Representative asset classes - average annual total returns as of most recent quarter-end (market price)
As of 06/30/2023 |
High Dividend Stocks |
MLPs |
REITs |
High Yield Bonds |
Preferreds |
Emerging Market Debt |
Since NUSI Inception (12/19/19) |
26.49% |
25.65% |
6.16% |
1.06% |
-8.23% |
-11.97% |
1-Yr |
7.67% |
23.24% |
-0.23% |
7.84% |
-2.02% |
6.56% |
QTD |
1.38% |
3.79% |
2.56% |
0.73% |
0.66% |
1.56% |
The results shown represent past performance; past performance does not guarantee future results. Current performance may be lower or higher than the past performance shown, which does not guarantee future results. Share price, principal value, and return will vary, and you may have a gain or a loss when you sell your shares. Returns for periods less than one year are not annualized. Short term performance, in particular, is not a good indication of the fund's future performance, and an investment should not be made based solely on returns. To review the comparative risk discussion of each representative asset class, continue reading below.
Must be preceded or accompanied by a current prospectus. You may download the prospectus here or by visiting etf.nationwide.com. These prospectuses outline investment objectives, risks, fees, charges and expenses, and other information that you should read and consider carefully before investing.
Investing involves risk, including the possible loss of principal. Shares of any ETF are bought and sold at market price (not NAV), may trade at a discount or premium to NAV and are not individually redeemed from the Fund. Brokerage commissions will reduce returns. The Fund’s return may not match or achieve a high degree of correlation with the return of the underlying index. References made to other securities do not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell.
Key risks
The Nationwide Nasdaq-100® Risk-Managed Income ETF (“NUSI” or the “Fund”) is subject to the risks of investing in equity securities, including tracking stock (a class of common stock that “tracks” the performance of a unit or division within a larger company). A tracking stock’s value may decline even if the larger company’s stock increases in value. The Fund is subject to the risks of investing in foreign securities (currency fluctuations, political risks, differences in accounting and limited availability of information, all of which are magnified in emerging markets). The Fund may invest in more-aggressive investments such as derivatives (which create investment leverage and illiquidity and are highly volatile). The Fund employs a collared options strategy (using call and put options is speculative and can lead to losses because of adverse movements in the price or value of the reference asset). The success of the Fund’s investment strategy may depend on the effectiveness of the subadviser’s quantitative tools for screening securities and on data provided by third parties. The Fund expects to invest a portion of its assets to replicate the holdings of an index. Correlation between Fund performance and index performance may be affected by Fund expenses and because the Fund may not be invested fully in the securities of the index or may hold securities not included in the index. The Fund frequently may buy and sell portfolio securities and other assets to rebalance its exposure to various market sectors. Higher portfolio turnover may result in higher levels of transaction costs paid by the Fund and greater tax liabilities for shareholders. The Fund may concentrate on specific sectors or industries, subjecting it to greater volatility than that of other ETFs. The Fund may hold large positions in a small number of securities, and an increase or decrease in the value of such securities may have a disproportionate impact on the Fund’s value and total return. Although the Fund intends to invest in a variety of securities and instruments, the Fund will be considered nondiversified. Additional Fund risk includes: Collared options strategy risk, correlation risk, derivatives risk, foreign investment risk, and industry concentration risk.
Definitions
Distribution yield is calculated by annualizing the most recent distribution and dividing by the most recent fund NAV. The yield represents a single distribution from the fund and does not represent total return of the fund. Collar option strategy is an option strategy that limits both gains and losses. A common collar position is created by holding an underlying stock, buying an out of the money put option, and selling an out of the money call option. Correlation is a statistic that measures the degree to which two securities move in relation to each other. Volatility is a measure of the risk of price moves for a security derived from the standard deviation of day to day logarithmic historical price changes. The 10-day price volatility equals the annualized standard deviation of the relative price change for the 10 most recent trading days closing price, expressed as a percentage. Beta is a measure of price variability relative to the market.
Alerian MLP Infrastructure Index: A composite of energy infrastructure Master Limited Partnerships (MLPs). The capped, float-adjusted, capitalization-weighted index, whose constituents earn the majority of their cash flow from midstream activities involving energy commodities. Constituents each earn at least 50% of EBITDA from assets that are not directly exposed to changes in commodity prices.
CBOE S&P 500 Zero-Cost Put Spread Collar Index:: An index designed to track the performance of a hypothetical option trading strategy that 1) holds a long position indexed to the S&P 500 Index; 2) on a monthly basis buys a 2.5% - 5% S&P 500 Index (SPX) put option spread; and 3) sells a monthly out-of-the-money (OTM) SPX call option to cover the cost of the put spread.
FTSE® High Dividend Yield Index: A composite of energy infrastructure Master Limited Partnerships (MLPs). The capped, float-adjusted, capitalization-weighted index, whose constituents earn the majority of their cash flow from midstream activities involving energy commodities. Constituents each earn at least 50% of EBITDA from assets that are not directly exposed to changes in commodity prices.
FTSE® Nareit Equity REITs Index: The index is a broad-based index consisting of real estate investment trusts (REITs). The index seeks to measure the performance of U.S. listed equity real estate investment trusts (REITs), excluding infrastructure REITs, mortgage REITs, and timber REITs, respectively.
