The Fund invests at least 80% of its net assets, plus borrowings for investment purposes (if any), in the securities of the Cboe S&P Technology Select Sector Half BuyWrite Index (the "Underlying Index") or in investments that have economic characteristics that are substantially identical to the economic characteristics of such component securities, either individually or in the aggregate. The Fund's 80% investment policy is non-fundamental and requires 60 days prior written notice to shareholders before it can be changed.
The Underlying Index measures the performance of a partially covered call strategy that holds a theoretical portfolio of the underlying securities of the Information Technology Select Sector Index (the “Reference Index”). The Underlying Index "writes" (or sells) a succession of one-month at-the-money covered call options on the Information Technology Select Sector SPDR® Fund (the “Reference Fund”), or such other fund that seeks to track the performance of the Reference Index, as determined by the Index Provider. The call options correspond to approximately 50% of the value of the securities in the Reference Index, therefore representing a partially covered call strategy. The call options written (sold) by the Fund will be FLexible EXchange (“FLEX”) options. The Fund invests in the securities reflected in the Underlying Index or in investments (including other underlying ETFs) that have economic characteristics that are substantially identical to the economic characteristics of such component securities and cannot invest directly in the Underlying Index itself. The implications of the written (sold) FLEX call options are described in more detail here:
Call Options – When an investor sells a call option, the investor receives a premium in exchange for an obligation to sell shares of a reference asset at a strike price on the expiration date if the buyer of the call option exercises it. If the reference asset closes above the strike price as of the expiration date and the buyer exercises the call option, the investor will have to pay the difference between the value of the reference asset and the strike price. If the reference asset closes below the strike price as of the expiration date, the call option may end up worthless and the investor retains the premium.
FLEX Options – FLEX options are options guaranteed by the Options Clearing Corporation (OCC), that allow investors to customize key contract terms, including expiration date, exercise style, and exercise price, and expanded position limits.
On a monthly basis, the Underlying Index’s hypothetical portfolio will write (sell) a succession of one-month FLEX call options on the Reference Fund corresponding to approximately 50% of the value of the securities in the Reference Index and will cover such options by holding the component securities of the Reference Index. The exercise price of each FLEX call option written is the listed option reference price closest to the Volume Weighted Average Price (“VWAP”) of the Reference Fund from 12:59 p.m. ET to 1:00 p.m. ET on the roll date or, if the Reference Fund does not trade during this period, the last mid-price of the Reference Fund before 1:00 p.m. ET. The roll date is a specified day of each month when the open call options position of the Underlying Index expires, and a new call option position is opened that will expire as of the next roll date. The roll date for the Underlying Index is the business day prior to the standard monthly listed option expiry date, the latter typically being the third Friday of each month. Each option position will (i) be held until one day prior to the expiration date (i.e., generally the Thursday preceding the third Friday of the month) and liquidated at a price determined at 2:00 p.m. ET; (ii) expire on its date of maturity (in the next calendar month); and (iii) only be subject to exercise on its expiration date. Because FLEX options may not trade regularly, the Underlying Index will utilize a model-based valuation for the FLEX options that references the quoted prices for listed options on the Reference Fund.
The Reference Index is a modified market capitalization weighted index containing the securities of the S&P 500 Index that are classified within the information technology sector under the Global Industry Classification System ("GICS"), including securities of companies from the following industries: technology hardware, storage, and peripherals; software; communications equipment; semiconductors and semiconductor equipment; IT services; and electronic equipment, instruments and components. The Reference Index is one of eleven Select Sector Indexes developed and maintained in accordance with the following criteria: (1) each of the component securities in the Reference Index is a constituent of the S&P 500 Index; and (2) the Reference Index is calculated by S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC (“S&P DJI”) based on a proprietary “modified market capitalization” methodology, which means that modifications may be made to the market capitalization weights of single stock concentrations in order to conform to the requirements of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Internal Revenue Code” or “IRC”). As of December 31, 2023, the Reference Index was comprised of 64 holdings.
The Underlying Index is sponsored by S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC (the "Index Provider"), which is an organization that is independent of, and unaffiliated with, the Fund and Global X Management Company LLC, the investment adviser for the Fund ("Adviser"). In addition, any determinations related to the constituents of the Underlying Index are made independent of the Fund's portfolio managers. The Index Provider determines the relative weightings of the securities in the Underlying Index and publishes or designates a third-party index calculation agent to publish information regarding the market value of the Underlying Index.
The Adviser 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 outperform the Underlying Index and does not seek temporary defensive positions when markets decline or appear overvalued. The call options sold by the Fund will be collateralized by the Fund's equity holdings at
the time the Fund sells the options. By selling call options corresponding to approximately 50% of the value of the portfolio of stocks in the Reference Index, the Fund's partially covered call strategy may generate income while allowing for some potential upside exposure to the growth of the underlying constituents of the Reference Index, relative to a 100% covered call strategy. If the price of the Reference Fund is above the strike price of the Fund’s call options positions upon the expiration of the call options, then at expiration the Fund would owe the purchaser of the call option the difference between the strike price and the price of the Reference Fund, so the amount owed with respect to the call option would be expected to offset approximately half of the gains the Fund may experience from the securities held. For example, if the price of the Reference Fund were to increase by 15% from the time the call options were sold to the time the call options expired, then the call options could be expected to have a value equal to approximately 7.5% of the value the portfolio had at the time when the call options were sold, which would offset approximately half of the Fund’s gains from the increase in the Reference Index over the relevant period, as long as the performance of the Reference Fund generally corresponds to the performance of the Reference Index. However, if the price of the Reference Fund is below the strike price of the Fund’s call options positions at expiry, the call options will expire worthless, and the Fund will retain the premium. An investor that purchases Fund shares other than on the day that the Fund writes (sells) monthly call options, or who sells shares other than on the day that the call options expire, may experience different investment returns, depending on the relative difference between the strike price of the Fund’s call options positions, and the price of the Reference Fund.
The Fund generally uses a representative sampling strategy with respect to the Underlying Index. "Representative sampling" is an indexing strategy that involves investing in a representative sample of securities (including indirect investments through underlying ETFs) that collectively has an investment profile similar to the Underlying Index in terms of key risk factors, performance attributes and other characteristics. Underlying ETFs may constitute a substantial portion of the Fund's assets. These include country weightings, market capitalization and other financial characteristics of securities. Under normal circumstances, at least 80% of the Fund's net assets, plus the amount of any borrowings for investment purposes (if any), will be invested in component securities of the Underlying Index or in investments that have economic characteristics that are substantially identical to the economic characteristics of such component securities, either individually or in the aggregate.
The Adviser expects that, over time, the correlation between the Fund's performance and that of the Underlying Index, before fees and expenses, will exceed 95%. A correlation percentage of 100% would indicate perfect correlation.
The Fund concentrates its investments (i.e., holds 25% or more of its total assets) in a particular industry or group of industries to approximately the same extent that the Underlying Index is concentrated. As of December 31, 2023, the Underlying Index was concentrated in the semiconductors and semiconductor equipment and software industries and had significant exposure to the information technology sector. The Fund is classified as “non-diversified,” which means it may invest a larger percentage of its assets in a smaller number of issuers than a diversified fund.