Fees and Expenses
The following table describes the fees and expenses that you will incur if you own shares of the Fund.
You will also incur usual and customary brokerage commissions when buying or selling shares of the Fund, which are not reflected in the example that follows:
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|
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Annual Fund Operating Expenses
(expenses that you pay each year as a
percentage of the value of your investment)
|
Management Fee
|
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0.25%
|
Other Expenses(1)
|
|
0.00%
|
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses
|
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0.25%
|
(1)
|
Other expenses are based on estimated amounts for the Funds fiscal year ending May 31, 2014.
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Example.
This example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the Fund with the cost of
investing in other funds.
This example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the Fund for the time periods indicated and then sell 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 Funds operating expenses remain the same. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs
would be:
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 annual fund operating expenses
or in the example, affect the Funds performance.
Principal Investment Strategies
Under normal circumstances, the Fund invests at least 65% of its net assets in debt securities. Debt securities include securities of U.S. and foreign government agencies and instrumentalities, corporate
securities, mortgage-backed and asset backed securities, taxable
municipal and tax-exempt municipal bonds, adjustable rate loans that have a senior right to payment (senior loans), and other floating-rate debt securities.
The Fund may invest in investment-grade (rated BBB- or higher by Standard & Poors Rating Services, Inc. (S&P) and Fitch, Inc.
(Fitch) or Baa3 or higher by Moodys Investor Service, Inc. (Moodys) or, if unrated, determined by the Funds Adviser and/or Sub-Adviser to be of comparable quality) and high yield debt securities (rated BB+
or lower by S&P and Fitch or Ba1 or lower by Moodys, or, if unrated, determined by the Funds Adviser and/or Sub-Adviser to be of comparable quality) debt securities of U.S. and foreign issuers, including issuers located in countries
with new or emerging securities markets. Under normal market conditions, the Fund currently does not intend to hold more than 10% of its total assets in non-U.S. dollar denominated debt securities. The Funds investments in high yield debt
securities, including non-investment grade senior loans and other non-investment grade floating-rate debt securities, will be limited to 50% of its total assets.
The senior loans in which the Fund will invest generally will be loans rated by a Nationally Recognized Statistical Rating Organization (NRSRO). However, the Fund also may invest in senior loans that
(i) may not be rated by a NRSRO or any state securities commission, or
2
listed on any national exchange; or (ii) are not secured by collateral.
The Fund may invest
in mortgage-backed and asset-backed securities. Mortgage-backed securities are mortgage-related securities issued or guaranteed by the U.S. Government, its agencies and instrumentalities, or issued by non-government entities. Mortgage-related
securities represent pools of mortgage loans assembled for sale to investors by various government agencies such as Government National Mortgage Association (GNMA) and government-related organizations such as Federal National Mortgage
Association (FNMA) and Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (FHLMC), as well as by non-governmental issuers such as commercial banks, savings and loan institutions, mortgage bankers and private mortgage insurance companies.
Other asset-backed securities are structured like mortgage-backed securities, but instead of mortgage loans or interests in mortgage loans, the underlying assets may include items such as motor vehicle installment sales or installment loan
contracts, leases of various types of real and personal property, and receivables from credit card agreements and from sales of personal property. Asset-backed securities typically have no U.S. Government backing. The Fund will limit investments in
mortgage-backed and asset-backed securities issued or guaranteed by non-government entities to 15% of the Funds net assets.
The Fund may hold up to 20% of its total assets in cash or money market instruments in order to maintain liquidity,
or in the event portfolio management determines that securities meeting the Funds investment objective are not otherwise readily available for purchase.
Management Process.
Portfolio management begins with a top-down approach, first focusing on sector allocations, then using relative value analysis to select securities within each sector. Portfolio
management analyzes such factors as credit quality, interest rate sensitivity and spread relationships between individual bonds.
Portfolio management
normally targets an average portfolio duration (a measure of sensitivity to interest rate changes) of no longer than one year. The greater the duration, the greater the interest rate risk and return for bonds. Portfolio management seeks to achieve
an average portfolio duration of one year or less typically through a combination of investments (such as fixed-rate debt securities with short-term maturities and senior loans and other floating-rate debt securities, which have an effective
duration of zero).
