Strategy. The Fund employs a passive management or indexing investment approach designed to track the performance of the Underlying Index. The Advisor is the index provider for the Underlying Index and Candriam serves as the index consultant to the Advisor for the Underlying Index. The Underlying Index incorporates thematic selection criteria designed to provide exposure to equity securities of companies that support the transition to more environmentally efficient transportation technologies, such as electric vehicles, bicycles, motor vehicle parts manufacturers, and multi-passenger transportation. The Underlying Index includes companies engaged in renewable energy production, sustainable mining for battery resources, vehicle production and sustainable transportation infrastructure. Companies selected for inclusion in the Underlying Index offer, support or enable cleaner transportation products and services. A … Show more… The Fund employs a passive management or indexing investment approach designed to track the performance of the Underlying Index. The Advisor is the index provider for the Underlying Index and Candriam serves as the index consultant to the Advisor for the Underlying Index. The Underlying Index incorporates thematic selection criteria designed to provide exposure to equity securities of companies that support the transition to more environmentally efficient transportation technologies, such as electric vehicles, bicycles, motor vehicle parts manufacturers, and multi-passenger transportation. The Underlying Index includes companies engaged in renewable energy production, sustainable mining for battery resources, vehicle production and sustainable transportation infrastructure. Companies selected for inclusion in the Underlying Index offer, support or enable cleaner transportation products and services. A company included in the Underlying Index is not required to be primarily or even directly engaged in activities that protect or achieve cleaner transportation technologies. The Underlying Index includes thematic selection criteria that reflect initiatives, research and programs of the National Wildlife Federation (NWF), a 501(c)(3) public charity. The Underlying Index includes securities of large-, mid- and small-capitalization companies that trade in the U.S. and foreign markets, including emerging markets other than China, Egypt, India, Kuwait, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates. The index universe consists of approximately the largest 99 % of the free-float market capitalization in the global markets. As of June 30, 2024, the market capitalization range of the Underlying Index was approximately $980.32 million to $3.23 trillion. As of June 30, 2024, the primary sectors within the Underlying Index were information technology, industrials, and consumer discretionary. The Underlying Index first applies developed and emerging market-specific screens to the initial universe to screen out companies that fail to meet certain minimum environmental, social and governance (ESG) criteria. The Underlying Index also includes an exclusionary screen based on any continued and significant non-compliance with the principles within the United Nations Global Compact as well as the exclusion of companies engaged in certain businesses beyond minimum thresholds (e.g., companies that operate in countries with oppres sive regimes, that operate in adult content, alcohol, armament, gambling, nuclear, and tobacco, or that utilize animal testing or genetic modification in research and development). Initial Developed Markets Screen Companies included in the initial universe that trade in developed markets are given an overall ESG score based according to the following business activity and stakeholder criteria. Companies are scored relative to other companies within the same industry. The business activity criteria (the Business Activity Criteria) are: Climate Change: Activities related to the production of renewable energy and decarbonizing business activities. Resources and Waste: Activities related to the efficient utilization of resources, recycling, and mitigating the impact on ecosystems. Digitalization and Innovation: Activities that drive higher industrial and resource efficiencies and protecting data privacy and the resilience of digital networks. Health and Wellness: Activities related to providing healthy products and services, improving air quality, and investing in human capital through job creation, gender equality and decent working conditions. Demographic Shifts: Activities related to providing products and services to aging populations in developed countries and supporting population growth in emerging countries through investment in infrastructure and the food supply chain. The stakeholder criteria (the Stakeholder Criteria) are: Treatment of customers, including advertising practices, after sales service and support, and anti-competitive behaviors. Treatment of employees, including working conditions, employee retention, gender equality, training and career opportunities. Environmental initiatives and compliance with new environmental legislation. Supplier standards and oversight, including supplier adherence to fair labor standards. Corporate governance, including quality of governance and ethics, adherence to accounting standards and anti-bribery efforts. Societal impact and how the company is viewed by populations in the area where the company operates. Companies that score in the lowest 30% are excluded from the Underlying Index. Initial Emerging Markets Screen Companies included in the initial universe that trade in emerging markets are excluded from the Underlying Index if they do not satisfy certain Business Activity Criteria and Stakeholder Criteria or if a companys majority shareholder is a state or government entity with poor environmental, social or governance related performance. Thematic Screen The thematic selection criteria used by the Underlying Index to identify and score companies for potential inclusion in the Index are: Transportation Equipment and Services: Activities related to providing fuel-efficient, clean or shared vehicle production and services (including electric vehicles, rail, air and shipping). Clean Energy: Activities related to supporting clean transportation technologies through producing renewable and reducing reliance on fossil fuels. Enabling Technology: Activities related to providing technology, software and hardware that allow for the transformation to more efficient transportation and reduced energy consumption, such as semiconductors, navigation and maps software, and computer aided design software. Sustainable Transportation Infrastructure: Activities relating to the manufacture of essential or infrastructure components of the sustainable transportation industry, such as batteries, charging stations and electric motors. The Underlying Index applies a three-part scoring process to determine a companys thematic score based on the following three scoring criteria: Revenue: A companys revenue score on a theme is generated based on: (1) the percentage of revenue that the company derives from activities relevant to the theme (companies that generate a higher percentage of revenue from relevant activities score higher); and (2) the amount of revenue that the company derives from activities related to the theme (companies that generate a greater amount of revenue from relevant activities score higher). Materiality Score: A companys materiality score on a theme is generated based on the materiality of the companys business relative to the theme. Impact Score: A companys impact score on a theme is generated based on: (1) the companys ability to benefit from the development of environmental technologies; (2) companys impact on carbon emissions and climate change, including investments in low-carbon technologies, the use of low-carbon inputs, the development of products with low-carbon intensity, and general exposure of the companys revenue, assets and capital expenditures to climate change; (3) the companys ability to offer quality products with reduced risk of chemical pollution and toxic waste; and (4) the companys management of natural resources in input materials and energy, products and waste. The thematic score is determined based on the revenue, materiality and impact scores. Following the application of the screens and exclusion criteria, the Underlying Index selects the top-ranked 50 to 80 companies for inclusion based on the thematic selection criteria scoring. The number of companies selected for inclusion in the Underlying Index will vary depending on the number of companies that exceed the minimum thematic screening score required for inclusion in the Underlying Index. The components are selected by starting with the securities with the highest score until either the total number of selected securities is 80, or the score of the next-ranked security fails to score above the minimum threshold. If there are less than 50 securities at the end of the process, the selection continues until at least 50 securities are selected in the Underlying Index. Securities selected for inclusion in the Underlying Index are weighted using a modified market capitalization-weighting methodology, with a minimum component weight of 0.25% and maximum component weight of 3% at the time of rebalance. The Underlying Index is rebalanced quarterly. The Underlying Index applies the exclusionary screen on a monthly basis and any company identified in the exclusionary screen is removed from the Underlying Index. The Underlying Index may include as a component one or more ETFs advised by the Advisor (Affiliated ETFs) and the Fund will typically invest in any Affiliated ETF included in the Underlying Index. The Fund also may invest in Affiliated ETFs that are not components of the index if such an investment will help the Fund track the Underlying Index. Show less