Alpha Architect ETF Trust

07/31/2024 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 07/31/2024 10:15

Summary Prospectus by Investment Company - Form 497K

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MORGAN DEMPSEY LARGE CAP VALUE ETF
Ticker Symbol: MDLV

Listed on CBOE BZX, Inc.
SUMMARY PROSPECTUS
July 31, 2024

www.morgandempseyfunds.com
Before you invest, you may want to review the Fund's Prospectus and Statement of Additional Information ("SAI"), which contain more information about the Fund and its risks. The current Prospectus and SAI, each dated July 31, 2024, are incorporated by reference into this Summary Prospectus. You can find the Fund's Prospectus, reports to shareholders, and other information about the Fund online at www.morgandempseyfunds.com. You can also get this information at no cost by calling 215-882-9983.
INVESTMENT OBJECTIVE
The Morgan Dempsey Large Cap Value ETF (the "Fund") seeks to provide a high level of current income and long-term capital appreciation.
FEES AND EXPENSES
This table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy, hold, and sell shares of the Fund ("Shares"). You may also pay brokerage commissions on the purchase and sale of Shares, which are not reflected in the table or example.
ANNUAL FUND OPERATING EXPENSES (EXPENSES THAT YOU PAY EACH YEAR AS A PERCENTAGE OF THE VALUE OF YOUR INVESTMENT)
Management Fee1
0.58 %
Distribution and/or Service (12b-1) Fees None
Other Expenses
0.00 %
Acquired Fund Fees & Expenses2
0.01 %
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses 0.59 %
1The Fund's investment advisory agreement provides that the Fund's investment adviser will pay substantially all expenses of the Fund, except for the fee payment under the Fund's Investment Advisory Agreement, payments under the Fund's Rule 12b-1 Distribution and Service Plan, brokerage expenses, acquired fund fees and expenses, taxes, interest (including borrowing costs), litigation expense and other non-routine or extraordinary expenses. Additionally, the Fund shall be responsible for its non-operating expenses and fees and expenses associated with the Fund's securities lending program, if applicable.
2Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses (AFFE) are fees and expenses incurred indirectly by the Fund as a result of investments in other investment companies, including funds which invest exclusively in money market instruments. Because AFFEs are not borne directly by the Fund, they will not be reflected in the expense information in the Fund's financial statements and the information presented in the table will differ from that presented in the Fund's financial highlights included in the Fund's reports to shareholders.
EXAMPLE
The following example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the Fund with the cost of investing in other funds. The example assumes that you invest $10,000 for the time periods indicated and then redeem all of your Shares at the end of those periods. The example also assumes that the Fund provides a return of 5% a year and that operating expenses remain the same. You may also pay brokerage commissions on the purchase and sale of Shares, which are not reflected in the example. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:
One Year: Three Years: Five Years: Ten Years:
$60 $189 $329 $738
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PORTFOLIO TURNOVER
The Fund may pay transaction costs, including 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 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. For the fiscal period April 26, 2023 (commencement of operations) to March 31, 2024, the Fund's portfolio turnover rate was 23% of the average value of its portfolio.
PRINCIPAL INVESTMENT STRATEGIES
The Fund is an actively managed exchange-traded fund ("ETF") that seeks to achieve its investment objective by investing in dividend paying companies that the Fund's sub-adviser, Morgan Dempsey Capital Management, LLC (the "Sub-Adviser"), believes are attractively valued. Under normal circumstances, the Fund will invest at least 80% of its net assets in equity securities of large cap companies, which it defines as companies larger than $25 billion in market capitalization. The Fund intends to typically have a weighted average market capitalization of $50 billion or larger but does have the ability to include companies with market capitalizations as small as $3 billion at the time of purchase. It is expected that the Fund will generally hold 30 to 75 stocks (including American Depositary Receipts or "ADRs") at any one time. The Fund is not managed to mirror a particular securities index or securities benchmark. Rather, the Sub-Adviser makes investment recommendations based on the results of its fundamental research of individual companies. To identify portfolio investments, the Sub-Adviser has developed the following multi-step investment process:
Step 1: First, the Sub-Adviser screens all publicly traded stocks listed on a U.S. exchange to identify companies with a market capitalization of at least $3 billion and a valuation profile that is attractive. After the completion of the screening process, the Investment Universe will generally consist of approximately 700-900 companies.
