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SUMMARY PROSPECTUS

November 17, 2023

 

Themes US R&D Champions ETF

Ticker Symbol: USRD

Listed on The NASDAQ Stock Market

 

Before you invest, you may want to review the statutory prospectus (the “Prospectus”), which contains more information about the Themes US R&D Champions ETF (the “Fund”) and its risks. You can find the Fund’s Prospectus, reports to shareholders, and other information about the Fund, including the Fund’s Statement of Additional Information, online at www.ThemesETFs.com. You can also get this information at no cost by calling 1-866-5Themes (1-866-584-3637). The current Prospectus and Statement of Additional Information dated November 17, 2023 are incorporated by reference into this Summary Prospectus.

 

Fund Summary

 

 

Investment Objective

 

The Themes US R&D Champions ETF (the “Fund”) is an exchange traded fund (“ETF”) that seeks to track the performance, before fees and expenses, of an index composed of innovative US companies which exhibit strong and consistent investment in research and development (R&D) as well as profitability.

 

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 (“Shares”). You 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 0.29%
Distribution and/or Service (12b-1) Fees None
Other Expenses* 0.00%
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses 0.29%

 

* Estimated for the current fiscal year

 

Example

The following example is intended to help retail investors compare the cost of investing in the Fund with the cost of investing in other funds. It illustrates the hypothetical expenses that such investors would incur over various periods if they were to invest $10,000 in the Fund for the time periods indicated and then redeem all of the Shares at the end of those periods. This example assumes that the Fund provides a return of 5% a year and that operating expenses remain the same. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions, your costs would be:

 

1 Year 3 Years
$30 $93

 

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. Because the Fund is newly organized, portfolio turnover information is not yet available.

 

Principal Investment Strategies of the Fund

 

The Fund employs a “passive management” (or indexing) investment approach designed to track the performance, before fees and expenses, of the Solactive US R&D Champions Index (the “Index”). The Index is based on a proprietary methodology developed and maintained by Solactive AG (the “Index Provider”), which is an organization that is independent of, and unaffiliated with, the Fund and Themes Management Company, LLC, the Fund’s investment adviser (the “Adviser”).

 

The Index

 

The Index is designed to provide exposure to US companies in the large- and mid- capitalization segments that rank in the top 50 companies based on the Index Provider’s R&D intensity metric (defined below). The Index is denominated in U.S. dollars. As of June 30, 2023, the Index was comprised of 50 companies with a market capitalization range of between approximately $8.8 billion and $2.5 trillion and a weighted average market capitalization of approximately $184.5 billion.

 

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In constructing or adjusting the Index, the Index Provider identifies an “Index Universe” of companies that, on Selection Days (as defined below) are a part/component of the Solactive GBS (Global Benchmark Series) United States Large & Mid Cap USD Index (an index developed and maintained by the Index Provider that intends to track the performance of the large- and mid- capitalization segments covering approximately 85% of the free-float market capitalization in the United States).

 

The country classification of a company (i.e. as a “US” company) is generally determined by the Index Provider using the company’s country of incorporation and the country of primary listing of its securities. If the company’s country of primary listing is the same as its country of incorporation, then the company will be assigned to that country. If the country of primary listing is not the same as the company’s country of incorporation, then additional criteria, such as the location of the company’s management board (country of domicile) and an assessment by the Index Provider of the country in which the company would be influenced the most by potential changes in the business environment (country of risk), are considered by the Index Provider for classification purposes.

 

Based on the Index Universe, the initial composition of the Index, as well as any selection for an ordinary rebalance, is determined on the Selection Day by the Index Provider based on its R&D ranking metric. To be eligible for the Index a company must have reported through its public filings its R&D expenses and must have a positive profit margin in each of the last three years (“R&D Companies”). R&D Companies must also meet the following criteria to be eligible for the Index: 1) must have increasing research & development expenses in each of the last three years; 2) must have a positive return on equity in each of the last three years; and 3) must have a positive return on assets in each of the last three years. All eligible companies are then assigned a ranking based on the Index Provider’s R&D ranking metric. This R&D metric ranks a company’s research & development activities by determining the percentage that research & development expenses are of a company’s sales and net income with the top 50 R&D focused companies being selected for the Index. The determination of the Index Universe and the selection of securities for inclusion in the Index (“Index Components”) is made by the Index Provider based on its proprietary methodology.

 

“Selection Day” is the last business day in January, April, July and October. “Rebalance Day” is seven business days after Selection Day. The Index Components may change over time.

 

The Fund’s Investment Strategy

 

The Fund will invest, under normal circumstances, at least 80% of its net assets, plus the amount of any borrowings for investment purposes, in securities that comprise the Index. The Fund will also invest, under normal circumstances, at least 80% of its net assets, plus borrowings for investment purposes, in securities of R&D Companies. The Index may include securities of large- and mid- capitalization companies. The Fund’s 80% Policies are non-fundamental and require 60 days prior written notice to shareholders before each can be changed.

