497K 1 etf8_497k.htm SUMMARY PROSPECTUS

Rule 497(k)

Registration Nos. 333-210186 and 811-23147

 

 
First Trust
Exchange-Traded Fund VIII
 
 
SUMMARY PROSPECTUS
FT Cboe Vest U.S. Equity Buffer ETF – December
 
Ticker Symbol:
FDEC
Exchange:
Cboe BZX Exchange, Inc.
Before you invest, you may want to review the Fund’s prospectus, which contains more information about the Fund and its risks. You can find the Fund’s statutory prospectus and other information about the Fund, including the statement of additional information and most recent reports to shareholders, online at www.ftportfolios.com/retail/ETF/ETFfundnews.aspx?Ticker=FDEC.   You can also get this information at no cost by calling (800) 621-1675 or by sending an e-mail request to info@ftportfolios.com.   The Fund’s  prospectus dated December 19, 2022, and statement of additional information dated January 3, 2022, are all incorporated by reference into this Summary Prospectus.
December 19, 2022
The Fund is designed to participate in positive price returns of the SPDR® S&P 500® ETF Trust (the “Underlying ETF”) up to a cap of 23.10% (before fees and expenses), while seeking to provide a buffer against the first 10% (before fees and expenses) of Underlying ETF losses (“Outcomes”) over the period from December 19, 2022 through December 15, 2023 (the “Target Outcome Period”). When the Fund's fees and expenses are taken into account, the cap is 22.25% and the buffer is 9.15%. The cap and buffer will be further reduced by any brokerage commissions, trading fees, taxes and extraordinary expenses not included in the Fund's management fee. At the end of the Target Outcome Period, the Fund will reset for a new Target Outcome Period tied to the same Underlying ETF and buffer, but the cap may change based on market rates as of the start of the new Target Outcome Period. The Fund seeks to achieve specified Outcomes but there is no guarantee that the Outcomes for a Target Outcome Period will be achieved. You may lose some or all of your money by investing in the Fund.The Fund has characteristics unlike many other typical investment products and may not be suitable for all investors. It is important that investors understand the Fund’s investment strategy before making an investment in the Fund.
The Outcomes described in this prospectus are specifically designed to apply only if you hold shares on the first day of the Target Outcome Period and continue to hold them on the last day of the period. If you purchase shares after the Target Outcome Period starts or sell your shares before the Target Outcome Period ends, you may receive a very different return based on the Fund’s current value. Investors purchasing shares of the Fund after the Target Outcome Period begins can see their expected Outcome until the end of the period by visiting the Fund’s website, www.ftportfolios.com/retail/etf/EtfSummary.aspx?Ticker=FDEC.
Investment Objective
The investment objective of the FT Cboe Vest U.S. Equity Buffer ETF – December (the “Fund”) is to seek to provide investors with returns (before fees, expenses and taxes) that match the price return of the SPDR® S&P 500® ETF Trust (the "Underlying ETF"), up to a predetermined upside cap of 23.10% (before fees, expenses and taxes) and 22.25% (after fees and expenses, excluding brokerage commissions, trading fees, taxes and extraordinary expenses not included in the Fund’s management fee), while providing a buffer against the first 10% (before fees, expenses and taxes) of Underlying ETF losses, over the period from December 19, 2022 to December 15, 2023.
Fees and Expenses of the Fund
The following table describes the fees and expenses you may pay if you buy, hold and sell shares of the Fund. Investors may pay other fees, such as brokerage commissions and other fees to financial intermediaries, which are not reflected in the table and example below. 
Annual Fund Operating Expenses
(expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment) 
Management Fees
0.85%
Distribution and Service (12b-1) Fees
0.00%
Other Expenses
0.00%
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses
0.85%
Example
The example below is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the Fund with the cost of investing in other funds. This example does not take into account customary brokerage commissions that you pay when purchasing or selling shares of the Fund in the secondary market.
The example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the Fund for the time periods indicated and then hold or sell all of your shares at the end of those periods. The example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year and that the Fund’s operating expenses remain at current levels. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be: 
1 Year
3 Years
5 Years
10 Years
$87
$271
$471
$1,049
Portfolio Turnover
The Fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes when Fund shares are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in annual fund operating expenses or in the example, affect the Fund’s performance. During the fiscal period December 18, 2020 (inception) through August 31, 2021, the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate was 0% of the average value of its portfolio.
Principal Investment Strategies
Under normal market conditions, the Fund will invest substantially all of its assets in FLexible EXchange® Options (“FLEX Options”) that reference the price performance of the SPDR® S&P 500® ETF Trust (the “Underlying ETF”). FLEX Options are customized equity or index option contracts that trade on an exchange, but provide investors with the ability to customize key contract terms like exercise prices, styles and expiration dates. The Underlying ETF is an exchange-traded unit investment trust that uses a full replication strategy, meaning it invests in all of the stocks in the S&P 500® Index. PDR Services, LLC (“PDR”) serves as the Underlying ETF’s sponsor. The investment objective of the Underlying ETF is to seek to provide investment results that, before expenses, correspond generally to the price and yield performance of the S&P 500® Index. The Fund’s performance will not reflect the payment of dividends by the Underlying ETF. See “The Underlying ETF” for more information. The Fund’s investment sub-advisor is Cboe VestSM Financial LLC ("Cboe Vest" or the "Sub-Advisor").
The Fund uses FLEX Options to employ a “target outcome strategy.” Target outcome strategies seek to produce pre-determined investment outcomes based upon the performance of an underlying security or index. The pre-determined outcomes sought by the Fund, which include a buffer (before fees and expenses) against the first 10% of Underlying ETF losses and a cap of 23.10% (before fees and expenses), are based on the price performance of the Underlying ETF over an approximate one-year period (the “Target Outcome Period”). When the Fund's fees and expenses are taken into account, the cap is 22.25% and the buffer is 9.15%. The cap and buffer will be further reduced by any brokerage commissions, trading fees, taxes and extraordinary expenses not included in the Fund's management fee. In general, the target outcomes the Fund seeks for investors that hold Fund shares for an entire Target Outcome Period are as follows, though there can be no guarantee these results will be achieved:
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If the Underlying ETF appreciates over the Target Outcome Period, the combination of FLEX Options held by the Fund seeks to provide upside participation matching that of the Underlying ETF, up to a cap that is determined at the start of the Target Outcome Period. The cap for the current Target Outcome Period is 23.10%, prior to taking into account the Fund’s fees and expenses.
