Form 485APOS Tidal Trust V
AS FILED WITH THE U.S. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION ON JUNE 4, 2026
1933 Act Registration File No.: 333-289817
1940 Act File No.: 811-24116
UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
FORM N-1A
| REGISTRATION STATEMENT UNDER THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933 | ☒ |
| Pre-Effective Amendment No. ___ | ☐ |
| Post-Effective Amendment No. 11 | ☒ |
| and/or | |
| REGISTRATION STATEMENT UNDER THE INVESTMENT COMPANY ACT OF 1940 | ☒ |
| Amendment No. 13 | ☒ |
TIDAL TRUST V
(Exact Name of Registrant as Specified in Charter)
Tidal ETF Services LLC
234 West Florida Street, Suite 700
Milwaukee, WI 53204
(Address of Principal Executive Offices, Zip Code)
(Registrant’s Telephone Number, including Area Code) (855) 843-2534
The Corporation Trust Company
1209 Orange Street
Corporation Trust Center
Wilmington, DE 19801
(Name and Address of Agent for Service)
Copies to:
Eric W. Falkeis Tidal ETF Services LLC 234 West Florida Street, Suite 700 Milwaukee, WI 53204 |
John M. Ford Troutman Pepper Locke LLP 3000 Two Logan Square Eighteenth and Arch Streets Philadelphia, PA 19103 |
It is proposed that this filing will become effective (check appropriate box):
| ☐ | immediately upon filing pursuant to paragraph (b) | |
| ☐ | on (date) pursuant to paragraph (b) | |
| ☐ | 60 days after filing pursuant to paragraph (a)(1) | |
| ☐ | on (date) pursuant to paragraph (a)(1) | |
| ☑ | 75 days after filing pursuant to paragraph (a)(2) | |
| ☐ | on (date) pursuant to paragraph (a)(2) of rule 485. |
Explanatory Note: This Post-Effective Amendment No. 11 to the Registration Statement of Tidal Trust V (the “Trust”) is being filed to add a new series, Defiance Situational Awareness Select ETF, to the Trust.
SUBJECT TO COMPLETION
Dated June 4, 2026
THE INFORMATION HEREIN IS NOT COMPLETE AND MAY BE CHANGED. WE MAY NOT SELL THESE SECURITIES UNTIL THE REGISTRATION STATEMENT FILED WITH THE U.S. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION IS EFFECTIVE. THIS PROSPECTUS IS NOT AN OFFER TO SELL THESE SECURITIES AND IS NOT SOLICITING AN OFFER TO BUY THESE SECURITIES IN ANY JURISDICTION IN WHICH THE OFFER OR SALE IS NOT PERMITTED.

Defiance Situational Awareness Select ETF
listed on [ ] (the “Exchange”)
PROSPECTUS
[ ], 2026
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) has not approved or disapproved of these securities or passed upon the accuracy or adequacy of this Prospectus. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal offense.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
SUMMARY INFORMATION
DEFIANCE SITUATIONAL AWARENESS SELECT ETF – FUND SUMMARY
Investment Objective
The Defiance Situational Awareness Select ETF (the “Fund”) seeks to track the performance, before fees and expenses, of the BITA Situational Awareness Select Index (the “Index”).
Fees and Expenses of the Fund
This table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy, hold, and sell shares of the Fund (“Shares”). You may pay other fees, such as brokerage commissions and other fees to financial intermediaries, which are not reflected in the table and Example below.
| Annual Fund Operating Expenses(1) (expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment) | ||
| Management Fee | [ ] | % |
| Distribution and Service (12b-1) Fees | None | |
| Other Expenses(2) | [ ] | % |
| Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses(3) | [ ] | % |
| (1) | The Fund’s investment adviser, Tidal Investments LLC (the “Adviser”), a Tidal Financial Group company, will pay, or require a sub-adviser to pay, all expenses incurred by the Fund excluding advisory fees, subadvisory fees (if applicable), interest charges on any borrowings, dividends and other expenses on securities sold short, taxes, brokerage commissions and other expenses incurred in placing orders for the purchase and sale of securities and other investment instruments, acquired fund fees and expenses, accrued deferred tax liability, distribution fees and expenses paid by the Fund under any distribution plan adopted pursuant to Rule 12b-1 under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “1940 Act”), and litigation expenses and other non-routine or extraordinary expenses. | ||
| (2) | Based on estimated amounts for the current fiscal year. | ||
| (3) | The cost of investing in swaps, including the embedded cost of the swap and the operating expenses of the referenced assets, is an indirect expense that is not included in the above fee table and is not reflected in the expense example. | ||
Expense Example
This Example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the Fund with the cost of investing in other funds. The Example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the Fund for the time periods indicated and then redeem or hold 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 Fund’s operating expenses remain the same. The Example does not take into account brokerage commissions that you may pay on your purchases and sales of Shares. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:
| 1 Year | 3 Years |
| $[ ] | $[ ] |
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 Shares are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in total annual fund operating expenses or in the Example, affect the Fund’s performance. Because the Fund is newly organized, portfolio turnover information is not yet available.
| 1 |
Principal Investment Strategies
Overview
The Fund uses a “passive management” (or indexing) approach to seek to track the performance, before fees and expenses, of the Index.
The Index uses a rules-based methodology to seek to replicate the investment approach of Situational Awareness LP (“Situational Awareness”), an investment manager led by Leopold Aschenbrenner. The Index was developed by BITA GmbH (the “Index Provider”).
Index Overview:
The Index’s initial universe consists of listed equity securities for which sufficient relevant information is available from public sources. To be eligible for inclusion, a security must be reported as a holding in Situational Awareness’ most recently available Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”). Because Form 13 filings are reported on a delayed basis, the holdings reflected in the Index generally reflect holdings from the prior calendar quarter.
On each determination date, the Index includes as Index components the equity securities disclosed in Situational Awareness’ most recent Form 13F filing. The number of Index components will vary over time. Each Index components is initially weighted based on its allocation as reported in Situational Awareness’ Form 13F filing.
To limit concentration, the Index applies the following capping constraints:
| · | No single issuer may exceed 25% of the total Index weight. |
| · | The aggregate weight of all Index components with individual weights greater than 5% of the Index cannot exceed 45% of the total Index weight. |
The weights in excess are redistributed proportionally among the remaining of the uncapped Index components.
The Index is reconstituted and rebalanced quarterly in March, June, September, and December. Reconstitution refers to updating the Index components based on the most recently available eligibility data, while rebalancing refers to adjusting the weights of the Index components. The determination date for each scheduled reconstitution and rebalance is the close of business on the first Friday of the applicable month. Changes are implemented after the close of trading on the third Friday of the applicable month..
In addition, the Index Provider may determine to substitute an Index component or make an extraordinary adjustment to the Index if it determines an extraordinary event has occurred.
To the extent the Index is concentrated in a particular industry, the Fund is expected to be concentrated in that industry.
The Index is owned, calculated, administered, and disseminated by the Index Provider. The Index Provider is not affiliated with the Fund’s investment adviser, Tidal Investments LLC (the “Adviser”).
The Fund’s Investment Strategy
Under normal circumstances, the Fund will invest at least 80% of the Fund’s net assets (plus borrowings for investment purposes) in investments that provide exposure to the component securities of the Index. For purposes of this policy, investments providing exposure to Index component securities include: (i) the component securities themselves; (ii) depositary receipts representing such securities; and (iii) derivative instruments (e.g., options and total return swaps) that provide economic exposure to one or more Index component securities or to the Index. For purposes of the Fund’s 80% policy, derivative instruments are valued at their notional value.
The Fund attempts to invest all, or substantially all, of its assets in, or obtain indirect economic exposure to, the component securities that make up the Index. The Fund will generally use a “replication” strategy to achieve its investment objective, meaning it generally will invest (directly or indirectly) in all of the component securities of the Index.
The Fund may obtain exposure to the Index, in whole or in part, through derivative instruments, including total return swaps referencing the Index or one or more of its component securities, in order to seek to maintain economic exposure to the Index while complying with applicable regulatory requirements.
| 2 |
The Fund may use a “representative sampling” strategy, meaning it may invest in a sample of the securities in the Index whose risk, return and other characteristics closely resemble the risk, return and other characteristics of the Index as a whole, when the Adviser believes it is in the best interests of the Fund. For example, representative sampling may be used when replicating the Index involves practical difficulties or substantial costs, an Index component becomes temporarily illiquid, unavailable, or less liquid, or as a result of legal restrictions or limitations that apply to the Fund but not to the Index.
The Fund may invest in securities or other investments not included in the Index where the Adviser determines such investments are appropriate. Additionally, the Fund may attempt to replicate the index “synthetically” through the use of derivatives, including options and total return swaps. In addition to supporting the Fund’s efforts to track the Index, these investments may be made when the Adviser believes they will enhance performance or otherwise benefit the Fund. For example, the Fund may invest in non-Index securities in connection with corporate actions or changes to the Index (including reconstitutions, additions, and deletions), as well as for liquidity, cash management, or other portfolio management purposes.
As noted above, the Fund may utilize listed options to obtain synthetic exposure to portfolio securities. The Fund primarily employs short-dated (generally one month or less), in-the-money call options to replicate the performance of underlying equity securities. The Fund may also utilize other option strategies designed to achieve similar synthetic exposure, including purchasing call options and selling put options with identical strike prices.
The Fund will invest in listed equity securities, which may include common stocks, business trust shares, and other equity investments or ownership interests in business enterprises.
The Fund may invest in ADRs to the extent such securities are included in the Index. The Fund may also invest in cash, cash equivalents, or short-term instruments, including money market funds, to manage liquidity, collateralize positions, or temporarily hold assets pending investment.
The Fund is classified as “non-diversified,” which means the Fund may invest a larger percentage of its assets in the securities of a smaller number of issuers than a diversified fund.
Principal Investment Risks
The principal risks of investing in the Fund are summarized below. As with any investment, there is a risk that you could lose all or a portion of your investment in the Fund. Some or all of these risks may adversely affect the Fund’s net asset value (“NAV”) per Share, trading price, yield, total return, and/or ability to meet its investment objective. For more information about the risks of investing in the Fund, see the section in the Fund’s Prospectus titled “Additional Information About the Fund—Principal Risks of Investing in the Fund.”
An investment in the Fund entails risk. The Fund may not achieve its investment objective and there is a risk that you could lose all of your money invested in the Fund. The Fund is not a complete investment program. It is important that investors closely review all of the risks listed below and understand them before making an investment in the Fund.
Each risk summarized below is considered a “principal risk” of investing in the Fund, regardless of the order in which it appears.
| 3 |
Index / Strategy Risks. The Index’s holdings are derived from publicly available data, which may be delayed relative to the then-current portfolio of Situational Awareness. Consequently, the Fund’s holdings, which are based on the Index, may not accurately reflect Situational Awareness’ most recent publicly-disclosed investment positions and may deviate substantially from its actual current portfolio. The equity securities represented in the Index are subject to a range of risks, including, but not limited to, fluctuations in market conditions, increased competition, and evolving regulatory environments, all of which could adversely affect their performance. Moreover, while the Fund seeks to incorporate aspects of Situational Awareness’ investment philosophy, past performance of the companies included in the Index does not guarantee future results. There is no assurance that these companies will deliver positive performance or generate long-term capital appreciation.
Equity Market Risk. Common stocks, such as those held by the Fund, are generally exposed to greater risk than other types of securities, such as preferred stock and debt obligations, because common stockholders generally have inferior rights to receive payment from specific issuers. The equity securities held in the Fund’s portfolio may experience sudden, unpredictable drops in value or long periods of decline in value. This may occur because of factors that affect securities markets generally or factors affecting specific issuers, industries, or sectors in which the Fund invests.
Data Risk. The composition of the Index is heavily dependent on information and data supplied by third parties (“Data”). When Data proves to be incorrect or incomplete, any decisions made in reliance thereon may lead to the inclusion or exclusion of securities from the Index universe that would have been excluded or included had the Data been correct and complete. If the composition of the Index reflects such errors, the Fund’s portfolio can be expected to also reflect the errors.
Passive Investment Risk. The Fund invests in the securities included in, or representative of, its Index regardless of their investment merit. The Fund does not attempt to outperform its Index or take defensive positions in declining markets. As a result, the Fund’s performance may be adversely affected by a general decline in the market segments relating to its Index.
Tracking Error Risk. While the Fund generally seeks to track the performance, before fees and expenses, of the Index, the performance of the Fund and its Index may differ from each other for a variety of reasons. For example, the Fund incurs operating expenses and portfolio transaction costs not incurred by the Index. In addition, the Fund may not be fully invested in the securities of the Index at all times or may hold securities not included in the Index.
Concentration Risk. The Fund’s investment exposure will be concentrated in (or substantially exposed to) the same industry or group of industries to the extent the Index is so concentrated. In such event, the value of Shares may rise and fall more than the value of shares that invest in securities of companies in a broader range of industries.
Management Risk. The risk that the investment techniques and risk analyses applied by the investment adviser will not produce the desired results and that legislative, regulatory, or tax developments may affect the investment techniques available to the investment adviser and the individual portfolio manager in connection with managing the Fund. There is no guarantee that the investment objective of the Fund will be achieved.
Derivatives Risk. Derivatives are financial instruments that derive value from the underlying reference asset or assets, such as stocks, bonds, or funds (including ETFs), interest rates or indexes. The Fund’s investments in derivatives may pose risks in addition to, and greater than, those associated with directly investing in securities or other ordinary investments, including risk related to the market, imperfect correlation with underlying investments or the Fund’s other portfolio holdings, higher price volatility, lack of availability, counterparty risk, liquidity, valuation and legal restrictions. The use of derivatives is a highly specialized activity that involves investment techniques and risks different from those associated with ordinary portfolio securities transactions. The use of derivatives may result in larger losses or smaller gains than directly investing in securities. When the Fund uses derivatives, there may be an imperfect correlation between the value of the underlying reference asset and the derivative, which may prevent the Fund from achieving its investment objective. Because derivatives often require only a limited initial investment, the use of derivatives may expose the Fund to losses in excess of those amounts initially invested.
| 4 |
In addition, the Fund’s investments in derivatives are subject to the following risks:
|
Options Contracts. The use of options contracts involves investment strategies and risks different from those associated with ordinary portfolio securities transactions. The prices of options are volatile and are influenced by, among other things, actual and anticipated changes in the value of the underlying instrument, including the anticipated volatility, which are affected by fiscal and monetary policies and by national and international political, changes in the actual or implied volatility or the reference asset, the time remaining until the expiration of the option contract and economic events. The Fund may experience substantial downside from specific option positions and certain option positions held by the Fund may expire worthless. The options held by the Fund are exercisable at the strike price on their expiration date. As an option approaches its expiration date, its value typically increasingly moves with the value of the underlying instrument. However, prior to such date, the value of an option generally does not increase or decrease at the same rate as the underlying instrument. There may at times be an imperfect correlation between the movement in values options contracts and the underlying instrument, and there may at times not be a liquid secondary market for certain options contracts. The value of the options held by the Fund will be determined based on market quotations or other recognized pricing methods. Additionally, as the Fund’s options contracts are exercised or expire it may enter into new options contracts, a practice referred to as “rolling.” If the expiring options contracts do not generate proceeds enough to cover the cost of entering into new options contracts, the Fund may experience losses.
Swap Agreements. The use of swap transactions is a highly specialized activity that involves investment techniques and risks different from those associated with ordinary portfolio securities transactions. Whether the Fund will be successful in using swap agreements to achieve its investment goal depends on the ability of the Adviser to structure such swap agreements in accordance with the Fund’s investment objective and to identify appropriate counterparties. If the Adviser is unable to enter into swap agreements that provide the desired synthetic exposure to the underlying security, the Fund may not meet its stated investment objective. Additionally, any financing, transaction, or other costs associated with using swap transactions may have the effect of lowering the Fund’s return. |
The swap agreements in which the Fund invests are generally traded in the over-the-counter market, which generally has less transparency than exchange-traded derivative instruments. In a standard swap transaction, two parties agree to exchange the return (or differentials in rates of return) earned or realized on particular predetermined reference assets, securities, or instruments. The gross return to be exchanged or “swapped” between the parties is calculated based on a notional amount or the return on or change in value of a particular dollar amount invested in the reference asset.
If the underlying security experiences a significant price movement that causes a material change in the Fund’s net assets, the terms of a swap agreement between the Fund and its counterparty may permit the counterparty to close out the swap transaction with the Fund. In that event, the Fund may be unable to enter into another swap agreement or invest in other derivatives to maintain exposure consistent with its investment objective. This may temporarily reduce the Fund’s ability to maintain its intended level of synthetic exposure until replacement transactions can be established.
Certain of the swap agreements entered into by the Fund may be unfunded total return swaps, pursuant to which the Fund does not make an initial investment of the full notional amount of the swap. As a result, the Fund is exposed to the risk that its counterparty will be unable to meet its obligations under the swap agreement, and the Fund’s exposure to a counterparty generally equals the net amount owed to the Fund based on the daily change in value of the reference asset. In the event of a counterparty default or insolvency, the Fund may incur losses in excess of the collateral, if any, posted by the counterparty, and the timing and amount of any recovery may be uncertain. In addition, the use of unfunded swap agreements may create economic leverage for the Fund, which may magnify gains and losses and increase the volatility of the Fund’s returns.
Equity Total Return Swaps. A total return swap (also sometimes referred to as a synthetic equity swap or “contract for difference” when written with respect to an equity security or basket of equity securities) is an agreement between two parties under which the parties agree to make payments to each other so as to replicate the economic consequences that would apply had a purchase or short sale of the underlying reference instrument or index thereof taken place. For example, one party agrees to pay the other party the total return earned or realized on the notional amount of an underlying equity security and any dividends declared with respect to that equity security. In return the other party makes payments, typically at a floating rate, calculated based on the notional amount.
| 5 |
Counterparty Risk. The Fund is subject to counterparty risk by virtue of its investments in derivatives which exposes the Fund to the risk that the counterparty will not fulfill its obligation to the Fund. Counterparty risk may arise because of the counterparty’s financial condition (i.e., financial difficulties, bankruptcy, or insolvency), market activities and developments, or other reasons, whether foreseen or not. A counterparty’s inability to fulfill its obligation may result in significant financial loss to the Fund and the Fund may be unable to recover its investment from such counterparty or may obtain a limited and/or delayed recovery. Counterparties may seek to hedge their exposure to individual clients (such as the Fund) by establishing offsetting exposures with other clients, however, there is no guarantee that counterparties will do so under all circumstances. Should a counterparty (e.g., a swap counterparty) terminate its relationship with the Fund, the Fund will seek to utilize other counterparties to seek to maintain its exposures. In addition, the Fund may enter into swap agreements with a limited number of counterparties, which may increase the Fund’s exposure to counterparty credit risk. Further, there is a risk that no suitable counterparties will be willing to enter into, or continue to enter into, transactions with the Fund and, as a result, the Fund may not be able to achieve its investment objective.
ETF Risks
Authorized Participants, Market Makers, and Liquidity Providers Concentration Risk. The Fund has a limited number of financial institutions that are authorized to purchase and redeem Shares directly from the Fund (known as “Authorized Participants” or “APs”). In addition, there may be a limited number of market makers and/or liquidity providers in the marketplace. To the extent either of the following events occur, Shares may trade at a material discount to NAV and possibly face delisting: (i) APs exit the business or otherwise become unable to process creation and/or redemption orders and no other APs step forward to perform these services; or (ii) market makers and/or liquidity providers exit the business or significantly reduce their business activities and no other entities step forward to perform their functions.
Cash Redemption Risk. The Fund’s investment strategy may require it to redeem Shares for cash or to otherwise include cash as part of its redemption proceeds. For example, the Fund may not be able to redeem in-kind certain securities held by the Fund (e.g., derivative instruments). In such a case, the Fund may be required to sell or unwind portfolio investments to obtain the cash needed to distribute redemption proceeds. This may cause the Fund to recognize a capital gain that it might not have recognized if it had made a redemption in-kind. As a result, the Fund may pay out higher annual capital gain distributions than if the in-kind redemption process was used. By paying out higher annual capital gain distributions, investors may be subjected to increased capital gains taxes. The costs associated with cash redemptions may include brokerage costs that the Fund may not have incurred if it had made the redemptions in-kind. These costs could be imposed on the Fund, decreasing its NAV, to the extent these costs are not offset by a transaction fee payable by an authorized participant.