ICE BofAML Core Plus Fixed Rate Preferred Securities Index: The index is designed to replicate the total return of a diversified group of investment-grade preferred securities. (Securities must be investment-grade, based on an average of three leading ratings agencies: Moody's, S&P and Fitch)
JPMorgan EMBI® Global Core Index: A broad, diverse U.S. dollar denominated emerging markets debt benchmark that tracks the total return of actively-traded debt instruments in the emerging markets. The methodology employed for distributing the weight of country exposure within the index limits the weights of countries with higher debt outstanding and reallocates this excess to countries with lower debt outstanding.
Markit iBoxx USD Liquid High Yield Index: The Markit iBoxx USD Liquid High Yield Index consists of liquid USD high yield bonds, selected to provide a balanced representation of the broad USD high yield corporate bond universe. Fixed coupon bonds, step-up bonds with coupon schedules known at issuance (or as functions of the issuer’s rating), bonds with sinking funds, medium term notes (MTNs), Rule 144A offerings, callable and putable bonds are eligible for inclusion.
Nasdaq-100® Index: An unmanaged, market capitalization-weighted index of 103 equity securities issued by 100 of the largest non-financial companies, with certain rules capping the influence of the largest components. It is based on exchange, and it is not an index of U.S.-based companies. Market index performance is provided by a third-party source Nationwide Funds Group deems to be reliable (Morningstar). Indexes are unmanaged and have been provided for comparison purposes only. No fees or expenses have been reflected. Individuals cannot invest directly in an index.
Nasdaq® and the Nasdaq-100® are registered trademarks of Nasdaq, Inc. (which with its affiliates is referred to as the “Corporations”) and are licensed for use by Nationwide Fund Advisors. The Product has not been passed on by the Corporations as to their legality or suitability. The Product is not issued, endorsed, sold, or promoted by the Corporations. The Corporations make no warranties and bear no liability with respect to the product.
Income-Oriented Asset Class Performance Disclosures
The designated proxies for each asset class include ETFs that seek to provide exposure to or track an index comprised of a comprehensive, diversified basket of securities that can be reasonably deemed as representative of the applicable asset class. The underlying indexes for these proxies include: High Dividend Stocks, FTSE® High Dividend Yield Index; REITs, FTSE® Nareit Equity REITs Index; Emerging Market Debt, J.P. Morgan EMBI Global Core Index; High Yield Bonds, Markit iBoxx USD Liquid High Yield Index; Preferreds, ICE BofAML Core Plus Fixed Rate Preferred Securities Index; MLPs, Alerian MLP Infrastructure Index. Indexes are unmanaged and individuals cannot invest directly in an index.
As a direct function of being traded on an exchange, all ETFs are subject to additional risks including: potentially significant differences between an ETF share’s market price and its net asset value (NAV), where investors may pay more or less than NAV when shares are purchased on the secondary market and may receive more or less than NAV when those shares are sold; the possibility that an active trading market may not be maintained, despite being traded on an exchange; and the halting of trading of ETF shares as result of individual or market wide trading halts (which halt trading for a specific period of time when the price of a particular security or the overall market declines by a percentage that exceeds a specific threshold). Halts in the trading of an ETF’s shares may also arise if (1) the shares are delisted from its listing exchange without first being listed on another exchange or (2) if the officials of the exchange on which the shares are listed determine that such action is appropriate and in the interest of a fair and orderly market or for the protection of investors.
The performance of the following investable products – used as proxies for the respective income-oriented asset classes referenced in this document – has been presented for informational purposes only. References to these products do not constitute a buy/sell recommendation. Further, these products have not been issued, endorsed, sold, or promoted by Nationwide Fund Advisors (NFA) and its affiliates. NFA and its affiliates make no warranties and bear no liability with respect to these products, including their legality or suitability.
Proxy for Emerging Market Debt
The iShares J.P. Morgan USD Emerging Market Bond ETF (“EMB” or the “Fund”) seeks to replicate the performance of the JPMorgan EMBI® Global Core Index (“Underlying Index”), a broad, diverse U.S. dollar denominated emerging markets debt benchmark that tracks the total return of actively traded external debt instruments in emerging market countries.
The Fund’s methodology is designed to distribute the weight of each country within the Underlying Index by limiting the weights of countries with higher debt outstanding and reallocating this excess to countries with lower debt outstanding. Only those instruments which (i) are denominated in U.S. dollars, (ii) have a current face amount outstanding of $1 billion or more, (iii) have at least 2.5 years until maturity to be eligible for inclusion and have at least 2 years until maturity to remain in the index, (iv) are able to settle internationally through Euroclear or another institution domiciled outside the issuing country and (v) have bid and offer prices that are available on a daily and timely basis — sourced from a third party valuation vendor — are considered for inclusion in the Underlying Index.
