11/22/2024 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 11/22/2024 13:07
Simplify Gold Strategy PLUS Income ETF
YGLD
a series of Simplify Exchange Traded Funds
SUMMARY PROSPECTUS
November 22, 2024
Advised by: Simplify Asset Management Inc. 10845 Griffith Peak Drive 2/F Las Vegas, NV 89135 |
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www.simplify.us/etfs | phone: 1 (855) 772-8488 |
Before you invest, you may want to review the Fund's prospectus, which contains more information about the Fund and its risks. The Fund's prospectus and statement of additional information dated November 22, 2024, are incorporated by reference into this summary prospectus. You can obtain these documents and other information about the Fund online at www.simplify.us/etfs or by calling 1-855-772-8488.
These securities have not been approved or disapproved by the Securities and Exchange Commission or Commodity Futures Trading Commission nor has the Securities and Exchange Commission or Commodity Futures Trading Commission passed upon the accuracy or adequacy of this Prospectus. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal offense.
Shares of the Fund are listed and traded on the NYSE Arca, Inc.
FUND SUMMARY - SIMPLIFY GOLD STRATEGY PLUS INCOME ETF
Investment Objective: The Simplify Gold Strategy PLUS Income ETF (the "Fund" or "YGLD") seeks capital gains and income.
Fees and Expenses of the Fund: This table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy, hold, and sell shares of the Fund. You may pay other fees, such as brokerage commissions and other fees to financial intermediaries, which are not reflected in the table or example below.
Annual Fund Operating Expenses (expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment) |
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Management Fees | 0.50% |
Distribution and Service (12b-1) Fees | 0.00% |
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses | 0.50% |
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 your actual costs may be higher or lower, based upon these assumptions your costs would be:
1 Year | 3 Years |
$51 | $160 |
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. The Fund is a new fund and has no portfolio turnover information as of the date of this Prospectus.
Principal Investment Strategies:
The Fund is an actively managed ETF. The adviser seeks to fulfill the Fund's investment objective by using two strategies: (1) a gold futures strategy, and (2) an income generating option strategy.
Gold Futures Strategy
The adviser seeks capital gains through a gold futures strategy. The Fund is deemed to be concentrated because it holds the economic equivalent of more than 25% of its net assets in gold futures contracts.
Under normal market conditions, at the start of each quarter, the adviser selects gold futures so that the total value of economic gold exposure is up to approximately 150% of the net assets of the Fund. The adviser expects to rebalance this exposure quarterly. Consequently, as the price of gold future rises or falls, the Fund's exposure could be higher or lower than 150% during a quarter. However, the adviser will rebalance more frequently, if needed, to comply with the Investment Company Act of 1940 and its regulations related to derivatives. Gold futures are intended to track, although not lockstep, the price of gold. The Fund invests in standardized gold futures contracts traded on commodity exchanges registered with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, such as the Commodity Exchange Inc. (commonly known as COMEX), which is a part of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange Group. The value of gold futures is determined by reference to 100 troy ounces of gold subject to an assay minimum of 995 fineness (i.e. 99.5% pure). The adviser invests primarily in front-month gold futures. Front-month gold futures contracts are those contracts with the shortest time to maturity. The adviser will roll futures contracts prior to their expiration into a contract with a longer maturity, although this does not produce rebalancing.
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Income Generating Option Strategy
To generate income, the Fund employs an exchange traded and over-the-counter ("OTC") option spread writing strategy on equity, fixed income, and currency ETFs. The adviser focuses on index-based domestically-traded ETFs, for example, such as those linked to the S&P 500® Index or the Bloomberg US Aggregate Bond Index. The adviser selects equity ETFs holding stocks of any market capitalization and fixed income ETFs holding securities of any maturity or credit quality. A call option gives the owner the right, but not the obligation, to buy an ETF at a specified price (strike price) within a specific time period. A put option gives the owner the right, but not the obligation, to sell an ETF at a specified price (strike price) within a specific time period. By selling put and call options, in a spread writing strategy, in return for the receipt of premiums (the purchase price of an option), the adviser attempts to increase Fund income as the passage of time decreases the value of the written option leg of the spread. Gains from written option premiums are capital gains, but commonly referred to as income. The option writing strategy is a form of leveraged investing. The adviser focuses on writing short-term options with less than one-month to maturity because their value erodes faster than long-term options.
