client. When this occurs, the Proxy Committee must document the nature of the conflict and vote the proxy in accordance with the Proxy Voting Guidelines unless such guidelines are judged by the Proxy Committee to be inapplicable to the proxy matter at issue. In the event that the Proxy Voting Guidelines are inapplicable or do not mitigate the conflict, the Adviser will seek the opinion of the Adviser's Chief Compliance Officer or consult with an external independent adviser. In the case of a Proxy Committee member having a personal conflict of interest (e.g. a family member is on the board of the issuer), such member will abstain from voting. Finally, the Adviser reports to the Board annually any proxy votes that took place involving a conflict, including the nature of the conflict and the basis or rationale for the voting decision made.

The Fund's Proxy Voting Policy provides that the Funds, in accordance with SEC rules, annually will disclose on Form N-PX the Fund's proxy voting record. Information regarding how the Funds voted proxies relating to portfolio securities during the most recent 12-month period ended June 30th is updated each year by August 31st and is available without charge, upon request, by calling toll free 800-539- FUND (800-539-3863) or by accessing the SEC's website at www.sec.gov.

PORTFOLIO TRANSACTIONS AND BROKERAGE COMMISSIONS

Subject to the general supervision of the Board, the Adviser is responsible for making decisions with respect to the purchase and sale of portfolio securities on behalf of the Fund. The Adviser is also responsible for the implementation of those decisions, including the selection of broker/dealers to effect portfolio transactions, the negotiation of commissions, and the allocation of principal business and portfolio brokerage. Under the terms of the Advisory Agreement, the Adviser may delegate these responsibilities to a sub-adviser.

Transactions on stock exchanges involve the payment of brokerage commissions. In transactions on stock exchanges in the United States, these commissions are negotiated. Traditionally, commission rates have generally been fixed for trades on stock markets outside the United States. In recent years, however, an increasing number of overseas stock markets have adopted a system of negotiated commission rates. It is expected that equity securities will ordinarily be purchased in the primary markets for such securities, whether over-the- counter or listed, and that listed securities may be purchased in the over-the-counter market if such market is deemed the primary market. In the case of securities traded on the over-the- counter markets, there is generally no stated commission, but the price usually includes an undisclosed commission or markup. In underwritten offerings, the price includes a disclosed, fixed commission (the underwriter's concession) or discount.

Fixed income and convertible securities are bought and sold through broker-dealers acting on a principal basis. These trades are not charged a commission, but rather are marked up or marked down by the executing broker- dealer. The Adviser does not know the actual value of the markup/markdown. However, the Adviser attempts to ascertain whether the overall price of a security is reasonable through the use of competitive bids. Orders to buy or sell convertible securities and fixed income securities are placed on a competitive basis with a reasonable attempt made to obtain three competitive bids or offers. Exceptions are: (1) where the bid/ask spread is 5 basis points or less, provided the order is actually filled at the bid or better for sales and at the ask or better for purchases; (2) securities for which there are only one or two market makers; (3) block purchases considered relatively large; (4) swaps, a simultaneous sale of one security and purchase of another in substantially equal amounts for the same account, intended to take advantage of an aberration in a spread relationship, realize losses, etc.; and (5) purchases and/or sales of fixed income securities for which, typically, more than one offering of the same issue is unobtainable; subject to a judgment by the trader that the bid is competitive.

It is the policy of the Adviser to obtain the "best execution" of its clients' securities transactions. The Adviser strives to execute each client's securities transactions in such a manner that the client's total costs or proceeds in each transaction are the most favorable under the circumstances. Commission rates paid on securities transactions for client accounts must reflect comparative market rates.

In purchasing and selling the Fund's portfolio securities, it is the Adviser's policy to obtain quality execution at the most favorable prices through responsible broker/dealers and, in the case of agency transactions, at competitive commission rates where such rates are negotiable. In selecting broker/dealers to execute the Fund's portfolio transactions, consideration is given to such factors as the price of the security, the rate of the commission, the size and difficulty of the order, the reliability, integrity, financial condition, general execution and operational capabilities of competing brokers and dealers, their expertise in particular markets and the brokerage and research services they provide to the Adviser or the Funds. It is not the Adviser's practice to seek the lowest available commission rate where it is believed that a broker or dealer charging a higher commission rate would offer greater reliability or provide better price or execution.

As permitted by Section 28(e) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the Adviser may cause the Fund to pay broker- dealers that provide brokerage and research services a commission rate that exceeds the amount other broker/dealers would have charged for the

transaction if the Adviser determines in good faith that the greater commission is reasonable in relation to the value of the brokerage and research services provided by the executing broker/dealer viewed in terms of either a particular transaction or the Adviser's overall responsibilities to the Fund or to its other clients. The term "brokerage and research services" includes advice as to the value of securities, the advisability of investing in, purchasing, or selling securities, and the availability of securities or of purchasers or sellers of securities; furnishing analyses and reports concerning issuers, industries, securities, economic factors and trends, portfolio strategy and the performance of accounts; and effecting securities transactions and performing functions incidental thereto such as clearance and settlement.

The brokerage and research services are in addition to and do not replace the services and research that the Adviser is required to perform and do not reduce the investment advisory fees payable to the Adviser by the Fund. Such information may be useful to the Adviser in serving both the Funds and other clients and, conversely, such supplemental research information obtained by the placement of orders on behalf of other clients may be useful to the Adviser in carrying out its obligations to the Fund.

Brokerage commissions may never be used to compensate a third party for client referrals unless the client has directed such an arrangement. In addition, brokerage commissions may never be used to obtain research and/or services for the benefit of any employee or non-client entity.

The Adviser will make a good faith determination that the commissions paid are reasonable in relationship to the value of the services received and continually reviews the quality of execution it receives from and the commission rates charged by the brokers it uses to carry out trades for its clients. The Adviser will consider the full range and quality of a broker's services in placing brokerage including, but not limited to, the value of research provided, execution capability, commission rate, willingness, and ability to commit capital and responsiveness. The lowest possible commission cost alone does not determine broker selection. The transaction that represents the best quality execution for a client account will be executed. Commission ranges and the actual commission paid for trades of listed stocks and over-the-counter stocks may vary depending on, but not limited to, the liquidity and volatility of the stock and services provided to the Adviser by the broker.

Some brokers executing trades for the Adviser's clients may, from time to time, receive liquidity rebates in connection with the routing of trades to Electronic Communications Networks. Since the Adviser is not a broker, however, it is ineligible to receive such rebates and does not obtain direct benefits for its clients from this broker practice.

Investment decisions for the Fund are made independently from those made for the other Funds or any other investment company or account managed by the Adviser. Such other investment companies or accounts may also invest in the same securities and may follow similar investment strategies as the Funds. The Adviser may combine transaction orders ("bunching" or "blocking" trades) for more than one client account where such action appears to be equitable and potentially advantageous for each account (e.g., for the purpose of reducing brokerage commissions or obtaining a more favorable transaction price.) The Adviser will aggregate transaction orders only if it believes that the aggregation is consistent with its duty to seek best execution for its clients and is consistent with the terms of investment advisory agreements with each client for whom trades are being aggregated. Both equity and fixed income securities may be aggregated. When making such a combination of transaction orders for a new issue or secondary market trade in an equity security, the Adviser adheres to the following objectives:

•Fairness to clients both in the participation of execution of orders for their account, and in the allocation of orders for the accounts of more than one client.

•Allocation of all orders in a timely and efficient manner.

In some rare cases, "bunching" or "blocking" trades may affect the price paid or received by the Fund or the size of the position obtained by the Fund in an adverse manner relative to the result that would have been obtained if only that particular Fund had participated in or been allocated such trades.

The aggregation of transactions for advisory accounts and proprietary accounts (including partnerships and other accounts in which the Adviser or its associated persons are partners or participants, and managed employee accounts) is permissible. However, no proprietary account may be favored over any other participating account and such practice must be consistent with the Adviser's policies and procedures including its Code of Ethics.

Equity trade orders are executed based only on trade instructions received from portfolio managers by the trading desk. Portfolio managers may enter trades to meet the full target allocation immediately or may meet the allocation through moves in incremental blocks. Orders are processed on a "first-come, first-served" basis. At times, a rotation system may determine "first-come, first-served" treatment when the equity trading desk receives the same order for multiple accounts simultaneously. The Adviser will utilize a rotation whereby the Funds, even if aggregated with other orders, are in the first block(s) to trade within the rotation. To aggregate orders, the

equity trading desk must determine that all accounts in the order will benefit. Any new trade that can be blocked with an existing open order may be added to the open order to form a larger block. The Adviser receives no additional compensation or remuneration of any kind as a result of the aggregation of trades. All accounts participating in a block execution receive the same execution price, an average share price, for securities purchased or sold on a trading day. Execution prices may not be carried overnight. Any portion of an order that remains unfilled at the end of a given day shall be rewritten (absent contrary instructions) on the following day as a new order. Accounts with trades executed the next day will receive a new daily average price to be determined at the end of the following day.

If the order is filled in its entirety, securities purchased in the aggregate transaction will be allocated among accounts participating in the trade in accordance with an Allocation Statement prepared at the time of order entry. If the order is partially filled, the securities will be allocated pro rata based on the Allocation Statement. Portfolio managers may allocate executed trades in a different manner than indicated on the Allocation Statement (e.g., non-pro rata) only if all client accounts receive fair and equitable treatment.

In some instances, such as trading in fixed income securities, it may not be practical to complete the Allocation Statement prior to the placement of the order. In that case, the trading desk will complete the Allocation Statement as soon as practicable, but no later than the end of the same business day on which the securities have been allocated to the trading desk by the broker.

Where the full amount of a block execution is not executed, the partial amount actually executed will be allocated on a pro rata basis whenever possible. The following execution methods may be used in place of a pro rata procedure: relative size allocations, security position weighting, priority for specialized accounts, or a special allocation based on compliance approval.

In making investment decisions for the Funds, the Adviser will not inquire or take into consideration whether an issuer of securities proposed for purchase or sale by the Fund is a customer of the Adviser, its parents, subsidiaries, or affiliates, and, in dealing with their commercial customers, the Adviser, its parents, subsidiaries and affiliates will not inquire or take into consideration whether securities of such customers are held by the Funds. Portfolio securities will not be purchased from or sold to the Adviser, or the Distributor, or any affiliated person of any of them acting as principal, except to the extent permitted by rule or order of the SEC.

No brokerage commissions were paid by the Fund as it had not yet commenced operations prior to the date of this SAI.