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If the Underlying ETF decreases over the Target Outcome Period, the combination of FLEX Options held by the Fund seeks to provide protection of the first 10% of Underlying ETF losses, prior to taking into account the Fund's fees and expenses.
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If the Underlying ETF decreases in price by more than 10% over the Target Outcome Period, the Fund will experience all subsequent losses on a one-to-one basis (i.e., if the Underlying ETF loses 20%, the Fund loses 10%).
The current Target Outcome Period will begin on December 19, 2022 and end on December 15, 2023. Subsequent Target Outcome Periods will begin on the day the prior Target Outcome Period ends and will end on the approximate one-year anniversary of that new Target Outcome Period. On the first day of each new Target Outcome Period, the Fund resets by investing in a new set of FLEX Options that are designed to provide a new cap for the new Target Outcome Period. This means that the cap will change for each Target Outcome Period based upon prevailing market conditions at the beginning of each Target Outcome Period. The cap and buffer, and the Fund’s value relative to each, should be considered before investing in the Fund. The Fund will be perpetually offered and not terminate after the current or any subsequent Target Outcome Period. Approximately one week prior to the end of the current Target Outcome Period, the Fund’s website will be updated to alert existing shareholders that the Target Outcome Period is approaching its conclusion and will disclose the anticipated cap range for the next Target Outcome Period. See "Subsequent Target Outcome Periods" for more information.
An investor that purchases Fund shares other than on the first day of a Target Outcome Period and/or sells Fund shares prior to the end of a Target Outcome Period may experience results that are very different from the target outcomes sought by the Fund for that Target Outcome Period. While the cap and buffer reference the price performance of the Underlying ETF over the Target Outcome Period, the Fund expects its net asset value ("NAV") to experience the same general price movement, cap and buffer as a percentage gain or loss over the Target Outcome Period. During the Target Outcome Period, there may be periods of significant disparity between the Fund’s NAV and the Underlying ETF’s price performance. As the Underlying ETF price and the Fund’s NAV change over the Target Outcome Period, an investor acquiring Fund shares after the start of the Target Outcome Period will likely have a different return potential than an investor who purchased Fund shares at the start of the Target Outcome Period. This is because while the cap and buffer for the Target Outcome Period are fixed levels that are calculated in relation to the Underlying ETF price and the Fund's NAV at the start of a Target Outcome Period and that remain constant throughout the Target Outcome Period, an investor purchasing Fund shares at market value during the Target Outcome Period likely purchased Fund shares at a price that is different from the Fund’s NAV at the start of the Target Outcome Period (i.e., the NAV that the cap and buffer reference). For example, if an investor purchases Fund shares during a Target Outcome Period at a time when the Fund has decreased in value from the value of the Fund on the first day of the Target Outcome Period, that investor’s buffer will essentially be decreased by the amount of the decrease in the Underlying ETF value. Conversely, if an investor purchases Fund shares during a Target Outcome Period at a time when the Fund has increased in value from the value of the Fund on the first day of the Target Outcome Period, that investor’s cap will essentially be decreased by the amount of the increase in the Underlying ETF value. See “Buffer and Cap” below for additional information. To achieve the target outcomes sought by the Fund for a Target Outcome Period, an investor must hold Fund shares for that entire Target Outcome Period.
Buffer and Cap
The Fund seeks to provide a buffer on the first 10% loss of the Underlying ETF over each Target Outcome Period. After the Underlying ETF has decreased in price by more than 10%, the Fund will experience subsequent losses on a one-to-one basis (i.e., if the Underlying ETF loses 20%, the Fund loses 10%). The buffer is before taking into account the Fund's fees and expenses charged to shareholders. When the Fund's fees and expenses are taken into account, the buffer is 9.15%. The buffer will be further reduced by any brokerage commissions, trading fees, taxes and extraordinary expenses not included in the Fund's management fee.
If an investor purchases Fund shares during a Target Outcome Period at a time when the Fund has decreased in value by 10% or more from the value of the Fund on the first day of the Target Outcome Period (the “Initial Fund Value”), that investor’s buffer will essentially be zero (meaning the investor can lose its entire investment). However, that investor’s potential gain will be larger than the Fund’s cap for the Target Outcome Period because the investor may experience the full gain if the Fund recovers the value it has lost from the first day of the Target Outcome Period through the date the investor purchased its Fund shares plus any additional gains between the Initial Fund Value and the cap. The cap and buffer relative to the Initial Fund Value, however, will not change over the Target Outcome Period.
Conversely, if an investor purchases Fund shares during a Target Outcome Period at a time when the Fund has increased in value from its Initial Fund Value for a Target Outcome Period, then a shareholder will experience losses prior to gaining the protection offered by the buffer (because the Fund must first decrease in value to its Initial Fund Value for the Target Outcome Period before subsequent losses will be protected by the buffer). While the Fund seeks to limit losses to 90% for shareholders who hold Fund shares for an entire Target Outcome Period, there is no guarantee it will successfully do so. Depending upon market conditions at the time of purchase, a shareholder that purchases Fund shares after the first day of a Target Outcome Period may lose their entire
investment if the Fund has decreased in value below the buffer. An investment in the Fund is only appropriate for shareholders willing to bear those losses. Despite the intended buffer, a shareholder could lose their entire investment.
