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Critical Facts You Need to Know About Preferred Stocks
Have you ever wished for the safety of bonds, but the return potential...
Name
As of 05/08/2024Price
Aum/Mkt Cap
YIELD
Exp Ratio
Watchlist
YTD Return
N/A
1 yr return
N/A
3 Yr Avg Return
N/A
5 Yr Avg Return
N/A
Net Assets
$2.42 M
Holdings in Top 10
N/A
Expense Ratio 1.24%
Front Load N/A
Deferred Load N/A
Turnover N/A
Redemption Fee N/A
Standard (Taxable)
N/A
IRA
N/A
Fund Type
Exchange Traded Fund
Name
As of 05/08/2024Price
Aum/Mkt Cap
YIELD
Exp Ratio
Watchlist
The Fund is an actively managed exchange-traded fund (“ETF”) that seeks current income while providing direct and/or indirect exposure to the share price (i.e., the price returns) of select U.S. listed securities (each an “Underlying Security” and collectively, the “Underlying Securities”), subject to a limit on potential investment gains. The Fund uses both traditional and synthetic covered call strategies that are designed to produce higher income levels when the Underlying Securities experience more volatility.
The Underlying Securities to which the Fund has primary exposure include U.S.-listed equity securities of operating companies and shares of ETFs. The Fund also has the flexibility to have exposure to other types of U.S. listed exchange-traded products (e.g., closed-end funds and commodity pools).
The Fund’s investment sub-adviser, ZEGA Financial, LLC (“ZEGA”) selects the Underlying Securities by analyzing, among other things, the levels of implied volatility (a measure of the market's expectation for future price fluctuations) of the Underlying Security’s listed options prices. Implied volatility is integral to the Fund's strategy, as it indicates the expected price fluctuations of a security, guiding ZEGA's selection of suitable Underlying Securities. Higher implied volatility typically correlates with increased options premiums, aligning with the Fund’s aim of generating income from its portfolio of covered call strategies. ZEGA also analyzes significant upcoming events related to, where applicable, the issuers of the Underlying Securities (e.g., earnings releases), as well as the trading volumes of such securities and their related options contracts. The Fund is generally unconstrained and therefore, the Underlying Securities can be of any market capitalization size and represent any industry sector.
ZEGA selects Underlying Securities based on a frequent and quantitative screening process. This method evaluates various factors such as the implied volatility of the Underlying Security and the trading volume and liquidity of both the Underlying Security and options on the Underlying Security. Furthermore, ZEGA’s screening process also identifies the industry sectors of potential Underlying Securities (as described more below).
The Fund’s allocation to particular Underlying Securities is primarily driven by implied volatility levels. ZEGA strategically identifies Underlying Securities in periods of likely higher volatility (e.g., ahead of significant events, like earnings releases). ZEGA will typically select between fifteen and thirty Underlying Securities on which the Fund will implement its covered call strategies. However, when ZEGA deems it appropriate, it may choose as few as five Underlying Securities on which to implement the covered call strategies. The Fund will hold short-term U.S. Treasury securities and trade, exercise, and let expire, options contracts in accordance with ZEGA’s strategic asset allocation requirements.
To seek to lower risk and enhance returns, where possible, the Fund’s portfolio of Underlying Securities will invest across various sectors and industries, reducing the impact of sector-specific events. While the Fund intends to have exposure to multiple sectors, it may invest in Underlying Securities attributable to a particular sector in amounts greater than 25% of the Fund’s total assets when ZEGA’s selection process indicates that such sector exposure would be appropriate for the Fund. The Fund does not have a pre-conceived intention to invest in any particular sector. The Fund will not invest more than 25% of its net assets in any particular “industry” as that term is used in the 1940 Act.
The Fund will likely engage in active and frequent trading of Underlying Securities and their options. The frequency with which the Fund buys and sells Underlying Securities will vary, depending on market conditions. The Fund will conduct regular reviews of its portfolio holdings, at least once a month, to determine whether one or more of its covered call strategies should be increased, decreased, or eliminated and whether any such strategy should be implemented on any new Underlying Securities. It is expected that most of the Fund’s covered call strategies will be held for less than one year, and therefore, gains, if any, are likely to be subject to short-term capital gains taxes.
