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GUGGENHEIM FUNDS TRUST | Guggenheim Alpha Opportunity Fund
Guggenheim Alpha Opportunity Fund
INVESTMENT OBJECTIVE
The Guggenheim Alpha Opportunity Fund (the "Fund") seeks long-term growth of capital.
FEES AND EXPENSES OF THE FUND
This table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy and hold shares of the Fund. You may qualify for sales charge discounts if you and your family invest, or agree to invest in the future, at least $100,000 in the Family of Funds, as defined on page 36 of the Fund’s prospectus. More information about these and other discounts is available from your financial professional and in the “Sales Charges—Class A Shares” section on page 17 of the Fund’s prospectus and the “How to Purchase Shares” section on page 38 of the Fund’s Statement of Additional Information.
SHAREHOLDER FEES (fees paid directly from your investment)
Shareholder Fees - Alpha Opportunity Fund GUGGENHEIM FUNDS TRUST Guggenheim Alpha Opportunity Fund
Class A
Class C
Institutional Class
Maximum Sales Charge Imposed on Purchases (as a percentage of Offering Price) 4.75%rr_MaximumSalesChargeImposedOnPurchasesOverOfferingPrice none none
Maximum Deferred Sales Charge (as a percentage) none 1.00%rr_MaximumDeferredSalesChargeOverOther none
ANNUAL FUND OPERATING EXPENSES (expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)
Annual Fund Operating Expenses - Alpha Opportunity Fund GUGGENHEIM FUNDS TRUST Guggenheim Alpha Opportunity Fund
Class A
Class C
Institutional Class
Management Fees (as a percentage of Assets) 1.25%rr_ManagementFeesOverAssets 1.25%rr_ManagementFeesOverAssets 1.25%rr_ManagementFeesOverAssets
Distribution and Service (12b-1) Fees 0.25%rr_DistributionAndService12b1FeesOverAssets 1.00%rr_DistributionAndService12b1FeesOverAssets none
Other Expenses (as a percentage of Assets): 1.75%rr_OtherExpensesOverAssets 1.86%rr_OtherExpensesOverAssets 1.65%rr_OtherExpensesOverAssets
Expenses (as a percentage of Assets) 3.25%rr_ExpensesOverAssets 4.11%rr_ExpensesOverAssets 2.90%rr_ExpensesOverAssets
Fee Waiver or Reimbursement [1] (1.13%)rr_FeeWaiverOrReimbursementOverAssets (1.24%)rr_FeeWaiverOrReimbursementOverAssets (1.03%)rr_FeeWaiverOrReimbursementOverAssets
Net Expenses (as a percentage of Assets) 2.12%rr_NetExpensesOverAssets 2.87%rr_NetExpensesOverAssets 1.87%rr_NetExpensesOverAssets
[1] Security Investors, LLC, also known as Guggenheim Investments (the “Investment Manager”), has contractually agreed through February 1, 2016 to waive fees and/or reimburse expenses to the extent necessary to limit the ordinary operating expenses (including distribution (12b-1) fees, but exclusive of brokerage costs, dividends on securities sold short, acquired fund fees and expenses, interest, taxes, litigation, indemnification, and extraordinary expenses) (“Operating Expenses”) of the Fund to the annual percentage of average daily net assets for each class of shares as follows: Class A—2.11%, Class C—2.86% and Institutional Class—1.86%. The Fund may have “Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses After Fee Waiver” greater than the expense cap as a result of any acquired fund fees and expenses or other expenses that are excluded from the calculation. The Investment Manager has also agreed through February 1, 2016, to waive the amount of the Fund’s management fee to the extent necessary to offset the proportionate share of any management fee paid by the Fund with respect to any Fund investment in an underlying fund for which the Investment Manager or any of its affiliates also serves as investment manager. The Investment Manager is entitled to reimbursement by the Fund of fees waived or expenses reimbursed during any of the previous 36 months beginning on the date of the expense limitation agreement provided the Operating Expenses do not exceed the then-applicable expense cap. Each agreement will expire when it reaches its termination or when the Investment Manager ceases to serve as such and it can be terminated by the Fund’s Board of Trustees, with certain waived fees and reimbursed expenses subject to the recoupment rights of the Investment Manager.
