Strategy. The Funds investment strategy is twofold: (1) investing in dividend paying U.S. equity securities, and (2) credit spread options on an S&P 500 ETF or S&P 500 Index; both of which are described in detail below. Dividend Investment Strategy The Fund will invest in common stocks of dividend paying U.S. companies. The Fund invests, generally, in large capitalization companies ($10 billion or higher) but has the ability to invest in income-producing equity securities of all capitalizations with ten years of rising dividend payments. The Fund may also invest in equity real estate investment trusts (REITs). Under normal market conditions, the Fund will invest at least 80% of its net assets (plus any borrowings for investment purposes) in dividend-paying securities. The … Show more… The Funds investment strategy is twofold: (1) investing in dividend paying U.S. equity securities, and (2) credit spread options on an S&P 500 ETF or S&P 500 Index; both of which are described in detail below. Dividend Investment Strategy The Fund will invest in common stocks of dividend paying U.S. companies. The Fund invests, generally, in large capitalization companies ($10 billion or higher) but has the ability to invest in income-producing equity securities of all capitalizations with ten years of rising dividend payments. The Fund may also invest in equity real estate investment trusts (REITs). Under normal market conditions, the Fund will invest at least 80% of its net assets (plus any borrowings for investment purposes) in dividend-paying securities. The Funds adviser, Innovative Portfolios, LLC (the Adviser), invests the Funds assets in companies that have a ten-year history of paying dividends, appear to have the ability to continue to pay dividends, have a history of increasing their dividends, and meet certain risk standards (as discussed in more detail below). The Adviser will generally sell a security if the security is no longer expected to meet the Advisers dividend or growth expectations or if the risk characteristics place the equity in higher risk deciles. The selection of dividend-paying stocks is based on the universe of companies based in the U.S. with a history of increasing dividends for 10 consecutive years (Dividend Achievers). That list is further sorted by the companies with the best downside risk (lowest) characteristics. Historically, the companies with lower downside risk scores have potential for long-term growth and have exhibited lower volatility and lower downside risk. The downside risk score utilizes a fundamental value approach, evaluating the security on certain factors ( e.g. , free cash-flow, revenue stability, profitability changes and trend, leverage, stock price volatility and correlation, and earning surprise persistency). These variables are used to evaluate downside risk on the securities, meaning the risk of the stock versus the potential return, with the objective to avoid downside risk. The portfolio is periodically rebalanced where companies with higher risk characteristics are exchanged for companies with lower risk characteristics. The quantitative nature of this screening process can lead to sector over-or-under weighting. While the Funds exposure to sectors may change over time, as of December 31, 2024, the Fund had significant exposure to companies in the Industrials, Financials and Health Care Sectors, as classified by the Bloomberg Industry Classification Standard (BICS). S&P 500 Options Strategy The Fund intends to maintain approximately 20% asset exposure to a credit spread options strategy, although market conditions may dictate additional exposure. The Fund seeks to achieve a credit spread on an S&P 500 ETF or the S&P 500 Index by selling/writing an out-of-the-money (an out-of-the-money put option is one whose strike price is lower than the market price of the underlying reference asset of the option) short put option each month while simultaneously purchasing an out-of-the-money long put option below the short option position. A credit spread is an options strategy that involves the purchase of one option and a sale of another option in the same class and with the same expiration but different strike prices. Such a strategy results in a net credit for entering the option position, and is profitable when the spreads narrow or expire. By buying a protective long put option, the Fund seeks to hedge any significant downside risk posed by the short put option. The short option premium is derived from implied volatility the expected level of volatility priced into an option and is higher, on average, than the volatility actually experienced on the security underlying the option. For example, an option buyer typically pays a premium to an option seller, such as the Fund, that is priced based on the expected amount by which the value of the instrument underlying the option will move up or down. On average, this expected amount of value movement (or implied volatility) is generally greater than the amount by which the value of the underlying instrument actually moves (realized volatility). By entering into derivatives contracts, the Fund is, in essence, accepting a risk that its counterparty seeks to transfer in exchange for the premium received by the Fund under the derivatives contract. By providing this risk transfer service, the Fund seeks to benefit over the long-term from the difference between the level of volatility priced into the options it sells and the level of volatility realized on the securities underlying those options. There can be no assurance that the variance risk premium will be positive for the Funds investments at any time or on average and over time. The premium paid for a long put option is typically priced based on the expected amount by which the value of the instrument underlying the option will move up or down. On average, this expected amount of value movement (or implied volatility) is generally greater than the amount by which the value of the underlying instrument actually moves (realized volatility). By entering into this derivative contract, the Fund is, in essence, transferring a risk that its counterparty seeks to accept in exchange for the premium received by the counterparty under the derivatives contract. By transferring this risk to a counterparty, the Fund seeks to benefit over the long-term from the difference in premium collected on the short put option premium above and the long option premium paid herein. There can be no assurance that the variance risk premium will be positive for the Funds investments at any time or on average and over time. A put option typically gives the option buyer the right to sell, and obligates the option seller to purchase, a security at an agreed-upon price. Generally, the Fund intends to sell put options that are out-of-the-money. Options that are more substantially out-of-the-money generally would pay lower premiums than options that are at or slightly out-of-the-money. By selling put options, the Fund will sell protection against depreciation below the option exercise price to the option purchaser in exchange for an option premium. If an option is exercised, the Fund will either purchase or sell the security at the strike price or pay to the option holder the difference between the strike price and the current price level of the underlying equity security, ETF or index, depending on the terms of the option. The potential returns of the Fund are generally limited to the amount of cash (premiums) the Fund receives when selling short puts, net of any cash (premiums) paid by the Fund to purchase long puts, plus the returns of the underlying Investments in which the Fund invests. When the Fund enters into derivatives transactions, it is typically required to post collateral to secure its payment or delivery obligations. The Fund invests as indicated above in common stocks of dividend paying companies. These securities will be used to meet margin requirements on the Funds option writing strategy. The Fund may write put options in respect of an underlying security in which the Fund does not have a short position (so-called naked put options). The Fund may hold positions in equities and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) to the extent necessary to meet margin requirements. Generally, the investment goal is to write options with a target of 20% spread notional exposure however market conditions may dictate more notional exposure. The Fund may be considered to have created investment leverage; leverage increases the volatility of the Fund and may result in losses greater than if the Fund had not been leveraged. Show less