EMB is subject to certain risks, including: Asset Class Risk or the potential underperformance of the Fund’s portfolio relative to the general financial markets, a particular financial market or other asset classes; Call Risk, whereby during periods of falling interest rates, an issuer of a callable bond held by the Fund may “call” or repay the security before its stated maturity, and the Fund may have to reinvest the proceeds in securities with lower yields, which would result in a decline in the Fund’s income, or in securities with greater risks or with other less favorable features; Concentration Risk, such that the Fund may be susceptible to an increased risk of loss, including losses due to adverse events that affect the Fund’s investments more than the market as a whole, to the extent that the Fund’s investments are concentrated in the securities and/or other assets of a particular issuer or issuers, country, group of countries, region, market, industry, group of industries, project types, group of project types, sector or asset class; Credit Risk, where debt issuers and other counterparties may be unable or unwilling to make timely interest and/or principal payments when due or otherwise honor their obligations; High Yield Securities Risk, such that securities that are rated below investment-grade or are unrated, may be deemed speculative and may consequently involve greater levels of risk than higher-rated securities of similar maturity with a higher probability of default; Illiquid Investments Risk, whereby the Fund may invest up to an aggregate amount of 15% of its net assets in illiquid investments – investments which may reduce the returns of the Fund because the Fund may be unable to transact at advantageous times or prices; Income Risk or the potential that the income derived from the Fund may decline if interest rates fall; and Interest Rate Risk, whereby an increase in interest rates may cause the value of securities held by the Fund to decline, may lead to heightened volatility in the fixed-income markets, and may adversely affect the liquidity of certain fixed-income investments. The historically low interest rate environment, together with recent modest rate increases, heightens the risks associated with rising interest rates.
Further, the Fund’s investments in emerging market issuers may be subject to a greater risk of loss than investments in issuers located or operating in more developed markets. Emerging markets may be more likely to experience inflation, political turmoil and rapid changes in economic conditions than more developed markets. Emerging markets often have less uniformity in accounting and reporting requirements, less reliable securities valuations and greater risk associated with custody of securities than developed markets. Accordingly, EMB is subject to the following idiosyncratic risks, which may impact the performance of the Fund:
Custody Risk. Less developed securities markets are more likely to experience problems with the clearing and settling of trades, as well as the holding of securities by local banks, agents, and depositories.
Non-U.S. Agency Debt Risk. The Fund invests in uncollateralized bonds issued by agencies, subdivisions or instrumentalities of foreign governments. Bonds issued by foreign government agencies, subdivisions or instrumentalities are generally backed only by the general creditworthiness and reputation of the entity issuing the bonds and may not be backed by the full faith and credit of the foreign government. Moreover, a foreign government that explicitly provides its full faith and credit to a particular entity may be, due to changed circumstances, unable or unwilling to provide that support. A non-U.S. agency’s operations and financial condition are influenced by the foreign government’s economic and other policies.
Non-U.S. Issuers Risk. Securities issued by non-U.S. issuers carry different risks from securities issued by U.S. issuers. These risks include differences in accounting, auditing and financial reporting standards, the possibility of expropriation or confiscatory taxation, adverse changes in investment or exchange control regulations, political instability, regulatory and economic differences, and potential restrictions on the flow of international capital. The Fund is specifically exposed to Central and South American Economic Risk and Middle Eastern Economic Risk.
Privatization Risk. Some countries in which the Fund invests have privatized, or have begun the process of privatizing, certain entities and industries. Privatized entities may lose money or be re-nationalized.
Reliance on Trading Partners Risk. The Fund invests in countries or regions whose economies are heavily dependent upon trading with key partners. Any reduction in this trading may have an adverse impact on the Fund’s investments. Through its holdings of securities of certain issuers, the Fund is specifically exposed to Asian Economic Risk, Central and South American Economic Risk, European Economic Risk and U.S. Economic Risk.
Risk of Investing in Emerging Markets. The Fund’s investments in emerging market issuers may be subject to a greater risk of loss than investments in issuers located or operating in more developed markets. Emerging markets may be more likely to experience inflation, political turmoil and rapid changes in economic conditions than more developed markets. Emerging markets often have less uniformity in accounting and reporting requirements, less reliable securities valuations and greater risk associated with custody of securities than developed markets.
Risk of Investing in Russia. Investing in Russian securities involves significant risks, including legal, regulatory and economic risks that are specific to Russia. In addition, investing in Russian securities involves risks associated with the settlement of portfolio transactions and loss of the Fund’s ownership rights in its portfolio securities as a result of the system of share registration and custody in Russia. A number of jurisdictions, including the U.S., Canada and the European Union (the “EU”), have imposed economic sanctions on certain Russian individuals and Russian corporate entities. Additionally, Russia is alleged to have participated in state sponsored cyberattacks against foreign companies and foreign governments. Actual and threatened responses to such activity, including purchasing restrictions, sanctions, tariffs or cyberattacks on the Russian government or Russian companies, may impact Russia’s economy and Russian issuers of securities in which the Fund invests.
Security Risk. Some countries and regions in which the Fund invests have experienced security concerns, such as terrorism and strained international relations. Incidents involving a country’s or region’s security may cause uncertainty in its markets and may adversely affect its economy and the Fund’s investments.
Sovereign and Quasi-Sovereign Obligations Risk. The Fund invests in securities issued by or guaranteed by non-U.S. sovereign governments and by entities affiliated with or backed by non-U.S. sovereign governments, which may be unable or unwilling to repay principal or interest when due. During times of heightened economic uncertainty, the prices of these securities may prove more volatile than those of corporate debt obligations or of other government debt obligations.