Affiliated Brokerage. The Board has authorized the allocation of brokerage to affiliated broker-dealers on an agency basis to effect portfolio transactions. The Board has adopted procedures incorporating the standards of Rule 17e-1 under the 1940 Act, which require that the commission paid to affiliated broker-dealers must be "reasonable and fair compared to the commission, fee or other remuneration received, or to be received, by other broker-dealers in connection with comparable transactions involving similar securities during a comparable period of time."

The Trust will not acquire portfolio securities issued by, make savings deposits in, or enter into repurchase or reverse repurchase agreements with the Adviser or its affiliates. From time to time, when determined by the Adviser or Sub- Adviser to be advantageous to the Funds, the Adviser may execute portfolio transactions through affiliated broker-dealers. All such transactions must be consistent with best execution and completed in accordance with procedures approved by the Board.

No payments were made to any affiliated brokers by the Fund as it had not yet commenced operations prior to the date of this SAI.

Allocation of Brokerage in Connection with Research Services. The Fund has not paid brokerage commissions since it had not yet commenced operations prior to the date of this SAI.

Securities of Regular Brokers or Dealers. The SEC requires the Trust to provide certain information for those Funds that held securities of their regular brokers or dealers (or their parent companies) during the most recent fiscal year. The Fund did not hold any securities of its regular broker or dealers since it had not yet commenced operations prior to the date of this SAI.

Portfolio Turnover

The Fund may sell a portfolio investment soon after its acquisition if the Adviser believes that such a disposition is consistent with attaining the investment objective of the Fund. The Fund's portfolio turnover rate stated in the Prospectus is calculated by dividing the lesser of the Fund's purchases or sales of portfolio securities for the year by the monthly average value of the portfolio securities. The calculation excludes all securities whose maturities, at the time of acquisition, were one year or less. Portfolio turnover is calculated on the basis of the Fund as a whole without distinguishing between the classes of shares issued.

The turnover rate for the Fund will vary from year-to-year, and, depending on market conditions, could be greater in periods of unusual market movement and volatility. Transaction costs associated with turnover are borne directly by the Fund and, ultimately, by its shareholders. A high rate of portfolio turnover (generally, over 100% annually) generally will involve correspondingly greater

transaction costs. High portfolio turnover may result in the realization of substantial net capital gains. To the extent short-term capital gains are realized, distributions attributable to such gains will be ordinary income for federal income tax purposes.

Portfolio turnover rates are not presented as the Fund had not yet commenced operations prior to the date of this SAI.

DIVIDENDS, CAPITAL GAINS AND DISTRIBUTIONS

The Fund distributes substantially all of their net investment income and net capital gains, if any, to shareholders within each calendar year as well as on a fiscal year basis to the extent required for the Fund to qualify for favorable federal tax treatment. The Fund ordinarily declare and pay dividends from their net investment income. The Fund declares and pays capital gains annually. Ordinarily, dividends from net investment income, if any, are declared and paid monthly by the Fund.

The amount of distributions may vary from time to time depending on market conditions, the composition of the Fund's portfolio, and expenses borne by the Fund. Dividends are calculated in the same manner, at the same time, and on the same day for shares.

For this purpose, the net income of the Fund, from the time of the immediately preceding determination thereof, shall consist of all interest income accrued on the portfolio assets of the Fund, dividend income, if any, income from securities loans, if any and realized capital gains and losses on the Fund's assets, less all expenses and liabilities of the Fund chargeable against income. Interest income shall include discount earned, including both original issue and market discount, on discount paper accrued ratably to the date of maturity. Expenses, including the compensation payable to the Adviser, are accrued each day. The expenses and liabilities of the Fund shall include those appropriately allocable to the Fund as well as a share of the general expenses and liabilities of the Trust in proportion to the Fund's share of the total net assets of the Trust.

TAXES

Information set forth in the Prospectuses that relates to federal income taxation is only a summary of certain key federal income tax considerations generally affecting purchasers of shares of the Fund. The following is only a summary of certain additional income and excise tax considerations generally affecting the Fund and its shareholders that are not described in the Prospectuses. No attempt has been made to present a complete explanation of the federal tax treatment of the Fund or the implications to shareholders and the discussions here and in the Fund's Prospectus are not intended as substitutes for careful tax planning. In addition, the following summary does not describe the tax consequences to an Authorized Participant from the creation and redemption of Creation Units. Accordingly, potential purchasers of shares of the Fund are urged to consult their tax advisers with specific reference to their own tax circumstances. Special tax considerations may apply to certain types of investors subject to special treatment under the Code (including, for example, insurance companies, banks, and tax-exempt organizations). In addition, the following summary does not describe the tax consequences to foreign trusts, foreign estates, and foreign partnerships. Lastly, the tax discussion in the Prospectus and this SAI is based on tax law in effect on the date of the Prospectus and this SAI; such laws and regulations may be changed by legislative, judicial, or administrative action, sometimes with retroactive effect.

Qualification as a Regulated Investment Company

The Fund intends to qualify as a regulated investment company under Subchapter M of the Code. As a regulated investment company, the Fund is not subject to federal income tax on the portion of its net investment income (i.e., taxable interest, dividends and other taxable ordinary income, net of expenses) and net capital gain (i.e., the excess of long-term capital gains over short-term capital losses) that it distributes to shareholders, provided that it distributes at least the sum of 90% of its investment company taxable income (i.e., net investment income and the excess of net short-term capital gain over net long-term capital loss) and 90% of its tax-exempt income (net of expenses allocable thereto) for the taxable year (the "Distribution Requirement") and satisfies certain other requirements of the Code that are described below. Distributions by the Fund made during the taxable year or, under specified circumstances, within 12 months after the close of the taxable year, will be considered distributions of income and gains for the taxable year and will therefore count toward satisfaction of the Distribution Requirement.

If the Fund has a net capital loss (i.e., an excess of capital losses over capital gains), the amount thereof may be carried forward and would retain its character as either a short-term capital loss or a long-term capital loss that can be used to offset such capital gains in future years. There is no limitation on the number of years to which net capital losses may be carried. However, the amount of capital loss that can be carried forward and used in any single year is subject to an annual limitation if there is a more than 50% "change in ownership" of the Fund.

In addition to satisfying the Distribution Requirement, a regulated investment company must derive at least 90% of its gross income from dividends, interest, certain payments with respect to securities loans, gains from the sale or other disposition of stock or securities or foreign currencies (to the extent such currency gains are directly related to the regulated investment company's principal business of investing in stock or securities), other income (including but not limited to gains from options, futures, or forward contracts) derived with respect to its business of investing in such stock, securities, or currencies and net income from interests in qualified publicly traded partnerships (the "Income Requirement").

A regulated investment company, in determining its investment company taxable income and net capital gain (i.e., the excess of net long-term capital gain over net short-term capital loss) for any taxable year, may elect (unless it has made a taxable year election for excise tax purposes as discussed below, in which case different rules apply) to treat all or any part of certain net capital losses incurred after October 31 of a taxable year, and certain net ordinary losses incurred after October 31 or December 31 of a taxable year, as if they had been incurred in the succeeding taxable year.

In addition to satisfying the Income and Distribution Requirements described above, the Fund must satisfy an asset diversification test in order to qualify as a regulated investment company. Under this test, at the close of each quarter of the Fund's taxable year, at least 50% of the value of the Fund's assets must consist of cash and cash items, U.S. government securities, securities of other regulated investment companies and securities of other issuers (provided that, with respect to each issuer, the Fund has not invested more than 5% of the value of the Fund's total assets in securities of each such issuer and the Fund does not hold more than 10% of the outstanding voting securities of each such issuer), and no more than 25% of the value of its total assets may be invested in the securities of any one issuer (other than U.S. government securities and securities of other regulated investment companies), two or more issuers that the Fund controls and that are engaged in the same or similar trades or businesses (other than securities of other regulated investment companies), or the securities of one or more qualified publicly traded partnerships. Generally, an option (call or put) with respect to a security is treated as issued by the issuer of the security, not the issuer of the option. For purposes of asset diversification testing, obligations issued or guaranteed by certain agencies or instrumentalities of the U.S. government, such as the Federal Agricultural Mortgage Corporation, the FFCB, FHLB, FHLMC, FNMA, GNMA, and SLMA, are treated as U.S. government securities.

Certain Funds may invest in futures contracts, options on futures contracts and other similar investments that provide exposure to commodities such as gold or other precious metals, energy, or other commodities. Income or gain, if any, from such investments may not be qualifying income for purposes of the Income Requirements and the Fund's investments in such instruments may not be treated as an investment in a "security" for purposes of the asset diversification test.

If for any taxable year the Fund does not qualify as a regulated investment company after taking into account cure provisions available for certain failures to so qualify (certain of which would result in the imposition of a tax on the Fund), all of its taxable income (including its net capital gain) will be subject to tax at the regular corporate rate without any deduction for distributions to shareholders and such distributions will be taxable to the shareholders as dividends to the extent of the Fund's current and accumulated earnings and profits. Such distributions may be eligible for: (i) the dividends-received deduction, in the case of corporate shareholders; or (ii) treatment as "qualified dividend income," in the case of non-corporate shareholders. In addition, to qualify again to be taxed as a regulated investment company in a subsequent year, the Fund would be required to distribute to shareholders its earnings and profits attributable to non- qualifying years. Further, if the Fund failed to qualify for a period greater than two taxable years, then, in order to qualify as a regulated investment company in a subsequent year, the Fund would be required to elect to recognize and pay tax on any net built-in gain (i.e., the excess of aggregate gain, including items of income, over aggregate loss that would have been realized if the Fund had been liquidated) or, alternatively, be subject to taxation on such built-in gain recognized for a period of five years.

Excise Tax on Regulated Investment Companies

A 4% non-deductible excise tax is imposed on a regulated investment company that fails to distribute in each calendar year an amount equal to at least the sum of (i) 98% of its ordinary taxable income for the calendar year and (ii) 98.2% of its capital gain net income for the one-year period ended on October 31 of such calendar year (or, with respect to capital gain net income, at the election of a regulated investment company having a taxable year ending November 30 or December 31, for its taxable year (a "taxable year election")). Tax- exempt interest on municipal obligations is not subject to the excise tax. The balance of such income must be distributed during the next calendar year. For the foregoing purposes, any ordinary income or capital gain net income retained by a regulated investment company that is subject to corporate income tax will be treated as having been distributed during the taxable year ending in such calendar year.

