BIZD

About BIZD

The Fund normally invests at least 80% of its total assets in securities that comprise the Fund’s benchmark index and/or in investments or instruments that have investment exposure to securities that comprise its benchmark index. For purposes of this policy, the term “assets” means net assets plus the amount of any borrowings for investment purposes. The BDC Index is comprised of BDCs. To be eligible for the BDC Index and qualify as a BDC, a company must be organized under the laws of, and have its principal place of business in, the United States, be registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission and have elected to be regulated as a BDC under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “Investment Company Act of 1940”). BDCs are vehicles whose principal business is to invest in, lend capital to or provide services to privately-held U.S. companies or thinly traded U.S. public companies. Small- and medium-capitalization BDCs are eligible for inclusion in the BDC Index. The BDC Index is reconstituted and rebalanced quarterly. As of December 31, 2024, the BDC Index included 26 securities of companies with a market capitalization range of between approximately $486 million to $14.1 billion and a weighted average market capitalization of $6.1 billion. This 80% investment policy is non-fundamental and may be changed without shareholder approval upon 60 days’ prior written notice to shareholders.The Fund seeks to achieve its investment objective by primarily investing in securities issued by BDCs and in swaps and other types of derivative instruments that have investment exposure to BDCs, including swaps on the benchmark index and/or swaps on the components that comprise the benchmark index. The notional values of these swaps and other derivative instruments will count towards the Fund’s 80% investment policy and cash and cash equivalents related to the swaps and other derivative instruments will not be counted towards the calculation of total assets. Floating-rate securities owned by BDCs in which the Fund invests may pay interest based on the Secured Overnight Financing Rate (“SOFR”). The Fund may also invest in exchange-traded notes.The Investment Company Act of 1940 places limits on the percentage of the total outstanding stock of a BDC that may be owned by the Fund; however, a Securities and Exchange Commission rule applicable to the Fund permits it to invest in BDCs in excess of this limitation if certain conditions are met.The Fund, using a “passive” or indexing investment approach, attempts to approximate the investment performance of the BDC Index by investing in a portfolio of securities that generally replicates the BDC Index. Unlike many investment companies that try to “beat” the performance of a benchmark index, the Fund does not try to “beat” the BDC Index and does not take temporary defensive positions that are inconsistent with its investment objective of seeking to replicate the BDC Index.The Fund will concentrate its investments in a particular industry or group of industries to the extent that the BDC Index concentrates in an industry or group of industries. As of December 31, 2024, the financials sector represented a significant portion of the Fund.