 

The Fund uses a “passive” or indexing approach to try to achieve the Fund’s investment objective. Unlike many investment companies, the Fund does not try to beat the Index and does not seek temporary defensive positions when markets decline or appear overvalued. Indexing may eliminate the chance that the Fund will substantially outperform the Index but also may reduce some of the risks of active management, such as poor security selection. Indexing seeks to achieve lower costs and better after-tax performance by aiming to keep portfolio turnover low in comparison to actively managed investment companies.

 

The Fund will generally use a “replication” strategy to achieve its investment objective, meaning it will invest in all of the component securities of the Index in the same approximate proportion as in the Index. However, the Fund may utilize a representative sampling strategy with respect to the Index when a replication strategy might be detrimental or disadvantageous to shareholders, such as when there are practical difficulties or substantial costs involved in compiling a portfolio of equity securities to replicate the Index, in instances in which a security in the Index becomes temporarily illiquid, unavailable or less liquid, or as a result of legal restrictions or limitations (such as tax diversification requirements) that apply to the Fund but not the Index. The Adviser expects that, over time, the correlation between the Fund’s performance and that of the Index, before fees and expenses, will be 95% or better. If the Fund uses a replication strategy, it can be expected to have greater correlation to the Index than if it uses a representative sampling strategy.

 

The Fund is considered to be non-diversified, which means that it may invest more of its assets in the securities of a single issuer or a smaller number of issuers than if it were a diversified fund. To the extent the Index is concentrated (i.e., holds 25% or more of its total assets) in a particular industry or group of industries, the Fund is expected to be concentrated in that industry or group of industries to approximately the same extent that the Index concentrates in an industry or group of industries. As of June 30, 2023, a significant portion of the Index is represented by securities of companies in the information technology sector. The degree to which components of the Index represent certain sectors or industries may change over time. 

 

The Fund may lend securities representing up to one-third of the value of the Fund’s total assets (including the value of any collateral received).

 

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Principal Risks of Investing in the Fund

 

You can lose money on your investment in the Fund. The Fund is subject to the risks summarized below. Some or all of these risks may adversely affect the Fund’s net asset value per share (“NAV”), trading price, yield, total return and/or ability to meet its objectives. For more information about the risks of investing in the Fund, see the section in the Fund’s prospectus entitled “Additional Information about the Principal Risks of Investing in the Funds.” Each risk summarized below is considered a “principal risk” of investing in the Fund, regardless of the order in which it appears.

 

Concentration Risk. To the extent that the Index concentrates in investments related to a particular industry or group of industries, the Fund is expected to also concentrate its investments to approximately the same extent. In such event, the Fund’s performance will be particularly susceptible to adverse events impacting such industry, which may include, but are not limited to, the following: general economic conditions or cyclical market patterns that could negatively affect supply and demand; competition for resources; adverse labor relations; political or world events; obsolescence of technologies; and increased competition or new product introductions that may affect the profitability or viability of companies in a particular industry. As a result, the value of the Fund’s investments may rise and fall more than the value of shares of a fund that invests in securities of companies in a broader range of industries.

 

Calculation Methodology Risk. The Index Provider relies directly or indirectly on various sources of information to assess the criteria of issuers included in the Index, including information that may be based on assumptions and estimates. Neither the Fund, the Index Provider, or the Adviser can offer assurances that the Index’s calculation methodology or sources of information (i.e., a company’s R&D expense information) will provide an accurate assessment of included issuers or a correct valuation of securities, nor can they guarantee the availability or timeliness of the production of the Index. There is no guarantee that companies within the Fund’s Investment Universe will continue to report their R&D expenses annually. If a significant number of companies stop reporting their R&D expenses the Fund’s investment strategy may no longer be viable.

 

Equity Market Risk. The equity securities held in the Fund’s portfolio may experience sudden, unpredictable drops in value or long periods of decline in value. This may occur because of factors that affect securities markets generally or factors affecting specific industries, sectors or companies in which the Fund invests. Common stocks are susceptible to general stock market fluctuations and to volatile increases and decreases in value as market confidence in and perceptions of their issuers change. The Fund’s NAV and market price may fluctuate significantly in response to these and other factors. As a result, an investor could lose money over short or long periods of time.

 

ETF Risks. The Fund is an ETF and, as a result of an ETF’s structure, is exposed to the following risks:

 

Authorized Participants (“APs”), Market Makers, and Liquidity Providers Concentration Risk. The Fund has a limited number of financial institutions that may act as APs. In addition, there may be a limited number of market makers and/or liquidity providers in the marketplace. To the extent either of the following events occur, shares of the Fund may trade at a material discount to NAV and possibly face delisting: (i) APs exit the business or otherwise become unable to process creation and/or redemption orders and no other APs step forward to perform these services, or (ii) market makers and/or liquidity providers exit the business or significantly reduce their business activities and no other entities step forward to perform their functions.