The Fund intends to maintain its covered call strategies through the use of options contracts. As the options contracts it holds are traded, exercised or expire, it may enter into new options contracts, a practice referred to as “rolling.” The Fund’s practice of rolling options may result in high portfolio turnover.
Covered Call Strategies
The Fund uses covered call strategies to provide income and direct and/or indirect exposure to the share price returns of the Underlying Securities, subject to a limit on potential investment gains as a result of the nature of the covered call strategies it employs. The Fund engages in both traditional covered call strategies and synthetic covered call strategies. This dual approach provides flexibility in income generation and exposure to the share price returns of the Underlying Securities. The specific percentage of the Fund's portfolio consisting of owning securities outright is not predefined. This allocation varies based on ZEGA's strategic decisions, market conditions, and the cost-effectiveness of direct holdings versus synthetic positions.
The Fund seeks to generate income from its direct holdings primarily through traditional covered call strategies. This involves holding a long position in each of the Underlying Securities and writing (selling) call options on each. The income is derived from the premiums received for selling these call options, providing a source of current income while also allowing participation (subject to a cap) in the share price gains, if any, of the Underlying Securities.
Long Positions. Each of the Fund’s covered call strategies is predicated on holding a long position in an Underlying Security. The Fund may achieve such long position in one of two ways:
1. | Directly, through the outright purchase of the Underlying Security; or |
2. | Indirectly, via a “synthetic approach” that simultaneously writes (sells) at-the-money put option contracts and buys at-the-money call option contracts on the Underlying Security. |
Options Positions. The Fund’s options contracts provide:
● | indirect exposure to the share price returns of each Underlying Security (other than those Underlying Securities in which the Fund purchases outright or directly), |
● | current income from the option premiums, and |
● | a limit on the Fund’s participation in gains, if any, of the share price returns of each Underlying Security. |
For more information, see sections “The Fund’s Use of Underlying Security Option Contracts” and “Covered Call Strategies” below.
Why invest in the Fund?
● | The Fund seeks to participate in a portion of the gains experienced by each Underlying Security. |
● | The Fund seeks to generate monthly income, which is not dependent on the price appreciation of the Underlying Securities. |
That is, although the Fund may not fully participate in gains in the Underlying Securities’ share prices, the Fund’s portfolio is designed to generate income.
An Investment in the Fund is subject to the following:
● | The Fund’s investment strategy (i.e., a portfolio of covered call strategies) will cap its potential gains with respect to its Underlying Securities if their share prices increase in value beyond a certain point. |
● | The Fund’s investment strategy is subject to all potential losses attributable to each Underlying Security’s shares, which may not be offset by income received by the Fund. |
The Fund’s covered call strategies consist of the following three elements, each of which is described in greater detail below:
● | Direct long holding of an Underlying Security or synthetic long exposure to an Underlying Security, which allows the Fund to seek to participate in the changes, up or down, in the price of each Underlying Security. |
● | Covered call writing (where each Underlying Security’s call options are sold against the long position in the Underlying Security), which allows the Fund to generate income. |
● | U.S. Treasuries (when deploying the synthetic approach to the long exposure), which are used for collateral for the options, and which also generate income. |
1. | Long Exposure |
● | Direct: The Fund may hold the Underlying Securities when ZEGA determines a direct hold is more cost-effective. |
● | Synthetic: To achieve a synthetic long exposure to an Underlying Security, the Fund will buy that Underlying Security’s call options and, simultaneously, sell that Underlying Security’s put options to try to replicate the price movements of owning or being long that Underlying Security. The call options purchased by the Fund and the put options sold by the Fund will generally have one-month to six-month terms and strike prices that are approximately equal to the then-current share price of the relevant Underlying Security at the time the options contracts are purchased and sold, respectively. The combination of the long call options and sold put options provides the Fund with investment exposure equal to approximately 100% of the relevant Underlying Securities for the duration of the applicable options exposure. |
2. | Covered Call Writing |
As part of its investment strategy, the Fund will write (sell) call option contracts on each Underlying Security to generate income. Since the Fund does not always directly own each Underlying Security, these written call options may be sold short (i.e., selling a position it does not currently own). The Fund will seek to participate in the share price appreciation of each Underlying Security, if any. However, due to the nature of covered call strategies, the Fund’s participation may be subject to a cap (as described below). In this strategy, the call options written (sold) by the Fund will generally have an expiration of one month or less (the “Call Period”) and generally have a strike price that is approximately 0%-15% above the then-current share price of the corresponding Underlying Security.