EXAMPLE
This Example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the Fund with the cost of investing in other mutual funds.
The Example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the Fund for the time periods indicated and then redeem 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 the same. Although the actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:
Expense Example - Alpha Opportunity Fund GUGGENHEIM FUNDS TRUST Guggenheim Alpha Opportunity Fund (USD $)
Expense Example, with Redemption, 1 Year
Expense Example, with Redemption, 3 Years
Expense Example, with Redemption, 5 Years
Expense Example, with Redemption, 10 Years
Class A
680 1,328 1,999 3,782
Class C
390 1,137 1,999 4,223
Institutional Class
190 801 1,437 3,150
Expense Example, No Redemption - Alpha Opportunity Fund GUGGENHEIM FUNDS TRUST Guggenheim Alpha Opportunity Fund (USD $)
Expense Example, No Redemption, 1 Year
Expense Example, No Redemption, 3 Years
Expense Example, No Redemption, 5 Years
Expense Example, No Redemption, 10 Years
Class A
680 1,328 1,999 3,782
Class C
290 1,137 1,999 4,223
Institutional Class
190 801 1,437 3,150
The above Example reflects applicable contractual fee waiver/expense reimbursement arrangements for the duration of the arrangements only.
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 most recent fiscal year, the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate was 0% of the average value of its portfolio.
PRINCIPAL INVESTMENT STRATEGIES
The Fund pursues its objective by investing, under normal market conditions, in long and short positions of domestic equity and equity-related securities (including swaps and other derivative investments giving long or short exposure to domestic equity securities).
The Investment Manager uses a proprietary evaluation process to generate an expected return for individual stocks that considers market risks generally and risks specific to the companies in which the Fund invests. Market risk factors include, among other factors, company size, enterprise value, and sector. The Investment Manager seeks to construct portfolios of equity-related exposures that maintain long positions in risk factors that the Investment Manager considers to be undervalued by the equity markets and sells short risk factors that the Investment Manager considers to be overvalued. The process uses fundamentally-based, forward-looking forecasts of equity cash flows to generate return expectations for individual stocks. Then, the expected returns for the universe of stocks is further evaluated using quantitative techniques to estimate the market’s implied valuation of broad market risk factors as well as the company-specific risks unique to each company. Finally, a portfolio is constructed within guidelines that buys long the stocks (or derivatives that give exposure to stocks) that give the portfolio both the broad risk characteristics and company-specific risks that are perceived to be undervalued and sells short stocks (or derivatives that give exposure to stocks) for which those characteristics are perceived to be overpriced. "Alpha" in the Fund’s name refers to the potential for the Fund’s portfolio to achieve returns that are favorable relative to the amount of risk taken. Of course, there is no guarantee that the Fund will achieve its objective of long-term growth of capital, and an investment in the Fund involves significant risk.
The Fund will ordinarily hold simultaneous long and short positions in equity securities or securities markets that provide exposure up to a level equal to 150% of the Fund’s net assets for both the long and short positions. That level of exposure is obtained through derivatives, including swap agreements. The Investment Manager intends to maintain a low overall net exposure (the difference between the notional value of long positions and the notional value of short positions) for the portfolio, typically varying between 50% net long and 30% net short in order to maintain low correlation to traditional equity markets, lower than market volatility and seek to provide consistent absolute return. The overall net exposure will change as market opportunities change, and may, based on the Investment Manager’s view of current market conditions, be outside this range.
