The Fund is an actively managed exchange-traded fund (“ETF”) whose investment objective is to provide capital appreciation with low price volatility. The Adviser considers ‘low price volatility’ to mean stable returns. The Fund seeks to achieve its objective principally by utilizing defined risk options to generate an absolute return while maintaining a short duration between zero and one year. Defined risk options are options for which the maximum loss for any option during each expiry period is no more than the premium invested to enter the option position. The Fund will not use leverage and does not engage in selling unhedged (“naked”) options.
The Fund will invest in long calls, long puts, and debit spread options. The allocation between various strategies will be based on an assessment by the portfolio managers of the attractiveness of either strategy given current economic and market conditions and the existing holdings of the Fund. In any scenario, long calls will always be paired with long puts and for the vertical debit spreads, long vertical debit call spreads will be paired with long vertical debit put spreads. The primary factors informing the Adviser’s assessment will be price, duration, liquidity, and risk of a position and its impact on the Fund’s overall portfolio. The Adviser believes the Fund’s options trading strategy will contribute to the Fund’s objective of capital
appreciation when the value of the underlying asset declines (in the case of put options or vertical debit put spreads) or rises (in the case of call options or vertical debit call spreads). The Adviser expects the option strategies to contribute to low price volatility because a call option and a put option position will always be paired together, for both the long call and long put strategy and the vertical debit spread strategy, and the price movements in the options often move inverse to each other, creating lower Fund-level volatility.
To implement these strategies the Fund will purchase and sell option contracts including exchange-listed options, over-the-counter options (“OTC Options”) or FLexible EXchange® Options (“FLEX Options”) or a combination. FLEX Options are customizable exchange-traded option contracts guaranteed for settlement by the Options Clearing Corporation (“OCC”). Options held by the Fund will include options on domestic equity securities of any market capitalization, options on ETFs that primarily invest in domestic equity securities of any market capitalization, individual equity securities of any market capitalization, and options on equity indices of any market capitalization. The Fund may also hold direct investments in the assets underlying the options as part of the redemption process with authorized participants. The minimum expiry date of an option is zero days and the maximum expiry date is one year.
Call Options. Purchasing a call option gives the Fund the right to purchase shares of the reference asset at a specified price (“strike price”) until a specified date (“expiration date”) (“American-style options”) or at the expiration date (“European-style options”). The buyer of the call option pays an amount (“Premium”) for buying the option. In the event the reference asset appreciates above the strike price, the Fund can exercise the option and receive the reference asset (for physically settled options)or receive the difference between the value of the reference asset and the strike price (for cash settled options). In the event the reference asset closes below the strike price, the call option may end up worthless. In such a case, the Fund’s loss at the time of the option’s expiration is limited to the amount of Premium it paid.
Put Options. Purchasing a put option gives the Fund the right to sell shares of a reference asset at a strike price until the expiration date (“American-style options”) or at the expiration date (“European-style options”). The buyer of the put option pays an amount (“Premium”) for buying the option. In the event the reference asset declines in value below the strike price and the Fund exercises its put option, the Fund will be entitled to sell the reference asset at the strike price by delivering the reference asset (for physically settled options) or receive the difference between the strike price and the value of the reference asset (for cash settled options). In the event the reference asset closes above the strike price as of the expiration date, the put option may end up worthless and the Fund’s loss at the time of the option’s expiration is limited to the amount of Premium it paid.
For the long call and long put strategy, the maximum gain on a long call position is, in theory, infinite and the maximum gain on a long put option is 100% of the Fund’s portfolio.
Illustration of the Fund’s Long Call and Long Put Strategy
This position involves buying a long call and long put. The illustration results in a net purchase price of $19. If the underlying security expires between $90 to $110, the strategy will pay the Fund $20, resulting in a net $1 gain or a 5% net return. If the underlying security expires outside of $90 to $110, the Fund will realize more than $20.
Vertical Debit Spread. A vertical debit spread is an option trading strategy whereby the Fund sells one option and simultaneously purchases another of the same type (either both puts or both calls), but with different strike prices while having the same expiration date. A debit spread leads to an initial expense (net debit) for the Fund because it buys an option at a higher premium and sells another option at a lower premium on the same reference asset. Here, the option bought is nearer to the market price or more in the money (“closer to the money”), while the option sold is more distant from the market price or more out of the money. The debit spreads may be comprised of put spreads and/or call spreads. The Fund’s maximum profit is the difference between the strike prices minus the initial debit. In contrast, the Fund’s maximum loss at the time of the option’s expiration is confined to the initial net debit paid.
In determining whether to employ the vertical debit spread strategy, the Fund’s portfolio managers will assess the pricing of the vertical debit spread compared to the pricing of long calls and long puts. When the vertical debit spread’s price, which is influenced by its duration and strike prices, is more attractive than those of available call and put options, the Adviser will utilize the vertical debit spread strategy, after taking into account other risks at the time.
Illustration of the Fund’s Vertical Debit Spread Strategy
This position involves buying a long call spread and long put spread. The illustration results in a net purchase price of $19. Regardless of the price of the underlying security at expiry, the strategy will pay the Fund $20, resulting in a net $1 gain or a 5% net return.
While the maximum loss on any individual option position is the total premium paid, the Adviser anticipates the maximum loss potential to be limited if a position is held through maturity as the Adviser will pair a put strategy with a call strategy with the same expiry. While one side of the strategy may expire out of the money, therefore losing its entire premium, the other position moves inversely and would therefore expire in the money.
In selecting options for the Fund, the Adviser will consider the return potential of an option relative to its purchase price, duration, liquidity and risks. The Adviser analyzes data from widely used options pricing sources, such as, but not limited to, Bloomberg, CBOE, and ICE, to inform buy and sell decisions. The Fund intends to only utilize European-style options. Typically, the Fund will hold an option until its expiration date, at which point the gains will be reinvested in other investments with the aim of enhancing the Fund’s return.
Although the Fund invests primarily in options, the Fund may also hold cash and cash equivalents, such as money market funds, to provide liquidity and to hold uninvested cash. The Adviser will select investments based on a number of factors, including, but not limited to, the liquidity of the security, the duration of the investment, the price of the security relative to other available investment options, the underlying reference asset, and overall composition of the Fund’s portfolio. The Fund may engage in active and frequent trading. Frequent trading results in increased transaction costs, which can lower the actual return on your investment.
The Adviser has engaged Exchange Traded Concepts, LLC (“ETC” or the “Sub-Adviser”) as sub-adviser to provide trading services as well as proxy voting and other non-portfolio management services to the Fund.