The sale of the Underlying Security call option contracts will limit the Fund’s participation in the appreciation of that Underlying Security’s share price. If the share price of an Underlying Security increases, the above-referenced long exposure alone would allow the Fund to experience similar percentage gains. However, if an Underlying Security’s share price appreciates beyond the strike price of one or more of the sold (short) call option contracts, the Fund will lose money on those short call positions, and the losses will, in turn, limit the upside return of the Fund’s long exposure. As a result, the Fund’s investment strategy (i.e., the combination of the long exposure to an Underlying Security and the sold (short) Underlying Security call positions) will limit the Fund’s participation in gains in the share price of the relevant Underlying Securities beyond a certain point.
3. | U.S. Treasuries |
The Fund will hold short-term U.S. Treasury securities as collateral in connection with the Fund’s synthetic covered call strategies.
The Fund’s Use of Underlying Security Option Contracts
As part of the Fund’s covered call strategies on each Underlying Security, the Fund will purchase and sell a combination of standardized exchange-traded and FLexible EXchange® (“FLEX”) call and put option contracts that are based on the value of the price returns of each Underlying Security.
Covered Call Strategies
The Fund will primarily use synthetic covered call strategies (as described below). In addition, when ZEGA determines it to be more cost-effective, the Fund may directly hold the Underlying Securities.
In seeking to achieve its investment objective, the Fund will implement “synthetic covered call” strategies using the standardized exchange-traded and FLEX options described above.
● | A traditional covered call strategy is an investment strategy where an investor (the Fund) sells a call option on an underlying security it owns. |
● | A synthetic covered call strategy is similar to a traditional covered call strategy in that the investor (the Fund) sells a call option that is based on the value of the underlying security. However, in a synthetic covered call strategy, the investor (the Fund) does not own the underlying security, but rather seeks to synthetically replicate 100% of the price movements of the underlying security through the use of various investment instruments. |
The Fund holds a mix of direct long holdings of Underlying Securities and options contracts on Underlying Securities (considered indirect or synthetic long holdings of the Underlying Securities) to gain exposure to the share price performance of the Underlying Securities. The allocation between direct and indirect long holdings varies based on strategic decisions and market conditions as assessed by ZEGA. As the options contracts it holds are traded, exercised or expire, it may enter into new options contracts, a practice referred to as “rolling.” The Fund’s practice of rolling options may result in high portfolio turnover.
Fund’s Monthly Distributions
The Fund will seek to provide monthly income in the form of cash distributions. The Fund will seek to generate such income in the following ways:
● | Writing (selling) call option contracts on the Underlying Securities as described above. The income comes mainly from the option premiums received from these option sales. In this context, a premium refers to the price the buyer pays to the seller (the Fund) for the rights granted by the option. The amount of these premiums is largely affected by the fluctuations in the share prices of the Underlying Securities. However, other elements like interest rates can also influence the income level. |
● | Investing in short-term U.S. Treasury securities. The income generated by these securities will be influenced by interest rates at the time of investment. |
● | Dividends, if any, received from its direct investments in the Underlying Securities. |
Fund Portfolio
The Fund’s principal holdings are described below:
1. | Long Exposure |
DIRECT | ||
Purchase Underlying Securities | ||
SYNTHETIC | ||
Portfolio Holdings (The options’ values are based on the share price of the related Underlying Security) | Investment Terms | Expected Target Maturity |
Purchased call option contracts | “at-the-money” (i.e., the strike price is equal to the then-current share price of an Underlying Security at the time of purchase) to provide indirect exposure to positive price returns of the Underlying Security. If the share price of an Underlying Security increases, these options will generate corresponding increases to the Fund. | 1-month to 6-month expiration dates |
Sold put option contracts | “at-the-money” (i.e., the strike price is equal to the then-current share price of an Underlying Security at the time of sale). They are sold to help pay for the purchased call options described above. However, the sold put option contracts provide exposure to the full extent of any share price losses experienced by the Underlying Security. | 1-month to 6-month expiration dates |
2. | Covered Call Writing |
Portfolio Holdings (The options’ values are based on the share price of the related Underlying Security) | Investment Terms | Expected Target Maturity |
Sold (short) call option contracts | The strike price is approximately 0%-15% more than the then-current share price of the Underlying Security at the time of sale. They generate current income. However, they also limit some potential positive returns that the Fund may have otherwise experienced. | 1-month or less expiration dates |
3. | U.S. Treasuries. |
Portfolio Holdings) | Investment Terms | Expected Target Maturity |
U.S Treasury Securities and Cash | Multiple series of U.S. Treasury Bills supported by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government. These instruments are used as collateral for the Fund’s derivative investments. They will also generate income. | 6-month to 2-year maturities |
In terms of notional value, the combination of the Fund’s direct investments and these financial instruments provides investment exposure to the Underlying Securities equal to at least 100% of the Fund’s total assets.