The Fund may invest in domestic equity securities, including small-, mid-, and large-capitalization securities. The Fund also may invest in derivative instruments, including swaps on selected baskets of equity securities, to enable the Fund to pursue its investment objective without investing directly in the securities of companies to which the Fund is seeking exposure. The Fund may also invest in derivatives to hedge or gain leveraged exposure to a particular sector, industry, risk factor, or company depending on market conditions. The Fund will often invest in instruments traded in the over the-counter (“OTC”) market, which generally provides for less transparency than exchange-traded derivative instruments. The Fund also may enter into long positions or short sales of broad-based stock indices for hedging purposes in an effort to reduce the Fund’s risk or volatility. The use of derivatives may create a leveraging effect on the Fund which will force the Fund to take offsetting positions or earmark or segregate assets to be used as collateral. The Fund actively trades its investments without regard to the length of time they have been owned by the Fund, which results in higher portfolio turnover.
While the Fund anticipates investing in these securities and instruments to seek to achieve its investment objective, the extent of the Fund’s investment in these instruments may vary from day-to-day depending on a number of different factors, including price, availability, and general market conditions. On a day-to-day basis, the Fund may hold U.S. government securities, short-term, high quality (rated AA or higher) fixed-income securities, money market instruments, overnight and fixed-term repurchase agreements, cash and other cash equivalents with maturities of one year or less to collateralize its derivative positions or for defensive purposes to seek to avoid losses during adverse market conditions. The Fund also may enter into repurchase agreements with counterparties that are deemed to present acceptable credit risks.
Under adverse market conditions, the Fund may make temporary defensive investments and may be unable to pursue or achieve its investment objective during that time.

PRINCIPAL RISKS
The value of an investment in the Fund will fluctuate and is subject to investment risks, which means investors could lose money. The principal risks of investing in the Fund are summarized below.
Counterparty Credit Risk—The Fund makes investments in financial instruments and OTC-traded derivatives involving counterparties to gain exposure to a particular group of securities, index or asset class without actually purchasing those securities or investments, or to hedge a position. Through these investments, the Fund is exposed to credit risks that the counterparty may be unwilling or unable to make timely payments to meet its contractual obligations or may fail to return holdings that are subject to the agreement with the counterparty. If the counterparty becomes bankrupt or defaults on its payment obligations to the Fund, the Fund may not receive the full amount that it is entitled to receive. If this occurs, the value of your shares in the Fund will decrease.
Credit RiskThe Fund could lose money if the issuer or guarantor of a fixed-income instrument or a counterparty to a derivatives transaction or other transaction is unable or unwilling, or perceived to be unable or unwilling, to pay interest or repay principal on time or defaults. The issuer, guarantor or counterparty could also suffer a rapid decrease in credit quality rating, which would adversely affect the volatility of the value and liquidity of the instrument.
Derivatives Risk—Derivatives may pose risks in addition to and greater than those associated with investing directly in securities or other investments, including risks relating to leverage, imperfect correlations with underlying investments or the Fund’s other portfolio holdings, high price volatility, lack of availability, counterparty credit, liquidity, valuation and legal restrictions. Their use is a highly specialized activity that involves investment techniques and risks different from those associated with ordinary portfolio securities transactions. The Fund’s use of derivatives to obtain short exposure may result in greater volatility. If the Investment Manager is incorrect about its expectations of market conditions, the use of derivatives could also result in a loss, which in some cases may be unlimited. In addition, the Fund’s use of derivatives may cause the Fund to realize higher amounts of short term capital gains (generally taxed at ordinary income tax rates) than if the Fund had not used such instruments. Some of the derivatives in which the Fund invests are traded (and privately negotiated) in the over-the-counter ("OTC") market. OTC derivatives are subject to heightened credit, liquidity and valuation risks. Certain risks also are specific to the derivatives in which the Fund invests.