Structural Risk. The countries in which the Fund invests may be subject to considerable degrees of economic, political and social instability.
Tracking Error Risk. The Fund may be subject to tracking error, which is the divergence of the Fund’s performance from that of the Underlying Index. Further, ETFs that track indices with significant weights in Emerging Market issuers may experience higher tracking error than other ETFs that do not track such indices.
Valuation Risk. The price the Fund could receive upon the sale of a security or other asset may differ from the Fund’s valuation of the security or other asset and from the value used by the Underlying Index, particularly for securities or other assets that trade in low volume or volatile markets or that are valued using a fair value methodology as a result of trade suspensions or for other reasons. In addition, the value of the securities or other assets in the Fund’s portfolio may change on days or during time periods when shareholders will not be able to purchase or sell the Fund’s shares. Authorized Participants who purchase or redeem Fund shares on days when the Fund is holding fair-valued securities may receive fewer or more shares, or lower or higher redemption proceeds, than they would have received had the Fund not fair-valued securities or used a different valuation methodology. The Fund’s ability to value investments may be impacted by technological issues or errors by pricing services or other third-party service providers.
Proxy for High Dividend Stocks
The Vanguard High Dividend Yield ETF (“VYM” or the “Fund”) seeks to track the performance of the FTSE® High Dividend Yield Index (“Underlying Index”), providing exposure to large-cap equities that are forecasted to have above-average dividend yields. VYM attempts to replicate the underlying index by investing all, or substantially all, of its assets in the stocks that comprise the index, holding each stock in approximately the same proportion as its weighting in the index. VYM is subject to the following risks, which may impact the performance of the Fund:
Asset Concentration Risk or the probability that, because the Fund’s Underlying Index and by extension, the Fund, tends to be heavily weighted in its ten largest holdings, the Fund’s performance may be hurt disproportionately by the poor performance of relatively few stocks; Investment Style Risk or the potential of the returns generated by high-dividend-paying stocks trailing the returns of the broader market; and Stock Market Risk or the potential broad-based decline in stock prices. VYM’s underlying index tracks a segment of the U.S. stock market which may cause the Fund to perform differently, relative to the overall market. Further, the Fund’s underlying index may, at times, become focused in stocks within a particular sector, which could potentially subject the Fund to proportionately higher exposure to the risks inherent to that sector.
Proxy for High Yield Bonds
The iShares iBoxx $ High Yield Corporate Bond ETF (“HYG” or the “Fund”) seeks to track the performance of the Markit iBoxx® USD Liquid High Yield Index (“Underlying Index”), a rules-based, modified market-value weighted index, broadly representative of the U.S. dollar denominated liquid high yield corporate bond market, which consists of U.S. dollar-denominated, high yield (as determined by Markit Indices Limited (the “Index Provider” or “Markit”)) corporate bonds for sale in the United States.
The bonds eligible for inclusion in the Underlying Index include U.S. dollar-denominated high yield corporate bonds that: (i) are issued by companies domiciled in countries classified as developed markets by Markit; (ii) have an average rating of sub-investment grade (ratings from Fitch Ratings, Inc. (“Fitch”), Moody’s Investors Service, Inc. (“Moody’s”) or Standard & Poor’s® Global Ratings, a subsidiary of S&P Global (“S&P Global Ratings”) are considered; if more than one agency provides a rating, the average rating is attached to the bond); (iii) are from issuers with at least $1 billion outstanding face value; (iv) have at least $400 million of outstanding face value; (v) have an original maturity date of less than 15 years; (vi) have at least one year to maturity; and (vii) have at least one year and 6 months to maturity for new index insertions.
HYG is subject to principal risks which may adversely affect the Fund’s net asset value (NAV), trading price, yield, total return, and ability to meet its investment objective, including: Asset Class Risk or the potential underperformance of the Fund’s portfolio relative to the general financial markets, a particular financial market or other asset classes; Call Risk, whereby during periods of falling interest rates, an issuer of a callable bond held by the Fund may “call” or repay the security before its stated maturity, and the Fund may have to reinvest the proceeds in securities with lower yields, which would result in a decline in the Fund’s income, or in securities with greater risks or with other less favorable features; Concentration Risk, such that the Fund may be susceptible to an increased risk of loss, including losses due to adverse events that affect the Fund’s investments more than the market as a whole, to the extent that the Fund’s investments are concentrated in the securities and/or other assets of a particular issuer or issuers, country, group of countries, region, market, industry, group of industries, project types, group of project types, sector or asset class; Consumer Services Industry Risk or the potential that companies in the consumer services industry may be affected by, among other things, changes in the domestic and international economies, exchange rates, competition, consumers’ disposable income, and consumer preferences; Credit Risk, where debt issuers and other counterparties may be unable or unwilling to make timely interest and/or principal payments when due or otherwise honor their obligations; High Yield Securities Risk, such that securities that are rated below investment-grade or are unrated, may be deemed speculative and may consequently involve greater levels of risk than higher-rated securities of similar maturity with a higher probability of default; Income Risk or the potential that the income derived from the Fund may decline if interest rates fall; Interest Rate Risk, whereby an increase in interest rates may cause the value of securities held by the Fund to decline, may lead to heightened volatility in the fixed-income markets, and may adversely affect the liquidity of certain fixed-income investments. The historically low interest rate environment, together with recent modest rate increases, heightens the risks associated with rising interest rates; Issuer Risk, such that the performance of the Fund may be adversely affected if an issuer of underlying securities held by the Fund is unable or unwilling to repay principal or interest when due. Further, changes in the financial condition or credit rating of an issuer of those securities may cause the value of the securities to decline; Privately Issued Securities Risk, such that the Fund may invest in in privately issued securities, including those that are normally purchased pursuant to Rule 144A or Regulation S promulgated under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “1933 Act”) – securities that may be deemed to be illiquid investments due to the absence of a public trading market. Delay or difficulty in selling such securities, may be more difficult to value than publicly traded securities and which may be subject to wide fluctuations in value, may result in a loss to the Fund; and Tracking Error Risk such that the Fund may be subject to tracking error, which is the divergence of the Fund’s performance from that of the Underlying Index. Further, ETFs that track indices with significant weights in High Yield securities may experience higher tracking error than other ETFs that do not track such indices.