Costs of Buying or Selling Shares. Buying or selling Shares involves certain costs, including brokerage commissions, other charges imposed by brokers, and bid-ask spreads. The bid-ask spread represents the difference between the price at which an investor is willing to buy Shares and the price at which an investor is willing to sell Shares. The spread varies over time based on the Shares’ trading volume and market liquidity. The spread is generally lower if Shares have more trading volume and market liquidity and higher if Shares have little trading volume and market liquidity. Due to the costs of buying or selling Shares, frequent trading of Shares may reduce investment results and an investment in Shares may not be advisable for investors who anticipate regularly making small investments.
Shares May Trade at Prices Other Than NAV. As with all ETFs, Shares may be bought and sold in the secondary market at market prices. Although it is expected that the market price of Shares will approximate the Fund’s NAV, there may be times when the market price of Shares is more than the NAV intra-day (premium) or less than the NAV intra-day (discount) due to supply and demand of Shares or during periods of market volatility. This risk is heightened in times of market volatility, periods of steep market declines, and periods when there is limited trading activity for Shares in the secondary market, in which case such premiums or discounts may be significant.
Trading. Although Shares are listed on a national securities exchange, such as [ ] (the “Exchange”), and may be traded on U.S. exchanges other than the Exchange, there can be no assurance that Shares will trade with any volume, or at all, on any stock exchange. In stressed market conditions, the liquidity of Shares may begin to mirror the liquidity of the Fund’s underlying portfolio holdings, which can be significantly less liquid than Shares. This adverse effect on liquidity for the Fund’s shares may lead to wider bid-ask spreads and differences between the market price of the Fund’s shares and the underlying value of the shares.
Liquidity Risk. In certain circumstances, such as the disruption of the orderly markets for the financial instruments in which the Fund invests, the Fund might not be able to acquire or dispose of certain holdings quickly or at prices that represent true market value in the judgment of the Adviser. Markets for the financial instruments in which the Fund invests may be disrupted by a number of events, including but not limited to economic crises, health crises, natural disasters, excessive volatility, new legislation, or regulatory changes inside or outside of the U.S. These situations may have an impact on the liquidity of the Fund’s own shares.
| 6 |
Economic and Market Risk. Economies and financial markets throughout the world are becoming increasingly interconnected, which increases the likelihood that events or conditions in one country or region will adversely impact markets or issuers in other countries or regions. Securities in the Fund’s portfolio may underperform in comparison to securities in the general financial markets, a particular financial market, or other asset classes, due to a number of factors, including inflation (or expectations for inflation), deflation (or expectations for deflation), interest rates, global demand for particular products or resources, market instability, financial system instability, debt crises and downgrades, embargoes, tariffs, sanctions and other trade barriers, regulatory events, other governmental trade or market control programs and related geopolitical events. In addition, the value of the Fund’s investments may be negatively affected by the occurrence of global events such as war, terrorism, environmental disasters, natural disasters or events, country instability, and infectious disease epidemics or pandemics. The imposition by the U.S. of tariffs on goods imported from foreign countries and reciprocal tariffs levied on U.S. goods by those countries also may lead to volatility and instability in domestic and foreign markets.
High Portfolio Turnover Risk. The Fund may actively and frequently trade all or a significant portion of the Fund’s holdings as it seeks to track the Index. A high portfolio turnover rate increases transaction costs, which may increase the Fund’s expenses. Frequent trading may also cause adverse tax consequences for investors in the Fund due to an increase in short-term capital gains.
Liquidity Risk. Some securities held by the Fund may be difficult to sell or be illiquid, particularly during times of market turmoil. Markets for securities or financial instruments could be disrupted by a number of events, including, but not limited to, an economic crisis, natural disasters, epidemics/pandemics, new legislation or regulatory changes inside or outside the United States. Illiquid securities may be difficult to value, especially in changing or volatile markets. If the Fund is forced to sell an illiquid security at an unfavorable time or price, the Fund may be adversely impacted. There is no assurance that a security that is deemed liquid when purchased will continue to be liquid. Market illiquidity may cause losses for the Fund.
Money Market Instrument Risk. The Fund may use a variety of money market instruments for cash management purposes, including money market funds, depositary accounts and repurchase agreements. Repurchase agreements are contracts in which a seller of securities agrees to buy the securities back at a specified time and price. Repurchase agreements may be subject to market and credit risk related to the collateral securing the repurchase agreement. Money market instruments, including money market funds, may lose money through fees or other means.
New Fund Risk. The Fund is a recently organized management investment company with no operating history. As a result, prospective investors do not have a track record or history on which to base their investment decisions.
Non-Diversification Risk. Because the Fund is “non-diversified,” it may invest a greater percentage of its assets in the securities of a single issuer or a smaller number of issuers than if it was a diversified fund. As a result, a decline in the value of an investment in a single issuer or a smaller number of issuers could cause the Fund’s overall value to decline to a greater degree than if the Fund held a more diversified portfolio.
Operational Risk. The Fund is subject to risks arising from various operational factors, including, but not limited to, human error, processing and communication errors, errors of the Fund’s service providers, counterparties or other third-parties, failed or inadequate processes and technology or systems failures. The Fund relies on third-parties for a range of services, including custody. Any delay or failure relating to engaging or maintaining such service providers may affect the Fund’s ability to meet its investment objective. Although the Fund and Adviser seek to reduce these operational risks through controls and procedures, there is no way to completely protect against such risks.
Risks Related to Changes in Government Policies and Institutions. The U.S. government has recently made, and may continue to make from time to time, significant changes to established, and in some cases longstanding, policies and institutions of the United States federal government, including the restructuring of the United States’ trade relationships, imposition of tariffs on products imported from foreign markets, reducing government investment, and downsizing or dismantling of government agencies. Such changes may have immediate and/or longstanding effects on the economies of the United States, its trade partners, and/or its allies. There could be a wide range of consequences that are difficult or impossible to predict from such actions. Such consequences may include a decrease in regulatory oversight of certain highly regulated industries (banking, financial services, data security, drug and medical device development, and energy), an increase in regulatory backlog leading to significantly slower regulatory approval processes, uncertainty with respect to the authority of certain agencies or their personnel, the inability of the federal government and its agencies to maintain the security of personal data of United States citizens and/or of other digital assets. The business and prospects of companies that do business with the government or which rely on government funding may be materially and adversely affected. This may include the Fund and/or prospective issuers held in the Fund’s investment portfolio.
| 7 |
IPO/SPAC/de-SPAC Risk. The Fund may invest in companies that have recently completed an IPO, are derived from a SPAC, or are derived from a de-SPAC business combination, including SPACs that have not yet completed a business combination (“Pre-Combination” SPACs). These companies may be unseasoned and lack a trading history, a track record of reporting to investors, and widely available research coverage. IPOs and stocks derived from SPACs or de-SPAC business combinations are thus often subject to extreme price volatility and speculative trading. These stocks may have above-average price appreciation in connection with the IPO or relevant transaction prior to the Fund’s purchase. The price of stocks selected may not continue to appreciate and the performance of these stocks may not replicate the performance exhibited in the past. In addition, IPOs and stocks derived from SPACs or de-SPAC business combinations may share similar illiquidity risks of private equity and venture capital. The ownership of many IPOs and stocks derived from SPACs or de-SPACs often includes large holdings by venture capital and private equity investors who seek to sell their shares in the public market in the months following an IPO or relevant transaction when shares restricted by lock-up are released, causing greater volatility and possible downward pressure during the time that locked-up shares are released, and SPAC investments may involve additional risks, including pricing misalignment, limited publicly available information, dependence on the sponsor’s ability to identify and consummate a business combination, potential conflicts of interest, and, in the case of Pre-Combination SPACs, the risk that a suitable business combination is not completed within a specified time period, which may result in liquidation of the SPAC.
Warrants and Rights Risk. The Fund may receive or invest in warrants or rights in connection with its purchase of equity securities, including SPAC units. Warrants and rights do not represent an ownership interest in the issuer but instead confer the right to purchase underlying securities at a specified price, subject to the terms of the instrument. Accordingly, holders of warrants or rights generally do not have voting rights, receive dividends, or have rights with respect to the assets of the issuer. Investments in warrants and rights are speculative and involve a high degree of risk. The value of warrants and rights may be highly volatile and may not move in tandem with the value of the underlying securities. In addition, warrants and rights are complex financial instruments, and their accounting treatment and valuation involve significant judgment. For example, depending on their terms and the specific facts and circumstances of the issuer, warrants may be classified as equity or as assets or liabilities of the issuer, which can affect their valuation and increase the risk of error. Warrants and rights are also subject to the risk that they may expire worthless if not exercised or sold prior to expiration. In addition, the effective cost of acquiring the underlying securities upon exercise (i.e., the purchase price of the warrant or right plus the exercise price) may exceed the market value of the underlying securities at the time of exercise. With respect to SPAC-related investments, if a SPAC does not complete a business combination within the specified time period, any associated warrants or rights held by the Fund may expire worthless.
Tax Risk. The Fund intends to elect and to qualify each year to be treated as a regulated investment company (a “RIC”) under Subchapter M of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (“Code”). As a RIC, the Fund will not be subject to U.S. federal income tax on the portion of its net investment income and net capital gain that it distributes to shareholders, provided that it satisfies certain requirements of the Code. If the Fund does not qualify as a RIC for any taxable year and certain relief provisions are not available, the Fund’s taxable income will be subject to tax at the Fund level and to a further tax at the shareholder level when such income is distributed. To comply with the asset diversification test applicable to a RIC, the Fund will attempt to ensure that the value of swap contracts on shares of a single issuer does not exceed 25% of the Fund’s value at the close of any quarter. If the value of swap contracts on shares of a single issuer were to exceed 25% of the Fund’s total assets at the end of a tax quarter, the Fund, generally, has a grace period to cure such lack of compliance. If the Fund fails to timely cure, it may no longer be eligible to be treated as a RIC.
Underlying Index Risk. Neither the Fund’s investment adviser nor the Index Provider is able to guarantee the continuous availability or timeliness of the production of the Index. The calculation and dissemination of the Index values may be delayed if the information technology or other facilities of the Index Provider, calculation agent, data providers and/or relevant stock exchange malfunction for any reason. A significant delay may cause trading in shares of the Fund to be suspended. Errors in Index data, computation and/or the construction in accordance with its methodology may occur from time to time and may not be identified and corrected by the Index Provider, calculation agent or other applicable party for a period of time or at all, which may have an adverse impact on the Fund and its shareholders.
| 8 |
Performance
Performance information for the Fund is not included because the Fund has not completed a full calendar year of operations as of the date of this Prospectus. When such information is included, this section will provide some indication of the risks of investing in the Fund by showing changes in the Fund’s performance history from year to year and showing how the Fund’s average annual total returns compare with those of the Index and a broad measure of market performance. Although past performance of the Fund is no guarantee of how it will perform in the future, historical performance may give you some indication of the risks of investing in the Fund. Updated performance information will be available on the Fund’s website at https://www.defianceetfs.com.
Management
Investment Adviser: Tidal Investments LLC serves as investment adviser to the Fund.
Portfolio Managers:
The following individuals are jointly and primarily responsible for the day-to-day management of the Fund.
Andy Hicks, Portfolio Manager for the Adviser, has been a portfolio manager of the Fund since its inception in 2026.
Qiao Duan, CFA, Portfolio Manager for the Adviser, has been a portfolio manager of the Fund since its inception in 2026.
CFA® is a registered trademark owned by the CFA Institute.
Purchase and Sale of Shares
The Fund issues and redeems Shares at NAV only in large blocks known as “Creation Units,” which only APs (typically, broker-dealers) may purchase or redeem. The Fund generally issues and redeems Creation Units in exchange for a portfolio of securities (the “Deposit Securities”) and/or a designated amount of U.S. cash.
Shares are listed on a national securities exchange, such as the Exchange, and individual Shares may only be bought and sold in the secondary market through brokers at market prices, rather than NAV. Because Shares trade at market prices rather than NAV, Shares may trade at a price greater than NAV (premium) or less than NAV (discount).
An investor may incur costs attributable to the difference between the highest price a buyer is willing to pay to purchase Shares (the “bid” price) and the lowest price a seller is willing to accept for Shares (the “ask” price) when buying or selling Shares in the secondary market. This difference in bid and ask prices is often referred to as the “bid-ask spread.”
When available, information regarding the Fund’s NAV, market price, how often Shares traded on the Exchange at a premium or discount, and bid-ask spreads can be found on the Fund’s website at https://www.defianceetfs.com.
Tax Information
Fund distributions are generally taxable as ordinary income, qualified dividend income, or capital gains (or a combination), unless an investment is in an individual retirement account (“IRA”) or other tax-advantaged account. Distributions on investments made through tax-deferred arrangements may be taxed later upon withdrawal of assets from those accounts.
Financial Intermediary Compensation
If you purchase Shares through a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary (such as a bank) (an “Intermediary”), the Adviser, or its affiliates may pay Intermediaries for certain activities related to the Fund, including participation in activities that are designed to make Intermediaries more knowledgeable about exchange-traded products, including the Fund, or for other activities, such as marketing, educational training, or other initiatives related to the sale or promotion of Shares. These payments may create a conflict of interest by influencing the Intermediary and your salesperson to recommend the Fund over another investment. Any such arrangements do not result in increased Fund expenses. Ask your salesperson or visit the Intermediary’s website for more information.
| 9 |
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ABOUT THE FUND
Investment Objective
The Fund seeks to track the performance, before fees and expenses, of the Index.
An investment objective is fundamental if it cannot be changed without the consent of the holders of a majority of the outstanding Shares. The Fund’s investment objective has not been adopted as a fundamental investment policy and therefore the Fund’s investment objective may be changed without the consent of the Fund’s shareholders upon approval by the Board of Trustees (the “Board”) of Tidal Trust V (the “Trust”) and at least 60 days’ prior written notice to shareholders.
Principal Investment Strategies
There is no assurance that any Fund will achieve its investment objective and an investment in any Fund could lose a substantial amount of money over a short period of time. No single fund is a complete investment program.
The Fund’s 80% policy is non-fundamental and can be changed without shareholder approval. However, Fund shareholders would be given at least 60 days’ notice prior to any such change.
As described in the Fund’s principal investment strategies in the Prospectus, the Fund employs a flexible investment approach designed to provide exposure to the Index through a combination of direct investments in equity securities and indirect or synthetic investment techniques, including derivatives.
The Fund seeks to invest all, or substantially all, of its assets in, or obtain economic exposure to, the component securities of the Index. The Fund generally employs a “replication” strategy, meaning that it will invest directly or indirectly in all, or substantially all, of the securities comprising the Index. The Fund may also use a “representative sampling” strategy when the Adviser believes such strategy is in the best interests of the Fund. Under a representative sampling approach, the Fund may invest in a subset of Index securities whose aggregate investment characteristics are expected to resemble those of the Index as a whole. Representative sampling may be utilized when replicating the Index would involve practical difficulties or substantial costs, when one or more Index components become temporarily illiquid or unavailable, or due to legal, regulatory, tax, or other limitations applicable to the Fund but not the Index.
The Fund may obtain exposure to the Index synthetically, in whole or in part, through derivatives, including total return swaps referencing the Index or one or more Index component securities, listed options, and other derivative instruments or option strategies designed to replicate the performance characteristics of underlying equity securities.
Direct and Synthetic Investments
The Fund may invest in equity securities either directly or indirectly (synthetically) through the use of derivatives, including options and swap agreements. The Fund generally expects to utilize indirect investment techniques, in part, to facilitate compliance with the qualification requirements applicable to regulated investment companies under the Internal Revenue Code.
The Fund may utilize listed options to obtain synthetic exposure to portfolio securities. The Fund primarily expects to use short-dated (generally one month or less), in-the-money call options to obtain investment exposure substantially similar to direct ownership of underlying equity securities without holding such securities directly. The Fund also may employ other option strategies intended to provide substantially similar economic exposure, including combinations of purchased call options and written put options with identical strike prices.
In addition, the Fund may enter into swap agreements with financial institutions to synthetically replicate the performance of securities included in the Fund’s portfolio or otherwise provide exposure consistent with the Fund’s investment objective. These swap agreements may include total return swaps and other types of swap arrangements with durations ranging from one day to more than one year and may correspond to the Fund’s scheduled Index reconstitutions or other portfolio management considerations. Under a swap agreement, the Fund and the counterparty generally agree to exchange payments based on the performance or return of a referenced security or basket of securities, calculated with respect to a specified notional amount.
| 10 |
The Fund may invest in securities, derivatives, or other investments that are not included in the Index when the Adviser believes such investments will assist the Fund in tracking the Index, enhance performance, manage risk, facilitate efficient portfolio management, or otherwise benefit the Fund. Such investments may include securities of companies that are not Index constituents but that operate in, support, or are otherwise economically connected to the semiconductor foundry ecosystem or related industries, including companies that the Adviser believes may benefit from trends affecting the semiconductor foundry industry.
The Fund’s investments may also include non-Index securities acquired in connection with corporate actions, mergers, acquisitions, spin-offs, restructurings, initial public offerings, Index reconstitutions, additions, deletions, or other changes to the composition of the Index. In addition, the Fund may invest in exchange-traded funds, derivatives, cash and cash equivalents, short-term instruments, money market funds, or other investment vehicles for liquidity management, cash equitization, collateral management, tax efficiency, regulatory compliance, or other portfolio management purposes.
The Fund may invest in listed equity securities, including common stocks, business trust shares, and other equity interests in business enterprises. The Fund also may invest up to 15% of its net assets in equity securities of private companies engaged in semiconductor foundry services that are not publicly listed on a national securities exchange.
The Fund may invest in ADRs to the extent such securities are included in, or otherwise consistent with, the Fund’s investment strategy. The Fund may also hold cash, cash equivalents, and short-term instruments pending investment or for defensive, collateral, or liquidity purposes.
Manager of Managers Structure
Although the Fund is not currently sub-advised, the Fund and the Adviser have received exemptive relief from the SEC permitting the Adviser (subject to certain conditions and the approval of the Board) to change or select new sub-advisers without obtaining shareholder approval. The relief also permits the Adviser to materially amend the terms of agreements with a sub-adviser (including an increase in the fee paid by the Adviser to the sub-adviser (and not paid by the relevant Fund)) or to continue the employment of a sub-adviser after an event that would otherwise cause the automatic termination of services with Board approval, but without shareholder approval. Shareholders will be notified of any sub-adviser changes. The Adviser has the ultimate responsibility, subject to oversight by the Board, to oversee a sub-adviser and recommend their hiring, termination and replacement. The exemptive relief applies to sub-advisers that are either wholly owned by the Adviser or its parent company, as well as to unaffiliated sub-advisers, including those whose affiliation arises solely from their sub-advisory relationship.
Principal Risks of Investing in the Fund
There can be no assurance that the Fund will achieve its investment objective. The following information is in addition to, and should be read along with, the description of the Fund’s principal investment risks in the section titled “Fund Summary— Principal Investment Risks” above. Each risk summarized below is considered a “principal risk” of investing in the Fund’s, regardless of the order in which it appears. The principal risks are presented in alphabetical order to facilitate finding particular risks and comparing them with those of other funds.
Concentration Risk. The Fund’s investment exposure will be concentrated in (or substantially exposed to) the same industry or group of industries to the extent the Index is so concentrated. In such event, the value of Shares may rise and fall more than the value of shares that invest in securities of companies in a broader range of industries.