Swap Agreements Risk—Swap agreements are contracts among the Fund and a counterparty to exchange the return of the pre-determined underlying investment (such as the rate of return of the underlying index). Swap agreements may be negotiated bilaterally and traded OTC between two parties or, in some instances, must be transacted through a futures commission merchant and cleared through a clearinghouse that serves as a central counterparty. Risks associated with the use of swap agreements are different from those associated with ordinary portfolio securities transactions, due in part to the fact they could be considered illiquid and many swaps trade on the OTC market. Swaps are particularly subject to counterparty credit, correlation, valuation, liquidity and leveraging risks. Certain standardized swaps are subject to mandatory central clearing. Central clearing is intended to reduce counterparty credit risk and increase liquidity, but central clearing does not make swap transactions risk-free.
Futures Contracts Risk—Futures contracts are typically exchange-traded contracts that call for the future delivery of an asset at a certain price and date, or cash settlement of the terms of the contract. Risks of futures contracts may be caused by an imperfect correlation between movements in the price of the instruments and the price of the underlying securities. In addition, there is the risk that the Fund may not be able to enter into a closing transaction because of an illiquid market. Exchanges can limit the number of positions that can be held or controlled by the Fund or its Investment Manager, thus limiting the ability to implement the Fund’s strategies. Futures markets are highly volatile and the use of futures may increase the volatility of the Fund’s NAV. Futures are also subject to leverage risks and to liquidity risk.
Options Risk—Options or options on futures contracts give the holder of the option the right to buy (or to sell) a position in a security or in a contract to the writer of the option, at a certain price. They are subject to correlation risk because there may be an imperfect correlation between the options and the securities markets that cause a given transaction to fail to achieve its objectives. The successful use of options depends on the Investment Manager’s ability to predict correctly future price fluctuations and the degree of correlation between the options and securities markets. Exchanges can limit the number of positions that can be held or controlled by the Fund or its Investment Manager, thus limiting the ability to implement the Fund’s strategies. Options are also particularly subject to leverage risk and can be subject to liquidity risk.
Equity Securities Risk—Equity securities include common stocks and other equity securities (and securities convertible into stocks), and the prices of equity securities fluctuate in value more than other investments. They reflect changes in the issuing company’s financial condition and changes in the overall market. Common stocks generally represent the riskiest investment in a company. The Fund may lose a substantial part, or even all, of its investment in a company’s stock. Growth stocks may be more volatile than value stocks.
Interest Rate Risk—Investments in fixed-income securities are subject to the possibility that interest rates could rise sharply, causing the value of the Fund’s securities and share price to decline. The risks associated with rising interest rates are heightened given the historically low interest rate environment. Fixed-income securities with longer durations are subject to more volatility than those with shorter durations.
Leverage Risk—The Fund’s use of leverage, through borrowings or instruments such as derivatives, may cause the Fund to be more volatile and riskier than if it had not been leveraged.
Liquidity and Valuation Risk—In certain circumstances, it may be difficult for the Fund to purchase and sell particular investments within a reasonable time at a fair price, or the price at which it has been valued by the Investment Manager for purposes of the Fund’s net asset value, causing the Fund to be less liquid and unable to realize what the Investment Manager believes should be the price of the investment.
Management Risk—The Fund is actively managed, which means that investment decisions are made based on investment views. There is no guarantee that the investment views will produce the desired results or expected returns, causing the Fund to fail to meet its investment objective or underperform its benchmark index or funds with similar investment objectives and strategies. Furthermore, active trading that can accompany active management, also called “high turnover,” may have a negative impact on performance. Active trading may result in higher brokerage costs or mark-up charges, which are ultimately passed on to shareholders of the Fund.
Market RiskThe value of, or income generated by, the securities held by the Fund may fluctuate rapidly and unpredictably as a result of factors affecting individual companies or changing economic, political, social or financial market conditions throughout the world because of the interconnected global economies and financial markets.
Regulatory and Legal Risk—U.S. and other regulators and governmental agencies may implement additional regulations and legislators may pass new laws that affect the investments held by the Fund, the strategies used by the Fund or the level of regulation or taxation applying to the Fund (such as regulations related to investments in derivatives). These may impact the investment strategies, performance, costs and operations of the Fund or taxation of shareholders.