 

Costs of Buying or Selling Shares of the Fund. Due to the costs of buying or selling shares of the Fund, including brokerage commissions imposed by brokers and bid/ask spreads, frequent trading of shares of the Fund may significantly reduce investment results and an investment in shares of the Fund may not be advisable for investors who anticipate regularly making small investments.

 

Shares of the Fund May Trade at Prices Other Than NAV. As with all ETFs, shares of the Fund may be bought and sold in the secondary market at market prices. The price of shares of the Fund, like the price of all traded securities, will be subject to factors such as supply and demand, as well as the current value of the Fund’s portfolio holdings. Although it is expected that the market price of the shares of the Fund will approximate the Fund’s NAV, there may be times when the market price of the shares is more than the NAV intra-day (premium) or less than the NAV intra-day (discount). This risk is heightened in times of market volatility, periods of steep market declines, and periods when there is limited trading activity for shares in the secondary market, in which case such premiums or discounts may be significant.

 

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Trading. Although shares of the Fund are listed for trading on a national securities exchange, such as The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC (the “Exchange”), and may be traded on U.S. exchanges other than the Exchange, there can be no assurance that shares of the Fund will trade with any volume, or at all, on any stock exchange. In stressed market conditions, the liquidity of shares of the Fund may begin to mirror the liquidity of the Fund’s underlying portfolio holdings, which can be significantly less liquid than shares of the Fund, and this could lead to differences between the market price of the shares of the Fund and the underlying value of those shares.

 

Tracking Risk. The Fund’s return may not track the return of the Index for a number of reasons. For example, the Fund incurs a number of operating expenses not applicable to the Index, and incurs costs in buying and selling securities, especially when rebalancing the Fund’s securities holdings to reflect changes in the composition of the Index. In addition, when the Fund uses a representative sampling approach, the Fund may not be as well correlated with the return of the Index as when the Fund purchases all of the securities in the Index in the proportions in which they are represented in the Index.

 

Large-Capitalization Investing Risk. The Fund’s performance may be adversely affected if securities of large-capitalization companies underperform securities of smaller-capitalization companies or the market as a whole. The securities of large-capitalization companies may be relatively mature compared to smaller companies and therefore subject to slower growth during times of economic expansion.

 

Mid-Capitalization Companies Risk. Mid-capitalization companies may have greater price volatility, lower trading volume and less liquidity than large-capitalization companies. In addition, mid-capitalization companies may have smaller revenues, narrower product lines, less management depth and experience, smaller shares of their product or service markets, fewer financial resources and less competitive strength than large-capitalization companies.

 

New Adviser Risk. Although the Adviser’s principals and the Fund’s portfolio managers have experience managing investments in the past, the Adviser is a newly-formed entity and has no experience managing investments for an ETF, which may limit the Adviser’s effectiveness.

 

New Fund Risk. The Fund is new with no operating history. As a result, there can be no assurance that the Fund will grow to or maintain an economically viable size, in which case it may experience greater tracking error to its Index than it otherwise would at higher asset levels, or it could ultimately liquidate. The Fund’s distributor does not maintain a secondary market in Fund shares.

 

Non-Diversification Risk. Although the Fund intends to invest in a variety of securities and instruments, the Fund is considered to be non-diversified, which means that it may invest more of its assets in the securities of a single issuer or a smaller number of issuers than if it were a diversified fund. As a result, the Fund may be more exposed to the risks associated with and developments affecting an individual issuer or a smaller number of issuers than a fund that invests more widely. This may increase the Fund’s volatility and cause the performance of a relatively smaller number of issuers to have a greater impact on the Fund’s performance.

 

Operational Risk. The Fund is exposed to operational risks arising from a number of factors, including, but not limited to, human error, processing and communication errors, errors of the Fund’s service providers, counterparties or other third parties, failed or inadequate processes and technology or systems failures. The Fund and the Adviser seek to reduce these operational risks through controls and procedures. However, these measures do not address every possible risk and may be inadequate to address significant operational risks.

 

Cybersecurity Risk. Failures or breaches of the electronic systems of the Fund and/or the Fund’s service providers, including the Adviser, Index Provider, market makers, Authorized Participants or the issuers of securities in which the Fund invests have the ability to cause disruptions, negatively impact the Fund’s business operations and/or potentially result in financial losses to the Fund and its shareholders. While the Fund has established business continuity plans and risk management systems seeking to address system breaches or failures, there are inherent limitations in such plans and systems. Furthermore, the Fund cannot control the cybersecurity plans and systems of the Fund’s Index Provider, Adviser, other service providers, market makers, Authorized Participants or issuers of securities in which the Fund invests.

