[INFLATIONHEDGES497002.GIF]



Inflation Hedges Strategy Fund





Class I Shares (Symbol: INHIX)

Class R Shares (Symbol: INHRX)






Prospectus


February 12, 2013, as amended February 26, 2013









The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) has not approved or disapproved of these securities or determined if this Prospectus is truthful or complete.  Any representation to the contrary is a criminal offense.






Inflation Hedges Strategy Fund

a series of the Northern Lights Fund Trust II (the “Trust”)




TABLE OF CONTENTS

SUMMARY SECTION

1

INVESTMENT STRATEGIES, RELATED RISKS AND DISCLOSURE OF PORTFOLIO HOLDINGS

9

      INVESTMENT OBJECTIVE

9

      PRINCIPAL INVESTMENT STRATEGIES

9

      PRINCIPAL RISKS OF INVESTING IN THE FUND

11

      PORTFOLIO HOLDINGS INFORMATION

17

MANAGEMENT OF THE FUND

17

      THE ADVISER

17

      THE SUB-ADVISERS

18

      PORTFOLIO MANAGERS

19

SHAREHOLDER INFORMATION

22

      CHOOSING A SHARE CLASS

22

      MORE ABOUT CLASS I SHARES

22

      MORE ABOUT CLASS R SHARES

22

      SHARE PRICE

22

      HOW TO PURCHASE SHARES

23

      HOW TO REDEEM SHARES

25

      REDEMPTION FEE

27

      TOOLS TO COMBAT FREQUENT TRANSACTIONS

27

      DISTRIBUTION OF FUND SHARES

29

DISTRIBUTIONS AND TAXES

29

      TAX STATUS, DIVIDENDS AND DISTRIBUTIONS

29

FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS

30

PRIVACY NOTICE

31

 







Summary Section


Investment Objective.   The investment objective of the Inflation Hedges Strategy Fund is to seek to provide current income and real (after inflation) total returns.


Fees and Expenses of the Fund.   This table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy and hold shares of the Fund.


Shareholder Fees

(fees paid directly from your investment)

Class I

Class R

Maximum Sales Charge (Load) Imposed on Purchases (as a percentage of offering price)

None

None

Maximum Deferred Sales Charge (Load)

None

None

Redemption Fee (as a percentage of amount redeemed within 60 days of purchase)

2.00%

2.00%

Annual Fund Operating Expenses

(expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)

 

 

Management Fees

1.60%

1.60%

Distribution and Service (Rule 12b-1) Fees

0.00%

0.25%

Other Expenses (1)

0.48%

0.48%

Subsidiary Expenses

0.03%

0.03%

Remaining Other Expenses

0.45%

0.45%

Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses

0.01%

0.01%

Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses

2.09%

2.34%

Fee Waiver/Expense Reimbursement

0.38%

0.38%

Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses After Fee Waiver/Expense Reimbursement (2)

1.71%

1.96%


(1)

These expenses are based on estimated amounts for the Fund’s current fiscal year.

(2)

Pursuant to an operating expense limitation agreement between North Peak Asset Management LLC (the “Adviser”) and the Fund, the Adviser has agreed to waive its fees and/or absorb expenses of the Fund to ensure that Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses (excluding brokerage fees and commissions, acquired fund fees and expenses, borrowing costs, interest and tax expenses, dividends on short positions and extraordinary expenses) for the Fund do not exceed 1.70% and 1.95%, of the Fund’s average net assets, for Class I and Class R shares, respectively, through March 31, 2014.  This operating expense limitation agreement can be terminated only by, or with the consent of, the Board of Trustees.  The Adviser is permitted to seek reimbursement from the Fund, subject to limitations, for fees it waived and Fund expenses it paid.  The Adviser is permitted to seek reimbursement from the Fund for the prior three fiscal years, as long as the reimbursement does not cause the Fund’s operating expenses to exceed the expense cap.

 


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 on these assumptions, your costs would be:

 

 

One Year

Three Years

Class I

$174

$618

Class R

$199

$694


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 Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses or in the Example, affect the Fund’s performance.  


Principal Investment Strategies.   The Adviser is responsible for developing, constructing and monitoring the asset allocation and portfolio strategy for the Fund.  The Adviser believes that the Fund’s investment reward and risk characteristics can be enhanced by employing multiple sub-advisory firms to manage the assets of the Fund using a “manager of managers” approach.  The Adviser has selected and oversees multiple sub-advisers who manage separate segments of the Fund’s portfolio using distinct, complimentary, investment styles.  The Fund seeks to achieve its investment objectives using three principal strategies.  Each of the three strategies is managed by one or more sub-advisers who are unaffiliated with the Adviser or its affiliates. The Fund’s three strategies are as follows:  


·

Commodity Strategy. The Fund will provide exposure to a broad spectrum of commodities by investing up to 25% of its total assets (measured at the time of investment) in one or more wholly-owned and controlled subsidiaries (each a “Subsidiary” and collectively, the “Subsidiaries”).  The Fund’s aggregate investment in the Subsidiaries will not exceed 25% of the Fund’s total assets. The Commodities Strategy will be managed by one or more sub-advisers who will oversee assets in a corresponding Subsidiary.  

Each Subsidiary will invest directly in commodity futures and options on futures and may also invest in swap contracts and structured notes.  Each sub-adviser assigned to the Commodity Strategy invests according to a sub-strategy in one or a combination of (i) options, (ii) futures, (iii) forwards or (iv) spot contracts, each of which may be tied to (i) commodities, (ii) financial indices and instruments, (iii) foreign currencies, or (iv) equity indices.  Swap contracts have payments linked to commodity or financial derivatives that are designed to produce returns similar to those of a Subsidiary and their respective sub-strategies.  The Fund may invest in structured notes, which are debt obligations that also contain an embedded derivative component with characteristics that adjust the obligation’s risk/return profile. Generally, the performance of a structured note will track that of the underlying debt obligation and the derivative embedded within it.  Commodity Strategies’ sub-strategies may include investment styles such as (i) long term trend-following, (ii) discretionary macro investing based on economic fundamentals and value, (iii) specialized approaches to specific or individual market sectors such as financials, equities, currencies, energy, metals, agricultural and soft commodities, (iv) short-term systematic trading, and (v) counter-trend or mean reversion strategies.  Commodity strategy investments will be made without restriction as to issuer capitalization, country, or currency.    

Futures contracts are contractual agreements to buy or sell a particular currency, commodity or financial instrument at a pre-determined price in the future.  The Fund’s use of futures contracts (including options on futures contracts) through its investment in the Subsidiaries will have the economic effect of financial leverage.  Financial leverage magnifies exposure to the swings in prices of a commodity underlying such an instrument and results in increased volatility, which means the Fund will have the potential for greater gains, as well as the potential for greater losses, than if the Fund does not use such instruments that have a leveraging effect.  Leveraging tends to magnify, sometimes significantly, the effect of any increase or decrease in the Fund’s exposure to a commodity and may cause the Fund’s net asset value to be volatile.  For example, if the Adviser seeks to gain enhanced exposure to a specific commodity through an instrument providing leveraged exposure to the commodity and that instrument increases in value, the gain to the Fund will be magnified; however, if that investment decreases in value, the loss to the Fund will be magnified.  A decline in the Fund’s assets due to losses magnified by the instruments providing leveraged exposure may require the Fund to liquidate portfolio positions to satisfy its obligations, to meet redemption requests or to meet asset segregation requirements when it may not be advantageous to do so.  There is no assurance that the Fund’s use of instruments providing enhanced exposure will enable the Fund to achieve its investment objective.

As a result of the Fund’s strategy, the Fund may have highly leveraged exposure to one or more commodities at times.  The 1940 Act and the rules and interpretations thereunder impose certain limitations on the Fund’s ability to use leverage; however, the Fund is not subject to any additional limitations on its net long and short exposures.  For example, the Fund could hold instruments that provide five times the net return of a broad or narrow-based securities index.  For more information on these and other risk factors, please see the “Principal Risk Factors” section of the Prospectus.

·

Inflation Linked Bonds and Leveraged Loans Strategies.   The inflation linked bonds strategy uses fixed income security selection strategies in inflation indexed bonds of both developed and emerging market countries. Like conventional bonds, inflation-indexed bonds generally pay interest at fixed intervals and return the principal at maturity. Unlike conventional bonds, an inflation-indexed bond’s principal or interest is adjusted periodically to reflect changes in a specified inflation index. Inflation-indexed bonds are designed to preserve purchasing power over the life of the bond while paying a “real” rate of interest (i.e., a return over and above the inflation rate). These bonds are generally issued at a fixed interest rate that is lower than that of conventional bonds of comparable maturity and quality, but they generally retain their value against inflation over time.

The inflation linked bonds strategy also invests in U.S. Treasury securities including repurchase agreements collateralized fully by U.S. Treasury securities. The sub-adviser(s) assigned to this strategy intends to utilize short positions in U.S. Treasury securities in order to hedge interest rate risk.

The Fund intends to invest in high quality fixed income securities backed by the U.S. government.  However, the Fund may also invest in income producing floating rate loans and other floating rate debt securities. The leveraged loans strategy invests in income producing floating rate loans and other floating rate debt securities. The Fund invests primarily in senior floating rate loans of domestic and foreign borrowers (“Senior Loans”). Senior Loans typically are of below investment grade quality and have below investment grade credit ratings, which ratings are associated with securities having high risk, speculative characteristics (sometimes referred to as “junk”). Until assets reach a level necessary to build a diversified portfolio of individual leveraged loans and other securities, the strategy will attempt to produce some of the income and return characteristics of the leveraged loan and high yield corporate bond markets synthetically through derivatives instruments, including swaps on credit indices. Thereafter, the strategy will utilize such derivatives when deemed appropriate by the portfolio manager.  The Fund will invest in fixed income securities without any limitation with respect to maturity.

·

Natural Resource Equities Strategy.  The natural resource equities strategy includes equity and equity-related securities of natural resource-related companies worldwide, including investing in emerging markets. Natural resource-related companies include companies that own or develop energy, metals, forest products and other natural resources, or supply goods and services to such companies.  The Fund seeks to invest in companies that are expected to benefit from rising demand for natural resources and natural resource-based products and services. The fund invests in four major sectors: (1) energy, (2) metals and mining, (3) forest products and (4) other natural resource-based companies.

The Fund currently intends to invest up to 25% of its total assets in the Subsidiaries collectively. Each Subsidiary is a wholly-owned and controlled subsidiary of the Fund, organized under the laws of the Cayman Islands as an exempted company. Generally, a Subsidiary will invest primarily in commodity futures and swaps on commodity futures but it may also invest in financial futures, option and swap contracts, fixed income securities, pooled investment vehicles, including those that are not registered pursuant to the 1940 Act, and other investments intended to serve as margin or collateral for the Subsidiary’s derivative positions. The Fund will invest in a Subsidiary in order to gain exposure to the commodities markets within the limitations of the federal tax laws, rules and regulations that apply to registered investment companies. Unlike the Fund, the Subsidiaries may invest without limitation in commodity-linked derivatives, however, the Subsidiaries will comply with the same 1940 Act asset coverage requirements with respect to its investments in commodity-linked derivatives that are applicable to the Fund’s transactions in derivatives.

The Adviser will allocate management of each strategy to a sub-adviser to manage in accordance with the strategy. The allocations may vary, however under normal market conditions, the Adviser anticipates that the Fund will allocate approximately up to 25% of its assets to the commodities strategy and approximately between 30% and 60% of its assets to the inflation linked bonds & leveraged loan strategies and between 20% and 50% to the natural resource equities strategy.  However, as market conditions change the portion allocated may be higher or lower.  

Principal Risks.   Remember that in addition to possibly not achieving your investment goals, you could lose money by investing in the Fund.  The principal risks of investing in the Fund are:


·

Commodities Risk: Investing in the commodities markets (directly or indirectly) may subject the Fund to greater volatility than investments in in traditional equity and fixed income securities.  Commodity prices may be influenced by unfavorable weather, animal and plant disease, geologic and environmental factors as well as changes in government regulation such as tariffs, embargoes or burdensome production rules and restrictions.

·

Credit Risk: There is a risk that issuers and counterparties will not make payments on securities and other investments held by the Fund, resulting in losses to the Fund. In addition, the credit quality of securities held by the Fund may be lowered if an issuer’s financial condition changes.

·

Derivatives Risk: The Fund may use derivatives (including commodity futures, options on futures, swap agreements and structured notes) to enhance returns or hedge against market declines. The Fund’s indirect use of derivative instruments involves risks different from, or possibly greater than, the risks associated with investing directly in securities including leverage risk, counterparty default risk and tracking risk.  The value of a commodity-linked derivative investment typically is based upon the price movements of a physical commodity (such as heating oil, livestock, or agricultural products), a commodity futures contract or commodity index, or some other readily measurable economic variable dependent upon changes in the value of commodities or the commodities markets. The value of these securities will rise or fall in response to changes in the underlying commodity or related benchmark or investment. These securities expose the Fund economically to movements in commodity prices.

·

Counterparty Credit Risk : The Fund may make investments in financial instruments involving counterparties that attempt to gain exposure to a particular group of securities, index or asset class without actually purchasing those securities or investments, or to hedge a position. The Fund’s use of such financial instruments, including swap agreements and structured notes, involves risks that are different from those associated with ordinary portfolio securities transactions. For example, if a swap agreement counterparty defaults on its payment obligations to the Fund, this default will cause the value of your investment in the Fund to decrease. Swap agreements and structured notes also may be considered to be illiquid.

·

Risk of Lower Rated Investments : Investments rated below investment grade and comparable unrated securities have speculative characteristics because of the credit risk associated with their issuers. Changes in economic conditions or other circumstances typically have a greater effect on the ability of issuers of lower rated investments to make principal and interest payments than they do on issuers of higher rated investments. An economic downturn generally leads to a higher non-payment rate, and a lower rated investment may lose significant value before a default occurs. Lower rated investments generally are subject to greater price volatility and illiquidity than higher rated investments.

·

Fixed-Income Securities Risks: Fixed income securities are subject to the risk that securities could lose value because of interest rate changes.  Fixed income securities with longer maturities are subject to greater price shifts as a result of interest rate changes than fixed income securities with shorter maturities.  Fixed income securities are also subject to prepayment and credit risks.

·

Fixed-Income Foreign Investment Risk : Investment in fixed-income securities or financial instruments of foreign issuers involves increased risks due to adverse issuer, political, regulatory, currency, market or economic developments. These developments may impact the ability of a foreign debt issuer to make timely and ultimate payments on its debt obligations to the Fund or impair the Fund’s ability to enforce its rights against the foreign debt issuer. These risks are heightened in emerging or developing markets. Foreign investments may also be less liquid and more difficult to value than investments in U.S. issuers.

·

Foreign Securities and Currency Risk.   The risk of investments in foreign companies involve certain risks not generally associated with investments in the securities of U.S. companies, including changes in currency exchange rates, unstable political, social and economic conditions, a lack of adequate or accurate company information, differences in the way securities markets operate, less secure international banks or securities depositories than those in the U.S. and foreign controls on investment.  In addition, individual international country economies may differ favorably or unfavorably from the U.S. economy in such respects as growth of gross domestic product, rates of inflation, capital reinvestment, resources, self-sufficiency and balance of payments position.  These risks may be greater in emerging markets and in less developed countries.


·

Emerging Markets Risk.  Investments in emerging markets instruments involve greater risks than investing in foreign instruments in general. Risks of investing in emerging market countries include political or social upheaval, nationalization of businesses, restrictions on foreign ownership and prohibitions on the repatriation of assets and risks from an economy’s dependence on revenues from particular commodities or industries. In addition, currency transfer restrictions, limited potential buyers for such instruments, delays and disruption in settlement procedures and illiquidity or low volumes of transactions may make exits difficult or impossible at times.


·

Special Risks for Inflation-Indexed Bonds : The risk that interest payments on, or market values of, inflation-indexed investments decline because of a decline in inflation (or deflation) or changes in investors’ and/or the market’s inflation expectations. In addition, inflation indices may not reflect the true rate of inflation.

·

Natural Resources Risk : The natural resources industry can be significantly affected by events relating to international political and economic developments, energy conservation, the success of exploration projects, commodity prices, and taxes and other governmental regulations.

·

General Market Risk : The risk that the value of the Fund’s shares will fluctuate based on the performance of the Fund’s investments and other factors affecting the commodities and/or securities markets generally.

·

Issuer-Specific Risk: The value of a specific security 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 securities of smaller issuers can be more volatile than those of larger issuers.  The value of certain types of securities can be more volatile due to increased sensitivity to adverse issuer, political, regulatory, market, or economic developments.

·

Leverage Risk:   Using derivatives like commodity futures and options to increase the Fund’s combined long and short exposure creates leverage, which can magnify the Fund’s potential for gain or loss and, therefore, amplify the effects of market volatility on the Fund’s share price.

·

Limited History of Operations: The Fund is a new mutual fund and has a limited history of operation.  In addition, the Adviser has not previously managed a mutual fund.  

·

Liquidity Risk : Liquidity risk exists when particular investments of the Fund would be difficult to purchase or sell, possibly preventing the Fund from selling such illiquid securities at an advantageous time or price, or possibly requiring the Fund to dispose of other investments at unfavorable times or prices in order to satisfy its obligations.

·

Management Risk: The risk that investment strategies employed by the Adviser in selecting investments and asset allocations for the Fund may not result in an increase in the value of your investment or in overall performance equal to other similar investment vehicles having similar investment strategies.

·

Market Risk: Overall securities and derivatives market risks may affect the value of individual instruments in which the Fund invests.  Factors such as domestic and foreign economic growth and market conditions, interest rate levels, and political events affect the securities and derivatives markets.  When the value of the Fund’s investments goes down, your investment in the Fund decreases in value and you could lose money.

·

High-Yield or “Junk” Security Risk : Investments in debt securities that are rated below investment grade by one or more nationally recognized statistical rating organization (“NRSRO”) (“high-yield securities” also known as “junk securities”) may be subject to greater risk of loss of principal and interest than investments in higher-rated debt securities. High-yield securities are also generally considered to be subject to greater market risk than higher-rated securities.

·

Short Position Risk: The Fund will incur a loss as a result of a short position if the price of the short position instrument increases in value between the date of the short position sale and the date on which an offsetting position is purchased.  Short positions may be considered speculative transactions and involve special risks, including greater reliance on the Adviser’s or an underlying portfolio manager’s ability to accurately anticipate the future value of a security or instrument.  The Fund’s losses are potentially unlimited in a short position transaction.

·

Strategy Risk: The risk that investment strategies employed by the Adviser in selecting investments and asset allocations for the Fund may not result in an increase in the value of your investment or in overall performance equal to other investments.

·

Regulatory Change Risk :  In 2012, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”) adopted certain rule amendments that significantly affected the exemptions from CFTC regulations available to the Fund and its Subsidiaries.  Effective as of January 1, 2013, the Fund and its Subsidiaries are subject to CFTC regulations as a result of these changes.  As a result, the Adviser is registered as a commodity pool operator (“CPO”) with the CFTC and, accordingly, is subject to CFTC regulations.  The on-going compliance implications of these amendments are not yet fully effective and their scope of application is still uncertain.  CFTC-mandated disclosure, reporting and recordkeeping obligations will apply with respect to the Fund once the CFTC proposal that seeks to “harmonize” these obligations with overlapping SEC regulations is finalized.  The effects of these regulatory changes could increase Fund expenses, reduce investment returns or limit the Fund’s ability to implement its investment strategy.


·

Tax Risk: Certain of the Fund’s investment strategies, including transactions in options, futures contracts, hedging transactions, forward contracts and swap contracts, may be subject to the special tax rules, the effect of which may have adverse tax consequences for the Fund.  Also, by investing in commodities indirectly through the Subsidiaries, the Fund will obtain exposure to the commodities markets within the U.S. federal tax requirements that apply to the Fund.  However, because each Subsidiary is a controlled foreign corporation, any income received from its investments will be passed through to the Fund as ordinary income, which may be taxed at less favorable rates than capital gains.  Additionally, the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) has issued a number of private letter rulings to other mutual funds (unrelated to the Fund), which indicate that certain income from a fund’s investment in a wholly-owned foreign subsidiary will constitute “qualifying income” for purposes of Subchapter M of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”).  However, the IRS has suspended issuance of any further letters pending a review of its position.  If the IRS were to change its position with respect to the conclusions reached in its private letter rulings (which change in position might be applied to the Fund retroactively), the income from the Fund’s investment in the Subsidiaries might not be qualifying income, and the Fund might not qualify as a regulated investment company for one or more years.

·

Wholly-Owned Subsidiary Risk:   The Subsidiaries will not be registered under the 1940 Act and, unless otherwise noted in this Prospectus, will not be subject to all of the investor protections of the 1940 Act.  The Adviser has, on behalf of each Subsidiary, filed with the National Futures Association a notice claiming exemption from the CFTC’s reporting and disclosure requirements in accordance with Part 4 of the CFTC Regulations.  The CFTC regulations provide relief relating to CFTC disclosure and reporting requirements for commodity pools, such as the Subsidiaries, that are operated by a CPO that is the same as, controls, is controlled by or is under common control with the CPO of an offered pool (such as the Fund).  Changes in the laws or regulations of the United States and/or the Cayman Islands, under which the Fund and the Subsidiaries, respectively, are organized, could result in the inability of the Fund and/or a Subsidiary to operate as described in this Prospectus and could negatively affect the Fund and its shareholders.  Your cost of investing in the Fund will be higher because you indirectly bear the expenses of the Subsidiaries.

·

Non-Diversification Risk . The Fund is classified as non-diversified under the 1940 Act. This means that the Fund may invest in securities of relatively few issuers. Thus, the performance of one or a small number of portfolio holdings can affect overall performance.

Performance.   Because the Fund has less than a full calendar year of 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 this Prospectus.  Also, shareholder reports containing financial and performance information will be mailed to shareholders semi-annually.  Updated performance information will be available at no cost by calling the Fund toll-free at 1-855-294-7538.

Investment Adviser.   North Peak Asset Management LLC serves as the Fund’s investment adviser.  


Investment Sub-Advisers.   Wellington Management Company, LLP (“Wellington Management”), Parametric Portfolio Associates, LLC (“Parametric”), Mellon Capital Management Corporation (“Mellon”), Commodity Strategies AG (“Commodity Strategies”), The Boston Company Asset Management, LLC (“Boston Company”), City of London Investment Group (“CoL”), and each serve as the Fund’s investment sub-adviser (collectively, the “Sub-Advisers”).


Portfolio Managers.   The following individuals serve as the Fund’s portfolio managers:


Portfolio Managers

Primary Title

With the Fund since:


The Adviser

 

 

Michael Hanus, CFA

Principal of the Adviser since November 2011.

May 2012

Alec Petro


Brian Chen, Ph.D.

Principal of the Adviser since November 2011.


Head of Research and Co-Portfolio Manager of the Adviser since 2011.

May 2012


May 2012


Wellington Management Company, LLP

Lindsay Politi



Jeffrey W. Heuer, CFA





Vice President and Fixed Income Portfolio Manager.


Vice President and Bank Loan Portfolio Manager.





May 2012



May 2012


Parametric

 

 

David Stein, Ph.D.


Thomas Seto, M.B.A.

Chief Investment Officer.


Managing Director - Portfolio Management.

May 2012


May 2012


Mellon Capital

Vassilis Dagioglu

Managing Director, Head of Asset Allocation Portfolio Management since 2010.


May 2012

James H. Stavena

Managing Director, Asset Allocation since 1999.


May 2012

Commodity Strategies AG

Robert Holroyd

Director and Principal since 1999.


May 2012

The Boston Company Asset Management, LLC

Robin Wehbe


Lead Portfolio Manager, Senior Research Analyst since 2006.



May 2012


City of London Investment Management Company Limited

Martín Garzarón



Linda Dean


Oliver Koh





Chief Investment Officer, Equities since 2004.


Portfolio Manager since 2003.


Portfolio Manager since 2010.





May 2012



May 2012


May 2012

 

 

 


Purchase and Sale of Fund Shares.   You may conduct transactions by mail (Inflation Hedges Strategy Fund, c/o Gemini Fund Services, LLC, 17605 Wright Street, Omaha NE 68130), or by telephone at 1-855-294-7538.  Investors who wish to purchase or redeem Fund shares through a financial intermediary should contact the financial intermediary directly.  The minimum initial investment in each share class of the Fund is $100,000 and $5000 for Class I and Class R, respectively, with a minimum subsequent investment of $10,000 and $500 for Class I and Class R, respectively, although the Fund reserves the right to waive minimum initial investment or minimum subsequent investment requirements in its sole discretion.  


Tax Information.   The Fund’s distributions are taxable, and will be taxed as ordinary income or capital gains, unless you are investing through a tax-deferred arrangement, such as a 401(k) plan or an individual retirement account. Under certain circumstances, withdrawals from a 401(k) plan or an individual retirement account are taxable.


Payments to Broker-Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries.   If you purchase Fund shares 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 conflicts 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.


Investment Strategies, Related Risks and Disclosure of Portfolio Holdings


Investment Objective

The investment objective of the Inflation Hedges Strategy Fund (the “Fund”) is to seek to provide current income and real (after inflation) total returns.


Principal Investment Strategies

The Adviser is responsible for developing, constructing and monitoring the asset allocation and portfolio strategy for the Fund.  The Adviser believes that the Fund’s investment reward and risk characteristics can be enhanced by employing multiple sub-advisory firms to manage the assets of the Fund using a “manager of managers” approach.  The Adviser has selected and oversees multiple sub-advisers who manage separate segments of the Fund’s portfolio using distinct, complimentary, investment styles.  The Adviser monitors each sub-adviser daily and evaluates them quarterly.  The Fund seeks to achieve its investment objectives using three principal strategies.  Each of the three strategies is managed by one or more sub-advisers who are unaffiliated with the Adviser or its affiliates. The Fund’s three strategies are as follows:


·

Commodity Strategy. The Fund will provide exposure to a broad spectrum of commodities by investing up to 25% of its total assets (measured at the time of investment) in one or more wholly-owned and controlled subsidiaries (each a “Subsidiary” and collectively, the “Subsidiaries”).  The Fund’s aggregate investment in the Subsidiaries will not exceed 25% of the Fund’s total assets. The Commodities Strategy will be managed by one or more sub-advisers who will oversee assets in a corresponding Subsidiary.

Each Subsidiary will invest directly in commodity futures and options on futures and may also invest in swap contracts and structured notes.  Each sub-adviser assigned to the Commodity Strategy invests according to a sub-strategy in one or a combination of (i) options, (ii) futures, (iii) forwards or (iv) spot contracts, each of which may be tied to (i) commodities, (ii) financial indices and instruments, (iii) foreign currencies, or (iv) equity indices.  Swap contracts have payments linked to commodity or financial derivatives that are designed to produce returns similar to those of a Subsidiary and their respective sub-strategies.  The Fund may invest in structured notes, which are debt obligations that also contain an embedded derivative component with characteristics that adjust the obligation’s risk/return profile. Generally, the performance of a structured note will track that of the underlying debt obligation and the derivative embedded within it.  Commodity sub-strategies may include investment styles such as (i) long term trend-following, (ii) discretionary macro investing based on economic fundamentals and value, (iii) specialized approaches to specific or individual market sectors such as financials, equities, currencies, energy, metals, agricultural and soft commodities, (iv) short-term systematic trading, and (v) counter-trend or mean reversion strategies.  Commodity strategy investments will be made without restriction as to issuer capitalization, country, or currency.    

Futures contracts are contractual agreements to buy or sell a particular currency, commodity or financial instrument at a pre-determined price in the future.  The Fund’s use of futures contracts (including options on futures contracts) through its investment in the Subsidiaries will have the economic effect of financial leverage.  Financial leverage magnifies exposure to the swings in prices of a commodity underlying such an instrument and results in increased volatility, which means the Fund will have the potential for greater gains, as well as the potential for greater losses, than if the Fund does not use such instruments that have a leveraging effect.  Leveraging tends to magnify, sometimes significantly, the effect of any increase or decrease in the Fund’s exposure to a commodity and may cause the Fund’s net asset value to be volatile.  For example, if the Adviser seeks to gain enhanced exposure to a specific commodity through an instrument providing leveraged exposure to the commodity and that instrument increases in value, the gain to the Fund will be magnified; however, if that investment decreases in value, the loss to the Fund will be magnified.  A decline in the Fund’s assets due to losses magnified by the instruments providing leveraged exposure may require the Fund to liquidate portfolio positions to satisfy its obligations, to meet redemption requests or to meet asset segregation requirements when it may not be advantageous to do so.  There is no assurance that the Fund’s use of instruments providing enhanced exposure will enable the Fund to achieve its investment objective.

As a result of the Fund’s strategy, the Fund may have highly leveraged exposure to one or more commodities at times.  The 1940 Act and the rules and interpretations thereunder impose certain limitations on the Fund’s ability to use leverage; however, the Fund is not subject to any additional limitations on its net long and short exposures.  For example, the Fund could hold instruments that provide five times the net return of a broad or narrow-based securities index.  For more information on these and other risk factors, please see the “Principal Risk Factors” section of the Prospectus.

·

Inflation Linked Bonds and Leveraged Loans Strategies.   The inflation linked bonds strategy uses fixed income security selection strategies in inflation indexed bonds of both developed and emerging market countries. Like conventional bonds, inflation-indexed bonds generally pay interest at fixed intervals and return the principal at maturity. Unlike conventional bonds, an inflation-indexed bond’s principal or interest is adjusted periodically to reflect changes in a specified inflation index. Inflation-indexed bonds are designed to preserve purchasing power over the life of the bond while paying a “real” rate of interest (i.e., a return over and above the inflation rate). These bonds are generally issued at a fixed interest rate that is lower than that of conventional bonds of comparable maturity and quality, but they generally retain their value against inflation over time.

The inflation linked bonds strategy also invests in U.S. Treasury securities including repurchase agreements collateralized fully by U.S. Treasury securities. The sub-adviser(s) assigned to this strategy intends to utilize short positions in U.S. Treasury securities in order to hedge interest rate risk.

The Fund intends to invest in high quality fixed income securities backed by the U.S. government.  However, the Fund may also invest in income producing floating rate loans and other floating rate debt securities. The leveraged loans strategy invests in income producing floating rate loans and other floating rate debt securities. The Fund invests primarily in senior floating rate loans of domestic and foreign borrowers (“Senior Loans”). Senior Loans typically are of below investment grade quality and have below investment grade credit ratings, which ratings are associated with securities having high risk, speculative characteristics (sometimes referred to as “junk”). Until assets reach a level necessary to build a diversified portfolio of individual leveraged loans and other securities, the strategy will attempt to produce some of the income and return characteristics of the leveraged loan and high yield corporate bond markets synthetically through derivatives instruments, including swaps on credit indices. Thereafter, the strategy will utilize such derivatives when deemed appropriate by the portfolio manager. The Fund will invest in fixed income securities without any limitation with respect to maturity.

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Natural Resource Equities Strategy.  The natural resource equities strategy includes equity and equity-related securities of natural resource-related companies worldwide, including investing in emerging markets. Natural resource-related companies include companies that own or develop energy, metals, forest products and other natural resources, or supply goods and services to such companies.  The Fund seeks to invest in companies that are expected to benefit from rising demand for natural resources and natural resource-based products and services. The fund invests in four major sectors: (1) energy, (2) metals and mining, (3) forest products and (4) other natural resource-based companies.

The Fund currently intends to invest up to 25% of its total assets in the Subsidiaries. Each Subsidiary is a wholly-owned and controlled subsidiary of the Fund, organized under the laws of the Cayman Islands as an exempted company. Generally, a Subsidiary will invest primarily in commodity futures and swaps on commodity futures but it may also invest in financial futures, option and swap contracts, fixed income securities, pooled investment vehicles, including those that are not registered pursuant to the 1940 Act, and other investments intended to serve as margin or collateral for the Subsidiary’s derivative positions. The Fund will invest in a Subsidiary in order to gain exposure to the commodities markets within the limitations of the federal tax laws, rules and regulations that apply to registered investment companies. Unlike the Fund, the Subsidiaries may invest without limitation in commodity-linked derivatives, however, the Subsidiaries will comply with the same 1940 Act asset coverage requirements with respect to its investments in commodity-linked derivatives that are applicable to the Fund’s transactions in derivatives.

The Adviser will allocate management of each strategy to a sub-adviser to manage in accordance with the strategy. The allocations may vary, however under normal market conditions, the Adviser anticipates that the Fund will allocate approximately up to 25% of its assets to the commodities strategy and approximately between 30% and 60% of its assets to the inflation linked bonds & leveraged loan strategies and between 20% and 50% to the natural resource equities strategy.  However, as market conditions change the portion allocated may be higher or lower.  

The Fund may temporarily depart from its principal investment strategies by holding cash. It may do this in response to unusual circumstances, such as: adverse market, economic or other conditions (for example, during periods when there is a shortage of appropriate securities); to maintain liquidity to meet shareholder redemptions; or to accommodate cash inflows. Such temporary cash positions could affect the Fund’s investment returns and/or the Fund’s ability to achieve its investment objective.

The Adviser may invest the Fund’s assets in securities and other instruments directly. North Peak Asset Management may exercise this discretion in order to invest the Fund’s assets pending allocation to a sub-adviser, to hedge the Fund against exposures created by the sub-advisers, or to modify the Fund’s exposure to a particular investment or market related risk. The Adviser may exercise its discretion over unallocated assets to invest Fund assets directly and may reallocate to itself assets previously allocated to a sub-adviser.

From time to time, certain of the sub-advisers or their strategies may not be available to the Fund due to such reasons as investment minimums, capacity limitations, and regulatory limitations or other imposed constraints. Accordingly, the Fund may, for temporary purposes, utilize high-quality, short-term debt securities or other cash instruments as a substitute for certain sub-advisers’ strategies until Fund assets reach appropriate scale for optimal allocation.

Principal Risks of Investing in the Fund

Before investing in the Fund, you should carefully consider your own investment goals, the amount of time you are willing to leave your money invested and the amount of risk you are willing to take.   Remember that in addition to possibly not achieving your investment goals, you could lose money by investing in the Fund.  The value of your investment in the Fund will go up and down with the prices of the securities in which the Fund invests.  The principal risks of investing in the Fund are:

Commodity Risk: The Fund’s exposure to the commodities markets may subject the Fund to greater volatility than investments in traditional securities.  The value of commodity-linked derivative instruments, commodity-based exchange traded trusts and commodity-based exchange traded funds and notes may be affected by changes in overall market movements, commodity index volatility, changes in interest rates, or sectors affecting a particular industry or commodity, such as drought, floods, weather, livestock disease, embargoes, tariffs, and international economic, political and regulatory developments.

Credit Risk: There is a risk that issuers and counterparties will not make payments on securities and other investments held by the Fund, resulting in losses to the Fund.  In addition, the credit quality of securities held by the Fund may be lowered if an issuer’s financial condition changes.  Lower credit quality may lead to greater volatility in the price of a security and in shares of the Fund.  Lower credit quality also may affect liquidity and make it difficult for the Fund to sell the security.  Default, or the market’s perception that an issuer is likely to default, could reduce the value and liquidity of securities held by the Fund, thereby reducing the value of your investment in Fund shares.  In addition, default may cause the Fund to incur expenses in seeking recovery of principal or interest on its portfolio holdings.  Credit risk also exists whenever the Fund enters into a foreign exchange or derivative contract, because the counterparty may not be able or may choose not to perform under the contract.  When the Fund invests in foreign currency contracts, or other over-the-counter derivative instruments (including options), it is assuming a credit risk with regard to the party with which it trades and also bears the risk of settlement default.  These risks may differ materially from risks associated with transactions effected on an exchange, which generally are backed by clearing organization guarantees, daily mark-to-market and settlement, segregation and minimum capital requirements applicable to intermediaries.  Transactions entered into directly between two counterparties generally do not benefit from such protections.  Relying on a counterparty exposes the Fund to the risk that a counterparty will not settle a transaction in accordance with its terms and conditions because of a dispute over the terms of the contract (whether or not bona fide) or because of a credit or liquidity problem, thus causing the Fund to suffer a loss.  If a counterparty defaults on its payment obligations to the Fund, this default will cause the value of an investment in the Fund to decrease.  In addition, to the extent the Fund deals with a limited number of counterparties, it will be more susceptible to the credit risks associated with those counterparties.  The Fund is neither restricted from dealing with any particular counterparty nor from concentrating any or all of its transactions with one counterparty.  The ability of the Fund to transact business with any one or number of counterparties and the absence of a regulated market to facilitate settlement may increase the potential for losses by the Fund.  

Derivatives Risk:   The Fund may use derivatives (including commodity futures, options on futures, swap agreements and structured notes) to gain exposure to commodities, enhance returns or hedge against market declines.  The Fund’s 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 fulfill 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.  Derivative contracts ordinarily have leverage inherent in their terms.  The low margin deposits normally required in trading derivatives, including futures contracts, permit a high degree of leverage.  Accordingly, a relatively small price movement may result in an immediate and substantial loss to the Fund.  Because option premiums paid or received by the Fund are small in relation to the market value of the investments underlying the options, buying and selling put and call options can be more speculative than investing directly in securities.  The value of a commodity-linked derivative investment typically is based upon the price movements of a physical commodity (such as heating oil, livestock, or agricultural products), a commodity futures contract or commodity index, or some other readily measurable economic variable dependent upon changes in the value of commodities or the commodities markets. The value of these securities will rise or fall in response to changes in the underlying commodity or related benchmark or investment. These securities expose the Fund economically to movements in commodity prices.  

