IDAT

About IDAT

The Fund seeks to track the investment results of the Morningstar® Global Digital Infrastructure & Connectivity IndexSM (the “Underlying Index”), which measures the performance of equity securities issued by companies positioned to experience meaningful economic benefits from providing products, services, and technologies related to cloud computing and 5G, as determined by Morningstar Indexes or its affiliates (the “Index Provider” or “Morningstar”). The Underlying Index provides exposure to the top 50 companies identified by Morningstar’s equity research team as a producer of promising digital infrastructure technologies consisting of two themes:     • Cloud computing, which enables cloud computing applications through Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) and Platform as a Service (PaaS) solutions; and     • 5G, which enables next generation connectivity through fifth generation broadband cellular networks.Cloud computing encompasses both IaaS and PaaS. IaaS is a solution whereby a public vendor leases commodity equipment and services such as servers, storage, switches, and network access. IaaS is closely related to PaaS, which incorporates the core software needed to make hardware usable. PaaS includes the operating system, hypervisor, database, and development tools, among other solutions. Service agreements can range from on-demand burst capacity or full-time digital infrastructure.5G, which enables next generation connectivity through fifth generation broadband cellular networks, is a collection of technology standards that forms the foundation of wireless networks under development around the world. The standards seek to enable significant increases in network capacity and speeds, as well as improved network management capabilities. These factors enable the use of millions of devices simultaneously. Future 5G networks are expected to provide links for digital infrastructure between consumer devices, sensors, and a host of other users in the field.Using these two themes, the Index Provider then makes forward-looking assessments rather than relying on single point-in-time metrics to identify relevant companies. The Index Provider identifies companies that have any revenue exposure towards a theme today and identifies any companies that have the potential to drive a material net profit increase from that theme over the next five years. The Index Provider then assigns a thematic exposure score from 0-3 to the companies in Morningstar’s global coverage on each theme. The Index Provider designed the thematic exposure scores to share a positive correlation with a given company’s beta relative to each theme. The following scoring framework is used: no or little exposure: 0; modest exposure: 1; moderate exposure: 2; and significant exposure: 3.Thematic exposure scores are reviewed annually by Morningstar's equity research team before each reconstitution of the Underlying Index to help ensure the consistency of the scores.The Underlying Index is rebalanced and reconstituted annually in December. A 2.5% cap on the weight of individual securities is applied during the rebalancing process. The Underlying Index includes large-, mid- and small-capitalization companies and may change over time.As of July 31, 2024, a significant portion of the Underlying Index is represented by securities of companies in the technology industry or sector.BFA uses an indexing approach to try to achieve the Fund’s investment objective. Unlike many investment companies, the Fund does not try to “beat” the index it tracks and does not seek temporary defensive positions when markets decline or appear overvalued.Indexing may eliminate the chance that the Fund will substantially outperform the Underlying Index but also may reduce some of the risks of active management, such as poor security selection. Indexing seeks to achieve lower costs and better after-tax performance by aiming to keep portfolio turnover low in comparison to actively managed investment companies.BFA uses a representative sampling indexing strategy to manage the Fund. “Representative sampling” is an indexing strategy that involves investing in a representative sample of securities that collectively has an investment profile similar to that of an applicable underlying index. The securities selected are expected to have, in the aggregate, investment characteristics (based on factors such as market capitalization and industry weightings), fundamental characteristics (such as return variability and yield) and liquidity measures similar to those of an applicable underlying index. The Fund may or may not hold all of the securities in the Underlying Index.The Fund generally will invest at least 80% of its assets in the component securities of its Underlying Index and in investments that have economic characteristics that are substantially identical to the component securities of its Underlying Index (i.e., depositary receipts representing securities of the Underlying Index) and may invest up to 20% of its assets in certain futures, options and swap contracts, cash and cash equivalents, including shares of money market funds advised by BFA or its affiliates, as well as in securities not included in the Underlying Index, but which BFA believes will help the Fund track the Underlying Index. Cash and cash equivalent investments associated with a derivative position will be treated as part of that position for the purposes of calculating the percentage of investments included in the Underlying Index. The Fund seeks to track the investment results of the Underlying Index before fees and expenses of the Fund.The Fund may lend securities representing up to one-third of the value of the Fund's total assets (including the value of any collateral received).The Underlying Index is sponsored by Morningstar, which is independent of the Fund and BFA. The Index Provider determines the composition and relative weightings of the securities in the Underlying Index and publishes information regarding the market value of the Underlying Index.Industry Concentration Policy. The Fund will concentrate its investments (i.e., hold 25% or more of its total assets) in a particular industry or group of industries to approximately the same extent that the Underlying Index is concentrated. For purposes of this limitation, securities of the U.S. government (including its agencies and instrumentalities) and repurchase agreements collateralized by U.S. government securities are not considered to be issued by members of any industry.