Derivatives.
Portfolio management generally intends to use interest rate swaps and/or small amounts of currency forwards,
which are types of derivatives (a contract whose value is based on,
3
for example, indices, currencies or securities) for duration management (
e.g.
, reducing the sensitivity of the Funds portfolio to interest rate changes). In addition, portfolio
management generally may use (i) credit default swaps based on one or more issues of debt securities or on an index or indices of debt securities to increase the Funds income, to gain exposure to a bond issuers credit quality
characteristics without directly investing in the bond, or to hedge the risk of default on bonds held in the Funds portfolio; and (ii) total return swaps based on one or more issues of debt securities or on an index or indices of debt
securities, or interest rate swaps, to seek to enhance potential gains.
The Fund complies with applicable regulatory requirements when using
derivatives, including the segregation or earmarking of cash or liquid assets when mandated by the SEC rules or SEC staff positions.
Summary of
Principal Risks
As with any investment, you could lose all or part of your investment in the Fund, and the Funds performance could trail that
of other investments. The Fund is subject to the principal risks noted below, any of which may adversely affect the Funds net asset value (NAV), trading price, yield, total return and ability to meet its investment objective, as
well as numerous other risks that are described in greater detail in the section of this Prospectus entitled
Further Discussion of Principal Risks and in the Statement of Additional Information (SAI).
Credit Risk
.
The Funds performance could be hurt if an issuer of a debt security suffers an adverse change in financial condition that results in a payment default, security downgrade or
inability to meet a financial obligation. Credit risk is greater for lower-rated securities.
Because the issuers of high-yield debt securities or junk
bonds (debt securities rated below the fourth highest category) may be in uncertain financial health, the prices of their debt securities can be more vulnerable to bad economic news or even the expectation of bad news, than investment-grade debt
securities.
When purchasing senior loans, the Fund faces the risk that the creditworthiness of the borrower may decline, causing the value of the
Funds interest in a loan to decline. In addition, a borrower may not be able to make timely payments on the interest and principal on the debt obligations it has outstanding. In the event of bankruptcy of a borrower, the Fund could experience
delays or limitations with respect to its ability to realize the benefits of the collateral securing a senior loan.
Foreign and Emerging Market Securities Risk.
The Funds investments in foreign and emerging markets may be
subject
4
to a greater risk of loss than investments in the U.S. Such risks may include: (i) greater market volatility, (ii) lower trading volume, (iii) political and economic
instability, (iv) high levels of inflation, deflation or currency devaluation, (v) greater social, political and economic uncertainty, (vi) greater risk of market shut down, (vii) higher transactional and custody costs
(viii) taxation by foreign governments, (ix) decreased market liquidity, (x) various administrative difficulties, such as delays in clearing and settling portfolio transactions, (xi) more governmental limitations on foreign
investments and limitations on repatriation of invested capital than those typically found in a developed market, and (xii) the risk that companies may be held to lower disclosure, corporate governance, auditing and financial reporting
standards than companies in more developed countries. Because the Fund will invest in securities denominated in foreign currencies and the income received by the Fund will generally be in foreign currency, changes in currency exchange rates may
negatively impact the Funds return. Each of these factors can make investments in the Fund more volatile and potentially less liquid than other types of investments. The risks of investing in emerging market countries are greater than the
risks associated with investments in foreign developed countries.
Security Selection Risk
.
The securities in the Funds portfolio may decline in value.
Portfolio management could be wrong in its analysis of industries, companies, economic trends, the relative attractiveness of different securities or other matters.
Counterparty Risk
.
A financial institution or other counterparty with whom the Fund does business, or that underwrites, distributes or guarantees any investments or contracts that the Fund owns
or is otherwise exposed to, may decline in financial health and become unable to honor its commitments, which would cause losses for the Fund or could delay the return or delivery of collateral or other assets to the Fund.
Liquidity Risk
.
In certain situations, it may be difficult or impossible to sell an investment in an orderly fashion at an acceptable price.
Fixed Income Markets Risk.