The returns of the Fund are subject to a cap of 23.10% (before fees and expenses) and 22.25% (after fees and expenses, excluding brokerage commissions, trading fees, taxes and extraordinary expenses not included in the Fund’s management fee) for the Target Outcome Period. Unlike other investment products, the potential returns an investor can receive from the Fund are subject to a pre-determined upside return cap that represents the maximum percentage return an investor can achieve from an investment in the Fund for an entire Target Outcome Period (before fees and expenses). In the event the Underlying ETF experiences gains over a Target Outcome Period, the Fund seeks to provide investment returns before fees and expenses that match the percentage increase of the Underlying ETF, but any percentage gains over amount of the cap will not be experienced by the Fund. This means that if the Underlying ETF experiences gains for a Target Outcome Period in excess of the cap for that Target Outcome Period, the Fund will not benefit from those excess gains. Therefore, regardless of the performance of the Underlying ETF, the cap is the maximum return an investor can achieve from an investment in the Fund for that Target Outcome Period.
The cap is set on the first day of each Target Outcome Period. The cap is provided prior to taking into account annual Fund management fees of 0.85% of the Fund's daily net assets, brokerage commissions, trading fees, taxes and any extraordinary expenses incurred by the Fund. Such extraordinary expenses (incurred outside of the ordinary operation of the Fund) may include, for example, unexpected litigation, regulatory or tax expenses. The cap for the Target Outcome Period is 23.10% (before fees and expenses) and 22.25% (after fees and expenses, excluding brokerage commissions, trading fees, taxes and extraordinary expenses not included in the Fund’s management fee). The cap could be lower if the Fund incurs extraordinary expenses or other costs and expenses that are not borne by the Advisor under its unitary management fee. The defined cap applicable to a Target Outcome Period will vary based on prevailing market conditions at the time, including then-current interest rate levels, Underlying ETF volatility, and the relationship of puts and calls on the underlying FLEX Options.
The cap level is a result of the design of the Fund’s principal investment strategy. In order to provide the buffer, the Fund purchases a series of put and call FLEX Options on the first day of a Target Outcome Period. As the purchaser of these FLEX Options, the Fund is obligated to pay a premium to the seller of those FLEX Options. The portfolio managers will calculate the amount of premiums that the Fund will owe on the put options acquired and sold to provide the buffer and will then go into the market and sell call options with terms that entitle the Fund to receive premiums such that the net amount of premiums paid per unit of the Underlying ETF is approximately equal to the price per unit of shares of the Underlying ETF. The cap is the strike price of those sold FLEX Options.
The cap, and the Fund’s value relative to it on any given day, should be considered before investing in the Fund. If an investor purchases Fund shares during a Target Outcome Period, and the Fund has already increased in value above its Initial Fund Value for that Target Outcome Period to a level near to the cap, an investor purchasing Fund shares will have limited to no gain potential for the remainder of the Target Outcome Period. However, the investor will remain vulnerable to significant downside risk because the investor will bear the losses between the price at which it purchased its Fund shares and the Initial Fund Value for the Target Outcome Period before subsequent losses will be protected by the buffer.
The following bar chart and line graph illustrate the hypothetical returns that the FLEX Options seek to provide with respect to the price performance of the Underlying ETF in certain illustrative scenarios over the course of the Target Outcome Period. The caps in the bar chart and line graph below are for illustration only and the actual caps may be different. The bar chart and line graph do not take into account payment by the Fund of fees and expenses. There is no guarantee that the Fund will be successful in providing these investment outcomes for any Target Outcome Period.
 
 
•
The graph above represents the Fund’s hypothetical intended return profile based upon the performance of the Underlying ETF.
•
The caps in the graphs above are for illustration only and the actual caps may be different.
•
In the graph above, the dotted line represents the Underlying ETF’s performance, and the blue and orange lines represent the return profile gross of fees and expenses sought by the Fund in relation to the Underlying ETF’s indicated performance. The blue line rising above 0% represents the price return of the Underlying ETF and the orange line represents the 10% buffer.
 
Investors purchasing shares of the Fund during a Target Outcome Period will experience different results. The Fund’s website, www.ftportfolios.com/retail/etf/EtfSummary.aspx?Ticker=FDEC, provides information relating to the possible outcomes for
an investor of an investment in the Fund on a daily basis, if purchased on that date and held through the end of the Target Outcome Period, including the Fund’s value relative to the cap and buffer. Before purchasing Fund shares, an investor should visit the Fund's website to review this information and understand the possible outcomes of an investment in Fund shares on a particular day and held through the end of the Target Outcome Period.
The Fund is classified as “non-diversified” under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “1940 Act”). The Fund may not invest 25% or more of the value of its total assets in securities of issuers in any one industry or group of industries except to the extent that the Underlying ETF invests more than 25% of its assets in an industry or group of industries. This restriction does not apply to obligations issued or guaranteed by the U.S. government, its agencies or instrumentalities, or securities of other investment companies.
General Information on the FLEX Options
For each Target Outcome Period, the Fund will invest in both purchased and written put and call FLEX Options that reference the Underlying ETF. Because the value of the Fund is based on FLEX Options that reference the Underlying ETF and not the Underlying ETF directly, variations in the value of the FLEX Options impact the correlation between the Fund’s NAV and the price of the Underlying ETF. FLEX Options are customizable exchange-traded option contracts guaranteed for settlement by the Options Clearing Corporation (“OCC”). The OCC guarantees performance by each of the counterparties to the FLEX Options, becoming the “buyer for every seller and the seller for every buyer,” protecting clearing members and options traders from counterparty risk. The OCC may make adjustments to FLEX Options for certain significant events, as more fully described in the Fund’s Statement of Additional Information. Although guaranteed for settlement by the OCC, FLEX Options are still subject to counterparty risk with the OCC and subject to the risk that the OCC may fail to perform the settlement of the FLEX Options due to bankruptcy or other adverse reasons.
The FLEX Options that the Fund will hold that reference the Underlying ETF will give the Fund the right to receive or deliver shares of the Underlying ETF on the option expiration date at a strike price, depending on whether the option is a put or call option and whether the Fund purchases or sells the option. The FLEX Options held by the Fund are European style options, which are exercisable at the strike price only on the FLEX Option expiration date.