Counterparty Risk : A financial institution or other counterparty with whom the Fund does business may decline in financial condition and become unable or unwilling to honor its commitments. This could cause the value of Fund shares to decline and/or the Fund could experience delays in the delivery of loans or other income securities purchased from the counterparty or of proceeds of a sale of a loan or other income security to a counterparty.

Risk of Lower Rated Investments : Investments rated below investment grade and comparable unrated securities have speculative characteristics because of the credit risk associated with their issuers. Changes in economic conditions or other circumstances typically have a greater effect on the ability of issuers of lower rated investments to make principal and interest payments than they do on issuers of higher rated investments. An economic downturn generally leads to a higher non-payment rate, and a lower rated investment may lose significant value before a default occurs. Lower rated investments generally are subject to greater price volatility and illiquidity than higher rated investments.

Fixed-Income Risk: When the Fund invests in fixed-income securities or derivatives, 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 or derivatives 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.  Other risk factors include credit risk (the debtor may default) 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.  

Fixed-Income Foreign Investment Risk : Investment in fixed-income securities or financial instruments of foreign issuers involves increased risks due to adverse issuer, political, regulatory, currency, market or economic developments. These developments may impact the ability of a foreign debt issuer to make timely and ultimate payments on its debt obligations to the Fund or impair the Fund’s ability to enforce its rights against the foreign debt issuer. These risks are heightened in emerging or developing markets. Foreign investments may also be less liquid and more difficult to value than investments in U.S. issuers.

Foreign Securities and Currency Risk .  To the extent that the Fund invests in securities of foreign companies, including ADRs, your investment is subject to foreign securities risk.  These include risks relating to political, social and economic developments abroad and differences between U.S. and foreign regulatory requirements and market practices.  Securities that are denominated in foreign currencies are subject to the further risk that the value of the foreign currency will fall in relation to the U.S. dollar and/or will be affected by volatile currency markets or actions of U.S. and foreign governments or central banks.  In addition to developed markets, the Fund’s investments in foreign securities may include investments in securities of companies in emerging markets, which are markets of countries in the initial stages of industrialization and that generally have low per capita income.  In addition to the risks of foreign securities in general, countries in emerging markets are generally more volatile and can 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.


Emerging Markets Risk. Investments in emerging markets instruments involve all of the risks of investing in foreign instruments; however these risks are generally heightened because emerging markets are in the initial stages of industrialization and have lower per capita income. Emerging markets are generally more volatile than the markets of developed countries with more mature economies. Emerging markets often provide significantly higher or lower rates of return than developed markets and carry significantly more risks to investors.

Special Risks for Inflation-Indexed Bonds : The risk that interest payments on, or market values of, inflation-indexed investments decline because of a decline in inflation (or deflation) or changes in investors’ and/or the market’s inflation expectations. In addition, inflation indices may not reflect the true rate of inflation.

Natural Resources Risk : The natural resources industry can be significantly affected by events relating to international political and economic developments, energy conservation, the success of exploration projects, commodity prices, and taxes and other governmental regulations.

Issuer-Specific Risk:   The value of a specific security 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 securities of smaller issuers can be more volatile than those of larger issuers.  The value of certain types of securities can be more volatile due to increased sensitivity to adverse issuer, political, regulatory, market, or economic developments.  The value of the Fund’s investment will be dependent on the success of the managed futures strategies used by the Adviser.

Leverage Risk:   Using derivatives like commodity futures and options to increase the Fund’s combined long and short position exposure creates leverage, which can amplify the effects of market volatility on the Fund’s share price and make the Fund’s returns more volatile.  The use of leverage may cause the Fund to liquidate portfolio positions when it would not be advantageous to do so in order to satisfy its obligations.  The use of leverage may also cause the Fund to have higher expenses than those of mutual funds that do not use such techniques.

Limited History of Operations: The Fund is a new mutual fund and has a limited history of operation.  In addition, the Adviser has not previously managed a mutual fund.  Mutual funds and their advisers are subject to restrictions and limitations imposed by the 1940 Act and the Internal Revenue Code that do not apply to an adviser’s management of individual and institutional accounts.  As a result, investors cannot judge the Adviser by a mutual fund-specific track record and it may not achieve its intended result in managing the Fund.

Liquidity Risk : The Fund is subject to liquidity risk.  Liquidity risk exists when particular investments of the Fund would be difficult to purchase or sell, possibly preventing the Fund from selling such illiquid securities at an advantageous time or price, or possibly requiring the Fund to dispose of other investments at unfavorable times or prices in order to satisfy its obligations.  Funds with principal investment strategies that involve securities of companies with smaller market capitalizations, non-U.S. securities, Rule 144A securities, derivatives or securities with substantial market and/or credit risk tend to have the greatest exposure to liquidity risk.

Management Risk: The net asset value of the Fund changes daily based on the performance of the securities and derivatives in which it invests.  The Adviser’s and the sub-adviser’s judgments about the attractiveness, value and potential appreciation of particular asset classes, securities, and managed futures strategies in which the Fund invests may prove to be incorrect and may not produce the desired results.  The Fund’s profitability will also depend upon the ability of the Adviser to select suitable investments for the Fund’s wholly-owned Subsidiaries, and upon the sub-adviser’s ability to successfully allocate among securities that employ managed futures profitably and the Adviser’s judgments about the attractiveness, value and potential appreciation the equity and fixed income securities, mutual funds, and ETFs in which the Fund will invest.  There can be no assurance that any of the securities selected by the Adviser or the sub-adviser will produce positive returns.

Market Risk: The net asset value of the Fund will fluctuate based on changes in the value of the securities and derivatives in which the Fund invests directly and indirectly through its wholly-owned Subsidiaries.  The Fund invests in securities and derivatives, which may be more volatile and carry more risk than some other forms of investment.  The price of securities and derivatives may rise or fall because of economic or political changes.  Security and derivative prices in general may decline over short or even extended periods of time.  Market prices of securities and derivatives in broad market segments may be adversely affected by price trends in commodities, interest rates, exchange rates or other factors wholly unrelated to the value or condition of an issuer.  

High-Yield or “Junk” Security Risk. Investments in debt securities that are rated below investment grade by one or more NRSROs (“high yield securities” also known as “junk securities”) may be subject to greater risk of loss of principal and interest than investments in higher-rated debt securities. High-yield securities are also generally considered to be highly speculative and subject to greater market risk than higher-rated securities. The capacity of issuers of high-yield securities to pay interest and repay principal is more likely to weaken than is that of issuers of higher-rated securities in times of deteriorating economic conditions or rising interest rates.  In addition, high yield securities may be more susceptible to real or perceived adverse economic conditions than higher-rated securities. The market for high-yield securities may be less liquid than the market for higher-rated securities. This can adversely affect the Fund’s ability to buy or sell optimal quantities of high-yield securities at desired prices.

Swap Risks : The Fund may enter into derivatives called swaps. Risks associated with swap agreements include changes in the returns of the underlying instruments, failure of the counterparties to perform under the contract’s terms and the possible lack of liquidity with respect to the swap agreements. Moreover, the Fund bears the risk of loss of the amount expected to be received under a swap agreement in the event of the default or bankruptcy of a swap agreement counterparty. The swaps market is largely unregulated. It is possible that developments in the swaps market, including potential government regulation, could adversely affect the Fund’s ability to terminate existing swap agreements or to realize amounts to be received under such agreements.

Structured Notes Risk :  Structured notes involve risks different from, or possibly greater than, the risks associated with traditional investments. These risks include (i) the risk that the issuer may default; (ii) risk of mispricing or improper valuation; and (iii) the risk that changes in the value of the note may not correlate perfectly with the underlying assets, rate or index. Structured note prices may be 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 structured notes involves risks different from, or possibly greater than, the risks associated with investing traditional securities including:

Leverage and Volatility Risk:  Structured notes ordinarily have leverage inherent in their terms.  Accordingly, a relatively small movement in an index to which structured note is linked may result in an immediate and substantial loss.  

Liquidity Risk:  Although it is anticipated that the structured notes will be actively traded, it is possible that particular investments might be difficult to purchase or sell, possibly preventing the Fund from executing positions at an advantageous time or price, or possibly requiring them to dispose of other investments at unfavorable times or prices in order to satisfy their obligations.  

Tracking Risk:  Structured notes may not be perfect substitutes for the securities, commodities or currencies they are intended to track.  Factors such as differences in supply and demand for certain structured note-related derivatives and indices may cause structured note returns to deviate from the adviser's expectations.  Consequently, structured note returns may not be highly correlated to the securities commodities or currencies they are intended to track.

Short Position Risk : The Fund’s long positions could decline in value at the same time that the value of the short positions increase, thereby increasing the Fund’s overall potential for loss.  The Fund’s short positions may result in a loss if the price of the short position instruments rise and it costs more to replace the short positions.  In contrast to the Fund’s long positions, for which the risk of loss is typically limited to the amount invested, the potential loss on the Fund’s short positions is unlimited; however, the Fund will be in compliance with Section 18(f) of the 1940 Act, to ensure that a Fund shareholder will not lose more than the amount invested in the Fund.  Market factors may prevent the Fund from closing out a short position at the most desirable time or at a favorable price.

Regulatory Change Risk:   In 2012, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”) adopted certain rule amendments that significantly affected the exemptions from CFTC regulations available to the Fund and its Subsidiaries.  Effective as of January 1, 2013, the Fund and its Subsidiaries are subject to CFTC regulations as a result of these changes.  As a result, the Adviser is registered as a commodity pool operator (“CPO”) with the CFTC and, accordingly, is subject to CFTC regulations.  The on-going compliance implications of these amendments are not yet fully effective and their scope of application is still uncertain.  CFTC-mandated disclosure, reporting and recordkeeping obligations will apply with respect to the Fund once the CFTC proposal that seeks to “harmonize” these obligations with overlapping SEC regulations is finalized.  The effects of these regulatory changes could increase Fund expenses, reduce investment returns or limit the Fund’s ability to implement its investment strategy.


Tax Risk.   The Fund’s short sales and transactions in options, futures contracts, hedging transactions, forward contracts and swap contracts will be subject to special tax rules (including mark-to-market, constructive sale, wash sale and short sale rules) the effect of which may be to accelerate income to the Fund, defer losses to the Fund, cause adjustments in the holding periods of the Fund’s securities, convert long-term capital gains into short-term capital gains or convert short-term capital losses into long-term capital losses.  These rules could, therefore, affect the amount, timing and character of distributions to the Fund’s shareholders.  The Fund’s use of such transactions may result in the Fund realizing more short-term capital gains (subject to tax at ordinary income tax rates) and ordinary income subject to tax at ordinary income tax rates than it would if it did not engage in such transactions.  Additionally, by investing in commodities indirectly through the Subsidiaries, the Fund will obtain exposure to the commodities markets within the federal tax requirements that apply to the Fund.  Specifically, each Subsidiary is expected to provide the Fund with exposure to the commodities markets within the limitations of the federal tax requirements of Subchapter M of the Code.  Sub-chapter M requires, among other things, that at least 90% of the Fund’s income be derived from securities or derived with respect to its business of investing in securities (typically referred to as “qualifying income”).  The Fund will make investments in certain commodity-linked derivatives through the Subsidiaries because income from these derivatives is not treated as “qualifying income” for purposes of the 90% income requirement if the Fund invests in the derivative directly.  The Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) has issued a number of private letter rulings to other mutual funds (unrelated to the Fund), which indicate that certain income from a fund’s investment in a wholly-owned foreign subsidiary will constitute “qualifying income” for purposes of Subchapter M.  The IRS, however, has suspended issuance of any further private letter rulings of this type pending a review of its position and the release of public guidance on the issue that can be relied upon by all taxpayers (as opposed to the “private” guidance previously issued to individual taxpayers in the aforementioned private letter rulings).  Because a private letter ruling applies only to the taxpayer to whom it is issued, the Fund is not entitled to rely upon the private letter rulings issued to other mutual funds.  However, the Fund believes that the prior private letter rulings evidence both a correct interpretation of the existing law and the current view of the IRS, consistently applied to a number of similarly situated mutual funds. Accordingly, the Fund intends to treat the income derived from its investment in the Subsidiaries as “qualifying income” for purposes of Subchapter M.  As a result, if the IRS were to change its position with respect to the conclusions reached in its private letter rulings (which change in position might be applied to the Fund retroactively), the income from the Fund’s investment in the Subsidiaries might not be qualifying income, and the Fund might not qualify as a regulated investment company for one or more years.  In such event, the Fund’s Board of Trustees would consider what action to take in the best interests of shareholders.


Wholly-Owned Subsidiary Risk:   The Subsidiaries will not be registered under the 1940 Act and, unless otherwise noted in this Prospectus, will not be subject to all of the investor protections of the 1940 Act.  The Adviser has, on behalf of each Subsidiary, filed with the National Futures Association a notice claiming exemption from the CFTC’s reporting and disclosure requirements in accordance with Part 4 of the CFTC Regulations.  The CFTC regulations provide relief relating to CFTC disclosure and reporting requirements for commodity pools, such as the Subsidiaries, that are operated by a CPO that is the same as, controls, is controlled by or is under common control with the CPO of an offered pool (such as the Fund).  Changes in the laws or regulations of the United States and/or the Cayman Islands, under which the Fund and the Subsidiaries, respectively, are organized, could result in the inability of the Fund and/or a Subsidiary to operate as described in this Prospectus and could negatively affect the Fund and its shareholders.  Your cost of investing in the Fund will be higher because you indirectly bear the expenses of the Subsidiaries.


The Fund, by investing in the Subsidiaries, will not have all of the protections offered to investors in registered investment companies.  However, the Fund wholly owns and controls each Subsidiary.  The investments of the Fund and Subsidiaries are both managed by the Adviser, making it unlikely that the Subsidiaries will take action contrary to the interests of the Fund or its shareholders.  The Board of Trustees has oversight responsibility for the investment activities of the Fund, including its investment in the Subsidiaries, and the Fund’s role as the sole shareholder of each Subsidiary.  Changes in the laws of the United States and/or the Cayman Islands, under which the Fund and Subsidiaries, respectively, are organized, could result in the inability of the Fund and/or a Subsidiary to operate as described in this Prospectus and could negatively affect the Fund and its shareholders.  For example, the Cayman Islands does not currently impose any income, corporate or capital gains tax, estate duty, inheritance tax, gift tax or withholding tax on the Subsidiaries.  If Cayman Islands law changes such that the Subsidiaries must pay Cayman Islands taxes, Fund shareholders would likely suffer decreased investment returns.

Non-Diversification Risk . The Fund is classified as non-diversified under the 1940 Act. This means that the Fund may invest in securities of relatively few issuers. Thus, the performance of one or a small number of portfolio holdings can affect overall performance.


Portfolio Holdings Information

A description of the Fund’s policies and procedures with respect to the disclosure of the Fund’s portfolio holdings is available in the Fund’s SAI.  

Management of the Fund


The Adviser

The Fund has entered into an Investment Advisory Agreement (“Advisory Agreement”) with North Peak Asset Management LLC, located at 457 Washington Street, Duxbury, MA 02332, under which the Adviser manages the Fund’s investments subject to the supervision of the Board of Trustees.  The Adviser is a registered investment adviser.  The Adviser is newly formed and did not previously manage any assets prior to the Fund’s commencement of operations.  Under the Advisory Agreement, the Fund compensates the Adviser for its investment advisory services at the annual rate of 1.60% of the Fund’s average daily net assets, payable on a monthly basis.  


Subject to the general supervision of the Board of Trustees, the Adviser is responsible for managing the Fund in accordance with its investment objective and policies using the approach discussed in the “Overview” section of this Prospectus.  The Adviser also maintains related records for the Fund.


Fund Expenses . The Fund is responsible for its own operating expenses.  Pursuant to an operating expense limitation agreement between the Adviser and the Fund, the Adviser has agreed to reduce its management fees and/or pay expenses of the Fund to ensure that the total amount of Fund operating expenses (excluding brokerage fees and commissions, acquired fund fees and expenses, borrowing costs, interest and tax expenses, dividends on short positions and extraordinary expenses) do not exceed 1.70% and 1.95% of the Fund’s average net assets, for Class I and Class R respectively, through March 31, 2014, subject thereafter to annual re-approval of the agreement by the Board of Trustees.  Any reduction in advisory fees or payment of expenses made by the Adviser may be reimbursed by the Fund in subsequent fiscal years if the Adviser so requests.  This reimbursement may be requested if the aggregate amount actually paid by the Fund toward operating expenses for such fiscal year (taking into account the reimbursement) does not exceed the applicable limitation on Fund expenses.  The Adviser is permitted to be reimbursed for management fee reductions and/or expense payments made in the prior three fiscal years.  Any such reimbursement will be reviewed and approved by the Board of Trustees.  The Fund must pay its current ordinary operating expenses before the Adviser is entitled to any reimbursement of management fees and/or expenses.  This Operating Expense Limitation Agreement can be terminated only by, or with the consent, of the Board of Trustees.


A discussion regarding the basis for the Board of Trustees’ approval of the Advisory Agreement will be available in the Fund’s first semi-annual report to shareholders.


The Sub-Advisers

The Adviser, on behalf of the Fund and, in certain cases, each Subsidiary, has entered into a sub-advisory agreement with each Sub-Adviser, and the Adviser compensates the Sub-Advisers out of the investment advisory fees it receives from the Fund.  Each Sub-Adviser makes investment decisions for the assets it has been allocated to manage, subject to the overall supervision of the Fund’s portfolio manager (see “Portfolio Managers” below).  The Adviser oversees the Sub-Advisers for compliance with the Fund’s investment objective, policies, strategies and restrictions, and monitors each Sub-Adviser’s adherence to its investment style.  The Board of Trustees supervises the Adviser and the Sub-Advisers, establishes policies that they must follow in their management activities, and oversees the hiring and termination of Sub-Advisers recommended by the Adviser.  The Fund has applied for an exemptive order with the SEC which would permit the Adviser, subject to certain conditions, to terminate existing Sub-Advisers or hire new Sub-Advisers for the Fund, to materially amend the terms of particular agreements with Sub-Advisers or to continue the employment of existing Sub-Advisers after events that would otherwise cause an automatic termination of a sub-advisory agreement.  This arrangement has been approved by the Board of Trustees and the Fund’s initial shareholder.  If the exemptive order is granted, the Adviser will have the right to hire, terminate and replace Sub-Advisers when the Board of Trustees and the Adviser feel that a change would benefit the Fund.  However, that there is no guarantee that the SEC will grant the requested relief.


Not all of the Sub-Advisers listed for the Fund may be actively managing assets for the Fund at all times. To the extent that a Sub-Adviser is not actively managing assets for the Fund, the Fund may not be employing the investment style utilized by that Sub-Adviser to achieve its investment objective.  Subject to the oversight of the Board of Trustees, the Adviser may temporarily allocate Fund assets away from a Sub-Adviser.  Situations in which the Adviser may make such a determination include the level of assets in the Fund, changes in a Sub-Adviser’s personnel or a Sub-Adviser’s adherence to an investment strategy.


Wellington Management Company, LLP

The Adviser has entered into a sub-advisory agreement with Wellington Management Company, LLP (“Wellington Management”) to manage a portion of the Fund's assets using the Fund's Inflation Linked Bonds and Leveraged Loans strategies.  Wellington Management is a Massachusetts limited liability partnership with principal offices at 280 Congress Street, Boston, Massachusetts 02210.  Wellington Management is a professional investment counseling firm which provides investment services to investment companies, employee benefit plans, endowments, foundations, and other institutions. Wellington Management and its predecessor organizations have provided investment advisory services for over 70 years. As of December 31, 2012 Wellington Management had investment management authority with respect to approximately $748 billion in assets.


Parametric Portfolio Associates, LLC

The Adviser has entered into a sub-advisory agreement with Parametric Portfolio Associates, LLC (“Parametric”) to manage a portion of the Fund’s assets using the Fund’s commodity strategy.  Parametric is located at 1918 8 th Ave. Suite 3100, Seattle, WA 98101, and is a registered investment adviser.  Parametric is controlled by Eaton Vance Corp.  Parametric, which was established in 1987, offers investment advisory services to investors.  As of December 31, 2012, Parametric had approximately $53 billion in assets under management.


Mellon Capital Management Corporation

The Adviser has entered into a sub-advisory agreement with Mellon Capital Management Corporation (“Mellon”) to manage a portion of a Subsidiary’s assets.  Mellon is located at 50 Fremont Street, Suite 3900, San Francisco, CA  94105, and is a registered investment adviser.  Mellon is an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation.  Mellon, which was established in 1983, offers investment advisory services to investors.  As of December 31, 2012, Mellon had approximately $256 billion in assets under management.


Commodity Strategies AG

The Adviser has entered into a sub-advisory agreement Commodity Strategies AG (“Commodity Strategies”) to manage a portion of the Fund’s assets using the Fund’s commodity strategy.  Commodity Strateiges is located at Baarerstrasse 11 6300 Zug, Switzerland, and is a registered investment adviser.  Commodity Strategies is controlled by Robert Holroyd, its Director and Principal.  Commodity Strategies, which was established in 2010, offers investment advisory services to investors.  As of December 31, 20121, Commodity Strategies had approximately $160 million in assets under management.


The Boston Company Asset Management, LLC

The Adviser has entered into a sub-advisory agreement with The Boston Company Asset Management, LLC (“The Boston Company”) to manage a portion of the Fund's assets using the Firm's Global Natural Resources strategy.  The Boston Company is located at Mellon Financial Center. One Boston Place, Boston, MA 02108-4408. The Boston Company is part of BNY Mellon Asset Management, which is the umbrella organization for BNY Mellon's investment management subsidiaries.  The Boston Company, which traces its roots to the Boston Safe Deposit and Trust Company which first opened its doors to the public on June 1, 1875, offers investment advisory services to investors.  As of December 31, 2012 The Boston Company had approximately $42 billion in assets under management.


City of London Investment Management Company

The Adviser has entered into a sub-advisory agreement with the City of London Investment Management Company Limited (“CoL”) to manage a portion of the Fund's assets using the Firm\'s Natural Resources strategy.  CoL is located at 77 Gracechurch Street London EC3V 0AS.  CoL is a wholly owned subsidiary of City of London Investment Group, PLC, was founded in 1991 and offers investment advisory services to investors.  As of December 31, 2012 CoL had approximately $4.5 billion in assets under management.


Portfolio Managers


The Adviser


Michael Hanus, CFA. Mr. Hanus has served as a portfolio manager of the Fund since May, 2012. Prior to launching the Adviser, Mr. Hanus was a Vice President at Wellington Management.  Before joining Wellington Mr. Hanus was a Senior Vice President at Pyramis Global Advisors, a Fidelity Investments company.  Prior to joining Pyramis Mr. Hanus was a co-Founder of Absolute Investment Advisers (AIA), a $4.5 billion investment management firm that runs a family of Absolute Return investment strategies.  Earlier in his career Mr. Hanus was a Principal in the Strategy consulting practice of A.T. Kearney and a Managing Associate in the Financial Services group of CSC Index, a management consultancy.  Mr. Hanus received an MBA from the University of Michigan and a BSBA from the University of Richmond.


Alec Petro .  Mr. Petro has served as a portfolio manager of the Fund since May, 2012.  Prior to joining the Adviser, Mr. Petro founded Fort Hill Capital Management, a quantitative hedge fund specializing in equity derivatives. Mr. Petro and Fort Hill Capital Management were also co-Founders of Absolute Investment Advisers (AIA), a $4.5 billion investment management firm that runs a family of Absolute Return investment strategies. Mr. Petro began trading in the financial derivatives marketplace at O’Connor & Associates in Chicago, where he co-managed the global foreign exchange derivative trading. Mr. Petro then moved to Cooper/Neff and Associates and became the fifth partner in 1990. He headed the global foreign exchange and derivative business joint venture with Mitsui Trust of Tokyo from 1989-1994 and held the same position for BNP in Paris from 1995-1997. Mr. Petro moved back to BNP/Cooper Neff’s Radnor, PA headquarters in 1998 to manage numerous hedge fund projects, including real estate, foreign exchange and U.S. equities.  Mr. Petro is also an Adjunct Professor with Boston College’s MBA program where he teaches a class on Hedge Funds.  Mr. Petro received his MBA from the University of Chicago and his BS from Boston College.


Brian Chen, Ph.D. Dr. Chen has served as a portfolio manager of the Fund since May, 2012.  Prior to joining the Adviser, Dr. Chen was the lead quantitative analyst for Absolute Investment Advisers’ (AIA) Absolute Strategies Fund.  Dr. Chen’s experience in quantitative trading strategies spans the spectrum from development of stand-alone, single strategies to management of multi-strategy, multi-manager portfolios. Dr. Chen has also applied his signal processing expertise to build the quantitative forecasting and pricing models for volatility arbitrage strategies at Fort Hill Capital Management.  Prior, Dr. Chen co-founded and served as Chief Scientist and Vice President of Technology of Chinook Communications, a venture-financed, technology company developing sophisticated signal processing technologies. He has also been a Member of Technical Staff--Level 1 and Consultant for Lucent Technologies Bell Laboratories. Dr. Chen received the Ph.D. degree in electrical engineering and computer science, with a concentration in signal processing, and a minor in finance from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). As well he holds a S.M. degree in electrical engineering from MIT, and the B.S.E. degree (summa cum laude) in electrical engineering from the University of Michigan. He is an inventor on 14 issued patents and has received the National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Fellowship.



The Sub-Advisers


Wellington Management Company, LLP

Lindsay Politi. Ms. Politi is Vice President and Fixed Income Portfolio Manager of Wellington Management.  She has served as Portfolio Manager of the Fund’s Inflation Linked Bonds Strategy since its inception in 2012.  Ms. Politi joined Wellington Management as an investment professional in 2000.


Jeffrey W. Heuer, CFA .  Mr. Heuer is Vice President and Bank Loan Portfolio Manager of Wellington Management.  He has served as Portfolio Manager of the Fund’s Leveraged Loans Strategy since its inception in 2012.  Mr. Heuer joined Wellington Management as an investment professional in 2001.


Parametric

David Stein, Ph.D.  Mr. Stein is Chief Investment Officer , leads Parametric’s Investment, Research and Technology activities. Mr. Stein’s experience in the investment industry dates back to 1987. Prior to joining Parametric in 1996, he held senior research, development and portfolio management positions at GTE Investment Management Corp., The Vanguard Group, and IBM Retirement Funds. He has additional experience as a Research Scientist with IBM Research Laboratories where he designed computer hardware and software systems. He has served on the After-Tax Subcommittee of the AIMR-PPS standards committee, and on the advisory board of the Journal of Wealth Management. Mr. Stein holds a number of patents and is published in multiple academic journals, including “Mathematics of Operations Research,” “The Journal of Wealth Management” and the “Journal of Portfolio Management.” He earned B.S. and M.S. degrees from the University of Witwatersrand, South Africa. He earned a Ph.D. in Applied Mathematics from Harvard University.


Thomas Seto, M.B.A. Mr. Seto is Managing Director—Portfolio Management and is responsible for all portfolio management at Parametric, including taxable, tax-exempt, quantitative-active and international strategies. Prior to joining Parametric in 1998, Mr. Seto served as the Head of U.S. Equity Index Investments at Barclays Global Investors. He holds an M.B.A. in Finance from the University of Chicago, and a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Washington.


Mellon Capital

Vassilis Dagioglu.   Mr. Dagioglu is Managing Director, Head of Asset Allocation Portfolio Management. He leads a team of portfolio managers responsible for the implementation of Mellon Capital’s Asset Allocation strategies including Global Alpha, Tactical Asset Allocation, Global Tactical Asset Allocation, Active Currency and Active Commodities strategies.  Additionally, Mr. Dagioglu is a member of the Risk Management, Investment Management, Fiduciary and Senior Management Committees.  Prior to joining Mellon Capital Management, Mr. Dagioglu designed and implemented financial information systems and consulted on enterprise information application development for IBM Global Services and Sybase   M.B.A., University of California at Berkeley, Finance.


James H. Stavena. Mr. Stavena is Managing Director, Asset Allocation.  Mr. Stavena manages a team of portfolio managers responsible for the implementation of Mellon Capital’s Asset Allocation strategies including Global Alpha, Domestic Asset Allocation, Active Currency, Active Commodities, and Custom Rules-Based strategies. He is a key contributor to the development, refinement, and risk management of all Asset Allocation investment strategies and signals. Mr. Stavena has extensive experience and particular focus on the use of derivatives in quantitative investment strategies as well as 40 Act and UCITS III implementations of our Asset Allocation strategies. Prior to joining Mellon Capital, Mr. Stavena was a currency options trader with CS First Boston and HSBC in New York and London.  M.B.A., Rice University


Commodity Strategies AG

Robert Holroyd.  Mr. Holroyd is Director and Principal of Commodity Strategies A.G.  In a career spanning 29 years, Mr. Holroyd has been continually involved in commodity and currency trading, principally through the futures markets.  In the early 80s, Mr. Holroyd was responsible for the establishment of Buttle and Co. Futures Limited, the first broker in New Zealand to obtain Reserve Bank approval to trade on foreign futures exchanges. Mr. Holroyd then established and managed Qtron Holdings Limited International futures and bullion business.  In 1986 Mr. Holroyd left Qtron to establish his own company, managing foreign exchange risk for corporations and high net worth individuals. He was approached in 1987 by Hanseatic Group Inc., a US based foreign exchange adviser with whom he subsequently developed a joint venture. He became a director of the firm and was responsible for operations in the Pacific Rim and Australasia.  In the early 90s, Mr. Holroyd established himself as a CTA under the name of HCM Global Limited. Mr. Holroyd next established CSL, a predecessor firm to CSAG, in Australia in 1999.


The Boston Company Asset Management, LLC

Robin Wehbé, CFA, CMT. Mr. Wehbé is Director, Lead Portfolio Manager on the Dreyfus Natural Resources Fund and the Global Natural Resources Strategy. Mr. Wehbé has been with The Boston Company since 2006. Mr. Wehbé, is also an Equity Research Analyst on The Boston Company's Core Research Team where he covers the energy, utilities and basic materials sectors. Mr. Wehbé has worked in the industry since 2001 and holds a MBA and an MSF from the Carroll School of Management at Boston College, as well as a BS from Lehigh University.

 

City of London Investment Management Company Limited

Martín Garzarón. Mr. Garzarón is the Chief Investment Officer, Equities, of City of London Investment Management Company Limited.  Mr. Garzarón joined the firm in 1999 in Argentina as a Portfolio Manager and in 2000 he moved to the US office to manage Equity strategies. Prior to joining CoL, Mr. Garzarón worked with Banco Privado de Inversiones, an Argentine investment bank, for 7 years. At Banco Privado he joined as research analyst for Latin American equities, and then he joined the asset management group of the bank where he managed 5 equity funds, including the Brazil Equity Fund, for 4 years.  Mr. Garzarón has a BA in Business from Universidad Católica Argentina.


Linda Dean.  Ms. Dean is a Portfolio Manager of City of London Investment Management Company Limited based in the US office. Ms. Dean joined the firm in 2003. A Czech native, Ms. Dean specializes in Eastern European and Natural Resource equities research and trading. Ms. Dean obtained an MBA from Villanova University and a BS in Finance from West Chester University.


Oliver Koh. Mr. Koh is a Portfolio Manager of City of London Investment Management Company Limited based in the Singapore office. Mr. Koh joined the firm in 2010. He is responsible for research and investment decisions in the Southern Asia countries, lending his expertise in this area to the US and UK teams. Mr. Koh spent 6 years as Head of Asia Pacific Equities at United Overseas Bank Asset Management. Subsequent to this he worked as the CIO of Oliver Capital Pte Ltd and he also worked as a Director/Fund Manager at ARA Strategic Capital. Mr. Koh holds a BA in Econometrics and is a CFA Charterholder.


The SAI provides additional information about the Portfolio Managers’ compensation, other accounts managed by the Portfolio Managers and the Portfolio Managers’ ownership of securities in the Fund.


Shareholder Information


Choosing a Share Class

Description of Classes.   The Trust has adopted a multiple class plan that allows the Fund to offer one or more classes of shares.  The Fund has registered two classes of shares – Class I and Class R shares.  The different classes of shares represent investments in the same portfolio of securities, but the classes are subject to different expenses and may have different share prices as outlined below:

 

·

Class I shares are sold at NAV without an initial sales charge.  This means that 100% of your initial investment is placed into shares of the Fund .


·

Class R shares are sold without an initial sales charge, but are subject to a 0.25% Rule 12b-1 distribution and servicing fee.


More About Class I Shares

Class I shares may be purchased without the imposition of any sales charges.  The Fund offers Class I shares primarily for direct investment by investors such as pension and profit-sharing plans, employee benefit trusts, endowments, foundations, corporations and high net worth individuals.  Class I shares may also be offered through certain financial intermediaries (including broker-dealers) and their agents in fee based and other programs.  In these programs financial intermediaries have made arrangements with the Fund and are authorized to buy and sell shares of the Fund that charge their customers transaction or other distribution or service fees with respect to their customers’ investments in the Fund.  Class I shares are sold at NAV without an initial sales charge, and are not subject to 12b-1 distribution fees.  The minimum initial investment in Class I shares of the Fund is $$100,000.  The minimum subsequent investment in Class I shares of the Fund is $10,000.


More About Class R Shares

Class R shares of the Fund are sold at NAV without an initial sales charge.  This means that 100% of your initial investment is placed into shares of the Fund.  Class R shares pay up to 0.25% on an annualized basis of the average daily net assets as reimbursement or compensation for service and distribution-related activities with respect to the Fund and/or shareholder services.  Over time, fees paid under this distribution and service plan will increase the cost of a Class R shareholder’s investment and may cost more than other types of sales charges.  The minimum initial investment in Class R shares of the Fund is $5000.  The minimum subsequent investment in Class R shares of the Fund is $500.


Share Price

The net asset value (“NAV”) and offering price (NAV plus any applicable sales charges) of each class of shares is determined at 4:00 p.m. (Eastern Time) on each day the New York Stock Exchange (“NYSE”) is open for business.  NAV is computed by determining, on a per class basis, the aggregate market value of all assets of the Fund, less its liabilities, divided by the total number of shares outstanding ((assets-liabilities)/number of shares = NAV).  The NYSE is closed on weekends and New Year’s Day, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, Washington’s Birthday, Good Friday, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day.  The NAV takes into account, on a per class basis, the expenses and fees of the Fund, including management, administration, and distribution fees, which are accrued daily.  The determination of NAV for a share class for a particular day is applicable to all applications for the purchase of shares, as well as all requests for the redemption of shares, received by the Fund (or an authorized broker or agent, or its authorized designee) before the close of trading on the NYSE on that day.

Generally, the Fund’s investments are valued each day at the last quoted sales price on each security’s primary exchange.  Investments traded or dealt in upon one or more exchanges (whether domestic or foreign) for which market quotations are readily available and not subject to restrictions against resale shall be valued at the last quoted sales price on the primary exchange or, in the absence of a sale on the primary exchange, at the last bid on the primary exchange.  Investments primarily traded in the National Association of Securities Dealers’ Automated Quotation System (“NASDAQ”) National Market System for which market quotations are readily available shall be valued using the NASDAQ Official Closing Price.  Options contracts listed on a securities exchange or board of trade (not including Index Options contracts) for which market quotations are readily available are valued at the last quoted sales price or, in the absence of a sale at the last reported bid price on the valuation date.  Index Options contracts listed on a securities exchange or board of trade for which market quotations are readily available are valued at the last reported bid price on the valuation date.  Options not listed on a securities exchange or board of trade for which over-the-counter market quotations are readily available are valued at the last reported bid price on the valuation date.  Futures are valued based on their daily settlement value.  If market quotations are not readily available, investments will be valued at their fair market value as determined in good faith by the Adviser in accordance with procedures approved by the Board and evaluated by the Board as to the reliability of the fair value method used.  In these cases, the Fund’s NAV will reflect certain portfolio investments’ fair value rather than their market price.  Fair value pricing involves subjective judgments and it is possible that the fair value determined for a security is materially different than the value that could be realized upon the sale of that security.  The fair value prices can differ from market prices when they become available or when a price becomes available.

The Fund may use independent pricing services to assist in calculating the value of the Fund’s investments.  In addition, market prices for foreign investments are not determined at the same time of day as the NAV for the Fund.  Because the Fund may invest in futures interests primarily listed on foreign exchanges, and these exchanges may trade on weekends or other days when the Fund does not compute NAV, the value of some of the Fund’s portfolio investments may change on days when you may not be able to buy or sell Fund shares.  In computing the NAV, the Fund values foreign investments held by the Fund at the latest closing price on the exchange in which they are traded immediately prior to closing of the NYSE.  Prices of foreign investments quoted in foreign currencies are translated into U.S. dollars at current rates.  If events materially affecting the value of a security in the Fund’s portfolio, particularly foreign investments, occur after the close of trading on a foreign market but before the Fund prices its shares, the security will be valued at fair value.  For example, if trading in a portfolio security is halted and does not resume before the Fund calculates its NAV, the Adviser may need to price the security using the Fund’s fair value pricing guidelines.  Without a fair value price, short-term traders could take advantage of the arbitrage opportunity and dilute the NAV of long-term investors.  Fair valuation of the Fund’s portfolio investments can serve to reduce arbitrage opportunities available to short-term traders, but there is no assurance that fair value pricing policies will prevent dilution of the Fund’s NAV by short term traders.  The determination of fair value involves subjective judgments.  As a result, using fair value to price an investment may result in a price materially different from the prices used by other mutual funds to determine net asset value, or from the price that may be realized upon the actual sale of the investment.

