09/09/2024 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 09/09/2024 21:12
Toews Tactical Defensive Alpha Fund
TTDAX
Summary Prospectus
August 28, 2024
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, both dated August 28, 2024, along with the Fund's Annual Report dated April 30, 2024, are incorporated by reference into this Summary Prospectus. You can obtain these documents and other information about the Fund online at https://toewscorp.com/mutual-funds-2/. You can also obtain these documents at no cost by calling 1-877-558-6397 or by sending an email request to [email protected].
Investment Objectives: The Fund seeks to provide long-term growth of capital. A secondary objective of the Fund is to limit risk during unfavorable market conditions.
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 tables and examples below.
Shareholder Fees (fees paid directly from your investment) |
|
Maximum Sales Charge (Load) Imposed on Purchases | None |
Maximum Deferred Sales Charge (Load) | None |
Maximum Sales Charge (Load) Imposed on Reinvested Dividends and Other Distributions | None |
Redemption Fee | None |
Annual Fund Operating Expenses (expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment) |
|
Management Fees | 1.00% |
Distribution and/or Service (12b-1) Fees | 0.00% |
Other Expenses | 0.34% |
Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses(1) | 0.02% |
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses | 1.36% |
Fee Waiver and/or Reimbursement(2) | (0.09)% |
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses After Fee Waiver and/or Reimbursement | 1.27% |
(1) | Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses are the indirect costs of investing in other investment companies. The operating expenses in this fee table will not correlate to the expense ratio in the Fund's financial highlights because the financial statements include only the direct operating expenses incurred by the Fund. |
(2) | The Fund's adviser has contractually agreed to reduce its fees and/or absorb expenses of the Fund, through at least August 31, 2025, to ensure that Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses After Fee Waiver and/or Reimbursement exclusive of any (i) front-end or contingent deferred loads; (ii) brokerage fees and commissions; (iii) acquired fund fees and expenses; (iv) fees and expenses associated with instruments in other collective investment vehicles or derivative instruments (including for example options and swap fees and expenses); (v) borrowing costs (such as interest and dividend expense on securities sold short); (vi) taxes; (vii) other fees related to underlying investments, (such as option fees and expenses or swap fees and expenses); or (viii) extraordinary expenses such as litigation (which may include indemnification of Fund officers and Trustees or contractual indemnification of Fund service providers (other than the adviser) will not exceed 1.25%; subject to possible recoupment from the Fund in future years on a rolling three year basis (within the three years after the fees have been waived or reimbursed), if such recoupment does not cause the Fund's expense ratio (after the repayment is taken into account) to exceed both: (i) the Fund's expense cap in place at the time such expenses were waived, and (ii) the Fund's current expense cap at the time of recoupment. This agreement may be terminated only by the Board of Trustees, on 60 days' written notice to the adviser. |
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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. The Example further assumes that the expense limitation described in the footnotes to the fee table is in effect only until the end of the 1-year period. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based upon these assumptions your costs would be:
1 Year | 3 Years | 5 Years | 10 Years |
$129 | $422 | $736 | $1,627 |
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 669% of the average value of its portfolio.
Principal Investment Strategies: The Fund's adviser seeks to achieve the Fund's investment objective by investing primarily in: (1) derivative instruments including but not limited to futures contracts on equity indices comprised of issuers of any capitalization, (2) fixed income securities and (3) cash equivalents. The Fund may also invest directly in stocks of U.S. issuers of any capitalization, foreign large cap stocks and exchange traded funds ("ETFs") that invest primarily in common stock. For the purpose of the Fund, foreign large cap stocks are defined as stocks from the universe of the FTSE Developed All Cap ex US Index and the MSCI Emerging Markets Index. Fixed-income securities and cash equivalents (such as US Treasury securities) may be of any duration or maturity. The Fund may also invest in futures contracts on such fixed-income securities and US Treasury securities.
"Alpha" in the Fund's name refers to the adviser's attempt over a long term market cycle to position Fund assets in blend indices during rising markets and attempting to exit to lower volatility stocks during declining markets, the Fund seeks to add alpha, which refers to excess total returns earned on an investment above the benchmark return at a similar or lower level of volatility. The adviser's strategy allocates assets among stocks or equity index futures contracts representing varying capitalizations. The adviser anticipates the Fund's assets will be allocated as follows, based upon an analysis of long-term historical returns and volatility of various asset classes:
Asset Class Allocation | Allocation Target | Allocation Range |
Small Cap Stocks | 25% | 0% to 50% |
Mid Cap Stocks | 25% | 0% to 40% |
Large Cap Stocks | 20% | 10% to 100% |
Foreign Large Cap Stocks | 30% | 0% to 50% |
Generally, the defensive position for this Fund will be defined as stocks or other instruments that are representative of low volatility stocks or instruments. However, there may be periods when the Fund will take a significant position in cash.