Step 2: The Sub-Adviser favors companies that have historically demonstrated the willingness to pay dividends. In particular, the Sub-Adviser favors companies that supported dividend payouts through historical difficult times (e.g., the 2008 financial crisis and the global COVID pandemic). The Sub-Adviser does not incorporate dividend payout ratios in its investment process, but, rather, considers free cash flow to be a more important factor in determining the ability of a company to support and grow dividends for investors.
Step 3: The Sub-Adviser defines "value" as any company that trades lower than the company's historical valuation history and/or if the company trades at a lower valuation than other peer companies in the same industry at the time of purchase. The Sub-Adviser utilizes a matrix of various valuation measurements in the valuation assessment process. Some of the valuation metrics generally incorporated into the process are price to earnings, price to book value, price to cash flow, price to sales, enterprise value to EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization), enterprise value to sales and dividend yield. A company needs to price attractively on one or more of these measurements to be considered a "value" company by the Sub-Adviser.
Step 4: The Sub-Adviser favors companies that are embarking on initiatives to address issues that have caused their stocks to trade at a valuation discount to their past multiples and/or those of their respective industry. The Sub-Adviser expects these initiatives to provide a catalyst for future improvement. Examples of such initiatives may include: selling non-core pieces of the business, investing in higher growth divisions of the organization, acquiring companies that serve as a strategic fit to enhance growth, expansion of business lines into new unexplored markets, and investing in technology that creates greater economies of scale that translates into higher margins. While this is not an exhaustive list, the Sub-Adviser believes these initiatives represent common ways that management can improve the future growth of a company. This catalyst is ideally generated from initiatives within the company to create future revenue and profit growth that will generate a higher multiple for the stock. The Sub-Adviser looks to identify companies with a sustainable catalyst that will benefit investors for multiple years, rather than relying solely on expense reductions or other short-term solutions.
The Sub-Adviser expects that the Fund's portfolio will be primarily composed of the common stock of U.S. companies, although the Fund may invest up to 20% of its assets in ADRs. ADRs are certificates evidencing ownership of securities of a foreign issuer. The certificates are issued by depositary banks and the underlying securities are held in trust by a custodian bank or similar institution. ADRs may be purchased on securities exchanges or directly from dealers. While it is anticipated that the Fund will invest across a range of industries,
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certain sectors may be overweighted relative to its benchmark because the Sub-Adviser seeks best investment opportunities regardless of sector. The sectors in which the Fund may be overweighted will vary at different points in the economic cycle.
The Sub-Adviser will generally sell or reduce the Fund's holding in a portfolio investment if the company eliminates its dividend, there is a material change in the company's catalyst or business model or if the stock's valuation makes the security, in the Sub-Adviser's view, overvalued relative to other potential investments.
PRINCIPAL RISKS
An investment in the Fund involves risk, including those described below. There is no assurance that the Fund will achieve its investment objective. An investor may lose money by investing in the Fund. An investment in the Fund is not a bank deposit and is not insured or guaranteed by the FDIC or any government agency. More complete risk descriptions are set forth below under the heading "Additional Information About the Fund's Risks."
Investment Risk. As with all investments, an investment in the Fund is subject to investment risk. Investors in the Fund could lose money, including the possible loss of the entire principal amount of an investment, over short or long periods of time.
Equity Investing Risk. An investment in the Fund involves risks similar to those of investing in any fund holding equity securities, such as market fluctuations, changes in interest rates and perceived trends in stock prices. The values of equity securities could decline generally or could underperform other investments. In addition, securities may decline in value due to factors affecting a specific issuer, market or securities markets generally.
Large-Capitalization Companies Risk. Large-capitalization companies may trail the returns of the overall stock market. Large-capitalization stocks tend to go through cycles of doing better - or worse - than the stock market in general. These periods have, in the past, lasted for as long as several years.
Mid-Capitalization Companies Risk. Investing in securities of mid-capitalization companies involves greater risk than customarily is associated with investing in larger, more established companies. These companies' securities may be more volatile and less liquid than those of more established companies. Often mid-capitalization companies and the industries in which they focus are still evolving and, as a result, they may be more sensitive to changing market conditions.