With respect to any portion of the Fund’s assets that are invested in one or more open-end management investment companies registered under the 1940 Act, the Fund’s net asset value is calculated based upon the net asset values of those open-end management investment companies, and the prospectuses for these companies explain the circumstances under which those companies will use fair value pricing and the effects of using fair value pricing.


How to Purchase Shares

The Fund offers two classes of shares so that you can choose the class that best suits your investment needs: Class I and Class R shares.  The main differences between each class are sales charges and ongoing fees. In choosing which class of shares to purchase, you should consider which will be most beneficial to you given your investment goals, the amount of your purchase and the length of time you expect to hold the shares. Each class of shares in the Fund represents an interest in the same portfolio of investments in the Fund.  Not all share classes may be available for purchase in all states.


Purchase by Mail.   To purchase the Fund’s shares, simply complete and sign the Account Application and mail it, along with a check made payable to “Inflation Hedges Strategy Fund” to:


via Regular mail to:

or via Overnight mail to :

Inflation Hedges Strategy Fund

Inflation Hedges Strategy Fund

c/o Gemini Fund Services, LLC

c/o Gemini Fund Services, LLC

P.O. Box 541150

17605 Wright Street

Omaha, NE 68154

 

Omaha, NE 68130


Purchase through Brokers. You may invest in the Fund through brokers or agents who have entered into selling agreements with the Fund’s distributor. The brokers and agents are authorized to receive purchase and redemption orders on behalf of the Fund. The Fund will be deemed to have received a purchase or redemption order when an authorized broker or its designee receives the order. The broker or agent may set their own initial and subsequent investment minimums. You may be charged a fee if you use a broker or agent to buy or redeem shares of the Fund. Finally, various servicing agents use procedures and impose restrictions that may be in addition to, or different from those applicable to investors purchasing shares directly from the Fund. You should carefully read the program materials provided to you by your servicing agent.


Purchase by Wire.   If you wish to wire money to make an investment in the Fund, please call the Fund at 1-855-294-7538 for wiring instructions and to notify the Fund that a wire transfer is coming.  Any commercial bank can transfer same-day funds via wire. The Fund will normally accept wired funds for investment on the day received if they are received by the Fund’s designated bank before the close of regular trading on the NYSE. Your bank may charge you a fee for wiring same-day funds.


Automatic Investment Plan.     You may participate in the Fund’s Automatic Investment Plan, an investment plan that automatically moves money from your bank account and invests it in the Fund through the use of electronic funds transfers or automatic bank drafts.  You may elect to make subsequent investments by transfers of a minimum of $100 on specified days of each month into your established Fund account.  Please contact the Fund at 1-855-294-7538 for more information about the Fund’s Automatic Investment Plan.  Minimum initial investment requirements may be waived for Automatic Investment Plan investors, at the Fund’s discretion.  


The Fund, however, reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to reject any application to purchase shares.  Applications will not be accepted unless they are accompanied by a check drawn on a U.S. bank, thrift institutions, or credit union in U.S. funds for the full amount of the shares to be purchased.  After you open an account, you may purchase additional shares by sending a check together with written instructions stating the name(s) on the account and the account number, to the above address.  Make all checks payable to “Inflation Hedges Strategy Fund.”  The Fund will not accept payment in cash, including cashier’s checks or money orders.  Also, to prevent check fraud, the Fund will not accept third party checks, U.S. Treasury checks, credit card checks or starter checks for the purchase of shares.


Note:   Gemini Fund Services, LLC, the Fund’s transfer agent, will charge a $25 fee against a shareholder’s account, in addition to any loss sustained by the Fund, for any check returned to the transfer agent for insufficient funds.


Anti-Money Laundering Program.   The USA PATRIOT Act requires financial institutions, including the Fund, to adopt certain policies and programs to prevent money-laundering activities, including procedures to verify the identity of customers opening new accounts.  As requested on the application, you should supply your full name, date of birth, social security number and permanent street address.  Mailing addresses containing a P.O. Box will not be accepted.  This information will assist the Fund in verifying your identity.  Until such verification is made, the Fund may temporarily limit additional share purchases.  In addition, the Fund may limit additional share purchases or close an account if it is unable to verify a shareholder’s identity.  As required by law, the Fund may employ various procedures, such as comparing the information to fraud databases or requesting additional information or documentation from you, to ensure that the information supplied by you is correct.


In order to ensure compliance with these laws, the Account Application asks for, among other things, the following information for all “customers” seeking to open an “account” (as those terms are defined in rules adopted pursuant to the USA PATRIOT Act):


·

full name;

·

date of birth (individuals only);

·

Social Security or taxpayer identification number; and

·

permanent street address (P.O. Box only is not acceptable).


Accounts opened by entities, such as corporations, limited liability companies, partnerships or trusts, will require additional documentation.


Please note that if any information listed above is missing, your Account Application will be returned and your account will not be opened.  In compliance with the USA PATRIOT Act and other applicable anti-money laundering laws and regulations, the Transfer Agent will verify the information on your application as part of the Program.  The Fund reserves the right to request additional clarifying information and may close your account if such clarifying information is not received by the Fund within a reasonable time of the request or if the Fund cannot form a reasonable belief as to the true identity of a customer.  If you require additional assistance when completing your Account Application, please contact the Transfer Agent at 1-855-294-7538.



How to Redeem Shares

You may redeem all or any portion of the shares credited to your account by submitting a written request for redemption to:  


via Regular mail to:

or via Overnight mail to:

Inflation Hedges Strategy Fund

Inflation Hedges Strategy Fund

c/o Gemini Fund Services, LLC

c/o Gemini Fund Services, LLC

P.O. Box 541150

17605 Wright Street

Omaha, NE 68154

 

Omaha, NE 68130


Redemptions by Telephone:   The telephone redemption privilege is automatically available to all new accounts except retirement accounts.  If you do not want the telephone redemption privilege, you must indicate this in the appropriate area on your account application or you must write to the Fund and instruct it to remove this privilege from your account.  


The proceeds will be sent by mail to the address designated on your account or wired directly to your existing account in a bank or brokerage firm in the United States as designated on your application.  To redeem by telephone, call 1-855-294-7538. The redemption proceeds normally will be sent by mail or by wire within three business days after receipt of your telephone instructions.  IRA accounts are not redeemable by telephone.


The Fund reserves the right to suspend the telephone redemption privileges with respect to your account if the name(s) or the address on the account has been changed within the previous 30 days.  Neither the Fund, the transfer agent nor their respective affiliates will be liable for complying with telephone instructions they reasonably believe to be genuine or for any loss, damage, cost or expenses in acting on such telephone instructions and you will be required to bear the risk of any such loss.  The Fund or the transfer agent, or both, will employ reasonable procedures to determine that telephone instructions are genuine.  If the Fund and/or the transfer agent do not employ these procedures, they may be liable to you for losses due to unauthorized or fraudulent instructions.  These procedures may include, among others, requiring forms of personal identification prior to acting upon telephone instructions, providing written confirmation of the transactions and/or tape recording telephone instructions.


Redemptions through Broker:   If shares of the Fund are held by a broker-dealer, financial institution or other servicing agent, you must contact that servicing agent to redeem shares of the Fund.  The servicing agent may charge a fee for this service.


Redemptions by Wire:   You may request that your redemption proceeds be wired directly to your bank account. The Fund’s transfer agent imposes a $15 fee for each wire redemption and deducts the fee directly from your account. Your bank may also impose a fee for the incoming wire.


Automatic Withdrawal Plan:  If your individual accounts, IRA or other qualified plan account have a current account value of at least $10,000, you may participate in the Fund’s Automatic Withdrawal Plan, an investment plan that automatically moves money to your bank account from the Fund through the use of electronic funds transfers.  You may elect to make subsequent withdrawals by transfers of a minimum of $100 on specified days of each month into your established bank account.  Please contact the Fund at 1-855-294-7538 for more information about the Fund’s Automatic Withdrawal Plan.


Redemptions in Kind:   The Fund reserves the right to honor requests for redemption or repurchase orders made by a shareholder during any 90-day period by making payment in whole or in part in portfolio securities (“redemption in kind”) if the amount of such a request is large enough to affect operations (if the request is greater than the lesser of $250,000 or 1% of the Fund’s net assets at the beginning of the 90-day period).  The securities will be chosen by the Fund and valued using the same procedures as used in calculating the Fund’s NAV. A shareholder may incur transaction expenses in converting these securities to cash.


When Redemptions are Sent:   Once the Fund receives your redemption request in “good order” as described below, it will issue a check based on the next determined NAV following your redemption request.  The redemption proceeds normally will be sent by mail or by wire within three business days after receipt of a request in “good order.”  If you purchase shares using a check and soon after request a redemption, your redemption proceeds will not be sent until the check used for your purchase has cleared your bank (usually within 10 days of the purchase date).


Good Order:   Your redemption request will be processed if it is in “good order.”  To be in good order, the following conditions must be satisfied:  

·

The request should be in writing, unless redeeming by telephone, indicating the number of shares or dollar amount to be redeemed;

·

The request must identify your account number;

·

The request should be signed by you and any other person listed on the account, exactly as the shares are registered; and

·

If you request that the redemption proceeds be sent to a person, bank or an address other than that of record or paid to someone other than the record owner(s), or if the address was changed within the last 30 days, or if the proceeds of a requested redemption exceed $50,000, the signature(s) on the request must be medallion signature guaranteed by an eligible signature guarantor.


When You Need Medallion Signature Guarantees:   If you wish to change the bank or brokerage account that you have designated on your account, you may do so at any time by writing to the Fund with your signature guaranteed.  A medallion signature guarantee assures that a signature is genuine and protects you from unauthorized account transfers.  You will need your signature guaranteed if:


·

you request a redemption to be made payable to a person not on record with the Fund;

·

you request that a redemption be mailed to an address other than that on record with the Fund;

·

the proceeds of a requested redemption exceed $50,000;

·

any redemption is transmitted by federal wire transfer to a bank other than the bank of record; or

·

your address was changed within 30 days of your redemption request.


Signatures may be guaranteed by any eligible guarantor institution (including banks, brokers and dealers, credit unions, national securities exchanges, registered securities associations, clearing agencies and savings associations).  Further documentation will be required to change the designated account if shares are held by a corporation, fiduciary or other organization.  A notary public cannot guarantee signatures.


Retirement Plans:   If you own an IRA or other retirement plan, you must indicate on your redemption request whether the Fund should withhold federal income tax.  Unless you elect in your redemption request that you do not want to have federal tax withheld, the redemption will be subject to withholding.


Low Balances:   If at any time your account balance falls below $2,500 for Class R shares and $10,000 for Class I Shares, the Fund may notify you that, unless the account is brought up to at least $5,000 for Class R shares or $20,000 for Class I shares within 60 days of the notice; your account could be closed.  After the notice period, the Fund may redeem all of your shares and close your account by sending you a check to the address of record.  Your account will not be closed if the account balance drops below required minimum due to a decline in NAV. 


Redemption Fee

Redemption Fee: The Fund will deduct a 2% redemption fee on the redemption amount if you sell your shares less than 60 days after purchase or shares held less than 60 days are redeemed for failure to maintain the Fund’s balance minimum. See Low Balances for further information on account closure policy. Shares held longest will be treated as being redeemed first and shares held shortest as being redeemed last. Shares held for 60 days or more are not subject to the 2% fee.


Redemption fees are paid to the Fund directly and are designed to offset costs associated with fluctuations in Fund asset levels and cash flow caused by short-term shareholder trading.


Waivers of Redemption Fees: The Fund has elected not to impose the redemption fee for:

·

Redemptions and exchanges of Fund shares acquired through the reinvestment of dividends and distributions;

·

Certain types of redemptions and exchanges of Fund shares owned through participant-directed retirement plans;

·

Redemptions or exchanges in discretionary asset allocation, fee based or wrap programs (“wrap programs”) that are initiated by the sponsor/financial advisor as part of a periodic rebalancing;

·

Redemptions or exchanges in a fee based or wrap program that are made as a result of a full withdrawal from the wrap program or as part of a systematic withdrawal plan;

·

Involuntary redemptions, such as those resulting from a shareholder’s failure to maintain a minimum investment in the Fund, or to pay shareholder fees; or


Other types of redemptions as the Adviser or the Fund may determine in special situations and approved by the Fund’s or the Adviser’s Chief Compliance Officer.


The Fund reserves the right to modify or eliminate the redemption fees or waivers at any time and will give shareholders 30 days’ prior written notice of any material changes, unless otherwise provided by law.  The redemption fee policy may be modified or amended in the future to reflect, among other factors, regulatory requirements mandated by the SEC.


Tools to Combat Frequent Transactions

The Fund discourages and does not accommodate market timing. Frequent trading into and out of the Fund can harm all Fund shareholders by disrupting the Fund’s investment strategies, increasing Fund expenses, decreasing tax efficiency and diluting the value of shares held by long-term shareholders. The Fund is designed for long-term investors and is not intended for market timing or other disruptive trading activities. Accordingly, the Fund’s Board has approved policies that seek to curb these disruptive activities while recognizing that shareholders may have a legitimate need to adjust their Fund investments as their financial needs or circumstances change. The Fund currently uses several methods to reduce the risk of market timing. These methods include:

·

Committing staff to review, on a continuing basis, recent trading activity in order to identify trading activity that may be contrary to the Fund’s “Market Timing Trading Policy;”

·

Rejecting or limiting specific purchase requests; and

·

Rejecting purchases requests from certain investors.

Though these methods involve judgments that are inherently subjective and involve some selectivity in their application, the Fund seeks to make judgments and applications that are consistent with the interests of the Fund’s shareholders.


The redemption fee, which is uniformly imposed, is intended to discourage short-term trading and is paid to the Fund to help offset any cost associated with such short-term trading. The Fund will monitor the assessment of redemption fees against your account. Based on the frequency of redemption fees assessed against your account, the Adviser or Transfer Agent may in its sole discretion determine that your trading activity is detrimental to the Fund as described in the Fund’s Market Timing Trading Policy and elect to (i) reject or limit the amount, number, frequency or method for requesting future purchases into the Fund and/or (ii) reject or limit the amount, number, frequency or method for requesting future exchanges or redemptions out of the Fund.


The Fund reserves the right to reject or restrict purchase or exchange requests for any reason, particularly when the shareholder’s trading activity suggests that the shareholder may be engaged in market timing or other disruptive trading activities. Neither the Fund nor the Adviser will be liable for any losses resulting from rejected purchase or exchange orders. The Adviser may also bar an investor who has violated these policies (and the investor’s financial adviser) from opening new accounts with the Fund.


Although the Fund attempts to limit disruptive trading activities, some investors use a variety of strategies to hide their identities and their trading practices. There can be no guarantee that the Fund will be able to identify or limit these activities. Omnibus account arrangements are common forms of holding shares of the Fund.  While the Fund will encourage financial intermediaries to apply the Fund’s Market Timing Trading Policy to their customers who invest indirectly in the Fund, the Fund is limited in its ability to monitor the trading activity or enforce the Fund’s Market Timing Trading Policy with respect to customers of financial intermediaries. For example, should it occur, the Fund may not be able to detect market timing that may be facilitated by financial intermediaries or made difficult to identify in the omnibus accounts used by those intermediaries for aggregated purchases, exchanges and redemptions on behalf of all their customers. More specifically, unless the financial intermediaries have the ability to apply the Fund’s Market Timing Trading Policy to their customers through such methods as implementing short-term trading limitations or restrictions, assessing the Fund’s redemption fee and monitoring trading activity for what might be market timing, the Fund may not be able to determine whether trading by customers of financial intermediaries is contrary to the Fund’s Market Timing Trading Policy. Brokers maintaining omnibus accounts with the Fund have agreed to provide shareholder transaction information to the extent known to the broker to the Fund upon request. If the Fund or its transfer agent or shareholder servicing agent suspects there is market timing activity in the account, the Fund will seek full cooperation from the service provider maintaining the account to identify the underlying participant. At the request of the Adviser, the service providers may take immediate action to stop any further short-term trading by such participants.


Householding.   To reduce expenses, the Fund mails only one copy of the Prospectus and each annual and semi-annual report to those addresses shared by two or more accounts.  If you wish to receive individual copies of these documents, please call the Fund at 1-855-294-7538 on days the Fund is open for business or contact your financial institution.  The Fund will begin sending you individual copies thirty days after receiving your request.


Shares of one of the Class of the Fund will not be exchangeable for shares of other Classes.


Distribution of Fund Shares


The Distributor

Northern Lights Distributors, LLC (the “Distributor”) is located at 17605 Wright Street, Omaha, NE 68130, and serves as distributor and principal underwriter to the Fund.  The Distributor is a registered broker-dealer and member of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc. (“FINRA”).  Shares of the Fund are offered on a continuous basis.


Distribution (12b-1) Plan

The Fund has adopted a Distribution Plan pursuant to Rule 12b-1 (the “12b-1 Plan”) under the 1940 Act.  Under the 12b-1 Plan, the Fund is authorized to pay the Fund’s distributor, or such other entities as approved by the Board of Trustees, a fee for the promotion and distribution of the Fund and the provision of personal services to shareholders.  The maximum amount of the fee authorized is 0.25% of the Fund’s average daily net assets annually for Class R shares.  The distributor may pay any or all amounts received under the 12b-1 Plan to other persons, including the Adviser, for any distribution or service activity.  Because these fees are paid out of the Fund’s assets on an on-going basis, over time these fees will increase the cost of your investment in the Fund and may cost you more than paying other types of sales charges.


In addition to the fees paid under the 12b-1 Plan, the Fund may pay service fees to intermediaries such as banks, broker-dealers, financial advisors or other financial institutions, including the Adviser and affiliates of the Adviser, for sub-administration, sub-transfer agency and other shareholder services associated with shareholders whose shares are held of record in omnibus, other group accounts or accounts traded through registered securities clearing agents.


Additional Compensation to Financial Intermediaries

The distributor, its affiliates and the Adviser, out of its own resources, and without additional cost to the Fund or its shareholders, may provide additional cash payments or non-cash compensation to intermediaries who sell shares of the Fund.  Such payments and compensation are in addition to service fees paid by the Fund, if any.  These additional cash payments are generally made to intermediaries that provide shareholder servicing, marketing support and/or access to sales meetings, sales representatives and management representatives of the intermediary.  Cash compensation may also be paid to intermediaries for inclusion of the Fund on a sales list, including a preferred or select sales list, in other sales programs or as an expense reimbursement in cases where the intermediary provides shareholder services to the Fund’s shareholders.  The distributor may, from time to time, provide promotional incentives, including reallowance and/or payment of up to the entire sales charge, to certain investment firms. Such incentives may, at the distributor’s discretion, be limited to investment firms who allow their individual selling representatives to participate in such additional commissions.


Distributions and Taxes


Tax Status, Dividends and Distributions

Any sale or exchange of a Fund’s shares may generate tax liability (unless you are a tax-exempt investor or your investment is in a qualified retirement account).  When you redeem your shares you may realize a taxable gain or loss.  This is measured by the difference between the proceeds of the sale and the tax basis for the shares you sold.  (To aid in computing your tax basis, you generally should retain your account statements for the period that you hold shares in the Fund.)


The Fund intends to distribute substantially all of its net investment income and net capital gains annually in December.  Both distributions will be reinvested in shares of the Fund unless you elect to receive cash.  Dividends from net investment income (including any excess of net short-term capital gain over net long-term capital loss) are taxable to investors as ordinary income, while distributions of net capital gain (the excess of net long-term capital gain over net short-term capital loss) are generally taxable as long-term capital gain, regardless of your holding period for the shares.  Any dividends or capital gain distributions you receive from the Fund will normally be taxable to you when made, regardless of whether you reinvest dividends or capital gain distributions or receive them in cash.  Certain dividends or distributions declared in October, November or December will be taxed to shareholders as if received in December if they are paid during the following January.  Each year the Fund will inform you of the amount and type of your distributions.  IRAs and other qualified retirement plans are exempt from federal income taxation until retirement proceeds are paid out to the participant.


Your redemptions, including exchanges, may result in a capital gain or loss for federal income tax purposes.  A capital gain or loss on your investment is the difference between the cost of your shares, including any sales charges, and the amount you receive when you sell them.


On the account application, you will be asked to certify that your social security number or taxpayer identification number is correct and that you are not subject to backup withholding for failing to report income to the IRS.  If you are subject to backup withholding or you did not certify your taxpayer identification number, the IRS requires the Fund to withhold a percentage of any dividend, redemption or exchange proceeds.  The Fund reserves the right to reject any application that does not include a certified social security or taxpayer identification number.  If you do not have a social security number, you should indicate on the purchase form that your application to obtain a number is pending.  The Fund is required to withhold taxes if a number is not delivered to the Fund within seven days.


This summary is not intended to be and should not be construed to be legal or tax advice.  This summary is general in nature and should not be regarded as an exhaustive presentation of all possible tax ramifications. The tax considerations relevant to a specific shareholder depend upon its specific circumstances, and this summary does not attempt to discuss all potential tax considerations that could be relevant to a prospective shareholder with respect to the Fund or its investments. This general summary is based on the Code, the Federal Income Tax Regulations promulgated thereunder, and administrative and judicial interpretations thereof as of the date hereof, all of which are subject to change (potentially on a retroactive basis). You should consult your own independent tax advisors to determine the tax consequences of owning the Fund’s shares.


Financial Highlights

The Fund has only recently commenced operations as of the date of this Prospectus and therefore does not have a financial history.






PRIVACY NOTICE


Rev. October 2011

FACTS

WHAT DOES NORTHERN LIGHTS FUND TRUST II (“NLFT II”) DO WITH YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION?

Why?

Financial companies choose how they share your personal information. Federal law gives consumers the right to limit some but not all sharing. Federal law also requires us to tell you how we collect, share, and protect your personal information. Please read this notice carefully to understand what we do.

What?

The types of personal information we collect and share depend on the product or service you have with us. This information can include:

·

Social Security number

·

Employment information

·

Account balances

·

Account transactions

·

Income

·

Investment experience

When you are no longer our customer, we continue to share your information as described in this notice.

How?

All financial companies need to share a customer’s personal information to run their everyday business - to process transactions, maintain customer accounts, and report to credit bureaus. In the section below, we list the reasons financial companies can share their customer’s personal information; the reasons NLFT II chooses to share; and whether you can limit this sharing.

Reasons we can share your personal information

Does NLFT II share?

Can you limit this sharing?

For our everyday business purposes --
such as to process your transactions, maintain your account(s), respond to court orders and legal investigations, or report to credit bureaus

Yes

No

For our marketing purposes --
to offer our products and services to you

Yes

No

For joint marketing with other financial companies

Yes

No

For our affiliates’ everyday business purposes --
information about your transactions and experiences

Yes

No

For our affiliates’ everyday business purposes --
information about your creditworthiness

No

We don’t share

For nonaffiliates to market to you

No

We don’t share

Questions?

Call 1-402-493-4603







 

 

 

 

 

Who we are

Who is providing this notice?

Northern Lights Fund Trust II

What we do

How does NLFT II protect my personal information?

To protect your personal information from unauthorized access and use, we use security measures that comply with federal law. These measures include computer safeguards and secured files and buildings.

How does NLFT II collect my personal information?

We collect your personal information, for example, when you

·

open an account

·

give us your income information

·

provide employment information

·

provide account information

·

give us your contact information

We also collect your personal information from others, such as credit bureaus, affiliates, or other companies.

Why can’t I limit all sharing?

Federal law gives you the right to limit only

·

sharing for affiliates’ everyday business purposes—information about your creditworthiness

·

affiliates from using your information to market to you

·

sharing for nonaffiliates to market to you

State laws and individual companies may give you additional rights to limit sharing.

Definitions

Affiliates

Companies related by common ownership or control. They can be financial and nonfinancial companies.

The following companies may be considered affiliates of NLFT II :

·

CLS Investments, LLC

·

NorthStar Financial Services Group, LLC

·

Gemcom, LLC

·

Gemini Fund Services, LLC

·

Northern Lights Compliance Services, LLC

·

Northern Lights Distributors, LLC

·

Orion Advisor Services, LLC

·

Constellation Trust Company

Nonaffiliates

Companies not related by common ownership or control. They can be financial and nonfinancial companies.

·

NLFT II does not share with nonaffiliates so they can market to you.

Joint marketing

A formal agreement between nonaffiliated financial companies that together market financial products and services to you.

·

Our joint marketing partners include other financial service companies.

 

 



Investment Adviser

North Peak Asset Management LLC

457 Washington Street

Duxbury, MA 02332


Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm

Tait, Weller & Baker LLP

1818 Market Street, Suite 2400

Philadelphia, PA 19103


Legal Counsel

Alston & Bird, LLP

950 F Street NW

Washington, D.C. 20004


Custodian

Union Bank, National Association

350 California Street 6 th Floor

San Francisco, CA  94104


Transfer Agent, Fund Accountant and Fund Administrator

Gemini Fund Services, LLC

17605 Wright Street

Omaha, NE 68130


Distributor

Northern Lights Distributors, LLC

17605 Wright Street

Omaha, NE 68130








 Inflation Hedges Strategy Fund

a series of the Northern Lights Fund Trust II



FOR MORE INFORMATION


You can find more information about the Fund in the following documents:


Statement of Additional Information

The SAI provides additional details about the investments and techniques of the Fund and certain other additional information.  A current SAI is on file with the SEC and is incorporated into this Prospectus by reference.  This means that the SAI is legally considered a part of this Prospectus even though it is not physically within this Prospectus.


Annual and Semi-Annual Reports

The Fund’s annual and semi-annual reports provide the most recent financial reports and portfolio listings. The annual report contains a discussion of the market conditions and investment strategies that affected the Fund’s performance during the Fund’s last fiscal year.


You can obtain a free copy of these documents, request other information, or make general inquiries about the Fund by calling the Fund (toll-free) at 1-855-294-7538 or by writing to:


Inflation Hedges Strategy Fund

c/o Gemini Fund Services, LLC

17605 Wright Street

Omaha, NE 68130


Information is also available at www.northpeakam.com.


You can review and copy information, including the Fund’s reports and SAI, at the SEC’s Public Reference Room in Washington, D.C.  You can obtain information on the operation of the Public Reference Room by calling (202) 551-8090.  Reports and other information about the Fund are also available:


·

free of charge from the SEC’s EDGAR database on the SEC’s Internet website at http://www.sec.gov;

·

for a fee, by writing to the SEC’s Public Reference Room, 100 F Street, N.E., Washington, D.C. 20549-1520; or

·

for a fee, by electronic request at the following e-mail address: publicinfo@sec.gov.



                                                                                                           

(The Trust’s SEC Investment Company Act file number is 811-22549)








[INFLATIONHEDGES497002.GIF]


Statement of Additional Information

Dated:  February 12, 2013, as amended February 26, 2013


Inflation Hedges Strategy Fund


Class I Shares (Symbol: INHIX)

Class R Shares (Symbol: INHRX)





This Statement of Additional Information (“SAI”) provides general information about the Inflation Hedges Strategy Fund (the “Fund”), a series of Northern Lights Fund Trust II (the “Trust”).  This SAI is not a prospectus and should be read in conjunction with the Fund’s current Prospectus for Class I and Class R shares dated February 12, 2013, as amended February 26, 2013 (the “Prospectus”), as supplemented and amended from time to time, which is incorporated herein by reference To obtain a copy of the Prospectus free of charge, please write or call the Fund at the address or telephone number below:


Inflation Hedges Strategy Fund

c/o Gemini Fund Services, LLC

17605 Wright Street

Omaha, NE 68130

1-855-294-7538









---------------------------------

TABLE OF CONTENTS

---------------------------------

THE TRUST

4

INVESTMENT POLICIES, STRATEGIES AND ASSOCIATED RISKS

5

FUNDAMENTAL INVESTMENT LIMITATIONS

27

MANAGEMENT OF THE FUND

29

BOARD OF TRUSTEES

29

BOARD LEADERSHIP STRUCTURE

29

TRUSTEES AND OFFICERS

30

BOARD COMMITTEES

34

TRUSTEE COMPENSATION

34

INVESTMENT ADVISER

35

SUB-ADVISERS

37

PORTFOLIO MANAGERS

39

OTHER SERVICE PROVIDERS

50

DISTRIBUTION OF FUND SHARES

53

12B-1 DISTRIBUTION PLAN

53

PORTFOLIO TRANSACTIONS AND BROKERAGE

54

PORTFOLIO TURNOVER

56

CODE OF ETHICS

56

PROXY VOTING PROCEDURES

56

ANTI-MONEY LAUNDERING COMPLIANCE PROGRAM

56

PORTFOLIO HOLDINGS INFORMATION

57

DETERMINATION OF NET ASSET VALUE

58

FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

66

 






B-2






The Trust

The Inflation Hedges Strategy Fund (the “Fund”) is a diversified series of Northern Lights Fund Trust II, (the “Trust”) a Delaware statutory trust, organized on August 26, 2010.


The Trust is registered as an open-end management investment company.  The Trust is governed by its Board of Trustees (the “Board” or “Trustees”).  The Fund may issue an unlimited number of shares of beneficial interest. All shares of the Fund have equal rights and privileges.  Each share of the Fund is entitled to one vote on all matters as to which shares are entitled to vote.  In addition, each share of the Fund is entitled to participate equally with other shares (i) in dividends and distributions declared by the Fund and (ii) on liquidation to its proportionate share of the assets remaining after satisfaction of outstanding liabilities.  Shares of the Fund are fully paid, non-assessable and fully transferable when issued and have no pre-emptive, conversion or exchange rights.  Fractional shares have proportionately the same rights, including voting rights, as are provided for a full share.

 

The Fund is a non-diversified series of the Trust.  The Fund’s investment objective, restrictions and policies are more fully described here and in the Prospectus.  The Board may add classes to and reclassify the shares of the Fund, start other series and offer shares of a new fund under the Trust at any time.  


The Fund offers two classes of shares:   Class I shares and Class R shares. Each share class represents an interest in the same assets of the Fund, has the same rights and is identical in all material respects except that (i) each class of shares may be subject to different (or no) sales loads, (ii) each class of shares may bear different (or no) distribution fees; (iii) each class of shares may have different shareholder features, such as minimum investment amounts; (iv) certain other class-specific expenses will be borne solely by the class to which such expenses are attributable, including transfer agent fees attributable to a specific class of shares, printing and postage expenses related to preparing and distributing materials to current shareholders of a specific class, registration fees paid by a specific class of shares, the expenses of administrative personnel and services required to support the shareholders of a specific class, litigation or other legal expenses relating to a class of shares, Trustees’ fees or expenses paid as a result of issues relating to a specific class of shares and accounting fees and expenses relating to a specific class of shares and (v) each class has exclusive voting rights with respect to matters relating to its own distribution arrangements.  Each share of the Fund is entitled to one vote on all matters as to which shares are entitled to vote.  In addition, each share of the Fund is entitled to participate equally with other shares on a class-specific basis (i) in dividends and distributions declared by the Fund and (ii) on liquidation to its proportionate share of the assets remaining after satisfaction of outstanding liabilities.  Shares of the Funds are fully paid, non-assessable and fully transferable when issued and have no pre-emptive, conversion or exchange rights. Fractional shares have proportionately the same rights, including voting rights, as are provided for a full share.


Under the Trust’s Agreement and Declaration of Trust, each Trustee will continue in office until the termination of the Trust or his/her earlier death, incapacity, resignation or removal.  Shareholders can remove a Trustee to the extent provided by the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “1940 Act”) and the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder.  Vacancies may be filled by a majority of the remaining Trustees, except insofar as the 1940 Act may require the election by shareholders.  As a result, normally no annual or regular meetings of shareholders will be held unless matters arise requiring a vote of shareholders under the Agreement and Declaration of Trust or the 1940 Act.


North Peak Asset Management LLC (the “Adviser”) serves as the investment adviser to the Fund.


Wellington Management Company, LLP, Parametric Portfolio Associates, LLC, Mellon Capital Management Corporation, Commodity Strategies AG, The Boston Company Asset Management, LLC and City of London Investment Management Company Limited each serve as a sub-adviser to the Fund.




B-3







Investment Policies, Strategies and Associated Risks

The investment objective of the Inflation Hedges Strategy Fund is to seek to provide current income and real (after inflation) total returns. The Fund utilizes a Commodities strategy, an Inflation Linked Bond strategy, a Leveraged Loans strategy and a Natural Resource Equities strategy to achieve its goal.  The Fund seeks to achieve this investment objective while maintaining a portfolio volatility that is less than the volatility of the U.S. equity market. The investment objectives of the Fund and the descriptions of the Fund’s principal investment strategies are set forth under “Investment Strategies, Related Risks and Disclosure of Portfolio Holdings” in the Prospectus. The Fund’s investment objective is not fundamental and may be changed without the approval of shareholders.  Shareholders will be given 60 days’ prior notice of any such changes.


The following pages contain more detailed information about the types of instruments in which the Fund may invest, strategies the Adviser or a Sub-Adviser may employ in pursuit of the Fund’s investment objective and a summary of related risks.


Equity Securities

An equity security (such as a stock, partnership interest or other beneficial interest in an issuer) represents a proportionate share of the ownership of a company.  Its value is based on the success of the company’s business, any income paid to stockholders, the value of its assets and general market conditions.  Common stocks and preferred stocks are examples of equity securities.  Preferred stocks are equity securities that often pay dividends at a specific rate and have a preference over common stocks in dividend payments and liquidation of assets.  Some preferred stocks may be convertible into common stock.  Convertible securities are securities (such as debt securities or preferred stock) that may be converted into or exchanged for a specified amount of common stock of the same or different issuer within a particular period of time at a specified price or formula.


The risks of investing in companies in general include business failure and reliance on erroneous reports.  To the extent the Fund is invested in the equity securities of small- or medium-size companies, it will be exposed to the risks of smaller sized companies.  Small- and medium-size companies, directly or indirectly, often have narrower markets for their goods and/or services and more limited managerial and financial resources than larger, more established companies.  Furthermore, those companies often have limited product lines or services, markets or financial resources, or are dependent on a small management group.  In addition, because these securities are not well-known to the investing public, do not have significant institutional ownership and are followed by relatively few security analysts, there will normally be less publicly available information concerning these securities compared to what is available for the securities of larger companies.  Adverse publicity and investor perceptions, whether or not based on fundamental analysis, can decrease the value and liquidity of securities held by the Fund.  As a result, their performance can be more volatile and they face greater risk of business failure, which could increase the volatility of the Fund’s portfolio.


Preferred Stock

A preferred stock is a blend of the characteristics of a bond and common stock.  It can offer the higher yield of a bond and has priority over common stock in equity ownership, but does not have the seniority of a bond and, unlike common stock, its participation in the issuer’s growth may be limited.  Preferred stock has preference over common stock in the receipt of dividends and in any residual assets after payment to creditors should the issuer be dissolved.  Although the dividend is set at a fixed annual rate, in some circumstances it can be changed or omitted by the issuer.


Short Sales

The Fund may seek to hedge investments or realize additional gains through short sales.  Short sales are transactions in which the Fund sells a security it does not own in anticipation of a decline in the value of




B-4






that security relative to the long positions held by the Fund.  To complete such a transaction, the Fund must borrow the security to make delivery to the buyer.  The Fund then is obligated to replace the security borrowed by purchasing it at the market price at or prior to the time of replacement.  The price at such time may be more or less than the price at which the security was sold by the Fund.  Until the security is replaced, the Fund is required to repay the lender any dividends or interest that accrues during the period of the loan.  To borrow the security, the Fund also may be required to pay a premium, which would increase the cost of the security sold.  The net proceeds of the short sale will be retained by the broker (or by the Fund’s custodian, U.S. Bank, N.A. (the “Custodian”)) in a special custody account, to the extent necessary to meet margin requirements, until the short position is closed out.  The Fund also will incur transaction costs in effecting short sales.


The Fund will incur a loss as a result of the short sale if the price of the security increases between the date of the short sale and the date on which the Fund replaces the borrowed security.  Short sales may, however, protect the Fund against the risk of losses in the value of its portfolio securities because any unrealized losses with respect to such portfolio securities should be wholly or partially offset by a corresponding gain in the short position.  However, any potential gains in such portfolio securities should be wholly or partially offset by a corresponding loss in the short position.  The extent to which such gains or losses are offset will depend upon the amount of securities sold short relative to the amount the Fund owns, either directly or indirectly, and, in the case where the Fund owns convertible securities, changes in the conversion premium.  There can be no assurance that the Fund will be able to close out a short position at any particular time or at an acceptable price.


The Fund also must segregate liquid assets equal to the difference between (a) the market value of the securities sold short at the time they were sold short and (b) the value of the collateral deposited with the broker in connection with the short sale (not including the proceeds from the short sale).  While the short position is open, the Fund must maintain segregated assets at such a level that the amount segregated plus the amount deposited with the broker as collateral equal the current market value of the securities sold short.