The Fund intends to make sufficient distributions or deemed distributions of its ordinary taxable income and capital gain net income prior to the end of each calendar year to avoid liability for the excise tax. However, investors should note that the Fund may in certain circumstances be required to liquidate portfolio investments to make sufficient distributions to avoid excise tax liability.

Fund Investments

In general, gain or loss recognized by the Fund on the disposition of an asset will be a capital gain or loss. In addition, gain will be recognized as a result of certain constructive sales, including short sales "against the box." However, gain recognized on the disposition of a debt obligation (including municipal obligations) purchased by the Fund at a market discount (generally, at a price less than its principal amount) will be treated as ordinary income to the extent of the portion of the market discount that accrued while the Fund held the debt obligation. In addition, under the rules of Code Section 988, gain or loss recognized on the disposition of a debt obligation denominated in a foreign currency or an option with respect thereto, and gain or loss recognized on the disposition of a foreign currency forward contract, futures contract, option or similar financial instrument, or of foreign currency itself, except for regulated futures contracts or non-equity options subject to Code Section 1256 (unless the Fund elects otherwise), generally will be treated as ordinary income or loss to the extent attributable to changes in foreign currency exchange rates.

Certain transactions that may be engaged in by the Fund (such as regulated futures contracts, certain foreign currency contracts and options on stock indexes and futures contracts) will be subject to special tax treatment as "Section 1256 Contracts." Section 1256 Contracts are treated as if they are sold for their fair market value on the last business day of the taxable year, even though a taxpayer's obligations (or rights) under such Section 1256 Contracts have not terminated (by delivery, exercise, entering into a closing transaction, or otherwise) as of such date. Any gain or loss recognized as a consequence of the year-end deemed disposition of Section 1256 Contracts is taken into account for the taxable year together with any other gain or loss that was recognized previously upon the termination of Section 1256 Contracts during that taxable year. Any capital gain or loss for the taxable year with respect to Section 1256 Contracts (including any capital gain or loss arising as a consequence of the year-end deemed sale of such Section 1256 Contracts) generally is treated as 60% long-term capital gain or loss and 40% short-term capital gain or loss. The Fund, however, may elect not to have this special tax treatment apply to Section 1256 Contracts that are part of a "mixed straddle" with other investments of the Fund that are not Section 1256 Contracts.

The Fund may enter into notional principal contracts, including interest rate swaps, caps, floors, and collars. Treasury Regulations provide, in general, that the net income or net deduction from a notional principal contract for a taxable year is included in or deducted from gross income for that taxable year. The net income or deduction from a notional principal contract for a taxable year equals the total of all of the periodic payments (generally, payments that are payable or receivable at fixed periodic intervals of one year or less during the entire term of the contract) that are recognized from that contract for the taxable year, all of the non-periodic payments (including premiums for caps, floors and collars) that are recognized from that contract for the taxable year and any termination payments that are recognized from that contract for the taxable year. No portion of a payment by a party to a notional principal contract is recognized prior to the first year to which any portion of a payment by the counterparty relates. A periodic payment is recognized ratably over the period to which it relates. In general, a non-periodic payment must be recognized over the term of the notional principal contract in a manner that reflects the economic substance of the contract. A non-periodic payment that relates to an interest rate swap, cap, floor, or collar is recognized over the term of the contract by allocating it in accordance with the values of a series of cash-settled forward or option contracts that reflect the specified index and notional principal amount upon which the notional principal contract is based (or under an alternative method provided in Treasury Regulations). A termination payment is recognized in the year the notional principal contract is extinguished, assigned, or terminated (i.e., in the year the termination payment is made).

Income from options on individual securities written by the Fund will not be recognized by the Fund for tax purposes until an option is exercised or lapses. Any gain recognized by the Fund on the lapse of, or any gain or loss recognized by the Fund from a closing transaction with respect to, an option written by the Fund will be treated as a short-term capital gain or loss. If the Fund enters into a closing transaction, the difference between the premiums received and the amount paid by the Fund to close out its position will generally be treated as short-term capital gain or loss. If an option written by the Fund is exercised, thereby requiring the Fund to sell the underlying security, the premium will increase the amount realized upon the sale of the security, and the character of any gain on such sale of the underlying security as short-term or long-term capital gain will depend on the holding period of the Fund in the underlying security. Because the Fund will not have control over the exercise of the options it writes, such exercises or other required sales of the underlying securities may cause the Fund to realize gains or losses at inopportune times.

The Fund may purchase securities of certain foreign investment funds or trusts that constitute passive foreign investment companies ("PFICs") for federal income tax purposes. If the Fund invests in a PFIC, it has three separate options. First, it may elect to treat the PFIC as a qualified electing fund (a "QEF"), in which event the Fund will each year have ordinary income equal to its pro rata share of the PFIC's ordinary earnings for the year and long-term capital gain equal to its pro rata share of the PFIC's net capital gain for the year, regardless of whether the Fund receives distributions of any such ordinary earnings or capital gains from the PFIC, and such amounts would be subject to the 90% and excise tax distribution requirements described above. In order to make this election with respect to a PFIC in which it invests, the Fund must obtain certain information from the PFIC on an annual basis, which the PFIC may be unwilling or unable to provide. Second, the Fund that invests in marketable stock of a PFIC may make a mark-to-market election with respect to such stock. Pursuant to such election, the Fund will include as ordinary income any excess of the fair market value of such stock at the close of any taxable year over the Fund's adjusted tax basis in the stock. If the adjusted tax basis of the PFIC stock exceeds the fair

market value of the stock at the end of a given taxable year, such excess will be deductible as ordinary loss in an amount equal to the lesser of the amount of such excess or the net mark-to-market gains on the stock that the Fund included in income in previous years. Solely for purposes of Code Sections 1291 through 1298, the Fund's holding period with respect to its PFIC stock subject to the election will commence on the first day of the first taxable year beginning after the last taxable year for which the mark-to-market election applied. If the Fund makes the mark-to-market election in the first taxable year it holds PFIC stock, it will not incur the tax described below under the third option.

Finally, if the Fund does not elect to treat the PFIC as a QEF and does not make a mark-to-market election, then, in general, (1) any gain recognized by the Fund upon the sale or other disposition of its interest in the PFIC or any excess distribution received by the Fund from the PFIC will be allocated ratably over the Fund's holding period of its interest in the PFIC stock, (2) the portion of such gain or excess distribution so allocated to the year in which the gain is recognized or the excess distribution is received shall be included in the Fund's gross income for such year as ordinary income (and the distribution of such portion by the Fund to shareholders will be taxable as a dividend, but such portion will not be subject to tax at the Fund level), (3) the Fund shall be liable for tax on the portions of such gain or excess distribution so allocated to prior years in an amount equal to, for each such prior year, (i) the amount of gain or excess distribution allocated to such prior year multiplied by the highest corporate tax rate in effect for such prior year, plus (ii) interest on the amount determined under clause (i) for the period from the due date for filing a return for such prior year until the date for filing a return for the year in which the gain is recognized or the excess distribution is received, at the rates and methods applicable to underpayments of tax for such period, and (4) the distribution by the Fund to its shareholders of the portions of such gain or excess distribution so allocated to prior years (net of the tax payable by the Fund thereon) will be taxable to the shareholders as a dividend.

Some of the debt securities (with a fixed maturity date of more than one year from the date of issuance) that may be acquired by the Fund may be treated as debt securities that are issued originally at a discount. Generally, the amount of the original issue discount ("OID") is treated as interest income and is included in income over the term of the debt security, even though payment of that amount is not received until a later time, usually when the debt security matures. A portion of the OID includable in income with respect to certain high-yield corporate debt securities (including certain pay-in-kind securities) may be treated as a dividend for U.S. federal income tax purposes.

Some of the debt securities (with a fixed maturity date of more than one year from the date of issuance) that may be acquired by the Fund in the secondary market may be treated as having market discount. Generally, any gain recognized on the disposition of, and any partial payment of principal on, a debt security having market discount is treated as ordinary income to the extent the gain, or principal payment, does not exceed the "accrued market discount" on such debt security. Market discount generally accrues in equal daily installments. The Fund may make one or more of the elections applicable to debt securities having market discount, which could affect the character and timing of recognition of income.

The Fund that holds the foregoing kinds of securities may be required to pay out as an income distribution each year an amount, which is greater than the total amount of cash interest the Fund actually received. Such distributions may be made from the cash assets of the Fund or by liquidation of portfolio securities, if necessary (including when it is not advantageous to do so). The Fund may realize gains or losses from such liquidations. In the event the Fund realizes net capital gains from such transactions, its shareholders may receive a larger capital gain distribution, if any, than they would in the absence of such transactions.

Gain or loss on the sale of securities by the Fund will generally be long-term capital gain or loss if the securities have been held by the Fund for more than one year. Gain or loss on the sale of securities held for one year or less will be short-term capital gain or loss.

The Fund may invest in preferred securities or other securities the federal income tax treatment of which may not be clear or may be subject to recharacterization by the Internal Revenue Service ("IRS"). To the extent the tax treatment of such securities or the income from such securities differs from the tax treatment expected by the Fund, it could affect the timing or character of income recognized by the Fund, potentially requiring the Fund to purchase or sell securities, or otherwise change its portfolio, in order to comply with the tax rules applicable to regulated investment companies under the Code.

The Fund may invest a portion of its net assets in below investment grade securities. Investments in these types of securities may present special tax issues for the Fund. Federal income tax rules are not entirely clear about issues such as when the Fund may cease to accrue interest, original issue discount or market discount, when and to what extent deductions may be taken for bad debts or worthless securities, how payments received on obligations in default should be allocated between principal and interest and whether modifications or exchanges of debt obligations in a bankruptcy or workout context are taxable. These and other issues could affect the Fund's ability to distribute sufficient income to preserve its status as a regulated investment company or to avoid the imposition of U.S. federal income or excise tax.

Fund Distributions

The Fund anticipates distributing substantially all of its investment company taxable income for each taxable year. Such distributions will be treated as dividends for federal income tax purposes and may be taxable to non-corporate shareholders as long-term capital gains (a "qualified dividend"), provided that certain requirements, as discussed below, are met. Dividends received by corporate shareholders and dividends that do not constitute qualified dividends are taxable as ordinary income. The portion of dividends received from the Fund that are qualified dividends generally will be determined on a look-through basis. If the aggregate qualified dividends received by the Fund are less than 95% of the Fund's gross income (as specially computed), the portion of dividends received from the Fund that constitute qualified dividends will be reported by the Fund and cannot exceed the ratio that the qualified dividends received by the Fund bears to its gross income. If the aggregate qualified dividends received by the Fund equal at least 95% of its gross income, then all of the dividends received from the Fund will constitute qualified dividends.