The Fund is classified as “non-diversified” under the 1940 Act.
The Fund will employ its investment strategy regardless of whether there are periods of adverse market, economic, or other conditions and will not take temporary defensive positions during such periods.
There is no guarantee that the Fund’s investment strategy will be properly implemented, and an investor may lose some or all of its investment.
Period | ULTY Return | Category Return Low | Category Return High | Rank in Category (%) |
---|---|---|---|---|
YTD | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
1 Yr | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
3 Yr | N/A* | N/A | N/A | N/A |
5 Yr | N/A* | N/A | N/A | N/A |
10 Yr | N/A* | N/A | N/A | N/A |
* Annualized
Period | ULTY Return | Category Return Low | Category Return High | Rank in Category (%) |
---|---|---|---|---|
2023 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
2022 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
2021 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
2020 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
2019 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
Period | ULTY Return | Category Return Low | Category Return High | Rank in Category (%) |
---|---|---|---|---|
YTD | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
1 Yr | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
3 Yr | N/A* | N/A | N/A | N/A |
5 Yr | N/A* | N/A | N/A | N/A |
10 Yr | N/A* | N/A | N/A | N/A |
* Annualized
Period | ULTY Return | Category Return Low | Category Return High | Rank in Category (%) |
---|---|---|---|---|
2023 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
2022 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
2021 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
2020 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
2019 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
ULTY | Category Low | Category High | ULTY % Rank | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Net Assets | 2.42 M | N/A | N/A | N/A |
Number of Holdings | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
Net Assets in Top 10 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
Weighting of Top 10 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
Weighting | Return Low | Return High | ULTY % Rank | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Stocks | 0.00% | N/A | N/A | N/A |
Preferred Stocks | 0.00% | N/A | N/A | N/A |
Other | 0.00% | N/A | N/A | N/A |
Convertible Bonds | 0.00% | N/A | N/A | N/A |
Cash | 0.00% | N/A | N/A | N/A |
Bonds | 0.00% | N/A | N/A | N/A |
ULTY Fees (% of AUM) | Category Return Low | Category Return High | Rank in Category (%) | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Expense Ratio | 1.24% | N/A | N/A | N/A |
Management Fee | 1.24% | N/A | N/A | N/A |
12b-1 Fee | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
Administrative Fee | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
ULTY Fees (% of AUM) | Category Return Low | Category Return High | Rank in Category (%) | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Front Load | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
Deferred Load | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
ULTY Fees (% of AUM) | Category Return Low | Category Return High | Rank in Category (%) | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Max Redemption Fee | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
Turnover provides investors a proxy for the trading fees incurred by mutual fund managers who frequently adjust position allocations. Higher turnover means higher trading fees.
ULTY Fees (% of AUM) | Category Return Low | Category Return High | Rank in Category (%) | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Turnover | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
ULTY | Category Low | Category High | ULTY % Rank | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Dividend Yield | 108.80% | N/A | N/A | N/A |
ULTY | Category Low | Category High | Category Mod | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Dividend Distribution Frequency | Monthly |
ULTY | Category Low | Category High | ULTY % Rank | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Net Income Ratio | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
ULTY | Category Low | Category High | Capital Mode | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Capital Gain Distribution Frequency |
Date | Amount | Type |
---|---|---|
Apr 17, 2024 | $1.417 | OrdinaryDividend |
Mar 14, 2024 | $1.065 | OrdinaryDividend |
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