Other Investment Companies

The Fund may invest up to 100% of its net assets in shares of other investment companies, including money market mutual funds, other mutual funds or exchange traded funds (“ETFs”).  The Fund’s investments in money market mutual funds may be used for cash management purposes and to maintain liquidity in order to satisfy redemption requests or pay unanticipated expenses.  The Fund limits its investments in securities issued by other investment companies in accordance with the 1940 Act or with certain terms and conditions of applicable exemptive orders issued by the SEC and approved by the Board of Trustees.  Section 12(d)(1) of the 1940 Act precludes the Fund from acquiring (i) more than 3% of the total outstanding shares of another investment company; (ii) shares of another investment company having an aggregate value in excess of 5% of the value of the total assets of the Fund; or (iii) shares of another registered investment company and all other investment companies having an aggregate value in excess of 10% of the value of the total assets of the Fund.  However, Section 12(d)(1)(F) of the 1940 Act provides that the provisions of paragraph 12(d)(1) shall not apply to securities purchased or otherwise acquired by the Fund if (i) immediately after such purchase or acquisition not more than 3% of the total outstanding shares of such investment company is owned by the Fund and all affiliated persons of the Fund; and (ii) the Fund has not offered or sold, and is not proposing to offer or sell its shares through a principal underwriter or otherwise at a public or offering price that includes a sales load of more than 1 1/2%.  SEC Rule 12d1-3 provides, however, that the Fund may rely on the Section 12(d)(1)(F) exemption and charge a sales load in excess of 1 1/2% provided the sales load and any service fee charged does not exceed limits set forth in applicable Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc. (“FINRA”) rules.





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If the Fund invests in investment companies, including ETFs, pursuant to Section 12(d)(1)(F), it must comply with the following voting restrictions: when the Fund exercises voting rights, by proxy or otherwise, with respect to investment companies owned by the Fund, the Fund will either seek instruction from the Fund’s shareholders with regard to the voting of all proxies and vote in accordance with such instructions, or vote the shares held by the Fund in the same proportion as the vote of all other holders of such security.  In addition, an investment company purchased by the Fund pursuant to Section 12(d)(1)(F) shall not be required to redeem its shares in an amount exceeding 1% of such investment company’s total outstanding shares in any period of less than thirty days.  In addition to the advisory and operational fees the Fund bears directly in connection with its own operation, the Fund also bears its pro rata portion of the advisory and operational expenses incurred indirectly through investments in other investment companies.  In addition, ETFs are subject to the following risks that do not apply to conventional mutual funds: (1) the market price of the ETF’s shares may trade at a discount to their net asset value; (2) an active trading market for an ETF’s shares may not develop or be maintained; or (3) trading of an ETF’s shares may be halted if the listing exchange’s officials deem such action appropriate, the shares are de-listed from the exchange, or the activation of market-wide “circuit breakers” (which are tied to large decreases in stock prices) halts stock trading generally.  Additionally, ETFs have management fees, which increase their cost.


Exchange-Traded Funds

An ETF generally is an open-end investment company, unit investment trust or a portfolio of securities deposited with a depository in exchange for depository receipts.  The portfolios of ETFs generally consist of common stocks that closely track the performance and dividend yield of specific securities indices, either broad market, sector or international.  ETFs provide investors the opportunity to buy or sell throughout the day an entire portfolio of stocks in a single security.  Although index mutual funds are similar, they are generally sold and redeemed only once per day at market close.  Broad securities market index ETFs include Standard & Poor’s Depository Receipts (“SPDRs”), which are interests in a unit investment trust representing an undivided interest in a portfolio of all of the common stocks of the S&P 500 Index.  The ETFs in which the Fund invests are subject to liquidity risk.  Liquidity risk exists when particular investments are difficult to purchase or sell, possibly preventing the sale of the security at an advantageous time or price.  To the extent that the ETFs in which the Fund invests hold securities of companies with smaller market capitalizations or securities with substantial market risk, they will have a greater exposure to liquidity risk.


Exchange-Traded Notes

Similar to ETFs, owning an ETN generally reflects the risks of owning the assets that comprise the underlying market benchmark or strategy that the ETN is designed to reflect. ETNs also are subject to counterparty and fixed-income risk. ETNs are a type of unsecured, unsubordinated debt security that have characteristics and risks similar to those of fixed income securities and trade on a major exchange similar to shares of ETFs. This type of debt security differs, however, from other types of bonds and notes because ETN returns are based upon the performance of a market index minus applicable fees, no period coupon payments are distributed, and no principal protections exist. The purpose of ETNs is to create a type of security that combines the aspects of both bonds and ETFs. The value of an ETN may be influenced by time to maturity, level of supply and demand for the ETN, volatility and lack of liquidity in underlying commodities or securities markets, changes in the applicable interest rates, changes in the issuer’s credit rating and economic, legal, political or geographic events that affect the referenced commodity or security. The fund’s decision to sell its ETN holdings also may be limited by the availability of a secondary market. If the fund must sell some or all of its ETN holdings and the secondary market is weak, it may have to sell such holdings at a discount. If the fund holds its investment in an ETN until maturity, the issuer will give the fund a cash amount that would be equal to principal amount (subject to the day’s index factor). ETNs also are subject to counterparty credit risk and fixed income risk.





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Foreign Investments and Currencies

The Fund may invest in securities of foreign issuers that are not publicly traded in the United States.  The Fund may also invest in American Depositary Receipts (“ADRs”), European Depositary Receipts (“EDRs”) and Global Depositary Receipts (“GDRs”), foreign securities traded on a national securities market and may purchase and sell foreign currency on a spot basis and enter into forward currency contracts (see “Forward Currency Contracts,” below).


Depositary Receipts .  The Fund may invest its assets in securities of foreign issuers in the form of depositary receipts, including ADRs, EDRs and GDRs, which are securities representing securities of foreign issuers.  A purchaser of unsponsored depositary receipts may not have unlimited voting rights and may not receive as much information about the issuer of the underlying securities as with a sponsored depositary receipt.  Generally, ADRs, in registered form, are denominated in U.S. dollars and are designed for use in the U.S. securities markets.  ADRs are receipts typically issued by a U.S. bank or trust company evidencing ownership of the underlying securities.  For purposes of the Fund’s investment policies, ADRs are deemed to have the same classification as the underlying securities they represent.  Thus, an ADR representing ownership of common stock will be treated as common stock.


Risks of Investing in Foreign Securities .  Investments in foreign securities involve certain inherent risks, including the following:


Political and Economic Factors .  Individual foreign economies of certain countries may differ favorably or unfavorably from the U.S. economy in such respects as growth of gross national product, rate of inflation, capital reinvestment, resource self-sufficiency, diversification and balance of payments position.  The internal politics of certain foreign countries may not be as stable as those of the United States.  Governments in certain foreign countries also continue to participate to a significant degree, through ownership interest or regulation, in their respective economies.  Action by these governments could include restrictions on foreign investment, nationalization, expropriation of goods or imposition of taxes, and could have a significant effect on market prices of securities and payment of interest.  The economies of many foreign countries are heavily dependent upon international trade and are accordingly affected by the trade policies and economic conditions of their trading partners.  Enactment by these trading partners of protectionist trade legislation could have a significant adverse effect upon the securities markets of such countries.


Currency Fluctuations .  The Fund may invest in securities denominated in foreign currencies.  Accordingly, a change in the value of any such currency against the U.S. dollar will result in a corresponding change in the U.S. dollar value of the Fund’s assets denominated in that currency.  Such changes will also affect the Fund’s income.  The value of the Fund’s assets may also be affected significantly by currency restrictions and exchange control regulations enacted from time to time.


Market Characteristics .  Many foreign securities in which the Fund may invest could be purchased in over-the-counter markets or on exchanges located in the countries in which the principal offices of the issuers of the various securities are located, if that is the best available market.  Foreign exchanges and markets may be more volatile than those in the United States.  While growing in volume, they usually have substantially less volume than U.S. markets, and the Fund’s foreign securities may be less liquid and more volatile than U.S. securities.  Moreover, settlement practices for transactions in foreign markets may differ from those in U.S. markets, and may include delays beyond periods customary in the United States.  Foreign security trading practices, including those involving securities settlement where Fund assets may be released prior to receipt of payment or securities, may expose the Fund to increased risk in the event of a failed trade or the insolvency of a foreign broker-dealer.





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Legal and Regulatory Matters .  Certain foreign countries may have less supervision of securities markets, brokers and issuers of securities, and less financial information available from issuers, than is available in the United States.


Taxes .  The interest and dividends payable on certain of the Fund’s foreign portfolio securities may be subject to foreign withholding taxes, thus reducing the net amount of income available for distribution to Fund shareholders.


Costs .  To the extent that the Fund invests in foreign securities, its expense ratio is likely to be higher than those of investment companies investing only in domestic securities, because the cost of maintaining the custody of foreign securities is higher.


Emerging Markets .  The Fund’s investments in foreign securities may include securities of companies located in developing or emerging markets, which entail additional risks, including: less social, political and economic stability; smaller securities markets and lower trading volume, which may result in less liquidity and greater price volatility; national policies that may restrict the Fund’s investment opportunities, including restrictions on investments in issuers or industries, or expropriation or confiscation of assets or property; and less developed legal structures governing private or foreign investment.


Forward Currency Contracts .  The Fund may enter into forward currency contracts in anticipation of changes in currency exchange rates.  A forward currency contract is an obligation to purchase or sell a specific currency at a future date, which may be any fixed number of days from the date of the contract agreed upon by the parties, at a price set at the time of the contract.  For example, the Fund might purchase a particular currency or enter into a forward currency contract to preserve the U.S. dollar price of securities it intends to or has contracted to purchase.  Alternatively, it might sell a particular currency on either a spot or forward basis to hedge against an anticipated decline in the dollar value of securities it intends to or has contracted to sell.  Although this strategy could minimize the risk of loss due to a decline in the value of the hedged currency, it could also limit any potential gain from an increase in the value of the currency.


In considering whether to invest in the securities of a foreign company, the Adviser or a Sub-Adviser, as the case may be, considers such factors as the characteristics of the particular company, differences between economic trends and the performance of securities markets within the U.S. and those within other countries, and also factors relating to the general economic, governmental and social conditions of the country or countries where the company is located.  The extent to which the Fund will be invested in foreign companies and countries and depositary receipts will fluctuate from time to time within the limitations described in the Prospectus, depending on the Adviser’s or Sub-Adviser’s assessment of prevailing market, economic and other conditions.


Swap Agreements

The Fund may enter into swap agreements for purposes of attempting to gain exposure to equity or debt securities without actually purchasing those securities, or to hedge a position.  Swap agreements are two-party contracts entered into primarily by institutional investors for periods ranging from a day to more than one year.  In a standard “swap” transaction, two parties agree to exchange the returns (or differentials in rates of return) earned or realized on particular predetermined investments or instruments.  The gross returns to be exchanged or “swapped” between the parties are calculated with respect to a “notional amount,” i.e., the return on or increase in value of a particular dollar amount invested in a “basket” of securities representing a particular index.


Most swap agreements entered into by the Fund calculate the obligations of the parties to the agreement on a “net basis.”  Consequently, the Fund’s current obligations (or rights) under a swap agreement will




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generally be equal only to the net amount to be paid or received under the agreement based on the relative values of the positions held by each party to the agreement (the “net amount”).  Payments may be made at the conclusion of a swap agreement or periodically during its term.


Swap agreements do not involve the delivery of securities or other underlying assets. Accordingly, if a swap is entered into on a net basis, if the other party to a swap agreement defaults, the Fund’s risk of loss consists of the net amount of payments that the Fund is contractually entitled to receive, if any.


The net amount of the excess, if any, of the Fund’s obligations over its entitlements with respect to a swap agreement entered into on a net basis will be accrued daily and an amount of cash or liquid asset having an aggregate net asset value at least equal to the accrued excess will be maintained in an account with the Custodian.  The Fund will also establish and maintain such accounts with respect to its total obligations under any swaps that are not entered into on a net basis.  Obligations under swap agreements so covered will not be construed to be “senior securities” for purposes of the Fund’s investment restriction concerning senior securities.


Because they are two-party contracts and because they may have terms of greater than seven days, swap agreements may be considered to be illiquid for the Fund’s illiquid investment limitations.  The Fund will not enter into any swap agreement unless the Adviser or a Sub-Adviser, as the case may be, believes that the other party to the transaction is creditworthy.  The Fund bears the risk of loss of the amount expected to be received under a swap agreement in the event of the default or bankruptcy of a swap agreement counter-party.


The Fund may enter into a swap agreement in circumstances where the Adviser or a Sub-Adviser, as the case may be, believes that it may be more cost effective or practical than buying the securities represented by such index or a futures contract or an option on such index.  The counter-party to any swap agreement will typically be a bank, investment banking firm or broker/dealer.  The counter-party will generally agree to pay the Fund the amount, if any, by which the notional amount of the swap agreement would have increased in value had it been invested in the particular stocks represented in the index, plus the dividends that would have been received on those stocks.  The Fund will agree to pay to the counter-party a floating rate of interest on the notional amount of the swap agreement plus the amount, if any, by which the notional amount would have decreased in value had it been invested in such stocks.  Therefore, the return to the Fund on any swap agreement should be the gain or loss on the notional amount plus dividends on the stocks less the interest paid by the Fund on the notional amount.


The swap market has grown substantially in recent years with a large number of banks and investment banking firms acting both as principals and as agents utilizing standardized swap documentation.  As a result, the swap market has become relatively liquid in comparison with the markets for other similar instruments that are traded in the OTC market.


Fixed Income Securities

The Fund may invest in a wide range of fixed income securities, which may include obligations of any rating maturity, and in mutual funds and ETFs that invest in such securities.  


The Fund may invest in investment grade corporate debt securities and lower-rated corporate debt securities (commonly known as “junk bonds”).  Lower-rated or high yield debt securities include corporate high yield debt securities, zero-coupon securities, payment-in kind securities and strips.  Investment grade corporate bonds are those rated BBB or better by Standard & Poor’s Rating Service (“S&P”) or Baa or better by Moody’s Investors Service (“Moody’s”).  Securities rated BBB by S&P are considered investment grade, but Moody’s considers securities rated Baa to have speculative characteristics.  The Fund may also invest in unrated securities.





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Corporate Debt Securities .  Corporate debt securities are fixed income securities issued by businesses to finance their operations, although corporate debt instruments may also include bank loans to companies. Notes, bonds, debentures and commercial paper are the most common types of corporate debt securities, with the primary difference being their maturities and secured or unsecured status.  Commercial paper has the shortest term and is usually unsecured.


The broad category of corporate debt securities includes debt issued by domestic or foreign companies of all kinds, including those with small-, mid- and large-capitalizations. Corporate debt may be rated investment-grade or below investment-grade and may carry variable or floating rates of interest.


Because of the wide range of types and maturities of corporate debt securities, as well as the range of creditworthiness of its issuers, corporate debt securities have widely varying potentials for return and risk profiles.  For example, commercial paper issued by a large established domestic corporation that is rated investment-grade may have a modest return on principal, but carries relatively limited risk.  On the other hand, a long-term corporate note issued by a small foreign corporation from an emerging market country that has not been rated may have the potential for relatively large returns on principal, but carries a relatively high degree of risk.


Corporate debt securities carry both credit risk and interest rate risk.  Credit risk is the risk that the Fund could lose money if the issuer of a corporate debt security is unable to pay interest or repay principal when it is due.  Some corporate debt securities that are rated below investment-grade are generally considered speculative because they present a greater risk of loss, including default, than higher quality debt securities.  The credit risk of a particular issuer’s debt security may vary based on its priority for repayment.  For example, higher ranking (senior) debt securities have a higher priority than lower ranking (subordinated) securities.  This means that the issuer might not make payments on subordinated securities while continuing to make payments on senior securities.  In addition, in the event of bankruptcy, holders of higher-ranking senior securities may receive amounts otherwise payable to the holders of more junior securities.  Interest rate risk is the risk that the value of certain corporate debt securities will tend to fall when interest rates rise.  In general, corporate debt securities with longer terms tend to fall more in value when interest rates rise than corporate debt securities with shorter terms.


Zero-Coupon Securities .  Zero-coupon securities make no periodic interest payments, but are sold at a deep discount from their face value.  The buyer recognizes a rate of return determined by the gradual appreciation of the security, which is redeemed at face value on a specified maturity date.  The discount varies depending on the time remaining until maturity, as well as market interest rates, liquidity of the security and the issuer’s perceived credit quality.  If the issuer defaults, the holder may not receive any return on its investment.  Because zero-coupon securities bear no interest and compound semiannually at the rate fixed at the time of issuance, their value generally is more volatile than the value of other fixed-income securities.  Since zero-coupon bondholders do not receive interest payments, when interest rates rise, zero-coupon securities fall more dramatically in value than bonds paying interest on a current basis.  When interest rates fall, zero-coupon securities rise more rapidly in value because the bonds reflect a fixed rate of return.  An investment in zero-coupon and delayed interest securities may cause the Fund to recognize income and make distributions to shareholders before it receives any cash payments on its investment.


Unrated Debt Securities .  Unrated debt, while not necessarily lower in quality than rated securities, may not have as broad a market.  Because of the size and perceived demand for the issue, among other factors, certain issuers may decide not to pay the cost of getting a rating for their bonds.  The creditworthiness of the issuer, as well as any financial institution or other party responsible for payments on the security, will be analyzed to determine whether to purchase unrated bonds.





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Convertible Securities

The Fund may invest in convertible securities.  A convertible security is a fixed-income security (a debt instrument or a preferred stock) which may be converted at a stated price within a specified period of time into a certain quantity of the common stock of the same or a different issuer.  Convertible securities are senior to common stocks in an issuer’s capital structure, but are usually subordinated to similar non-convertible securities.  While providing a fixed-income stream (generally higher in yield than the income derivable from common stock but lower than that afforded by a similar non-convertible security), a convertible security also gives an investor the opportunity, through its conversion feature, to participate in the capital appreciation of the issuing company depending upon a market price advance in the convertible security’s underlying common stock.


Warrants

The Fund may invest in warrants.  A warrant gives the holder a right to purchase at any time during a specified period a predetermined number of shares of common stock at a fixed price.  Unlike convertible debt securities or preferred stock, warrants do not pay a fixed coupon or dividend.  Investments in warrants involve certain risks, including the possible lack of a liquid market for resale of the warrants, potential price fluctuations as a result of speculation or other factors and failure of the price of the underlying security to reach or have reasonable prospects of reaching a level at which the warrant can be prudently exercised (in which event the warrant may expire without being exercised, resulting in a loss of the Fund’s entire investment therein).


Borrowing

The Fund may borrow money for investment purposes, which is a form of leveraging.  Leveraging investments, by purchasing securities with borrowed money, is a speculative technique that increases investment risk while increasing investment opportunity.  Leverage will magnify changes in the Fund’s net asset value and on the Fund’s investments.  Although the principal of such borrowings will be fixed, the Fund’s assets may change in value during the time the borrowing is outstanding.  Leverage also creates interest expenses for the Fund.  To the extent the income derived from securities purchased with borrowed funds exceeds the interest the Fund will have to pay, the Fund’s net income will be greater than it would be if leverage were not used.  Conversely, if the income from the assets obtained with borrowed funds is not sufficient to cover the cost of leveraging, the net income of the Fund will be less than it would be if leverage were not used, and therefore the amount available for distribution to shareholders as dividends will be reduced.  The use of derivatives in connection with leverage creates the potential for significant loss.


The Fund may also borrow funds to meet redemptions or for other emergency purposes.  Such borrowings may be on a secured or unsecured basis at fixed or variable rates of interest.  The 1940 Act requires the Fund to maintain continuous asset coverage of not less than 300% with respect to all borrowings.  If such asset coverage should decline to less than 300% due to market fluctuations or other reasons, the Fund may be required to dispose of some of its portfolio holdings within three days in order to reduce the Fund’s debt and restore the 300% asset coverage, even though it may be disadvantageous from an investment standpoint to dispose of assets at that time.


The Fund also may be required to maintain minimum average balances in connection with such borrowing or to pay a commitment or other fee to maintain a line of credit.  Either of these requirements would increase the cost of borrowing over the stated interest rate.


Borrowing by the Fund creates an opportunity for increased net income, but at the same time, creates special risk considerations.  For example, leveraging may exaggerate the effect on net asset value of any increase or decrease in the market value of the Fund’s portfolio.





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Securities Lending

The Fund may lend securities from its portfolio to brokers, dealers and financial institutions (but not individuals) in order to increase the return on its portfolio.  The value of the loaned securities may not exceed one-third of the Fund’s total net assets and loans of portfolio securities are fully collateralized based on values that are marked-to-market daily.  The Fund will not enter into any portfolio security lending arrangement having a duration of longer than one year.  The principal risk of portfolio lending is potential default or insolvency of the borrower.  In either of these cases, the Fund could experience delays in recovering securities or collateral or could lose all or part of the value of the loaned securities.  The Fund may pay reasonable administrative and custodial fees in connection with loans of portfolio securities and may pay a portion of the interest or fee earned thereon to the borrower or a placing broker.


In determining whether or not to lend a security to a particular broker, dealer or financial institution, the Adviser or a Sub-Adviser, as the case may be, considers all relevant facts and circumstances, including the size, creditworthiness and reputation of the broker, dealer or financial institution.  Any loans of portfolio securities are fully collateralized based on values that are marked-to-market daily.  Any securities that the Fund may receive as collateral will not become part of the Fund’s investment portfolio at the time of the loan and, in the event of a default by the borrower, the Fund will, if permitted by law, dispose of such collateral except for such part thereof that is a security in which the Fund is permitted to invest.  During the time securities are on loan, the borrower will pay the Fund any accrued income on those securities, however, such payments of accrued income will not constitute “qualified dividend” income and will be taxable as ordinary income.  For loaned securities, the Fund may invest the cash collateral and earn income or receive an agreed-upon fee from a borrower that has delivered cash-equivalent collateral.  The Fund will be responsible for the risks associated with the investment of the cash collateral, including the risk that the Fund may lose money on the investment or may fail to earn sufficient income to meet its obligations to the borrower.


Options, Futures and Other Strategies


General .  The Fund may use certain options (both traded on an exchange and over-the-counter (“OTC”)), spot and forward foreign exchange contracts, futures contracts (sometimes referred to as “futures”) and options on futures contracts (collectively, “Financial Instruments”) as a substitute for a comparable market position in the underlying security, to attempt to hedge or limit the exposure of the Fund’s position, to create a synthetic money market position, for certain tax-related purposes, and to effect closing transactions.  


The use of Financial Instruments is subject to applicable regulations of the SEC, the several exchanges upon which they are traded and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (the “CFTC”).  In addition, the Fund’s ability to use Financial Instruments will be limited by tax considerations.  Pursuant to a claim for exemption filed with the National Futures Association on behalf of the Fund, the Fund is not deemed to be a commodity pool operator or a commodity pool under the Commodity Exchange Act and is not subject to registration or regulation as such under the Commodity Exchange Act.  In addition to the instruments, strategies and risks described below and in the Prospectus, the Fund’s Adviser or Sub-Advisers may discover additional opportunities in connection with Financial Instruments and other similar or related techniques.  These new opportunities may become available as the Adviser or Sub-Advisers develop new techniques, as regulatory authorities broaden the range of permitted transactions and as new Financial Instruments or other techniques are developed.  The Adviser or Sub-Advisers may utilize these opportunities to the extent that they are consistent with the Fund’s investment objective and permitted by the Fund’s investment limitations and applicable regulatory authorities.  The Prospectus or this SAI will be supplemented to the extent that new products or techniques involve materially different risks than those described below or in the Prospectus.





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Special Risks .  The use of Financial Instruments involves special considerations and risks, certain of which are described below.  Risks pertaining to particular Financial Instruments are described in the sections that follow.


(1)

Successful use of most Financial Instruments depends upon the Adviser’s or a Sub-Adviser’s ability to predict movements of the overall securities markets, which requires different skills than predicting changes in the prices of individual securities.  The ordinary spreads between prices in the cash and futures markets, due to the differences in the natures of those markets, are subject to distortion.  Due to the possibility of distortion, a correct forecast of stock market trends by the Adviser or Sub-Adviser, as the case may be, may still not result in a successful transaction.  The Adviser or Sub-Adviser may be incorrect in their expectations as to the extent of market movements or the time span within which the movements take place, which, thus, may result in the strategy being unsuccessful.


(2)

Options and futures prices can diverge from the prices of their underlying instruments.  Options and futures prices are affected by such factors as current and anticipated short-term interest rates, changes in volatility of the underlying instrument and the time remaining until expiration of the contract, which may not affect security prices the same way.  Imperfect or no correlation also may result from differing levels of demand in the options and futures markets and the securities markets, from structural differences in how options and futures and securities are traded and from imposition of daily price fluctuation limits or trading halts.


(3)

As described below, the Fund might be required to maintain assets as “cover,” maintain segregated accounts or make margin payments when it takes positions in Financial Instruments involving obligations to third parties (e.g . , Financial Instruments other than purchased options).  If the Fund were unable to close out its positions in such Financial Instruments, it might be required to continue to maintain such assets or accounts or make such payments until the position expired or matured.  These requirements might impair the Fund’s ability to sell a portfolio security or make an investment when it would otherwise be favorable to do so or require that the Fund sell a portfolio security at a disadvantageous time.  The Fund’s ability to close out a position in a Financial Instrument prior to expiration or maturity depends on the existence of a liquid secondary market or, in the absence of such a market, the ability and willingness of the other party to the transaction (the “counter-party”) to enter into a transaction closing out the position.  Therefore, there is no assurance that any position can be closed out at a time and price that is favorable to the Fund.


(4)

Losses may arise due to unanticipated market price movements, lack of a liquid secondary market for any particular instrument at a particular time or due to losses from premiums paid by the Fund on options transactions.


Cover .  Transactions using Financial Instruments, other than purchased options, expose the Fund to an obligation to another party.  The Fund will not enter into any such transactions unless it owns either (1) an offsetting (“covered”) position in securities or other options or futures contracts or (2) cash and liquid assets with a value, marked-to-market daily, sufficient to cover its potential obligations to the extent not covered as provided in (1) above.  The Fund will comply with SEC guidelines regarding cover for these instruments and will, if the guidelines so require, set aside cash or liquid assets in an account with its Custodian, or another approved custodian, in the prescribed amount as determined daily.


Assets used as cover or held in an account cannot be sold while the position in the corresponding Financial Instrument is open, unless they are replaced with other appropriate assets.  As a result, the commitment of a large portion of the Fund’s assets to cover accounts could impede portfolio management or the Fund’s ability to meet redemption requests or other current obligations.





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Options .  The value of an option position will reflect, among other things, the current market value of the underlying investment, the time remaining until expiration, the relationship of the exercise price to the market price of the underlying investment and general market conditions.  Options that expire unexercised have no value.  Options currently are traded on the Chicago Board Options Exchange, the NYSE Amex Options exchange and other exchanges, as well as the OTC markets.


By buying a call option on a security, the Fund has the right, in return for the premium paid, to buy the security underlying the option at the exercise price.  By writing (selling) a call option and receiving a premium, the Fund becomes obligated during the term of the option to deliver securities underlying the option at the exercise price if the option is exercised.  By buying a put option, the Fund has the right, in return for the premium, to sell the security underlying the option at the exercise price.  By writing a put option, the Fund becomes obligated during the term of the option to purchase the securities underlying the option at the exercise price.


Because options premiums paid or received by the Fund are small in relation to the market value of the investments underlying the options, buying and selling put and call options can be more speculative than investing directly in securities.


The Fund may effectively terminate its right or obligation under an option by entering into a closing transaction.  For example, the Fund may terminate its obligation under a call or put option that it had written, by purchasing an identical call or put option.  This is known as a closing purchase transaction.  Conversely, the Fund may terminate a position in a put or call option it had purchased by writing an identical put or call option.  This is known as a closing sale transaction.  Closing transactions permit the Fund to realize profits or limit losses on an option position prior to its exercise or expiration.


Risks of Options on Securities .  Exchange-traded options in the United States are issued by a clearing organization affiliated with the exchange on which the option is listed that, in effect, guarantees completion of every exchange-traded option transaction.  In contrast, OTC options are contracts between the Fund and its counter-party (usually a securities dealer or a bank) with no clearing organization guarantee.  Thus, when the Fund purchases an OTC option, it relies on the counter-party from whom it purchased the option to make or take delivery of the underlying investment upon exercise of the option.  Failure by the counter-party to do so would result in the loss of any premium paid by the Fund as well as the loss of any expected benefit of the transaction.


The Fund’s ability to establish and close out positions in exchange-traded options depends on the existence of a liquid market.  However, there can be no assurance that such a market will exist at any particular time.  Closing transactions can be made for OTC options only by negotiating directly with the counter-party or by a transaction in the secondary market if any such market exists.  There can be no assurance that the Fund will in fact be able to close out an OTC option position at a favorable price prior to expiration.  In the event of insolvency of the counter-party, the Fund might be unable to close out an OTC option position at any time prior to its expiration.


If the Fund were unable to effect a closing transaction for an option it had purchased, it would have to exercise the option to realize any profit.  The inability to enter into a closing purchase transaction for a covered call option written by the Fund could cause material losses because the Fund would be unable to sell the investment used as cover for the written option until the option expires or is exercised.


Options on Indices .  An index fluctuates with changes in the market values of the securities included in the index.  Options on indices give the holder the right to receive an amount of cash upon exercise of the option.  Receipt of this cash amount will depend upon the closing level of the index upon which the option is based being greater than (in the case of a call) or less than (in the case of a put) the exercise price of the option.  Some stock index options are based on a broad market index such as the S&P 500




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Index, the NYSE Composite Index or the NYSE Arca Major Market Index or on a narrower index such as the Philadelphia Stock Exchange Over-the-Counter Index.


Each of the exchanges has established limitations governing the maximum number of call or put options on the same index that may be bought or written by a single investor, whether acting alone or in concert with others (regardless of whether such options are written on the same or different exchanges or are held or written on one or more accounts or through one or more brokers).  Under these limitations, option positions of all investment companies advised by the Adviser are combined for purposes of these limits.  Pursuant to these limitations, an exchange may order the liquidation of positions and may impose other sanctions or restrictions.  These positions limits may restrict the number of listed options that the Fund may buy or sell.


Puts and calls on indices are similar to puts and calls on securities or futures contracts except that all settlements are in cash and gain or loss depends on changes in the index in question rather than on price movements in individual securities or futures contracts.  When the Fund writes a call on an index, it receives a premium and agrees that, prior to the expiration date, the purchaser of the call, upon exercise of the call, will receive from the Fund an amount of cash if the closing level of the index upon which the call is based is greater than the exercise price of the call.  The amount of cash is equal to the difference between the closing price of the index and the exercise price of the call times a specified multiple (“multiplier”), which determines the total value for each point of such difference.  When the Fund buys a call on an index, it pays a premium and has the same rights to such call as are indicated above.  When the Fund buys a put on an index, it pays a premium and has the right, prior to the expiration date, to require the seller of the put, upon the Fund’s exercise of the put, to deliver to the Fund an amount of cash if the closing level of the index upon which the put is based is less than the exercise price of the put, which amount of cash is determined by the multiplier, as described above for calls.  When the Fund writes a put on an index, it receives a premium and the purchaser of the put has the right, prior to the expiration date, to require the Fund to deliver to it an amount of cash equal to the difference between the closing level of the index and the exercise price times the multiplier if the closing level is less than the exercise price.


Risks of Options on Indices .  If the Fund has purchased an index option and exercises it before the closing index value for that day is available, it runs the risk that the level of the underlying index may subsequently change.  If such a change causes the exercised option to fall out-of-the-money, the Fund will be required to pay the difference between the closing index value and the exercise price of the option (times the applicable multiplier) to the assigned writer.


OTC Options .  Unlike exchange-traded options, which are standardized with respect to the underlying instrument, expiration date, contract size and strike price, the terms of OTC options (options not traded on exchanges) generally are established through negotiation with the other party to the option contract.  While this type of arrangement allows the Fund great flexibility to tailor the option to its needs, OTC options generally involve greater risk than exchange-traded options, which are guaranteed by the clearing organization of the exchanges where they are traded.


Futures Contracts and Options on Futures Contracts .  A futures contract obligates the seller to deliver (and the purchaser to take delivery of) the specified security on the expiration date of the contract.  An index futures contract obligates the seller to deliver (and the purchaser to take) an amount of cash equal to a specific dollar amount times the difference between the value of a specific index at the close of the last trading day of the contract and the price at which the agreement is made.  No physical delivery of the underlying securities in the index is made.


When the Fund writes an option on a futures contract, it becomes obligated, in return for the premium paid, to assume a position in the futures contract at a specified exercise price at any time during the term of the option.  If the Fund writes a call, it assumes a short futures position.  If it writes a put, it assumes a




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long futures position.  When the Fund purchases an option on a futures contract, it acquires the right in return for the premium it pays to assume a position in a futures contract (a long position if the option is a call and a short position if the option is a put).


Whether the Fund realizes a gain or loss from futures activities depends upon movements in the underlying security or index.  The extent of the Fund’s loss from an unhedged short position in futures contracts or from writing unhedged call options on futures contracts is potentially unlimited.  The Fund only purchases and sells futures contracts and options on futures contracts that are traded on a U.S. exchange or board of trade.


No price is paid upon entering into a futures contract.  Instead, at the inception of a futures contract the Fund is required to deposit “initial margin” in an amount generally equal to 10% or less of the contract value.  Margin also must be deposited when writing a call or put option on a futures contract, in accordance with applicable exchange rules.  Unlike margin in securities transactions, initial margin does not represent a borrowing, but rather is in the nature of a performance bond or good-faith deposit that is returned to the Fund at the termination of the transaction if all contractual obligations have been satisfied.  Under certain circumstances, such as periods of high volatility, the Fund may be required by an exchange to increase the level of its initial margin payment, and initial margin requirements might be increased generally in the future by regulatory action.


Subsequent “variation margin” payments are made to and from the futures commission merchant daily as the value of the futures position varies, a process known as “marking-to-market.”  Variation margin does not involve borrowing, but rather represents a daily settlement of the Fund’s obligations to or from a futures commission merchant.  When the Fund purchases an option on a futures contract, the premium paid plus transaction costs is all that is at risk.  In contrast, when the Fund purchases or sells a futures contract or writes a call or put option thereon, it is subject to daily variation margin calls that could be substantial in the event of adverse price movements.  If the Fund has insufficient cash to meet daily variation margin requirements, it might need to sell securities at a time when such sales are disadvantageous.


Purchasers and sellers of futures contracts and options on futures can enter into offsetting closing transactions, similar to closing transactions in options, by selling or purchasing, respectively, an instrument identical to the instrument purchased or sold.  Positions in futures and options on futures contracts may be closed only on an exchange or board of trade that provides a secondary market.  However, there can be no assurance that a liquid secondary market will exist for a particular contract at a particular time.  In such event, it may not be possible to close a futures contract or options position.


Under certain circumstances, futures exchanges may establish daily limits on the amount that the price of a futures contract or an option on a futures contract can vary from the previous day’s settlement price. Once that limit is reached, no trades may be made that day at a price beyond the limit.  Daily price limits do not limit potential losses because prices could move to the daily limit for several consecutive days with little or no trading, thereby preventing liquidation of unfavorable positions.


If the Fund were unable to liquidate a futures contract or an option on a futures position due to the absence of a liquid secondary market or the imposition of price limits, it could incur substantial losses.  The Fund would continue to be subject to market risk with respect to the position.  In addition, except in the case of purchased options, the Fund would continue to be required to make daily variation margin payments and might be required to maintain cash or liquid assets in an account.


Risks of Futures Contracts and Options Thereon .  The ordinary spreads between prices in the cash and futures markets (including the options on futures markets), due to differences in the natures of those markets, are subject to the following factors, which may create distortions.  First, all participants in the futures




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market are subject to margin deposit and maintenance requirements.  Rather than meeting additional margin deposit requirements, investors may close futures contracts through offsetting transactions, which could distort the normal relationships between the cash and futures markets.  Second, the liquidity of the futures market depends on participants entering into offsetting transactions rather than making or taking delivery.  To the extent participants decide to make or take delivery, liquidity in the futures market could be reduced, thus producing distortion.  Third, from the point of view of speculators, the deposit requirements in the futures market are less onerous than margin requirements in the securities market.  Therefore, increased participation by speculators in the futures market may cause temporary price distortions.


Combined Positions .  The Fund may purchase and write options in combination with each other.  For example, the Fund may purchase a put option and write a call option on the same underlying instrument, in order to construct a combined position whose risk and return characteristics are similar to selling a futures contract.  Another possible combined position would involve writing a call option at one strike price and buying a call option at a lower price, in order to reduce the risk of the written call option in the event of a substantial price increase.  Because combined options positions involve multiple trades, they result in higher transaction costs and may be more difficult to open and close out.


Temporary and Cash Investments

Under normal market conditions, the Fund will stay fully invested according to its principal investment strategies as noted above.  The Fund, however, may temporarily depart from its principal investment strategies by making short-term investments in cash, cash equivalents, and high-quality, short-term debt securities and money market instruments for temporary defensive purposes in response to adverse market, economic or political conditions.  This may result in the Fund not achieving its investment objectives during that period.