The Fund will generally, under normal conditions, hold four kinds of FLEX Options for each Target Outcome Period. The Fund will purchase a call option (giving the Fund the right to receive shares of the Underlying ETF) and a put option (giving the Fund the right to deliver shares of the Underlying ETF), while simultaneously selling (i.e., writing) a call option (giving the Fund the obligation to deliver shares of the Underlying ETF) and a put option (giving the Fund the obligation to receive shares of the Underlying ETF). The Fund intends to structure the FLEX Options so that any amount owed by the Fund on the written FLEX Options will be covered by payouts at expiration from the purchased FLEX Options. As a result, the FLEX Options will be fully covered and no additional collateral will be necessary during the life of the Fund. The Fund receives premiums in exchange for the written FLEX Options and pays premiums in exchange for the purchased FLEX Options. The OCC and securities exchanges on which the FLEX Options are listed do not charge ongoing fees to writers or purchasers of the FLEX Options during their life for continuing to hold the option contracts, but may charge transaction fees. Each of the FLEX Options purchased and sold throughout the Target Outcome Period will have the same terms, such as strike price and expiration date, as the FLEX Options purchased and sold on the first day of the Target Outcome Period.
On the Flex Options expiration date, the Fund intends to sell the Flex Options prior to their expiration and use the resulting proceeds to purchase new Flex Options for the next Target Outcome Period.
The Underlying ETF
The Underlying ETF is an exchange-traded unit investment trust that uses a full replication strategy, meaning it invests entirely in the S&P 500® Index. PDR Services, LLC (“PDR”) serves as the Underlying ETF’s sponsor. The investment objective of the Underlying ETF is to seek to provide investment results that, before expenses, correspond generally to the price and yield performance of the S&P 500® Index (the “Index”). See below for a description of the Underlying ETF’s principal investment strategies and risks. You can find the Underlying ETF’s prospectus and other information about the ETF, including the statement of additional information and most recent reports to shareholders, online at https://us.spdrs.com/en/etf/spdr-sp-500-etf-SPY.
The summary information below regarding the Underlying ETF comes from its filings with the SEC. You are urged to refer to the SEC filings made by the Underlying ETF and to other publicly available information (e.g., the ETF’s annual reports) to obtain an understanding of the ETF’s business and financial prospects.
The following description of the Underlying ETF’s principal investment strategies was taken directly from the Underlying ETF’s prospectus, dated January 14, 2021 (“SPY” refers to the Underlying ETF; other defined terms have been modified).
“SPY seeks to achieve its investment objective by holding a portfolio of the common stocks that are included in the Index (the “Portfolio”), with the weight of each stock in SPY’s Portfolio substantially corresponding to the weight of such stock in the Index.
In SPY’s prospectus, the term “Portfolio Securities” refers to the common stocks that are actually held by SPY and make up SPY’s Portfolio, while the term “Index Securities” refers to the common stocks that are included in the Index, as determined by the index provider, S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC (“S&P”). At any time, SPY’s Portfolio will consist of as many of the Index Securities as is practicable. To maintain the correspondence between the composition and weightings of Portfolio Securities and Index Securities,
State Street Global Advisors Trust Company (the “Trustee”) or its parent company, State Street Bank and Trust Company (“SSBT”) adjusts SPY’s Portfolio from time to time to conform to periodic changes made by S&P to the identity and/or relative weightings of Index Securities in the Index. SPY’s Trustee or SSBT aggregates certain of these adjustments and makes changes to SPY’s Portfolio at least monthly, or more frequently in the case of significant changes to the Index.
SPY may pay transaction costs, such as brokerage commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or “turns over” its Portfolio). Such transaction costs may be higher if there are significant rebalancings of Index Securities in the Index, which may also result in higher taxes when SPY’s units are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in SPY’s estimated annual Trust ordinary operating expenses, affect SPY’s performance. During the most recent fiscal year, SPY’s portfolio turnover rate was 2% of the average value of its portfolio. SPY’s portfolio turnover rate does not include securities received or delivered from processing creations or redemptions of SPY’s units. Portfolio turnover will be a function of changes to the Index as well as requirements of SPY’s trust agreement. …
Although SPY may fail to own certain Index Securities at any particular time, SPY generally will be substantially invested in Index Securities, which should result in a close correspondence between the performance of the Index and the performance of SPY. … SPY does not hold or trade futures or swaps and is not a commodity pool.
The Index includes five hundred (500) selected companies, all of which are listed on national stock exchanges and spans over 25 separate industry groups. … Since 1968, the Index has been a component of the U.S. Commerce Department’s list of Leading Indicators that track key sectors of the U.S. economy. Current information regarding the market value of the Index is available from market information services. The Index is determined, comprised and calculated without regard to SPY.”
As of November 30, 2021, the Underlying ETF had significant investments in information technology companies.
Subsequent Target Outcome Periods
The Fund will alert existing shareholders to the new cap at the beginning of each new Target Outcome Period in the following manner:
1. Approximately one week prior to the end of the current Target Outcome Period, the Fund will make a sticker filing that will alert existing shareholders that the Target Outcome Period is approaching its conclusion and disclose the anticipated cap range for the next Target Outcome Period. This filing will be mailed to existing shareholders.
2. Following the close of business on the last day of the Target Outcome Period, the Fund will make a sticker filing that discloses the Fund’s cap for the next Target Outcome Period. This filing will be mailed to existing shareholders.
3. On the first day of the new Target Outcome Period, the Fund will file a full prospectus that incorporates the sticker filing from the previous evening which replaces the caps/dates associated with the previous Target Outcome Period with the caps/dates associated with the new Target Outcome Period. Correspondingly, the Fund will file a revised summary prospectus that reflects such changes.
The information referenced above will also be available on the Fund's website at https://www.ftportfolios.com/retail/etf/EtfSummary.aspx?Ticker=FDEC.
Principal Risks
You could lose money by investing in the Fund. An investment in the Fund is not a deposit of a bank and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other governmental agency. There can be no assurance that the Fund’s investment objective will be achieved. The order of the below risk factors does not indicate the significance of any particular risk factor.