Each asset class will be allocated independently of the others. This means the Fund may not be allocated to each asset class at any one time and the Fund may maintain a position in one or more asset classes while being in a defensive position for one or more others. Based on the adviser's proprietary algorithmic signal, the Fund could re-allocate its portfolio from 100% large cap stocks to the allocations indicated above.
Equity index futures contracts trade on margin. To gain exposure to an Equity index futures contract, a certain percentage of the Fund's assets may be allocated to a futures broker as collateral. This collateral amount is much less than the notional exposure to the underlying index. The Fund may allocate the cash or securities not needed for collateral to fixed income ETFs or other fixed income securities and/or in an addition to fixed income derivatives. The Fund's allocation to fixed income ETFs and/or other fixed income securities may be significant.
The Fund may hold equity index futures contracts and/or other derivatives. The Fund may invest in US Treasury bills, notes, and bonds of any duration or length until maturity. The Fund may invest in derivatives or futures contracts that derive the value from US Treasury bills, notes, and bonds of any duration or length until maturity.
The Fund may purchase and sell put and call options on broad-based market and futures market indices. The Fund may sell short ETFs that primarily invest in equities including equity index ETFs as well as futures contracts on equities and equity indices. A put option is a contract giving the owner the right, but not the obligation, to sell-or sell short-a specified amount of an underlying security at a pre-determined price within a specified time frame. A call option is a contract giving the option buyer the right, but not the obligation, to buy an asset or instrument at a specified price within a specific time period.
The adviser primarily uses technical analysis of equity markets. The adviser monitors, the price movement and momentum, of equity markets in an effort to identify the proper weighting of the Fund's portfolio. The adviser buys and sells securities and equity index futures to increase or decrease the Fund's exposure to broad- based indices or vary the allocation of asset class allocations. The adviser's decision to buy or sell a Fund holding will be made based on current market conditions and the adviser's determination of the appropriate exposure level to equity asset class. The Fund's adviser may engage in active and frequent trading of the Fund's portfolio securities to achieve the Fund's investment objective.
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Principal Risks: As with all mutual 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 performance.
· | Allocation Risk: The risk that if the Fund's strategy for allocating assets among different assets classes does not work as intended, the Fund may not achieve its objective or may underperform other funds with the same or similar investment strategy. |
· | Common Stock Risk: The net asset value of the Fund will fluctuate based on changes in the value of the U.S. and/or foreign common stocks held by the Fund. Stock prices can fall rapidly in response to developments affecting a specific company or industry, or to changing economic, political or market conditions. |
· | Credit Risk: Issuers of fixed-income securities may default on interest and principal payments due to the Fund. Generally, securities with lower debt ratings have speculative characteristics and have greater risk the issuer will default on its obligation. For high-yield bonds, changes in economic conditions or other circumstances are more likely to lead to a weakened capacity of those issuers to make principal or interest payments, as compared to issuers of more highly-rated securities. These securities can also be thinly traded or have restrictions on resale, making them difficult to sell at an acceptable price. |
· | Derivatives Risk: Even a small investment in derivatives (which include options, futures, swap contracts such as total return swaps or credit default swaps, forward contracts and other transactions) may give rise to leverage risk (which can increase volatility and magnify the Fund's potential for loss), and can have a significant impact on the Fund's performance. Derivatives are also subject to credit risk (the counterparty may default) and liquidity risk (the Fund may not be able to sell security or otherwise exit the contract in a timely manner). |
· | Emerging Markets Risk: In addition to the risks generally associated with investing in securities of foreign companies, countries with emerging markets also may have relatively unstable governments, social and legal systems that do not protect shareholders, economies based on only a few industries, and securities markets that trade a small number of issues. In addition, emerging securities markets may have different clearance and settlement procedures, which may be unable to keep pace with the volume of securities transactions or otherwise make it difficult to engage in such transactions. |
· | ETF and Underlying Fund Risk: ETFs and Underlying Funds are subject to investment advisory fees and other expenses, which will be indirectly paid by the Fund. As a result, your cost of investing in the Fund will be higher than the cost of investing directly in ETFs and may be higher than other mutual funds that invest directly in securities. Each ETF is subject to specific risks, depending on its investments. ETFs in which the Fund invests will not be able to replicate exactly the performance of the indices they track because the total return generated by the securities will be reduced by transaction costs incurred in adjusting the actual balance of the securities. The market value of the ETF shares may differ from their net asset value. This difference in price may be due to the fact that the supply and demand in the market for ETF shares at any point in time is not always identical to the supply and demand in the market for the underlying basket of securities. Accordingly, there may be times when an ETF share trades at a premium or discount to its net asset value. |