For longer periods of time, the Fund may hold a substantial cash position.  If the market advances during periods when the Fund is holding a large cash position, the Fund may not participate to the extent it would have if the Fund had been more fully invested.  To the extent that the Fund uses a money market fund for its cash position, there will be some duplication of expenses because the Fund would bear its pro rata portion of such money market fund’s advisory fees and operational expenses.


The Fund may invest in any of the following securities and instruments:


Money Market Mutual Funds .  The Fund may invest in money market mutual funds in connection with its management of daily cash positions or as a temporary defensive measure.  Generally, money market mutual funds seek to earn income consistent with the preservation of capital and maintenance of liquidity.  They primarily invest in high quality money market obligations, including securities issued or guaranteed by the U.S. Government or its agencies and instrumentalities, bank obligations and high-grade corporate instruments.  These investments generally mature within 397 days from the date of purchase.  An investment in a money market mutual fund is not a bank deposit and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any government agency.  The Fund’s investments in money market mutual funds may be used for cash management purposes and to maintain liquidity in order to satisfy redemption requests or pay unanticipated expenses.


Your cost of investing in the Fund will generally be higher than the cost of investing directly in the underlying money market mutual fund shares.  You will indirectly bear fees and expenses charged by the underlying money market mutual funds in addition to the Fund’s direct fees and expenses.  Furthermore, the use of this strategy could affect the timing, amount and character of distributions to you and therefore may increase the amount of taxes payable by you.





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Bank Certificates of Deposit, Bankers’ Acceptances and Time Deposits .  The Fund may acquire certificates of deposit, bankers’ acceptances and time deposits.  Certificates of deposit are negotiable certificates issued against monies deposited in a commercial bank for a definite period of time and earning a specified return.  Bankers’ acceptances are negotiable drafts or bills of exchange, normally drawn by an importer or exporter to pay for specific merchandise, which are “accepted” by a bank, meaning in effect that the bank unconditionally agrees to pay the face value of the instrument on maturity.  Certificates of deposit and bankers’ acceptances acquired by the Fund will be dollar-denominated obligations of domestic or foreign banks or financial institutions which at the time of purchase have capital, surplus and undivided profits in excess of $100 million (including assets of both domestic and foreign branches), based on latest published reports, or less than $100 million if the principal amount of such bank obligations are fully insured by the U.S. Government.


Domestic banks and foreign banks are subject to different governmental regulations with respect to the amount and types of loans that may be made and interest rates that may be charged.  In addition, the profitability of the banking industry depends largely upon the availability and cost of funds for the purpose of financing lending operations under prevailing money market conditions.  General economic conditions as well as exposure to credit losses arising from possible financial difficulties of borrowers play an important part in the operations of the banking industry.


As a result of federal and state laws and regulations, domestic banks are, among other things, required to maintain specified levels of reserves, limited in the amount which they can loan to a single borrower and subject to other regulations designed to promote financial soundness.  However, such laws and regulations do not necessarily apply to foreign bank obligations that the Fund may acquire.


In addition to purchasing certificates of deposit and bankers’ acceptances, to the extent permitted under the investment objective and policies stated above and in the Prospectus, the Fund may make interest-bearing time or other interest-bearing deposits in commercial or savings banks.  Time deposits are non-negotiable deposits maintained at a banking institution for a specified period of time at a specified interest rate.


Savings Association Obligations .  The Fund may invest in certificates of deposit (interest-bearing time deposits) issued by savings banks or savings and loan associations that have capital, surplus and undivided profits in excess of $100 million, based on latest published reports, or less than $100 million if the principal amount of such obligations is fully insured by the U.S. Government.


Commercial Paper, Short-Term Notes and Other Corporate Obligations .   The Fund may invest a portion of its assets in commercial paper and short-term notes.  Commercial paper consists of unsecured promissory notes issued by corporations.  Issues of commercial paper and short-term notes will normally have maturities of less than nine months and fixed rates of return, although such instruments may have maturities of up to one year.


Commercial paper and short-term notes will consist of issues rated at the time of purchase “A-2” or higher by S&P, “Prime-1” or “Prime-2” by Moody’s, or similarly rated by another nationally recognized statistical rating organization or, if unrated, will be determined by the Adviser or a Sub-Adviser, as the case may be, to be of comparable quality.


Corporate obligations include bonds and notes issued by corporations to finance longer-term credit needs than supported by commercial paper.  While such obligations generally have maturities of ten years or more, the Fund may purchase corporate obligations which have remaining maturities of one year or less from the date of purchase and which are rated “A” or higher by S&P or “A” or higher by Moody’s.






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Asset-Backed Securities

The Fund may invest in certain types of asset-backed securities.  Asset-backed securities are securities issued by trusts and special purpose entities that are backed by pools of assets, such as automobile and credit-card receivables and home equity loans, which pass through the payments on the underlying obligations to the security holders (less servicing fees paid to the originator or fees for any credit enhancement).  Typically, the originator of the loan or accounts receivable paper transfers it to a specially created trust, which repackages it as securities with a minimum denomination and a specific term.  The securities are then privately placed or publicly offered.  Examples include certificates for automobile receivables and so-called plastic bonds, backed by credit card receivables.


The value of an asset-backed security is affected by, among other things, changes in the market’s perception of the asset backing the security, the creditworthiness of the servicing agent for the loan pool, the originator of the loans and the financial institution providing any credit enhancement.  Payments of principal and interest passed through to holders of asset-backed securities are frequently supported by some form of credit enhancement, such as a letter of credit, surety bond, limited guarantee by another entity or by having a priority to certain of the borrower’s other assets.  The degree of credit enhancement varies, and generally applies to only a portion of the asset-backed security’s par value.  Value is also affected if any credit enhancement has been exhausted.


U.S. Government Obligations

The Fund may invest in various types of U.S. Government obligations.  U.S. Government obligations include securities issued or guaranteed as to principal and interest by the U.S. Government, its agencies or instrumentalities, such as the U.S. Treasury.  Payment of principal and interest on U.S. Government obligations may be backed by the full faith and credit of the United States or may be backed solely by the issuing or guaranteeing agency or instrumentality itself.  In the latter case, the investor must look principally to the agency or instrumentality issuing or guaranteeing the obligation for ultimate repayment, which agency or instrumentality may be privately owned.  There can be no assurance that the U.S. Government would provide financial support to its agencies or instrumentalities (including government-sponsored enterprises) where it is not obligated to do so.   See also “Mortgage-Backed Securities,” below.


Mortgage-Backed Securities

The Fund may invest in mortgage-backed securities.  A mortgage-backed security is a type of pass-through security, which is a security representing pooled debt obligations repackaged as interests that pass income through an intermediary to investors.  In the case of mortgage-backed securities, the ownership interest is in a pool of mortgage loans.


Mortgage-backed securities are most commonly issued or guaranteed by the Government National Mortgage Association (“GNMA”), Federal National Mortgage Association (“FNMA”), Federal Home Loan Banks (“FHLB”) or Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (“FHLMC”), but may also be issued or guaranteed by other private issuers. GNMA is a government-owned corporation that is an agency of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.  It guarantees, with the full faith and credit of the United States, full and timely payment of all monthly principal and interest on its mortgage-backed securities.  FNMA is a publicly owned, government-sponsored corporation that mostly packages mortgages backed by the Federal Housing Administration, but also sells some non-governmentally backed mortgages.  Pass-through securities issued by FNMA are guaranteed as to timely payment of principal and interest only by FNMA.  The FHLMC is a publicly chartered agency that buys qualifying residential mortgages from lenders, re-packages them and provides certain guarantees.  Pass-through securities issued by the FHLMC are guaranteed as to timely payment of principal and interest only by the FHLMC.


Some of these obligations are supported by the full faith and credit of the U.S. Treasury.  Others are supported by the right of the issuer to borrow from the U.S. Treasury.  Others are supported by the




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discretionary authority of the U.S. Government to purchase the agency’s obligations.  Still others are supported only by the credit of the instrumentality.  No assurance can be given that the U.S. Government would provide, or continue to provide, financial support to U.S. Government-sponsored instrumentalities if it is not obligated to do so by law.  As a result, there is a risk that these entities will default on a financial obligation.


In September of 2008, due to the value of FNMA’s and FHLMC’s securities falling sharply and concerns that the firms did not have sufficient capital to offset losses resulting from the mortgage crisis, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (“FHFA”) placed FNMA and FHLMC into conservatorship.  The effect of this conservatorship will have on the companies’ securities is unclear.  In addition, to placing the companies in conservatorship, the U.S. Treasury announced three additional steps that it intended to take with respect to FNMA and FHLMC.  First, the U.S. Treasury has agreed to provide up to $200 billion of capital as needed to ensure that FNMA and FHLMC each maintains a positive net worth and is able to fulfill their financial obligations.  Second, the U.S. Treasury established a secured lending facility available to FNMA and FHLMC.  Third, the U.S. Treasury initiated a temporary program to purchase FNMA and FHLMC mortgage-backed securities.  The secured lending facility and the temporary purchase program terminated on December 31, 2009.  However, the U.S. Treasury announced in December 2009 that it would permit its funding commitment to increase as necessary to prevent any cumulative reduction in net worth of FNMA and FHLMC over the next three years.  No assurance can be given that the U.S. Treasury initiatives will be successful.


Mortgage-backed securities issued by private issuers, whether or not such obligations are subject to guarantees by the private issuer, may entail greater risk than obligations directly or indirectly guaranteed by the U.S. Government.  The average life of a mortgage-backed security is likely to be substantially less than the original maturity of the mortgage pools underlying the securities.  Prepayments of principal by mortgagors and mortgage foreclosures will usually result in the return of the greater part of principal invested far in advance of the maturity of the mortgages in the pool.


Collateralized mortgage obligations (“CMOs”) are debt obligations collateralized by mortgage loans or mortgage pass-through securities (collateral collectively hereinafter referred to as “Mortgage Assets”).  Multi-class pass-through securities are interests in a trust composed of Mortgage Assets and all references in this section to CMOs include multi-class pass-through securities.  Principal prepayments on the Mortgage Assets may cause the CMOs to be retired substantially earlier than their stated maturities or final distribution dates, resulting in a loss of all or part of the premium if any has been paid.  Interest is paid or accrues on all classes of the CMOs on a monthly, quarterly or semiannual basis.  The principal and interest payments on the Mortgage Assets may be allocated among the various classes of CMOs in several ways.  Typically, payments of principal, including any prepayments, on the underlying mortgages are applied to the classes in the order of their respective stated maturities or final distribution dates, so that no payment of principal is made on CMOs of a class until all CMOs of other classes having earlier stated maturities or final distribution dates have been paid in full.


Stripped mortgage-backed securities (“SMBS”) are derivative multi-class mortgage securities.  The Fund will only invest in SMBS whose mortgage assets are U.S. Government obligations and are backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. Government.  SMBS are usually structured with two classes that receive different proportions of the interest and principal distributions from a pool of mortgage assets.  A common type of SMBS will be structured so that one class receives some of the interest and most of the principal from the mortgage assets, while the other class receives most of the interest and the remainder of the principal.  If the underlying mortgage assets experience greater than anticipated prepayments of principal, the Fund may fail to fully recoup its initial investment in these securities.  The market value of any class which consists primarily or entirely of principal payments is generally unusually volatile in response to changes in interest rates.





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Investment in mortgage-backed securities poses several risks, including among others, prepayment, market and credit risk.  Prepayment risk reflects the risk that borrowers may prepay their mortgages faster than expected, thereby affecting the investment’s average life and perhaps its yield.  Whether a mortgage loan is prepaid is almost entirely controlled by the borrower.  Borrowers are most likely to exercise prepayment options at the time when it is least advantageous to investors, generally prepaying mortgages as interest rates fall, and slowing payments as interest rates rise.  Besides the effect of prevailing interest rates, the rate of prepayment and refinancing of mortgages may also be affected by home value appreciation, ease of the refinancing process and local economic conditions.  Market risk reflects the risk that the price of a security may fluctuate over time.  The price of mortgage-backed securities may be particularly sensitive to prevailing interest rates, the length of time the security is expected to be outstanding and the liquidity of the issue.  In a period of unstable interest rates, there may be decreased demand for certain types of mortgage-backed securities, and the Fund, to the extent that it is invested in such securities and desires to sell them, may find it difficult to find a buyer, which may in turn decrease the price at which they may be sold.  Credit risk reflects the risk that the Fund may not receive all or part of its principal because the issuer or credit enhancer has defaulted on its obligations.  Obligations issued by U.S. Government-related entities are guaranteed as to the payment of principal and interest, but are not backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. Government.  However, as described above, the U.S. Government has recently taken steps with respect to FNMA and FHLMC to ensure that they are able to fulfill their financial obligations.  The performance of private label mortgage-backed securities, issued by private institutions, is based on the financial health of those institutions.  With respect to GNMA certificates, although GNMA guarantees timely payment even if homeowners delay or default, tracking the “pass-through” payments may, at times, be difficult.


Restricted Securities

The Fund may invest in securities that are subject to restrictions on resale because they have not been registered under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”).  These securities are sometimes referred to as private placements.  Although securities that may be resold only to “qualified institutional buyers” in accordance with the provisions of Rule 144A under the Securities Act are technically considered “restricted securities,” the Fund may purchase Rule 144A securities without regard to the limitation on investments in illiquid securities described below in the “Illiquid Securities” section, provided that a determination is made that such securities have a readily available trading market.  The Fund may also purchase certain commercial paper issued in reliance on the exemption from registration in Section 4(2) of the Securities Act (“4(2) Paper”).  The Adviser will determine the liquidity of Rule 144A securities and 4(2) Paper under the supervision of the Board of Trustees.  The liquidity of Rule 144A securities and 4(2) Paper will be monitored by the Adviser, and if as a result of changed conditions it is determined that a Rule 144A security or 4(2) Paper is no longer liquid, the Fund’s holdings of illiquid securities will be reviewed to determine what, if any, action is required to assure that the Fund does not exceed its applicable percentage limitation for investments in illiquid securities.


Limitations on the resale of restricted securities may have an adverse effect on the marketability of portfolio securities and the Fund might be unable to dispose of restricted securities promptly or at reasonable prices and might thereby experience difficulty satisfying redemption requirements.  The Fund might also have to register such restricted securities in order to dispose of them, resulting in additional expense and delay.  Adverse market conditions could impede such a public offering of securities.


When-Issued Securities

The Fund may from time to time purchase securities on a “when-issued” basis.  The price of such securities, which may be expressed in yield terms, is fixed at the time the commitment to purchase is made, but delivery and payment for the when-issued securities take place at a later date.  Normally, the settlement date occurs within one month of the purchase.  During the period between purchase and settlement, the Fund makes no payment to the issuer and no interest accrues to the Fund.  To the extent that assets of the Fund are held in cash pending the settlement of a purchase of securities, the Fund




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would earn no income.  While when-issued securities may be sold prior to the settlement date, the Fund intends to purchase such securities with the purpose of actually acquiring them unless a sale appears desirable for investment reasons.  At the time the Fund makes the commitment to purchase a security on a when-issued basis, it will record the transaction and reflect the value of the security in determining its net asset value.  The market value of the when-issued securities may be more or less than the purchase price.  The Fund does not believe that its net asset value or income will be adversely affected by the purchase of securities on a when-issued basis.  The Fund will segregate liquid assets equal in value to commitments for when-issued securities, which may reduce but does not eliminate leverage.


Illiquid Securities

As a non-principal strategy, the Fund may invest up to 15% of its net assets in securities that are illiquid at the time of purchase, which means that there may be legal or contractual restrictions on their disposition, or that there are no readily available market quotations for such a security.  Illiquid securities present the risks that the Fund may have difficulty valuing these holdings and/or may be unable to sell these holdings at the time or price desired.  There are generally no restrictions on the Fund’s ability to invest in restricted securities (that is, securities that are not registered pursuant to the Securities Act), except to the extent such securities may be considered illiquid.  Securities issued pursuant to Rule 144A of the Securities Act will be considered liquid if determined to be so under procedures adopted by the Board of Trustees.  The Adviser is responsible for making the determination as to the liquidity of restricted securities (pursuant to the procedures adopted by the Board of Trustees).  The Fund will determine a security to be illiquid if it cannot be sold or disposed of in the ordinary course of business within seven days at the value at which the Fund has valued the security.  Factors considered in determining whether a security is illiquid may include, but are not limited to: the frequency of trades and quotes for the security; the number of dealers willing to purchase and sell the security and the number of potential purchasers; the number of dealers who undertake to make a market in the security; the nature of the security, including whether it is registered or unregistered, and the market place; whether the security has been rated by a nationally recognized statistical rating organization (“NRSRO”); the period of time remaining until the maturity of a debt instrument or until the principal amount of a demand instrument can be recovered through demand; the nature of any restrictions on resale; and with respect to municipal lease obligations and certificates of participation, there is reasonable assurance that the obligation will remain liquid throughout the time the obligation is held and, if unrated, an analysis similar to that which would be performed by an NRSRO is performed.  If a restricted security is determined to be liquid, it will not be included within the category of illiquid securities, which may not exceed 15% of the Fund’s net assets.  Investing in Rule 144A securities could have the effect of increasing the level of the Fund’s illiquidity to the extent that the Fund, at a particular point in time may be unable to find qualified institutional buyers interested in purchasing the securities.  The Fund is permitted to sell restricted securities to qualified institutional buyers.


Bank Loans

Bank loans are typically senior debt obligations of borrowers (issuers) and, as such, are considered to hold a senior position in the capital structure of the borrower. These may include loans that hold the most senior position, that hold an equal ranking with other senior debt, or loans that are, in the judgment of the Adviser or a Sub-Adviser, as the case may be, in the category of senior debt of the borrower. This capital structure position generally gives the holders of these loans a priority claim on some or all of the borrower’s assets in the event of a default. In most cases, these loans are either partially or fully collateralized by the assets of a corporation, partnership, limited liability company or other business entity, or by cash flow that the Adviser or Sub-Adviser believes at the time of acquisition is sufficient to service the loan. These loans are often issued in connection with recapitalizations, acquisitions, leveraged buy-outs and refinancings. Moody’s and S&P may rate bank loans higher than high yield bonds of the same issuer to reflect their more senior position. The Fund may invest in both fixed- and floating-rate loans.





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Bank loans may include restrictive covenants which must be maintained by the borrower. Such covenants, in addition to the timely payment of interest and principal, may include mandatory prepayment provisions arising from free cash flow, restrictions on dividend payments and usually state that a borrower must maintain specific minimum financial ratios as well as establishing limits on total debt. A breach of covenant, which is not waived by the agent, is normally an event of acceleration, i.e., the agent has the right to call the outstanding bank loan. In addition, loan covenants may include mandatory prepayment provisions stemming from free cash flow. Free cash flow is cash that is in excess of capital expenditures plus debt service requirements of principal and interest. Free cash flow shall be applied to prepay the bank loan in the order of maturity described in the loan documents.


When the Fund has an interest in certain types of bank loans, a fund may have an obligation to make additional loans upon demand by the borrower. These commitments may have the effect of requiring the Fund to increase its investment in a borrower at a time when it would not otherwise have done so. A fund intends to reserve against such contingent obligations by segregating sufficient assets in high quality short-term liquid investments or borrowing to cover such obligations.


Under a bank loan, the borrower generally must pledge as collateral assets which may include one or more of the following: cash; accounts receivable; inventory; property, plant and equipment; common and preferred stock in its subsidiaries; trademarks, copyrights, patent rights; and franchise value. A fund may also receive guarantees as a form of collateral. In some instances, a bank loan may be secured only by stock in a borrower or its affiliates. The Fund may also invest in bank loans not secured by any collateral. The market value of the assets serving as collateral (if any) will, at the time of investment, in the opinion of the Adviser or Sub-Adviser, equal or exceed the principal amount of the bank loan. The valuations of these assets may be performed by an independent appraisal. If the agent becomes aware that the value of the collateral has declined, the agent may take action as it deems necessary for the protection of its own interests and the interests of the other lenders, including, for example, giving the borrower an opportunity to provide additional collateral or accelerating the loan. There is no assurance, however, that the borrower would provide additional collateral or that the liquidation of the existing collateral would satisfy the borrower’s obligation in the event of nonpayment of scheduled interest or principal, or that such collateral could be readily liquidated.


In a typical interest in a bank loan, the agent administers the loan and has the right to monitor the collateral. The agent is also required to segregate the principal and interest payments received from the borrower and to hold these payments for the benefit of the lenders.  The fund normally looks to the agent to collect and distribute principal of and interest on a bank loan. Furthermore, a fund looks to the agent to use normal credit remedies, such as to foreclose on collateral; monitor credit loan covenants; and notify the lenders of any adverse changes in the borrower’s financial condition or declarations of insolvency. In the event of a default by the borrower, it is possible, though unlikely, that a fund could receive a portion of the borrower’s collateral. If a fund receives collateral other than cash, such collateral will be liquidated and the cash received from such liquidation will be available for investment as part of the Fund’s portfolio. At times the Fund may also negotiate with the agent regarding the agent’s exercise of credit remedies under a bank loan. The agent is compensated for these services by the borrower as is set forth in the loan agreement. Such compensation may take the form of a fee or other amount paid upon the making of the bank loan and/or an ongoing fee or other amount.


The loan agreement in connection with bank loans sets forth the standard of care to be exercised by the agents on behalf of the lenders and usually provides for the termination of the agent’s agency status in the event that it fails to act properly, becomes insolvent, enters FDIC receivership, or if not FDIC insured, enters into bankruptcy or if the agent resigns. In the event an agent is unable to perform its obligations as agent, another lender would generally serve in that capacity.





B-23






Loan agreements frequently require the borrower to make full or partial prepayment of a loan when the borrower engages in asset sales or a securities issuance. Prepayments on bank loans may also be made by the borrower at its election. The rate of such prepayments may be affected by, among other things, general business and economic conditions, as well as the financial status of the borrower. Prepayment would cause the actual duration of a bank loan to be shorter than its stated maturity. This should, however, allow the Fund to reinvest in a new loan and recognize as income any unamortized loan fees. This may result in a new facility fee payable to a fund. Because interest rates paid on bank loans periodically fluctuate with the market, it is expected that the prepayment and a subsequent purchase of a new bank loan by the Fund will not have a material adverse impact on the yield of the portfolio. The Fund generally holds bank loans to maturity unless it has become necessary to adjust the Fund’s portfolio in accordance with the Adviser’s or Sub-Adviser’s view of current or expected economic or specific industry or borrower conditions.


The fund may be required to pay and may receive various fees and commissions in the process of purchasing, selling and holding bank loans. The fee may include any, or a combination of, the following elements: arrangement fees, non-use fees, facility fees, letter of credit fees and ticking fees. Arrangement fees are paid at the commencement of a loan as compensation for the initiation of the transaction. A non-use fee is paid based upon the amount committed but not used under the loan. Facility fees are on-going annual fees paid in connection with a loan. Letter of credit fees are paid if a loan involves a letter of credit. Ticking fees are negotiated at the time of transaction, and are paid from the initial commitment indication until loan closing.


If legislation or state or federal regulators impose additional requirements or restrictions on the ability of financial institutions to make loans that are considered highly leveraged transactions, the availability of bank loans for investment by the Fund may be adversely affected. In addition, such requirements or restrictions could reduce or eliminate sources of financing for certain borrowers. This would increase the risk of default. If legislation or federal or state regulators require financial institutions to dispose of bank loans that are considered highly leveraged transactions or subject such bank loans to increased regulatory scrutiny, financial institutions may determine to sell such bank loans. Such sales by affected financial institutions may not be at desirable prices, in the opinion of the Adviser or Sub-Adviser. If the Fund attempts to sell a bank loan at a time when a financial institution is engaging in such a sale, the price a fund could get for the bank loan may be adversely affected.


Wholly-Owned Subsidiary

The Fund may invest up to 25% of its total assets in one or more wholly-owned and controlled Cayman Islands subsidiaries (each a “Subsidiary” and collectively, the “Subsidiaries”), which is expected to invest primarily in commodity and financial futures and option contracts.  As a result, the Fund may be considered to be investing indirectly in these investments through the Subsidiaries.  For that reason, and for the sake of convenience, references in this Statement of Additional Information to the Fund may also include the Subsidiaries.

The Subsidiaries will not be registered under the 1940 Act but, will be subject to certain of the investor protections of that Act, as noted in this Statement of Additional Information.  The Fund, as the sole shareholder of each Subsidiary, will not have all of the protections offered to investors in registered investment companies.  However, since the Fund wholly owns and controls each Subsidiary, and the Fund and each Subsidiary are both managed by the Adviser, it is unlikely that the Subsidiaries 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 each Subsidiary, and the Fund’s role as the sole shareholder of each Subsidiary.  Also, in managing each Subsidiary’s portfolio, the Adviser will be subject to the same investment restrictions and operational guidelines that apply to the management of the Fund, including any collateral or segregation requirements in connection with various investment strategies. The Adviser has, on behalf of the Subsidiaries, filed with the National




B-24






Futures Association a notice claiming exemption from the CFTC’s reporting and disclosure requirements in accordance with Part 4 of the CFTC Regulations.  The CFTC regulations provide relief relating to CFTC disclosure and reporting requirements for commodity pools, such as the Subsidiaries, that are operated by a CPO that is the same as, controls, is controlled by or is under common control with the CPO of an offered pool (such as the Fund).

Changes in the laws of the United States and/or the Cayman Islands, under which the Fund and the Subsidiaries, respectively, are organized, could result in the inability of the Fund and/or the Subsidiaries to operate as described in this Statement of Additional Information and could negatively affect the Fund and its shareholders.  For example, the Cayman Islands does not currently impose any income, corporate or capital gains tax, estate duty, inheritance tax, gift tax or withholding tax on the Subsidiary.  If Cayman Islands law changes such that the Subsidiaries must pay Cayman Islands taxes, Fund shareholders would likely suffer decreased investment returns.

Additional Risks

Risk of Potential Government Regulation of Derivatives

It is possible that government regulation of various types of derivative instruments, including futures and swap agreements, may limit or prevent the Fund from using such instruments as part of its investment strategy, and could ultimately prevent the Fund from being able to achieve its investment goals.  For example, some legislative and regulatory proposals, such as those in the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (the “Dodd-Frank Act”) (which was passed into law in July 2010), would upon implementation impose limits on the maximum position that could be held by a single trader in certain contracts and would subject some derivatives transactions to new forms of regulation that could create barriers to some types of investment activity.  Other provisions would require many swaps to be cleared and traded on an exchange, expand entity registration requirements, impose business conduct requirements on dealers that enter into swaps with a pension plan, endowment, retirement plan or government entity, and require banks to move some derivatives trading units to a non-guaranteed affiliate separate from the deposit-taking bank or divest them altogether.  While many provisions of the Dodd-Frank Act must be implemented through future rulemaking, and any regulatory or legislative activity may not necessarily have a direct, immediate effect upon the Fund, it is possible that, upon implementation of these measures or any future measures, they could potentially limit or completely restrict the ability of the Fund to use these instruments as a part of its investment strategy, increase the costs of using these instruments or make them less effective.

Volatility Risk

The Fund may have investments that appreciate or decrease significantly in value over short periods of time.  This may cause the Fund’s net asset value per share to experience significant appreciations or decreases in value over short periods of time.

High Portfolio Turnover Risk

In accordance with industry practice, derivative instruments and instruments with a maturity of one year or less at the time of acquisition are excluded from the calculation of the portfolio turnover rate, resulting in an expected portfolio turnover rate of 0% for the Fund.  However, if these instruments were included in the calculation, the Fund’s strategy would result in frequent portfolio trading and a high portfolio turnover rate (typically greater than 300%).  By investing on a shorter-term basis through its investment in one or more wholly-owned and controlled Subsidiaries, the Fund may trade more frequently and incur higher levels of brokerage fees and commissions, and cause higher levels of current tax liabilities to shareholders in the Fund.




B-25






Interest Rate Risk

A portion of the Fund’s assets may be invested in short-term interest rate instruments or securities to increase returns.  If interest rates increase, the Fund may earn interest at rates below prevailing market rates.

Lack of Operating History Risk

The Fund is newly formed and therefore has no performance history for investors to evaluate.  In addition, certain types of transactions may have a disproportionate impact on the Fund’s performance if the Fund does not achieve significant scale.  The Fund may also not grow to an economically viable size and thus may be liquidated at a time that is not beneficial for all of its shareholders.

Fundamental Investment Limitations

The Trust (on behalf of the Fund) has adopted the following restrictions as fundamental policies, which may not be changed without the favorable vote of the holders of a “majority of the outstanding voting securities of the Fund,” as defined in the 1940 Act.  Under the 1940 Act, the “vote of the holders of a majority of the outstanding voting securities” means the vote of the holders of the lesser of (i) 67% of the shares of the Fund represented at a meeting at which the holders of more than 50% of its outstanding shares are represented or (ii) more than 50% of the outstanding shares of the Fund.


The Fund may not:  


1.

Issue senior securities. This limitation is not applicable to activities that may be deemed to involve the issuance or sale of a senior security by the Fund, provided that the Fund’s engagement in such activities is consistent with or permitted by the 1940 Act, as amended, the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder or interpretations of the SEC or its staff;

2.

Borrow money, except (a) from a bank, provided that immediately after such borrowing there is an asset coverage of 300% for all borrowings of the Fund; or (b) from a bank or other persons for temporary purposes only, provided that such temporary borrowings are in an amount not exceeding 5% of the Fund’s total assets at the time when the borrowing is made. This limitation does not preclude the Fund from entering into reverse repurchase transactions, provided that the Fund has an asset coverage of 300% for all borrowings and repurchase commitments of the Fund pursuant to reverse repurchase transactions;

3.

Purchase securities on margin, participate on a joint or joint and several basis in any securities trading account, or underwrite securities. (Does not preclude the Fund from obtaining such short-term credit as may be necessary for the clearance of purchases and sales of its portfolio securities, and except to the extent that the Fund may be deemed an underwriter under the Securities Act of 1933, by virtue of disposing of portfolio securities);

4.

Purchase or sell real estate or interests in real estate. This limitation is not applicable to investments in marketable securities that are secured by or represent interests in real estate or real estate acquired as a result of such investments. This limitation does not preclude the Fund from investing in mortgage-related securities or investing in companies engaged in the real estate business or that have a significant portion of their assets in real estate (including real estate investment trusts);

5.

Invest 25% or more of the market value of its assets in the securities of companies engaged in any one industry. (Does not apply to investment in the securities of the U.S. Government, its agencies or instrumentalities.);

6.

Purchase or sell commodities (unless acquired as a result of ownership of securities or other investments) or commodity futures contracts, except that the Fund may purchase and sell futures contracts and options to the full extent permitted under the 1940 Act, buy or sell foreign currency contracts in accordance with any rules of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission,




B-26






invest in securities or other instruments backed by commodities, and invest in companies that are engaged in a commodities business or have a significant portion of their assets in commodities; or

7.

Make loans to others, except (a) through the purchase of debt securities in accordance with its investment objectives and policies, (b) to the extent the entry into a repurchase agreement is deemed to be a loan, and (c) by loaning portfolio securities.


The following lists the non-fundamental investment restrictions applicable to the Fund.  These restrictions can be changed by the Board of Trustees, but the change will only be effective after notice is given to shareholders of the Fund.


The Fund may not:


1.

Invest in securities of other investment companies except as permitted under the 1940 Act or the rules thereunder; or

2.

Invest 15% or more of the value of its net assets, computed at the time of investment, in illiquid securities.  Illiquid securities are those securities without readily available market quotations, including repurchase agreements having a maturity of more than seven days.  Illiquid securities may include restricted securities not determined by the Board of Trustees to be liquid, non-negotiable time deposits, over-the-counter options and repurchase agreements providing for settlement in more than seven days after notice.


Except with respect to borrowing and illiquid securities, if a percentage or rating restriction on investment or use of assets set forth herein or in the Prospectus is adhered to at the time a transaction is effected, later changes in percentage resulting from any cause other than actions by the Fund will not be considered a violation.


Each Subsidiary will also follow the Fund’s fundamental and non-fundamental investment restrictions, described above, with respect to its investments on a consolidated basis.  The Fund will look through a Subsidiary for purposes of compliance with diversification, leverage and concentration requirements and restrictions.

Management of the Fund


Board of Trustees

The management and affairs of the Fund are supervised by the Board of Trustees.  The Board of Trustees consists of five individuals, four (4) of whom are not “interested persons” (as defined under the 1940 Act) of the Trust and the Adviser (“Independent Trustees”).  The Trustees are fiduciaries for the Fund’s shareholders and are governed by the laws of the State of Delaware in this regard.  The Board of Trustees establishes policies for the operation of the Fund and appoints the officers who conduct the daily business of the Fund.


Board Leadership Structure

The Trust is led by Mr. Brian Nielsen, who has served as the Chairman of the Board since 2011.  Mr. Nielsen is an interested person by virtue of his affiliation with Gemini Fund Services, LLC, (the Trust’s Administrator, Fund Accountant, and Transfer Agent) and Northern Lights Distributors, LLC (the Fund’s Distributor).  The Board of Trustees is comprised of Mr. Nielsen and four (4) Independent Trustees.   Under certain 1940 Act governance guidelines that apply to the Trust, the Independent Trustees will meet in executive session, at least quarterly. Under the Trust’s Agreement and Declaration of Trust and By-Laws, the Chairman of the Board is responsible for (a) presiding at board meetings, (b) calling special meetings on an as-needed basis, (c) execution and administration of Trust policies




B-27






including (i) setting the agendas for board meetings and (ii) providing information to board members in advance of each board meeting and between board meetings.  Generally, the Trust believes it best to have a non-executive Chairman of the Board, who together with the President (principal executive officer), are seen by our shareholders, business partners and other stakeholders as providing strong leadership.  The Trust believes that (i) its Chairman, Brian Nielsen, (ii) the independent chair of the Audit Committee, Keith Rhodes and (iii), as an entity, the full Board of Trustees, provide effective leadership that is in the best interests of the Trust, its funds and each shareholder. The Board has not appointed a Lead Independent Trustee at this time


Board Risk Oversight

The Board of Trustees is comprised of Mr. Nielsen and four (4) Independent Trustees with a standing independent Audit Committee with a separate chair. The Board is responsible for overseeing risk management, and the full Board regularly engages in discussions of risk management and receives compliance reports that inform its oversight of risk management from its Chief Compliance Officer at quarterly meetings and on an ad hoc basis, when and if necessary.  The Audit Committee considers financial and reporting risk within its area of responsibilities.  Generally, the Board believes that its oversight of material risks is adequately maintained through the compliance-reporting chain where the Chief Compliance Officer is the primary recipient and communicator of such risk-related information.


Trustee Qualifications.

Generally, the Trust believes that each Trustee is competent to serve because of their individual overall merits including: (i) experience, (ii) qualifications, (iii) attributes and (iv) skills.  Mr. Nielsen has over 10 years of business experience in the investment management and brokerage business and possesses a strong understanding of the regulatory framework under which investment companies must operate.  Since 2010, Thomas Sarkany has been the President of TTS Consultants, LLC, a financial services firm and from 1994 through 2010, Thomas Sarkany held various roles at Value Line, Inc. (a publicly held company providing financial research, publications and money management services to retail and institutional investors), including Director of Marketing and Asset Management, Director of Index Licensing, and member of the Board of Directors.  Anthony Lewis has been Chairman and CEO of The Lewis Group USA, an executive consulting firm, for the past ten years, and also serves as a Director, the Chairman of the Compensation Committee, and a Member of the Audit Committee of Torotel Inc. Keith Rhoades served as the Director then Senior Director of General Ledger/Financial Research for Union Pacific Railroad, and Randy Skalla has served as the President of L5 Enterprises, Inc. since 2001 and is a member of the Orizon Investment Counsel Board. The Trust does not believe any one factor is determinative in assessing a Trustee’s qualifications, but that the collective experience of each Trustee makes them each highly qualified.


The Board of Trustees has established four standing committees – the Audit Committee, the Compensation Committee, the Nominating Committee and the Valuation Committee.  All Independent Trustees are members of the Audit Committee and the Nominating Committee.  Inclusion of all Independent Trustees as members of the Audit Committee and the Nominating Committee allows all such Trustees to participate in the full range of the Board of Trustees’ oversight duties, including oversight of risk management processes.


In accordance with the fund governance standards prescribed by the SEC under the 1940 Act, the Independent Trustees on the Nominating Committee select and nominate all candidates for Independent Trustee positions.  Each Trustee was appointed to serve on the Board of Trustees because of his experience, qualifications, attributes and/or skills as set forth above.  The Board of Trustees reviews its leadership structure regularly.  The Board of Trustees believes that the structure described above facilitates the orderly and efficient flow of information to the Trustees from the officers of the Trust, the advisers of the funds that comprise the Trust and other service providers, and facilitates the effective evaluation of the risks and other issues, including conflicts of interest, that may impact the Trust as a




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whole as well as the funds individually.  The Board of Trustees believes that the orderly and efficient flow of information and the ability of the Board of Trustees to bring each Trustee’s experience and skills to bear in overseeing the Trust’s operations is important given the characteristics and circumstances of the Trust, including: the unaffiliated nature of each investment adviser and the fund(s) managed by such adviser; the number of funds that comprise the Trust; the variety of asset classes that those funds reflect; the net assets of the Trust; the committee structure of the Trust; and the independent distribution arrangements of each of the Trust’s series.  For these reasons, the Board of Trustees believes that its leadership structure is appropriate.