Proxy for Master Limited Partnerships
The Alerian MLP ETF (“AMLP” or the “Fund”) seeks to track the investment results (price and yield performance), before fees and expenses, of the Alerian MLP Infrastructure Index (“Underlying Index”), a rules based, modified capitalization weighted, float adjusted index intended to give investors a means of tracking the overall performance of the United States energy infrastructure Master Limited Partnership (“MLP”) asset class. The Underlying Index is comprised of energy infrastructure MLPs that earn a majority of their cash flow from the transportation, storage, and processing of energy commodities. The Fund will normally invest at least 90% of its total assets in securities that comprise the Underlying Index.
Energy infrastructure MLPs are publicly traded partnerships engaged in the transportation, storage and processing of minerals and natural resources. By confining their operations to these specific activities, their interests, or units, are able to trade on public securities exchanges exactly like the shares of a corporation, without entity level taxation.
To qualify as an MLP and not to be taxed as a corporation, a partnership must receive at least 90% of its income from qualifying sources as set forth in Section 7704(d) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”). These qualifying sources include natural resource-based activities such as the processing, transportation and storage of mineral or natural resources. MLPs generally have two classes of owners, the general partner and limited partners. The general partner of an MLP is typically owned by a major energy company, an investment fund, the direct management of the MLP, or is an entity owned by one or more of such parties. The general partner may be structured as a private or publicly traded corporation or other entity. The general partner typically controls the operations and management of the MLP through an up to 2% equity interest in the MLP plus, in many cases, ownership of common units and subordinated units. Limited partners typically own the remainder of the partnership, through ownership of common units, and have a limited role in the partnership’s operations and management.
AMLP is subject to principal risks which may adversely affect the Fund’s performance and its ability to meet its investment objective, including: Deferred Tax Liability, such that cash distributions from an MLP to the Fund that exceed the Fund’s allocable share of such MLP’s net taxable income are considered a tax-deferred return of capital that will reduce the Fund’s adjusted tax basis in the equity securities of the MLP. Increases in deferred tax liability will decrease net asset value (“NAV”). Conversely, decreases in deferred liability will increase NAV, but only to the extent of previously accrued deferred tax liability, i.e., no deferred tax asset will be accrued. The Fund will rely to a large extent on information provided by the MLPs, which is not necessarily timely, to estimate deferred tax liability for purposes of financial statement reporting and determining the NAV; Investment Risk or the possible loss of the entire principal amount invested; Liquidity Risk, whereby certain MLP securities may trade less frequently than those of larger companies due to their smaller capitalizations. In the event certain MLP securities experience limited trading volumes, the prices of such MLPs may display abrupt or erratic movements at times. Additionally, it may be more difficult for the Fund to buy and sell significant amounts of such securities without an unfavorable impact on prevailing market prices. As a result, these securities may be difficult to dispose of at a fair price at the times when the Fund is required to do so based on changes in the Underlying Index or to fund redemptions; Issuer-Specific Risk or the probability that the value of an individual security or particular type of security can be more volatile than the market as a whole and can perform differently from the value of the market as a whole; Market Risk, whereby the market value of a security may decline due to general market conditions that are not specifically related to a particular company, such as real or perceived adverse economic, political and social conditions, inflation (or expectations for inflation), changes in the outlook for corporate earnings, changes in interest or currency rates or adverse investor sentiment; MLP Risk or risks related to limited control and limited rights to vote on matters affecting the MLP, risks related to potential conflicts of interest between the MLP and the MLP’s general partner, dilution risks and risks related to the general partner’s right to require unitholders to sell their common units at an undesirable time or price due to regulatory changes and cash flow risks. MLP common units and other equity securities can be affected by macro-economic and other factors affecting the stock market in general, expectations of interest rates, investor sentiment towards MLPs or the energy sector, changes in a particular issuer’s financial condition, or unfavorable or unanticipated poor performance of a particular issuer (in the case of MLPs, generally measured in terms of distributable cash flow). Additionally, MLPs holding credit-related investments are subject to interest rate risk and the risk of default on payment obligations by debt issuers. Prices of common units of individual MLPs and other equity securities also can be affected by fundamentals unique to the partnership or company, including cash flow growth, cash generating power, and distribution coverage; MLP Tax Risk such that a change in current tax law, or a change in the underlying business mix of a given MLP, could result in an MLP being treated as a corporation for U.S. federal income tax purposes, which would result in such MLP being required to pay U.S. federal income tax on its taxable income. The classification of an MLP as a corporation for U.S. federal income tax purposes would have the effect of reducing the amount of cash available for distribution by the MLP and could result in a reduction in the value of your investment in the Fund; Non-Diversified Fund Risk or the potential for greater fluctuations in share price than would occur in a diversified Fund, stemming from the Fund being considered nondiversified and its ability to invest a greater portion of assets in securities of individual issuers than a diversified fund; Potential Substantial After-Tax Tracking Error from Underlying Index Performance, such that the NAV of Fund Shares may be reduced by the accrual of any current and deferred tax liabilities and the Fund’s after tax performance could differ significantly from the Underlying Index even if the pretax performance of the Fund and the performance of the Underlying Index are closely correlated, given that the Underlying Index is calculated without any deductions for taxes; Returns of Capital Distributions From the Fund May Reduce the Tax Basis of Fund Shares with such a reduction in tax basis potentially resulting in larger taxable gains and/or lower tax losses on a subsequent sale of Fund Shares; and Tax Status of the Fund, whereby under current law, the Fund is not eligible to elect treatment as a regulated investment company due to its investments primarily in MLPs invested in energy assets. As a result, the Fund will be obligated to pay applicable federal and state corporate income taxes on its taxable income as opposed to most other investment companies which are not so obligated.