· | Fixed Income 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 bond funds owned by the Fund. In general, the market price of debt securities with longer maturities will increase or decrease more in response to changes in interest rates than shorter-term securities. Issuers of fixed-income securities may default on interest and principal payments due to the Fund. Generally, securities with lower debt ratings have speculative characteristics and have greater risk the issuer will default on its obligation. |
· | Foreign Risk: The Fund could be subject to greater risks because the Fund's performance may depend on issues other than the performance of a particular company or U.S. market sector. Changes in foreign economies and political climates are more likely to affect the Fund than a mutual fund that invests exclusively in U.S. companies. The value of foreign securities is also affected by the value of the local currency relative to the U.S. dollar. |
· | Futures Risk: The Fund's use of futures contracts involves risks different from, or possibly greater than, the risks associated with investing directly in securities and other traditional investments. These risks include (i) leverage risk (ii) risk of mispricing or improper valuation; and (iii) the risk that changes in the value of the futures contract may not correlate perfectly with the underlying index. 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. |
· | Hedging Risk: When the adviser believes market conditions are unfavorable, the adviser may attempt to "hedge" with defensive positions and strategies including holding substantial positions in foreign or domestic fixed-income securities and/or cash equivalents, which may limit potential gains when compared to unhedged funds. |
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· | Interest Rate 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 owned by the Fund. 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. |
· | Investment-Grade Corporate Bonds: Debt securities of industrial, utility, banking and other financial institutions that are rated at or above investment grade (BBB/Baa or higher). These securities are backed by the credit of the corporation issuing the fixed-income instrument as to the timely repayment of principal and interest. |
· | Issuer Risk: Fund value might decrease in response to the activities and financial prospects of an individual company or issuer in the Fund's portfolio. The value of an individual issuer can be more volatile than the market as a whole and can perform differently from the value of the market as a whole. The value of certain types of companies or issuers can be more volatile due to increased sensitivity to adverse issuer, political, regulatory, market, or economic developments. |
· | Large Cap Risk: Large-capitalization companies may be less able than smaller capitalization companies to adapt to changing market conditions. Large-capitalization companies may be more mature and subject to more limited growth potential compared with smaller capitalization companies. During different market cycles, the performance of large capitalization companies has trailed the overall performance of the broader securities markets. |
· | Management Risk: The ability of the Fund to meet its investment objective is directly related to the adviser's investment model. The models used by the adviser to determine or guide investment decisions may not achieve the objectives of the Fund. The adviser's assessment of the attractiveness and potential appreciation of particular investments or markets in which the Fund invests may prove to be incorrect and there is no guarantee that the adviser's investment strategy will produce the desired results. |
· | Margin Risk: Certain derivatives require the Fund to make margin payments, a form of security deposit intended to protect against nonperformance of the derivative contract. The Fund may have to post additional margin if the value of the derivative position changes in a manner adverse to the Fund. Derivatives may be difficult to value, which may result in increased payment requirements to counterparties or a loss of value to the Fund. If the Fund has insufficient cash to meet additional margin requirements, it might need to sell securities at a disadvantageous time. |
· | 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 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, international conflicts, regulatory events and governmental or quasi-governmental actions. The occurrence of global events similar to those in recent years, such as terrorist attacks around the world, natural disasters, social and political discord or debt crises and downgrades, among others, may result in market volatility and may have long term effects on both the U.S. and global financial markets. It is difficult to predict when similar events affecting the U.S. or global financial markets may occur, the effects that such events may have and the duration of those effects. Any such event(s) could have a significant adverse impact on the value and risk profile of the Fund. The COVID-19 global pandemic had negative impacts, and in many cases severe negative impacts, on markets worldwide. It is not known how long any future impacts of the significant events described above, will or would last, but there could be a prolonged period of global economic slowdown, which may impact your investment. Therefore, the Fund could lose money over short periods due to short-term market movements and over longer periods during more prolonged market downturns. During a general market downturn, multiple asset classes may be negatively affected. Changes in market conditions and interest rates can have the same impact on all types of securities and instruments. In times of severe market disruptions you could lose your entire investment. |
· | Options Risk: There are risks associated with the sale and purchase of call and put options. As a seller (writer) of a put option, the Fund will tend to lose money if the value of the reference index or security falls below the strike price. As the seller (writer) of a call option, the Fund will tend to lose money if the value of the reference index or security rises above the strike price. 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. |
· | Portfolio Turnover Risk: Portfolio turnover results in higher brokerage commissions, dealer mark-ups and other transaction costs and may result in taxable capital gains. Higher costs associated with increased portfolio turnover may offset gains in the Fund's performance. |