The Board of Trustees’ role is one of oversight rather than day-to-day management of any of the Trust’s series.  The Trust’s Audit Committee assists with this oversight function.  The Board of Trustees’ oversight extends to the Trust’s risk management processes.  Those processes are overseen by Trust officers, including the President, the Treasurer, the Secretary and Chief Compliance Officer (“CCO”), who regularly report to the Board of Trustees on a variety of matters at Board meetings.


Investment advisers managing the Trust’s series report to the Board of Trustees, on a regular and as-needed basis, on actual and possible risks affecting the Trust’s series.  These investment advisers report to the Board of Trustees on various elements of risk, including investment, credit, liquidity, valuation, operational and compliance risks, as well as any overall business risks that could impact the Trust’s series.


The Board of Trustees has appointed the CCO, who reports directly to the Board of Trustees and who participates in its regular meetings.  In addition, the CCO presents an annual report to the Board of Trustees in accordance with the Trust’s compliance policies and procedures.  The CCO, together with the Trust’s Treasurer and Secretary, regularly discusses risk issues affecting the Trust and its series during Board of Trustee meetings.  The CCO also provides updates to the Board of Trustees on the operation of the Trust’s compliance policies and procedures and on how these procedures are designed to mitigate risk.  Finally, the CCO and/or other officers of the Trust report to the Board of Trustees in the event that any material risk issues arise in between Board meetings.


Trustees and Officers

The Trustees and the officers of the Trust are listed below with their addresses, present positions with the Trust and principal occupations over at least the last five years.  Unless otherwise noted, the address of each Trustee and Officer is 17605 Wright Street, Omaha, Nebraska 68130.


Independent Trustees



Name, Address and Age

Position/Term of Office*

Principal Occupation

During the Past Five Years

Number of Portfolios in Fund Complex Overseen by Trustee

Other Directorships held by Trustee

 Thomas T. Sarkany

Year of Birth: 1946

Trustee since October 2011

President, TTS Consultants, LLC since 2010 (financial services); Director of Marketing and of Asset Management; Director of Index Licensing, Value Line (from 1994 to 2010)

25

Director, Value Line Funds; Director, Value Line, Inc.; Director, Aquila Distributors, Trustee, Northern Lights ETF Trust






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Anthony H. Lewis

Year of Birth: 1946

Trustee Since May 2011

Chairman and CEO of The Lewis Group USA (executive consulting firm).

25

Director, Chairman of the Compensation Committee, and Member of the Audit Committee of Torotel Inc. (Magnetics, Aerospace and Defense)

Keith Rhoades

Year of Birth:

1948

Trustee Since May 2011

Director and then Senior Director, General Ledger/Financial Research, Union Pacific Railroad (from 1988 to 2008). Retired since 2008.

25

NONE

Randal D. Skalla

Year of Birth: 1962

Trustee since May 2011

President, L5 Enterprises, Inc. since 2001 (financial services company).

25

Orizon Investment Counsel (financial services company) Board Member



Interested Trustees and Officers


Name, Address and Age

Position/Term of Office*

Principal Occupation

During the Past Five Years

Number of Portfolios in Fund Complex

Overseen by Trustee

Other Directorships held by Trustee







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Brian Nielsen**

Year of Birth: 1972

Trustee

Since May 2011

Director, Secretary and General Counsel of Constellation Trust Company since 2004; Secretary and General Counsel of Gemcom, LLC (financial printer) since 2004; Secretary, Manager and General Counsel of Northern Lights Compliance Services, LLC since 2004; Secretary and Chief Legal Officer of AdvisorOne Funds since 2003;  Secretary and General Counsel of Gemini Fund Services, LLC since 2012; General Counsel, Manager, President and Secretary of Northern Lights Distributors, LLC (mutual fund distributor) since 2003; General Counsel and Secretary of NorthStar Financial Services Group, LLC since 2003; General Counsel and Secretary of CLS Investments, LLC (investment advisor) since 2001; General Counsel and Secretary of Orion Advisor Services, LLC (back-office servicing company) since 2001;  Assistant Secretary to Northern Lights Fund Trust since 2011; and Assistant Secretary of Gemini Fund Services, LLC (2003-2012), Manager, NorthStar Financial Services Group, LLC (since 2012); Manager, Arbor Point Advisors, LLC (since 2012)

25

NONE

Kevin E. Wolf

80 Arkay Drive

Hauppauge, NY  11788

Year of Birth: 1969

President  

Since January 2013  

President, Gemini Fund Services, LLC (since 2012); Director of Fund Administration, Gemini Fund Services, LLC (2006 - 2012); and Vice-President, Gemcom, LLC (since 2004)

N/A

N/A

James P. Ash

80 Arkay Drive.

Hauppauge, NY  11788

Year of Birth: 1976

 

Secretary

Since May 2011

Senior Vice President, Gemini Fund Services, LLC (since 2012); Vice President, Gemini Fund Services, LLC (2011 - 2012); Director of Legal Administration, Gemini Fund Services, LLC (2009 - 2011); Assistant Vice President of Legal Administration, Gemini Fund Services, LLC (2008 - 2011)

N/A

N/A

Emile R. Molineaux

80 Arkay Drive

Hauppauge, NY  11788

Year of Birth: 1962

Chief Compliance Officer  and Anti Money Laundering Officer

Since May 2011

General Counsel, CCO and Senior Vice President, Gemini Fund Services, LLC (2003 -  2011); CCO of Various clients of Northern Lights Compliance Services, LLC, (Secretary 2003-2011 and Senior Compliance Officer since 2011);

N/A

N/A




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Erik Naviloff

80 Arkay Drive

Hauppauge, NY  11788

Year of Birth:

1968

Treasurer, Since January 2013

Vice President of Gemini Fund Services, LLC (since 2011); Assistant Vice President, Gemini Fund Services, (2007 - 2012); Senior Accounting Manager, Fixed Income, Dreyfus Corporation (2002 to 2007).

N/A

N/A

*  The term of office for each Trustee and Officer listed above will continue indefinitely.

** Brian Nielsen is an “interested person” of the Trust as that term is defined under the 1940 Act, because of his affiliation with Gemini Fund Services, LLC, (the Trust’s Administrator, Fund Accountant, and Transfer Agent) and Northern Lights Distributors, LLC (the Fund’s Distributor).


Board Committees


Audit Committee .  The Trust has an Audit Committee, which is comprised of the independent members of the Board of Trustees.  The Audit Committee reviews financial statements and other audit-related matters for the Fund.  The Audit Committee also holds discussions with management and with the Fund’s independent auditor concerning the scope of the audit and the auditor’s independence and will meet at least four times annually.  


Nominating Committee .  The Trust has a Nominating Committee, which is comprised of the independent members of the Board of Trustees. The Nominating Committee is responsible for seeking and reviewing candidates for consideration as nominees for the position of trustee and meets only as necessary.  The Nominating Committee generally will not consider shareholder nominees.   


Valuation Committee .  The Trust has a Valuation Committee.  The Valuation Committee is responsible for the following: (1) monitoring the valuation of Fund securities and other investments; and (2) as required, when the Board of Trustees is not in session, determining the fair value of illiquid securities and other holdings after consideration of all relevant factors, which determinations are reported to the Board.  The Valuation Committee is currently comprised of Kevin Wolf, Emile Molineaux and Andrew Rogers.  The Valuation Committee meets as necessary when a price for a portfolio security is not readily available.  



Trustee Compensation


Effective October 2012 each Trustee who is not an interested person of the Trust or Adviser will receive a quarterly fee of $4,000, as well as reimbursement for any reasonable expenses incurred attending the meetings to be paid at the end of each calendar quarter. The Audit Committee Chairman receives a $4,000 additional annual fee.  The “interested persons” who serve as Trustees of the Trust receive no compensation for their services as Trustees. None of the executive officers receive compensation from the Trust.


Prior to October 2012, each Trustee who is not affiliated with the Trust or Adviser received a quarterly fee of $2,000, as well as reimbursement for any reasonable expenses incurred attending the meetings, which was paid at the end of each calendar quarter. Each Trustee has attended all quarterly meetings.  The Trust does not have a bonus, profit sharing, pension or retirement plan. The table below details the amount of compensation the Trustees received from the Trust during the period ended August 31, 2013.


Name

Aggregate Compensation From Trust ***

Pension or Retirement Benefits Accrued as Part of Fund Expenses

Estimated Annual Benefits Upon Retirement

Total Compensation From Trust and Fund Complex****Paid to Trustees



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Thomas T. Sarkany

$16,000

None

None

$16,000

Anthony Lewis

$16,000

None

None

$16,000

Keith Rhoades*

$20,000

None

None

$20,000

Randy Skalla

$16,000

None

None

$16,000

Brian Nielsen**

$0

None

None

$0

_______________

*Mr. Rhoades also serves as chairman of the Audit Committee.

**This Trustee is deemed to be an ‘interested person’ as defined in the 1940 Act as a result of his affiliation with Gemini Fund Services, LLC (the Trust’s Administrator, Transfer Agent and Fund Accountant), Northern Lights Distributors, LLC (the Fund’s Distributor) and Northern Lights Compliance Services, LLC (the Trust’s compliance service provider). 

***There are currently multiple series comprising the Trust.  Trustees’ fees will be allocated equally to each Fund in the Trust.

****The term “Fund Complex” refers to the Northern Lights Fund Trust II.

Trustee Ownership


The following table indicates the dollar range of equity securities that each Trustee beneficially owned in the Fund and other series of the Trust as of December 31, 2012.


Name of Trustee

Dollar Range of Equity Securities in the Fund

Aggregate Dollar Range of Equity Securities in All Registered Investment Companies Overseen by Trustee in Family of Investment Companies

Anthony Lewis

None

None

Keith Rhoades

None

None

Randal Skalla

None

None

Brian Nielsen*

None

None

* This Trustee is deemed to be an ‘interested person’ as defined in the 1940 Act as a result of his affiliation with Gemini Fund Services, LLC (the Trust’s Administrator, Transfer Agent and Fund Accountant), Northern Lights Distributors, LLC (the Funds’ Distributor) and Northern Lights Compliance Services, LLC (the Trust’s compliance service provider).


As of December 31, 2012, the Trustees and officers, as a group, owned less than 1.00% of the Fund’s outstanding shares and the Fund Complex’s outstanding shares.




Control Persons and Principal Shareholders

A principal shareholder is any person who owns of record or beneficially 5% or more of the outstanding shares of the Fund.  A control person is one who owns beneficially or through controlled companies more than 25% of the voting securities of the Fund or acknowledges the existence of control.  A controlling person possesses the ability to control the outcome of matters submitted for shareholder vote by the Fund.  As of the date of this SAI, there were no principal or control shareholders as there were no shares of the Fund outstanding.


Investment Adviser

As stated in the Prospectus, investment advisory services are provided to the Fund by North Peak Asset Management LLC, located at 457 Washington Street, Duxbury, MA 02332, pursuant to an Investment Advisory Agreement (the “Advisory Agreement”).  Subject to such policies as the Board of Trustees may determine, the Adviser is ultimately responsible for investment decisions for the Fund.  Pursuant to the terms of the Advisory Agreement, the Adviser provides the Fund with such investment advice and supervision as it deems necessary for the proper supervision of the Fund’s investments.


After an initial period of two years, the Advisory Agreement will continue in effect from year to year only if such continuance is specifically approved at least annually by the Board of Trustees or by vote of a majority of the Fund’s outstanding voting securities and by a majority of the trustees who are not parties to the Advisory Agreement or interested persons of any such party, at a meeting called for the purpose of




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voting on the Advisory Agreement.  The Advisory Agreement is terminable without penalty by the Trust on behalf of the Fund upon 60 days’ prior written notice when authorized either by a majority vote of the applicable Fund’s shareholders or by a vote of a majority of the Board of Trustees, or by the Adviser upon 60 days’ prior written notice, and will automatically terminate in the event of its “assignment” (as defined in the 1940 Act).  The Advisory Agreement provides that the Adviser, under such agreement, shall not be liable for any error of judgment or mistake of law or for any loss arising out of any investment or for any act or omission in the execution of portfolio transactions for the Fund, except for willful misfeasance, bad faith or negligence in the performance of its duties, or by reason of reckless disregard of its obligations and duties thereunder.


Under the Advisory Agreement, the Adviser, under the supervision of the Board, agrees (directly or through a Sub-Adviser) to invest the assets of the Fund in accordance with applicable law and the investment objective, policies and restrictions set forth in the Fund’s current Prospectus and Statement of Additional Information, and subject to such further limitations as the Trust may from time to time impose by written notice to the Adviser.  The Adviser shall act as the investment advisor to the Fund and, as such shall (directly or through a sub-advisor) (i) obtain and evaluate such information relating to the economy, industries, business, securities markets and securities as it may deem necessary or useful in discharging its responsibilities here under, (ii) formulate a continuing program for the investment of the assets of the Fund in a manner consistent with its investment objective, policies and restrictions, and (iii) determine from time to time securities to be purchased, sold or retained  by the Fund, and implement those decisions, including the selection of entities with or through which such purchases or sales are to be effected; provided, that the Adviser (directly or through a sub-advisor) will place orders pursuant to its investment determinations either directly with the  issuer or with a broker or dealer, and if with a broker or dealer, (a) will attempt to obtain the best price and execution of its orders, and (b) may nevertheless in its discretion purchase and sell portfolio securities from and  to brokers who provide the Adviser with research, analysis, advice and similar services and pay such brokers in return a higher commission or spread than may be charged by other brokers.  The Adviser also provides the Fund with all necessary office facilities and personnel for servicing the Fund’s investments, compensates all officers, Trustees and employees of the Trust who are officers, directors or employees of the Adviser, and all personnel of the Fund or the Adviser performing services relating to research, statistical and investment activities.  The Advisory Agreement was approved by the Board of the Trust, including by a majority of the Independent Trustees, at a meeting held on March 6, 2012.

In addition, the Adviser, directly subject to the supervision of the Board of Trustees, provides the management and administrative services necessary for the operation of the Fund. These services include providing facilities for maintaining the Trust’s organization; supervising relations with custodians, transfer and pricing agents, accountants, underwriters and other persons dealing with the Fund; preparing all general shareholder communications and conducting shareholder relations; maintaining the Fund’s records and the registration of the Fund’s shares under federal securities laws and making necessary filings under state securities laws; developing management and shareholder services for the Fund; and furnishing reports, evaluations and analyses on a variety of subjects to the Trustees.  

The following table sets forth the annual management fee rate payable by the Fund to the Adviser pursuant to the Advisory Agreement, expressed as a percentage of the Fund’s average daily net assets:

 

 

FUND

TOTAL
MANAGEMENT FEE

Class I

1.60%

Class R

1.60%





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The fee is computed daily and payable monthly. The Adviser has agreed contractually to waive its management fee and to reimburse operating expenses (exclusive of brokerage fees and commissions, acquired fund fees and expenses, dividends on short positions, borrowing costs, interest, taxes and extraordinary or non-recurring expenses, including, but not limited to, litigation) at least until March 31, 2014, such that net annual fund operating expenses of the Fund do not exceed the percentages in the table below.  Waiver/reimbursement is subject to possible recoupment from the Fund in future years on a rolling three-year basis (within three years after the fees have been waived or reimbursed) if such recoupment can be achieved within the foregoing expense limits.  No reimbursement amount will be paid to the Adviser in any fiscal quarter unless the Trust’s Board of Trustees has determined in advance that a reimbursement is in the best interest of the Fund and its shareholders.  Fee waiver and reimbursement arrangements can decrease the Fund’s expenses and increase its performance.


 

 

 

FUND

Expense Cap


Minimum Duration

Class I

1.70%

March 31, 2014

Class R

1.95%

March 31, 2014


Expenses not expressly assumed by the Adviser under the Advisory Agreement are paid by the Fund. Under the terms of the Advisory Agreement, the Fund is responsible for the payment of the following expenses among others: (a) the fees payable to the Adviser, (b) the fees and expenses of Trustees who are not affiliated persons of the Adviser or Distributor (as defined under the section entitled (“The Distributor”) (c) the fees and certain expenses of the Custodian (as defined under the section entitled “Custodian”) and Transfer and Dividend Disbursing Agent (as defined under the section entitled “Transfer Agent”), including the cost of maintaining certain required records of the Fund and of pricing the Fund’s shares, (d) the charges and expenses of legal counsel and independent accountants for the Fund, (e) brokerage commissions and any issue or transfer taxes chargeable to the Fund in connection with its securities transactions, (f) all taxes and corporate fees payable by the Fund to governmental agencies, (g) the fees of any trade association of which the Fund may be a member, (h) the cost of share certificates representing shares of the Fund, (i) the cost of fidelity and liability insurance, (j) the fees and expenses involved in registering and maintaining registration of the Fund and of its shares with the SEC, qualifying its shares under state securities laws, including the preparation and printing of the Fund’s registration statements and prospectuses for such purposes, (k) all expenses of shareholders and Trustees’ meetings (including travel expenses of trustees and officers of the Trust who are directors, officers or employees of the Adviser) and of preparing, printing and mailing reports, proxy statements and prospectuses to shareholders in the amount necessary for distribution to the shareholders, and (l) litigation and indemnification expenses and other extraordinary expenses not incurred in the ordinary course of the Trust’s business. The Adviser has only recently been engaged to manage the Fund and has not been paid any advisory fees as of the date of this SAI.


Sub-Advisers

As discussed in the Prospectus, there are multiple sub-advisers to the Fund.  


The Adviser will pay each sub-advisor either monthly or quarterly an annual fee of the net assets of the Fund allocated to that sub-advisor by the Adviser which the Adviser will pay out of the advisory fee paid to the Adviser pursuant to the Advisory Agreement.  The Fund is not responsible for the payment of the sub-advisory fees.  The Adviser is also responsible for conducting all operations of the Fund, except those operations contracted to a sub-advisor, the Custodian, the transfer agent or the administrator.  Although each sub-advisor’s activities are subject to oversight by the Board of Trustees and the officers of the Trust, neither the Board of Trustees, the officers nor the Adviser evaluate the investment merits of a sub-advisors’ individual security selections or allocation decisions.  Each sub-advisor may have




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complete discretion to purchase, manage and sell portfolio securities for the portions of the Fund’s portfolio that they manage, subject to the Fund’s investment objective, policies and limitations, and the oversight of the Fund’s portfolio manager.


Wellington Management Company, LLP

The Adviser has entered into a sub-advisory agreement with Wellington Management Company, LLP (“Wellington Management”) to manage a portion of the Fund's assets using the Fund's Inflation Linked Bonds and Leveraged Loans strategies.  Wellington Management is a Massachusetts limited liability partnership with principal offices at 280 Congress Street, Boston, Massachusetts 02210.  Wellington Management is a professional investment counseling firm which provides investment services to investment companies, employee benefit plans, endowments, foundations, and other institutions. Wellington Management and its predecessor organizations have provided investment advisory services for over 70 years. As of December 31, 2012 Wellington Management had investment management authority with respect to approximately $748billion in assets.


Parametric Portfolio Associates, LLC

The Adviser has entered into a sub-advisory agreement with Parametric Portfolio Associates, LLC (“Parametric”) to manage a portion of the Fund’s assets using the Fund’s commodity strategy.  Parametric is located at 1918 8 th Ave. Suite 3100, Seattle, WA 98101, and is a registered investment adviser.  Parametric is controlled by Eaton Vance Corp.  Parametric, which was established in 1987, offers investment advisory services to investors.  As of December 31, 2012, Parametric had approximately $53 billion in assets under management.


Mellon Capital Management Corporation

The Adviser has entered into a sub-advisory agreement with Mellon Capital Management Corporation (“Mellon”) to manage a Subsidiary’s assets.  Mellon is located at 50 Fremont Street, Suite 3900, San Francisco, CA  94105, and is a registered investment adviser.  Mellon is an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation.  Mellon, which was established in 1983, offers investment advisory services to investors.  As of December 31, 2012, Mellon had approximately $256 billion in assets under management.


Commodity Strategies AG

The Adviser has entered into a sub-advisory agreement Commodity Strategies AG (“Commodity Strategies”) to manage a portion of the Fund’s assets using the Fund’s commodity strategy.  Commodity Strategies is located at Baarerstrasse 11 6300 Zug, Switzerland, and is a registered investment adviser.  Commodity Strategies is controlled by Robert Holroyd, its Director and Principal.  Commodity Strateiges, which was established in 2010, offers investment advisory services to investors.  As of December 31, 2012, Commodity Strategies had approximately $160 million in assets under management.


The Boston Company Asset Management, LLC

The Adviser has entered into a sub-advisory agreement with The Boston Company Asset Management, LLC (“The Boston Company”) to manage a portion of the Fund's assets using the Firm's Global Natural Resources strategy.  The Boston Company is located at Mellon Financial Center. One Boston Place, Boston, MA 02108-4408. The Boston Company is part of BNY Mellon Asset Management, which is the umbrella organization for BNY Mellon's investment management subsidiaries.  The Boston Company, which traces its roots to the Boston Safe Deposit and Trust Company which first opened its doors to the public on June 1, 1875, offers investment advisory services to investors.  As of December 31, 2012 The Boston Company had approximately $42 billion in assets under management.


City of London Investment Management Company Limited

The Adviser has entered into a sub-advisory agreement with the City of London Investment Management Company Limited (“CoL”) to manage a portion of the Fund's assets using the Firm's Natural Resources




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strategy.  CoL is located at 77 Gracechurch Street London EC3V 0AS.  CoL is a wholly owned subsidiary of City of London Investment Group, PLC, was founded in 1991 and offers investment advisory services to investors.  As of December 31, 2011 CoL had approximately $4.5 billion in assets under management.


Portfolio Managers

The following section provides information regarding the Portfolio Managers, other accounts managed by the Portfolio Managers, compensation, material conflicts of interests, and any ownership of securities in the Fund.  


The Adviser


Michael Hanus, CFA. Mr. Hanus has served as a portfolio manager of the Fund since May, 2012. Prior to launching the Adviser, Mr. Hanus was a Vice President at Wellington Management.  Before joining Wellington Mr. Hanus was a Senior Vice President at Pyramis Global Advisors, a Fidelity Investments company.  Prior to joining Pyramis Mr. Hanus was a co-Founder of Absolute Investment Advisers (AIA), a $4.5 billion investment management firm that runs a family of Absolute Return investment strategies.  Earlier in his career Mr. Hanus was a Principal in the Strategy consulting practice of A.T. Kearney and a Managing Associate in the Financial Services group of CSC Index, a management consultancy.  Mr. Hanus received an MBA from the University of Michigan and a BSBA from the University of Richmond.


Alec Petro .  Mr. Petro has served as a portfolio manager of the Fund since May, 2012.  Prior to joining the Adviser, Mr. Petro founded Fort Hill Capital Management, a quantitative hedge fund specializing in equity derivatives. Mr. Petro and Fort Hill Capital Management were also co-Founders of Absolute Investment Advisers (AIA), a $4.5 billion investment management firm that runs a family of Absolute Return investment strategies. Mr. Petro began trading in the financial derivatives marketplace at O’Connor & Associates in Chicago, where he co-managed the global foreign exchange derivative trading. Mr. Petro then moved to Cooper/Neff and Associates and became the fifth partner in 1990. He headed the global foreign exchange and derivative business joint venture with Mitsui Trust of Tokyo from 1989-1994 and held the same position for BNP in Paris from 1995-1997. Mr. Petro moved back to BNP/Cooper Neff’s Radnor, PA headquarters in 1998 to manage numerous hedge fund projects, including real estate, foreign exchange and U.S. equities.  Mr. Petro is also an Adjunct Professor with Boston College’s MBA program where he teaches a class on Hedge Funds.  Mr. Petro received his MBA from the University of Chicago and his BS from Boston College.


Brian Chen, Ph.D. Dr. Chen has served as a portfolio manager of the Fund since May, 2012.  Prior to joining the Adviser, Dr. Chen was the lead quantitative analyst for Absolute Investment Advisers’ (AIA) Absolute Strategies Fund.  Dr. Chen’s experience in quantitative trading strategies spans the spectrum from development of stand-alone, single strategies to management of multi-strategy, multi-manager portfolios. Dr. Chen has also applied his signal processing expertise to build the quantitative forecasting and pricing models for volatility arbitrage strategies at Fort Hill Capital Management.  Prior, Dr. Chen co-founded and served as Chief Scientist and Vice President of Technology of Chinook Communications, a venture-financed, technology company developing sophisticated signal processing technologies. He has also been a Member of Technical Staff--Level 1 and Consultant for Lucent Technologies Bell Laboratories. Dr. Chen received the Ph.D. degree in electrical engineering and computer science, with a concentration in signal processing, and a minor in finance from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). As well he holds a S.M. degree in electrical engineering from MIT, and the B.S.E. degree (summa cum laude) in electrical engineering from the University of Michigan. He is an inventor on 14 issued patents and has received the National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Fellowship.


The Sub-Advisers


Wellington Management Company, LLP




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Lindsay Politi. Ms. Politi is Vice President and Fixed Income Portfolio Manager of Wellington Management.  She has served as Portfolio Manager of the Fund’s Inflation Linked Bonds Strategy since its inception in 2012.  Ms. Politi joined Wellington Management as an investment professional in 2000.


Jeffrey W. Heuer, CFA .  Mr. Heuer is Vice President and Bank Loan Portfolio Manager of Wellington Management.  He has served as Portfolio Manager of the Fund’s Leveraged Loans Strategy since its inception in 2012.  Mr. Heuer joined Wellington Management as an investment professional in 2001.


Parametric Portfolio Associates, LLC

David Stein, Ph.D.  Mr. Stein is Chief Investment Officer , leads Parametric’s Investment, Research and Technology activities. Mr. Stein’s experience in the investment industry dates back to 1987. Prior to joining Parametric in 1996, he held senior research, development and portfolio management positions at GTE Investment Management Corp., The Vanguard Group, and IBM Retirement Funds. He has additional experience as a Research Scientist with IBM Research Laboratories where he designed computer hardware and software systems. He has served on the After-Tax Subcommittee of the AIMR-PPS standards committee, and on the advisory board of the Journal of Wealth Management. Mr. Stein holds a number of patents and is published in multiple academic journals, including “Mathematics of Operations Research,” “The Journal of Wealth Management” and the “Journal of Portfolio Management.” He earned B.S. and M.S. degrees from the University of Witwatersrand, South Africa. He earned a Ph.D. in Applied Mathematics from Harvard University.


Thomas Seto, M.B.A. Mr. Seto is Managing Director—Portfolio Management and is responsible for all portfolio management at Parametric, including taxable, tax-exempt, quantitative-active and international strategies. Prior to joining Parametric in 1998, Mr. Seto served as the Head of U.S. Equity Index Investments at Barclays Global Investors. He holds an M.B.A. in Finance from the University of Chicago, and a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Washington.


Mellon Capital Management Corporation

Vassilis Dagioglu.   Mr. Dagioglu is Managing Director, Head of Asset Allocation Portfolio Management. He leads a team of portfolio managers responsible for the implementation of Mellon Capital’s Asset Allocation strategies including Global Alpha, Tactical Asset Allocation, Global Tactical Asset Allocation, Active Currency and Active Commodities strategies.  Additionally, Mr. Dagioglu is a member of the Risk Management, Investment Management, Fiduciary and Senior Management Committees.  Prior to joining Mellon Capital Management, Mr. Dagioglu designed and implemented financial information systems and consulted on enterprise information application development for IBM Global Services and Sybase   M.B.A., University of California at Berkeley, Finance.


James H. Stavena. Mr. Stavena is Managing Director, Asset Allocation.  Mr. Stavena manages a team of portfolio managers responsible for the implementation of Mellon Capital’s Asset Allocation strategies including Global Alpha, Domestic Asset Allocation, Active Currency, Active Commodities, and Custom Rules-Based strategies. He is a key contributor to the development, refinement, and risk management of all Asset Allocation investment strategies and signals. Mr. Stavena has extensive experience and particular focus on the use of derivatives in quantitative investment strategies as well as 40 Act and UCITS III implementations of our Asset Allocation strategies. Prior to joining Mellon Capital, Mr. Stavena was a currency options trader with CS First Boston and HSBC in New York and London.  M.B.A., Rice University


Commodity Strategies AG

Robert Holroyd.  Mr. Holroyd is Director and Principal of Commodity Strategies A.G.  In a career spanning 29 years, Mr. Holroyd has been continually involved in commodity and currency trading, principally through the futures markets.  In the early 80s, Mr. Holroyd was responsible for the establishment of Buttle and Co. Futures Limited, the first broker in New Zealand to obtain Reserve Bank




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approval to trade on foreign futures exchanges. Mr. Holroyd then established and managed Qtron Holdings Limited International futures and bullion business.  In 1986 Mr. Holroyd left Qtron to establish his own company, managing foreign exchange risk for corporations and high net worth individuals. He was approached in 1987 by Hanseatic Group Inc., a US based foreign exchange adviser with whom he subsequently developed a joint venture. He became a director of the firm and was responsible for operations in the Pacific Rim and Australasia.  In the early 90s, Mr. Holroyd established himself as a CTA under the name of HCM Global Limited. Mr. Holroyd next established CSL, a predecessor firm to CSAG, in Australia in 1999.


The Boston Company Asset Management, LLC

Robin Wehbé, CFA, CMT. Mr. Wehbé is Director, Lead Portfolio Manager on the Dreyfus Natural Resources Fund and the Global Natural Resources Strategy. Mr. Wehbé has been with The Boston Company since 2006. Mr. Wehbé, is also an Equity Research Analyst on The Boston Company's Core Research Team where he covers the energy, utilities and basic materials sectors. Mr. Wehbé has worked in the industry since 2001 and holds a MBA and an MSF from the Carroll School of Management at Boston College, as well as a BS from Lehigh University.

 

City of London Investment Management Company Limited

Martín Garzarón. Mr. Garzarón is the Chief Investment Officer, Equities, of City of London Investment Management Company Limited.  Mr. Garzarón joined the firm in 1999 in Argentina as a Portfolio Manager and in 2000 he moved to the US office to manage Equity strategies. Prior to joining CoL, Mr. Garzarón worked with Banco Privado de Inversiones, an Argentine investment bank, for 7 years. At Banco Privado he joined as research analyst for Latin American equities, and then he joined the asset management group of the bank where he managed 5 equity funds, including the Brazil Equity Fund, for 4 years.  Mr. Garzarón has a BA in Business from Universidad Católica Argentina.


Linda Dean.  Ms. Dean is a Portfolio Manager of City of London Investment Management Company Limited based in the US office. Ms. Dean joined the firm in 2003. A Czech native, Ms. Dean specializes in Eastern European and Natural Resource equities research and trading. Ms. Dean obtained an MBA from Villanova University and a BS in Finance from West Chester University.


Oliver Koh. Mr. Koh is a Portfolio Manager of City of London Investment Management Company Limited based in the Singapore office. Mr. Koh joined the firm in 2010. He is responsible for research and investment decisions in the Southern Asia countries, lending his expertise in this area to the US and UK teams. Mr. Koh spent 6 years as Head of Asia Pacific Equities at United Overseas Bank Asset Management. Subsequent to this he worked as the CIO of Oliver Capital Pte Ltd and he also worked as a Director/Fund Manager at ARA Strategic Capital. Mr. Koh holds a BA in Econometrics and is a CFA Charterholder.


Other Accounts Managed by the Portfolio Managers

The table below identifies, for each Portfolio Manager of the Fund, the number of accounts managed (excluding the Fund) and the total assets in such accounts, within each of the following categories: registered investment companies, other pooled investment vehicles, and other accounts.  To the extent that the advisory fees for any of these accounts are based on account performance, this information is reflected in separate tables below.  Asset amounts are approximate as of the date of this SAI, and have been rounded.  


The table below identifies, for each Portfolio Manager of the Fund, the number of accounts managed (excluding the Fund) and the total assets in such accounts, within each of the following categories: registered investment companies, other pooled investment vehicles, and other accounts.  To the extent that the advisory fees for any of these accounts are based on account performance, this information is




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reflected in separate tables below.  Asset amounts are approximate as of the date of this SAI, and have been rounded.  

 

Portfolio Manager

Registered

Investment Companies (excluding the Fund)

Other Pooled

Investment Vehicles

 

Other Accounts

Number of Accounts

Total Assets in the Accounts

Number of Accounts

Total Assets in the Accounts

Number of Accounts

Total Assets in the Accounts

Adviser

 

 

 

 

 

 

Michael Hanus

0

$0

0

$0

0

$0

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Alec Petro

1

 $17 mm

1

 $50 mm

0

$0 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Brian Chen

1

 $17 mm

0

$0 

    0 

$0 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sub-Advisers

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Parametric Portfolio Associates, LLC

 

 

 

 

David Stein

23

 $10,914mm

3

 $2,143 mm

0

$0

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thomas Seto

23

 $10,914mm

3

 $2,143 mm

0

$0

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wellington Management Company, LLP

 

 

 

 

Lindsay Politi

4

 $1,079 mm

13

$1,890 mm

16

 $4,120 mm

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jeff Heuer

1

 $359 mm

1

$96 mm

8

 $422 mm

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

City of London Investment Management Company Limited

 

 

 

Martín Garzarón

0

 $0 mm

5

 $195 mm

0

 $0 mm

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Linda Dean

0

 $0 mm

5

 $195 mm

0

 $0 mm

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Oliver Koh

0

 $0 mm

3

 $133 mm

0

 $0 mm

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mellon Capital Management Corporation

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Vassilis Dagioglu

11


$1,080mm

31

$6,303mm

115


$7,445mm

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

James Stavena

11


$1,080mm

31

$6,303mm

115


$7,445mm

 

 

 

 




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The Boston Company Asset Management, LLC

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Robin Wehbé

1

$26 mm

2

$13mm

2

$10 mm

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Commodity Strategies A.G.

 

 

 

 

 

Robert Holroyd

0

 $0 mm

0

$0 mm

5

$155 mm


 

 

 

 

 

Material Conflicts of Interest

Actual or apparent material conflicts of interest may arise when a Portfolio Manager has day-to-day management responsibilities with respect to more than one investment account or in other circumstances.  Portfolio Managers who manage other investment accounts in addition to the Fund may be presented with the potential conflicts described below.


North Peak Asset Management LLC

Individual investment professionals at the Adviser manage multiple accounts for multiple clients. These accounts may include mutual funds and hedge funds. The Fund’s managers listed in the prospectus who are primarily responsible for the day-to-day management of the Fund generally manage accounts in several different investment styles. These accounts may have investment objectives, strategies, time horizons, tax considerations and risk profiles that differ from those of the Fund. The portfolio managers make investment decisions for each account, including the Fund, based on the investment objectives, policies, practices, benchmarks, cash flows, tax and other relevant investment considerations applicable to that account. Consequently, the portfolio managers may purchase or sell securities, including IPOs, for one account and not another account, and the performance of securities purchased for one account may vary from the performance of securities purchased for other accounts. Alternatively, these accounts may be managed in a similar fashion to the Fund and thus the accounts may have similar, and in some cases nearly identical, objectives, strategies and/or holdings to that of the Fund.


Wellington Management Company, LLP

Individual investment professionals at Wellington Management manage multiple accounts for multiple clients. These accounts may include mutual funds, separate accounts (assets managed on behalf of institutions, such as pension funds, insurance companies, foundations, or separately managed account programs sponsored by financial intermediaries), bank common trust accounts, and hedge funds. The Fund’s managers listed in the prospectus who are primarily responsible for the day-to-day management of the Fund (“Portfolio Managers”) generally manage accounts in several different investment styles. These accounts may have investment objectives, strategies, time horizons, tax considerations and risk profiles that differ from those of the Fund. The Portfolio Managers make investment decisions for each account, including the Fund, based on the investment objectives, policies, practices, benchmarks, cash flows, tax and other relevant investment considerations applicable to that account. Consequently, the Portfolio Managers may purchase or sell securities, including IPOs, for one account and not another account, and the performance of securities purchased for one account may vary from the performance of securities purchased for other accounts. Alternatively, these accounts may be managed in a similar fashion to the Fund and thus the accounts may have similar, and in some cases nearly identical, objectives, strategies and/or holdings to that of the Fund.


A Portfolio Manager or other investment professionals at Wellington Management may place transactions on behalf of other accounts that are directly or indirectly contrary to investment decisions made on behalf of the Fund, or make investment decisions that are similar to those made for the Fund, both of which have the potential to adversely impact the Fund depending on market conditions. For example, an investment professional may purchase a security in one account while appropriately selling




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that same security in another account. Similarly, the Portfolio Managers may purchase the same security for the Fund and one or more other accounts at or about the same time. In those instances the other accounts will have access to their respective holdings prior to the public disclosure of the Fund’s holdings. In addition, some of these accounts have fee structures, including performance fees, which are or have the potential to be higher, in some cases significantly higher, than the fees Wellington Management receives for managing the Fund. Because incentive payments paid by Wellington Management to the Portfolio Managers are tied to revenues earned by Wellington Management and, where noted, to the performance achieved by the manager in each account, the incentives associated with any given account may be significantly higher or lower than those associated with other accounts managed by the Portfolio Managers.  Finally, the Portfolio Managers may hold shares or investments in the other pooled investment vehicles and/or other accounts identified above.