ABSENCE OF AN ACTIVE MARKET RISK. The Fund faces numerous market trading risks, including the potential lack of an active market for Fund shares due to a limited number of market markers or authorized participants. The Fund may rely on a small number of third-party market makers to provide a market for the purchase and sale of shares and market makers are under no obligation to make a market in the Fund’s shares. Additionally, only a limited number of institutions act as authorized participants for the Fund and only an authorized participant may engage in creation or redemption transactions directly with the Fund and are not obligated to submit purchase or redemption orders for Creation Units. Decisions by market makers or authorized participants to reduce their role or step away from these activities in times of market stress could inhibit the effectiveness of the arbitrage process in maintaining the relationship between the underlying values of the Fund’s portfolio securities and the Fund’s market price. Any trading halt or other problem relating to the trading activity of these market makers or any issues disrupting the authorized participants’ ability to proceed with creation and/or redemption orders could result in a dramatic change in the spread between the Fund’s net asset value and the price at which the Fund’s shares are trading on the Exchange, which could result in a decrease in value of the Fund’s shares. This reduced effectiveness could result in Fund shares trading at a premium or discount to net asset value and also in greater than normal intraday bid-ask spreads for Fund shares.
BUFFERED LOSS RISK. There can be no guarantee that the Fund will be successful in its strategy to buffer against Underlying ETF losses if theUnderlying ETF decreases over the Target Outcome Period by 10% or less. A shareholder may lose their entire investment. The Fund’s strategy seeks to deliver returns that match the price return of the Underlying ETF (up to the cap), while limiting downside losses, if shares are bought on the first day of the Target Outcome Period and held until the end of the Target Outcome Period. In the
event an investor purchases shares after the first day of the Target Outcome Period or sells shares prior to the end of the Target Outcome Period, the buffer that the Fund seeks to provide may not be available.
CAP CHANGE RISK. A new cap is established at the beginning of each Target Outcome Period and is dependent on prevailing market conditions. As a result, the cap may rise or fall from one Target Outcome Period to the next and is unlikely to remain the same for consecutive Target Outcome Periods.
CAPPED UPSIDE RISK. The Fund’s strategy seeks to provide returns (before fees and expenses) that match those of the Underlying ETF for Fund shares purchased on the first day of a Target Outcome Period and held for the entire Target Outcome Period, subject to a pre-determined upside cap. If an investor does not hold its Fund shares for an entire Target Outcome Period, the returns realized by that investor may not match those that the Fund seeks to achieve. If the Underlying ETF experiences gains during a Target Outcome Period, the Fund will not participate in those gains beyond the cap. In the event an investor purchases Fund shares after the first day of a Target Outcome Period and the Fund has risen in value to a level near to the cap, there may be little or no ability for that investor to experience an investment gain on their Fund shares, however, the investor will remain vulnerable to downside risks.
CASH TRANSACTIONS RISK. The Fund may effect all or a portion of its creations and redemptions for cash rather than in-kind. As a result, an investment in the Fund may be less tax-efficient than an investment in an ETF that effects its creations and redemptions only in-kind. ETFs are able to make in-kind redemptions and avoid being taxed on gains on the distributed portfolio securities at the fund level. A Fund that effects redemptions for cash may be required to sell portfolio securities in order to obtain the cash needed to distribute redemption proceeds. Any recognized gain on these sales by the Fund will generally cause the Fund to recognize a gain it might not otherwise have recognized, or to recognize such gain sooner than would otherwise be required if it were to distribute portfolio securities only in-kind. The Fund intends to distribute these gains to shareholders to avoid being taxed on this gain at the fund level and otherwise comply with the special tax rules that apply to it. This strategy may cause shareholders to be subject to tax on gains they would not otherwise be subject to, or at an earlier date than if they had made an investment in a different ETF. Moreover, cash transactions may have to be carried out over several days if the securities market is relatively illiquid and may involve considerable brokerage fees and taxes. These brokerage fees and taxes, which will be higher than if the Fund sold and redeemed its shares entirely in-kind, will be passed on to those purchasing and redeeming Creation Units in the form of creation and redemption transaction fees. In addition, these factors may result in wider spreads between the bid and the offered prices of the Fund’s shares than for ETFs that distribute portfolio securities in-kind. The Fund’s use of cash for creations and redemptions could also result in dilution to the Fund and increased transaction costs, which could negatively impact the Fund’s ability to achieve its investment objective.
COUNTERPARTY RISK. Fund transactions involving a counterparty are subject to the risk that the counterparty will not fulfill its obligation to the Fund. Counterparty risk may arise because of the counterparty’s financial condition (i.e., financial difficulties, bankruptcy, or insolvency), market activities and developments, or other reasons, whether foreseen or not. A counterparty’s inability to fulfill its obligation may result in significant financial loss to the Fund. The Fund may be unable to recover its investment from the counterparty or may obtain a limited recovery, and/or recovery may be delayed. The OCC acts as guarantor and central counterparty with respect to the FLEX Options. As a result, the ability of the Fund to meet its objective depends on the OCC being able to meet its obligations. In the unlikely event that the OCC becomes insolvent or is otherwise unable to meet its settlement obligations, the Fund could suffer significant losses.
CYBER SECURITY RISK. The Fund is susceptible to operational risks through breaches in cyber security. A breach in cyber security refers to both intentional and unintentional events that may cause the Fund to lose proprietary information, suffer data corruption or lose operational capacity. Such events could cause the Fund to incur regulatory penalties, reputational damage, additional compliance costs associated with corrective measures and/or financial loss. Cyber security breaches may involve unauthorized access to the Fund’s digital information systems through “hacking” or malicious software coding but may also result from outside attacks such as denial-of-service attacks through efforts to make network services unavailable to intended users. In addition, cyber security breaches of the issuers of securities in which the Fund invests or the Fund’s third-party service providers, such as its administrator, transfer agent, custodian, or sub-advisor, as applicable, can also subject the Fund to many of the same risks associated with direct cyber security breaches. Although the Fund has established risk management systems designed to reduce the risks associated with cyber security, there is no guarantee that such efforts will succeed, especially because the Fund does not directly control the cyber security systems of issuers or third-party service providers.