Counterparty Risk. The Fund is subject to counterparty risk by virtue of its investments in derivatives which exposes the Fund to the risk that the counterparty will not fulfill its obligation to the Fund. Counterparty risk may arise because of the counterparty’s financial condition (i.e., financial difficulties, bankruptcy, or insolvency), market activities and developments, or other reasons, whether foreseen or not. A counterparty’s inability to fulfill its obligation may result in significant financial loss to the Fund and the Fund may be unable to recover its investment from such counterparty or may obtain a limited and/or delayed recovery.
Counterparties may seek to hedge their exposure to individual clients (such as the Fund) by establishing offsetting exposures with other clients, however, there is no guarantee that counterparties will do so under all circumstances. Should a counterparty (e.g., a swap counterparty) terminate its relationship with the Fund, the Fund will seek to utilize other counterparties to seek to maintain its exposures. In addition, the Fund may enter into swap agreements with a limited number of counterparties, which may increase the Fund’s exposure to counterparty credit risk. Further, there is a risk that no suitable counterparties will be willing to enter into, or continue to enter into, transactions with the Fund and, as a result, the Fund may not be able to achieve its investment objective.
| 11 |
Data Risk. The composition of the Index is heavily dependent on information and data supplied by third parties (“Data”). When Data proves to be incorrect or incomplete, any decisions made in reliance thereon may lead to the inclusion or exclusion of securities from the Index universe that would have been excluded or included had the Data been correct and complete. If the composition of the Index reflects such errors, the Fund’s portfolio can be expected to also reflect the errors.
Derivatives Risk. Derivatives are financial instruments that derive value from the underlying reference asset or assets, such as stocks, bonds, or funds (including ETFs), interest rates or indexes. The Fund’s investments in derivatives may pose risks in addition to, and greater than, those associated with directly investing in securities or other ordinary investments, including risk related to the market, imperfect correlation with underlying investments or the Fund’s other portfolio holdings, higher price volatility, lack of availability, counterparty risk, liquidity, valuation and legal restrictions. The use of derivatives is a highly specialized activity that involves investment techniques and risks different from those associated with ordinary portfolio securities transactions. The use of derivatives may result in larger losses or smaller gains than directly investing in securities. When the Fund uses derivatives, there may be an imperfect correlation between the value of the underlying reference asset and the derivative, which may prevent the Fund from achieving its investment objective. Because derivatives often require only a limited initial investment, the use of derivatives may expose the Fund to losses in excess of those amounts initially invested. In addition, the Fund’s investments in derivatives are subject to the following risks:
|
Options Contracts. The use of options contracts involves investment strategies and risks different from those associated with ordinary portfolio securities transactions. The prices of options are volatile and are influenced by, among other things, actual and anticipated changes in the value of the underlying instrument, including the anticipated volatility, which are affected by fiscal and monetary policies and by national and international political, changes in the actual or implied volatility or the reference asset, the time remaining until the expiration of the option contract and economic events. For the Fund in particular, the value of the options contracts in which it invests are substantially influenced by the value of the relevant underlying securities. The Fund may experience substantial downside from specific option positions and certain option positions held by the Fund may expire worthless. The options held by the Fund are exercisable at the strike price on their expiration date. As an option approaches its expiration date, its value typically increasingly move with the value of the underlying instrument. However, prior to such date, the value of an option generally does not increase or decrease at the same rate as the underlying instrument. There may at times be an imperfect correlation between the movement in the values of options contracts and the underlying instrument, and there may at times not be a liquid secondary market for certain options contracts. The value of the options held by the Fund will be determined based on market quotations or other recognized pricing methods. Additionally, as the Fund may continuously maintain indirect exposure to one or more of the underlying securities through the use of options contracts, as the options contracts it holds are exercised or expire it will enter into new options contracts, a practice referred to as “rolling.” If the expiring options contracts do not generate proceeds enough to cover the cost of entering into new options contracts, the Fund may experience losses.
Swap Agreements. The use of swap transactions is a highly specialized activity that involves investment techniques and risks different from those associated with ordinary portfolio securities transactions. Whether the Fund will be successful in using swap agreements to achieve its investment goal depends on the ability of the Adviser to structure such swap agreements in accordance with the Fund’s investment objective and to identify appropriate counterparties. If the Adviser is unable to enter into swap agreements that provide the desired synthetic exposure to the underlying security, the Fund may not meet its stated investment objective. Additionally, any financing, transaction, or other costs associated with using swap transactions may have the effect of lowering the Fund’s return. |
The swap agreements in which the Fund invests are generally traded in the over-the-counter market, which generally has less transparency than exchange-traded derivative instruments. In a standard swap transaction, two parties agree to exchange the return (or differentials in rates of return) earned or realized on particular predetermined reference assets, securities, or instruments. The gross return to be exchanged or “swapped” between the parties is calculated based on a notional amount or the return on or change in value of a particular dollar amount invested in the reference asset.
If the underlying security experiences a significant price movement that causes a material change in the Fund’s net assets, the terms of a swap agreement between the Fund and its counterparty may permit the counterparty to close out the swap transaction with the Fund. In that event, the Fund may be unable to enter into another swap agreement or invest in other derivatives to maintain exposure consistent with its investment objective. This may temporarily reduce the Fund’s ability to maintain its intended level of synthetic exposure until replacement transactions can be established.
Certain of the swap agreements entered into by the Fund may be unfunded total return swaps, pursuant to which the Fund does not make an initial investment of the full notional amount of the swap. As a result, the Fund is exposed to the risk that its counterparty will be unable to meet its obligations under the swap agreement, and the Fund’s exposure to a counterparty generally equals the net amount owed to the Fund based on the daily change in value of the reference asset. In the event of a counterparty default or insolvency, the Fund may incur losses in excess of the collateral, if any, posted by the counterparty, and the timing and amount of any recovery may be uncertain. In addition, the use of unfunded swap agreements may create economic leverage for the Fund, which may magnify gains and losses and increase the volatility of the Fund’s returns.
| 12 |
Equity Total Return Swaps. A total return swap (also sometimes referred to as a synthetic equity swap or “contract for difference” when written with respect to an equity security or basket of equity securities) is an agreement between two parties under which the parties agree to make payments to each other so as to replicate the economic consequences that would apply had a purchase or short sale of the underlying reference instrument or index thereof taken place. For example, one party agrees to pay the other party the total return earned or realized on the notional amount of an underlying equity security and any dividends declared with respect to that equity security. In return the other party makes payments, typically at a floating rate, calculated based on the notional amount.
Economic and Market Risk. Economies and financial markets throughout the world are becoming increasingly interconnected, which increases the likelihood that events or conditions in one country or region will adversely impact markets or issuers in other countries or regions. Securities in the Fund’s portfolio may underperform in comparison to securities in the general financial markets, a particular financial market, or other asset classes, due to a number of factors, including inflation (or expectations for inflation), deflation (or expectations for deflation), interest rates, global demand for particular products or resources, market instability, financial system instability, debt crises and downgrades, embargoes, tariffs, sanctions and other trade barriers, regulatory events, other governmental trade or market control programs and related geopolitical events. In addition, the value of the Fund’s investments may be negatively affected by the occurrence of global events such as war, terrorism, environmental disasters, natural disasters or events, country instability, and infectious disease epidemics or pandemics. The imposition by the U.S. of tariffs on goods imported from foreign countries and reciprocal tariffs levied on U.S. goods by those countries also may lead to volatility and instability in domestic and foreign markets.
Equity Market Risk. Common stocks, such as those held by the Fund, are generally exposed to greater risk than other types of securities, such as preferred stock and debt obligations, because common stockholders generally have inferior rights to receive payment from specific issuers. The equity securities held in the Fund’s portfolio may experience sudden, unpredictable drops in value or long periods of decline in value. This may occur because of factors that affect securities markets generally or factors affecting specific issuers, industries, or sectors in which the Fund invests.
ETF Risks
Authorized Participants, Market Makers, and Liquidity Providers Concentration Risk. The Fund has a limited number of financial institutions that are authorized to purchase and redeem Shares directly from the Fund (known as “Authorized Participants” or “APs”). In addition, there may be a limited number of market makers and/or liquidity providers in the marketplace. To the extent either of the following events occur, Shares may trade at a material discount to NAV and possibly face delisting: (i) APs exit the business or otherwise become unable to process creation and/or redemption orders and no other APs step forward to perform these services; or (ii) market makers and/or liquidity providers exit the business or significantly reduce their business activities and no other entities step forward to perform their functions.
Cash Redemption Risk. The Fund’s investment strategy may require it to redeem Shares for cash or to otherwise include cash as part of its redemption proceeds. For example, the Fund may not be able to redeem in-kind certain securities held by the Fund (e.g., derivative instruments). In such a case, the Fund may be required to sell or unwind portfolio investments to obtain the cash needed to distribute redemption proceeds. This may cause the Fund to recognize a capital gain that it might not have recognized if it had made a redemption in-kind. As a result, the Fund may pay out higher annual capital gain distributions than if the in-kind redemption process was used. By paying out higher annual capital gain distributions, investors may be subjected to increased capital gains taxes. The costs associated with cash redemptions may include brokerage costs that the Fund may not have incurred if it had made the redemptions in-kind. These costs could be imposed on the Fund, decreasing its NAV, to the extent these costs are not offset by a transaction fee payable by an authorized participant.
Costs of Buying or Selling Shares. Buying or selling Shares involves certain costs, including brokerage commissions, other charges imposed by brokers, and bid-ask spreads. The bid-ask spread represents the difference between the price at which an investor is willing to buy Shares and the price at which an investor is willing to sell Shares. The spread varies over time based on the Shares’ trading volume and market liquidity. The spread is generally lower if Shares have more trading volume and market liquidity and higher if Shares have little trading volume and market liquidity. Due to the costs of buying or selling Shares, frequent trading of Shares may reduce investment results and an investment in Shares may not be advisable for investors who anticipate regularly making small investments.
Shares May Trade at Prices Other Than NAV. As with all ETFs, Shares may be bought and sold in the secondary market at market prices. Although it is expected that the market price of Shares will approximate the Fund’s NAV, there may be times when the market price of Shares is more than the NAV intra-day (premium) or less than the NAV intra-day (discount) due to supply and demand of Shares or during periods of market volatility. This risk is heightened in times of market volatility, periods of steep market declines, and periods when there is limited trading activity for Shares in the secondary market, in which case such premiums or discounts may be significant.
| 13 |
Trading. Although Shares are listed on a national securities exchange, such as [ ] (the “Exchange”), and may be traded on U.S. exchanges other than the Exchange, there can be no assurance that Shares will trade with any volume, or at all, on any stock exchange. In stressed market conditions, the liquidity of Shares may begin to mirror the liquidity of the Fund’s underlying portfolio holdings, which can be significantly less liquid than Shares. This adverse effect on liquidity for the Fund’s shares may lead to wider bid-ask spreads and differences between the market price of the Fund’s shares and the underlying value of the shares.
Liquidity Risk. In certain circumstances, such as the disruption of the orderly markets for the financial instruments in which the Fund invests, the Fund might not be able to acquire or dispose of certain holdings quickly or at prices that represent true market value in the judgment of the Adviser. Markets for the financial instruments in which the Fund invests may be disrupted by a number of events, including but not limited to economic crises, health crises, natural disasters, excessive volatility, new legislation, or regulatory changes inside or outside of the U.S. These situations may have an impact on the liquidity of the Fund’s own shares.”
High Portfolio Turnover Risk. The Fund may actively and frequently trade all or a significant portion of the Fund’s holdings as it seeks to track the Index. A high portfolio turnover rate increases transaction costs, which may increase the Fund’s expenses. Frequent trading may also cause adverse tax consequences for investors in the Fund due to an increase in short-term capital gains.
Index / Strategy Risks. The Index’s holdings are derived from publicly available data, which may be delayed relative to the then-current portfolio of Situational Awareness. Consequently, the Fund’s holdings, which are based on the Index, may not accurately reflect Situational Awareness’ most recent publicly-disclosed investment positions and may deviate substantially from its actual current portfolio. The equity securities represented in the Index are subject to a range of risks, including, but not limited to, fluctuations in market conditions, increased competition, and evolving regulatory environments, all of which could adversely affect their performance. Moreover, while the Fund seeks to incorporate aspects of Situational Awareness’ investment philosophy, past performance of the companies included in the Index does not guarantee future results. There is no assurance that these companies will deliver positive performance or generate long-term capital appreciation.
IPO/SPAC/de-SPAC Risk. The Fund may invest in companies that have recently completed an IPO, are derived from a SPAC, or are derived from a de-SPAC business combination, including SPACs that have not yet completed a business combination (“Pre-Combination” SPACs). These companies may be unseasoned and lack a trading history, a track record of reporting to investors, and widely available research coverage. IPOs and stocks derived from SPACs or de-SPAC business combinations are thus often subject to extreme price volatility and speculative trading. These stocks may have above-average price appreciation in connection with the IPO or relevant transaction prior to the Fund’s purchase. The price of stocks selected may not continue to appreciate and the performance of these stocks may not replicate the performance exhibited in the past. In addition, IPOs and stocks derived from SPACs or de-SPAC business combinations may share similar illiquidity risks of private equity and venture capital. The ownership of many IPOs and stocks derived from SPACs or de-SPACs often includes large holdings by venture capital and private equity investors who seek to sell their shares in the public market in the months following an IPO or relevant transaction when shares restricted by lock-up are released, causing greater volatility and possible downward pressure during the time that locked-up shares are released, and SPAC investments may involve additional risks, including pricing misalignment, limited publicly available information, dependence on the sponsor’s ability to identify and consummate a business combination, potential conflicts of interest, and, in the case of Pre-Combination SPACs, the risk that a suitable business combination is not completed within a specified time period, which may result in liquidation of the SPAC.
| 14 |
Liquidity Risk. Some securities held by the Fund may be difficult to sell or be illiquid, particularly during times of market turmoil. Markets for securities or financial instruments could be disrupted by a number of events, including, but not limited to, an economic crisis, natural disasters, epidemics/pandemics, new legislation or regulatory changes inside or outside the United States. Illiquid securities may be difficult to value, especially in changing or volatile markets. If the Fund is forced to sell an illiquid security at an unfavorable time or price, the Fund may be adversely impacted. There is no assurance that a security that is deemed liquid when purchased will continue to be liquid. Market illiquidity may cause losses for the Fund.
Management Risk. The risk that the investment techniques and risk analyses applied by the investment adviser will not produce the desired results and that legislative, regulatory, or tax developments may affect the investment techniques available to the investment adviser and the individual portfolio manager in connection with managing the Fund. There is no guarantee that the investment objective of the Fund will be achieved.
Money Market Instrument Risk. The Fund may use a variety of money market instruments for cash management purposes, including money market funds, depositary accounts and repurchase agreements. Repurchase agreements are contracts in which a seller of securities agrees to buy the securities back at a specified time and price. Repurchase agreements may be subject to market and credit risk related to the collateral securing the repurchase agreement. Money market instruments, including money market funds, may lose money through fees or other means.
New Fund Risk. The Fund is a recently organized management investment company with no operating history. As a result, prospective investors do not have a track record or history on which to base their investment decisions.
Non-Diversification Risk. Because the Fund is “non-diversified,” it may invest a greater percentage of its assets in the securities of a single issuer or a smaller number of issuers than if it was a diversified fund. As a result, a decline in the value of an investment in a single issuer or a smaller number of issuers could cause the Fund’s overall value to decline to a greater degree than if the Fund held a more diversified portfolio.
Operational Risk. The Fund is subject to risks arising from various operational factors, including, but not limited to, human error, processing and communication errors, errors of the Fund’s service providers, counterparties or other third-parties, failed or inadequate processes and technology or systems failures. The Fund relies on third-parties for a range of services, including custody. Any delay or failure relating to engaging or maintaining such service providers may affect the Fund’s ability to meet its investment objective. Although the Fund and Adviser seek to reduce these operational risks through controls and procedures, there is no way to completely protect against such risks.
Passive Investment Risk. The Fund invests in the securities included in, or representative of, its Index regardless of their investment merit. The Fund does not attempt to outperform its Index or take defensive positions in declining markets. As a result, the Fund’s performance may be adversely affected by a general decline in the market segments relating to its Index.
Risks Related to Changes in Government Policies and Institutions. The U.S. government has recently made, and may continue to make from time to time, significant changes to established, and in some cases longstanding, policies and institutions of the United States federal government, including the restructuring of the United States’ trade relationships, imposition of tariffs on products imported from foreign markets, reducing government investment, and downsizing or dismantling of government agencies. Such changes may have immediate and/or longstanding effects on the economies of the United States, its trade partners, and/or its allies. There could be a wide range of consequences that are difficult or impossible to predict from such actions. Such consequences may include a decrease in regulatory oversight of certain highly regulated industries (banking, financial services, data security, drug and medical device development, and energy), an increase in regulatory backlog leading to significantly slower regulatory approval processes, uncertainty with respect to the authority of certain agencies or their personnel, the inability of the federal government and its agencies to maintain the security of personal data of United States citizens and/or of other digital assets. The business and prospects of companies that do business with the government or which rely on government funding may be materially and adversely affected. This may include the Fund and/or prospective issuers held in the Fund’s investment portfolio.
Tax Risk. The Fund intends to elect and to qualify each year to be treated as a regulated investment company (a “RIC”) under Subchapter M of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (“Code”). As a RIC, the Fund will not be subject to U.S. federal income tax on the portion of its net investment income and net capital gain that it distributes to shareholders, provided that it satisfies certain requirements of the Code. If the Fund does not qualify as a RIC for any taxable year and certain relief provisions are not available, the Fund’s taxable income will be subject to tax at the Fund level and to a further tax at the shareholder level when such income is distributed. To comply with the asset diversification test applicable to a RIC, the Fund will attempt to ensure that the value of swap contracts on shares of a single issuer does not exceed 25% of the Fund’s value at the close of any quarter. If the value of swap contracts and options on shares of a single issuer were to exceed 25% of the Fund’s total assets at the end of a tax quarter, the Fund, generally, has a grace period to cure such lack of compliance. If the Fund fails to timely cure, it may no longer be eligible to be treated as a RIC.
Tracking Error Risk. While the Fund generally seeks to track the performance, before fees and expenses, of the Index, the performance of the Fund and its Index may differ from each other for a variety of reasons. For example, the Fund incurs operating expenses and portfolio transaction costs not incurred by the Index. In addition, the Fund may not be fully invested in the securities of the Index at all times or may hold securities not included in the Index.
| 15 |
Underlying Index Risk. Neither the Fund’s investment adviser nor the Index Provider is able to guarantee the continuous availability or timeliness of the production of the Index. The calculation and dissemination of the Index values may be delayed if the information technology or other facilities of the Index Provider, calculation agent, data providers and/or relevant stock exchange malfunction for any reason. A significant delay may cause trading in shares of the Fund to be suspended. Errors in Index data, computation and/or the construction in accordance with its methodology may occur from time to time and may not be identified and corrected by the Index Provider, calculation agent or other applicable party for a period of time or at all, which may have an adverse impact on the Fund and its shareholders.
Warrants and Rights Risk. The Fund may receive or invest in warrants or rights in connection with its purchase of equity securities, including SPAC units. Warrants and rights do not represent an ownership interest in the issuer but instead confer the right to purchase underlying securities at a specified price, subject to the terms of the instrument. Accordingly, holders of warrants or rights generally do not have voting rights, receive dividends, or have rights with respect to the assets of the issuer. Investments in warrants and rights are speculative and involve a high degree of risk. The value of warrants and rights may be highly volatile and may not move in tandem with the value of the underlying securities. In addition, warrants and rights are complex financial instruments, and their accounting treatment and valuation involve significant judgment. For example, depending on their terms and the specific facts and circumstances of the issuer, warrants may be classified as equity or as assets or liabilities of the issuer, which can affect their valuation and increase the risk of error. Warrants and rights are also subject to the risk that they may expire worthless if not exercised or sold prior to expiration. In addition, the effective cost of acquiring the underlying securities upon exercise (i.e., the purchase price of the warrant or right plus the exercise price) may exceed the market value of the underlying securities at the time of exercise. With respect to SPAC-related investments, if a SPAC does not complete a business combination within the specified time period, any associated warrants or rights held by the Fund may expire worthless.