Call Spread Sub-Strategy
When the adviser believes an ETF's price will decrease, remain unchanged, or only increase slightly it employs a call spread strategy. In a call option spread, the Fund sells (writes) an out of the money (above current market price) call option while also purchasing a further out of the money call option.
Put Spread Sub-Strategy
When the adviser believes an ETF's price will increase, remain unchanged, or only decrease slightly it employs a put spread strategy. In a put option spread, the Fund sells (writes) an out of the money (below current market price) put option while also purchasing a further out of the money put option.
The adviser expects the written options to expire worthless, but purchases lower-cost further out of the money options to insulate the Fund from large losses if the written options increase in value. The adviser expects options to be held to expiration, but may adjust positions following a large (over 10%) price swing in an option's reference ETF. The Fund limits net economic exposure at the time of investment to any one over-the-counter counterparty to 25% of Fund net assets.
When writing options or using gold futures, the Fund is required to post collateral to assure its performance. The Fund will hold cash and cash-like instruments or high-quality short term fixed income securities (collectively, "Collateral"). The Collateral may consist of (1) U.S. Government securities, such as bills, notes and bonds issued by the U.S. Treasury; (2) money market funds; (3) fixed income ETFs; and/or (4) corporate debt securities, such as commercial paper and other short-term unsecured promissory notes issued by companies that are rated investment grade or of comparable quality. The adviser considers an unrated security to be of comparable quality to a security rated investment grade if it believes it has a similar low risk of default. The majority of the Fund's securities portfolio will consist of Collateral and approximately up to 25% will consist of the purchased leg of options related to the option spread strategy.
The Fund expects to gain exposure to gold futures and certain options markets by investing up to 25% of its assets in a wholly owned subsidiary of the Fund organized under the laws of the Cayman Islands (the "Subsidiary"). The Subsidiary is advised by the Fund's investment adviser. Unlike the Fund, the Subsidiary is not an investment company registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the "1940 Act") and is not subject to all of the investor protections of the 1940 Act. The Fund's investment in the Subsidiary is intended to provide the Fund with exposure to gold futures and certain options markets in accordance with applicable rules and regulations.
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The Fund, by investing in the Subsidiary when viewed together with the Fund, will operate as though it is subject to the protections offered to investors in registered investment companies with respect to Sections 8 and 18 of the 1940 Act (regarding investment policies, capital structure and leverage), Section 15 of the 1940 Act (regarding investment advisory contracts) and Section 17 of the 1940 Act (regarding affiliated transactions and custody). The Fund wholly owns and controls the Subsidiary, and the Fund and Subsidiary are both managed by the adviser, making it unlikely that the Subsidiary will take action contrary to the interests of the Fund or its shareholders. The Fund's Board has oversight responsibility for the investment activities of the Fund, including its investment in the Subsidiary, and the Fund's role as the sole shareholder of the Subsidiary. Also, the Adviser in managing the Subsidiary's investment portfolio, is subject to the same investment restrictions and operational guidelines that apply to the management of the Fund, when viewed on a consolidated basis.
The Fund is a "commodity pool" under the U.S. Commodity Exchange Act ("CEA"), and the Adviser is a "commodity pool operator" registered with and regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission ("CFTC"). As a result, additional CFTC-mandated disclosure, reporting and recordkeeping obligations apply with respect to the Fund under CFTC and Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") harmonized regulations. The Fund is classified as a "non-diversified" investment company under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, which means that the Fund may invest a higher percentage of its assets in a fewer number of issuers than is permissible for a "diversified" Fund.
Principal Investment Risks: As with all funds, there is the risk that you could lose money through your investment in the Fund. Many factors affect the Fund's net asset value and price of shares and performance. The following describes the risks the Fund bears with respect to its investments. As with any fund, there is no guarantee that the Fund will achieve its goal.