Further, the Fund invests primarily in energy infrastructure companies. Energy infrastructure companies are subject to risks specific to the industry they serve including, but not limited to, the following: fluctuations in energy commodity prices which may impact the volume of energy commodities transported, processes, stored or distributed; reduced volumes of natural gas or other energy commodities available for transporting, processing or storing; new construction risks and acquisition risk which can limit growth potential; a sustained reduced demand for crude oil, natural gas and refined petroleum products resulting from a recession or an increase in market price or higher taxes; changes in the regulatory environment; extreme weather; rising interest rates which could result in a higher cost of capital and drive investors into other investment opportunities; global, political and economic instability; and threats of attack by terrorists.
Proxy for Preferred Securities
The Invesco Preferred ETF (“PGX” or the “Fund”) seeks to track the investment results, before fees and expenses, of the ICE BofAML Core Plus Fixed Rate Preferred Securities Index (“Underlying Index”), a market capitalization-weighted index designed to reflect the total return performance of the fixed rate U.S. dollar-denominated preferred securities market. The Underlying Index includes both traditional and other preferred securities, including preferred securities issued by foreign companies in the form of American depositary receipts (“ADRs”), as well as senior and subordinate debt securities. Unlisted preferred securities are excluded from the Underlying Index, but unlisted senior or subordinated debt-like securities are eligible for inclusion. The Underlying Index may include Rule 144A securities. . Qualified securities must be rated at least B3 (based on an average of Moody’s Investors Services, Inc. (“Moody’s”), S&P Global Ratings (“S&P”) and Fitch Ratings, Inc. (“Fitch”) and must have an investment grade country risk profile (based on an average of Moody’s, S&P and Fitch foreign currency long-term sovereign debt ratings). The Fund will generally invest at least 80% of its total assets in fixed rate U.S. dollar denominated preferred securities that comprise the Underlying Index.
PGX is subject to principal risks which may adversely affect the Fund’s performance and its ability to meet its investment objective, including: ADR Risk, such that ADRs, certificates that evidence ownership of shares of a foreign issuer and are alternatives to purchasing directly underlying foreign securities in their national markets and currencies, may be subject to certain of the risks associated with direct investments in the securities of foreign companies. Moreover, ADRs may not track the price of the underlying foreign securities on which they are based, and their value may change materially at times when U.S. markets are not open for trading; Call Risk, whereby if interest rates fall, it is possible that issuers of callable securities with high interest coupons will “call” (or prepay) their bonds before their maturity date. If an issuer exercises such a call during a period of declining interest rates, the Fund may have to replace such called security with a lower yielding security, resulting in a potential decline in the Fund’s net investment income; Changing Global Fixed-Income Market Conditions Risk or the potential decline in the value of the Fund’s investments and share price stemming from changes to the target range for the Federal Funds Rate (and continued possible fluctuations in equivalent foreign rates) which may expose fixed income markets to heightened volatility and reduced liquidity; Fixed-Income Securities Risk, including interest rate risk and credit risk; Foreign Fixed-Income Investment Risk, whereby investments in fixed income securities of non-U.S. issuers are subject to the same risks as other debt securities, notably credit risk, market risk, interest rate risk and liquidity risk, while also facing risks beyond those associated with investments in U.S. securities, including, but not limited to, relatively lower market liquidity, greater market volatility, decreased publicly available information and less reliable financial information about issuers, inconsistent and potentially less stringent accounting, auditing, and financial reporting requirements, and standards of practice comparable to those applicable to domestic issuers; Industry Concentration Risk, such that , the Fund may face more risks than if it were diversified broadly over numerous industries or industry groups including, but not limited to legislative or regulatory changes, adverse market conditions, increased competition within the industry or industry group, and potential underperformance relative to other industries, industry groups or the market as a whole; Issuer-Specific Risk or the potential that 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; Market Risk or the potential of the value of the Fund’s Shares declining, more or less, in correlation with any declines seen in value of the securities in the Underlying Index; Non-Correlation Risk or the potential that the Fund’s return may not match the return of the Underlying Index for a number of reasons including, but not limited to, the incursion of operating expenses not applicable to the Underlying Index, the Fund’s use of representative sampling, and asset valuation differences and differences between the Fund’s portfolio and the Underlying Index resulting from legal restrictions, costs or liquidity constraints; Non-Diversified Fund Risk or the potential for greater fluctuations in the Fund’s share price than would occur in a diversified Fund, stemming from the Fund being considered nondiversified and its ability to invest a greater portion of assets in securities of individual issuers