FLEX OPTIONS RISK. Trading FLEX Options involves risks different from, or possibly greater than, the risks associated with investing directly in securities. The Fund may experience substantial downside from specific FLEX Option positions and certain FLEX Option positions may expire worthless. The FLEX Options are listed on an exchange; however, no one can guarantee that a liquid secondary trading market will exist for the FLEX Options. In the event that trading in the FLEX Options is limited or absent, the value of the Fund's FLEX Options may decrease. In a less liquid market for the FLEX Options, liquidating the FLEX Options may require the payment of a premium (for written FLEX Options) or acceptance of a discounted price (for purchased FLEX Options) and may take longer to complete. A less liquid trading market may adversely impact the value of the FLEX Options and Fund shares and result in the Fund being unable to achieve its investment objective. Less liquidity in the trading of the Fund’s FLEX Options could have an impact on the prices paid or received by the Fund for the FLEX Options in connection with creations and redemptions of the Fund’s shares. Depending on the nature of this impact to pricing, the Fund may be forced to pay more for redemptions (or receive less for creations) than the price at which it currently values the FLEX Options. Such overpayment or under collection may impact the value of the Fund and whether the
Fund can satisfy its investment objective. Additionally, in a less liquid market for the FLEX Options, the liquidation of a large number of options may more significantly impact the price. A less liquid trading market may adversely impact the value of the FLEX Options and the value of your investment. The trading in FLEX Options may be less deep and liquid than the market for certain other exchange-traded options, non-customized options or other securities.
FLEX OPTIONS VALUATION RISK. The FLEX Options held by the Fund will be exercisable at the strike price only on their expiration date. Prior to the expiration date, the value of the FLEX Options will be determined based upon market quotations or using other recognized pricing methods. The FLEX Options are also subject to correlation risk, meaning the value of the FLEX Options does not increase or decrease at the same rate as the Underlying ETF (although they generally move in the same direction) or its underlying securities. The value of the FLEX Options prior to the expiration date may vary because of factors other than the value of the Underlying ETF, such as interest rate changes, changing supply and demand, decreased liquidity of the FLEX Options, a change in the actual and perceived volatility of the stock market and the Underlying ETF and the remaining time to expiration. FLEX Option prices may also be highly volatile and may fluctuate substantially during a short period of time. During periods of reduced market liquidity or in the absence of readily available market quotations for the holdings of the Fund, the ability of the Fund to value the FLEX Options becomes more difficult and the judgment of the Fund's investment adviser (employing the fair value procedures adopted by the Board of Trustees of the Trust) may play a greater role in the valuation of the Fund's holdings due to reduced availability of reliable objective pricing data. Consequently, while such determinations may be made in good faith, it may nevertheless be more difficult for the Fund to accurately assign a daily value. Under those circumstances, the value of the FLEX Options will require more reliance on the investment adviser’s judgment than that required for securities for which there is an active trading market. This creates a risk of mispricing or improper valuation of the FLEX Options which could impact the value paid for shares of the Fund.
INDEX OR MODEL CONSTITUENT RISK. The Fund may be a constituent of one or more indices or ETF models. As a result, the Fund may be included in one or more index-tracking exchange-traded funds or mutual funds. Being a component security of such a vehicle could greatly affect the trading activity involving the Fund’s shares, the size of the Fund and the market volatility of the Fund. Inclusion in an index could increase demand for the Fund and removal from an index could result in outsized selling activity in a relatively short period of time. As a result, the Fund’s net asset value could be negatively impacted and the Fund’s market price may be below the Fund’s net asset value during certain periods. In addition, index rebalances may potentially result in increased trading activity in the Fund’s shares.
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY COMPANIES RISK. The Underlying ETF invests significantly in information technology companies. Information technology companies produce and provide hardware, software and information technology systems and services. These companies may be adversely affected by rapidly changing technologies, short product life cycles, fierce competition, aggressive pricing and reduced profit margins, the loss of patent, copyright and trademark protections, cyclical market patterns, evolving industry standards and frequent new product introductions. In addition, information technology companies are particularly vulnerable to federal, state and local government regulation, and competition and consolidation, both domestically and internationally, including competition from foreign competitors with lower production costs. Information technology companies also heavily rely on intellectual property rights and may be adversely affected by the loss or impairment of those rights.
LARGE CAPITALIZATION COMPANIES RISK. The Underlying ETF invests in securities of large capitalization companies. Large capitalization companies may grow at a slower rate and be less able to adapt to changing market conditions than smaller capitalization companies. Thus, the return on investment in securities of large capitalization companies may be less than the return on investment in securities of small and/or mid capitalization companies. The performance of large capitalization companies also tends to trail the overall market during different market cycles.
MANAGEMENT RISK. The Fund is subject to management risk because it is an actively managed portfolio. In managing the Fund’s investment portfolio, the portfolio managers will apply investment techniques and risk analyses that may not produce the desired result. There can be no guarantee that the Fund will meet its investment objective.
MARKET RISK. Market risk is the risk that a particular security, or shares of the Fund in general, may fall in value. Securities are subject to market fluctuations caused by such factors as economic, political, regulatory or market developments, changes in interest rates and perceived trends in securities prices. Shares of the Fund could decline in value or underperform other investments. In addition, local, regional or global events such as war, acts of terrorism, spread of infectious diseases or other public health issues, recessions, or other events could have a significant negative impact on the Fund and its investments. For example, the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) global pandemic and the aggressive responses taken by many governments, including closing borders, restricting international and domestic travel, and the imposition of prolonged quarantines or similar restrictions, had negative impacts, and in many cases severe impacts, on markets worldwide. While the development of vaccines has slowed the spread of the virus and allowed for the resumption of reasonably normal business activity in the United States, many countries continue to impose lockdown measures in an attempt to slow the spread. Additionally, there is no guarantee that vaccines will be effective against emerging variants of the disease. As this global pandemic illustrated, such events may affect certain geographic regions, countries, sectors and industries more significantly than others. These events also adversely affect the prices and liquidity of the Fund’s portfolio securities or other instruments and could result in disruptions in the trading markets. Any of such circumstances could have a materially negative impact on the value of the Fund’s shares and result in increased market volatility. During any such events, the Fund’s shares may trade at increased premiums or discounts to their net asset value.