Repurchase Agreement and Reverse Repurchase Agreement Risk—In the event of insolvency of the counterparty to a repurchase agreement or reverse repurchase agreement, recovery of the repurchase price owed to the Fund or, in the case of a reverse repurchase agreement, the securities sold by the Fund, may be delayed. Because reverse repurchase agreements may be considered to be the practical equivalent of borrowing funds, they constitute a form of leverage. If the Fund reinvests the proceeds of a reverse repurchase agreement at a rate lower than the cost of the agreement, entering into the agreement will lower the Fund’s yield.
Short Sale and Short Exposure Risk—Short selling a security involves selling a borrowed security with the expectation that the value of that security will decline, so that the security may be purchased at a lower price when returning the borrowed security. A short exposure through a derivative exposes the Fund to counterparty credit risk and leverage risk. The risk for loss on a short sale or other short exposure is greater than a direct investment in the security itself because the price of the borrowed security may rise, thereby increasing the price at which the security must be purchased. The risk of loss through a short sale or other short exposure may in some cases be theoretically unlimited. Government actions also may affect the Fund’s ability to engage in short selling.
PERFORMANCE INFORMATION
The following chart and table provide some indication of the risks of investing in the Fund by showing changes in the Fund’s Class A share performance from year to year and by showing how the Fund’s average annual returns for one, five and ten year and since inception, as applicable, have compared to those of a broad measure of market performance. The information shows how the Fund’s performance compares with the returns of a secondary index consisting of a Morningstar category average consistent with the Fund’s investment strategy. As with all mutual funds, past performance (before and after taxes) is not necessarily an indication of how the Fund will perform in the future. Updated performance information is available on the Fund’s website at www.guggenheiminvestments.com or by calling 800.820.0888.
The bar chart does not reflect the impact of the sales charge applicable to Class A shares which, if reflected, would lower the returns shown.
Important Note: Effective January 28, 2015, significant changes to the Fund’s principal investment strategies and portfolio managers were made. In connection with these changes, the Fund also added a second benchmark, the Morningstar Long/Short Equity Category Average. Please note that the Fund’s performance track record prior to January 28, 2015 related only to the Fund’s former investments, which were materially different from those currently pursued by the Fund and thus is not indicative of the Fund’s future performance.
Bar Chart
Highest Quarter Return
 
Lowest Quarter Return
 
3Q 2010
18.70%
 
4Q 2008
-22.65
 %
AVERAGE ANNUAL TOTAL RETURNS(For the periods ended December 31, 2014)
After-tax returns shown in the table are calculated using the historical highest individual federal marginal income tax rates and do not reflect the impact of any state or local taxes. Actual after-tax returns depend on an investor’s tax situation and may differ from those shown. After-tax returns shown are not relevant to investors who hold their Fund shares through tax-deferred arrangements, such as 401(k) plans or individual retirement accounts ("IRAs"). After-tax returns are shown for Class A only. After-tax returns for Class C and Institutional class will vary.
Average Annual Total Returns - Alpha Opportunity Fund GUGGENHEIM FUNDS TRUST Guggenheim Alpha Opportunity Fund
Label
1 Year
5 Years
10 Years
Inception Date
Class A
Return Before Taxes 4.46% 14.79% 8.65%  
Class A After Taxes on Distributions
Return After Taxes on Distributions 4.45% 14.79% 7.31%  
Class A After Taxes on Distributions and Sales
Return After Taxes on Distributions and Sale of Fund Shares 2.53% 11.93% 6.35%  
Class C
Class C 7.84% 15.27% 8.44%  
Institutional Class
Institutional 9.93% 16.58% 17.27% [1] Nov. 07, 2008
S&P 500 Index
S&P 500 Index (reflects no deductions for fees, expenses or taxes) 13.69% 15.45% 7.67%  
Morningstar Long/Short Equity Category Average
Morningstar Long/Short Equity Category Average (reflects no deductions for fees, expenses or taxes) 2.96% 7.44% 6.06%  
[1] The inception date for the Institutional class is 11/7/2008.