Developments relating to subprime mortgages have adversely affected fixed-income securities markets in the
United States, Europe and elsewhere. The values of many types of debt securities have been reduced, including debt securities that are not related to mortgage loans. In addition, broker-dealers and other market participants have been less willing to
make a market in some types of debt instruments, which has impacted the liquidity of those instruments. These developments also have had a
5
negative effect on the broader economy. There is a risk that a lack of liquidity or other adverse credit market conditions may hamper the Funds ability to sell the debt securities in which
it invests or to find and purchase suitable debt instruments.
Mortgage- and Asset-Backed Securities Risks
.
Mortgage-backed
Securities (MBS) (residential and commercial) and asset-backed securities represent interests in pools of mortgages or other assets, including consumer loans or receivables held in trust. The characteristics of these MBS and
asset-backed securities differ from traditional fixed income securities. Like traditional fixed income securities, the value of MBS or asset-backed securities typically increases when interest rates fall and decreases when interest rates rise.
However, a main difference is that the principal on MBS or asset-backed securities may normally be prepaid at any time, which will reduce the yield and market value of these securities. Therefore, MBS and asset-backed backed securities are subject
to prepayment risk and extension risk. Because of prepayment risk and extension risk, MBS react differently to changes in interest rates than other fixed income securities.
Delinquencies and losses on residential mortgage loans (especially subprime and second-lien mortgage loans) generally have increased since 2007 and may continue to increase, and a
continued decline in or flattening of housing values may exacerbate such delinquencies and losses. The secondary market for mortgage-related securities may experience limited liquidity, which can
adversely affect the market value of mortgage-related securities. It is possible that such limited liquidity in such secondary markets could continue or worsen.
Asset-backed securities entail certain risks not presented by MBS, including the risk that in certain states it may be difficult to perfect the liens securing the collateral backing certain asset-backed securities.
In addition, certain asset-backed securities are based on loans that are unsecured, which means that there is no collateral to seize if the underlying borrower defaults. Certain MBS in which the Fund may invest may also provide a degree of
investment leverage, which could cause the Fund to lose all or substantially all of its investment.
Pricing Risk
.
If market
conditions make it difficult to value some investments, the Fund may value these investments using more subjective methods, such as fair value pricing. In such cases, the value determined for an investment could be different than the value realized
upon such investments sale. As a result, you could pay more than the market value when buying Fund shares or receive less than the market value when selling Fund shares.
6
Market Risk
.
Deteriorating market conditions might cause a general weakness in the market that
reduces the overall level of securities prices in that market. In addition, an increase in demand for floating rate loans may adversely affect the rate of interest payable on loans acquired by the Fund, thus reducing fund returns. During periods of
limited supply of Senior Loans, the Funds yield may be lower.
Interest Rate Risk
.
When interest rates rise, prices of debt
securities generally decline. The longer the effective duration of the Funds debt securities, the more sensitive it will be to interest rate changes. (As a general rule, a 1% rise in interest rates means a 1% fall in value for every year of
duration.) Senior loans typically have adjustable interest rates. As a result, it is expected that the value of senior loans held by the Fund will fluctuate less in response to interest rate changes than will fixed-rate debt securities. This could
result in less volatility than would be expected for a fund that invests primarily in fixed-rate debt securities. However, because floating rates on senior loans only reset periodically, changes in prevailing interest rates may cause a fluctuation
in the Funds value. In addition, extreme increases in prevailing interest rates may cause an increase in senior loan defaults, which may cause a further decline in the Funds value. Finally, a decrease in interest rates could adversely
affect the income earned by the Fund from its senior loans.
Senior Loans Risk
.
Senior loans may not be rated by a rating agency, registered with the
Securities and Exchange Commission or any state securities commission or listed on any national securities exchange. Therefore, there may be less publicly available information about them than for registered or exchange-listed securities. Also,
because portfolio management relies mainly on its own evaluation of the creditworthiness of borrowers, the Fund is particularly dependent on portfolio managements analytical abilities. Senior loans involve other risks, including conflict of
interest risk, credit risk, interest rate risk, liquidity risk, and prepayment and extension risk.