Wellington Management’s goal is to meet its fiduciary obligation to treat all clients fairly and provide high quality investment services to all of its clients. Wellington Management has adopted and implemented policies and procedures, including brokerage and trade allocation policies and procedures, which it believes address the conflicts associated with managing multiple accounts for multiple clients. In addition, Wellington Management monitors a variety of areas, including compliance with primary account guidelines, the allocation of IPOs, and compliance with the firm’s Code of Ethics, and places additional investment restrictions on investment professionals who manage hedge funds and certain other accounts. Furthermore, senior investment and business personnel at Wellington Management periodically review the performance of Wellington Management’s investment professionals. Although Wellington Management does not track the time an investment professional spends on a single account, Wellington Management does periodically assess whether an investment professional has adequate time and resources to effectively manage the investment professional’s various client mandates.


Parametric Portfolio Associates, LLC

It is possible that conflicts of interest may arise in connection with a portfolio manager’s management of the Fund’s investments on the one hand and the investments of other accounts for which the portfolio manager is responsible on the other. For example, a portfolio manager may have conflicts of interest in allocating management time, resources and investment opportunities among the Fund and other accounts he advises. In addition, due to differences in the investment strategies or restrictions between the Fund and the other accounts, a portfolio manager may take action with respect to another account that differs from the action taken with respect to the Fund. In some cases, another account managed by a portfolio manager may compensate the investment adviser based on the performance of the securities held by that account. The existence of such a performance based fee may create additional conflicts of interest for the portfolio manager in the allocation of management time, resources and investment opportunities. Whenever conflicts of interest arise, the portfolio manager will endeavor to exercise his discretion in a manner that he believes is equitable to all interested persons. The investment adviser and sub-adviser have adopted several policies and procedures designed to address these potential conflicts including a code of ethics and policies which govern the investment adviser’s and sub-adviser’s trading practices, including among other things the aggregation and allocation of trades among clients, brokerage allocation, cross trades and best execution.


Mellon Capital Management Corporation

Because the portfolio managers manage multiple portfolios for multiple clients, the potential for conflicts of interest exists.  Each portfolio manager generally manages portfolios having substantially the same investment style as the Fund.  However, the portfolios managed by a portfolio manager may not have portfolio compositions identical to those of the Fund managed by the portfolio manager due, for example, to specific investment limitations or guidelines present in some portfolios or accounts, but not others.  The portfolio managers may purchase securities for one portfolio and not another portfolio, and the performance of securities purchased for one portfolio may vary from the performance of securities purchased for other portfolios.  A portfolio manager may place transactions on behalf of other accounts




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that are directly or indirectly contrary to investment decisions made on behalf of the Fund, or make investment decisions that are similar to those made for the Fund, both of which have the potential to adversely impact the Fund depending on market conditions.  For example, a portfolio manager may purchase a security in one portfolio while appropriately selling that same security in another portfolio.  In addition, some of these portfolios have fee structures that are or have the potential to be higher than the advisory fees paid by the Fund, which can cause potential conflicts in the allocation of investment opportunities between the Fund and the other accounts.  However, the compensation structure for portfolio managers does not generally provide incentive to favor one account over another because that part of a manager’s bonus based on performance is not based on the performance of one account to the exclusion of others.  There are many other factors considered in determining the portfolio manager’s bonus and there is no formula that is applied to weight the factors listed (see “Compensation of Portfolio Managers and Other Accounts Managed”).  Mellon Capital has a fiduciary duty to manage all client accounts in a fair and equitable manner.  To accomplish this,  Mellon Capital has adopted various policies and procedures (including, but not limited to, policies relating to trading operations, best execution, trade order aggregation and allocation, short sales, cross-trading, code of conduct, personal securities trading and purchases of securities from affiliate underwriters).  These procedures are intended to help employees identify and mitigate potential side by side conflicts of interest. Mellon Capital has also developed a conflicts matrix listing potential side by side conflicts and compliance policies and procedures reasonably designed to mitigate such potential conflicts of interest.


City of London Investment Management Company Limited      

Individual investment professionals at City of London Investment Management Company Limited manage multiple accounts for multiple clients. These accounts may include mutual funds, separate accounts (assets managed on behalf of institutions, such as pension funds, endowments insurance companies, or foundations, or separately managed account programs sponsored by financial intermediaries), bank common trust accounts, and hedge funds. The Fund’s managers listed in the prospectus who are primarily responsible for the day-to-day management of the Fund managers generally manage accounts in several different investment styles. These accounts may have investment objectives, strategies, time horizons, tax considerations and risk profiles that differ from those of the Fund. The managers make investment decisions for each account, including the Fund, based on the investment objectives, policies, practices, benchmarks, cash flows, tax and other relevant investment considerations applicable to that account. Consequently, the managers may purchase or sell securities, including IPOs, for one account and not another account, and the performance of securities purchased for one account may vary from the performance of securities purchased for other accounts. Alternatively, these accounts may be managed in a similar fashion to the Fund and thus the accounts may have similar, and in some cases nearly identical, objectives, strategies and/or holdings to that of the Fund.


The Boston Company Asset Management, LLC

A conflict of interest is generally defined as a single person or entity having two or more interests that are inconsistent. The Boston Company Asset Management, LLC (“The Boston Company”) has implemented various policies and procedures that are intended to address the conflicts of interest that may exist or be perceived to exist at the Boston Company.


These conflicts may include, but are not limited to when a portfolio manager is responsible for the management of more than one account; the potential arises for the portfolio manager to favor one account over another. Generally, the risk of such conflicts of interest could increase if a portfolio manager has a financial incentive to favor one account over another.


A portfolio manager could favor one account over another in allocating new investment opportunities that have limited supply, such as initial public offerings and private placements. If, for example, an initial public offering that was expected to appreciate in value significantly shortly after the offering was allocated to a single account, that account may be expected to have better investment performance than




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other accounts that did not receive an allocation. The Boston Company has policies that require a portfolio manager to allocate such investment opportunities in an equitable manner and generally to allocate such investments proportionately among all accounts with similar investment objectives.


A portfolio manager may favor an account if the portfolio manager’s compensation is tied to the performance of that account rather than all accounts managed by the portfolio manager. If, for example, the portfolio manager receives a bonus based upon the performance of certain accounts relative to a benchmark while other accounts are disregarded for this purpose, the portfolio manager will have a financial incentive to seek to have the accounts that determine the bonus achieve the best possible performance to the possible detriment of other accounts. Similarly, if the Boston Company receives a performance-based advisory fee, the portfolio manager may favor that account, regardless of whether the performance of that account directly determines the portfolio manager’s compensation. Portfolio managers’ cash compensation is comprised primarily of a market-based salary and incentive compensation (annual and long term retention incentive awards). Funding for the Boston Company Annual Incentive Plan and Long Term Retention Incentive Plan is through a pre-determined fixed percentage of overall Boston Company profitability. In general, bonus awards are based initially on Boston Company’s financial performance. However, awards for select senior portfolio managers are based initially on their individual investment performance (one, three, and five-year weighted). In addition, awards for portfolio managers that manage alternative strategies are partially based on a portion of the fund’s realized performance fee.


Where different accounts managed by the same portfolio manager have materially and potentially conflicting investment objectives or strategies, a conflict of interest may arise. For example, if a portfolio manager purchases a security for one account and sells the same security short for another account, such a trading pattern could potentially disadvantage either account. To mitigate the conflict in this scenario the Boston Company has in places a restriction in the order management system and requires a written explanation from the portfolio manager before determining whether to lift the restriction. However, where a portfolio manager is responsible for accounts with differing investment objectives and policies, it is possible that the portfolio manager will conclude that it is in the best interest of one account to sell a portfolio security while another account continues to hold or increase the holding in such security.




Commodity Strategies AG

Individual investment professionals at Commodity Strategies AG manage multiple accounts for multiple clients. The Fund’s manager listed in the prospectus who is primarily responsible for the day-to-day management of the Fund managers generally manage accounts in several different investment styles. These accounts may have investment objectives, strategies, time horizons, tax considerations and risk profiles that differ from those of the Fund. The manager makes investment decisions for each account, including the Fund, based on the investment objectives, policies, practices, benchmarks, cash flows, tax and other relevant investment considerations applicable to that account. Consequently, the manager may purchase or sell securities, including IPOs, for one account and not another account, and the performance of securities purchased for one account may vary from the performance of securities purchased for other accounts. Alternatively, these accounts may be managed in a similar fashion to the Fund and thus the accounts may have similar, and in some cases nearly identical, objectives, strategies and/or holdings to that of the Fund.


Portfolio Managers’ Compensation


North Peak Asset Management LLC




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The Portfolio Managers’ compensation is a fixed salary that is set by reference to industry standards.  Bonuses paid to the Portfolio Managers on a discretionary basis, based on the profitability of the Adviser and certain other performance metrics determined by the Adviser’s management team.


Wellington Management Company, LLP

Wellington Management receives a fee based on the assets under management of the Fund as set forth in the Subadvisory Agreement between Wellington Management and North Peak Asset Management, LLC on behalf of the Fund.  Wellington Management pays its investment professionals out of its total revenues, including the advisory fees earned with respect to the Fund.


Wellington Management’s compensation structure is designed to attract and retain high-caliber investment professionals necessary to deliver high quality investment management services to its clients.  Wellington Management’s compensation of the Fund’s managers listed in the prospectus who are primarily responsible for the day-to-day management of the Fund (“Portfolio Managers”) includes a base salary and incentive components. The base salaries for the Portfolio Managers are determined by the Portfolio Managers’ experience and performance in their roles as Portfolio Managers. Base salaries for Wellington Management’s employees are reviewed annually and may be adjusted based on the recommendation of a Portfolio Manager‘s manager, using guidelines established by Wellington Management’s Compensation Committee, which has final oversight responsibility for base salaries of employees of the firm.  Each Portfolio Manager is eligible to receive an incentive payment based on the revenues earned by Wellington Management from the Fund managed by the Portfolio Manager and generally each other account managed by such Portfolio Manager.  The incentive paid to the Portfolio Managers, which has no performance-related component, is based on the revenues earned by Wellington Management. 


Portfolio-based incentives across all accounts managed by an investment professional can, and typically do, represent a significant portion of an investment professional’s overall compensation; incentive compensation varies significantly by individual and can vary significantly from year to year. The Portfolio Managers may also be eligible for bonus payments based on their overall contribution to Wellington Management’s business operations.  Senior management at Wellington Management may reward individuals as it deems appropriate based on other factors. 


Parametric Portfolio Associates, LLC

Compensation Structure for Parametric. Compensation of Parametric portfolio managers and other investment professionals has three primary components: (1) a base salary, (2) a cash bonus, and (3) annual stock-based compensation consisting of options to purchase shares of EVC’s nonvoting common stock, restricted shares of EVC’s nonvoting common stock and, for certain individuals, grants of profit participation interests in Parametric. Parametric investment professionals also receive certain retirement, insurance and other benefits that are broadly available to Parametric employees. Compensation of Parametric investment professionals is reviewed primarily on an annual basis. Stock-based compensation awards and adjustments in base salary and bonus are typically paid and/or put into effect at or shortly after calendar year-end.

 

Method to Determine Compensation. Parametric seeks to compensate portfolio managers commensurate with their responsibilities and performance, and competitive with other firms within the investment management industry. The performance of portfolio managers is evaluated primarily based on success in achieving portfolio objectives for managed funds and accounts. The compensation of portfolio managers with other job responsibilities (such as product development) will include consideration of the scope of such responsibilities and the managers’ performance in meeting them.

 

Salaries, bonuses and stock-based compensation are also influenced by the operating performance of Parametric and EVC, its parent company. Cash bonuses are determined based on a target percentage of




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Parametric profits. While the salaries of Parametric portfolio managers are comparatively fixed, cash bonuses and stock-based compensation may fluctuate substantially from year to year, based on changes in financial performance and other factors.


Mellon Capital Management Corporation

The primary objectives of the Mellon Capital compensation plans are to:

 

·

Motivate and reward continued growth and profitability

·

Attract and retain high-performing individuals critical to the on-going success of Mellon Capital

·

Motivate and reward superior business/investment performance

·

Create an ownership mentality for all plan participants


The investment professionals' cash compensation is comprised primarily of a market-based base salary and (variable) incentives (cash and deferred).  An investment professional's base salary is determined by the employee's experience and performance in the role, taking into account the ongoing compensation benchmark analyses.  A portfolio manager's base salary is generally a fixed amount that may change as a result of an annual review, upon assumption of new duties, or when a market adjustment of the position occurs.  Funding for the Mellon Capital Annual and Long Term Incentive Plan is through a pre-determined fixed percentage of overall Mellon Capital profitability.  Therefore, all bonus awards are based initially on Mellon Capital's financial performance.  Annual incentive opportunities are pre-established for each individual, expressed as a percentage of base salary ("target awards").  These targets are derived based on a review of competitive market data for each position annually.  Annual awards are determined by applying multiples to this target award.  Awards are 100% discretionary.  Factors considered in awards include individual performance, team performance, investment performance of the associated portfolio(s) (including both short and long term returns) and qualitative behavioral factors.  Other factors considered in determining the award are the asset size and revenue growth/retention of the products managed. Awards are paid partially in cash with the balance deferred through the Long Term Incentive Plan.


These positions that participate in the Long Term Incentive Plan have a high level of accountability and a large impact on the success of the business due to the position's scope and overall responsibility.  This plan provides for an annual award, payable in cash after a three-year cliff vesting period, as well as a grant of BNY Mellon Restricted Stock for senior level roles.


The same methodology described above is used to determine portfolio manager compensation with respect to the management of mutual funds and other accounts.  Mutual fund portfolio managers also are eligible for the standard retirement benefits and health and welfare benefits available to all Mellon Capital employees.  Certain portfolio managers may be eligible for additional retirement benefits under several supplemental retirement plans that Mellon Capital provides to restore dollar-for-dollar the benefits of management employees that had been cut back solely as a result of certain limits due to tax laws.  These plans are structured to provide the same retirement benefits as the standard retirement benefits.  In addition, mutual fund portfolio managers whose compensation exceeds certain limits may elect to defer a portion of their salary and/or bonus under the BNY Mellon Deferred Compensation Plan for Employees.


City of London Investment Management Company Limited

CoL offers a competitive compensation package to its employees, including Portfolio Managers, which is linked to individual performance and in addition to salary includes profit sharing and eligibility in the employee option share option scheme. 





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CoL’s Remuneration Committee, which is made up of independent non-executive Directors, considers performance as well as external data which provides an understanding of current salaries and overall compensation packages within the market place.


The Boston Company Asset Management, LLC

The firm’s rewards program was designed to foster a culture of individual excellence and teamwork and to reward efforts toward these goals accordingly.  The primary mission of our firm is to deliver alpha utilizing a fundamental investment research and portfolio management approach, while being diligent risk managers.  We believe our rewards program provides the appropriate incentives to give us the ability to consistently deliver on that commitment to our clients.

  
Portfolio Managers:  With the exception of the most senior portfolio managers in the firm (described separately below), the portfolio managers' compensation is comprised primarily of a market-based salary and incentive compensation, including both annual cash and long-term incentive awards.  Portfolio managers are eligible to receive annual cash bonus awards, and annual incentive opportunities are pre-established for each individual based upon competitive industry compensation benchmarks.   Additionally, most portfolio managers are also eligible to participate in any Franchise Dividend Pool (described separately below) created by their team.  Actual individual awards are determined based on The Boston Company's financial performance, individual investment performance, individual contribution and other qualitative factors.

     
Select Senior Portfolio Managers:  Select senior portfolio managers participate in a more formal structured compensation plan. This plan is designed to compensate our top investment professionals for superior investment performance and business results.  The base incentive is a two stage model: an opportunity range is determined based on the level of current business (AUM, revenue) and an assessment of long-term business value (growth, retention, development).  A significant portion of the opportunity awarded is structured and based upon the one-year, three-year and five-year (three-year and five-year weighted more heavily) pre-tax performance of the portfolio manager's accounts relative to the performance of the appropriate peer groups.  Other factors considered in determining the award are individual qualitative performance based on seven discretionary factors (e.g. leadership, teamwork, etc.) and the asset size and revenue growth or retention of the products managed.  In addition to the base incentive, the senior portfolio managers and their teams are eligible for a Franchise Dividend award, whereby if the team meets a pre-established contribution margin, any excess contribution is shared between the team and The Boston Company and is paid out in both cash and long-term incentives. Lastly, awards for portfolio managers that manage alternative strategies are partially based on a portion of the fund's realized performance fee.

 
Incentive compensation awards are generally subject to management discretion and pool funding availability.  Funding for The Boston Company Annual Incentive Plan and Long-Term Retention Incentive Plan is through a pre-determined fixed percentage of overall Boston Company profitability.  Awards are paid in cash on an annual basis; however, some portfolio managers may receive a portion of their annual incentive award in deferred vehicles.


Long-Term Retention Incentive Plan:  All portfolio managers and analysts are also eligible to participate in The Boston Company Long-Term Retention Incentive Plan.  This plan provides for an annual award, payable in deferred cash and/or BNY Mellon restricted stock and/or Boston Company restricted shares (three-year cliff vesting period for all).  The final value of the deferred cash portion of the award will be determined by reference to the investment results of select Boston Company products (the "Measurement Funds").  The final award payment will include any appreciation/depreciation of the principal award over the measurement period.  The appreciation/depreciation will be determined by reference to the investment results of the Measurement Funds.   





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The final value of The Boston Company restricted shares will be based on any appreciation/depreciation of the fair value of The Boston Company over the measurement period, as determined by a third-party provider using both income and market approaches.  The valuation is based on input and information provided to them by The Boston Company and BNY Mellon Asset Management as well as the provider's assessment of the firm's growth, risk and profitability in relation to The Boston Company's industry peer group. Providing this diverse group of "currencies" within our long-term incentive plan allows for The Boston Company's professionals to be best aligned with our clients, our parent and all of their Boston Company colleagues.


All incentive awards made under our rewards program are subject to standard forfeiture and clawback provisions.


Commodity Strategies AG

Staff are paid a salary and bonuses, which depend on investment performance.  Staff are also able to invest in the funds.


Portfolio Managers’ Ownership of the Fund

Because there were no shares outstanding as of the date of this SAI, the Portfolio Managers as a group owned 0% of the Fund’s outstanding shares.


Other Service Providers


Administrator

Pursuant to a Fund Services Agreement (the “Administration Service Agreement”), Gemini Fund Services, LLC (“GFS”), 80 Arkay Drive, Hauppauge, New York 11788 (the “Administrator”), acts as administrator for the Fund, subject to the supervision of the Board.  GFS is primarily in the business of providing administrative, fund accounting and transfer agent services to retail and institutional mutual funds. GFS is an affiliate of the Distributor.    GFS may provide persons to serve as officers of the Fund. Such officers may be directors, officers or employees of GFS or its affiliates.


The Administration Service Agreement was initially approved by the Board at a meeting held on March 6, 2012.  The Agreement shall remain in effect for two years from the date of the Fund’s commencement of operations, and subject to annual approval of the Board for one-year periods thereafter.  The Administration Service Agreement is terminable by the Board or GFS on 60 days’ prior written notice and may be assigned provided the non-assigning party provides prior written consent. This Agreement provides that in the absence of willful misfeasance, bad faith or gross negligence on the part of GFS or reckless disregard of its obligations thereunder, GFS shall not be liable for any action or failure to act in accordance with its duties thereunder.


Under the Administration Service Agreement, GFS provides facilitating administrative services, including:  (i) providing services of persons competent to perform such administrative and clerical functions as are necessary to provide effective administration of the Fund; (ii) facilitating the performance of administrative and professional services to the Fund by others, including the Fund’s Custodian; (iii) preparing, but not paying for, the periodic updating of the Fund’s Registration Statement, Prospectuses and Statement of Additional Information in conjunction with Fund counsel, including the printing of such documents for the purpose of filings with the SEC and state securities administrators, and preparing reports to the Fund’s shareholders and the SEC; (iv) preparing in conjunction with Fund counsel, but not paying for, all filings under the securities or “Blue Sky” laws of such states or countries as are designated by the Distributor, which may be required to register or qualify, or continue the registration or qualification, of the Fund and/or its shares under such laws; (v) preparing notices and agendas for meetings of the Board and minutes of such meetings in all matters required by the 1940 Act




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to be acted upon by the Board; and (vi) monitoring daily and periodic compliance with respect to all requirements and restrictions of the 1940 Act, the Internal Revenue Code and the Prospectus.


For the services rendered to the Fund, during its first year of operations, by GFS, the Fund pays GFS a fund administration fee equal to $35,000 or 8 basis points (0.08%) on assets up to $250 million, 6 basis points (0.06%) on assets $250 million to $500 million, 4 basis points (0.04%) on assets $500 million to $1 billion and 3 basis points (0.03%) on assets greater than $1 billion.  The Fund also pays the Administrator for any out-of-pocket expenses incurred in connection with such services.  


Fund Accounting   

GFS, pursuant to the Fund Accounting Service Agreement, provides the Fund with accounting services, including:  (i) daily computation of net asset value; (ii) maintenance of security ledgers and books and records as required by the 1940 Act; (iii) production of the Fund’s listing of portfolio securities and general ledger reports; (iv) reconciliation of accounting records; (v) calculation of yield and total return for the Fund; (vi) maintaining certain books and records described in Rule 31a-1 under the 1940 Act, and reconciling account information and balances among the Fund’s custodian or Adviser; and (vii) monitoring and evaluating daily income and expense accruals, and sales and redemptions of shares of the Fund.


Transfer Agent

GFS, 17605 Wright Street, Omaha, NE 68130, acts as transfer, dividend disbursing, and shareholder servicing agent for the Fund pursuant to a written agreement with the Fund.  Under the agreement, GFS is responsible for administering and performing transfer agent functions, dividend distribution, shareholder administration, and maintaining necessary records in accordance with applicable rules and regulations.  


Custodian   

Union Bank serves as the custodian of the Fund’s assets pursuant to a Custody Agreement by and between the Custodian and the Trust on behalf of the Fund.  The Custodian’s responsibilities include safeguarding and controlling the Fund’s cash and securities, handling the receipt and delivery of securities, and collecting interest and dividends on the Fund’s investments. Pursuant to the Custody Agreement, the Custodian also maintains original entry documents and books of record and general ledgers; posts cash receipts and disbursements; and records purchases and sales based upon communications from the Adviser. The Fund may employ foreign sub-custodians that are approved by the Board to hold foreign assets.


Compliance Services

Northern Lights Compliance Services, LLC (“NLCS”), 17605 Wright Street Omaha, NE 68130, an affiliate of GFS and the Distributor, provides a Chief Compliance Officer to the Trust as well as related compliance services pursuant to a consulting agreement between NLCS and the Trust.  The Fund pays a compliance service fee to NLCS.


Legal Counsel

Alston & Bird, LLP, 950 F. Street NW, Washington, D.C. 20004 serves as counsel to the Fund.


Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm

Tait, Weller & Baker LLP serves as the independent registered public accounting firm of the Fund.


Distribution of Fund Shares



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The Trust has entered into an Underwriting Agreement (the “Underwriting Agreement”) with Northern Lights Distributors, LLC (the “Distributor”), 17605 Wright Street, Omaha, NE 68130, pursuant to which the Distributor acts as the Fund’s principal underwriter, provides certain administration services and promotes and arranges for the sale of the Fund’s shares.  The offering of the Fund’s shares is continuous.  The Distributor is a registered broker-dealer and member of FINRA.


The Underwriting Agreement has an initial term of 2 years and will continue in effect only if such continuance is specifically approved at least annually by the Board of Trustees or by vote of a majority of the Fund’s outstanding voting securities and, in either case, by a majority of the trustees who are not parties to the Underwriting Agreement or “interested persons” (as defined in the 1940 Act) of any such party.  The Underwriting Agreement is terminable without penalty by the Trust on behalf of the Fund on 60 days’ notice when authorized either by a majority vote of the Fund’s outstanding voting securities  or by vote of a majority of the Board of Trustees, including a majority of the trustees who are not “interested persons” (as defined in the 1940 Act) of the Trust, or by the Distributor on 60 days’ notice, and will automatically terminate in the event of its “assignment” (as defined in the 1940 Act).  


12b-1 Distribution Plan

As noted in the Prospectus, the Trust has adopted a Distribution Plan pursuant to Rule 12b-1 under the 1940 Act for the Fund’s Class R shares (the “Plan”) pursuant to which the Class R shares of the Fund are authorized to pay fees to the Distributor for providing distribution and/or shareholder services to the Fund.  Under the Plan, Class R shares of the Fund may pay a combined account maintenance and/or distribution fee at an annual rate of up to 0.25% of the average net assets of such share class as compensation for the Distributor providing account maintenance and/or distribution services to shareholders.  Such fees are to be paid by the Fund monthly, or at such other intervals, as the Board shall determine.  Such fees shall be based upon each share class’s average daily net assets during the preceding month, and shall be calculated and accrued daily. The Fund may pay fees to the Distributor at a lesser rate, as agreed upon by the Board of the Trust and the Distributor. The Plan authorizes payments to the Distributor as compensation for providing account maintenance services to Fund shareholders, including arranging for certain securities dealers or brokers, administrators and others (“Recipients”) to provide these services and paying compensation for these services.

The services to be provided by Recipients may include, but are not limited to, the following: assistance in the offering and sale of Fund shares and in other aspects of the marketing of the shares to clients or prospective clients of the respective recipients; answering routine inquiries concerning the Fund; assisting in the establishment and maintenance of accounts or sub-accounts in the Fund and in processing purchase and redemption transactions; making the Fund’s investment plan and shareholder services available; and providing such other information and services to investors in shares of the Fund as the Distributor or the Trust, on behalf of the Fund, may reasonably request. The distribution services shall also include any advertising and marketing services provided by or arranged by the Distributor with respect to the Fund. The Adviser may be compensated by the Distributor for its distribution and marketing efforts.


The Distributor is required to provide a written report, at least quarterly to the Board of the Trust, specifying in reasonable detail the amounts expended pursuant to the Rule 12b-1 Plan and the purposes for which such expenditures were made.  Further, the Distributor will inform the Board of any Rule 12b-1 fees to be paid by the Distributor to Recipients.


The initial term of the Rule 12b-1 Plan is one year and will continue in effect from year to year thereafter, provided such continuance is specifically approved at least annually by a majority of the Board of the Trust and a majority of the Trustees who are not “interested persons” of the Trust and do not have a direct or indirect financial interest in the Rule 12b-1 Plan (“Rule 12b-1 Trustees”) by votes cast in person at a meeting called for the purpose of voting on the Rule 12b-1 Plan. The Rule 12b-1 Plan may be




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terminated at any time by the Trust or the Fund by vote of a majority of the Rule 12b-1 Trustees or by vote of a majority of the outstanding voting shares of the Fund.


The Rule 12b-1 Plan may not be amended to increase materially the amount of the Distributor’s compensation to be paid by the Fund, unless such amendment is approved by the vote of a majority of the outstanding voting securities of the affected class of the Fund (as defined in the 1940 Act). All material amendments must be approved by a majority of the Board of the Trust and a majority of the Rule 12b-1 Trustees by votes cast in person at a meeting called for the purpose of voting on a Rule 12b-1 Plan. During the term of a Rule 12b-1 Plan, the selection and nomination of non-interested Trustees of the Trust will be committed to the discretion of current non-interested Trustees. The Distributor will preserve copies of the Rule 12b-1 Plan, any related agreements, and all reports, for a period of not less than six years from the date of such document and for at least the first two years in an easily accessible place.


Any agreement related to a Rule 12b-1 Plan will be in writing and provide that: (a) it may be terminated by the Trust or the applicable Fund at any time upon sixty days’ written notice, without the payment of any penalty, by vote of a majority of the respective Rule 12b-1 Trustees, or by vote of a majority of the outstanding voting securities of the Trust or Fund; (b) it will automatically terminate in the event of its assignment (as defined in the 1940 Act); and (c) it will continue in effect for a period of more than one year from the date of its execution or adoption only so long as such continuance is specifically approved at least annually by a majority of the Board and a majority of the Rule 12b-1 Trustees by votes cast in person at a meeting called for the purpose of voting on such agreement.

To the extent these asset-based fees and other payments made under the Distribution Plan to these financial intermediaries for the distribution services they provide to the Fund’s shareholders exceed the Distribution Fees available, these payments are made by the Adviser from its own resources, which may include its profits from the advisory fee it receives from the Fund.  In addition, the Fund may participate in various “fund supermarkets” in which a mutual fund supermarket sponsor (usually a broker-dealer) offers many mutual funds to the sponsor’s customers without charging the customers a sales charge.  In connection with its participation in such platforms, the Adviser may use all or a portion of the Distribution Fee to pay one or more supermarket sponsors a negotiated fee for distributing the Fund’s shares.  In addition, in its discretion, the Adviser may pay additional fees to such intermediaries from its own assets.


Portfolio Transactions and Brokerage

Pursuant to the Advisory Agreement and each Sub-Advisory Agreement, the Adviser and Sub-Advisers determine which securities are to be purchased and sold by the Fund and which broker-dealers are eligible to execute the Fund’s portfolio transactions.  Purchases and sales of securities in the OTC market will generally be executed directly with a “market-maker” unless, in the opinion of the Adviser, a better price and execution can otherwise be obtained by using a broker for the transaction.


Purchases of portfolio securities for the Fund will be effected through broker-dealers (including banks) that specialize in the types of securities that the Fund will be holding, unless better executions are available elsewhere.  Dealers usually act as principal for their own accounts.  Purchases from dealers will include a spread between the bid and the asked price.  If the execution and price offered by more than one dealer are comparable, the order may be allocated to a dealer that has provided research or other services as discussed below.


In placing portfolio transactions, the Adviser will use reasonable efforts to choose broker-dealers capable of providing the services necessary to obtain the most favorable price and execution available.  The full range and quality of services available will be considered in making these determinations, such as the size of the order, the difficulty of execution, the operational facilities of the firm involved, the firm’s risk in




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positioning a block of securities and other factors.  In those instances where it is reasonably determined that more than one broker-dealer can offer the services needed to obtain the most favorable price and execution available, consideration may be given to those broker-dealers that furnish or supply research and statistical information to the Adviser that they may lawfully and appropriately use in their investment advisory capacities, as well as provide other brokerage services in addition to execution services.  The Adviser considers such information, which is in addition to and not in lieu of the services required to be performed by it under its Advisory Agreement with the Fund, to be useful in varying degrees, but of indeterminable value.


While it is the Fund’s general policy to first seek to obtain the most favorable price and execution available in selecting a broker-dealer to execute portfolio transactions for the Fund, weight is also given to the ability of a broker-dealer to furnish brokerage and research services to the Fund or to the Adviser, even if the specific services are not directly useful to the Fund and may be useful to the Adviser in advising other clients.  In negotiating commissions with a broker or evaluating the spread to be paid to a dealer, the Fund may therefore pay a higher commission or spread than would be the case if no weight were given to the furnishing of these supplemental services, provided that the amount of such commission or spread has been determined in good faith by the Adviser to be reasonable in relation to the value of the brokerage and/or research services provided by such broker-dealer.  The standard of reasonableness is to be measured in light of the Adviser’s overall responsibilities to the Fund.


Investment decisions for the Fund may or may not be made independently from those of other client accounts of the Adviser.  In certain instances, investment decisions will be made similar to other accounts managed.  In the case where the Fund uses similar strategies, applicable procedures will be taken to ensure trading allocations will be handled fairly and abide by all appropriate rules and regulations.  Nevertheless, it is possible that at times identical securities will be acceptable for both the Fund and one or more of such client accounts.  In such event, the position of the Fund and such client account(s) in the same issuer may vary and the length of time that each may choose to hold its investment in the same issuer may likewise vary.  However, to the extent any of these client accounts seek to acquire the same security as the Fund at the same time, the Fund may not be able to acquire as large a portion of such security as it desires, or it may have to pay a higher price or obtain a lower yield for such security.  Similarly, the Fund may not be able to obtain as high a price for, or as large an execution of, an order to sell any particular security at the same time.  If one or more of such client accounts simultaneously purchases or sells the same security that the Fund is purchasing or selling, each day’s transactions in such security will be allocated between the Fund and all such client accounts in a manner deemed equitable by the Adviser, taking into account the respective sizes of the accounts and the amount being purchased or sold.  It is recognized that in some cases this system could have a detrimental effect on the price or value of the security insofar as the Fund is concerned.  In other cases, however, it is believed that the ability of the Fund to participate in volume transactions may produce better executions for the Fund.  Notwithstanding the above, the Adviser may execute buy and sell orders for accounts and take action in performance of their duties with respect to any of their accounts that may differ from actions taken with respect to another account, so long as the Adviser shall, to the extent practical, allocate investment opportunities to accounts, including the Fund, over a period of time on a fair and equitable basis and in accordance with applicable law.


The Fund is required to identify any securities of its “regular brokers or dealers” that the Fund has acquired during its most recent fiscal year.   The Fund is also required to identify any brokerage transactions during its most recent fiscal year that were directed to a broker because of research services provided, along with the amount of any such transactions and any related commissions paid by the Fund.  


Portfolio Turnover



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Although the Fund generally will not invest for short-term trading purposes, portfolio securities may be sold without regard to the length of time they have been held when, in the opinion of the Adviser, investment considerations warrant such action.  Portfolio turnover rate is calculated by dividing (i) the lesser of purchases or sales of portfolio securities for the fiscal year by (ii) the monthly average of the value of portfolio securities owned during the fiscal year.  A 100% turnover rate would occur if all the securities in the Fund’s portfolio, with the exception of securities whose maturities at the time of acquisition were one year or less, were sold and either repurchased or replaced within one year.  A high rate of portfolio turnover (100% or more) generally leads to above-average transaction costs, could generate capital gains that must be distributed to shareholders as short-term capital gains taxed at ordinary income tax rates (currently as high as 35%) and could increase brokerage commission costs.  To the extent that the Fund experiences an increase in brokerage commissions due to a higher portfolio turnover rate, the performance of the Fund could be negatively impacted by the increased expenses incurred by the Fund and may result in a greater number of taxable transactions.  


Code of Ethics

The Fund, the Adviser, and the Distributor have each adopted Codes of Ethics under Rule 17j-1 of the 1940 Act.  These Codes permit, subject to certain conditions, personnel of the Adviser, and Distributor to invest in securities that may be purchased or held by the Fund.


Proxy Voting Procedures

The Board has adopted Proxy Voting Policies and Procedures (“Policies”) on behalf of the Trust, which delegate the responsibility for voting proxies of securities held by the Fund to the Adviser and responsibility for voting proxies of securities held by the Fund to the Adviser, subject to the Board’s continuing oversight. The Policies require that the Adviser vote proxies received in a manner consistent with the best interests of the Fund and its shareholders.  The Policies also require the Adviser to present to the Board, at least annually, the Adviser’s Proxy Policies and a record of each proxy voted by the Adviser on behalf of the Fund, including a report on the resolution of all proxies identified by the Adviser as involving a conflict of interest.  Notwithstanding this delegation of responsibilities, however, the Fund retains the right to vote proxies relating to its portfolio securities.  A copy of the Adviser's Proxy Voting Policies is attached hereto as Appendix A.  


More Information .  The actual voting records relating to portfolio securities during the 12-month period ended June 30 will be available without charge, upon request, by calling toll-free, 1-800-SEC-0330 or by accessing the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov.


Anti-Money Laundering Compliance Program

The Trust has established an Anti-Money Laundering Compliance Program (the “Program”) as required by the Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001 (“USA PATRIOT Act”).  To ensure compliance with this law, the Trust’s Program provides for the development of internal practices, procedures and controls, designation of anti-money laundering compliance officers, an ongoing training program and an independent audit function to determine the effectiveness of the Program.  The Trust’s secretary serves as its Anti-Money Laundering Compliance Officer.


Procedures to implement the Program include, but are not limited to, determining that the Fund’s Distributor and Transfer Agent have established proper anti-money laundering procedures, reporting suspicious and/or fraudulent activity and a providing a complete and thorough review of all new opening account applications.  The Trust will not transact business with any person or entity whose identity cannot be adequately verified under the provisions of the USA PATRIOT Act.





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As a result of the Program, the Trust may be required to “freeze” the account of a shareholder if the shareholder appears to be involved in suspicious activity or if certain account information matches information on government lists of known terrorists or other suspicious persons, or the Trust may be required to transfer the account or proceeds of the account to a governmental agency.


Portfolio Holdings Information

The Trust has adopted policies and procedures that govern the disclosure of the Fund’s portfolio holdings.  These policies and procedures are designed to ensure that such disclosure is in the best interests of Fund shareholders.


It is the Trust’s policy to:  (1) ensure that any disclosure of portfolio holdings information is in the best interest of Trust shareholders; (2) protect the confidentiality of portfolio holdings information; (3) have procedures in place to guard against personal trading based on the information; and (4) ensure that the disclosure of portfolio holdings information does not create conflicts between the interests of the Trust’s shareholders and those of the Trust’s affiliates.


The Fund discloses its portfolio holdings by mailing the annual and semi-annual reports to shareholders approximately two months after the end of the fiscal year and semi-annual period.  In addition, the Fund discloses its portfolio holdings reports on Forms N-CSR and Form N-Q two months after the end of each quarter/semi-annual period.


The Funds may choose to make portfolio holdings information available to rating agencies such as Lipper, Morningstar or Bloomberg more frequently on a confidential basis.