NON-DIVERSIFICATION RISK. The Fund is classified as “non-diversified” under the 1940 Act. As a result, the Fund is only limited as to the percentage of its assets which may be invested in the securities of any one issuer by the diversification requirements imposed by the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended. The Fund may invest a relatively high percentage of its assets in a limited number of issuers. As a result, the Fund may be more susceptible to a single adverse economic or regulatory occurrence affecting one or more of these issuers, experience increased volatility and be highly invested in certain issuers.
OPERATIONAL RISK. The Fund is subject to risks arising from various operational factors, including, but not limited to, human error, processing and communication errors, errors of the Fund’s service providers, counterparties or other third-parties, failed or inadequate processes and technology or systems failures. The Fund relies on third-parties for a range of services, including custody. Any delay or failure relating to engaging or maintaining such service providers may affect the Fund’s ability to meet its investment objective. Although the Fund and the Fund's investment advisor seek to reduce these operational risks through controls and procedures, there is no way to completely protect against such risks.
OPTIONS RISK. The use of options involves investment strategies and risks different from those associated with ordinary portfolio securities transactions and depends on the ability of the Fund's portfolio managers to forecast market movements correctly. The prices of options are volatile and are influenced by, among other things, actual and anticipated changes in the value of the underlying instrument, or in interest or currency exchange rates, including the anticipated volatility, which in turn are affected by fiscal and monetary policies and by national and international political and economic events. The effective use of options also depends on the Fund's ability to terminate option positions at times deemed desirable to do so. There is no assurance that the Fund will be able to effect closing transactions at any particular time or at an acceptable price. In addition, there may at times be an imperfect correlation between the movement in values of options and their underlying securities and there may at times not be a liquid secondary market for certain options.
PREMIUM/DISCOUNT RISK. The market price of the Fund’s shares will generally fluctuate in accordance with changes in the Fund’s net asset value as well as the relative supply of and demand for shares on the Exchange. The Fund’s investment advisor cannot predict whether shares will trade below, at or above their net asset value because the shares trade on the Exchange at market prices and not at net asset value. Price differences may be due, in large part, to the fact that supply and demand forces at work in the secondary trading market for shares will be closely related, but not identical, to the same forces influencing the prices of the holdings of the Fund trading individually or in the aggregate at any point in time. However, given that shares can only be purchased and redeemed in Creation Units, and only to and from broker-dealers and large institutional investors that have entered into participation agreements (unlike shares of closed-end funds, which frequently trade at appreciable discounts from, and sometimes at premiums to, their net asset value), the Fund’s investment advisor believes that large discounts or premiums to the net asset value of shares should not be sustained. During stressed market conditions, the market for the Fund’s shares may become less liquid in response to deteriorating liquidity in the market for the Fund’s underlying portfolio holdings, which could in turn lead to differences between the market price of the Fund’s shares and their net asset value.
SPECIAL TAX RISK. The Fund intends to qualify as a “regulated Investment company” (“RIC”), however, the federal income tax treatment of certain aspects of the proposed operations of the Fund are not entirely clear. This includes the tax aspects of the Fund's options strategy, the possible application of the “straddle” rules, and various loss limitation provisions of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended. If, in any year, the Fund fails to qualify as a regulated investment company under the applicable tax laws, the Fund would be taxed as an ordinary corporation. Certain options on an ETF may not qualify as “Section 1256 contracts” under Section 1256 of the Code, and disposition of such options will likely result in short-term or long-term capital gains or losses depending on the holding period.
The Fund intends to treat any income it may derive from the FLEX Options as "qualifying income" under the provisions of the Code applicable to RICs. In addition, based upon language in the legislative history, the Fund intends to treat the issuer of the FLEX Options as the referenced asset, which, assuming the referenced asset qualifies as a RIC, would allow the Fund to qualify for special rules in the RIC diversification requirements. If the income is not qualifying income or the issuer of the FLEX Options is not appropriately the referenced asset, the Fund could lose its own status as a RIC.
To maintain its status as a RIC, the Fund must distribute 90% of its investment company taxable income annually. In addition, to avoid a non-deductible excise tax, the Fund must distribute 98% of its ordinary income and 98.2% of its capital gain net income. Separately, depending upon the circumstances, sales to fund redemptions could cause the Fund to recognize income that the Fund is required to distribute to maintain the Fund's RIC status and avoid the excise tax. Funding such distributions could require additional sales, which could require more distributions and affect the projected performance of the Fund. Alternatively, if the Fund only makes distributions to maintain its RIC status and becomes subject to the excise tax, that could also affect the projected performance of the Fund. In either case, the assets sold to Fund redemptions, distributions or pay the excise tax will not be available to assist the Fund in meeting its target outcome.
In the event that a shareholder purchases shares of the Fund shortly before a distribution by the Fund, the entire distribution may be taxable to the shareholder even though a portion of the distribution effectively represents a return of the purchase price.
TARGET OUTCOME PERIOD RISK. The Fund’s investment strategy is designed to deliver returns that match the Underlying ETF if Fund shares are bought on the day on which the Fund enters into the FLEX Options (i.e., the first day of a Target Outcome Period)
and held until those FLEX Options expire at the end of the Target Outcome Period subject to the cap. In the event an investor purchases Fund shares after the first day of a Target Outcome Period or sells shares prior to the expiration of the Target Outcome Period, the value of that investor’s investment in Fund shares may not be buffered against a decline in the value of the Underlying ETF and may not participate in a gain in the value of the Underlying ETF up to the cap for the investor’s investment period.