PORTFOLIO HOLDINGS INFORMATION
Information about the Fund’s daily portfolio holdings is, or will be, available on the Fund’s website at www.defianceetfs.com.
A complete description of the Fund’s policies and procedures with respect to the disclosure of the Fund’s portfolio holdings is available in the Fund’s SAI.
Investment Adviser
Tidal Investments LLC (“Tidal” or “Adviser”), a Tidal Financial Group company, located at 234 West Florida Street, Suite 700, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53204, is an SEC registered investment adviser and a Delaware limited liability company. Tidal was founded in March 2012 and is dedicated to understanding, researching and managing assets within the expanding ETF universe. As of [ ], 2026, Tidal had assets under management of approximately $[ ] billion and served as the investment adviser or sub-adviser for [ ] registered funds.
Tidal serves as investment adviser to the Fund and has overall responsibility for the general management and administration of the Fund pursuant to an investment advisory agreement with the Trust, on behalf of the Fund (the “Advisory Agreement”). The Adviser is responsible for trading portfolio securities for the Fund, including selecting broker-dealers to execute purchase and sale transactions. The Adviser also arranges for transfer agency, custody, fund administration, and all other related services necessary for the Fund to operate. For the services provided to the Fund, the Fund pays the Adviser a unitary management fee of [ ]%, which is calculated daily and paid monthly, at an annual rate based on the Fund’s average daily net assets.
Under the Advisory Agreement, in exchange for a single unitary management fee from the Fund, the Adviser has agreed to pay all expenses incurred by the Fund, except for its advisory fee, interest charges on any borrowings, dividends and other expenses on securities sold short, taxes, brokerage commissions and other expenses incurred in placing orders for the purchase and sale of securities and other investment instruments, acquired fund fees and expenses, accrued deferred tax liability, distribution fees and expenses paid by the Fund under any distribution plan adopted pursuant to Rule 12b-1 under the 1940 Act, and litigation expenses, and other non-routine or extraordinary expenses (collectively, the “Excluded Expenses”).
| 16 |
Advisory Agreement
A discussion regarding the basis for the Board’s approval of the Fund’s Investment Advisory Agreement will be available in the Fund’s Semi-Annual Certified Shareholder report to shareholders on Form N-CSR for the period ending [ ], 2026.
Portfolio Managers
The following individuals (each, a “Portfolio Manager”) have served as portfolio managers of the Fund since inception. Each of Mr. Hicks and Ms. Duan is jointly and primarily responsible for the day-to-day management of the Fund.
Andy Hicks, Portfolio Manager for the Adviser
Mr. Hicks serves as SVP of Trading for the Adviser, having joined the Adviser in 2025. Mr. Hicks previously served as Director of ETF Portfolio Management, Trading, and Research at SS&C ALPS Advisors for over ten years. Prior to SS&C ALPS Advisors, Mr. Hicks held roles as a Senior Equity Trader and Research Analyst with Virtus Investment Partners, specializing in equity and ETF trading, and a head equity trader for SCM Advisors. With over 20 years of experience, Mr. Hicks holds an accounting/ finance degree from Miami University (Ohio) and an MBA in Finance from the University of Colorado – Denver.
Qiao Duan, CFA, Portfolio Manager for the Adviser
Qiao Duan serves as Portfolio Manager at the Adviser, having joined the firm in October 2020. From February 2017 to October 2020, she was an execution Portfolio Manager at Exponential ETFs, where she managed research and analysis relating to all Exponential ETF strategies. Ms. Duan previously served as a portfolio manager for the Exponential ETFs from their inception in May 2019 until October 2020. Ms. Duan received a Master of Science in Quantitative Finance and Risk Management from the University of Michigan in 2016 and a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics and Applied Mathematics from Xiamen University in 2014. She holds the CFA designation.
CFA® is a registered trademark owned by the CFA Institute.
The Fund’s SAI provides additional information about each portfolio manager’s compensation structure, other accounts that the portfolio manager manages, and each portfolio manager’s ownership of Shares.
Fund Sponsor
The Adviser has entered into a fund sponsorship agreement with Defiance ETFs, LLC (“Defiance”) pursuant to which Defiance is a sponsor to the Fund. Under this arrangement, Defiance has agreed to provide financial support (as described below) to the Fund. Every month, unitary management fees for the Fund are calculated and paid to the Adviser, and the Adviser retains a portion of the unitary management fees from the Fund.
In return for its financial support for the Fund, the Adviser has agreed to pay Defiance a portion of any remaining profits generated by unitary management fee the Fund. If the amount of the unitary management fees for the Fund exceeds the Fund’s operating expenses and the Adviser-retained amount, that excess amount is considered “remaining profit.” In that case, the Adviser will pay a portion of the remaining profits to Defiance.
If the amount of the unitary management fee for the Fund is less than the Fund’s operating expenses and the Adviser-retained amount, Defiance is obligated to reimburse the Adviser for a portion of the shortfall.
| 17 |
The Fund issues and redeems Shares only in Creation Units at the NAV per share next determined after receipt of an order from an AP. Only APs may acquire Shares directly from the Fund, and only APs may tender their Shares for redemption directly to the Fund, at NAV. APs must be a member or participant of a clearing agency registered with the SEC and must execute a Participant Agreement that has been agreed to by the Distributor (defined below), and that has been accepted by the Fund’s transfer agent, with respect to purchases and redemptions of Creation Units. Once created, Shares trade in the secondary market in quantities less than a Creation Unit.
In order to purchase Creation Units of the Fund, an AP must generally deposit a designated portfolio of equity securities (the “Deposit Securities”) and/or a designated amount of U.S. cash. Purchases and redemptions of Creation Units primarily with cash, rather than through in-kind delivery of portfolio securities, may cause the Fund to incur certain costs. These costs could include brokerage costs or taxable gains or losses that it might not have incurred if it had made redemption in-kind. These costs could be imposed on the Fund, and thus decrease the Fund’s NAV, to the extent that the costs are not offset by a transaction fee payable by an AP.
Most investors buy and sell Shares in secondary market transactions through brokers. Individual Shares are listed for trading on the secondary market on the Exchange and can be bought and sold throughout the trading day like other publicly traded securities.
When buying or selling Shares through a broker, you will incur customary brokerage commissions and charges, and you may pay some or all of the spread between the bid and the offer price in the secondary market on each leg of a round trip (purchase and sale) transaction. In addition, because secondary market transactions occur at market prices, you may pay more than NAV when you buy Shares, and receive less than NAV when you sell those Shares.
Book Entry
Shares are held in book-entry form, which means that no stock certificates are issued. The Depository Trust Company (“DTC”) or its nominee is the record owner of all outstanding Shares.
Investors owning Shares are beneficial owners as shown on the records of DTC or its participants. DTC serves as the securities depository for all Shares. DTC’s participants include securities brokers and dealers, banks, trust companies, clearing corporations and other institutions that directly or indirectly maintain a custodial relationship with DTC. As a beneficial owner of Shares, you are not entitled to receive physical delivery of stock certificates or to have Shares registered in your name, and you are not considered a registered owner of Shares. Therefore, to exercise any right as an owner of Shares, you must rely upon the procedures of DTC and its participants. These procedures are the same as those that apply to any other securities that you hold in book-entry or “street name” through your brokerage account.
Frequent Purchases and Redemptions of Shares
The Fund does not impose any restrictions on the frequency of purchases and redemptions of Shares. In determining not to approve a written, established policy, the Board evaluated the risks of market timing activities by the Fund’s shareholders. Purchases and redemptions by APs, who are the only parties that may purchase or redeem Shares directly with the Fund, are an essential part of the ETF process and help keep Share trading prices in line with the NAV. As such, the Fund accommodates frequent purchases and redemptions by APs. However, the Board has also determined that frequent purchases and redemptions for cash may increase tracking error and portfolio transaction costs and may lead to the realization of capital gains. To minimize these potential consequences of frequent purchases and redemptions, the Fund employs fair value pricing and may impose transaction fees on purchases and redemptions of Creation Units to cover the custodial and other costs incurred by the Fund in effecting trades. In addition, the Fund and the Adviser reserve the right to reject any purchase order at any time.
| 18 |
Determination of Net Asset Value
The Fund’s NAV is calculated as of the scheduled close of regular trading on the New York Stock Exchange (“NYSE”), generally 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time, each day the NYSE is open for regular business. The NAV for the Fund is calculated by dividing the Fund’s net assets by its Shares outstanding.
In calculating its NAV, the Fund generally values its assets on the basis of market quotations, last sale prices, or estimates of value furnished by a pricing service or brokers who make markets in such instruments. If such information is not available for a security held by the Fund or is determined to be unreliable, the security will be valued at fair value estimates under guidelines established by the Adviser (as described below).
Exchange-traded options are valued at the composite mean price, calculated as the average of the highest bid and lowest ask prices across the exchanges on which the option is principally traded. Additionally, the Fund values swap agreements based on the nature of the underlying reference asset or index. The Fund may use the closing price of the underlying reference asset, as provided by independent pricing services, or evaluated prices generated by pricing vendors’ models.
Debt securities are valued by using an evaluated mean of the bid and asked prices provided by independent pricing agents. The independent pricing agents may employ methodologies that utilize actual market transactions (if the security is actively traded), broker dealer supplied valuations, or other methodologies designed to identify the market value for such securities. In arriving at valuations, such methodologies generally consider factors such as security prices, yields, maturities, call features, ratings and developments relating to specific securities.
Generally, trading in non-U.S. securities and money market instruments is substantially completed each day at various times prior to the close of regular trading hours of the NYSE. The values of such securities used in computing the NAV of the Fund are determined as of such times.
Fair Value Pricing
The Board has designated the Adviser as the “valuation designee” for the Fund under Rule 2a-5 of the 1940 Act, subject to its oversight. The Adviser has adopted procedures and methodologies, which have been approved by the Board, to fair value Fund investments whose market prices are not “readily available” or are deemed to be unreliable. For example, such circumstances may arise when: (i) an investment has been delisted or has had its trading halted or suspended; (ii) an investment’s primary pricing source is unable or unwilling to provide a price; (iii) an investment’s primary trading market is closed during regular market hours; or (iv) an investment’s value is materially affected by events occurring after the close of the investment’s primary trading market. Generally, when fair valuing an investment, the Adviser will take into account all reasonably available information that may be relevant to a particular valuation including, but not limited to, fundamental analytical data regarding the issuer, information relating to the issuer’s business, recent trades or offers of the investment, general and/or specific market conditions, and the specific facts giving rise to the need to fair value the investment. Fair value determinations are made in good faith and in accordance with the fair value methodologies included in the Adviser’s valuation procedures. The Adviser will fair value Fund investments whose market prices are not “readily available” or are deemed to be unreliable. Due to the subjective and variable nature of fair value pricing, there can be no assurance that the Adviser will be able to obtain the fair value assigned to the investment upon the sale of such investment.
Delivery of Shareholder Documents – Householding
Householding is an option available to certain investors of the Fund. Householding is a method of delivery, based on the preference of the individual investor, in which a single copy of certain shareholder documents can be delivered to investors who share the same address, even if their accounts are registered under different names. Householding for the Fund is available through certain broker-dealers. If you are interested in enrolling in householding and receiving a single copy of prospectuses and other shareholder documents, please contact your broker-dealer. If you are currently enrolled in householding and wish to change your householding status, please contact your broker-dealer.
| 19 |
DIVIDENDS, DISTRIBUTIONS, AND TAXES
Dividends and Distributions
The Fund intends to pay out dividends and interest income, if any, [annually], and distribute any net realized capital gains to its shareholders at least annually.
The Fund will declare and pay income and capital gain distributions, if any, in cash. Distributions in cash may be reinvested automatically in additional whole Shares only if the broker through whom you purchased Shares makes such option available. Your broker is responsible for distributing the income and capital gain distributions to you.
Taxes
The following discussion is a summary of some important U.S. federal income tax considerations generally applicable to investments in the Fund. Your investment in the Fund may have other tax implications. Please consult your tax advisor about the tax consequences of an investment in Shares, including the possible application of foreign, state, and local tax laws.
The Fund intends to qualify each year for treatment as a regulated investment company (a “RIC”) under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended. If it meets certain minimum distribution requirements, a RIC is not subject to tax at the fund level on income and gains from investments that are timely distributed to shareholders. However, the Fund’s failure to qualify as a RIC or to meet minimum distribution requirements would result (if certain relief provisions were not available) in fund-level taxation and, consequently, a reduction in income available for distribution to shareholders.
Unless your investment in Shares is made through a tax-exempt entity or tax-advantaged account, such as an IRA plan, you need to be aware of the possible tax consequences when the Fund makes distributions, when you sell your Shares listed on the Exchange, and when you purchase or redeem Creation Units (institutional investors only).
The following general discussion of certain U.S. federal income tax consequences is based on provisions of the Code and the regulations issued thereunder as in effect on the date of this Prospectus. New legislation, as well as administrative changes or court decisions, may significantly change the conclusions expressed herein, and may have a retroactive effect with respect to the transactions contemplated herein.
Taxes on Distributions. The Fund intends to pay out dividends and interest income, if any, [annually/monthly], and distribute any net realized capital gains to its shareholders at least annually. For federal income tax purposes, distributions of net investment income are generally taxable as ordinary income or qualified dividend income. Taxes on distributions of net capital gains (if any) are determined by how long the Fund owned the investments that generated them, rather than how long a shareholder has owned their Shares. Sales of assets held by the Fund for more than one year generally result in long-term capital gains and losses, and sales of assets held by the Fund for one year or less generally result in short-term capital gains and losses. Distributions of the Fund’s net capital gain (the excess of net long-term capital gains over net short-term capital losses) that are reported by the Fund as capital gain dividends (“Capital Gain Dividends”) will be taxable as long-term capital gains. Distributions of short-term capital gain will generally be taxable as ordinary income. Dividends and distributions are generally taxable to you whether you receive them in cash or reinvest them in additional Shares.
Distributions reported by the Fund as “qualified dividend income” are generally taxed to non-corporate shareholders at rates applicable to long-term capital gains, provided certain holding period and other requirements are met. “Qualified dividend income” generally is income derived from dividends paid by U.S. corporations or certain foreign corporations that are either incorporated in a U.S. possession or eligible for tax benefits under certain U.S. income tax treaties. In addition, dividends that the Fund receives in respect of stock of certain foreign corporations may be qualified dividend income if that stock is readily tradable on an established U.S. securities market. Corporate shareholders may be entitled to a dividends-received deduction for the portion of dividends they receive from the Fund that are attributable to dividends received by the Fund from U.S. corporations, subject to certain limitations. Given the investment strategies of the Fund, it is unlikely that any dividends paid by the Fund will be qualified dividends or be eligible for the corporate dividends paid deduction.
| 20 |
Shortly after the close of each calendar year, you will be informed of the character of any distributions received from the Fund.
In addition to the federal income tax, certain individuals, trusts, and estates may be subject to a Net Investment Income (“NII”) tax of 3.8%. The NII tax is imposed on the lesser of: (i) a taxpayer’s investment income, net of deductions properly allocable to such income; or (ii) the amount by which such taxpayer’s modified adjusted gross income exceeds certain thresholds ($250,000 for married individuals filing jointly, $200,000 for unmarried individuals and $125,000 for married individuals filing separately). The Fund’s distributions are includable in a shareholder’s investment income for purposes of this NII tax. In addition, any capital gain realized by a shareholder upon a sale or redemption of shares of the Fund is includable in such shareholder’s investment income for purposes of this NII tax.
In general, your distributions are subject to federal income tax for the year in which they are paid. Certain distributions paid in January, however, may be treated as paid on December 31 of the prior year. Distributions are generally taxable even if they are paid from income or gains earned by the Fund before your investment (and thus were included in the Shares’ NAV when you purchased your Shares).
You may wish to avoid investing in the Fund shortly before a dividend or other distribution, because such a distribution will generally be taxable even though it may economically represent a return of a portion of your investment.
If you are neither a resident nor a citizen of the United States or if you are a foreign entity, distributions (other than Capital Gain Dividends) paid to you by the Fund will generally be subject to a U.S. withholding tax at the rate of 30%, unless a lower treaty rate applies. The Fund may, under certain circumstances, report all or a portion of a dividend as an “interest-related dividend” or a “short-term capital gain dividend,” which would generally be exempt from this 30% U.S. withholding tax, provided certain other requirements are met.
Under the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (“FATCA”), the Fund may be required to withhold a generally nonrefundable 30% tax on distributions of net taxable income paid to (A) certain “foreign financial institutions” unless such foreign financial institution agrees to verify, monitor, and report to the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) the identity of certain of its account-holders, among other items (or unless such entity is otherwise deemed compliant under the terms of an intergovernmental agreement between the United States and the foreign financial institution’s country of residence), and (B) certain “non-financial foreign entities” unless such entity certifies to the Fund that it does not have any substantial U.S. owners or provides the name, address, and taxpayer identification number of each substantial U.S. owner, among other items. This FATCA withholding tax could also affect the Fund’s return on its investments in foreign securities or affect a shareholder’s return if the shareholder holds its Fund shares through a foreign intermediary. You are urged to consult your tax adviser regarding the application of this FATCA withholding tax to your investment in the Fund and the potential certification, compliance, due diligence, reporting, and withholding obligations to which you may become subject in order to avoid this withholding tax.
The Fund (or a financial intermediary, such as a broker, through which a shareholder owns Shares) generally is required to withhold and remit to the U.S. Treasury a percentage of the taxable distributions and sale or redemption proceeds paid to any shareholder who fails to properly furnish a correct taxpayer identification number, who has underreported dividend or interest income, or who fails to certify that they are not subject to such withholding.
| 21 |
Taxes When Shares are Sold on the Exchange
Any capital gain or loss realized upon a sale of Shares generally is treated as a long-term capital gain or loss if Shares have been held for more than one year and as a short-term capital gain or loss if Shares have been held for one year or less. However, any capital loss on a sale of Shares held for six months or less is treated as long-term capital loss to the extent of Capital Gain Dividends paid with respect to such Shares. Any loss realized on a sale will be disallowed to the extent Shares of the Fund are acquired, including through reinvestment of dividends, within a 61-day period beginning 30 days before and ending 30 days after the sale of substantially identical Shares.
Taxes on Purchases and Redemptions of Creation Units
An AP having the U.S. dollar as its functional currency for U.S. federal income tax purposes who exchanges securities for Creation Units generally recognizes a gain or a loss. The gain or loss will be equal to the difference between the value of the Creation Units at the time of the exchange and the exchanging AP’s aggregate basis in the securities delivered plus the amount of any cash paid for the Creation Units. An AP who exchanges Creation Units for securities will generally recognize a gain or loss equal to the difference between the exchanging AP’s basis in the Creation Units and the aggregate U.S. dollar market value of the securities received, plus any cash received for such Creation Units. The IRS may assert, however, that a loss that is realized upon an exchange of securities for Creation Units may not be currently deducted under the rules governing “wash sales” (for an AP who does not mark-to-market their holdings) or on the basis that there has been no significant change in economic position. Persons exchanging securities should consult their own tax advisor with respect to whether wash sale rules apply and when a loss might be deductible.
Any capital gain or loss realized upon redemption of Creation Units is generally treated as long-term capital gain or loss if Shares comprising the Creation Units have been held for more than one year and as a short-term capital gain or loss if such Shares have been held for one year or less.
The Fund may include a payment of cash in addition to, or in place of, the delivery of a basket of securities upon the redemption of Creation Units. The Fund may sell portfolio securities to obtain the cash needed to distribute redemption proceeds. This may cause the Fund to recognize investment income and/or capital gains or losses that they might not have recognized if they had completely satisfied the redemption in-kind. As a result, the Fund may be less tax efficient if it includes such a cash payment in the proceeds paid upon the redemption of Creation Units.
Important Tax Considerations When Purchasing Fund Shares
If you are investing through a taxable account, you should carefully consider the timing of your investment relative to the Fund’s distribution schedule. Purchasing Fund shares shortly before a distribution may increase your tax liability, a situation commonly referred to as “buying a dividend.”