Management Risk. The Fund is actively-managed and may not meet its investment objective based on the Adviser's or Sub-Adviser's success or failure to implement investment strategies for the Fund. The success of the Fund's investment program depends largely on the investment techniques and risk analyses applied by the Sub-Adviser, including the use of quantitative models or methods. It is possible the investment techniques and risk analyses employed on behalf of the Fund will not produce the desired results.
Value-Style Investing Risk. The Sub-Adviser may be wrong in its assessment of a company's value, and the stocks the Fund owns may not reach what the Sub-Adviser believes are their true values. The market may not favor value-oriented stocks and may not favor equities at all, which may cause the Fund's relative performance to suffer. Value stocks can perform differently from the market as a whole and from other types of stocks. While certain value stocks may increase in value more quickly during periods of anticipated economic upturn, they may also lose value more quickly in periods of anticipated economic downturn. Furthermore, there is the risk that the factors which caused the depressed valuations are longer term or even permanent in nature, and that their valuations may fall or never rise.
Dividend-Paying Common Equity Security Risk. The Fund will normally receive income from dividends that are paid by issuers of the Fund's investments. The amount of the dividend payments may vary and depends on performance and decisions of the issuer. Poor performance by the issuer or other factors may cause the issuer to lower or eliminate dividend payments to investors, including the Fund. Additionally, these types of securities may fall out of favor with investors and underperform the broader market.
Foreign Investment Risk. Returns on investments in foreign securities could be more volatile than, or trail the returns on, investments in U.S. securities. Investments in or exposures to foreign securities are subject to special risks, including risks associated with foreign securities generally, including differences in information available about issuers of securities and investor protection standards applicable in other jurisdictions; capital controls risks, including the risk of a foreign jurisdiction imposing restrictions on the ability to repatriate or transfer currency or
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other assets; currency risks; political, diplomatic and economic risks; regulatory risks; and foreign market and trading risks, including the costs of trading and risks of settlement in foreign jurisdictions.
Depositary Receipt Risk. The risks of investments in depositary receipts, including ADRs, are substantially similar to Foreign Investment Risk. In addition, depositary receipts may not track the price of the underlying foreign securities, and their value may change materially at times when the U.S. markets are not open for trading. In addition, the underlying issuers of certain depositary receipts, particularly unregistered depositary receipts, are under no obligation to distribute shareholder communications to the holders of such receipts, or to pass through any voting rights with respect to the deposited securities. Therefore, the Sub-Adviser will not be able to vote on any matters with respect to these instruments.
Sector Risk. If the Fund's portfolio is overweighted in a certain sector, any negative development affecting that sector will have a greater impact on the Fund than on a fund that is not overweighted in that sector.
Geopolitical/Natural Disaster Risks. The Fund's investments are subject to geopolitical and natural disaster risks, such as war, terrorism, trade disputes, political or economic dysfunction within some nations, public health crises and related geopolitical events, as well as environmental disasters, epidemics and/or pandemics, which may add to instability in world economies and volatility in markets. The impact may be short-term or may last for extended periods.
ETF Risks.
•Authorized Participants, Market Makers and Liquidity Providers Concentration Risk. The Fund has a limited number of financial institutions that may act as Authorized Participants ("APs"). In addition, there may be a limited number of market makers and/or liquidity providers in the marketplace. To the extent either of the following events occur, Shares may trade at a material discount to NAV and possibly face delisting: (i) APs exit the business or otherwise become unable to process creation and/or redemption orders and no other APs step forward to perform these services, or (ii) market makers and/or liquidity providers exit the business or significantly reduce their business activities and no other entities step forward to perform their functions.
•Premium-Discount Risk. The Shares may trade above or below their net asset value ("NAV"). The market prices of Shares will generally fluctuate in accordance with changes in NAV as well as the relative supply of, and demand for, Shares on the CBOE BZX, Inc. (the "Exchange") or other securities exchanges. The existence of significant market volatility, disruptions to creations and redemptions, or potential lack of an active trading market for Fund Shares (including through a trading halt), among other factors, may result in the Shares trading significantly above (at a premium) or below (at a discount) to NAV. If you buy Fund Shares when their market price is at a premium or sell the Fund Shares when their market price is at a discount, you may pay more than, or receive less than, NAV, respectively.