 

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Passive Investment Risk. The Fund is not actively managed and the Adviser would not sell a security due to current or projected underperformance of a security, industry or sector, unless that security is removed from the Index or the selling of shares of that security is otherwise required upon a reconstitution of the Index in accordance with the Index methodology. The Fund invests in securities included in the Index, regardless of their investment merits. The Fund does not take defensive positions under any market conditions, including conditions that are adverse to the performance of the Fund.

 

Sector Risk. To the extent the Fund invests more heavily in particular sectors of the economy, its performance will be especially sensitive to developments that significantly affect those sectors.

 

Information Technology Sector Risk. Market or economic factors impacting information technology companies and companies that rely heavily on technological advances could have a significant effect on the value of the Fund’s investments. The value of stocks of information technology companies and companies that rely heavily on technology is particularly vulnerable to rapid changes in technology product cycles, rapid product obsolescence, government regulation and competition, both domestically and internationally, including competition from foreign competitors with lower production costs. Stocks of information technology companies and companies that rely heavily on technology, especially those of smaller, less-seasoned companies, tend to be more volatile than the overall market. Information technology companies are heavily dependent on patent and intellectual property rights, the loss or impairment of which may adversely affect profitability.

 

Securities Lending Risk. To the extent the Fund lends its securities, it may be subject to the following risks: (1) the securities in which the collateral is invested may not perform sufficiently to cover the applicable rebate rates paid to borrowers and related administrative costs; (2) delays may occur in the recovery of securities from borrowers, which could interfere with the Fund’s ability to vote proxies or to settle transactions; and (3) although borrowers of the Fund’s securities typically provide collateral in the form of cash that is reinvested in securities, there is the risk of possible loss of rights in the collateral should the borrower fail financially.

 

Thematic Investing Risk. The Fund relies on the Index Provider for the identification of securities for inclusion in the Index that reflect themes and sub-themes, and its performance may suffer if such securities are not correctly identified or if a theme or sub-theme develops in an unexpected manner. Performance may also suffer if the stocks included in the Index do not benefit from the development of such themes or sub-themes. Performance may also be impacted by the inclusion of non-theme relevant exposures in the Index. There is no guarantee that the Index will reflect the theme and sub-theme exposures intended.

 

Fund Performance

 

Performance information for the Fund is not included because the Fund did not commence operations prior to the date of this Prospectus. In the future, performance for the Fund will be presented in this section. Updated performance information will be available on the Fund’s website at www.ThemesETFs.com or by calling the Fund toll-free at 1-866-5Themes (1-866-584-3637).

 

Management

 

Investment Adviser

 

Themes Management Company, LLC (the “Adviser”) serves as investment adviser to the Fund.

 

Portfolio Managers

 

Dingxun (Kevin) Shao, Vice President, Product Management & Development of the Adviser, and Calvin Tsang, CFA, Head of Product Management & Development of the Adviser, are jointly and primarily responsible for the day-to-day management of the Fund and have served as portfolio managers since the Fund’s inception.

 

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Buying and Selling Fund Shares

 

The Fund is an ETF. This means that individual Shares of the Fund may only be purchased and sold in the secondary market through brokers at market prices, rather than NAV. Because Shares trade at market prices rather than NAV, Shares may trade at a price greater than NAV (premium) or less than NAV (discount).

 

The Fund generally issues and redeems shares at NAV only in large blocks of shares known as “Creation Units,” which only institutions or large investors may purchase or redeem. The Fund generally issues and redeems Creation Units in exchange for a portfolio of securities (the “Deposit Securities”) and/or a designated amount of U.S. cash that the Fund specifies each day.

 

Investors may incur costs attributable to the difference between the highest price a buyer is willing to pay to purchase Shares (bid) and the lowest price a seller is willing to accept for Shares (ask) when buying or selling Shares in the secondary market (the “bid-ask spread”). Recent information about the Fund, including its net asset value, market price, premiums and discounts, and bid-ask spreads is available on the Fund’s website at www.ThemesETFs.com.

 

Tax Information

 

Fund distributions are generally taxable as ordinary income, qualified dividend income, or capital gains (or a combination), unless your investment is in an IRA or other tax-advantaged retirement account. Distributions may be taxable upon withdrawal from tax-deferred accounts.

 

Payments to Broker-Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries

 

If you purchase the Fund through a broker or other financial intermediary (such as a bank), the Adviser and its related companies may pay the intermediary for activities related to the marketing and promotion of the Fund. These payments may create a conflict of interest by influencing the broker-dealer or other intermediary and your sales person to recommend the Fund over another investment. Ask your sales person or visit your financial intermediary’s website for more information.

 

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