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 fiscal period from November 1, 2023 (commencement of operations) through April 30, 2024, the fund's portfolio turnover rate was 113% of the average value of its portfolio.
Principal investment strategies
The fund is an exchange-traded fund (ETF), which is a fund that trades like other publicly-traded securities. The fund is not an index fund. The fund is actively managed and does not seek to replicate the performance of a specified index.
Under normal market conditions, the fund invests at least 80% of its net assets, plus amounts borrowed for investment purposes, in municipal bonds of any maturity. The fund primarily invests in bonds that are investment grade when purchased, but the fund may also invest up to 20% of its net assets in non-investment grade bonds rated BB or lower by S&P Global Ratings (S&P), Fitch Ratings (Fitch), or Moody's Investors Service, Inc. (Moody's), or comparable rating by any nationally recognized statistical ratings organization (NRSRO) or unrated equivalents (also called junk bonds). The fund may invest in other fixed income securities which include bonds, debt securities and other similar instruments. The fund's investment policies are based on credit ratings at the time of purchase.
The fund may invest in general obligation bonds, however, in general, the manager favors bonds backed by revenue from a specific public project or facility, such as a power plant (revenue bonds), as they tend to offer higher yields than general obligation bonds. The manager also favors bonds that have limitations on early payoff (call protection), which can help minimize the effect of falling interest rates on the fund's yield. To the extent that the fund invests in bonds that are subject to the alternative minimum tax (AMT), the income paid by the fund may not be entirely tax-free to all investors. Investments in bonds subject to the AMT will be counted toward the fund's 80% investment policy.
The fund may buy bonds of any maturity or duration. The manager may implement short-term trading strategies to take advantage of pricing imbalances within the municipal bond market. There is no guarantee that the manager will be able to implement these strategies effectively and the strategies may have a more significant impact on the fund's performance before it achieves scale. The fund may invest heavily in bonds from any given state or region, and may have substantial investments in obligations of certain states and their agencies, instrumentalities, and/or political subdivisions. The fund may also use tender option bond transactions to seek to enhance potential gains. The fund will look through to the underlying municipal bonds held by a tender option bond trust for purposes of the fund's 80% policy. The fund may leverage its assets through the use of proceeds received as a result of tender option bond transactions. The fund may contribute up to 15% of its holdings in municipal securities to tender option bond transactions.
Due to the nature of certain of the fund's investments, the fund may, under certain circumstances, effect a portion of creations and redemptions for cash, rather than in-kind securities.
Principal risks
An investment in the fund is not a bank deposit and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government agency. Many factors affect performance, and fund shares will fluctuate in price, meaning you could lose money. The fund's investment strategy may not produce the intended results.
The fund's main risks are listed below in alphabetical order, not in order of importance. Before investing, be sure to read the additional descriptions of these risks beginning on page 5 of the prospectus.
Active trading market risk.Active trading markets for fund shares may not be developed or maintained by market makers or authorized participants. Market makers are not obligated to make a market in the fund's shares or to submit purchase or redemption orders for creation units.
Authorized participant concentration risk.To the extent that authorized participants are unable or otherwise unavailable to proceed with creation and/or redemption orders and no other authorized participant is able to create or redeem in their place, shares may trade at a discount to net asset value (NAV) and may face delisting.
Cash transactions risk.Under certain circumstances, the fund intends to effect some or all of its creation and redemption transactions using cash, rather than in-kind securities. As a result, an investment in the fund may be less tax-efficient than an investment in an ETF that effects all of its creation and redemption transactions in-kind. In order to obtain the cash needed to distribute redemption proceeds, the fund may be required to sell portfolio securities which may cause the fund to recognize capital gains or losses and incur higher brokerage costs. To the extent that the maximum additional charge for creation or redemption transactions is insufficient to cover these costs and expenses, the fund's NAV could be negatively impacted.
Changing distribution levels risk.The fund may cease or reduce the level of its distribution if income or dividends paid from its investments declines.
Credit and counterparty risk.The issuer or guarantor of a fixed-income security or a borrower of fund securities may not make timely payments or otherwise honor its obligations. A downgrade or default affecting any of the fund's securities could affect the fund's performance.
Economic and market events risk.Events in the U.S. and global financial markets, including actions taken by the U.S. Federal Reserve or foreign central banks to stimulate or stabilize economic growth, may at times result in unusually high market volatility, which could negatively impact performance. Reduced liquidity in credit and fixed-income markets could adversely affect issuers worldwide. Banks and financial services companies could suffer losses if interest rates rise or economic conditions deteriorate.
ETF trading risk.The market price of shares may include a bid-ask spread (the difference between the prices at which investors are willing to buy and sell shares), which may vary over time and may increase for various reasons, including decreased trading volume or reduced market liquidity.
Fixed-income securities risk.A rise in interest rates typically causes bond prices to fall. The longer the average maturity or duration of the bonds held by a fund, the more sensitive it will likely be to interest-rate fluctuations. An issuer may not make all interest payments or repay all or any of the principal borrowed. Changes in a security's credit quality may adversely affect fund performance.