Affiliates of the Adviser may participate in the
primary and secondary market for senior loans. Because of limitations imposed by applicable law, the presence of the Advisers affiliates in the senior loan market may restrict the Funds ability to participate in a restructuring of a
senior loan or to acquire some senior loans, or affect the timing or price of such acquisition. If the Adviser wishes to invest in the publicly traded securities of a borrower, it may not have access to material non-public information regarding the
borrower to which other lenders have access.
Derivatives Risk
.
Risks associated with derivatives include the risk that the
derivative is not well
7
correlated with the security, index or currency to which it relates; the risk that derivatives may result in losses or missed opportunities; the risk that the Fund will be unable to sell the
derivative because of an illiquid secondary market; the risk that a counterparty is unwilling or unable to meet its obligation; and the risk that the derivative transaction could expose the Fund to the effects of leverage, which could increase the
funds exposure to the market and magnify potential losses.
A swap contract is an agreement between two parties pursuant to which the parties
exchange payments at specified dates on the basis of a specified notional amount, with the payments calculated by reference to specified securities, indices, reference rates, currencies or other instruments. Most swap agreements are generally not
entered into or traded on exchanges and often there is no central clearing or guaranty function for swaps and therefore they are often subject to the risk of default or non-performance by the counterparty.
Interest rate swaps consist of an agreement between two parties to exchange their respective commitments to pay or receive interest (e.g., an exchange of floating
rate payments for fixed rate payments). Interest rate swaps do not involve the delivery of securities, other underlying assets, or principal. Accordingly, the risk of loss with respect to interest rate
and total rate of return swaps is typically limited to the net amount of interest payments that the Fund is contractually obligated to make.
A credit default swap consists of an agreement between two parties in which the buyer agrees to pay to the seller a periodic stream of
payments over the term of the contract and the seller agrees to pay the buyer the par (or other agreed-upon) value of a referenced debt obligation upon the occurrence of a credit event with respect to the issuer of that referenced debt obligation.
Generally, a credit event means bankruptcy, failure to pay, obligation acceleration or modified restructuring. The Fund may be either the buyer or seller in a credit default swap. The Fund will generally earmark or segregate cash or liquid assets to
cover any potential obligation under a credit default swap sold by the Fund. The use of credit default swaps could result in losses to the Fund if the Adviser and/or Sub-Adviser fail to correctly evaluate the creditworthiness of the issuer of the
referenced debt obligation.
Total return swaps give the Fund the right to receive the appreciation in the value of a specified security, index or other
instrument in return for a fee paid to the counterparty, which will typically be based on an agreed upon interest rate. Total return swap agreements are subject to the risk that a counterparty will default on its payment obligations
8
to the Fund thereunder. If the counterparty fails to meet its obligations, the Fund may lose money. The Fund may also lose money if the underlying asset or reference does not perform as
anticipated.
High Yield Debt Securities (Junk Bonds).
The Funds investments in high yield debt securities expose it to
a substantial degree of credit risk. Investing in emerging markets intensifies risk, because high yield debt securities may be more volatile in price in certain environments. High yield debt securities may be issued by companies that are
restructuring, are smaller and less creditworthy or are more highly indebted than other companies, and therefore they may have more difficulty making scheduled payments of principal and interest. High yield debt securities may experience reduced
liquidity, and sudden and substantial decreases in price. An economic downturn affecting an issuer of high yield debt securities may result in an increased incidence of default. In the event of a default, the Fund may incur additional expenses to
seek recovery.
Management Risk
.
Any actively managed fund is subject to the risk that its investment adviser will make poor
security selections. The Adviser and Sub-Adviser apply their own investment techniques and risk analyses in making investment decisions for the Fund, but there can be no guarantee
that they will produce the desired results. The duration and maturity decisions made by the Adviser and Sub-Adviser will also affect the Funds yield, and in unusual circumstances
potentially could affect its share price. To the extent that the Adviser and Sub-Adviser anticipate interest rate trends imprecisely, the Funds yield at times could lag those of others similarly managed funds.
Prepayment and Extension Risk
.