No dividend will constitute a qualified dividend (1) if it has been paid with respect to any share of stock that the Fund has held for less than 61 days (91 days in the case of certain preferred stock) during the 121-day period (181-day period in the case of certain preferred stock) beginning on the date that is 60 days (90 days in the case of certain preferred stock) before the date on which such share becomes ex-dividend with respect to such dividend, excluding for this purpose, under the rules of Code Section 246(c), any period during which the Fund has an option to sell, is under a contractual obligation to sell, has made and not closed a short sale of, is the grantor of an option to buy, or has otherwise diminished its risk of loss by holding other positions with respect to, such (or substantially identical) stock; (2) if the non-corporate shareholder fails to meet the holding period requirements set forth in (1) with respect to its shares in the Fund to which the dividend is attributable; or (3) to the extent that the Fund (or shareholder, as applicable) is under an obligation (pursuant to a short sale or otherwise) to make related payments with respect to positions in property substantially similar or related to stock with respect to which an otherwise qualified dividend is paid.

Qualified dividends are, in general, dividends from taxable U.S. corporations and certain foreign corporations. Dividends from a foreign corporation may be qualified dividends if (1) the stock with respect to which the dividend is paid is readily tradable on an established securities market in the United States, (2) the foreign corporation is incorporated in a possession of the United States or (3) the foreign corporation is eligible for the benefits of a comprehensive income tax treaty with the United States that includes an exchange of information program (and that the Treasury Department determines to be satisfactory for these purposes). The Treasury Department has issued guidance identifying which treaties are satisfactory for these purposes. Notwithstanding the above, dividends received from a foreign corporation that for the taxable year of the corporation in which the dividend was paid, or the preceding taxable year, is a PFIC will not constitute qualified dividends.

Distributions attributable to dividends received by the Fund from domestic corporations will qualify for the 50% dividends-received deduction ("DRD") for corporate shareholders only to the extent discussed below. Distributions attributable to dividends paid by a foreign corporation, a REIT or a corporation exempt from tax generally do not qualify for the DRD.

Ordinary income dividends paid by the Fund with respect to a taxable year may qualify for the 50% DRD generally available to corporations (other than corporations such as S corporations, which are not eligible for the deduction because of their special characteristics, and other than for purposes of special taxes such as the accumulated earnings tax and the personal holding company tax) to the extent of the amount of dividends received by the Fund from domestic corporations for the taxable year. No DRD will be allowed with respect to any dividend (1) if it has been received with respect to any share of stock that the Fund has held for less than 46 days (91 days in the case of certain preferred stock) during the 91-day period (181-day period in the case of certain preferred stock) beginning on the date that is 45 days (90 days in the case of certain preferred stock) before the date on which such share becomes ex-dividend with respect to such dividend, excluding for this purpose under the rules of Code Section 246(c) any period during which the Fund has an option to sell, is under a contractual obligation to sell, has made and not closed a short sale of, is the grantor of an option to buy, or has otherwise diminished its risk of loss by holding other positions with respect to, such (or substantially identical) stock; (2) to the extent that the Fund is under an obligation (pursuant to a short sale or otherwise) to make related payments with respect to positions in substantially similar or related property; or (3) to the extent the stock on which the dividend is paid is treated as debt-financed under the rules of Code Section 246A. Moreover, the DRD for a corporate shareholder may be disallowed or reduced (1) if the corporate shareholder fails to satisfy the foregoing requirements with respect to its shares of the Fund or (2) by application of Code Section 246(b), which in general limits the DRD to 50% of the shareholder's taxable income (determined without regard to the DRD and certain other items).

If the Fund receives a dividend (other than a capital gain dividend) in respect of any share of REIT stock, then Fund dividends attributable to that REIT dividend income (as reduced by certain Fund expenses) may be reported by the Fund as eligible for the 20% deduction for "qualified REIT dividends" generally available to non-corporate shareholders under the Code. However, a dividend from the Fund may not be treated as a qualified REIT dividend (1) if it has been paid with respect to any share of REIT stock that the Fund has held for less than 46 days during the 91-day period beginning on the date that is 45 days before the date on which such share becomes ex-dividend with respect to such dividend, excluding for this purpose, under the rules of Code Section 246(c), any period during which the Fund has

an option to sell, is under a contractual obligation to sell, has made and not closed a short sale of, is the grantor of an option to buy, or has otherwise diminished its risk of loss by holding other positions with respect to, such (or substantially identical) stock; (2) if the non- corporate shareholder fails to meet the holding period requirements set forth in (1) with respect to its shares in the Fund to which the dividend is attributable; or (3) to the extent that the Fund (or shareholder, as applicable) is under an obligation (pursuant to a short sale or otherwise) to make related payments with respect to positions in property substantially similar or related to stock with respect to which an otherwise qualified dividend is paid.

The Fund may either retain or distribute to shareholders its net capital gain for each taxable year. The Fund currently intends to distribute any such amounts. If net capital gain is distributed and reported as a capital gain dividend, it will be taxable to shareholders as long-term capital gain, regardless of the length of time the shareholder has held his shares or whether such gain was recognized by the Fund prior to the date on which the shareholder acquired his shares. The Code provides, however, that under certain conditions none of the capital gain recognized upon the Fund's disposition of domestic qualified "small business" stock will be subject to tax (with certain limitations).

Conversely, if the Fund elects to retain its net capital gain, the Fund will be subject to tax thereon (except to the extent of any available capital loss carryovers) at the corporate tax rates. If the Fund elects to retain its net capital gain, it is expected that the Fund also will elect to have shareholders of record on the last day of its taxable year treated as if each received a distribution of his pro rata share of such gain, with the result that each shareholder will be required to report his pro rata share of such gain on his tax return as long-term capital gain, will receive a refundable tax credit for his pro rata share of tax paid by the Fund on the gain, and will increase the tax basis for his shares by an amount equal to the deemed distribution less the tax credit. Organizations or persons not subject to U.S. federal income tax on such capital gains will be entitled to a refund of their pro rata share of such taxes paid by the Fund upon filing appropriate returns or claims for refund with the IRS.

Distributions by the Fund in excess of its current and accumulated earnings and profits will be treated as a tax-free return of capital to the extent of (and in reduction of) the shareholder's tax basis in his shares; any excess will be treated as gain from the sale of his shares, as discussed below.

Distributions by the Fund will be treated in the manner described above regardless of whether such distributions are paid in cash or reinvested in additional shares of the Fund (if that option is available). Distributions reinvested in additional shares of the Fund through the means of a dividend reinvestment service, if available, will be taxable to shareholders acquiring the additional shares to the same extent as if such distributions had been received in cash. In addition, if the NAV at the time a shareholder purchases shares of the Fund reflects undistributed net investment income, recognized net capital gain, or unrealized appreciation in the value of the assets of the Fund, distributions of such amounts will be taxable to the shareholder in the manner described above, although such distributions economically constitute a return of capital to the shareholder.

Ordinarily, shareholders are required to take distributions by the Fund into account in the year in which the distributions are made. However, dividends declared in October, November, or December of any year and payable to shareholders of record on a specified date in such a month will be deemed to have been received by the shareholders (and paid by the Fund) on December 31 of such calendar year if such dividends are actually paid in January of the following year. In addition, certain other distributions made after the close of the Fund's taxable year may be "spilled back" and treated as paid by the Fund (except for the purposes of the 4% nondeductible excise tax) during such taxable year. In such case, a shareholder will be treated as having received such dividends in the taxable year in which the distributions were actually made. Shareholders will be advised annually as to the U.S. federal income tax consequences of distributions made (or deemed made) during the year.

Certain U.S. shareholders, including individuals and estates and trusts, are subject to an additional 3.8% Medicare tax on all or a portion of their "net investment income," which should include dividends from the Fund and net gains from the disposition of shares of the Fund. U.S. shareholders are urged to consult their own tax advisers regarding the implications of the additional Medicare tax resulting from an investment in the Fund.

The Fund will be required in certain cases to withhold and remit to the U.S. Treasury backup withholding taxes at the applicable rate on distributions paid to any shareholder (1) who has failed to provide a correct taxpayer identification number, (2) who is subject to backup withholding for failure to report the receipt of interest or dividend income properly, or (3) who has failed to certify to the Fund that it is not subject to backup withholding or is an "exempt recipient" (such as a corporation). Amounts withheld under the backup withholding rules will be allowed as a refund or a credit against a shareholder's U.S. federal income tax liability provided the required information is furnished to the IRS.

Sale of Shares

A shareholder generally will recognize gain or loss on the sale of shares of the Fund in an amount equal to the difference between the proceeds of the sale the shareholder's adjusted tax basis in the shares. All or a portion of any loss may be disallowed if the shareholder

purchases other shares of the same Fund within 30 days before or after the sale. In such a case, the basis of the shares acquired will be increased to reflect the disallowed loss. In general, any gain or loss arising from (or treated as arising from) the sale of shares of the Fund will be considered capital gain or loss and will be long-term capital gain or loss if the shares were held for longer than one year. However, any capital loss arising from the sale of shares held for six months or less will be disallowed to the extent of the amount of exempt- interest dividends received on such shares (unless the loss is with respect to shares of the Fund for which the holding period began after December 22, 2010, and the Fund declares exempt-interest dividends on a daily basis in an amount equal to at least 90% of its net tax- exempt interest and distributes such dividends at least monthly) and (to the extent not disallowed) will be treated as a long-term capital loss to the extent of the amount of capital gain dividends received on such shares. For these purposes, the special holding period rules of Code Section 246(c) (discussed above in connection with qualified dividends, qualified REIT dividends and the dividends-received deduction) generally will apply in determining the holding period of shares. Capital losses in any year are deductible only to the extent of capital gains plus, in the case of a noncorporate taxpayer, $3,000 of ordinary income.

Tax Shelter and Other Reporting Requirements

If a shareholder realizes a loss on the disposition of shares of the Fund of at least $2 million in any single taxable year or at least $4 million in any combination of taxable years for an individual shareholder, or at least $10 million in any single taxable year or at least $20 million in any combination of taxable years for a corporate shareholder, the shareholder must file with the IRS a disclosure statement on Form 8886. Shareholders should consult their tax advisers to determine the applicability of this requirement in light of their individual circumstances.

