ISCF

About ISCF

The Fund seeks to track the investment results of the STOXX International Small-Cap Equity Factor Index (the “Underlying Index”), which is a rules-  based equity index provided by STOXX Ltd. (the “Index Provider” or “STOXX”). The Underlying Index is composed of small-capitalization equity securities from the STOXX International Developed Markets Small Cap Index (the “Parent Index”) that are selected and weighted using an optimization process designed to maximize exposure to four target factors: momentum, quality, value, and low volatility. The  Underlying Index seeks to control exposure to, among other things,  industries and countries, limit turnover and maintain a level of risk similar to that of the Parent Index. The Parent Index is a free float market capitalization-weighted index designed to measure the performance of small-capitalization companies from developed market countries excluding the U.S. Small-capitalization companies represent approximately the bottom 15% of the investable market capitalization of each developed market country included in the Parent Index, as determined by STOXX. The momentum score is calculated from the following signals: price momentum, earnings momentum and earnings announcement drift (i.e., the difference between a stock’s performance on and immediately following an earnings announcement date). The quality score is calculated from the following signals: gross profitability, share dilution, accruals, changes in net operating assets, carbon emissions intensity and greenhouse gas (“GHG”) reduction targets. Carbon emissions intensity is based on the issuer’s Scope 1 and Scope 2 GHG emissions (i.e., direct emissions from sources that an issuer owns or controls and indirect emissions from the issuer’s purchase of energy) relative to peers in its Industry Classification Benchmark (“ICB”) Supersector, as reported by Institutional Shareholder Services (“ISS”). The GHG targets signal is based on the robustness of an issuer’s GHG reduction targets, including whether they are part of the Science Based Targets initiative (“SBTi”) framework; this is assessed by ISS based on its own ESG ratings data and SBTi data. The value score is calculated from the following signals: current book value-to-price ratio, dividend yield (i.e., 12-month trailing dividend divided by total market capitalization), earnings yield (i.e., 12-month net income divided by total market capitalization), cash flow yield (i.e., 12-month cash flow divided by total market capitalization) and time series normalized cash flow yield over the previous 36 months. The low volatility score is based on prior 12-month volatility, as calculated by the Index Provider. The maximum weight of a single security is 10%, and the sum of security weights that are individually greater than 4.5% must be less than 22.5% of the Underlying Index. The Index Provider also applies other constraints, such as country and sector exposures relative to the Parent Index, among others. The Underlying Index is reviewed and rebalanced quarterly. As of July 31, 2024, the Underlying Index consisted of approximately 1,027 constituents from companies in the following countries or regions: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom (the “U.K.”). As of July 31, 2024, a significant portion of the Underlying Index is represented by securities of companies in the consumer discretionary and industrials industries or sectors. The components of the Underlying Index are likely to change over time.   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 and Parent Index are sponsored by STOXX, 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 Parent Index and publishes information regarding the market value of the Underlying Index and Parent 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.