•Cost of Trading Risk. Investors buying or selling Shares in the secondary market will pay brokerage commissions or other charges imposed by brokers as determined by that broker. Brokerage commissions are often a fixed amount and may be a significant proportional cost for investors seeking to buy or sell relatively small amounts of Shares. In addition, secondary market investors incur the cost of the "spread" also known as the "bid-ask spread", which is the difference between what investors are willing to pay for Fund Shares (the "bid" price) and the price at which they are willing to sell Fund Shares (the "ask" price). The bid-ask spread varies over time based on, among other things, trading volume, market liquidity and market volatility. Because of the costs inherent in buying or selling Fund Shares, frequent trading may detract significantly from investment results and an investment in Fund Shares may not be advisable for investors who anticipate regularly making small investments due to the associated trading costs.
•Trading Risk. Although the Shares are listed on the Exchange, there can be no assurance that an active or liquid trading market for them will develop or be maintained. In addition, trading in Shares on the Exchange may be halted. In stressed market conditions, the liquidity of the Fund's Shares may begin to mirror the liquidity of its underlying portfolio holdings, which can be significantly less liquid than the Fund's Shares, potentially causing the market price of the Fund's Shares to deviate from its NAV.
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New Sub-Adviser Risk. Although the Sub-Adviser's principals and the Fund's portfolio managers have experience managing investments in the past, the Sub-Adviser has limited experience managing investments for an ETF, which may limit the Sub-Adviser's effectiveness.
New Fund Risk. The Fund is a recently organized investment company with limited operating history. As a result, prospective investors have a limited track record and history on which to base their investment decision. There can be no assurance that the Fund will grow to or maintain an economically viable size.
PERFORMANCE
Performance information is not provided below because the Fund has not yet been in operation for one full calendar year. When provided, the information will provide some indication of the risks of investing in the Fund by showing how the Fund's average annual returns compare with a broad measure of market performance. Past performance does not necessarily indicate how the Fund will perform in the future. Updated performance information will be available at www.morgandempseyfunds.com.
INVESTMENT ADVISER & INVESTMENT SUB-ADVISER
Investment Adviser: Empowered Funds, LLC dba EA Advisers ("Adviser")
Investment Sub-Adviser: Morgan Dempsey Capital Management, LLC ("Sub-Adviser")
PORTFOLIO MANAGERS
Marc Dion is a Portfolio Manager of the Sub-Adviser and has been jointly and primarily responsible for the day-to-day management of the Fund since its inception in April 2023.
Dave Isaacson is a Portfolio Specialist of the Sub-Adviser and has been jointly and primarily responsible for the day-to-day management of the Fund since its inception in April 2023.
Ryan Hamilton is a Portfolio Manager of the Sub-Adviser and has been jointly and primarily responsible for the day-to-day management of the Fund since its inception in April 2023.
SUMMARY INFORMATION ABOUT PURCHASES, SALES, TAXES, AND FINANCIAL INTERMEDIARY COMPENSATION
PURCHASE ANDSALE OF SHARES
The Fund issues and redeems Shares on a continuous basis only in large blocks of Shares known as "Creation Units," and only APs (typically, broker-dealers) may purchase or redeem Creation Units. Creation Units generally are issued and redeemed 'in-kind' for securities and partially in cash. Individual Shares may only be purchased and sold in secondary market transactions through brokers. Once created, individual Shares generally trade in the secondary market at market prices that change throughout the day. Market prices of Shares may be greater or less than their NAV. Except when aggregated in Creation Units, the Fund's shares are not redeemable securities.
TAX INFORMATION
The Fund's distributions generally are taxable to you as ordinary income, capital gain, or some combination of both, unless your investment is made through an Individual Retirement Account ("IRA") or other tax-advantaged account. However, subsequent withdrawals from such a tax-advantaged account may be subject to U.S. federal income tax. You should consult your own tax advisor about your specific tax situation.
PURCHASES THROUGH BROKER-DEALERS AND OTHER FINANCIAL INTERMEDIARIES
If you purchase Shares through a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary, the Fund and its related companies may pay the intermediary for the sale of 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 Shares over another investment. Ask your salesperson or visit your financial intermediary's website for more information.
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