Foreign Taxation

Income received by the Fund from sources within foreign countries may be subject to withholding and other taxes imposed by such countries. Tax treaties and conventions between certain countries and the United States may reduce or eliminate such taxes. If more than 50% of the value of the Fund's total assets at the close of its taxable year consists of securities of foreign corporations, the Fund may be able to elect to "pass through" to the Fund's shareholders the amount of eligible foreign income and similar taxes paid by the Fund. If this election is made, a shareholder generally subject to tax will be required to include in gross income (in addition to taxable dividends actually received) his or her pro rata share of the foreign taxes paid by the Fund, and may be entitled either to deduct (as an itemized deduction) his or her pro rata share of foreign taxes in computing his or her taxable income or to use it as a foreign tax credit against his or her U.S. federal income tax liability, subject to certain limitations. In particular, a shareholder must hold his or her shares (without protection from risk of loss) on the ex-dividend date and for at least 15 more days during the 30-day period surrounding the ex-dividend date to be eligible to claim a foreign tax credit with respect to a gain dividend. No deduction for foreign taxes may be claimed by a non- corporate shareholder who does not itemize deductions. Each shareholder will be notified days after the close of the Fund's taxable year whether the foreign taxes paid by the Fund will "pass through" for that year.

Generally, a credit for foreign taxes is subject to the limitation that it may not exceed the shareholder's U.S. tax attributable to his or her total foreign source taxable income. For this purpose, if the pass-through election is made, the source of the Fund's income will flow through to shareholders of the Fund. With respect to the Fund, gains from the sale of securities will be treated as derived from U.S. sources and certain currency fluctuation gains, including fluctuation gains from foreign currency-denominated debt securities, receivables and payables will be treated as ordinary income derived from U.S. sources. The limitation on the foreign tax credit is applied separately to foreign source passive income, and to certain other types of income. A shareholder may be unable to claim a credit for the full amount of his or her proportionate share of the foreign taxes paid by the Fund.

Foreign Shareholders

Taxation of a shareholder who, as to the United States, is a nonresident alien individual or foreign corporation ("foreign shareholder"), depends on whether the income from the Fund is "effectively connected" with a U.S. trade or business carried on by such shareholder.

If the income from the Fund is not effectively connected with a U.S. trade or business carried on by a foreign shareholder, subject to the discussion below with respect to "interest-related dividends" and "short-term capital gain dividends," ordinary income dividends (including dividends that would otherwise be treated as qualified dividends to an applicable non-foreign shareholder) paid to such foreign shareholder would be subject to a 30% U.S. withholding tax (or lower applicable treaty rate) upon the gross amount of the dividend. Such foreign shareholder would generally be exempt from U.S. federal income tax, including withholding tax, on gains realized on the sale of shares of the Fund or capital gain dividends unless the foreign shareholder is a nonresident alien individual present in the United States for a period or periods aggregating 183 days or more during the calendar year.

U.S. withholding tax generally does not apply to amounts properly designated by the Fund as an "interest-related dividend" or a "short- term capital gain dividend." The aggregate amount treated as an interest-related dividend for a year is limited to the Fund's qualified net interest income for the year, which is the excess of the sum of the Fund's qualified interest income (generally, its U.S.-source interest

income) over the deductions properly allocable to such income. The aggregate amount treated as a "short-term capital gain dividend" is limited to the excess of the Fund's net short-term capital gain over its net long-term capital loss. In order to qualify for this exemption from withholding, a foreign investor needs to comply with applicable certification requirements relating to its non-U.S. status (including, in general, furnishing an IRS Form W-8BEN, W-8BEN-E or substitute Form). In the case of shares held through an intermediary, the intermediary may withhold even if the Fund reported the payment as qualified net interest income or qualified short-term capital gain. Foreign investors should contact their intermediaries with respect to the application of these rules to their accounts.

If the income from the Fund is effectively connected with a U.S. trade or business carried on by a foreign shareholder, then any dividends, and any gains realized upon the sale of shares of the Fund will be subject to U.S. federal income tax at the rates applicable to U.S. citizens or domestic corporations, and, if the foreign shareholder is a corporation, the shareholder may be subject to an additional "branch profits tax" imposed at the rate of 30% (or lower applicable treaty rate).

In the case of foreign noncorporate shareholders, the Fund may be required to withhold backup withholding taxes at the applicable rate on distributions that are otherwise exempt from withholding tax (or taxable at a reduced treaty rate) unless such shareholders furnish the Fund with proper notification of their foreign status.

Special rules may apply to a foreign shareholder receiving the Fund distribution if at least 50% of the Fund's assets consist of interests in U.S. real property interests, including certain REITs and U.S. real property holding corporations (as defined in the Code and Treasury Regulations). Fund distributions that are attributable to gain from the disposition of a U.S. real property interest will be taxable as ordinary dividends and subject to withholding at a 30% or lower treaty rate if the foreign shareholder held no more than 5% of the Fund's shares at any time during the one-year period ending on the date of the distribution. If the foreign shareholder held at least 5% of the Fund's shares, the distribution would be treated as income effectively connected with a trade or business within the U.S. and the foreign shareholder would be subject to withholding tax at a rate of 21% and would generally be required to file a U.S. federal income tax return. Similar consequences would generally apply to a foreign shareholder's gain on the sale of Fund shares unless the Fund is domestically controlled (meaning that more than 50% of the value of the Fund's shares is held by U.S. shareholders) or the foreign shareholder owns no more than 5% of the Fund's shares at any time during the five-year period ending on the date of sale. Finally, a domestically controlled Fund may be required to recognize a portion of its gain on the in-kind distribution of certain U.S. real property interests. Foreign shareholders are urged to consult their own tax advisors concerning the particular tax consequences to them of an investment in the Fund.

Under the "Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act" and existing guidance thereunder, commonly known as "FATCA," a 30% withholding tax on dividends paid by the Fund generally applies if paid to a foreign entity unless: (i) if the foreign entity is a "foreign financial institution" as defined under FATCA, the foreign entity undertakes certain due diligence, reporting, withholding, and certification obligations, (ii) if the foreign entity is not a "foreign financial institution," it identifies certain of its U.S. investors or (iii) the foreign entity is otherwise excepted under FATCA. If withholding is required under FATCA on a payment related to any Fund distribution, investors that otherwise would not be subject to withholding (or that otherwise would be entitled to a reduced rate of withholding) on such payment generally will be required to seek a refund or credit from the IRS to obtain the benefit of such exemption or reduction. An intergovernmental agreement between the United States and an applicable foreign country, or future Treasury regulations or other guidance, may modify the foregoing requirements. The Funds will not pay any additional amounts in respect of amounts withheld under FATCA. Each investor should consult its tax adviser regarding the effect of FATCA based on its individual circumstances.

The tax consequences to a foreign shareholder entitled to claim the benefits of an applicable tax treaty might be different from those described herein. Foreign shareholders are urged to consult their own tax advisers with respect to the particular tax consequences to them of an investment in the Fund, including the applicability of foreign taxes.

Cost Basis Reporting

The Fund generally is required by law to report to shareholders and the IRS on Form 1099-B "cost basis" information for shares of the Fund acquired on or after January 1, 2012, and sold or redeemed after that date. Upon a disposition of such shares, the Fund will be required to report the adjusted cost basis, the gross proceeds from the disposition, and the character of realized gains or losses attributable to such shares. These requirements do not apply to investments through a tax-deferred arrangement, such as a 401(k) plan or an individual retirement plan. The "cost basis" of a share is generally its purchase price adjusted for returns of capital, and other corporate actions. "Cost basis" is used to determine whether a sale or other disposition of the shares results in a gain or loss.

The Fund will permit shareholders to elect among several IRS-accepted cost basis methods to determine the cost basis in their shares. If a shareholder does not affirmatively elect a cost basis method, then the Fund's default cost basis calculation method, which is currently the average cost method, will be applied to their account. The cost basis method elected or applied may not be changed after the settlement date of a sale of shares.

If a shareholder holds shares through a broker, the shareholder should contact that broker with respect to the reporting of cost basis information.

Shareholders are urged to consult their tax advisers regarding specific questions with respect to the application of the new cost basis reporting rules and, in particular, which cost basis calculation method to elect.

Effect of Future Legislation, Foreign, State and Local Tax Considerations

The foregoing general discussion of U.S. federal income and excise tax consequences is based on the Code and the Treasury Regulations issued thereunder as in effect on the date of this SAI. Future legislative or administrative changes or court decisions may significantly change the conclusions expressed herein and any such changes or decisions may have a retroactive effect.

Rules of foreign, state, and local taxation of ordinary income dividends, qualified dividends, exempt-interest dividends, and capital gain dividends from regulated investment companies may differ from the rules for U.S. federal income taxation described above. Shareholders are urged to consult their tax advisers as to the consequences of these and other foreign, state, and local tax rules affecting an investment in the Fund.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Description of Shares

As a Delaware statutory trust, the Trust need not hold regular annual shareholder meetings and, in the normal course, does not expect to hold such meetings. The Trust, however, must hold shareholder meetings for such purposes as, for example: (1) approving certain agreements as required by the 1940 Act; (2) changing fundamental investment objectives, policies, and restrictions of the Funds; and (3) filling vacancies on the Board of Trustees of the Trust in the event that less than a majority of the Trustees were elected by shareholders. Under the Trust's Second Amended and Restated Agreement and Declaration of Trust dated February 26, 2019 ("Declaration of Trust"), each Trustee will continue in office until the termination of the Trust or his/her earlier death, incapacity, resignation, or removal. Vacancies may be filled by a majority of the remaining Trustees, except insofar as the 1940 Act may require the election by shareholders. Therefore, the Trust expects that there will be no meetings of shareholders for the purpose of electing Trustees unless and until such time as less than a majority of the Trustees holding office have been elected by shareholders or unless matters arise requiring a vote of shareholders under the Declaration of Trust or the 1940 Act. At such time, the Trustees then in office will call a shareholders meeting. In addition, holders of record of not less than two-thirds of the outstanding shares of the Trust may remove a Trustee from office by a vote cast in person or by proxy at a shareholder meeting called for that purpose at the request of holders of 10% or more of the outstanding shares of the Trust. The Fund has the obligation to assist in such shareholder communications. Except as set forth above, Trustees will continue in office and may appoint successor Trustees.