Gold Risk. The price of gold may be volatile and gold futures contracts may be highly sensitive to the price of gold. The price of gold can be significantly affected by international monetary and political developments such as currency devaluation or revaluation, central bank movements, economic and social conditions within a country, transactional or trade imbalances, or trade or currency restrictions between countries. Gold prices may be influenced by the fact that physical gold has sales commission, storage, insurance, and auditing expenses, which may tend to reduce trading and liquidity.
Gold Futures Risk. The Fund's use of gold futures involves risks different from, or possibly greater than, the risks associated with investing directly in securities and other traditional investments. Investments in futures involve leverage, which means a small percentage of assets invested in futures can have a disproportionately large impact on the Fund. This risk could cause the Fund to lose more than the principal amount invested. Futures contracts may become mispriced or improperly valued when compared to the adviser's expectation and may not produce the desired investment results. Additionally, changes in the value of futures contracts may not track or correlate perfectly with the underlying gold bullion due to factors such as temporary, or even long-term, supply and demand imbalances, speculation, or other pressures on the market. Futures exchanges may impose daily or intra-day price change limits and/or limit the volume of trading.
Derivatives Risk. Options and gold futures are derivative investments. The use of derivative instruments involves risks different from, or possibly greater than, the risks associated with investing directly in securities and other traditional investments. These risks include (i) the risk that the counterparty to a derivative transaction may not fulfil its contractual obligations; (ii) risk of mispricing or improper valuation; and (iii) the risk that changes in the value of the derivative may not correlate perfectly with the underlying asset, rate or index. Derivative prices are highly volatile and may fluctuate substantially during a short period of time. Such prices are influenced by numerous factors that affect the markets, including, but not limited to: changing supply and demand relationships; government programs and policies; national and international political and economic events, changes in interest rates, inflation and deflation and changes in supply and demand relationships. Trading derivative instruments involves risks different from, or possibly greater than, the risks associated with investing directly in securities.
Options Risk. As the buyer of a put or call option, the Fund risks losing the entire premium invested in the option if the Fund does not exercise the option. Spread writing exposes the Fund to losses up to the amount between strike prices of the purchased option and the written option. To the extent not offset by the purchased leg of an option spread, an increase in the price of the written leg will produce a corresponding loss to the Fund.
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Active Management Risk. The Fund is subject to the risk that its investment management strategy may not produce the intended results and may negatively impact Fund performance.
Cash or Cash Equivalents Risk. At any time, the Fund may have significant investments in cash or cash equivalents. When a substantial portion of a portfolio is held in cash or cash equivalents, there is the risk that the value of the cash account, including interest, will not keep pace with inflation, thus reducing purchasing power over time. Additionally, in rising markets, holding cash or cash equivalents may adversely affect the Fund's performance and the Fund may not achieve its investment objective.
Concentration Risk. The Fund's net asset value may fluctuate more than that of a fund that does not concentrate in gold futures.
Currency Risk. Changes in currency exchange rates and the relative value of currencies will affect the value of the Fund's currency-linked option investments and the value of Fund shares. Currency exchange rates can be very volatile and can change quickly and unpredictably. As a result, the value of an investment in the Fund may change quickly and without warning and your investment in the Fund may experience losses.
Counterparty Risk. Counterparty risk is the risk that a counterparty to a financial instrument held by the Fund may become insolvent or otherwise fail to perform its obligations, and the Fund may obtain no or limited recovery of its investment, and any recovery may be significantly delayed.
Equity Securities Risk. The net asset value of the Fund will fluctuate based on changes in the value of the options on equity securities held by the Fund. Equity prices can fall rapidly in response to developments affecting a specific company or industry, or to changing economic, political or market conditions.
Early Close/Trading Halt Risk. An exchange or market may close or issue trading halts on specific securities, or the ability to buy or sell certain securities or financial instruments may be restricted, which may prevent the Fund from buying or selling certain securities or financial instruments. In these circumstances, the Fund may be unable to rebalance its portfolio, may be unable to accurately price its investments and may incur substantial trading losses.
