Strategy. The Fund employs a passive management (or indexing) investment approach designed to track the total return performance, before fees and expenses, of the Index. The Index is based on a proprietary methodology developed and maintained by the FTSE Russell Group (the Index Provider). FTSE PE/VC Index For both of the FTSE PE (Buyout) and VC indices, there is both a benchmark index (each, a Benchmark Index) and a tracking or investable Index. The FTSE PE Buyout Benchmark Index includes nearly 5,400 private equity- backed companies with a total value of nearly $5 trillion. The FTSE VC Benchmark Index includes over 13,000 venture capital backed companies valued at over $2.5 trillion. Both Benchmark Indices have specific investable indices that seek to … Show more… The Fund employs a passive management (or indexing) investment approach designed to track the total return performance, before fees and expenses, of the Index. The Index is based on a proprietary methodology developed and maintained by the FTSE Russell Group (the Index Provider). FTSE PE/VC Index For both of the FTSE PE (Buyout) and VC indices, there is both a benchmark index (each, a Benchmark Index) and a tracking or investable Index. The FTSE PE Buyout Benchmark Index includes nearly 5,400 private equity- backed companies with a total value of nearly $5 trillion. The FTSE VC Benchmark Index includes over 13,000 venture capital backed companies valued at over $2.5 trillion. Both Benchmark Indices have specific investable indices that seek to track the performance of the FTSE Benchmark Indices through portfolios of liquid assets using proprietary econometric models. These tracking indices, the FTSE Private Equity Buyout Index and the FTSE Venture Capital Index, are both available on Bloomberg with daily pricing (tickers: TRPEI and TRVCI). The Index is a rules-based index that aims to provide exposure to a portfolio that mimics the returns of a theoretical investment in a diversified pool of private equity and venture capital-backed companies. The Index is comprised of varying weights to the FTSE Private Equity Buyout Index (the Buyout Index) and the FTSE Venture Capital Index (the VC Index). The Buyout Index weight will be set at a range of 50% to 95%, with the balance allocated to the VC Index. The Indexs relative weights to the Buyout Index and VC Index are determined at each calendar month-end based on optimal relative weighting over recent time periods. The Index is calculated and published daily. The Buyout Index seeks to replicate the return profile of the private equity buyout asset class by constructing a combination of sector portfolio returns that are designed to track the performance of private equity sector investments by holding liquid exchange traded instruments, including publicly traded equities, ETFs and futures contracts on equity indexes, rather than investing directly in private equity-backed firms. The FTSE PE Buyout Index seeks to track the medium-term performance of the FTSE PE Buyout Benchmark Index. The FTSE Venture Capital Index seeks to replicate the return profile of the venture capital industry by constructing a theoretical dynamic portfolio in public, liquid assets, including publicly traded equities, ETFs and futures contracts on equity indexes, that tracks the movements of the FTSE VC Benchmark Index, which in turn tracks the venture capital industry. The FTSE PE Buyout Benchmark Index and FTSE VC Benchmark Index attempt to measure the aggregate gross performance of the U.S. private equity and venture capital industries, respectively, by tracking private equity and venture capital funding transactions, which are not available for public investment. FTSE gathers data on these transactions at select times, including during leveraged buyouts, buyouts, initial and follow-on venture rounds, and exit events. For months in which there is not a new company valuation due to a funding round, the Benchmark Index has a valuation model that uses a combination of private market and public market variables to estimate the value of the company until the next round of funding or a transaction occurs. As new data is gathered each quarter by FTSE, the value of the applicable benchmark Index increases or decreases. The tracking Indices are accordingly updated each month as they seek to track the performance of the Benchmark Indices as closely as possible. The Buyout Benchmark Index and VC Benchmark Index are each calculated and published by FTSE quarterly. The Buyout Index and VC Index are each comprised of six sector portfolios. Each sector portfolio represents a specific business subsector within the private equity or venture capital markets (e.g., consumer, technology, etc.). Each sector portfolio includes a set of equity securities, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and futures contracts that are intended to replicate the returns of the corresponding sector within the Buyout Index or VC Index, respectively. The sectors are then weighted to mirror the distribution of investments across the private equity or venture capital markets, as applicable. The sectors included in the Buyout Index are: Consumer Noncyclical Consumer Cyclical Energy, Utilities and Industrials Health Care Information Technology Financials The sectors included in the VC Index are: Materials, Industrials, Energy and Utility Consumer Services Health Care Technology Equipment Software and Tech Services Telecommunications Securities are selected for the Buyout Index and VC Index sector portfolios using a systematic process that begins with the universe of securities included in the corresponding FTSE publicly traded sector indices. From each FTSE publicly traded sector index securities are selected in order based upon market capitalization size until a desired beta and correlation to the sector index is achieved. Security weights within each sector portfolio correspond to their relative market capitalization, subject to a maximum weight of 4.5% for any name, within the portfolio. Once the sector portfolios of the Buyout Index or VC Index have been established, proprietary models are run that provide the additional outputs that are incorporated into the portfolios. These models use statistical and/or econometric techniques and information from the macroeconomic environment, financial markets, and the universe of private equity and venture capital-backed firms to construct portfolios that seek to match the risk/return exposures of the private firms that make up the FTSE PE Buyout Benchmark Index or FTSE VC Benchmark Index, as appropriate. The outputs of these models include potential leverage adjustment (levels ranging from 0x to 2x) and inter-sector weighting adjustments. The adjustments within a sector portfolio seek to more precisely mimic sector risk exposures reflected in the FTSE PE Buyout Benchmark Index or FTSE VC Benchmark Index by increasing or decreasing the relative weights to the sectors. The leverage adjustments do not change the selected total leverage to the portfolio but they may increase or decrease the effective risk exposures of the individual sector portfolio. Leverage and weights are computed after the market close of the final trading day in a calendar month and applied at the market close on the first day of trading of the new month. Sector weights and leverage may change over the course of each month due to performance, and the models do not require trading away from the naturally arising weights and leverage until the rebalance at the end of the month. The Index was established in 2024 and is owned and maintained by the Index Provider. The Funds Investment Strategy Under normal circumstances, the Fund will seek to invest at least 80% of the Funds total assets (exclusive of collateral held from securities lending) in a combination of publicly traded equities, ETFs and futures contracts that provide exposure to the private equity and venture capital markets ( i.e. , the component securities of the Index). The Adviser expects that, over time, the correlation between the Funds performance and that of the Index, before fees and expenses, will be 95% or better. The Fund will generally use a replication strategy to achieve its investment objective, meaning it will invest in all of the component securities of the Index. To the extent the Index concentrates ( i.e. , holds more than 25% of its total assets) in the securities of a particular industry or group of related industries, the Fund will concentrate its investments to approximately the same extent as the Index. The Index, and consequently the Fund, is expected to have significant exposure to companies in the Information Technology Sector. The Fund is non-diversified and therefore may invest a larger percentage of its assets in the securities of a single issuer or small number of issuers than diversified funds. Show less