than a diversified fund; Non-Investment Grade Securities Risk, whereby non-investment grade securities – speculative and unrated securities of comparable credit quality – may be subject to the increased risk of an issuer’s inability to meet principal and interest payment obligations. Further, these securities may be subject to greater price volatility due to such factors as specific corporate developments, interest rate sensitivity, negative perceptions of the noninvestment grade securities markets generally, real or perceived adverse economic and competitive industry conditions, and less secondary market liquidity. If the issuer of non-investment grade securities defaults, the Fund may incur additional expenses to seek recovery; Small- and Mid-Capitalization Company Risk, such that investing in securities of small- and mid-capitalization companies involves greater risk than customarily is associated with investing in larger, more established companies. These companies’ securities may be more volatile and less liquid than those of more established companies, with these securities further exhibiting returns that may vary, sometimes significantly, from the overall securities market; and Valuation Risk such that, Financial information related to securities of non-U.S. issuers may be less reliable than information related to securities of U.S. issuers, which may make it difficult to obtain a current price for a non-U.S. security held by the Fund.
Further, there are special risks associated with investing in preferred securities. Preferred securities may include provisions that permit the issuer, in its discretion, to defer or omit distributions for a certain period of time. If the Fund owns a security that is deferring or omitting its distributions, the Fund may be required to report the distribution on its tax returns, even though it may not have received this income. Further, preferred securities may lose substantial value due to the omission or deferment of dividend payments.
Proxy for Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs)
The iShares Core U.S. REIT ETF (“USRT” or the “Fund”) seeks to track the investment results of the FTSE® Nareit Equity REITs Index, an index comprised of U.S. real estate equities, and targets income and growth with broad exposure to U.S. real estate across property sectors. USRT is subject to principal risks which may adversely affect the Fund’s net asset value (NAV), trading price, yield, total return, and ability to meet its investment objective.
USRT also invests in Real Estate Companies, such as REITS or real estate holding and operating companies which may expose investors to the risks of owning real estate directly, as well as to risks that relate specifically to the way in which Real Estate Companies are organized and operated. These risks may include:
Concentration Risk or the risk arising from Real Estate Companies owning a limited number of properties and concentrating their investments in a particular geographic region, industry, and property types, with economic downturns affecting a particular region, industry or property type potentially leading to a high volume of defaults within a short period
Equity REITs Risk. Certain REITs may make direct investments in real estate. These REITs are often referred to as “Equity REITs.” Equity REITs invest primarily in real properties and may earn rental income from leasing those properties. Equity REITs may also realize gains or losses from the sale of properties. Equity REITs will be affected by conditions in the real estate rental market and by changes in the value of the properties they own. A decline in rental income may occur because of extended vacancies, limitations on rents, the failure to collect rents, increased competition from other properties or poor management.
Equity REITs also can be affected by rising interest rates. Rising interest rates may cause investors to demand a high annual yield from future distributions that, in turn, could decrease the market prices for such REITs and for the properties held by such REITs. In addition, rising interest rates also increase the costs of obtaining financing for real estate projects. Because many real estate projects are dependent upon receiving financing, this could cause the value of the Equity REITs in which the Fund invests to decline;
Interest Rate Risk. The rising interest rates could result in higher costs of capital for Real Estate Companies, which could negatively affect a Real Estate Company’s ability to meet its payment obligations. Declining interest rates could result in increased prepayment on loans and require redeployment of capital in less desirable investments;
Illiquidity Risk. Investing in Real Estate Companies may involve risks similar to those associated with investing in small-capitalization companies. Real Estate Company securities may be volatile. Further, there may be less trading in Real Estate Company shares, meaning that purchase and sale transactions in those shares could have a magnified impact on share price, resulting in abrupt or erratic price fluctuations. Finally, real estate is relatively illiquid and, therefore, a Real Estate Company may have a limited ability to vary or liquidate its investments in properties, in response to changes in the economy or other conditions;
Leverage Risk. Real Estate Companies may use leverage (and some may be highly leveraged), which increases investment risk and the risks normally associated with debt financing and could adversely affect a Real Estate Company’s operations and market value in periods of rising interest rates. Financial covenants related to a Real Estate Company’s leveraging may affect the ability of the Real Estate Company to operate effectively. In addition, investments may be subject to defaults by borrowers and tenants. Leveraging may also increase repayment risk.