ETF Structure Risk. The Fund is structured as an ETF. As a result, the Fund is subject to the special risks, including:
● | Not Individually Redeemable. The Fund's shares ("Shares") are not redeemable by retail investors and may be redeemed only by Authorized Participants at net asset value ("NAV") and only in Creation Units. A retail investor generally incurs brokerage costs when selling shares. |
● | Trading Issues. Trading in Shares on NYSE Arca, Inc. (the "Exchange") may be halted due to market conditions or for reasons that, in the view of the Exchange, make trading in Shares inadvisable, such as extraordinary market volatility. There can be no assurance that Shares will continue to meet the listing requirements of the Exchange which may result in the Shares being delisted. An active trading market for the Shares may not be developed or maintained. If the Shares are traded outside a collateralized settlement system, the number of financial institutions that can act as Authorized Participants that can post collateral on an agency basis is limited, which may limit the market for the Shares. |
● | Market Price Variance Risk. The market prices of Shares will fluctuate in response to changes in NAV and supply and demand for Shares and will include a "bid-ask spread" charged by the exchange specialists, market makers or other participants that trade the Shares. There may be times when the market price and the NAV vary significantly. This means that Shares may trade at a discount to NAV. |
○ | In times of market stress, market makers may step away from their role market making in the Shares and in executing trades, which can lead to differences between the market value of the Shares and the Fund's NAV. |
○ | The market price of the Shares may deviate from the Fund's NAV, particularly during times of market stress, with the result that investors may pay significantly more or significantly less the Shares than the Fund's NAV, which is reflected in the bid and ask price for the Shares or in the closing price. |
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○ | In stressed market conditions, the market for the Shares may become less liquid in response to the deteriorating liquidity of the Fund's portfolio. This adverse effect on the liquidity of the Shares may, in turn, lead to differences between the market value of the Shares and the Fund's NAV. |
● | Authorized Participant Risk. Only an Authorized Participant may engage in creation or redemption transactions directly with the Fund. The Fund has a limited number of institutions that may act as an Authorized Participant on an agency basis (i.e., on behalf of other market participants). To the extent that Authorized Participants exit the business or are unable to proceed with creation or redemption orders with respect to the Fund and no other Authorized Participant is able to step forward to create or redeem Creation Units, Fund shares may be more likely to trade at a premium or discount to net asset value and possibly face trading halts or delisting. Authorized Participant concentration risk may be heightened for securities or instruments that have lower trading volumes. |
Fixed Income Securities Risk. When the Fund invests in fixed income securities, the value of your investment in the Fund will fluctuate with changes in interest rates. Typically, a rise in interest rates causes a decline in the value of fixed income securities. In general, the market price of fixed income securities with longer maturities will increase or decrease more in response to changes in interest rates than shorter-term securities. Other risk factors include credit risk (the debtor may default), extension risk (an issuer may exercise its right to repay principal on a fixed rate obligation held by the Fund later than expected), and prepayment risk (the debtor may pay its obligation early, reducing the amount of interest payments). These risks could affect the value of a particular investment by the Fund, possibly causing the Fund's share price and total return to be reduced and fluctuate more than other types of investments.
Leverage Risk. The use of leverage by the Fund, such as through the use of options, will cause the Fund to incur additional expenses and magnify the Fund's gains or losses.
Limited History Risk. The Fund is a new ETF and has a limited history of operations for investors to evaluate.
Market and Geopolitical Risk. The increasing interconnectivity between global economies and financial markets increases the likelihood that events or conditions in one region or financial market may adversely impact issuers in a different country, region or financial market. Securities in the Fund's portfolio may underperform due to inflation (or expectations for inflation), interest rates, global demand for particular products or resources, natural disasters, climate change and climate-related events, pandemics, epidemics, terrorism, regulatory events and governmental or quasi-governmental actions. The occurrence of global events similar to those in recent years may result in market volatility and may have long term effects on both the U.S. and global financial markets.