When the Fund makes a distribution, its share price typically drops by an amount roughly equal to the distribution. As a hypothetical example, if you invest $5,000 to purchase 250 shares at $20 per share on December 15, and the Fund pays a $1 per share distribution on December 16, the share price would adjust to $19 (ignoring market fluctuations). Although your total investment value remains $5,000 (250 shares × $19 in share value plus 250 shares × $1 distribution), you would owe taxes on the $250 distribution, even if you reinvest the distribution rather than receiving it in cash.
Distributions are taxable to shareholders even if they are paid from income or gains realized by the Fund before you invested, and even if they were reflected in the purchase price of the shares. Consequently, you may incur taxes on income or gains that accrued before your investment, without corresponding benefit.
Unless you are investing through a tax-advantaged account, such as an IRA or an employer-sponsored retirement plan, you may wish to avoid purchasing Fund shares shortly before a distribution. You can minimize the potential tax impact by reviewing the Fund’s distribution schedule prior to investing. When available, information about the Fund’s distribution schedule can be found on the Fund’s website at www.defianceetfs.com.
The foregoing discussion summarizes some of the possible consequences under current federal tax law of an investment in the Fund. It is not a substitute for personal tax advice. You also may be subject to foreign, state and local tax on Fund distributions and sales of Shares. Consult your personal tax advisor about the potential tax consequences of an investment in Shares under all applicable tax laws. For more information, please see the section entitled “Federal Income Taxes” in the SAI.
| 22 |
Foreside Fund Services, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Foreside Financial Group (dba ACA Group), (the “Distributor”), the Fund’s distributor, is a broker-dealer registered with the SEC. The Distributor distributes Creation Units for the Fund on an agency basis and does not maintain a secondary market in Shares. The Distributor has no role in determining the policies of the Fund or the securities that are purchased or sold by the Fund. The Distributor’s principal address is 190 Middle Street, Suite 301, Portland, Maine 04101.
The Board has adopted a Distribution (Rule 12b-1) Plan (the “Plan”) pursuant to Rule 12b-1 under the 1940 Act. In accordance with the Plan, the Fund is authorized to pay an amount up to 0.25% of its average daily net assets each year to pay distribution fees for the sale and distribution of its Shares.
No Rule 12b-1 fees are currently paid by the Fund, and there are no plans to impose these fees. However, in the event Rule 12b-1 fees are charged in the future, because the fees are paid out of assets of the Fund on an ongoing basis, over time these fees will increase the cost of your investment and may cost you more than certain other types of sales charges.
Information regarding how often Shares of the Fund traded on the Exchange at a price above (i.e., at a premium) or below (i.e., at a discount) the NAV of the Fund can be found on the Fund’s website at www.defianceetfs.com.
Shares are not sponsored, endorsed, or promoted by the Exchange. The Exchange is not responsible for, nor has it participated in the determination of, the timing, prices, or quantities of Shares to be issued, nor in the determination or calculation of the equation by which Shares are redeemable. The Exchange has no obligation or liability to owners of Shares in connection with the administration, marketing, or trading of Shares.
Without limiting any of the foregoing, in no event shall the Exchange have any liability for any lost profits or indirect, punitive, special, or consequential damages even if notified of the possibility thereof.
The Adviser and the Fund make no representation or warranty, express or implied, to the owners of Shares or any member of the public regarding the advisability of investing in securities generally or in any Fund particularly.
The Agreement and Declaration of Trust (“Declaration of Trust”) provides a detailed process for the bringing of derivative or direct actions by shareholders in order to permit legitimate inquiries and claims while avoiding the time, expense, distraction, and other harm that can be caused to the Fund or its shareholders as a result of spurious shareholder demands and derivative actions. Prior to bringing a derivative action, a demand by three unrelated shareholders must first be made on the Fund’s Trustees. The Declaration of Trust details various information, certifications, undertakings and acknowledgments that must be included in the demand. Following receipt of the demand, the Trustees have a period of 90 days, which may be extended by an additional 60 days, to consider the demand. If a majority of the Trustees who are considered independent for the purposes of considering the demand determine that maintaining the suit would not be in the best interests of the Fund, the Trustees are required to reject the demand and the complaining shareholders may not proceed with the derivative action unless the shareholders are able to sustain the burden of proof to a court that the decision of the Trustees not to pursue the requested action was not a good faith exercise of their business judgment on behalf of the Fund. The Declaration of Trust further provides that shareholders owning Shares representing no less than a majority of the Fund’s outstanding shares must join in bringing the derivative action. If a demand is rejected, the complaining shareholders will be responsible for the costs and expenses (including attorneys’ fees) incurred by the Fund in connection with the consideration of the demand, if a court determines that the demand was made without reasonable cause or for an improper purpose. If a derivative action is brought in violation of the Declaration of Trust, the shareholders bringing the action may be responsible for the Fund’s costs, including attorneys’ fees, if a court determines that the action was brought without reasonable cause or for an improper purpose. The Declaration of Trust provides that no shareholder may bring a direct action claiming injury as a shareholder of the Trust, or any Fund, where the matters alleged (if true) would give rise to a claim by the Trust or by the Trust on behalf of the Fund, unless the shareholder has suffered an injury distinct from that suffered by the shareholders of the Trust, or the Fund, generally. Under the Declaration of Trust, a shareholder bringing a direct claim must be a shareholder of the Fund with respect to which the direct action is brought at the time of the injury complained of or have acquired the shares afterwards by operation of law from a person who was a shareholder at that time. The Declaration of Trust further provides that the Fund shall be responsible for payment of attorneys’ fees and legal expenses incurred by a complaining shareholder only if required by law, and any attorneys’ fees that the Fund is obligated to pay shall be calculated using reasonable hourly rates. These provisions do not apply to claims brought under the federal securities laws.
The Declaration of Trust also requires that actions by shareholders against the Fund be brought exclusively in a federal or state court located within the State of Delaware. This provision will not apply to claims brought under the federal securities laws. Limiting shareholders’ ability to bring actions only in courts located in Delaware may cause shareholders economic hardship to litigate the action in those courts, including paying for travel expenses of witnesses and counsel, requiring the retention of local counsel, and may limit shareholders’ ability to bring a claim in a judicial forum that shareholders find favorable for disputes, which may discourage such actions.
| 23 |
This section would ordinarily include Financial Highlights. The Financial Highlights table is intended to help you understand the performance of the Fund for its periods of operations. Because the Fund has not yet completed its initial fiscal period as of the date of this Prospectus, no Financial Highlights are shown.
| 24 |
Defiance ETFs
| Adviser | Tidal Investments LLC 234 West Florida Street, Suite 700 Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53204 |
Administrator | Tidal ETF Services LLC 234 West Florida Street, Suite 700 Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53204 |
| Distributor |
Foreside Fund Services, LLC 190 Middle Street, Suite 301 Portland, Maine 04101 |
Fund Accountant and Transfer Agent |
U.S. Bancorp Fund Services, LLC, doing business as U.S. Bank Global Fund Services 615 East Michigan Street Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53202 |
| Legal Counsel | Troutman Pepper Locke LLP 3000 Two Logan Square Eighteenth and Arch Streets Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19103 |
Custodian | U.S. Bank National Association 1555 North Rivercenter Dr. Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53212 |
| Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm |
[ ] |
Investors may find more information about the Fund in the following documents:
Statement of Additional Information: The Fund’s SAI provides additional details about the Fund’s investments and certain other additional information. A current SAI dated [ ], 2026, as supplemented from time to time, is on file with the SEC and is herein incorporated by reference into this Prospectus. It is legally considered a part of this Prospectus.
Annual/Semi-Annual Reports: Additional information about the Fund’s investments will be available in the Fund’s annual and semi-annual reports to shareholders and in Form N-CSR. In the annual Certified Shareholder Report on Form N-CSR you will find a discussion of the market conditions and investment strategies that significantly affected the Fund’s performance after the first fiscal year the Fund is in operation. In Form N-CSR, you will find the Fund’s annual and semi-annual financial statements.
When available, you can obtain free copies of these documents request other information or make general inquiries about the Fund by contacting the Fund at the Defiance ETFs, c/o U.S. Bank Global Fund Services P.O. Box 219252 Kansas City, Missouri 64121-9252 or calling (833) 333-9383.
Shareholder reports, the Fund’s current Prospectus and SAI and other information about the Fund will be available:
| ● | Free of charge from the SEC’s EDGAR database on the SEC’s website at http://www.sec.gov; or | |
| ● | Free of charge from the Fund’s Internet website at www.defianceetfs.com; or | |
| ● | For a fee, by e-mail request to [email protected]. |
(SEC Investment Company Act File No. 811-24116)
| 25 |
SUBJECT
TO COMPLETION
Dated June
4, 2026
THE INFORMATION HEREIN IS NOT COMPLETE AND MAY BE CHANGED. WE MAY NOT SELL THESE SECURITIES UNTIL THE REGISTRATION STATEMENT FILED WITH THE U.S. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION IS EFFECTIVE. THIS STATEMENT OF ADDITIONAL INFORMATION IS NOT AN OFFER TO SELL THESE SECURITIES AND IS NOT SOLICITING AN OFFER TO BUY THESE SECURITIES IN ANY JURISDICTION IN WHICH THE OFFER OR SALE IS NOT PERMITTED.

Defiance Situational Awareness Select ETF ( )
listed on [ ]
STATEMENT OF ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
[ ], 2026
This Statement of Additional Information (“SAI”) is not a prospectus and should be read in conjunction with the Prospectus for the Defiance Situational Awareness Select ETF (the “Fund”), a series of Tidal Trust V (the “Trust”), dated [ ], 2026, as may be supplemented from time to time (the “Prospectus”). Capitalized terms used in this SAI that are not defined have the same meaning as in the Prospectus, unless otherwise noted. A copy of the Prospectus may be obtained without charge, by calling the Fund at (833) 333-9383, visiting www.defianceetfs.com, or writing to the Defiance Situational Awareness Select ETF, c/o U.S. Bank Global Fund Services, P.O. Box 219252, Kansas City, Missouri 64121-9252.
The Fund’s audited financial statements for the most recent fiscal year (when available) will be incorporated into this SAI by reference to the Fund’s most recent annual Certified Shareholder Report on Form N-CSR (File No. 811-24116). When available, a copy of the Fund’s annual Certified Shareholder Report may be obtained at no charge by contacting the Fund at the address or phone number noted above.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
GENERAL INFORMATION ABOUT THE TRUST
The Trust is an open-end management investment company consisting of multiple series, including the Fund. This SAI relates to the Fund. The Trust was organized as a Delaware statutory trust on April 29, 2025. The Trust is registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (together with the rules and regulations adopted thereunder, as amended, the “1940 Act”), as an open-end management investment company and the offering of the Fund’s shares (“Shares”) is registered under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”). The Trust is governed by its Board of Trustees (the “Board”). Tidal Investments LLC (“Tidal” or the “Adviser”) a Tidal Financial Group company, serves as investment adviser to the Fund.
The Fund offers and issues Shares at their net asset value (“NAV”) only in aggregations of a specified number of Shares (each, a “Creation Unit”). The Fund generally offers and issues Shares in exchange for a basket of securities (“Deposit Securities”) together with the deposit of a specified cash payment (“Cash Component”). The Trust reserves the right to permit or require the substitution of a “cash in lieu” amount (“Deposit Cash”) to be added to the Cash Component to replace any Deposit Security. Shares are or will be listed on [ ] (the “Exchange”). Shares trade on the Exchange at market prices that may differ from the Shares’ NAV. Shares are also redeemable only in Creation Unit aggregations, and generally in exchange for portfolio securities and a specified cash payment, or entirely for cash. As a practical matter, only institutions or large investors, known as “Authorized Participants” or “APs,” purchase or redeem Creation Units. Except when aggregated in Creation Units, Shares are not individually redeemable.
Shares may be issued in advance of receipt of Deposit Securities subject to various conditions, including a requirement to maintain on deposit with the Trust cash at least equal to a specified percentage of the value of the missing Deposit Securities, as set forth in the Participant Agreement (as defined below). The Trust may impose a transaction fee for each creation or redemption. In all cases, such fees will be limited in accordance with the requirements of the SEC applicable to management investment companies offering redeemable securities. As in the case of other publicly traded securities, brokers’ commissions on transactions in the secondary market will be based on negotiated commission rates at customary levels.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ABOUT INVESTMENT OBJECTIVES, POLICIES, AND RELATED RISKS
The Fund’s investment objective and principal investment strategies are described in the Prospectus, under “Investment Objective” and “Principal Investment Strategies,” respectively.
The information included in this SAI supplements, and should be read in conjunction with, the Prospectus. For a description of certain permitted investments, see “Description of Permitted Investments” in this SAI.
With respect to the Fund’s investments, unless otherwise noted, if a percentage limitation on investment is adhered to at the time of investment or contract, a subsequent increase or decrease as a result of market movement or redemption will not result in a violation of such investment limitation.
Non-Diversification
The Fund is classified as a non-diversified investment company under the 1940 Act. A “non-diversified” classification means that the Fund is not limited by the 1940 Act’s diversification requirements with regard to the percentage of its assets that may be invested in the securities of a single issuer. This means that the Fund may invest a greater portion of its assets in the securities of a single issuer or a smaller number of issuers than if it was a diversified fund, and therefore, those issuers may constitute a greater portion of the Fund’s portfolio. This may have an adverse effect on the Fund’s performance or subject its Shares to greater price volatility than more diversified investment companies. Moreover, in pursuing its objective, the Fund may hold the securities of a single issuer in an amount exceeding 10% of the value of the outstanding securities of the issuer, subject to restrictions imposed by the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”).
Although the Fund is non-diversified for purposes of the 1940 Act, the Fund intends to maintain the required level of diversification and otherwise conduct its operations so as to qualify as a regulated investment company (“RIC”) for purposes of the Code, and to relieve the Fund of any liability for federal income tax to the extent that their earnings are distributed to shareholders. Compliance with the diversification requirements of the Code may limit the investment flexibility of the Fund and may make it less likely that the Fund will meet its investment objectives. See “Federal Income Taxes” in this SAI for further discussion.
General Risks
The value of the Fund’s portfolio securities may fluctuate with changes in the financial condition of an issuer or counterparty, changes in specific economic or political conditions that affect a particular security or issuer and changes in general economic or political conditions. An investor in the Fund could lose money over short or long periods of time.
1
There can be no guarantee that a liquid market for the securities held by the Fund will be maintained. The existence of a liquid trading market for certain securities may depend on whether dealers will make a market in such securities. There can be no assurance that a market will be made or maintained or that any such market will be or remain liquid. The price at which securities may be sold and the value of Shares will be adversely affected if trading markets for the Fund’s portfolio securities are limited or absent, or if bid-ask spreads are wide.
Financial markets, both domestic and foreign, have recently experienced an unusually high degree of volatility. Continuing events and possible continuing market turbulence may have an adverse effect on performance of the Fund.
Cyber Security Risk. Investment companies, such as the Fund, and their service providers may be subject to operational and information security risks resulting from cyber attacks. Cyber attacks include, among other behaviors, stealing or corrupting data maintained online or digitally, denial of service attacks on websites, the unauthorized release of confidential information or various other forms of cyber security breaches. Cyber attacks affecting the Fund or the Adviser, a sub-adviser, Custodian (defined below), Transfer Agent (defined below), intermediaries and other third-party service providers may adversely impact the Fund. For instance, cyber attacks may interfere with the processing of shareholder transactions, impact the Fund’s ability to calculate its NAV, cause the release of private shareholder information or confidential company information, impede trading, subject the Fund to regulatory fines or financial losses, and cause reputational damage. The Fund may also incur additional costs for cyber security risk management purposes. Similar types of cyber security risks are also present for issuers of securities in which the Fund invests, which could result in material adverse consequences for such issuers, and may cause the Fund’s investment in such portfolio companies to lose value.
DESCRIPTION OF PERMITTED INVESTMENTS
The following are descriptions of the permitted investments and investment practices and the associated risk factors. The Fund will invest in any of the following instruments or engage in any of the following investment practices only if such investment or activity is consistent with the Fund’s investment objective and permitted by the Fund’s stated investment policies. In addition, certain of the techniques and investments discussed in this SAI are not principal strategies of the Fund as disclosed in the Prospectus, and while such techniques and investments are permissible for the Fund to utilize, the Fund is not required to utilize such non-principal techniques or investments.
Borrowing
Under the 1940 Act, the Fund may borrow up to one-third (1/3) of its total assets. The Fund will borrow money only for short-term or emergency purposes. Such borrowing is not for investment purposes and will be repaid by the Fund promptly. Borrowing will tend to exaggerate the effect on NAV of any increase or decrease in the market value of the Fund’s portfolio. Money borrowed will be subject to interest costs that may or may not be recovered by earnings on the securities purchased. The Fund also may be required to maintain minimum average balances in connection with a borrowing or to pay a commitment or other fee to maintain a line of credit; either of these requirements would increase the cost of borrowing over the stated interest rate.
Equity Securities
Equity securities, such as the common stocks of an issuer, are subject to stock market fluctuations and therefore may experience volatile changes in value as market conditions, consumer sentiment, or the financial condition of the issuers change. A decrease in value of the equity securities in the Fund’s portfolio may also cause the value of the Fund’s Shares to decline.
An investment in the Fund should be made with an understanding of the risks inherent in an investment in equity securities, including the risk that the financial condition of issuers may become impaired or that the general condition of the stock market may deteriorate (either of which may cause a decrease in the value of the Fund’s portfolio securities and therefore a decrease in the value of Shares of the Fund). Common stocks are susceptible to general stock market fluctuations and to volatile increases and decreases in value as market confidence and perceptions change. These investor perceptions are based on various and unpredictable factors, including expectations regarding government, economic, monetary and fiscal policies; inflation and interest rates; economic expansion or contraction; and global or regional political, economic or banking crises.
Types of Equity Securities:
Common Stocks — Common stocks represent units of ownership in a company. Common stocks usually carry voting rights and earn dividends. Unlike preferred stocks, which are described below, dividends on common stocks are not fixed but are declared at the discretion of the company’s board of directors.
2
Holders of common stocks incur more risk than holders of preferred stocks and debt obligations because common stockholders, as owners of the issuer, generally have inferior rights to receive payments from the issuer in comparison with the rights of creditors or holders of debt obligations or preferred stocks. Further, unlike debt securities, which typically have a stated principal amount payable at maturity (whose value, however, is subject to market fluctuations prior thereto), or preferred stocks, which typically have a liquidation preference and which may have stated optional or mandatory redemption provisions, common stocks have neither a fixed principal amount nor a maturity. Common stock values are subject to market fluctuations as long as the common stock remains outstanding.
Preferred Stocks — Preferred stocks are also units of ownership in a company. Preferred stocks normally have preference over common stock in the payment of dividends and the liquidation of the company. However, in all other respects, preferred stocks are subordinated to the liabilities of the issuer. Unlike common stocks, preferred stocks are generally not entitled to vote on corporate matters. Types of preferred stocks include adjustable-rate preferred stock, fixed dividend preferred stock, perpetual preferred stock, and sinking fund preferred stock.
Generally, the market values of preferred stock with a fixed dividend rate and no conversion element vary inversely with interest rates and perceived credit risk.
Rights and Warrants — A right is a privilege granted to existing shareholders of a corporation to subscribe to shares of a new issue of common stock before it is issued. Rights normally have a short life of usually two to four weeks, are freely transferable and entitle the holder to buy the new common stock at a lower price than the public offering price. Warrants are securities that are usually issued together with a debt security or preferred stock and that give the holder the right to buy a proportionate amount of common stock at a specified price. Warrants are freely transferable and are traded on major exchanges. Unlike rights, warrants normally have a life that is measured in years and entitles the holder to buy common stock of a company at a price that is usually higher than the market price at the time the warrant is issued. Corporations often issue warrants to make the accompanying debt security more attractive.