The Declaration of Trust authorizes the Trustees to issue an unlimited number of shares, which are units of beneficial interest, with no par value. The Declaration of Trust authorizes the Trustees to divide or re-divide any unissued shares of the Trust into one or more additional series by setting or changing in any one or more aspects their respective preferences, conversion, or other rights, voting power, restrictions, limitations as to dividends, qualifications and terms and conditions of redemption.

Shares have no subscription or preemptive rights and only such conversion or exchange rights as the Trustees may grant in their discretion. When issued for payment as described in the Prospectus and this SAI, the Trust's shares will be fully paid and non-assessable. In the event of a liquidation or dissolution of the Trust, shares of the Fund are entitled to receive the assets available for distribution belonging to the Fund, and a proportionate distribution, based upon the relative asset values of the respective series, of any general assets not belonging to any particular series that are available for distribution. The Board may classify and reclassify the shares of the Fund into classes of shares at a future date.

Fund shareholders are entitled to one vote per share (with proportional voting for fractional shares) on such matters as shareholders are entitled to vote ("share-based voting"). Alternatively (except where the 1940 Act requires share-based voting), the Trustees in their discretion may determine that shareholders are entitled to one vote per dollar of NAV (with proportional voting for fractional dollar amounts). Shareholders of all series and classes will vote together as a single class on all matters except (1) when required by the 1940 Act or when the Trustees have determined that a matter affects one or more series or classes materially differently, shares shall be voted by individual series or class; and (2) when the Trustees have determined that the matter affects only the interests of a particular series or class, then only shareholders of such series or class shall be entitled to vote thereon.

There normally will be no meetings of shareholders for the purpose of electing Trustees unless and until such time as less than a majority of the Trustees have been elected by the shareholders, at which time the Trustees then in office will call a shareholders' meeting for the election of Trustees. A meeting shall be held for such purpose upon the written request of the holders of not less than one-third of the outstanding shares. Upon written request by ten or more shareholders of record meeting the qualifications of Section 16(c) of the 1940 Act, (i.e., persons who have been shareholders of record for at least six months, and who hold shares having an NAV of at least $25,000 or constituting 1% of the outstanding shares, whichever is less) stating that such shareholders wish to communicate with the other shareholders for the purpose of obtaining the signatures necessary to demand a meeting to consider removal of a Trustee, the Trust will provide a list of shareholders or disseminate appropriate materials (at the expense of the requesting shareholders). Except as set forth above, the Trustees shall continue to hold office and may appoint their successors.

The Declaration of Trust permits the Trustees to take certain actions without obtaining shareholder approval, if the Trustees determine that doing so would be in the best interests of shareholders. These actions include: (a) reorganizing the Fund with another investment company or another series of the Trust; (b) liquidating the Fund; (c) restructuring the Fund into a "master/feeder" structure, in which the Fund (the "feeder") would invest all of its assets in a separate "master" fund; and (d) amending the Declaration of Trust, unless shareholder consent is required by law.

Rule 18f-2 under the 1940 Act provides that any matter required to be submitted to the holders of the outstanding voting securities of an investment company such as the Trust shall not be deemed to have been effectively acted upon unless approved by the holders of a majority of the outstanding shares, as defined under the 1940 Act, of the series affected by the matter. For purposes of determining whether the approval of a majority of the outstanding shares of the Fund will be required in connection with a matter, the Fund will be deemed to be affected by a matter unless it is clear that the interests of the Fund and any other series in the matter are identical, or that the matter does not affect any interest of other series of the Trust. Under Rule 18f-2, the approval of an investment advisory agreement or any change in investment policy would be effectively acted upon with respect to the Fund only if approved by a majority of the outstanding shares of the Fund. However, Rule 18f-2 also provides that the ratification of independent accountants, the approval of principal underwriting contracts, and the election of Trustees may be effectively acted upon by shareholders of the Trust voting without regard to series.

Shareholder and Trustee Liability

The Delaware Statutory Trust Act provides that a shareholder of a Delaware statutory trust shall be entitled to the same limitation of personal liability extended to shareholders of Delaware corporations and the Declaration of Trust provides that shareholders of the Trust shall not be liable for the obligations of the Trust. The Declaration of Trust also provides for indemnification out of the trust property of any shareholder held personally liable solely by reason of his or her being or having been a shareholder. The risk of a shareholder incurring financial loss on account of shareholder liability is considered to be extremely remote.

The Declaration of Trust states further that to the fullest extent permitted by Delaware law, no Trustee or officer of the Trust shall be personally liable in connection with the administration or preservation of the assets of the Funds or the conduct of the Trust's business; nor shall any Trustee, officer, or agent be personally liable to any person for any action or failure to act except for his own bad faith, willful misfeasance, gross negligence, or reckless disregard of his duties. The Declaration of Trust also provides that all persons having any claim against the Trustees or the Trust shall look solely to the assets of the Trust for payment.

Derivative Actions Brought by Shareholders

Pursuant to the Declaration of Trust, a shareholder may bring a derivative action on behalf of the Trust only if the shareholder or shareholders first make a pre-suit demand upon the Trustees to bring the subject action unless an effort to cause the Trustees to bring such action is excused. A demand on the Trustees shall only be excused if a majority of the Board, or a majority of any committee established to consider the merits of such action, has a personal financial interest in the action at issue. A Trustee shall not be deemed to have a personal financial interest in an action or otherwise be disqualified from ruling on a shareholder demand by virtue of the fact that such Trustee receives remuneration from his service on the Board or on the boards of one or more investment companies managed by the Adviser or that share the same principal underwriter. For purposes of this requirement, the Board may designate a committee of one Trustee to consider a shareholder demand if necessary to create a committee with a majority of Trustees who do not have a personal financial interest in the transaction at issue.

Disclosure of Portfolio Holdings

The Board has adopted policies and procedures with respect to the disclosure of the Fund's portfolio holdings by the Fund, the Adviser, or their affiliates. These policies and procedures provide that the Fund's portfolio holdings information generally may not be disclosed to any party prior to the information becoming public. Certain limited exceptions are described below. These policies and procedures apply to disclosures to all categories of persons, including individual investors, institutional investors, intermediaries who sell shares of

the Fund, third parties providing services to the Fund (accounting agent, print vendors, etc.), rating and ranking organizations (Lipper, Morningstar, etc.) and affiliated persons of the Fund.

The Trust's Chief Compliance Officer is responsible for monitoring the Fund's compliance with these policies and procedures, and for providing regular reports (at least annually) to the Board regarding the adequacy and effectiveness of the policy and recommend changes, if necessary.

Public Disclosure

Each business day, the Fund's portfolio holdings information will generally be provided for dissemination through the facilities of the National Securities Clearing Corporation ("NSCC") and/or other fee-based subscription services to NSCC members and/or subscribers to those other fee-based subscription services, including Authorized Participants (as defined below), and to entities that publish and/or analyze such information in connection with the process of purchasing or redeeming Creation Units or trading shares of the Fund in the secondary market. This information typically reflects the Fund's anticipated holdings on the current business day.

For in-kind creations, a basket composition file, which includes the names and quantities of Deposit Securities to deliver in exchange for a Creation Unit of shares, together with an estimated Cash Component for the current business day, will be publicly disseminated daily prior to the opening of the Exchange via the NSCC. The basket represents one Creation Unit of the Fund. The Trust and the Adviser will not disseminate non-public information concerning the Fund's portfolio holdings. However, access to information concerning the Fund's portfolio holdings may be permitted to personnel of third party service providers, including the Fund's custodian, transfer agent, auditors, and counsel, as may be necessary to conduct business in the ordinary course in a manner consistent with such service providers' agreements with the Trust on behalf of the Fund. From time to time, information concerning portfolio holdings other than portfolio holding information made available in connection with the Creation Unit process, as discussed above, may be provided to other entities that provide services to the Funds, including rating or raking organizations, in the ordinary course of business, no earlier than one business day following the date of the information.

The Funds also disclose their complete portfolio holdings in its annual and semiannual reports to shareholders, which are sent to shareholders no later than 60 days after the relevant fiscal period (June 30th and December 31st, respectively) and are available on the Fund's website, VictorySharesLiterature.com. The Funds also file their complete portfolio holdings with the SEC for the first and third fiscal quarters on Form N-PORT. You can find these filings on the SEC's website, www.sec.gov .

Non-Public Disclosures

The Adviser may authorize the disclosure of non-public portfolio holdings information under certain limited circumstances. The Fund's policies provide that non-public disclosures of the Fund's portfolio holdings may only be made if: (i) the Fund has a "legitimate business purpose" (as determined by the President of the Trust) for making such disclosure; and (ii) the party receiving the non-public information enters into a confidentiality agreement, which includes a duty not to trade on the non-public information and describes any compensation to be paid to the Fund or any "affiliated person" of the Adviser or Distributor, including any arrangement to maintain assets in the Fund or in other investment companies or accounts managed by the Adviser or by any "affiliated person" of the Adviser or Distributor.

The Adviser will consider any actual or potential conflicts of interest between the Adviser and the Fund's shareholders and will act in the best interest of the Fund's shareholders with respect to any such disclosure of portfolio holdings information. If a potential conflict can be resolved in a manner that does not present detrimental effects to Fund shareholders, the Adviser may authorize release of portfolio holdings information. Conversely, if the potential conflict cannot be resolved in a manner that does not present detrimental effects to Fund shareholders, the Adviser will not authorize such release.

Expenses

Unless agreed upon otherwise with a third party, all expenses incurred in administration of the Fund will be charged to the Fund, including investment management fees; fees and expenses of the Board; interest charges; taxes; brokerage commissions; expenses of valuing assets; expenses of continuing registration and qualification of the Fund and the shares under federal and state law; share issuance expenses; fees and disbursements of independent accountants and legal counsel; fees and expenses of custodians, including, transfer agents and shareholder account servicing organizations; expenses of preparing, printing and mailing prospectuses, reports, proxies, notices and statements sent to shareholders; expenses of shareholder meetings; costs of investing in underlying funds; and insurance premiums. The Fund is also liable for nonrecurring expenses, including litigation to which they may from time to time be a party. Expenses incurred for the operation of the Fund, including the expenses of communications with its shareholders, are paid by the Fund.

Item 29. Persons Controlled by or Under Common Control with the Registrant

Information pertaining to persons controlled by, or under common control with Registrant is hereby incorporated by reference to the section captioned “Management of the Trust” in the Statement of Additional Information (“SAI”).

Item 30. Indemnification.