When interest rates fall, issuers of high interest debt obligations may pay off the debts earlier than expected
(prepayment risk), and the Fund may have to reinvest the proceeds at lower yields. When interest rates rise, issuers of lower interest debt obligations may pay off the debts later than expected (extension risk), thus keeping the Funds assets
tied up in lower interest debt obligations. Ultimately, any unexpected behavior in interest rates could increase the volatility of the Funds share price and yield and could hurt fund performance. Prepayments could also create capital gains tax
liability in some instances.
Issuer-Specific Changes.
The value of an individual security or particular type of security may be more
volatile than the market as a whole and may perform differently from the value of the market as a whole.
Cash Redemption Risk.
The Fund
may pay out a portion of its
9
redemption proceeds in cash rather than through the in-kind delivery of portfolio securities. The Fund may be required to sell portfolio securities in order to obtain the cash needed to
distribute redemption proceeds. This may cause the Fund to recognize a capital gain that it might not have incurred if it had made a redemption in-kind. As a result the Fund may pay out higher annual capital gains distributions than if the in-kind
redemption process was used. Only certain institutional investors known as authorized participants who have entered into an agreement with the Funds distributor may redeem shares from the Fund directly; all other investors buy and sell shares
at market prices on an exchange.
Valuation Risk
.
The value of the securities in the Funds portfolio may change on days when
shareholders will not be able to purchase or sell the Funds shares.
Non-Diversification Risk
.
The Fund is non-diversified
and may invest a large percentage of its assets in securities issued by or representing a small number of issuers. As a result, the Fund may be more exposed to the risks associated with and developments affecting an individual issuer or a smaller
number of issuers than a fund that invests more widely. This may increase the Funds volatility and cause the performance of a relatively smaller number of issuers to have a greater impact on the Funds performance.
Performance Information
As of the date of this Prospectus, the Fund has not commenced operations and therefore does not report its performance information. Once available, the Funds performance information will be accessible on the
Funds website at www.dbxus.com and will provide some indication of the risks of investing in the Fund by showing changes in the Funds performance and by showing how the Funds returns compare with those of a broad measure of market
performance.
Management
Investment
Adviser.
DBX Advisors LLC.
Sub-Adviser.
Deutsche Investment Management Americas Inc.
Portfolio Managers.
William Chepolis, Gary Russell, Joseph Benevento, John D. Ryan and Geoffrey Gibbs, each a Portfolio Manager, are primarily responsible
for the day-to-day management of the Fund. Each Portfolio Manager functions as a member of a portfolio manager team.
Purchase and Sale of Fund
Shares
The Fund is an exchange-traded fund (commonly referred to as an ETF). Individual Fund shares may only be purchased and sold
through a brokerage firm. The price of Fund shares is based on
10
market price, and because ETF shares trade at market prices rather than NAV, shares may trade at a price greater than NAV (a premium) or less than NAV (a discount). The Fund will only issue or
redeem shares that have been aggregated into blocks of 50,000 shares or multiples thereof (Creation Units) to authorized participants who have entered into agreements with the Funds distributor.
Tax Information
The Fund intends to meet certain federal
income tax requirements so that distributions of tax-exempt interest income will be treated as exempt-interest dividends. These dividends are not subject to regular federal income tax. The Fund may invest an unlimited amount of its net
assets in municipal securities that generate interest income subject to the AMT for individuals. All exempt-interest dividends may increase certain corporate shareholders AMT. The Fund expects that its distributions will consist primarily of
exempt-interest dividends. The Funds exempt-interest dividends may be subject to state and local taxes. Any capital gains or income
dividends, other than exempt-interest dividends, distributed by the Fund will be taxable to you as ordinary income or capital gains, unless you are investing through a tax-deferred arrangement
such as a 401(k) plan or an IRA. For more information regarding the tax consequences that may be associated with investing in the Fund, please refer to the section of the Prospectus entitled Taxes on Distributions.
Payment to Broker-Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries.
If you purchase shares of the Fund through a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary (such as a bank), the Adviser or other related companies may pay the
intermediary for marketing activities and presentations, educational training programs, the support of technology platforms and/or reporting systems or other services related to the sale or promotion of the Fund. These payments may create a conflict
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 intermediarys website for more information.
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