turnover rate was 160% of the average value of its portfolio, excluding the
value of portfolio securities received or delivered as a result of in-kind creations or redemptions of the Fund’s capital shares.
Principal Investment Strategies of the Fund
The Fund employs a “passive management” – or indexing – investment approach designed to track the performance of the Bloomberg
U.S. Treasury Floating Rate Bond Index (the “Index”). The Fund generally uses a representative sampling strategy to achieve its investment objective, meaning it generally will invest in a sample of the securities in the Index whose risk,
return and other characteristics resemble the risk, return and other characteristics of the Index as a whole. Under normal circumstances, at least 80% of the Fund’s total assets (exclusive of collateral held from securities lending) will be
invested in the component securities of the Index and investments that have economic characteristics that are substantially identical to the economic characteristics of such component securities.
The Index is designed to measure the performance of floating
rate public obligations of the U.S. Treasury (“Floating Rate Notes” or “FRNs”). Unlike fixed-rate U.S. Treasury bonds, FRNs have interest rates that adjust periodically. FRNs’ floating interest rates may be higher or
lower than the interest rates of fixed-rate bonds of comparable quality with similar maturities. The floating coupon rates of the FRNs included in the Index are initially expected to reset weekly according to the result of the most recent 13-week
T-bill auction, plus a spread, subject to a minimum net yield of zero percent. Because FRN floating coupon rates adjust weekly, the value of FRNs fluctuate much less than fixed-rate bonds in response to market interest rate movements. FRN values,
however, will decline if their floating coupon rates do not rise as much, or as quickly, as interest rates in general.
The Index is rules-based and market capitalization weighted
and comprised of FRNs with two-year maturities that have a minimum amount outstanding of one billion as of the monthly rebalancing date, which falls on the last business day of each month. FRNs eligible for inclusion in the Index must have an issue
date on or before the Index rebalancing date. The Index excludes fixed-rate securities, Treasury inflation-protected securities, convertible bonds and bonds with survivor put options. Both the FRNs and the FRNs’ coupon and principal payments
must be denominated in U.S. dollars. FRNs pay interest rates quarterly until maturity.
Principal Risks of Investing in the Fund
You can lose money on your investment in the Fund. The Fund is subject to the
risks described below. Some or all of these risks may adversely affect the Fund’s net asset value per share (“NAV”), trading price, yield, total return and/or ability to meet its objective. For more information about the risks of
investing in the Fund, see the sections in the Fund’s Prospectus titled “Additional Principal Risk Information About the Funds” and “Additional Non-Principal Risk Information.”
■
|
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. |
■
|
Market Risk. The trading prices of securities and other instruments fluctuate in response to a variety of factors, such as economic, financial or political events that impact the entire market, market segments, or specific issuers.
The Fund’s NAV and market price may fluctuate significantly in response to these and other factors. As a result, an investor could lose money over short or long periods of time. |
■
|
Shares of the Fund May Trade
at Prices Other Than NAV. As with all exchange-traded funds (“ETFs”), Fund shares may be bought and sold in the secondary market at market prices. The trading prices of the Fund’s shares in the
secondary market generally differ from the Fund’s daily NAV and there may be times when the market price of the shares is more than the NAV (premium) or less than the NAV (discount). This risk is heightened in times of market volatility or
periods of steep market declines. |
■
|
Cash Redemption Risk. The Fund generally redeems shares for cash or otherwise includes cash as part of its redemption proceeds. The Fund may be required to sell or unwind portfolio investments in order to obtain the cash needed to distribute
redemption proceeds. This may cause the Fund to recognize a capital gain that it might not have recognized if it had made a redemption in-kind. As a result, the Fund may pay out higher annual capital gain distributions than if the in-kind redemption
process was used. |
■
|
Cyber
Security Risk. The Fund and its service providers may be susceptible to operational and information security risks resulting from a breach in cyber security, including cyber-attacks. A breach in cyber security,
intentional or unintentional, may adversely impact the Fund in many ways, including, but not limited to, |