An investment in warrants and rights may entail greater risks than certain other types of investments. Generally, rights and warrants do not carry the right to receive dividends or exercise voting rights with respect to the underlying securities, and they do not represent any rights in the assets of the issuer. In addition, their value does not necessarily change with the value of the underlying securities, and they cease to have value if they are not exercised on or before their expiration date. Investing in rights and warrants increases the potential profit or loss to be realized from the investment as compared with investing the same amount in the underlying securities.
Smaller Companies. The securities of small- and mid-capitalization companies may be more vulnerable to adverse issuer, market, political, or economic developments than securities of larger-capitalization companies. The securities of small- and mid-capitalization companies generally trade in lower volumes and are subject to greater and more unpredictable price changes than larger capitalization stocks or the stock market as a whole. Some small- or mid-capitalization companies have limited product lines, markets, and financial and managerial resources and tend to concentrate on fewer geographical markets relative to larger capitalization companies. There is typically less publicly available information concerning small- and mid-capitalization companies than for larger, more established companies. Small- and mid-capitalization companies also may be particularly sensitive to changes in interest rates, government regulation, borrowing costs, and earnings.
Tracking Stocks. The Fund may invest in tracking stocks. A tracking stock is a separate class of common stock whose value is linked to a specific business unit or operating division within a larger company and which is designed to “track” the performance of such business unit or division. The tracking stock may pay dividends to shareholders independent of the parent company. The parent company, rather than the business unit or division, generally is the issuer of tracking stock. However, holders of the tracking stock may not have the same rights as holders of the company’s common stock.
When-Issued Securities — A when-issued security is one whose terms are available and for which a market exists, but which has not been issued. When the Fund engages in when-issued transactions, it relies on the other party to complete the sale. If the other party fails to complete the sale, the Fund may miss the opportunity to obtain the security at a favorable price or yield.
When purchasing a security on a when-issued basis, the Fund assumes the rights and risks of ownership of the security, including the risk of price and yield changes. At the time of settlement, the value of the security may be more or less than the purchase price. The yield available in the market when the delivery takes place also may be higher than those obtained in the transaction itself. Because the Fund does not pay for the security until the delivery date, these risks are in addition to the risks associated with its other investments.
SEC Rule 18f-4 under the 1940 Act (“Rule 18f-4” or the “Derivatives Rule”) permits the Fund to invest in securities on a when-issued or forward-settling basis, or with a non-standard settlement cycle, notwithstanding the limitation on the issuance of senior securities in Section 18 of the 1940 Act, provided that the Fund intends to physically settle the transaction and the transaction will settle within 35 days of its trade date (the “Delayed-Settlement Securities Provision”). A when-issued, forward-settling, or non-standard settlement cycle security that does not satisfy the Delayed-Settlement Securities Provision is treated as a derivatives transaction under Rule 18f-4.
3
Derivative Instruments
Generally, derivatives are financial instruments whose value depends on or is derived from, the value of one or more underlying assets, reference rates, or indices or other market factors (a “reference instrument”) and may relate to stocks, bonds, interest rates, credit, currencies, commodities or related indices. Derivative instruments can provide an efficient means to gain or reduce exposure to the value of a reference instrument without actually owning or selling the instrument. Some common types of derivatives include options, futures, forwards and swaps.
Derivative instruments may be used to modify the effective duration of the Fund’s portfolio investments. Derivative instruments may also be used for “hedging,” which means that they may be used when the Adviser seeks to protect the Fund’s investments from a decline in value resulting from changes to interest rates, market prices, currency fluctuations, or other market factors. Derivative instruments may also be used for other purposes, including to seek to increase liquidity, provide efficient portfolio management, broaden investment opportunities (including taking short or negative positions), implement a tax or cash management strategy, gain exposure to a particular security or segment of the market and/or enhance total return. However derivative instruments are used, their successful use is not assured and will depend upon, among other factors, the Adviser’s ability to gauge relevant market movements.
Derivative instruments may be used for purposes of direct hedging. Direct hedging means that the transaction must be intended to reduce a specific risk exposure of a portfolio security or its denominated currency and must also be directly related to such security or currency. The Fund’s use of derivative instruments may be limited from time to time by policies adopted by the Board or the Adviser.
SEC Rule 18f-4 (“Rule 18f-4” or the “Derivatives Rule”) regulates the ability of the Fund to enter into derivative transactions and other leveraged transactions. The Derivatives Rule defines the term “derivatives” to include short sales and forward contracts, such as TBA transactions, in addition to instruments traditionally classified as derivatives, such as swaps, futures, and options. Rule 18f-4 also regulates other types of leveraged transactions, such as reverse repurchase transactions and transactions deemed to be “similar to” reverse repurchase transactions, such as certain securities lending transactions in connection with which the Fund obtains leverage. Among other things, under Rule 18f-4, the Fund is prohibited from entering into these derivatives transactions except in reliance on the provisions of the Derivatives Rule. The Derivatives Rule establishes limits on the derivatives transactions that the Fund may enter into based on the value-at-risk (“VaR”) of the Fund inclusive of derivatives. The Fund will generally satisfy the limits under the Rule if the VaR of its portfolio (inclusive of derivatives transactions) does not exceed 200% of the VaR of its “designated reference portfolio.” The “designated reference portfolio” is a representative unleveraged index or the Fund’s own portfolio absent derivatives holdings, as determined by the Fund’s derivatives risk manager. This limits test is referred to as the “Relative VaR Test.” If the Fund determines that the Relative VaR Test is not appropriate in light of its strategy, subject to specified conditions, the Fund may instead comply with the “Absolute VaR Test.” The Fund will satisfy the Absolute VaR Test if the VaR of its portfolio does not exceed 20% of the value of the Fund’s net assets.
In addition, among other requirements, Rule 18f-4 requires the Fund to establish a derivatives risk management program, appoint a derivatives risk manager, and carry out enhanced reporting to the Board, the SEC and the public regarding the Fund’s derivatives activities. These new requirements will apply unless the Fund qualifies as a “limited derivatives user,” which the Derivatives Rule defines as a fund that limits its derivatives exposure to 10% of its net assets. It is possible that the limits and compliance costs imposed by the Derivatives Rule may adversely affect the Fund’s performance, efficiency in implementing its strategy, liquidity and/or ability to pursue its investment objectives and may increase the cost of the Fund’s investments and cost of doing business, which could adversely affect investors.
Options
The Fund may purchase and write (sell) put and call options on indices and enter into related closing transactions. A put option on a security gives the purchaser of the option the right to sell, and the writer of the option the obligation to buy, the underlying security at any time during the option period. A call option on a security gives the purchaser of the option the right to buy, and the writer of the option the obligation to sell, the underlying security at any time during the option period. The premium paid to the writer is the consideration for undertaking the obligations under the option contract.
Put and call options on indices are similar to options on securities except that options on an index give the holder the right to receive, upon exercise of the option, an amount of cash if the closing level of the underlying index is greater than (or less than, in the case of puts) the exercise price of the option. This amount of cash is equal to the difference between the closing price of the index and the exercise price of the option, expressed in dollars multiplied by a specified number. Thus, unlike options on individual securities, all settlements are in cash, and gain or loss depends on price movements in the particular market represented by the index generally, rather than the price movements in individual securities.
The Fund may trade put and call options on securities, securities indices and currencies, as the Adviser determines is appropriate in seeking the Fund’s investment objective, and except as restricted by the Fund’s investment limitations.
4
The initial purchase (sale) of an option contract is an “opening transaction.” In order to close out an option position, the Fund may enter into a “closing transaction,” which is simply the purchase of an option contract on the same security with the same exercise price and expiration date as the option contract originally opened. If the Fund is unable to effect a closing purchase transaction with respect to an option it has written, it will not be able to sell the underlying security until the option expires or the Fund delivers the security upon exercise.
The Fund may purchase put and call options on securities to protect against a decline in the market value of the securities in its portfolio or to anticipate an increase in the market value of securities that the Fund may seek to purchase in the future. The Fund purchasing put and call options pays a premium; therefore, if price movements in the underlying securities are such that exercise of the options would not be profitable for the Fund, loss of the premium paid may be offset by an increase in the value of the Fund’s securities or by a decrease in the cost of acquisition of securities by the Fund.
The Fund may write call options on securities as a means of increasing the yield on its assets and as a means of providing limited protection against decreases in its market value. When the Fund writes an option, if the underlying securities do not increase or decrease to a price level that would make the exercise of the option profitable to the holder thereof, the option generally will expire without being exercised and the Fund will realize as profit the premium received for such option. When a call option of which the Fund is the writer is exercised, the Fund will be required to sell the underlying securities to the option holder at the strike price, and will not participate in any increase in the price of such securities above the strike price. When a put option of which the Fund is the writer is exercised, the Fund will be required to purchase the underlying securities at a price in excess of the market value of such securities.
The Fund may purchase and write options on an exchange or over-the-counter. OTC options differ from exchange-traded options in several respects. They are transacted directly with dealers and not with a clearing corporation, and therefore entail the risk of non-performance by the dealer. OTC options are available for a greater variety of securities and for a wider range of expiration dates and exercise prices than are available for exchange-traded options. Because OTC options are not traded on an exchange, pricing is done normally by reference to information from a market maker. It is the SEC’s position that OTC options are generally illiquid.
The market value of an option generally reflects the market price of an underlying security. Other principal factors affecting market value include supply and demand, interest rates, the pricing volatility of the underlying security and the time remaining until the expiration date.
Risks associated with options transactions include (1) the success of a hedging strategy may depend on an ability to predict movements in the prices of individual securities, fluctuations in markets and movements in interest rates, (2) there may be an imperfect correlation between the movement in prices of options and the securities underlying them, (3) there may not be a liquid secondary market for options, and (4) while the Fund will receive a premium when it writes covered call options, it may not participate fully in a rise in the market value of the underlying security.
Swaps
Generally, swap agreements are contracts between the Fund and another party (the swap counterparty) involving the exchange of payments on specified terms over periods ranging from a few days to multiple years. A swap agreement may be negotiated bilaterally and traded OTC between the two parties (for an uncleared swap) or, in some instances, must be transacted through an FCM and cleared through a clearinghouse that serves as a central counterparty (for a cleared swap). In a basic swap transaction, the Fund agrees with the swap counterparty to exchange the returns (or differentials in rates of return) and/or cash flows earned or realized on a particular “notional amount” or value of predetermined underlying reference instruments. The notional amount is the set dollar or other value selected by the parties to use as the basis on which to calculate the obligations that the parties to a swap agreement have agreed to exchange. The parties typically do not actually exchange the notional amount. Instead, they agree to exchange the returns that would be earned or realized if the notional amount were invested in given investments or at given interest rates. Examples of returns that may be exchanged in a swap agreement are those of a particular security, a particular fixed or variable interest rate, a particular non-U.S. currency, or a “basket” of securities representing a particular index. Swaps can also be based on credit and other events.
Most swaps entered into by the Fund provide for the calculation and settlement of the obligations of the parties to the agreement on a “net basis” with a single payment. Consequently, the Fund’s current obligations (or rights) under a swap will generally be equal only to the net amount to be paid or received under the agreement based on the relative values of the positions held by each party to the agreement (the “net amount”). Other swaps may require initial premium (discount) payments as well as periodic payments (receipts) related to the interest leg of the swap or to the return on the reference entity. The Fund’s current obligations under the types of swaps that the Fund expects to enter into will be accrued daily (offset against any amounts owed to the Fund by the counterparty to the swap) and any accrued but unpaid net amounts owed to a swap counterparty will be collateralized by the Fund posting collateral to a tri-party account between the Fund’s custodian, the Fund, and the counterparty. However, typically no payments will be made until the settlement date. Swap agreements do not involve the delivery of securities or other underlying assets. Accordingly, if a swap is entered into on a net basis and if the counterparty to a swap agreement defaults, the Fund’s risk of loss consists of the net amount of payments that the Fund is contractually entitled to receive, if any.
5
Comprehensive swaps regulation. The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 (the “Dodd-Frank Act”) and related regulatory developments imposed comprehensive regulatory requirements on swaps and swap market participants. The regulatory framework includes: (1) registration and regulation of swap dealers and major swap participants; (2) requiring central clearing and execution of standardized swaps; (3) imposing margin requirements on swap transactions; (4) regulating and monitoring swap transactions through position limits and large trader reporting requirements; and (5) imposing record keeping and centralized and public reporting requirements, on an anonymous basis, for most swaps. The CFTC is responsible for the regulation of most swaps. The SEC has jurisdiction over a small segment of the market referred to as “security-based swaps,” which includes swaps on single securities or credits, or narrow-based indices of securities or credits.
Uncleared swaps. In an uncleared swap, the swap counterparty is typically a brokerage firm, bank or other financial institution. The Fund customarily enters into uncleared swaps based on the standard terms and conditions of an International Swaps and Derivatives Association (“ISDA”) Master Agreement. ISDA is a voluntary industry association of participants in the over-the-counter derivatives markets that has developed standardized contracts used by such participants that have agreed to be bound by such standardized contracts. In the event that one party to a swap transaction defaults and the transaction is terminated prior to its scheduled termination date, one of the parties may be required to make an early termination payment to the other. An early termination payment may be payable by either the defaulting or non-defaulting party, depending upon which of them is “in-the-money” with respect to the swap at the time of its termination. Early termination payments may be calculated in various ways, but are intended to approximate the amount the “in-the-money” party would have to pay to replace the swap as of the date of its termination.
During the term of an uncleared swap, the Fund is required to pledge to the swap counterparty, from time to time, an amount of cash and/or other assets equal to the total net amount (if any) that would be payable by the Fund to the counterparty if all outstanding swaps between the parties were terminated on the date in question, including any early termination payments (“variation margin”). Periodically, changes in the amount pledged are made to recognize changes in value of the contract resulting from, among other things, interest on the notional value of the contract, market value changes in the underlying investment, and/or dividends paid by the issuer of the underlying instrument. Likewise, the counterparty will be required to pledge cash or other assets to cover its obligations to the Fund. However, the amount pledged may not always be equal to or more than the amount due to the other party. Therefore, if a counterparty defaults in its obligations to the Fund, the amount pledged by the counterparty and available to the Fund may not be sufficient to cover all the amounts due to the Fund and the Fund may sustain a loss.
Currently, the Fund does not intend to typically provide initial margin in connection with uncleared swaps. However, rules requiring initial margin for uncleared swaps have been adopted and are being phased in over time. When these rules take effect, if the Fund is deemed to have material swaps exposure under applicable swap regulations, the Fund will be required to post initial margin in addition to variation margin.
Cleared swaps. Certain standardized swaps are subject to mandatory central clearing and exchange-trading. The Dodd-Frank Act and implementing rules will ultimately require the clearing and exchange-trading of many swaps. Mandatory exchange-trading and clearing will occur on a phased-in basis based on the type of market participant, CFTC approval of contracts for central clearing and public trading facilities making such cleared swaps available to trade. To date, the CFTC has designated only certain of the most common types of credit default index swaps and interest rate swaps as subject to mandatory clearing and certain public trading facilities have made certain of those cleared swaps available to trade, but it is expected that additional categories of swaps will in the future be designated as subject to mandatory clearing and trade execution requirements. Central clearing is intended to reduce counterparty credit risk and increase liquidity, but central clearing does not eliminate these risks and may involve additional costs and risks not involved with uncleared swaps. See “Risks of cleared swaps” below.
In a cleared swap, the Fund’s ultimate counterparty is a central clearinghouse rather than a brokerage firm, bank or other financial institution. Cleared swaps are submitted for clearing through each party’s FCM, which must be a member of the clearinghouse that serves as the central counterparty. Transactions executed on a swap execution facility (“SEF”) may increase market transparency and liquidity but may require the Fund to incur increased expenses to access the same types of swaps that it has used in the past. When the Fund enters into a cleared swap, it must deliver to the central counterparty (via the FCM) an amount referred to as “initial margin.” Initial margin requirements are determined by the central counterparty, and are typically calculated as an amount equal to the volatility in market value of the cleared swap over a fixed period, but an FCM may require additional initial margin above the amount required by the central counterparty. During the term of the swap agreement, a “variation margin” amount may also be required to be paid by the Fund or may be received by the Fund in accordance with margin controls set for such accounts. If the value of the Fund’s cleared swap declines, the Fund will be required to make additional “variation margin” payments to the FCM to settle the change in value. Conversely, if the market value of the Fund’s position increases, the FCM will post additional “variation margin” to the Fund’s account. At the conclusion of the term of the swap agreement, if the Fund has a loss equal to or greater than the margin amount, the margin amount is paid to the FCM along with any loss in excess of the margin amount. If the Fund has a loss of less than the margin amount, the excess margin is returned to the Fund. If the Fund has a gain, the full margin amount and the amount of the gain is paid to the Fund.
6
Equity total return swaps. A total return swap (also sometimes referred to as a synthetic equity swap or “contract for difference” when written with respect to an equity security or basket of equity securities) is an agreement between two parties under which the parties agree to make payments to each other so as to replicate the economic consequences that would apply had a purchase or short sale of the underlying reference instrument or index thereof taken place. For example, one party agrees to pay the other party the total return earned or realized on the notional amount of an underlying equity security and any dividends declared with respect to that equity security. In return the other party makes payments, typically at a floating rate, calculated based on the notional amount.
Options on swap agreements. An option on a swap agreement generally is an OTC option (see the discussion above on OTC options) that gives the buyer of the option the right, but not the obligation, in return for payment of a premium to the seller, to enter into a previously negotiated swap agreement, or to extend, terminate or otherwise modify the terms of an existing swap agreement. The writer (seller) of an option on a swap agreement receives premium payments from the buyer and, in exchange, becomes obligated to enter into or modify an underlying swap agreement upon the exercise of the option by the buyer. When the Fund purchases an option on a swap agreement, it risks losing only the amount of the premium it has paid should it decide to let the option expire unexercised, plus any related transaction costs.
There can be no assurance that a liquid secondary market will exist for any particular option on a swap agreement, or at any particular time, and the Fund may have difficulty affecting closing transactions in particular options on swap agreements. Therefore, the Fund may have to exercise the options that it purchases in order to realize any profit and take delivery of the underlying swap agreement. The Fund could then incur transaction costs upon the sale or closing out of the underlying swap agreement. In the event that the option on a swap is exercised, the counterparty for such option would be the same counterparty with whom the Fund entered into the underlying swap.
However, if the Fund writes (sells) an option on a swap agreement, the Fund is bound by the terms of the underlying swap agreement upon exercise of the option by the buyer, which may result in losses to the Fund in excess of the premium it received. Options on swap agreements involve the risks associated with derivative instruments generally, as described above, as well as the additional risks associated with both options and swaps generally.
Options on swap agreements are considered to be swaps for purposes of CFTC regulation. Although they are traded OTC, the CFTC may in the future designate certain options on swaps as subject to mandatory clearing. For more information, see “Cleared swaps” and “Risks of cleared swaps.”
An option on an interest rate swap (also sometimes referred to as a “swaption”) is a contract that gives the purchaser the right, but not the obligation, in return for payment of a premium, to enter into a new interest rate swap. A pay fixed option on an interest rate swap gives the buyer the right to establish a position in an interest rate swap where the buyer will pay (and the writer will receive) the fixed-rate cash flows and receive (and the writer will pay) the floating-rate cash flows. In general, most options on interest rate swaps are “European” exercise, which means that they can only be exercised at the end of the option term. Depending on the movement of interest rates between the time of purchase and expiration, the value of the underlying interest rate swap and therefore also the value of the option on the interest rate swap will change.
An option on a credit default swap is a contract that gives the buyer the right (but not the obligation), in return for payment of a premium to the option seller, to enter into a new credit default swap on a reference entity at a predetermined spread on a future date. This spread is the price at which the contract is executed (the option strike price). Similar to a put option, in a payer option on a credit default swap, the option buyer pays a premium to the option seller for the right, but not the obligation, to buy credit protection on a reference entity (e.g., a particular portfolio security) at a predetermined spread on a future date. Similar to a call option, in a receiver option on a credit default swap the option buyer pays a premium for the right, but not the obligation to sell credit default swap protection on a reference entity or index. Depending on the movement of market spreads with respect to the particular referenced debt securities between the time of purchase and expiration of the option, the value of the underlying credit default swap and therefore the value of the option will change. Options on credit default swaps currently are traded OTC and the specific terms of each option on a credit default swap are negotiated directly with the counterparty.