Non-Diversified Fund Risk. Because the Fund is non-diversified and may invest a greater portion of its assets in fewer issuers than a diversified fund, changes in the market value of a single portfolio holding could cause greater fluctuations in the Fund's share price than would occur in a diversified fund. This may increase the Fund's volatility and cause the performance of a single portfolio holding or a relatively small number of portfolio holdings to have a greater impact on the Fund's performance.
Over-the-Counter Market Risk. Securities and options traded in over-the-counter markets may trade less frequently and in limited volumes and thus exhibit more volatility and liquidity risk, and the prices paid by the Fund in over-the-counter transactions may include an undisclosed dealer markup. The Fund is also exposed to default by the over-the-counter option writer who may be unwilling or unable to perform its contractual obligations to the Fund.
Subsidiary Investment Risk. Changes in the laws of the United States and/or the Cayman Islands, under which the Fund and the Subsidiary are organized, respectively, could result in the inability of the Fund to operate as intended and could negatively affect the Fund and its shareholders. The Subsidiary is not registered under the 1940 Act and is not subject to all the investor protections of the 1940 Act. Thus, the Fund, as an investor in the Subsidiary, will not have all the protections offered to investors in registered investment companies.
U.S. Treasury and Agency Market Risk. The U.S. Treasury and agency market can be volatile, and the value of instruments correlated with these markets may fluctuate dramatically from day to day. U.S. Treasury and agency obligations may provide relatively lower returns than those of other securities. Similar to other debt instruments, U.S. Treasury and agency obligations are subject to debt instrument risk and interest rate risk. In addition, changes to the financial condition or credit rating of the U.S. Government may cause the value of U.S. Treasury and agency obligations to decline.
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Volatility Risk. Significant short-term price movements could adversely impact the performance of the Fund. The Fund's performance may be volatile, which means that the Fund's performance may be subject to substantial short-term changes up or down.
Performance: Because the Fund has only recently commenced investment operations, no performance information is presented for the Fund at this time. In the future, performance information will be presented in this section of the Prospectus. Also, shareholder reports containing financial and performance information will be mailed to shareholder semi-annually. Updated performance information will be available at no cost by visiting www.simplify.us or by calling 1 (855) 772-8488.
Investment Adviser: Simplify Asset Management Inc. ("SAMI").
Portfolio Managers: David Berns, Chief Investment Officer of the adviser, and Emilio Freire Bauzano, Portfolio Manager of the adviser serve as portfolio managers of the Fund. Messrs. Berns and Bauzano have each served the Fund as a portfolio manager since it commenced operations and are jointly and primarily responsible for the management of the Fund.
Purchase and Sale of Fund Shares: The Fund will issue and redeem Shares at NAV only in large blocks of 25,000 Shares (each block of Shares is called a "Creation Unit"). Creation Units are issued and redeemed primarily in-kind for securities but may include cash. Individual Shares may only be purchased and sold in secondary market transactions through brokers. Except when aggregated in Creation Units in transactions with Authorized Participants, the Shares are not redeemable securities of the Fund.
Shares of the Fund are listed for trading on the Exchange and trade at market prices rather than NAV. Shares of the Fund may trade at a price that is greater than, at, or less than NAV. An investor may incur costs attributable to the difference between the highest price a buyer is willing to pay to purchase shares of the Fund (bid) and the lowest price a seller is willing to accept for shares of the Fund (ask) when buying or selling shares in the secondary market. Recent information on the Fund's NAV, market price, premiums and discounts, and bid-ask spreads is available at www.simplify.us/etfs.
Tax Information: The Fund's distributions generally will be taxable as ordinary income or long-term capital gains. A sale of Shares may result in capital gain or loss.
Payments to Broker-Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries: If you purchase the Fund through a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary (such as a bank), the Fund and its related companies may pay the intermediary for the sale of Fund shares and related services. These payments may create a conflict of interest by influencing the broker-dealer or other intermediary and your salesperson to recommend the Fund over another investment. Ask your salesperson or visit your financial intermediary's website for more information.
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