Reference is made to Article VIII of the Registrant’s Second Amended and Restated Agreement and Declaration of Trust, Section 8 of the Investment Advisory Agreement, Section 6 of the ETF Distribution Agreement with Foreside, Section 5 of the Distribution Agreement with VCA, Section 12 of the Global Custodial Services Agreement with Citibank, N.A., Section 9 of the Administration and Fund Accounting Agreement with Victory Capital, Section 7 of the Transfer Agency Services Agreement with Citibank, N.A. and Section 13 of the Form of Transfer Agency Agreement with FIS, each of which is incorporated by reference to the Exhibits. The Registrant has obtained from a major insurance carrier a trustees’ and officers’ liability policy covering certain types of errors and omissions. In no event will the Registrant indemnify any of its trustees, officers, employees, or agents against any liability to which such person would otherwise be subject by reason of his willful misfeasance, bad faith, or gross negligence in the performance of his duties, or by reason of his reckless disregard of the duties involved in the conduct of his office or under his agreement with the Registrant. The Registrant will comply with Rule 484 under the Securities Act of 1933 (the “Securities Act”) and Release 11330 under the Investment Company Act of 1940 in connection with any indemnification.

Insofar as indemnification for liabilities arising under the Securities Act may be permitted to trustees, officers and controlling persons of the registrant pursuant to the foregoing provisions, or otherwise, the registrant has been advised that in the opinion of the Securities and Exchange Commission such indemnification is against public policy as expressed in such Act and is, therefore, unenforceable. In the event that a claim for indemnification against such liabilities (other than the payment by the registrant of expenses incurred or paid by a trustee, officer or controlling person of the registrant in the successful defense of any action, suit or proceeding) is asserted by such trustee, officer or controlling person in connection with the securities being registered, the registrant will, unless in the opinion of its counsel the matter has been settled by controlling precedent, submit to a court of appropriate jurisdiction the question whether such indemnification by it is against public policy as expressed in such Act and will be governed by the final adjudication of such issue.

Item 31. Business and Other Connections of the Investment Adviser

Information pertaining to business and other connections of the Registrant’s investment adviser, Victory Capital Management Inc. (“VCM” or “Adviser”), is hereby incorporated by reference to the section of the Prospectus captioned “Organization and Management of the Fund” and to the section of the SAI captioned “Investment Adviser and Other Service Providers.” The Adviser is an indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of Victory Capital Holdings, Inc. (“VCH”), a publicly traded Delaware corporation.

The principal executive officers and directors of the Adviser and VCH are as follows:

David C. Brown	Director, Chairman, and Chief Executive Officer of Adviser and VCH
Michael D. Policarpo, II	President, Chief Financial Officer, and Chief Administrative Officer of Adviser and VCH, Director of Adviser
Nina Gupta	Chief Legal Officer and Secretary of Adviser and VCH, Director of Adviser

The business address of the foregoing individuals is 15935 La Cantera Parkway, San Antonio, Texas 78256.

To the knowledge of Registrant, none of the directors or officers of the Adviser is or has been at any time during the past two fiscal years engaged in any other business, profession, vocation, or employment of a substantial nature.

Item 32. Principal Underwriters.

(a)(1) Shares of the mutual fund series of Victory Portfolios II are distributed by Victory Capital Services, Inc. (“VCS”). VCS also acts as principal underwriter for Victory Portfolios, Victory Variable Insurance Funds, and Victory Portfolios III.

(a)(2) Foreside Fund Services, LLC (the “Distributor”) serves as principal underwriter for the following investment companies registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended:

AB Active ETFs, Inc.

ABS Long/Short Strategies Fund

Absolute Shares Trust

C-5

Management Fees	[0.65%]
Other Expenses1	[0.72%]
Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses1	[0.11%]
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses	[1.48%]
Fee Waiver/Expense Reimbursement3	[(0.67)%]
Total Annual Fund Operating Expense After Fee Waiver and Expense Reimbursement3	[0.81%]

1 Year	3 Years
$[83]	$[402]

	Title	Tenure with the Fund
Fritz Porter, CFA	Chief Investment Officer and Portfolio Manager	Since June 2024
Ned Durden	Chief Investment Strategist and Portfolio Manager	Since June 2024
Ty Peebles, CFA, CPA	Portfolio Manager	Since June 2024
Jacob Buchanan, CFA	Portfolio Manager	Since June 2024

Item 28.	Exhibits
(a)		Articles of Incorporation.
	(1)	Registrant’s Second Amended and Restated Agreement and Declaration of Trust dated February 26, 2019.
	(2)(a)	Registrant’s Certificate of Trust dated April 12, 2012.
	(2)(b)	Certificate of Amendment to Registrant’s Certificate of Trust.
	(2)(c)	Certificate of Amendment to Registrant’s Certificate of Trust.
(b)		By-Laws, Amended and Restated as of May 1, 2015.
(c)		Instruments Defining Rights of Security Holder. None other than in the Second Amended and Restated Agreement and Declaration of Trust and By-Laws of the Registrant.
(d)		Investment Advisory Contracts.
	(1)(a)	Investment Advisory Agreement dated May 1, 2015, between Registrant and Victory Capital Manage- ment Inc. (“Victory Capital” or the “Adviser”).
	(1)(b)	Schedule A to Advisory Agreement dated May 21, 2015, current as of [ ], 2024. (to be filed by amend- ment)
(e)		Underwriting Contracts.
	(1)(a)	ETF Distribution Agreement dated as of December 6, 2022, with Foreside Fund Services, LLC (“Foreside”) with respect to each exchange-traded fund series of the Registrant.
	(1)(b)	First Amendment to the ETF Distribution Agreement with Foreside dated May 23, 2023.
	(1)(c)	Second Amendment to the ETF Distribution Agreement with Foreside dated [ ], 2024. (to be filed by amendment)
	(2)	Form of Authorized Participant Agreement with respect to each exchange-traded fund series of the Regis- trant.
	(3)(a)	Distribution Agreement with Victory Capital Services, Inc. (“VCS”) with respect to each mutual fund series of the Registrant.
	(3)(b)	Amendment dated August 19, 2015, to the Distribution Agreement with VCS with respect to each mutual fund series of the Registrant.
	(3)(c)	Schedule I to the Distribution Agreement, current as of December 6, 2022.
(f)		Bonus or Profit Sharing Contracts. None.
(g)		Custodian Agreements.
	(1)(a)	Global Custodial Services Agreement with Citibank, N.A. dated August 5, 2008.
	(1)(b)	Amendment and Joinder to the Global Custodial Services Agreement dated August 19, 2015.
	(1)(c)	Amendment and Joinder to the Master Global Custodial Services Agreement, dated July 15, 2016.
	(1)(d)	Amendment and Joinder to the Master Global Custodial Services Agreement, dated August 24, 2016.
	(1)(e)	Amendment and Joinder to the Master Global Custodial Services Agreement, dated February 27, 2017.
	(1)(f)	Amendment and Joinder to the Master Global Custodial Services Agreement, dated March 1, 2019.
	(1)(g)	Amendment and Joinder to the Master Global Custodial Services Agreement, dated June 18, 2020.
	(1)(h)	Amendment and Joinder to the Master Global Custodial Services Agreement, dated September 10, 2020.
	(1)(i)	Amendment and Joinder to the Master Global Custodial Services Agreement, dated August 31, 2020.
	(1)(j)	Amendment and Joinder to the Master Global Custodial Services Agreement, dated December 2, 2020.
	(1)(k)	Amendment and Joinder to the Master Global Custodial Services Agreement, dated January 1, 2021.
	(1)(l)	Amendment and Joinder to the Master Global Custodial Services Agreement, dated May 18, 2021.
	(1)(m)	Amendment and Joinder to the Master Global Custodial Services Agreement, dated August 30, 2022.
	(l)(n)	Amendment to the Master Global Custodial Services Agreement, dated April 24, 2023.
	(1)(o)	Amendment to the Master Global Custodial Services Agreement, dated [ ], 2024. (to be filed by amend- ment)
(h)		Other Material Contracts.
	(1)	Revised Form of Broker-Dealer Agreement with respect to each mutual fund series of the Registrant.
	(2)(a)	Administration and Fund Accounting Agreement with respect to each mutual fund series of the Registrant, dated July 1, 2006, with Victory Capital Management Inc.