Risks of swaps generally. The use of swap transactions is a highly specialized activity, which involves investment techniques and risks different from those associated with ordinary portfolio securities transactions. Whether the Fund will be successful in using swap agreements to achieve its investment goal depends on the ability of the Adviser correctly to predict which types of investments are likely to produce greater returns. If the Adviser, in using swap agreements, is incorrect in its forecasts of market values, interest rates, inflation, currency exchange rates or other applicable factors, the investment performance of the Fund will be less than its performance would have been if it had not used the swap agreements.
The risk of loss to the Fund for swap transactions that are entered into on a net basis depends on which party is obligated to pay the net amount to the other party. If the counterparty is obligated to pay the net amount to the Fund, the risk of loss to the Fund is loss of the entire amount that the Fund is entitled to receive. If the Fund is obligated to pay the net amount, the Fund’s risk of loss is generally limited to that net amount. If the swap agreement involves the exchange of the entire principal value of a security, the entire principal value of that security is subject to the risk that the other party to the swap will default on its contractual delivery obligations. In addition, the Fund’s risk of loss also includes any margin at risk in the event of default by the counterparty (in an uncleared swap) or the central counterparty or FCM (in a cleared swap), plus any transaction costs.
7
Because bilateral swap agreements are structured as two-party contracts and may have terms of greater than seven days, these swaps may be considered to be illiquid and, therefore, subject to the Fund’s limitation on investments in illiquid securities. If a swap transaction is particularly large or if the relevant market is illiquid, the Fund may not be able to establish or liquidate a position at an advantageous time or price, which may result in significant losses. Participants in the swap markets are not required to make continuous markets in the swap contracts they trade. Participants could refuse to quote prices for swap contracts or quote prices with an unusually widespread between the price at which they are prepared to buy and the price at which they are prepared to sell. Some swap agreements entail complex terms and may require a greater degree of subjectivity in their valuation. However, the swap markets have grown substantially in recent years, with a large number of financial institutions acting both as principals and agents, utilizing standardized swap documentation. As a result, the swap markets have become increasingly liquid. In addition, central clearing and the trading of cleared swaps on public facilities are intended to increase liquidity. The Adviser, under the supervision of the Board, is responsible for determining and monitoring the liquidity of the Fund’s swap transactions.
Rules adopted under the Dodd-Frank Act require centralized reporting of detailed information about many swaps, whether cleared or uncleared. This information is available to regulators and also, to a more limited extent and on an anonymous basis, to the public. Reporting of swap data is intended to result in greater market transparency. This may be beneficial to funds that use swaps in their trading strategies. However, public reporting imposes additional recordkeeping burdens on these funds, and the safeguards established to protect anonymity are not yet tested and may not provide protection of the funds’ identities as intended.
Certain U.S. Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) positions may limit the Fund’s ability to use swap agreements in a desired tax strategy. It is possible that developments in the swap markets and/or the laws relating to swap agreements, including potential government regulation, could adversely affect the Fund’s ability to benefit from using swap agreements, or could have adverse tax consequences. For more information about potentially changing regulation, see “Developing government regulation of derivatives” below.
Risks of uncleared swaps. Uncleared swaps are typically executed bilaterally with a swap dealer rather than traded on exchanges. As a result, swap participants may not be as protected as participants on organized exchanges. Performance of a swap agreement is the responsibility only of the swap counterparty and not of any exchange or clearinghouse. As a result, the Fund is subject to the risk that a counterparty will be unable or will refuse to perform under such agreement, including because of the counterparty’s bankruptcy or insolvency. The Fund risks the loss of the accrued but unpaid amounts under a swap agreement, which could be substantial, in the event of a default, insolvency or bankruptcy by a swap counterparty. In such an event, the Fund will have contractual remedies pursuant to the swap agreements, but bankruptcy and insolvency laws could affect the Fund’s rights as a creditor. If the counterparty’s creditworthiness declines, the value of a swap agreement would likely decline, potentially resulting in losses. In unusual or extreme market conditions, a counterparty’s creditworthiness and ability to perform may deteriorate rapidly, and the availability of suitable replacement counterparties may become limited.
Risks of cleared swaps. As noted above, under recent financial reforms, certain types of swaps are, and others eventually are expected to be, required to be cleared through a central counterparty, which may affect counterparty risk and other risks faced by the Fund.
Central clearing is designed to reduce counterparty credit risk and increase liquidity compared to uncleared swaps because central clearing interposes the central clearinghouse as the counterparty to each participant’s swap, but it does not eliminate those risks completely. There is also a risk of loss by the Fund of the initial and variation margin deposits in the event of bankruptcy of the FCM with which the Fund has an open position, or the central counterparty in a swap contract. The assets of the Fund may not be fully protected in the event of the bankruptcy of the FCM or central counterparty because the Fund might be limited to recovering only a pro rata share of all available funds and margin segregated on behalf of an FCM’s customers. If the FCM does not provide accurate reporting, the Fund is also subject to the risk that the FCM could use the Fund’s assets, which are held in an omnibus account with assets belonging to the FCM’s other customers, to satisfy its own financial obligations or the payment obligations of another customer to the central counterparty. Credit risk of cleared swap participants is concentrated in a few clearinghouses, and the consequences of insolvency of a clearinghouse are not clear.
With cleared swaps, the Fund may not be able to obtain as favorable terms as it would be able to negotiate for a bilateral, uncleared swap. In addition, an FCM may unilaterally amend the terms of its agreement with the Fund, which may include the imposition of position limits or additional margin requirements with respect to the Fund’s investment in certain types of swaps. Central counterparties and FCMs can require termination of existing cleared swap transactions upon the occurrence of certain events, and can also require increases in margin above the margin that is required at the initiation of the swap agreement.
8
Finally, the Fund is subject to the risk that, after entering into a cleared swap with an executing broker, no FCM or central counterparty is willing or able to clear the transaction. In such an event, the Fund may be required to break the trade and make an early termination payment to the executing broker.
Combined transactions. The Fund may enter into multiple derivative instruments, and any combination of derivative instruments as part of a single or combined strategy (a “Combined Transaction”) when the Adviser believes it is in the best interests of the Fund to do so. A Combined Transaction will usually contain elements of risk that are present in each of its component transactions.
Although Combined Transactions are normally entered into based on the Adviser’s judgment that the combined strategies will reduce risk or otherwise more effectively achieve the desired portfolio management goal(s), it is possible that the combination will instead increase such risks or hinder achievement of the portfolio management objective.
Foreign Currencies
Although the Fund intends to only hold investments denominated in U.S. dollars, the Fund may have indirect exposure to foreign currency fluctuations. The Fund’s net asset value could decline if a relevant foreign currency depreciates against the U.S. dollar or if there are delays or limits on the repatriation of such currency. Currency exchange rates can be very volatile and can change quickly and unpredictably. As a result, the Fund’s net asset value may change without warning, which could have a significant negative impact on the Fund.
Illiquid Investments and Restricted Securities
Pursuant to Rule 22e-4 under the 1940 Act, the Fund may not acquire any “illiquid investment” if, immediately after the acquisition, the Fund would have invested more than 15% of its net assets in illiquid investments that are assets. An “illiquid investment” is any investment that the Fund reasonably expects cannot be sold or disposed of in current market conditions in seven calendar days or less without the sale or disposition significantly changing the market value of the investment. The Fund has implemented a liquidity risk management program and related procedures to identify illiquid investments pursuant to Rule 22e-4. The 15% limit shall be observed continuously.
The Fund may purchase certain restricted securities that can be resold to institutional investors and which may be determined not to be illiquid investments pursuant to the Fund’s liquidity risk management program. In many cases, those securities are traded in the institutional market under Rule 144A under the 1933 Act and are called Rule 144A securities.
Investments in illiquid investments involve more risks than investments in similar securities that are readily marketable. Illiquid investments may trade at a discount from comparable, more liquid investments. Investment of the Fund’s assets in illiquid investments may restrict the ability of the Fund to dispose of its investments in a timely fashion and for a fair price as well as its ability to take advantage of market opportunities. The risks associated with illiquidity will be particularly acute where the Fund’s operations require cash, such as when the Fund has net redemptions, and could result in the Fund borrowing to meet short-term cash requirements or incurring losses on the sale of illiquid investments.
Illiquid investments are often restricted securities sold in private placement transactions between issuers and their purchasers and may be neither listed on an exchange nor traded in other established markets. In many cases, the privately placed securities may not be freely transferable under the laws of the applicable jurisdiction or due to contractual restrictions on resale. To the extent privately placed securities may be resold in privately negotiated transactions, the prices realized from the sales could be less than those originally paid by the Fund or less than the fair value of the securities. In addition, issuers whose securities are not publicly traded may not be subject to the disclosure and other investor protection requirements that may be applicable if their securities were publicly traded. If any privately placed securities held by the Fund are required to be registered under the securities laws of one or more jurisdictions before being resold, the Fund may be required to bear the expenses of registration. Private placement investments may involve investments in smaller, less seasoned issuers, which may involve greater risks than investments in more established companies. These issuers may have limited product lines, markets or financial resources, or they may be dependent on a limited management group. In making investments in private placement securities, the Fund may obtain access to material non-public information, which may restrict the Fund’s ability to conduct transactions in those securities.
Investment Company Securities
The Fund may invest in the securities of other investment companies, including money market funds and ETFs, subject to applicable limitations under Section 12(d)(1) of the 1940 Act. Investing in another pooled vehicle exposes the Fund to all the risks of that pooled vehicle. If the Fund invests in and, thus, is a shareholder of, another investment company, the Fund’s shareholders will indirectly bear the Fund’s proportionate share of the fees and expenses paid by such other investment company, including advisory fees, in addition to both the management fees payable directly by the Fund to the Adviser and the other expenses that the Fund bears directly in connection with its own operations.
9
Pursuant to Section 12(d)(1), the Fund may invest in the securities of another investment company (the “acquired company”) provided that the Fund, immediately after such purchase or acquisition, does not own in the aggregate: (1) more than 3% of the total outstanding voting stock of the acquired company; (2) securities issued by the acquired company having an aggregate value in excess of 5% of the value of the total assets of the Fund; or (3) securities issued by the acquired company and all other investment companies (other than treasury stock of the Fund) having an aggregate value in excess of 10% of the value of the total assets of the Fund. To the extent allowed by law or regulation, the Fund may invest its assets in securities of investment companies that are money market funds in excess of the limits discussed above.
However, registered investment companies are permitted to invest in other investment companies beyond the limits set forth in Section 12(d)(1), subject to certain conditions. The Fund may rely on Rule 12d1-4 of the 1940 Act, which provides an exemption from Section 12(d)(1) that allows the Fund to invest beyond the stated limits in other registered funds, including ETFs, if the Fund satisfies certain conditions specified in the Rule.
The Fund may rely on Section 12(d)(1)(F) and Rule 12d1-3 of the 1940 Act, which provide an exemption from Section 12(d)(1) that allows the Fund to invest all of its assets in other registered funds, including ETFs, if, among other conditions: (1) the Fund, together with its affiliates, acquires no more than three percent of the outstanding voting stock of any acquired fund; and (2) the sales load charged on Shares is no greater than the limits set forth in Rule 2830 of the Conduct Rules of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc. (“FINRA”).
Money Market Funds
The Fund may invest in underlying money market funds that either seek to maintain a stable $1 NAV (“stable NAV money market funds”) or that have a share price that fluctuates (“variable NAV market funds”). Although an underlying stable NAV money market fund seeks to maintain a stable $1 NAV, it is possible for the Fund to lose money by investing in such a money market fund. Because the share price of an underlying variable NAV market fund will fluctuate, when the Fund sells the shares it owns they may be worth more or less than what the Fund originally paid for them. In addition, neither type of money market fund is designed to offer capital appreciation. Certain underlying money market funds may impose a fee upon the sale of shares or may temporarily suspend the ability to sell shares if such fund’s liquidity falls below required minimums.
Other Short-Term Instruments
The Fund may invest in short-term instruments, including money market instruments, on an ongoing basis to provide liquidity or for other reasons. Money market instruments are generally short-term investments that may include but are not limited to: (1) shares of money market funds; (2) obligations issued or guaranteed by the U.S. government, its agencies, or instrumentalities (including government-sponsored enterprises); (3) negotiable certificates of deposit (“CDs”), bankers’ acceptances, fixed time deposits, and other obligations of U.S. and foreign banks (including foreign branches) and similar institutions; (4) commercial paper rated at the date of purchase “Prime-1” by Moody’s Investors Service or “A-1” by S&P Global Ratings or, if unrated, of comparable quality as determined by the Adviser; (5) non-convertible corporate debt securities (e.g., bonds and debentures) with remaining maturities at the date of purchase of not more than 397 days and that satisfy the rating requirements set forth in Rule 2a-7 under the 1940 Act; and (6) short-term U.S. dollar-denominated obligations of foreign banks (including U.S. branches) that, in the opinion of the Adviser, are of comparable quality to obligations of U.S. banks which may be purchased by the Fund. Any of these instruments may be purchased on a current or a forward-settled basis. Money market instruments also include shares of money market funds. Time deposits are non-negotiable deposits maintained in banking institutions for specified periods of time at stated interest rates. Bankers’ acceptances are time drafts drawn on commercial banks by borrowers, usually in connection with international transactions.
Repurchase Agreements
The Fund may invest in repurchase agreements with commercial banks, brokers or dealers to generate income from its excess cash balances. A repurchase agreement is an agreement under which the Fund acquires a financial instrument (e.g., a security issued by the U.S. government or an agency thereof, a banker’s acceptance or a certificate of deposit) from a seller, subject to resale to the seller at an agreed upon price and date (normally, the next Business Day). A “Business Day” is any day on which the New York Stock Exchange (“NYSE”) is open for regular trading. A repurchase agreement may be considered a loan collateralized by securities. The resale price reflects an agreed upon interest rate effective for the period the instrument is held by the Fund and is unrelated to the interest rate on the underlying instrument.
In these repurchase agreement transactions, the securities acquired by the Fund (including accrued interest earned thereon) must have a total value in excess of the value of the repurchase agreement and are held by the Fund’s custodian bank until repurchased. No more than an aggregate of 15% of the Fund’s net assets will be invested in illiquid securities, including repurchase agreements having maturities longer than seven days and securities subject to legal or contractual restrictions on resale, or for which there are no readily available market quotations.
10
The use of repurchase agreements involves certain risks. For example, if the other party to the agreement defaults on its obligation to repurchase the underlying security at a time when the value of the security has declined, the Fund may incur a loss upon disposition of the security. If the other party to the agreement becomes insolvent and subject to liquidation or reorganization under the U.S. Bankruptcy Code or other laws, a court may determine that the underlying security is collateral for a loan by the Fund not within the control of such Fund and, therefore, the Fund may not be able to substantiate its interest in the underlying security and may be deemed an unsecured creditor of the other party to the agreement.
Securities Lending
If approved by the Board, the Fund may lend portfolio securities to certain creditworthy borrowers. The borrowers provide collateral that is maintained in an amount at least equal to the current value of the securities loaned. The Fund may terminate a loan at any time and obtain the return of the securities loaned. The lending Fund receives the value of any interest or cash or non-cash distributions paid on the loaned securities. Distributions received on loaned securities in lieu of dividend payments (i.e., substitute payments) would not be considered qualified dividend income.
With respect to loans that are collateralized by cash, the borrower will be entitled to receive a fee based on the amount of cash collateral. The Fund is compensated by the difference between the amount earned on the reinvestment of cash collateral and the fee paid to the borrower. In the case of collateral other than cash, the Fund is compensated by a fee paid by the borrower equal to a percentage of the value of the loaned securities. Any cash collateral may be reinvested in certain short-term instruments either directly on behalf of the lending Fund or through one or more joint accounts or money market funds, which may include those managed by the Adviser.
The Fund may pay a portion of the interest or fees earned from securities lending to a borrower as described above, and to one or more securities lending agents approved by the Board who administer the lending program for the Fund in accordance with guidelines approved by the Board. In such capacity, the lending agent causes the delivery of loaned securities from the Fund to borrowers, arranges for the return of loaned securities to the Fund at the termination of a loan, requests deposit of collateral, monitors the daily value of the loaned securities and collateral, requests that borrowers add to the collateral when required by the loan agreements, and provides recordkeeping and accounting services necessary for the operation of the program.
Securities lending involves exposure to certain risks, including operational risk (i.e., the risk of losses resulting from problems in the settlement and accounting process), “gap” risk (i.e., the risk of a mismatch between the return on cash collateral reinvestments and the fees the Fund has agreed to pay a borrower), and credit, legal, counterparty and market risk. In the event a borrower does not return the Fund’s securities as agreed, the Fund may experience losses if the proceeds received from liquidating the collateral do not at least equal the value of the loaned security at the time the collateral is liquidated plus the transaction costs incurred in purchasing replacement securities.
Tax Risks
As with any investment, you should consider how your investment in Shares will be taxed. The tax information in the Prospectus and this SAI is provided as general information. You should consult your own tax professional about the tax consequences of an investment in Shares.
Unless your investment in Shares is made through a tax-deferred retirement account or other tax-advantaged arrangement, such as an individual retirement account, you need to be aware of the possible tax consequences when the Fund makes distributions or you sell Shares.
The Trust has adopted the following investment restrictions as fundamental policies with respect to the Fund. These restrictions cannot be changed with respect to the Fund without the approval of the holders of a majority of the Fund’s outstanding voting securities. For the purposes of the 1940 Act, a “majority of outstanding shares” means the vote of the lesser of: (1) 67% or more of the voting securities of the Fund present at the meeting if the holders of more than 50% of the Fund’s outstanding voting securities are present or represented by proxy; or (2) more than 50% of the outstanding voting securities of the Fund.
11
Except with the approval of a majority of the outstanding voting securities, the Fund may not:
| 1. | Borrow money or issue senior securities (as defined under the 1940 Act), except to the extent permitted under the 1940 Act. | |
| 2. | Make loans, except to the extent permitted under the 1940 Act. | |
| 3. | Purchase or sell real estate unless acquired as a result of ownership of securities or other instruments, except to the extent permitted under the 1940 Act. This shall not prevent the Fund from investing in securities or other instruments backed by real estate, real estate investment trusts (“REITs”) or securities of companies engaged in the real estate business. | |
| 4. | Purchase or sell commodities unless acquired as a result of ownership of securities or other instruments, except to the extent permitted under the 1940 Act. This shall not prevent the Fund from purchasing or selling options and futures contracts or from investing in securities or other instruments backed by physical commodities. | |
| 5. | Underwrite securities issued by other persons, except to the extent permitted under the 1940 Act. | |
| 6. | Concentrate its investments (i.e., hold more than 25% of its total assets) in any industry or group of related industries, except that the Fund will concentrate its investments in a particular industry or group of industries to approximately the same extent that the Index is concentrated. For purposes of this limitation, securities of the U.S. government (including its agencies and instrumentalities), repurchase agreements collateralized by securities of the U.S. government (including its agencies and instrumentalities), registered investment companies and tax-exempt securities of state or municipal governments and their political subdivisions, are not considered to be issued by members of any industry. |
In determining its compliance with the fundamental investment restriction on concentration, the Fund will look through to the underlying holdings of any investment company that publicly publishes its underlying holdings on a daily basis. In addition, if an underlying investment company does not publish its holdings daily but has a policy to concentrate or has otherwise disclosed that it is concentrated in a particular industry or group of related industries, the Fund will consider such investment company as being invested in such industry or group of related industries. Additionally, in determining its compliance with the fundamental investment restriction on concentration, the Fund will look through to the user or use of private activity municipal bonds to determine their industry.