Under limited circumstances, as described below, the Fund’s portfolio holdings may be disclosed to, or known by, certain third parties in advance of their filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Form N-CSR or Form N-Q.  In each case, a determination has been made that such advance disclosure is supported by a legitimate business purpose and that the recipient is subject to a duty to keep the information confidential.  


The Adviser .  Personnel of the Adviser, including personnel responsible for managing the Fund’s portfolio, may have full daily access to Fund portfolio holdings since that information is necessary in order for the Adviser to provide their management, administrative, and investment services to the Fund.  As required for purposes of analyzing the impact of existing and future market changes on the prices, availability, demand and liquidity of such securities, as well as for the assistance of portfolio managers in the trading of such securities, Adviser personnel may also release and discuss certain portfolio holdings with various broker-dealers.


Gemini Fund Services, LLC.  Gemini Fund Services, LLC is the transfer agent, fund accountant and administrator for the Funds; therefore, its personnel have full daily access to the Fund’s portfolio holdings since that information is necessary in order for them to provide the agreed-upon services for the Trust.


Union Bank  Union Bank is custodian for the Fund; therefore, its personnel have full daily access to the Fund’s portfolio holdings since that information is necessary in order for them to provide the agreed-upon services for the Trust.


Tait, Weller & Baker LLP. Tait, Weller & Baker LLP is the Fund’s independent registered public accounting firm; therefore, its personnel have access to the Fund’s portfolio holdings in connection with



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auditing of the Fund’s annual financial statements and providing assistance and consultation in connection with SEC filings.  


Alston & Bird, LLP.  Alston & Bird, LLP is counsel to the Fund; therefore, its personnel have access to the Fund’s portfolio holdings in connection with review of the Fund’s annual and semi-annual shareholder reports and SEC filings.


Additions to List of Approved Recipients


The Trust’s Chief Compliance Officer is the person responsible, and whose prior approval is required, for any disclosure of the Fund’s portfolio securities at any time or to any persons other than those described above.  In such cases, the recipient must have a legitimate business need for the information and must be subject to a duty to keep the information confidential. There are no ongoing arrangements in place with respect to the disclosure of portfolio holdings. In no event shall the Fund, the Adviser, or any other party receive any direct or indirect compensation in connection with the disclosure of information about the Fund’s portfolio holdings.


Compliance With Portfolio Holdings Disclosure Procedures


The Trust’s Chief Compliance Officer will report periodically to the Board with respect to compliance with the Fund’s portfolio holdings disclosure procedures, and from time to time will provide the Board any updates to the portfolio holdings disclosure policies and procedures.


There is no assurance that the Trust’s policies on disclosure of portfolio holdings will protect the Fund from the potential misuse of holdings information by individuals or firms in possession of that information.


Determination of Net Asset Value

As indicated in the Prospectus under the heading “Net Asset Value,” the net asset value (“NAV”) of the Fund’s shares, by class, is determined by dividing the total value of the Fund’s portfolio investments and other assets, less any liabilities, by the total number of shares outstanding of the Fund, by class.  


For purposes of calculating the NAV, portfolio securities and other assets for which market quotes are available are stated at market value. Market value is generally determined on the basis of last reported sales prices, or if no sales are reported, based on quotes obtained from a quotation reporting system, established market makers, or pricing services. Securities primarily traded in the NASDAQ National Market System for which market quotations are readily available shall be valued using the NASDAQ Official Closing Price (“NOCP”). If the NOCP is not available, such securities shall be valued at the last sale price on the day of valuation, or if there has been no sale on such day, at the last bid on the primary exchange. Certain securities or investments for which daily market quotes are not readily available may be valued, pursuant to guidelines established by the Board, with reference to other securities or indices. Short-term investments having a maturity of 60 days or less are generally valued at amortized cost. Exchange traded options; futures and options on futures are valued at the settlement price determined by the exchange. Other securities for which market quotes are not readily available are valued at fair value as determined in good faith by the Board or persons acting at their direction.


Investments initially valued in currencies other than the U.S. dollar are converted to U.S. dollars using exchange rates obtained from pricing services. As a result, the NAV of the Fund’s shares may be affected by changes in the value of currencies in relation to the U.S. dollar. The value of securities traded in markets outside the United States or denominated in currencies other than the U.S. dollar may be



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affected significantly on a day that the New York Stock Exchange is closed and an investor is not able to purchase, redeem or exchange shares.


Fund shares are valued at the close of regular trading on the New York Stock Exchange (normally 4:00 p.m., Eastern time) (the “NYSE Close”) on each day that the New York Stock Exchange is open. For purposes of calculating the NAV, the Fund normally use pricing data for domestic equity securities received shortly after the NYSE Close and does not normally take into account trading, clearances or settlements that take place after the NYSE Close. Domestic fixed income and foreign securities are normally priced using data reflecting the earlier closing of the principal markets for those securities. Information that becomes known to the Fund or its agents after the NAV has been calculated on a particular day will not generally be used to retroactively adjust the price of the security or the NAV determined earlier that day.


In unusual circumstances, instead of valuing securities in the usual manner, the Fund may value securities at fair value or estimate their value as determined in good faith by the Board or its designees, pursuant to procedures approved by the Board. Fair valuation may also be used by the Board if extraordinary events occur after the close of the relevant market but prior to the NYSE Close.


The Trust expects that the holidays upon which the Exchange will be closed are as follows: New Year’s Day, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, President’s Day, Good Friday, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day, and Christmas Day.


Purchase of Shares

Orders for shares received by the Fund in good order prior to the close of business on the NYSE on each day during such periods that the NYSE is open for trading are priced at NAV per share computed as of the close of the regular session of trading on the NYSE. Orders received in good order after the close of the NYSE, or on a day it is not open for trading, are priced at the close of such NYSE on the next day on which it is open for trading at the next determined NAV or offering price per share.


Redemption of Shares

The Fund will redeem all or any portion of a shareholder’s shares in the Fund when requested in accordance with the procedures set forth in the “Redemptions” section of the Prospectus. Under the 1940 Act, a shareholder’s right to redeem shares and to receive payment therefore may be suspended at times:  

(a) when the NYSE is closed, other than customary weekend and holiday closings;

(b) when trading on that exchange is restricted for any reason;

(c) when an emergency exists as a result of which disposal by the Fund of securities owned by it is not reasonably practicable or it is not reasonably practicable for the Fund to fairly determine the value of its net assets, provided that applicable rules and regulations of the SEC (or any succeeding governmental authority) will govern as to whether the conditions prescribed in (b) or (c) exist; or

(d) when the SEC by order permits a suspension of the right to redemption or a postponement of the date of payment on redemption.

 

In case of suspension of the right of redemption, payment of a redemption request will be made based on the NAV next determined after the termination of the suspension.


The Fund may purchase shares of certain underlying funds which charge a redemption fee to shareholders (such as the Fund) that redeem shares of the underlying fund within a certain period of time (such as one year). The fee is payable to the underlying fund. Accordingly, if the Fund were to invest in an underlying fund and incur a redemption fee as a result of redeeming shares in such underlying fund,




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the Fund would bear such redemption fee. The Fund will not, however, invest in shares of an underlying fund that is sold with a contingent deferred sales load.


Supporting documents in addition to those listed under “Redemptions” in the Prospectus will be required from executors, administrators, Trustees, or if redemption is requested by someone other than the shareholder of record. Such documents include, but are not restricted to, stock powers, Trust instruments, certificates of death, appointments as executor, certificates of corporate authority and waiver of tax required in some states when settling estates.


Tax Status

The following discussion is general in nature and should not be regarded as an exhaustive presentation of all possible tax ramifications. The tax considerations relevant to a specific shareholder depend upon its specific circumstances, and the following general summary does not attempt to discuss all potential tax considerations that could be relevant to a prospective shareholder with respect to the Fund or its investments. This general summary is based on the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”), the Federal Income Tax Regulations promulgated thereunder, and administrative and judicial interpretations thereof as of the date hereof, all of which are subject to change (potentially on a retroactive basis).


The following discussion of tax consequences is for the general information of shareholders that are subject to tax.  Shareholders that are IRAs or other qualified retirement plans are exempt from income taxation under the Code. All shareholders should consult a qualified tax advisor regarding their investment in the Fund.


The Fund has qualified and intends to continue to qualify and has elected to be treated as a regulated investment company under Subchapter M of the Code, which requires compliance with certain requirements concerning the sources of its income, diversification of its assets, and the amount and timing of its distributions to shareholders. Such qualification does not involve supervision of management or investment practices or policies by any government agency or bureau. By so qualifying, the Fund should not be subject to federal income or excise tax on its net investment income or net capital gain, which are distributed to shareholders in accordance with the applicable timing requirements. Net investment income and net capital gain of the Fund will be computed in accordance with Section 852 of the Code.  Additionally, the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) has issued a number of private letter rulings to other mutual funds (unrelated to the Fund), which indicate that certain income from a fund’s investment in a wholly-owned foreign subsidiary will constitute “qualifying income” for purposes of Subchapter M. 1  The IRS has suspended issuance of any further letters pending a review of its position and the release of public guidance on the issue.  If the IRS were to change its position in published public guidance with respect to the conclusions reached in these prior private letter rulings (which change in position might be applied to the Fund retroactively), the income from the Fund’s investment in a Subsidiary might not be qualifying income, and the Fund might not qualify as a regulated investment company for one or more years.


Net investment income is made up of dividends and interest less expenses. Net capital gain for a fiscal year is computed by taking into account any capital loss carryforward of the Fund. Under the recently enacted Regulated Investment Company Act of 2010, the Fund will be permitted to carry forward capital losses incurred in taxable years beginning after December 22, 2010 for an unlimited period. However, losses incurred during those future years will be required to be utilized prior to the losses incurred in pre-

1 Because a private letter ruling applies only to the taxpayer to whom it is issued, the Fund is not entitled to rely upon the private letter rulings issued to other mutual funds.



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enactment tax years.  Thus, pre-enactment capital loss carryforwards may be more likely to expire unused.  Additionally, post-enactment capital losses that are carried forward will retain their character as either short-term or long-term capital losses rather than being considered all short-term as under previous law.


The Fund intends to distribute all of its net investment income, any excess of net short-term capital gains over net long-term capital losses, and any excess of net long-term capital gains over net short-term capital losses in accordance with the timing requirements imposed by the Code and therefore should not be required to pay any federal income or excise taxes. Distributions of net investment income and net capital gain will be made after the end of each fiscal year, and no later than December 31 of each year. Both types of distributions will be in shares of the Fund unless a shareholder elects to receive cash.


To be treated as a regulated investment company under Subchapter M of the Code, the Fund must also (a) derive at least 90% of its gross income from dividends, interest, payments with respect to securities loans, net income from certain publicly traded partnerships and gains from the sale or other disposition of stock, securities or foreign currencies, or other income (including, but not limited to, gains from options, futures or forward contracts) derived with respect to the business of investing in such stock, securities or currencies, and (b) diversify its holding so that, at the end of each fiscal quarter, (i) at least 50% of the market value of the Fund’s assets is represented by cash, U.S. government securities and securities of other regulated investment companies, and other securities (for purposes of this calculation, generally limited in respect of any one issuer, to an amount not greater than 5% of the market value of the Fund’s assets and 10% of the outstanding voting securities of such issuer) and (ii) not more than 25% of the value of its assets is invested in the securities of (other than U.S. government securities or the securities of other regulated investment companies) any one issuer, two or more issuers which the Fund controls and which are determined to be engaged in the same or similar trades or businesses, or the securities of certain publicly traded partnerships. Under the Regulated Investment Company Act of 2010, if the Fund fails to satisfy these qualifying income and asset tests, and such failure was due to reasonable cause and not willful neglect, it may be permitted to “cure” such failures (and thereby not jeopardize its tax status as a regulated investment company) under certain circumstances.


If the Fund fails to qualify as a regulated investment company under Subchapter M in any fiscal year (and such failure is not subject to cure as discussed above), it will be treated as a corporation for federal income tax purposes. As such the Fund would be required to pay income taxes on its net investment income and net realized capital gains, if any, at the rates generally applicable to corporations. Shareholders of the Fund generally would not be liable for income tax on the Fund’s net investment income or net realized capital gains in their individual capacities. Distributions to shareholders, whether from the Fund’s net investment income or net realized capital gains, would be treated as taxable dividends to the extent of current or accumulated earnings and profits of the Fund.


The Fund is subject to a 4% nondeductible excise tax on certain undistributed amounts of ordinary income and capital gain under a prescribed formula contained in Section 4982 of the Code. The formula requires payment to shareholders during a calendar year of distributions representing at least 98% of the Fund’s ordinary income for the calendar year and at least 98.2% of its capital gain net income (i.e., the excess of its capital gains over capital losses) realized during the one-year period ending October 31 during such year plus 100% of any income that was neither distributed nor taxed to the Fund during the preceding calendar year. Under ordinary circumstances, the Fund expects to time its distributions so as to avoid liability for this excise tax.  


Distributions of taxable net investment income and the excess of net short-term capital gain over net long-term capital loss are taxable to shareholders as ordinary income.  In most cases the Fund will hold shares in Underlying Funds for less than 12 months, such that its sales of such shares from time to time



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will not qualify as long-term capital gains for those investors who hold shares of the Fund in taxable accounts.


Distributions of net capital gain (“capital gain dividends”) generally are taxable to shareholders as short-term capital gain; regardless of the length of time the shares of the Trust have been held by such shareholders.


A redemption of Fund shares by a shareholder will result in the recognition of taxable gain or loss in an amount equal to the difference between the amount realized and the shareholder’s tax basis in his or her Fund shares. Such gain or loss is treated as a capital gain or loss if the shares are held as capital assets. However, any loss realized upon the redemption of shares within six months from the date of their purchase will be treated as a long-term capital loss to the extent of any amounts treated as capital gain dividends during such six-month period. All or a portion of any loss realized upon the redemption of shares may be disallowed to the extent shares are purchased (including shares acquired by means of reinvested dividends) within 30 days before or after such redemption.  


Distributions of taxable net investment income and net capital gain will be taxable as described above, whether received in additional cash or shares. Shareholders electing to reinvest distributions in the form of additional shares will have a cost basis for federal income tax purposes in each share so received equal to the net asset value of a share on the reinvestment date.


All distributions of taxable net investment income and net capital gain, whether received in shares or in cash, must be reported by each taxable shareholder on his or her federal income tax return. Dividends or distributions declared in October, November or December as of a record date in such a month, if any, will be deemed to have been received by shareholders on December 31, if paid during January of the following year. Redemptions of shares may result in tax consequences (gain or loss) to the shareholder and are also subject to these reporting requirements.


Under the Code, the Fund will be required to report to the Internal Revenue Service all distributions of taxable income and capital gains as well as gross proceeds from the redemption or exchange of Fund shares, except in the case of certain exempt shareholders. Under the backup withholding provisions of Section 3406 of the Code, distributions of taxable net investment income and net capital gain and proceeds from the redemption or exchange of the shares of a regulated investment company may be subject to withholding of federal income tax in the case of non-exempt shareholders who fail to furnish the investment company with their taxpayer identification numbers and with required certifications regarding their status under the federal income tax law, or if the Fund is notified by the IRS or a broker that withholding is required due to an incorrect TIN or a previous failure to report taxable interest or dividends. If the withholding provisions are applicable, any such distributions and proceeds, whether taken in cash or reinvested in additional shares, will be reduced by the amounts required to be withheld.




Options, Futures, Forward Contracts and Swap Agreements


To the extent such investments are permissible for the Fund, the Fund’s transactions in options, futures contracts, hedging transactions, forward contracts, straddles and foreign currencies will be subject to special tax rules (including mark-to-market, constructive sale, straddle, wash sale and short sale rules), the effect of which may be to accelerate income to the Fund, defer losses to the  Fund, cause adjustments in the holding periods of the Fund’s securities, convert long-term capital gains into short-term capital gains and convert short-term capital losses into long-term capital losses. These rules could therefore affect the amount, timing and character of distributions to shareholders.



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To the extent such investments are permissible, certain of the Fund’s hedging activities (including its transactions, if any, in foreign currencies or foreign currency-denominated instruments) are likely to produce a difference between its book income and its taxable income. If the Fund’s book income exceeds its taxable income, the distribution (if any) of such excess book income will be treated as (i) a dividend to the extent of the Fund’s remaining earnings and profits (including earnings and profits arising from tax-exempt income), (ii) thereafter, as a return of capital to the extent of the recipient’s basis in the shares, and (iii) thereafter, as gain from the sale or exchange of a capital asset. If the Fund’s book income is less than taxable income, the Fund could be required to make distributions exceeding book income to qualify as a regulated investment company that is accorded special tax treatment.


Passive Foreign Investment Companies


Investment by the Fund in certain “passive foreign investment companies” (“PFICs”) could subject the Fund to a U.S. federal income tax (including interest charges) on distributions received from the company or on proceeds received from the disposition of shares in the company, which tax cannot be eliminated by making distributions to Fund shareholders. However, the Fund may elect to treat a PFIC as a “qualified electing fund” (“QEF”), in which case the Fund will be required to include its share of the company’s income and net capital gains annually, regardless of whether it receives any distribution from the company.


The Fund also may make an election to mark the gains (and to a limited extent losses) in such holdings “to the market” as though it had sold and repurchased its holdings in those PFICs on the last day of the Fund’s taxable year. Such gains and losses are treated as ordinary income and loss. The QEF and mark-to-market elections may accelerate the recognition of income (without the receipt of cash) and increase the amount required to be distributed for the Fund to avoid taxation. Making either of these elections therefore may require the Fund to liquidate other investments (including when it is not advantageous to do so) to meet its distribution requirement, which also may accelerate the recognition of gain and affect the Fund’s total return.


Foreign Currency Transactions


The Fund’s transactions in foreign currencies, foreign currency-denominated debt securities and certain foreign currency options, futures contracts and forward contracts (and similar instruments) may give rise to ordinary income or loss to the extent such income or loss results from fluctuations in the value of the foreign currency concerned.


Foreign Taxation


Income received by the Fund from sources within foreign countries may be subject to withholding and other taxes imposed by such countries. Tax treaties and conventions between certain countries and the U.S. may reduce or eliminate such taxes. If more than 50% of the value of the Fund’s total assets at the close of its taxable year consists of securities of foreign corporations, the Fund may be able to elect to “pass through” to its shareholders the amount of eligible foreign income and similar taxes paid by the Fund. If this election is made, a shareholder generally subject to tax will be required to include in gross income (in addition to taxable dividends actually received) his or her pro rata share of the foreign taxes paid by the Fund, and may be entitled either to deduct (as an itemized deduction) his or her pro rata share of foreign taxes in computing his or her taxable income or to use it as a foreign tax credit against his or her U.S. federal income tax liability, subject to certain limitations. In particular, a shareholder must hold his or her shares (without protection from risk of loss) on the ex-dividend date and for at least 15 more days during the 30-day period surrounding the ex-dividend date to be eligible to claim a foreign tax



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credit with respect to a gain dividend. No deduction for foreign taxes may be claimed by a shareholder who does not itemize deductions. Each shareholder will be notified within 60 days after the close of the Fund’s taxable year whether the foreign taxes paid by the Fund will “pass through” for that year.


Generally, a credit for foreign taxes is subject to the limitation that it may not exceed the shareholder’s U.S. tax attributable to his or her total foreign source taxable income. For this purpose, if the pass-through election is made, the source of the Fund’s income will flow through to shareholders of the Fund. With respect to the Fund, gains from the sale of securities will be treated as derived from U.S. sources and certain currency fluctuation gains, including fluctuation gains from foreign currency-denominated debt securities, receivables and payables will be treated as ordinary income derived from U.S. sources. The limitation on the foreign tax credit is applied separately to foreign source passive income, and to certain other types of income. A shareholder may be unable to claim a credit for the full amount of his or her proportionate share of the foreign taxes paid by the Fund. The foreign tax credit can be used to offset only 90% of the revised alternative minimum tax imposed on corporations and individuals and foreign taxes generally are not deductible in computing alternative minimum taxable income.


Original Issue Discount and Pay-In-Kind Securities


Current federal tax law requires the holder of a U.S. Treasury or other fixed income zero coupon security to accrue as income each year a portion of the discount at which the security was purchased, even though the holder receives no interest payment in cash on the security during the year. In addition, pay-in-kind securities will give rise to income, which is required to be distributed and is taxable even though the Fund holding the security receives no interest payment in cash on the security during the year.


Some of the debt securities (with a fixed maturity date of more than one year from the date of issuance) that may be acquired by the Fund may be treated as debt securities that are issued originally at a discount. Generally, the amount of the original issue discount (“OID”) is treated as interest income and is included in income over the term of the debt security, even though payment of that amount is not received until a later time, usually when the debt security matures. A portion of the OID includable in income with respect to certain high-yield corporate debt securities (including certain pay-in-kind securities) may be treated as a dividend for U.S. federal income tax purposes.


Some of the debt securities (with a fixed maturity date of more than one year from the date of issuance) that may be acquired by the Fund in the secondary market may be treated as having market discount. Generally, any gain recognized on the disposition of, and any partial payment of principal on, a debt security having market discount is treated as ordinary income to the extent the gain, or principal payment, does not exceed the “accrued market discount” on such debt security. Market discount generally accrues in equal daily installments. The Fund may make one or more of the elections applicable to debt securities having market discount, which could affect the character and timing of recognition of income.


Some debt securities (with a fixed maturity date of one year or less from the date of issuance) that may be acquired by a Fund may be treated as having acquisition discount, or OID in the case of certain types of debt securities. Generally, the Fund will be required to include the acquisition discount, or OID, in income over the term of the debt security, even though payment of that amount is not received until a later time, usually when the debt security matures. The Fund may make one or more of the elections applicable to debt securities having acquisition discount, or OID, which could affect the character and timing of recognition of income.


If the Fund holds the foregoing kinds of securities, it may be required to pay out as an income distribution each year an amount that is greater than the total amount of cash interest the Fund actually received. Such distributions may be made from the cash assets of the Fund or by liquidation of portfolio



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securities, if necessary (including when it is not advantageous to do so).  The Fund may realize gains or losses from such liquidations. In the event the Fund realizes net capital gains from such transactions, its shareholders may receive a larger capital gain distribution, if any, than they would in the absence of such transactions.


Shareholders of the Fund may be subject to state and local taxes on distributions received from the Fund and on redemptions of the Fund’s shares.


A brief explanation of the form and character of the distribution accompanies each distribution. In January of each year the Fund issues to each shareholder a statement of the federal income tax status of all distributions.


Shareholders should consult their tax advisors about the application of federal, state and local and foreign tax law in light of their particular situation.


Wholly Owned Subsidiary


The Fund intends to invest a portion of its assets in the Subsidiaries, which will be classified as a corporation for U.S. federal income tax purposes. A foreign corporation, such as a Subsidiary, will generally not be subject to U.S. federal income taxation unless it is deemed to be engaged in a U.S. trade or business. It is expected that each Subsidiary will conduct its activities in a manner so as to meet the requirements of a safe harbor under Section 864(b)(2) of the Internal Revenue Code (the “Safe Harbor”) pursuant to which a Subsidiary, provided it is not a dealer in stocks, securities or commodities, may engage in the following activities without being deemed to be engaged in a U.S. trade or business: (1) trading in stocks or securities (including contracts or options to buy or sell securities) for its own account; and (2) trading, for its own account, in commodities that are “of a kind customarily dealt in on an organized commodity exchange” if the transaction is of a kind customarily consummated at such place. Thus, each Subsidiary’s securities and commodities trading activities should not constitute a U.S. trade or business. However, if certain of a Subsidiary’s activities were determined not to be of the type described in the Safe Harbor or if a Subsidiary’s gains are attributable to investments in securities that constitute U.S. real property interests (which is not expected), then the activities of the Subsidiary may constitute a U.S. trade or business, or be taxed as such.


In general, a foreign corporation that does not conduct a U.S. trade or business is nonetheless subject to tax at a flat rate of 30 percent (or lower tax treaty rate), generally payable through withholding, on the gross amount of certain U.S.-source income that is not effectively connected with a U.S. trade or business. There is presently no tax treaty in force between the U.S. and the Cayman Islands that would reduce this rate of withholding tax. Income subject to such a flat tax includes dividends and certain interest income. The 30 percent tax does not apply to U.S.-source capital gains (whether long-term or short-term) or to interest paid to a foreign corporation on its deposits with U.S. banks. The 30 percent tax also does not apply to interest which qualifies as “portfolio interest.” The term “portfolio interest” generally includes interest (including original issue discount) on an obligation in registered form which has been issued after July 18, 1984 and with respect to which the person, who would otherwise be required to deduct and withhold the 30 percent tax, received the required statement that the beneficial owner of the obligation is not a U.S. person within the meaning of the Internal Revenue Code. Under certain circumstances, interest on bearer obligations may also be considered portfolio interest.


Each Subsidiary will be wholly-owned by the Fund. A U.S. person who owns (directly, indirectly or constructively) 10 percent or more of the total combined voting power of all classes of stock of a foreign corporation is a “U.S. Shareholder” for purposes of the controlled foreign corporation (“CFC”) provisions of the Internal Revenue Code. A foreign corporation is a CFC if, on any day of its taxable year, more than 50 percent of the voting power or value of its stock is owned (directly, indirectly or




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constructively) by “U.S. Shareholders.” Because the Fund is a U.S. person that will own all of the stock of each Subsidiary, the Fund will be a “U.S. Shareholder” and the Subsidiary will be a CFC. As a “U.S. Shareholder,” the Fund will be required to include in gross income for United States federal income tax purposes all of each Subsidiary’s “subpart F income” (defined, in part, below), whether or not such income is distributed by the Subsidiary. It is expected that all of a Subsidiary’s income will be “subpart F income.” “Subpart F income” generally includes interest, original issue discount, dividends, net gains from the disposition of stocks or securities, receipts with respect to securities loans and net payments received with respect to equity swaps and similar derivatives. “Subpart F income” also includes the excess of gains over losses from transactions (including futures, forward and similar transactions) in any commodities. The Fund’s recognition of a Subsidiary’s “subpart F income” will increase the Fund’s tax basis in the Subsidiary. Distributions by a Subsidiary to the Fund will be tax-free, to the extent of its previously undistributed “subpart F income,” and will correspondingly reduce the Fund’s tax basis in the Subsidiary. “Subpart F income” is generally treated as ordinary income, regardless of the character of a Subsidiary’s underlying income.


In general, each “U.S. Shareholder” is required to file IRS Form 5471 with its U.S. federal income tax (or information) returns providing information about its ownership of the CFC and the CFC. In addition, a “U.S. Shareholder” may in certain circumstances be required to report a disposition of shares in a Subsidiary by attaching IRS Form 5471 to its U.S. federal income tax (or information) return that it would normally file for the taxable year in which the disposition occurs. In general, these filing requirements will apply to investors of the Fund if the investor is a U.S. person who owns directly, indirectly or constructively (within the meaning of Sections 958(a) and (b) of the Internal Revenue Code) 10 percent or more of the total combined voting power of all classes of voting stock of a foreign corporation that is a CFC for an uninterrupted period of 30 days or more during any tax year of the foreign corporation, and who owned that stock on the last day of that year.


Financial Statements

The Fund has only recently commenced operations as of the date of this SAI and therefore does not have a financial history.






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APPENDIX A


North Peak Asset Management LLC

Proxy Voting Policies and Procedures


Policy


North Peak Asset Management, LLC (“NPAM”), as a matter of policy and as a fiduciary, has responsibility for voting proxies for portfolio securities consistent with the best economic interests of the Funds, Portfolios and clients. Our firm maintains written policies and procedures as to the handling, research, voting and reporting of proxy voting and makes appropriate disclosures about our firm’s proxy policies and practices. Our policy and practice includes the responsibility to monitor corporate actions, receive and vote client proxies and disclose any potential conflicts of interest as well as making information available to clients about the voting of proxies for their portfolio securities and maintaining relevant and required records.


Background


Proxy voting is an important right of shareholders and reasonable care and diligence must be undertaken to ensure that such rights are properly and timely exercised.


Investment advisers registered with the SEC, and which exercise voting authority with respect to client securities, are required by Rule 206(4)-6 of the Advisers Act to (a) adopt and implement written policies and procedures that are reasonably designed to ensure that client securities are voted in the best interests of clients, which must include how an adviser addresses material conflicts that may arise between an adviser's interests and those of its Funds, Portfolios and clients; (b) to disclose to Funds, Portfolios and clients how they may obtain information from the adviser with respect to the voting of proxies for their securities; (c) to describe to clients a summary of its proxy voting policies and procedures and, upon request, furnish a copy to its clients; and (d) maintain certain records relating to the adviser's proxy voting activities when the adviser does have proxy voting authority.


Responsibility


Cory Pavlik, Chief Compliance Officer (“CCO”), has the responsibility for the implementation and monitoring of our proxy voting policy, practices, disclosures and record keeping, including outlining our voting guidelines in our procedures.


Procedure


NPAM has adopted procedures to implement the firm’s policy and reviews to monitor and insure the firm’s policy is observed, implemented properly and amended or updated, as appropriate, which include the following:


Voting Procedures


I.

INTRODUCTION


NPAM has adopted proxy voting policies and procedures as required by Rule 206(4)-6 of the Investment Advisers Act of 1940. These policies and procedures are effective on March 31, 2012.




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II.

GLOSSARY OF TERMS


Non-Routine Proxy Proposals shall mean:


·

Proxy proposals that are to be considered on a case-by-case basis,

·

Proxy proposals that Advisor generally abstains from voting on, and

·

Proxy proposals that are not addressed by the Principles and Guidelines section of the Proxy Voting Policy and Procedures.


Proxy Manager shall be Michael Hanus, Principal.


Proxy Committee shall be comprised of the following person(s):


1) Michael Hanus, Principal

2) Alec Petro, Principal

3) Brian Chen, Co-Portfolio Manager


A quorum of the Proxy Committee shall be comprised of at least one member.


Routine Proxy Proposals shall mean proxy proposals that the Proxy Manager shall cast either yes or no votes in accordance with the Principles and Voting Guidelines noted below.


III.

PRINCIPLES AND VOTING GUIDELINES


A.

Principles


NPAM’s primary purpose and fiduciary responsibility is to maximize shareholder value, which is defined as share price and dividend appreciation. NPAM will vote proxies in the best interests of our Funds, Portfolios and clients and will generally vote for, against, consider on a case-by-case basis, or abstain from voting as indicated below. Because of the extenuating circumstances associated with specific proxy issues, NPAM’s votes may differ from time to time from the indications noted. In addition, the list may not include all proxies on which NPAM votes. NPAM will also act, in our best judgment, on behalf of our Funds, Portfolios and clients on certain corporate actions that impact shareholder value, such as tender offers and bankruptcy proceedings.


B.

Voting Guidelines


1.

Routine Business Decisions and Director Related Proposals


Advisor votes for:


·

Name changes

·

Directors in uncontested elections

·

Elimination/limitation of directors’ liability

·

Indemnification of directors

·

Reincorporation that is not a takeover defense

·

Advisor considers on a case-by-case basis:

·

Directors in contested elections

·

Approval of auditors.




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2.

Corporate Governance


Advisor votes for:


·

Majority independent board,

·

Audit compensation & nominating committees that are comprised exclusively of independent directors

·

Minimum director share ownership

·

Separate offices of chairperson and CEO

·

Limitation on number of other board seats

·

Confidential voting

·

Shareholders’ ability to remove directors

·

Shareholder right to call special meetings


Advisor votes against:


·

Supermajority vote requirements

·

Limiting directors’ tenure

·

Restrictions on shareholders to act by written consent


Advisor considers on a case-by-case basis:


·

Shareholder proposals

·

Dissident proxy battle


3.

Director and Executive Compensation


Advisor votes for:


·

Disclosure of executive compensation Advisor votes against:

·

Golden and tin parachutes


Advisor considers on a case-by-case basis:


·

Restricting executive compensation

·

Executive compensation plans

·

Establish/Increase share option plans for directors and executives


4.

Take-Over Defense


Advisor votes for:


·

Reincorporation to prevent takeover

·

Issue new class of common stock with unequal voting rights

·

Adoption of fair price amendments

·

Establish a classified (or “staggered”) board of directors

·

Eliminating cumulative voting

·

Poison pills




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·

Blank check preferred stock


5.

Capital Structure


Advisor votes for:


·

Increase authorized common stock (unless additional stock is a takeover defense, i.e., poison pill).

·

Share repurchase programs (when all shareholders may participate on equal terms)


Advisor votes against:


·

Unequal voting rights, such as dual class of stock

·

Pre-emptive rights


Advisor considers on a case-by-case basis:


·

Increase preferred stock

·

Blank check preferred stock (not for takeover defense)

·

Restructuring plans


6.

Other Shareholder Value Issues


Advisor votes for:


·

Increase preferred stock

·

Blank check preferred stock (not for takeover defense)

·

Restructuring plans


Advisor votes against:


·

Greenmail


Advisor considers on a case-by-case basis:


·

Mergers and acquisitions

·

Spin-offs and asset sales


7.

Corporate, Social and Environmental Policy Proposals


As noted above, NPAM’s fiduciary responsibility is the maintenance and growth of our clients’ assets. Accordingly, NPAM will typically vote in accordance with management’s recommendations or abstain from voting on proposals concerning corporate policy and social and environmental issues. When such proposals impact shareholder value, Advisor may vote on a case-by-case basis.


8.

Proposals Specific to Mutual Funds


NPAM serves as investment adviser to certain investment companies under the Northern Lights Fund Trust. These funds invest in other investment companies that are not affiliated (“Underlying Funds”) and are required by the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “1940 Act”) Act to handle




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proxies received from Underlying Funds in a certain manner. Notwithstanding the guidelines provided in these procedures, it is the policy of NPAM to vote all proxies received from the Underlying Funds in the same proportion that all shares of the Underlying Funds are voted, or in accordance with instructions received from fund shareholders, pursuant to Section 12(d)(1)(F) of the 1940 Act. After properly voted, the proxy materials are placed in a file maintained by the Chief Compliance Officer for future reference.


IV.

Conflicts of Interest


On occasion, a conflict of interest may exist between NPAM and Funds, Portfolios and clients regarding the outcome of certain proxy votes. In such cases, NPAM is committed to resolving the conflict in the best interest of our Funds, Portfolios and clients before we vote the proxy in question.


If the proxy proposal is a Routine Proxy Proposal, NPAM will typically adhere to the standard procedure of referring to the principles and guidelines described herein in deciding how to vote. Alternatively, NPAM may disclose the conflict to our clients and obtain their consent before voting or seek the recommendation of an independent third party in deciding how to vote.


If the proxy proposal is a Non-Routine Proxy Proposal, NPAM will take any of the following courses of action to resolve the conflict:


1) Disclose the conflict to our Funds, Portfolios and clients and obtain consent before voting;

2) Suggest that our Funds, Portfolios and clients engage another party to determine how the proxy should be voted; or

3) Vote according to the recommendation of an independent third party, such as a:


·

proxy consultant;

·

research analyst;

·

proxy voting department of a mutual fund or pension fund; or compliance consultant.


V.

Obtaining More Information


Funds, Portfolios and clients may obtain a record of Advisor’s proxy voting, free of charge, by calling (800) SEC-0330 or by accessing the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov.


These policies and procedures may also be found in NPAM’s Form ADV, Part II and supporting schedules.


Procedures


All proxy materials received are delivered to the CCO. Initially, a reconciliation of the shares on the proxy materials and the portfolio positions for the Funds is analyzed. If the number of shares shown on the proxy materials match the portfolio holdings, the proxy materials are forwarded to the Portfolio Manager to be voted according to NPAM’s proxy voting policies.


If the number of shares does not match, then reasonable efforts will be made to resolve the difference. If the difference still cannot be resolved, the matter is reviewed with the Portfolio Manager as to the next action to be taken. If the difference is determined to be immaterial and is approved by the Portfolio Manager, then the proxy will stand as is. Once the shares have been reconciled or difference explained, then the proxy materials are then given to the Portfolio Manager to vote.


The Portfolio Manager will generally vote the routine proxies in accordance with the principles and guidelines described in NPAM’s Proxy Voting Policy and sign the proxy. For Non-Routine Proxy Proposals, the Portfolio Manager will vote them on a case-by-case basis. The vote and the rationale will be noted as documentation for the vote.


Once the Portfolio Manager has voted the proxies, they will be given to the CCO for processing. If the proxy is to be mailed, then a copy of the proxy is made and stored electronically.


If the proxy was voted electronically, the original proxy with the notes on it is as to how the proxy was voted, are maintained and attached to the proxy materials that support the vote and filed in chronological order, just like proxies that are mailed.


The CCO then enters the necessary information in the Proxy Voting Database. The following information is entered:


·

Name of Company

·

Proxy Proposal

·

Management’s recommendation

·

NPAM’s Action

·

Rationale for the vote


Should NPAM receive any requests from clients regarding proxy voting, the CCO will maintain a record of the requests from the specific clients, which will include:


·

Name of the Client

·

Date that the request was received

·

Whether the request was for a complete or partial record of proxy votes

·

The documents provided

·

Date that the information was sent to the client


A copy of the information sent to the client will be retained in a chronological file, maintained by year.


Disclosure


The NPAM will provide conspicuously displayed information in its Form ADV Part II in the Supporting Schedules, summarizing this proxy voting policy and procedures, including a statement that clients may request information regarding how NPAM voted a client’s proxies, and that clients may request a copy of these policies and procedures.





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