TRADING ISSUES RISK. Trading in Fund shares on the Exchange may be halted due to market conditions or for reasons that, in the view of the Exchange, make trading in shares inadvisable. In addition, trading in Fund shares on the Exchange is subject to trading halts caused by extraordinary market volatility pursuant to the Exchange’s “circuit breaker” rules. There can be no assurance that the requirements of the Exchange necessary to maintain the listing of the Fund will continue to be met or will remain unchanged. The Fund may have difficulty maintaining its listing on the Exchange in the event the Fund’s assets are small, the Fund does not have enough shareholders, or if the Fund is unable to proceed with creation and/or redemption orders.
UNDERLYING ETF EQUITY RISK. Because the Fund holds FLEX Options that reference the Underlying ETF, the Fund has exposure to the equity securities markets. Equity securities prices fluctuate for several reasons, including changes in investors’ perceptions of the financial condition of an issuer or the general condition of the relevant equity market, such as market volatility, or when political or economic events affecting an issuer occur. Common stock prices may be particularly sensitive to rising interest rates, as the cost of capital rises and borrowing costs increase. Equity securities may decline significantly in price over short or extended periods of time, and such declines may occur in the equity market as a whole, or they may occur in only a particular country, company, industry or sector of the market.
UNDERLYING ETF RISK. The Fund invests in FLEX Options that reference an ETF, which subjects the Fund to certain of the risks of owning shares of an ETF as well as the types of instruments in which the Underlying ETF invests. The value of an ETF will fluctuate over time based on fluctuations in the values of the securities held by the ETF, which may be affected by changes in general economic conditions, expectations for future growth and profits, interest rates and the supply and demand for those securities. In addition, ETFs are subject to absence of an active market risk, premium/discount risk, tracking error risk and trading issues risk. Brokerage, tax and other expenses may negatively impact the performance of the Underlying ETF and, in turn, the value of the Fund’s shares. An ETF that tracks an index may not exactly match the performance of the index due to cash drag, differences between the portfolio of the ETF and the components of the index, expenses and other factors.
The Fund has characteristics unlike many other traditional investment products and may not be suitable for all investors. 
You should only consider this investment if:
You should not consider this investment if:
•you fully understand the risks inherent in an investment in the
Fund;
•you do not fully understand the risks inherent in an investment
in the Fund;
•you desire to invest in a product with a return that depends
upon the performance of the Underlying ETF over the Target
Outcome Period;
•you do not desire to invest in a product with a return that
depends upon the performance of the Underlying ETF over the
Target Outcome Period;
•you are willing to hold shares for the duration of the Target
Outcome Period in order to achieve the outcomes that the
Fund seeks to provide;
•you are unwilling to hold shares for the duration of the Target
Outcome Period in order to achieve the outcomes that the
Fund seeks to provide;
•you fully understand that investments made when the Fund is
at or near to the cap may have limited to no upside;
•you do not fully understand that investments made when the
Fund is at or near to the cap may have limited to no upside;
•you are willing to forgo any gains in excess of the cap;
•you are unwilling to forgo any gains in excess of the cap;
•you are not seeking an investment that provides dividends to
shareholders;
•you are seeking an investment that provides dividends to
shareholders;
•you fully understand that investments made after the Target
Outcome Period has begun may not fully benefit from the
buffer;
•you do not fully understand that investments made after the
Target Outcome Period has begun may not fully benefit from
the buffer;
•you are willing to accept the risk of losing your entire
investment; and
•you are unwilling to accept the risk of losing your entire
investment; and
•you have visited the Fund’s website and understand the
investment outcomes available to you based upon the time of
your purchase.
•you have not visited the Fund’s website and do not understand
the investment outcomes available to you based upon the
timing of your purchase.
Performance
The Fund has not yet operated for a full calendar year and, therefore, performance information is not included in this section of the prospectus. See "Total Return Information" for performance information regarding the Fund.
Management
Investment Advisor
First Trust Advisors L.P. (“First Trust” or the “Advisor”)
Investment Sub-Advisor
Cboe VestSM Financial LLC (“Cboe Vest” or the “Sub-Advisor”)
Portfolio Managers
The following persons serve as the portfolio managers of the Fund:
•
Karan Sood, Managing Director of Cboe Vest
•
Howard Rubin, Managing Director of Cboe Vest
The portfolio managers are primarily and jointly responsible for the day-to-day management of the Fund. Each portfolio manager has served as a part of the portfolio management team of the Fund since December 2020.
Purchase and Sale of Fund Shares
The Fund issues and redeems shares on a continuous basis, at net asset value, only in large blocks of shares called “Creation Units.” Individual shares of the Fund may only be purchased and sold on the secondary market through a broker-dealer. Since shares of the Fund trade on securities exchanges in the secondary market at their market price rather than their net asset value, the Fund’s shares may trade at a price greater than (premium) or less than (discount) the Fund’s net asset value. An investor may incur costs attributable to the difference between the highest price a buyer is willing to pay to purchase shares of the Fund (bid) and the lowest price a seller is willing to accept for shares of the Fund (ask) when buying or selling shares in the secondary market (the “bid-ask spread”). Recent information, including the Fund’s net asset value, market price, premiums and discounts, bid-ask spreads and the median bid-ask spread for the Fund’s most recent fiscal year, is available online at https://www.ftportfolios.com/Retail/etf/home.aspx.
Tax Information
The Fund’s distributions are taxable and will generally be taxed as ordinary income or capital gains. Distributions on shares held in a tax-deferred account, while not immediately taxable, will be subject to tax when the shares are no longer held in a tax-deferred account.
Payments to Broker-Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries
If you purchase shares of the Fund through a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary (such as a bank), First Trust and First Trust Portfolios L.P., the Fund’s distributor, may pay the intermediary for the sale of Fund shares and related services. These payments may create a conflict of interest by influencing the broker-dealer or other intermediary and your salesperson to recommend the Fund over another investment. Ask your salesperson or visit your financial intermediary’s website for more information.
You can find the Fund’s statutory prospectus and other information about the Fund, including the statement of additional information and most recent reports to shareholders, online at www.ftportfolios.com/retail/ETF/ETFfundnews.aspx?Ticker=FDEC.
FDECSP121922