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· | Short Sales Risk: The Fund will engage in short selling and short position derivative activities, which are significantly different from the investment activities commonly associated with conservative stock or bond funds. Positions in shorted securities and derivatives are speculative and more risky than "long" positions (purchases) because the cost of the replacement security or derivative is unknown. Therefore, the potential loss on an uncovered short is unlimited, whereas the potential loss on long positions is limited to the original purchase price. You should be aware that any strategy that includes selling securities short could suffer significant losses. Shorting will also result in higher transaction costs (such as interest and dividends), which reduce the Fund's return, and may result in higher taxes. |
· | Small-Cap and Mid-Cap Companies Risk: Direct investments in individual small and mid-capitalization companies may be more vulnerable than larger, more established organizations to adverse business or economic developments. In particular, small capitalization companies may have limited product lines, markets, and financial resources and may be dependent upon a relatively small management group. |
· | Tax Inefficiency: The adviser expects that most of the gains generated by the Fund will be categorized as short-term capital gains which will be subject to higher tax rates than long-term capital gains. Given the potential tax-inefficiency of the Fund, investors should consider investing through a tax-deferred account and carefully consider the tax consequences before investing. |
· | U.S. Treasury Risk: Although the Fund invests in short-term Treasury obligations, an investment in the Fund is subject to risk even if all securities in the Fund are paid in full at maturity. All money market instruments, including U.S. Treasury obligations, can change in value in response to changes in interest rates, and a major change in rates could cause the share price to change. While U.S. Treasury obligations are backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government, an investment in the Fund is neither insured nor guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, U.S. government or any other government agency. |
Performance: The bar chart and performance table below show the variability of the Fund's returns, which is some indication of the risks of investing in the Fund. The bar chart shows performance of the Fund's shares for each full calendar year since the Fund's inception. The performance table compares the performance of the Fund's shares over time to the performance of a broad-based securities market index. You should be aware that the Fund's past performance (before and after taxes) may not be an indication of how the Fund will perform in the future. Updated performance information is available at no cost by calling 1-877-558-6397.
Performance Bar Chart
Calendar Years Ended December 31
Best Quarter: | 6/30/2020 | 20.66% |
Worst Quarter: | 3/31/2020 | (19.48)% |
The total return for Fund shares from January 1, 2024 to June 30, 2024 was 2.51%.
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Performance Table
Average Annual Total Returns
(For periods ended December 31, 2023)
One Year |
Five Years |
Since Inception of the Fund (1-7-16) |
|
Return before taxes | 7.68% | 7.56% | 7.27% |
Return after taxes on distributions | 6.69% | 5.04% | 4.91% |
Return after taxes on distributions and sale of Fund shares | 4.66% | 5.30% | 5.05% |
S&P 500 Total Return Index* (reflects no deduction for fees, expenses, or taxes) |
26.29% | 15.69% | 13.97% |
MSCI World Net Total Return USD Index* (reflects no deduction for fees, expenses, or taxes) |
23.79% | 12.80% | 11.08% |
* | The S&P 500 Total Return Index is an unmanaged market capitalization-weighted index which is comprised of 500 of the largest U.S. domiciled companies and includes the reinvestment of all dividends. Investors cannot invest directly in an index or benchmark. |
** | The MSCI World Net Total Return USD Index captures large and mic cap representation across 23 Developed Markets (DM) countries. With 1,157 constituents, the index covers approximately 85% of the free float-adjusted market capitalization in each country. |
After-tax returns are calculated using the highest historical individual federal marginal income tax rate and do not reflect the impact of state and local taxes. Actual after-tax returns depend on a shareholder's tax situation and may differ from those shown. The after-tax returns are not relevant if you hold your Fund shares in tax-deferred arrangements, such as 401(k) plans or individual retirement accounts ("IRA").
The Fund's primary benchmark index has been changed to the MSCI World Net Total Return USD Index because it is a more appropriate index given the Fund's strategy and portfolio holdings.
Adviser: Toews Corporation is the Fund's investment adviser.
Portfolio Managers: Phillip Toews, President, Jason Graffius, Chief Operating Officer, Randall Schroeder, Managing Director of Synthesis Investments, and Charles Collins, Head of Trading, each of the adviser, serve as the Fund's Co-Portfolio Managers and are jointly and primarily responsible for the day-to-day management of the Fund. Messrs. Toews, Schroeder, and Graffius have served the Fund in this capacity since the Fund commenced operations in 2016. Mr. Collins has served the Fund in this capacity since August 2017.
Purchase and Sale of Fund Shares: The minimum initial investment to open any type of account is $10,000. The minimum subsequent investment is $100 for all accounts. You may purchase and redeem shares of the Fund on any day that the New York Stock Exchange is open. Redemptions requests may be made in writing, by telephone, on the Fund's website, or through a financial intermediary and will be paid by check or wire transfer.
Tax Information: Dividends and capital gain distributions you receive from the Fund, whether you reinvest your distributions in additional Fund shares or receive them in cash, are taxable to you at either ordinary income or capital gains tax rates unless you are investing through a tax-free plan. Withdrawals from your tax-free plan may be taxable.
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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