Loan Foreclosure Risk. Real Estate Companies may foreclose on loans that the Real Estate Company originated and/or acquired. Foreclosure may generate negative publicity for the underlying property that affects its market value. In addition to the length and expense of such proceedings, the validity of the terms of the applicable loan may not be recognized in foreclosure proceedings.
Operational Risk. Real Estate Companies are dependent upon management skills and may have limited financial resources. Real Estate Companies are generally not diversified and may be subject to heavy cash flow dependency, default by borrowers and self-liquidation. In addition, transactions between Real Estate Companies and their affiliates may be subject to conflicts of interest, which may adversely affect a Real Estate Company’s shareholders. A Real Estate Company may also have joint ventures in certain of its properties and, consequently, its ability to control decisions relating to such properties may be limited.
Property Risk. Real Estate Companies may be subject to risks relating to functional obsolescence or reduced desirability of properties; extended vacancies due to economic conditions and tenant bankruptcies; property damage due to events such as earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes, rodent, insect or disease infestations and terrorist acts; eminent domain seizures; and casualty or condemnation losses. Real estate income and values also may be greatly affected by demographic trends, such as population shifts, changing tastes and values, increasing vacancies or declining rents resulting from legal, cultural, technological, global or local economic developments and changes in tax law.
Regulatory Risk. Domestic and foreign laws (including tax laws) may have a potentially adverse effect on real estate values and income. Government actions, such as tax increases, zoning law changes, reduced funding for schools, parks, garbage collection and other public services or environmental regulations also may have a major impact on real estate income and values.
Repayment Risk. The prices of Real Estate Company securities may drop because of the failure of borrowers to repay their loans, poor management, or the inability to obtain financing either on favorable terms or at all. If the properties in which Real Estate Companies invest do not generate sufficient income to meet operating expenses, including, where applicable, debt service, ground lease payments, tenant improvements, third-party leasing commissions and other capital expenditures, the income and ability of the Real Estate Companies to make payments of interest and principal on their loans will be adversely affected.
Residential and Residential-Related REIT Sub-Industry Risk. The ETF invests in Equity REITs that have exposure to residential real estate and certain types of commercial real estate, including properties operated by healthcare providers and self-storage companies. In addition to the risks related to REITs generally, investments in these Equity REITs are subject to additional subsector-specific risks. Residential real estate may be affected by unique supply and demand factors that do not apply to other REIT sub-sectors. In addition, many investors may already have exposure to residential real estate through ownership of a home. The value of healthcare-focused REITs may be affected by changes in federal or state regulation of healthcare providers and reimbursement rates to healthcare providers under Medicare, Medicaid and other public or private health insurance plans. Unlike less specialized commercial real estate, when tenants vacate healthcare-related properties, the ability of property management to find replacement tenants may be impaired by the properties’ specialized healthcare uses. Investments in self-storage REITs are subject to changes in demand levels for self-storage. In addition, self-storage operators may be liable for unplanned environmental and hazardous waste compliance costs associated with operating self-storage locations.
Retail REIT Sub-Industry Risk. The Fund invests in Equity REITs that own and operate properties available for lease to retail companies. In addition to the risks related to REITs generally, investments in these retail REITs are especially sensitive to local and national economic cycles. During times of down cycles, retail REITs are subject to decreases in demand for retail rental properties, defaults by tenants, store closings, and declines in rental market rates resulting from unanticipated economic, legal, or technological developments. Retail REITs are also negatively impacted by retail company bankruptcies and restructuring as a result of, among other things, changes in consumer confidence and spending, intense competition, changes in demographics, and changes in consumer tastes and preferences.
U.S. Tax Risk. Certain U.S. Real Estate Companies are subject to special U.S. federal tax requirements. A REIT that fails to comply with such tax requirements may be subject to U.S. federal income taxation, which may affect the value of the REIT and the characterization of the REIT’s distributions. The U.S. federal tax requirement that a REIT distributes substantially all of its net income to its shareholders may result in the REIT having insufficient capital for future expenditures. A REIT that successfully maintains its qualification may still become subject to U.S. federal, state and local taxes, including excise, penalty, franchise, payroll, mortgage recording, and transfer taxes, both directly and indirectly through its subsidiaries. Because REITs often do not provide complete tax information until after the calendar year-end, the Fund may, at times, need to request permission to extend the deadline for issuing tax reporting statements or to supplement the information otherwise provided to investors.
© 2021 Morningstar. All Rights Reserved. The information contained herein: (1) is proprietary to Morningstar and/or its content providers; (2) may not be copied or distributed; and (3) is not warranted to be accurate, complete or timely. Neither Morningstar nor its content providers are responsible for any damages or losses arising from any use of this information.
Nationwide Fund Advisors (NFA) is the registered investment advisor to Nationwide ETFs, which are distributed by Quasar Distributors LLC. NFA is not affiliated with any distributor, subadviser, or index provider contracted by NFA for the Nationwide ETFs. Nationwide is not an affiliate of third-party sources such as Morningstar, Inc or MSCI. Representatives of the Nationwide ETF Sales Desk are registered with Nationwide Investment Services Corporation (NISC), member FINRA, Columbus, Ohio.
Nationwide, the Nationwide N and Eagle, and Nationwide is on your side are service marks of Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company. © 2021 Nationwide