	(2)(b)	Amendment No. 1 dated July 1, 2009, to the Administration and Fund Accounting Agreement.
	(2)(c)	Amendment No. 2 dated July 1, 2012, to the Administration and Fund Accounting Agreement.
	(2)(d)	Amendment No. 3 dated May 21, 2015, to the Administration and Fund Accounting Agreement.
	(2)(e)	Amendment No. 4 dated August 19, 2015, to the Administration and Fund Accounting Agreement.
	(2)(f)	Amendment No. 5 dated August 24, 2016, to the Administration and Fund Accounting Agreement.
	(2)(g)	Amendment No. 6 dated February 28, 2018, to the Administration and Fund Accounting Agreement.
	(2)(h)	Amendment No. 7 dated February 27, 2019, to the Administration and Fund Accounting Agreement.
	(2)(i)	Amendment No. 8 dated June 18, 2020, to the Administration and Fund Accounting Agreement.
	(2)(j)	Amendment No 9 dated December 2, 2020, to the Administration and Fund Accounting Agreement.
	(2)(k)	Amendment No 10 dated May 18, 2021, to the Administration and Fund Accounting Agreement.
	(2)(l)	Amendment No. 11 dated November 18, 2021, to the Administration and Fund Accounting Agreement dated July 1, 2006.
	(2)(m)	Amendment No. 12 dated May 24, 2022, to the Administration and Fund Accounting Agreement.
	(2)(n)	Amendment No. 13 dated August 30, 2022, to the Administration and Fund Accounting Agreement.
	(2)(o)	Amendment No. 14 dated January 1, 2023, to the Administration and Fund Accounting Agreement.
	(2)(p)	Amendment No. 15 dated May 23, 2023, to the Administration and Fund Accounting Agreement.
	(2)(q)	Amendment No. 16 dated December 5, 2023, to the Administration and Fund Accounting Agreement.
	(2)(r)	Amendment No. 17 dated [ ], 2024, to the Administration and Fund Accounting Agreement. (to be filed by amendment)
	(3)(a)	Transfer Agency Agreement with FIS Investor Services LLC (“FIS”) dated November 7, 2015, with respect to each mutual fund series of the Registrant.
	(3)(b)	Amendment dated November 1, 2016, to the Transfer Agency Agreement.
	(3)(c)	Amendment dated February 22, 2021, to the Transfer Agency Agreement.
	(3)(d)	Amendment dated August 24, 2021, to the Transfer Agency Agreement.
	(3)(e)	Data Protection Addendum dated May 30, 2018, to the Transfer Agency Agreement.
	(4)(a)	Transfer Agency Services Agreement with Citibank, N.A. dated February 27, 2017, with respect to exchange-traded fund series of the Registrant.
	(4)(b)	Amendment No. 1 dated March 1, 2019, to the Transfer Agency Agreement with Citibank, N.A.
	(4)(c)	Amendment No. 2 dated June 18, 2020, to the Transfer Agency Agreement with Citibank N.A.
	(4)(d)	Amendment No. 3 dated May 18, 2021, to the Transfer Agency Agreement with Citibank N.A.
	(4)(e)	Amendment No. 4 dated August 30, 2022, to the Transfer Agency Agreement with Citibank N.A.
	(4)(f)	Amendment No. 5 dated September 30, 2022, to the Transfer Agency Agreement with Citibank N.A.
	(4)(g)	Amendment No. 6 dated April 24, 2023, to the Transfer Agency Agreement with Citibank N.A.
	(4)(h)	Amendment No. 7 dated [ ], 2024, to the Transfer Agency Agreement with Citibank N.A. (to be filed by amendment)
	(5)(a)	Sub-administration and Sub-accounting Services Agreement dated October 1, 2015.
	(5)(b)	Amendment to the Sub-administration and Sub-accounting Services Agreement dated February 27, 2017.
	(5)(c)	Amendment No. 2 dated February 28, 2018, to the Sub-administration and Sub-accounting Services Agree- ment.
	(5)(d)	Amendment No. 3 dated February 27, 2019, to the Sub-administration and Sub-accounting Services Agree- ment.
	(5)(e)	Amendment No. 4 dated July 1, 2019, to the Sub-administration and Sub-accounting Services Agreement.
	(5)(f)	Amendment No. 5 dated June 18, 2020, to the Sub-administration and Sub-accounting Services Agreement.
	(5)(g)	Amendment No. 6 dated August 25, 2020, to the Sub-administration and Sub-accounting Services Agree- ment.
	(5)(h)	Amendment No. 7 dated to December 2, 2020, the Sub-administration and Sub-accounting Services Agree- ment.
	(5)(i)	Amendment No. 8 dated April 1, 2021, to the Sub-administration and Sub-accounting Services Agreement.
	(5)(j)	Amendment No. 9 dated November 30, 2021, to the Sub-Administration and Sub-Fund Accounting Agree- ment.
	(5)(k)	Amendment No. 10 dated June 29, 2022, to the Sub-Administration and Sub-Fund Accounting Agreement.
	(5)(l)	Amendment No. 11 dated August 30, 2022, to the Sub-Administration and Sub-Fund Accounting Agree- ment.
	(5)(m)	Amendment No. 12 dated January 1, 2023, to the Sub-Administration and Sub-Fund Accounting Agree- ment.
	(5)(n)	Amendment No. 13 dated April 24th, 2023, to the Sub-Administration and Sub-Fund Accounting Agree- ment.

Fund Summary	1
Investment Objective	1
Fund Fees and Expenses	1
Principal Investment Strategy	2
Principal Risks of Investing in the Fund	2
Investment Performance	7
Management of the Fund	7
Purchase and Sale of Fund Shares	7
Tax Information	7
Payments to Broker-Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries	7
Additional Fund Information	8
Investments	9
Risk Factors	10
Organization and Management of the Fund	18
Investing with Victory	20
Share Price	20
How to Buy and Sell Shares	22
Distribution and Service Plan	24
Distributions and Taxes	25
Other Information	28
Financial Highlights	30

TABLE OF CONTENTS
GENERAL INFORMATION	2
INVESTMENT OBJECTIVES, POLICIES, AND LIMITATIONS	2
INVESTMENT PRACTICES, INSTRUMENTS, AND RISKS	6
INVESTMENTS IN THE FUNDS BY OTHER REGISTERED INVESTMENT COMPANIES	24
DETERMINING NET ASSET VALUE ("NAV") AND VALUING PORTFOLIO SECURITIES	24
PURCHASE AND REDEMPTION OF SHARES	26
MANAGEMENT OF THE TRUST	33
CONTROL PERSONS AND PRINCIPAL SHAREHOLDERS	41
INVESTMENT ADVISER AND OTHER SERVICE PROVIDERS	41
PORTFOLIO MANAGERS	45
DISTRIBUTION AND SERVICE PLAN	47
CODE OF ETHICS	48
PROXY VOTING POLICIES AND PROCEDURES	48
PORTFOLIO TRANSACTIONS AND BROKERAGE COMMISSIONS	50
DIVIDENDS, CAPITAL GAINS, AND DISTRIBUTIONS	53
TAXES	53
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION	61

	(5)(o)	Amendment No. 14 dated [ ], 2024, to the Sub-Administration and Sub-Fund Accounting Agreement. (to be filed by amendment)
	(6)(a)	Amended and Restated Expense Limitation Agreement between Registrant and Victory Capital dated May 1, 2021.
	(6)(b)	Schedule A to the Expense Limitation Agreement, current as of [ ], 2024. (to be filed by amendment)
	(7)(a)	License Agreement dated as of May 1, 2015, between Victory Capital and Registrant.
	(7)(b)	First Amendment dated April 18, 2017, to License Agreement.
	(8)(a)	Global Securities Lending Agency Agreement effective November 30, 2021, between Registrant and CitiBank N.A.
	(8)(b)	Amendment No. 1 and Schedule A to the Global Securities Lending Agency Agreement, current as of April 24, 2023.
	(8)(c)	Amendment No. 2 and Schedule A to the Global Securities Lending Agency Agreement, current as of [ ], 2024. (to be filed by amendment)
(i)	(1)	Opinion of Morris, Nichols, Arsht & Tunnell LLP dated October 26, 2023, relating to the VictoryShares ETFs.
(i)	(2)	Opinion of Morris, Nichols, Arsht & Tunnell LLP dated October 24, 2023, relating to the Victory Market Neutral Income Fund and Victory US 500 Enhanced Volatility Wtd Index Fund, and relevant share classes.
	(3)	Opinion of Morris, Nichols, Arsht & Tunnell LLP, relating to the VictoryShares Small Cap Free Cash Flow ETF.
	(4)	Opinion of Morris, Nichols, Arsht & Tunnell LLP, relating to the VictoryShares WestEnd Global Equity ETF, VictoryShares WestEnd Economic Cycle Bond ETF, and VictoryShares Hedged Equity Income ETF. (to be filed by amendment)
	(5)	Opinion of Morris, Nichols, Arsht & Tunnell LLP, relating to the VictoryShares WestEnd Dynamic Equity ETF. (to be filed by amendment)
(j)	(1)(a)	Consent of Sidley Austin LLP dated October 26, 2023.
	(1)(b)	Consent of Sidley Austin LLP dated October 24, 2023.
	(1)(c)	Consent of Sidley Austin LLP dated December 15, 2023.
	(1)(d)	Consent of Sidley Austin LLP dated April 1, 2024.
	(1)(e)	Consent of Sidley Austin LLP dated April 1, 2024. (filed herewith)
(j)	(2)(a)	Consent of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm with respect to the Victory Portfolios II Mutual Funds June 30 fiscal year end funds.
	(2)(b)	Consent of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm with respect to the Victory Portfolios II VictoryShares ETFs June 30 fiscal year end funds.
(k)		Omitted Financial Statements. None.
(l)		Initial Capital Agreements. Subscription Agreement between the Trust and the Initial Investor.
(m)		Rule 12b-1 Plans
	(1)(a)	Revised Class A Master Distribution Plan Pursuant to Rule 12b-1 with respect to each mutual fund series of the Registrant.
	(1)(b)	Amended Exhibit A, current as of December 6, 2022.
	(2)(a)	Revised Class C Master Distribution Plan Pursuant to Rule 12b-1 with respect to each mutual fund series of the Registrant.
	(2)(b)	Amended Exhibit A current as of December 6, 2022.
	(3)(a)	Amended and Restated Distribution Plan Pursuant to Rule 12b-1 with respect to each exchange-traded fund series of the Registrant.
	(3)(b)	Amended Schedule A current as of May 23, 2023.
(n)		Rule 18f-3 Plan
	(1)(a)	Amended and Restated Rule 18f-3 Multi-Class Plan, amended and restated February 2, 2021.
	(1)(b)	Schedule A to Amended and Restated Rule 18f-3 Multi-Class Plan, current as May 23, 2023.
(o)		Reserved.
(p)		Codes of Ethics
	(1)	Code of Ethics for the Registrant, as revised February 28, 2018.
	(2)	Code of Ethics for Victory Capital, VCS, and WestEnd Advisors, LLC, dated January 1, 2022.
	(3)	Code of Ethics for Foreside amended June 4, 2021.
(q)		Powers of Attorney
	(1)	Powers of Attorney of Leigh A. Wilson, David Brooks Adcock, Nigel D.T. Andrews, E. Lee Beard, David C. Brown, John L. Kelly, and David L. Meyer.
	(2)	Power of Attorney of Gloria S. Nelund.

Name	Positions and Offices with Underwriter	Positions and Offices with Registrant
David C. Brown	Director	Trustee
Michael D. Policarpo, II	Director, President	None
Charles Mathes	Director, Chief Compliance Officer	None
Donald Inks	Chief Operations Officer	None
Christopher Ponte	Chief Financial Officer	Assistant Treasurer

Name	Position and Offices with Underwriter	Positions and Offices with Registrant
Teresa Cowan	President/Manager	None
Chris Lanza	Vice President	None
Kate Macchia	Vice President	None
Nanette K. Chern	Vice President and Chief Compliance Officer	None
Kelly B. Whetstone	Secretary	None
Susan L. LaFond	Treasurer	None

Signature	Title
/s/ James K. DeVries James K. DeVries	President (Principal Executive Officer)
/s/ Allan Shaer Allan Shaer	Treasurer (Principal Accounting Officer and Principal Financial Officer)
* David Brooks Adcock	Trustee
* Nigel D.T. Andrews	Trustee
* E. Lee Beard	Trustee
* David C. Brown	Trustee
* John L. Kelly	Chairman of the Board and Trustee
* David L. Meyer	Trustee
* Gloria S. Nelund	Trustee
* Timothy Pettee	Trustee
* Leigh A. Wilson	Trustee