For purposes of applying the limitation set forth in the concentration policy set forth above, the Fund may use the Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) Codes, North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) Codes, MSCI Global Industry Classification System, FTSE/Dow Jones Industry Classification Benchmark (ICB) system, or any other reasonable industry classification system (including systems developed by the Adviser) to identify each industry. The Fund’s method of applying the limitations in the above concentration policy, including the classification levels used, may differ from those of the Trust’s other series.
If a percentage limitation is adhered to at the time of investment or contract, a later increase or decrease in percentage resulting from any change in value or total or net assets will not result in a violation of such restriction, except that the percentage limitations with respect to the borrowing of money and illiquid investments will be observed continuously.
Shares are listed for trading and trade throughout the day on the Exchange.
There can be no assurance that the Fund will continue to meet the requirements of the Exchange necessary to maintain the listing of Shares. The Exchange may, but is not required to, remove Shares of the Fund from the listing under any of the following circumstances: (1) the Exchange becomes aware that the Fund is no longer eligible to operate in reliance on Rule 6c-11 of the Investment Company Act of 1940; (2) the Fund no longer complies with the Exchange’s requirements for Shares; or (3) such other event shall occur or condition shall exist that, in the opinion of the Exchange, makes further dealings on the Exchange inadvisable. The Exchange will remove Shares of the Fund from listing and trading upon termination of the Fund.
The Trust reserves the right to adjust the price levels of Shares in the future to help maintain convenient trading ranges for investors. Any adjustments would be accomplished through stock splits or reverse stock splits, which would have no effect on the net assets of the Fund.
Board Responsibilities. The Board oversees the management and operations of the Trust. Like all registered investment companies, the day-to-day management and operation of the Trust is the responsibility of the various service providers to the Trust, such as the Adviser, the Distributor, the Administrator, the Custodian, and the Transfer Agent, each of whom is discussed in greater detail in this Statement of Additional Information. The Board has appointed various senior employees of the Administrator as officers of the Trust, with responsibility to monitor and report to the Board on the Trust’s operations. In conducting this oversight, the Board receives regular reports from these officers and the service providers. For example, the Treasurer reports as to financial reporting matters and the President reports as to matters relating to the Trust’s operations. In addition, the Adviser provides regular reports on the investment strategy and performance of the Fund. The Board has appointed a Chief Compliance Officer who administers the Trust’s compliance program and regularly reports to the Board as to compliance matters. These reports are provided as part of formal Board Meetings which are typically held quarterly, in person, and involve the Board’s review of recent operations. In addition, various members of the Board also meet with management in less formal settings, between formal Board Meetings, to discuss various topics. In all cases, however, the role of the Board and of any individual Trustee is one of oversight and not of management of the day-to-day affairs of the Trust and its oversight role does not make the Board a guarantor of the Trust’s investments, operations or activities.
12
As part of its oversight function, the Board receives and reviews various risk management reports and discusses these matters with appropriate management and other personnel. Because risk management is a broad concept comprised of many elements (e.g., investment risk, issuer and counterparty risk, compliance risk, operational risks, business continuity risks, etc.), the oversight of different types of risks is handled in different ways. For example, the Board meets regularly with the CCO to discuss compliance and operational risks and the Audit Committee meets with the Trust’s independent public accounting firm to discuss, among other things, the internal control structure of the Trust’s financial reporting function.
The full Board also receives reports from the Adviser as to investment risks of the Fund. In addition to these reports, from time to time the full Board receives reports from the Administrator and the Adviser as to enterprise risk management.
The Board recognizes that not all risks that may affect the Fund can be identified and/or quantified, that it may not be practical or cost-effective to eliminate or mitigate certain risks, that it may be necessary to bear certain risks (such as investment-related risks) to achieve the Fund’s goals, and that the processes, procedures, and controls employed to address certain risks may be limited in their effectiveness. Moreover, reports received by the Board as to risk management matters are typically summaries of the relevant information. Most of the Fund’s investment management and business affairs are carried out by or through the Adviser and other service providers, each of which has an independent interest in risk management but whose policies and the methods by which one or more risk management functions are carried out may differ from the Fund’s and each other’s in the setting of priorities, the resources available, or the effectiveness of relevant controls. As a result of the foregoing and other factors, the Board’s ability to monitor and manage risk, as a practical matter, is subject to limitations.
Members of the Board. There are four members of the Board, three of whom are not interested persons of the Trust, as that term is defined in the 1940 Act (the “Independent Trustees”). Mr. Eric W. Falkeis serves as Chairman of the Board and is an interested person of the Trust.
The Board is composed of a majority (75 percent) of Independent Trustees. The Board has determined its leadership structure is appropriate given the specific characteristics and circumstances of the Trust, even though there is no Lead Independent Trustee. The Trust made this determination in consideration of, among other things, the fact that the Independent Trustees of the Trust constitute a majority of the Board, the amount of assets under management in the Trust, and the number of funds overseen by the Board. The Board also believes that its leadership structure facilitates the orderly and efficient flow of information to the Independent Trustees from Fund management.
Additional information about each Trustee of the Trust is set forth below. The address of each Trustee of the Trust is c/o Tidal Trust V, 234 West Florida Street, Suite 700, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53204.
| Name
and Year of Birth |
Position Held with the Trust |
Term
of Office and Length of Time Served(1) |
Principal
Occupation(s) During Past 5 Years |
Number of Portfolios in Fund Complex(2) Overseen by Trustee |
Other
Directorships Held by Trustee During Past 5 Years |
| Independent
Trustees(3) |
|||||
| John
Hagist Born: 1971 |
Trustee | Independent Trustee Since 2026 | Partner, Northview Park Holdings, LLC (since 2020). | [ ] | N/A |
| Michelle
McDonough Born: 1980 |
Trustee | Indefinite
term; since 2026 |
Chief Operating Officer, Trillium Asset Management LLC (2010 to 2024) | [ ] | Trillium Asset Management, LLC (2020 to 2024); Trustee of Tidal Trust II (since 2022) |
| Dave
Norris Born: 1976 |
Trustee | Indefinite
term; since 2026 |
Consulting work for Rubin Brown, CPA Services (since December 2024); Consulting work with RedRidge Diligence Services (2023 to 2024); Chief Operating Officer, RedRidge Diligence Services (2011 to 2023) | [ ] | Trustee of Tidal Trust II (since 2022) |
| Interested Trustee | |||||
| Eric
W. Falkeis(4) Born: 1973 |
Principal Executive Officer, Trustee, and Chairman | Principal Executive Officer since 2026, Indefinite term; Trustee since 2026, Indefinite term; and Chairman, since 2026, Indefinite term | Chief Operating Officer, Tidal Investments LLC (since 2023); Chief Executive Officer, Tidal ETF Services LLC (since 2018). | [ ] | Independent Director, Muzinich Direct Lending Income Fund, Inc. (since 2023); Independent Director, Muzinich BDC, Inc. (since 2019); Trustee, Professionally Managed Portfolios (27 series) (since 2011); Trustee and Chairman of Tidal Trust I (since 2018); Trustee and Chairman of Tidal Trust II (since 2022); Trustee and Chairman of Tidal Trust III (since 2025); Trustee and Chairman of Tidal Trust IV (since 2025). |
| (1) | The Trustees have designated a mandatory retirement age of 78, such that each Trustee, serving as such on the date he or she reaches the age of 78, shall submit his or her resignation not later than the last day of the calendar year in which his or her 78th birthday occurs. | |
| (2) | The group of Funds sponsored by Tidal and managed by the Adviser or its affiliates, including Tidal Trust I, Tidal Trust II, Tidal Trust III, Tidal Trust IV, and the Trust (Tidal Trust V). | |
| (3) | None of the Independent Trustees of the Trust are “interested persons” of the Trust as defined under the 1940 Act. | |
| (4) | Mr. Falkeis is considered an “interested person” of the Trust due to his positions as Principal Executive Officer and Chairman of the Trust, and Chief Executive Officer of Tidal ETF Services LLC, a Tidal Financial Group company and an affiliate of the Adviser. |
13
Individual Trustee Qualifications.
The Board believes that each of the Trustees has the qualifications, experience, attributes and skills (“Trustee Attributes”) appropriate to their service as Trustees of the Trust in light of the Trust’s business and structure. Each of the Trustees has substantial business and professional backgrounds that indicate they have the ability to critically review, evaluate and access information provided to them. Certain of these business and professional experiences are set forth in detail in the table above. The Board annually conducts a ‘self-assessment’ wherein the effectiveness of the Board and individual Trustees is reviewed.
In addition to the information provided in the table above, below is certain additional information concerning each particular Trustee and certain of their Trustee Attributes. The information provided below, and in the table above, is not all-inclusive. Many Trustee Attributes involve intangible elements, such as intelligence, integrity, work ethic, the ability to work together, the ability to communicate effectively, the ability to exercise judgment, the ability to ask incisive questions, and commitment to shareholder interests. In conducting its annual self-assessment, the Board has determined that the Trustees have the appropriate attributes and experience to serve effectively as Trustees of the Trust.
The Board has concluded that Mr. Hagist should serve as a Trustee because of his substantial financial services experience, including his extensive experience with financial, accounting, investment, and asset valuation matters through his position as a Principal at Northview Capital and as Chief Financial Officer of Winternitz Industrial Auctioneers & Appraisers. Mr. Hagist has over 25 years of corporate financial experience. The Board believes Mr. Hagist’s experience, qualifications, attributes, or skills on an individual basis and in combination with those of the other Trustees led to the conclusion that he possesses the requisite skills and attributes as a Trustee to carry out oversight responsibilities with respect to the Trust.
The Board has concluded that Ms. McDonough should serve as a Trustee because of her substantial financial services experience, including experience with operations, compliance, IT, service provider oversight and management. For over a decade, Ms. McDonough served as COO of Trillium Asset Management and in that capacity oversaw all non-investment functions for the firm. Ms. McDonough’s experience, qualifications, attributes, or skills, on an individual basis and in combination with those of the other Trustees, led to the Board’s conclusion that she possesses the requisite skills and attributes as a Trustee to carry out oversight responsibilities with respect to the Trust.
14
The Board has concluded that Mr. Norris should serve as a Trustee because of his substantial experience across multitude of industries and operated businesses. Mr. Norris’ business operation experience consists of capital raising, business development, investor relations, strategic planning, treasury management, deal execution, restructuring and oversight of back-office functions. Mr. Norris serves as the Trust’s Audit Committee Financial Expert. Mr. Norris’ experience, qualifications, attributes, or skills, on an individual basis and in combination with those of the other Trustees, led to the Board’s conclusion that he possesses the requisite skills and attributes as a Trustee to carry out oversight responsibilities with respect to the Trust.
The Board has concluded that Mr. Falkeis should serve as a Trustee because of his substantial investment company experience and his experience with financial, accounting, investment, and regulatory matters through his former position as Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer (and other positions) of U.S. Bancorp Fund Services, LLC, doing business as U.S. Bank Global Fund Services (“Global Fund Services”), a full service provider to ETFs, mutual funds, and alternative investment products, from 1997 to 2013, as well as a Trustee and Chairman of Tidal Trust I, from 2018 to present, Trustee and Chairman of Tidal Trust II, from 2022 to present, Trustee and Chairman of Tidal Trust III, from 2025 to present, Trustee and Chairman of Tidal Trust IV, from 2025 to present, and Trustee and Chairman of Tidal Trust V, from 2025 to present. In addition, he has experience consulting with investment advisors regarding the legal structure of mutual funds, distribution channel analysis, and actual distribution of those funds. Mr. Falkeis also has substantial managerial, operational, technological, and risk oversight related experience through his former position as Chief Operating Officer of the advisers to the Direxion mutual fund and ETF complex. Mr. Falkeis’ experience, qualifications, attributes, or skills, on an individual basis and in combination with those of the other Trustees, led to the Board’s conclusion that he possesses the requisite skills and attributes as a Trustee to carry out oversight responsibilities with respect to the Trust.
Board Committees. The Board has established the following standing committees of the Board:
Audit Committee. The Board has a standing Audit Committee that is composed of each of the Independent Trustees of the Trust and is chaired by an Independent Trustee. Mr. Hagist is chair of the Audit Committee, and he presides at the Audit Committee meetings, participates in formulating agendas for Audit Committee meetings, and coordinates with management to serve as a liaison between the Independent Trustees and management on matters within the scope of responsibilities of the Audit Committee as set forth in its Board-approved written charter. The principal responsibilities of the Audit Committee include overseeing the Trust’s accounting and financial reporting policies and practices and its internal controls; overseeing the quality, objectivity and integrity of the Trust’s financial statements and the independent audits thereof; monitoring the independent auditor’s qualifications, independence, and performance; acting as a liaison between the Trust’s independent auditors and the full Board; pre-approving all auditing services to be performed for the Trust; reviewing the compensation and overseeing the work of the independent auditor (including resolution of disagreements between management and the independent auditor regarding financial reporting) for the purpose of preparing or issuing an audit report or related work; pre-approving all permitted non-audit services (including the fees and terms thereof) to be performed for the Trust; pre-approving all permitted non-audit services to be performed for any investment adviser to the Trust by any of the Trust’s independent auditors if the engagement relates directly to the operations and financial reporting of the Trust; meeting with the Trust’s independent auditors as necessary to (1) review the arrangement for and scope of the annual audits and any special audits, (2) discuss any matters of concern relating to the Fund’s financial statements, (3) consider the independent auditors’ comments with respect to the Trust’s financial policies, procedures and internal accounting controls and Trust management’s responses thereto, and (4) review the form of opinion the independent auditors propose to render to the Board and the Fund’s shareholders; discussing with management and the independent auditor significant financial reporting issues and judgments made in connection with the preparation of the Fund’s financial statements; and reviewing and discussing reports from the independent auditors on (1) all critical accounting policies and practices to be used, (2) all alternative treatments within generally accepted accounting principles for policies and practices related to material items that have been discussed with management, (3) other material written communications between the independent auditor and management, including any management letter, schedule of unadjusted differences, or management representation letter, and (4) all non-audit services provided to any entity in the Trust that were not pre-approved by the Committee; and reviewing disclosures made to the Committee by the Trust’s principal executive officer and principal accounting officer during their certification process for the Fund’s Form N-CSR. As of the date of this SAI, the Audit Committee has met one time with respect to the Fund.
The Audit Committee also serves as the Qualified Legal Compliance Committee (“QLCC”) for the Trust for the purpose of compliance with Rules 205.2(k) and 205.3(c) of the Code of Federal Regulations, regarding alternative reporting procedures for attorneys retained or employed by an issuer who appear and practice before the SEC on behalf of the issuer (the “issuer attorneys”). An issuer attorney who becomes aware of evidence of a material violation by the Trust, or by any officer, director, employee, or agent of the Trust, may report evidence of such material violation to the QLCC as an alternative to the reporting requirements of Rule 205.3(b) (which requires reporting to the chief legal officer and potentially escalating further to other entities). As of the date of this SAI, the QLCC has not met with respect to the Trust.
15
Nominating and Governance Committee. The Board has a standing Nominating and Governance Committee that is composed of each of the Independent Trustees of the Trust. The Nominating and Governance Committee operates under a written charter approved by the Board. The Nominating and Governance Committee is responsible for seeking and reviewing candidates for consideration as nominees for Trustees as is considered necessary from time to time and meets only as necessary. The Nominating and Governance Committee generally will not consider nominees recommended by shareholders. The Nominating and Governance Committee is also responsible for, among other things, reviewing and making recommendations regarding Independent Trustee compensation and the Trustees’ annual “self-assessment.” [ ] is the chair of the Nominating and Governance Committee. The Nominating Committee meets periodically, as necessary, but at least annually. Because the Fund has not yet commenced operations as of the date of the SAI, the Nominating and Governance Committee has not yet met or taken any action with respect to the Fund.
Principal Officers of the Trust
The officers of the Trust conduct and supervise its daily business. The address of each officer of the Trust is c/o Tidal Trust V, 234 West Florida Street, Suite 700, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53204, unless otherwise indicated. Additional information about the Trust’s officers is as follows:
| Name
and Year of Birth |
Position(s)
Held with the Trust |
Term
of Office and Length of Time Served(1) |
Principal
Occupation(s) During Past 5 Years |
| Eric
W. Falkeis Born: 1973 |
President and Principal Executive Officer | Indefinite term; since 2025 | Chief Operating Officer, Tidal Investments LLC (since 2023); Chief Executive Officer, Tidal ETF Services LLC (since 2018). |
| William
H. Woolverton, Esq. Born: 1951 |
Chief Compliance Officer and AML Compliance Officer | Indefinite
Term; since 2025 |
Chief Compliance Officer (since 2023), Compliance Adviser (2022 to 2023), Tidal Investments LLC; Senior Compliance Adviser, ACA Global (2020 to 2023); Director, Hadron Specialty Insurance Company (since 2023) Operating Partner, Altamont Capital Partners (private equity firm) (since 2021). |
| Aaron
J. Perkovich Born: 1973 |
Treasurer, Principal Financial Officer, and Principal Accounting Officer | Indefinite
term; since 2025 |
SVP of Fund Administration (since 2024), Head of Fund Administration (2023 to 2024), Fund Administration Manager (2022 to 2023), Tidal ETF Services LLC; Assistant Director Investments, Mason Street Advisors, LLC (2021 to 2022); Vice President, U.S. Bancorp Fund Services, LLC (2006 to 2021). |
| Lissa
M. Richter Born: 1979 |
Vice President and Secretary | Indefinite term; since 2025 | VP of Fund Governance and Compliance (since 2024), ETF Regulatory Manager, Tidal ETF Services LLC (2021 to 2024). |
| (1) | The Officers hold office until the next annual meeting of the Board of Trustees and until their successors have been elected and qualified. |
Trustee Ownership of Shares. The Fund is required to show the dollar amount ranges of each Trustee’s “beneficial ownership” of the Fund and each other series of the Trust as of the end of the most recently completed calendar year. Dollar amount ranges disclosed are established by the SEC. “Beneficial ownership” is determined in accordance with Rule 16a-1(a)(2) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “1934 Act”).
As of the date of this SAI, the Fund had not yet commenced operations and no Shares were outstanding.
Board Compensation.
Each Independent Trustee receives $5,000 payable for each regular and special meeting attended and allocated among the funds in the Tidal Trust V Fund Complex. The Independent Trustees also receive reimbursement for travel and other out-of-pocket expenses incurred in connection with serving as a Trustee. The Trust has no pension or retirement plan.
16
The following table shows the compensation estimated to be earned by each Trustee for the Fund’s current fiscal year ending [ ], 2027. Independent Trustee fees are an obligation of the Trust and are paid by the Adviser, as are other Trust expenses. The Trust pays the Adviser a unitary fee which the Adviser uses to pay Trust expenses. Trustee compensation shown below does not include reimbursed out-of-pocket expenses in connection with attendance at meetings.
| Name | Estimated
Aggregate Compensation From Fund |
Estimated
Total Compensation From Fund Complex Paid to Trustees(1) |
| Interested Trustees | ||
| Eric W. Falkeis | $0 | $0 |
| Independent Trustees | ||
| John Hagist | $0 | $[ ] |
| Michelle McDonough | $0 | $[ ] |
| David Norris | $0 | $[ ] |
| (1) | Compensation is based on estimated amounts for the fiscal year ending [ ], 2027. |
PRINCIPAL SHAREHOLDERS, CONTROL PERSONS AND MANAGEMENT OWNERSHIP
A principal shareholder is any person who owns of record or beneficially 5% or more of the outstanding Shares. A control person is a shareholder that owns beneficially or through controlled companies more than 25% of the voting securities of a company or acknowledges the existence of control. Shareholders owning voting securities in excess of 25% may determine the outcome of any matter affecting and voted on by shareholders of the Fund.
As of the date of this SAI, the Fund had not yet commenced operations and no Shares were outstanding.
The Trust and the Adviser have each adopted codes of ethics pursuant to Rule 17j-1 of the 1940 Act. These codes of ethics are designed to prevent affiliated persons of the Trust and the Adviser from engaging in deceptive, manipulative, or fraudulent activities in connection with securities held or to be acquired by the Fund (which may also be held by persons subject to the codes of ethics). Each code of ethics permits personnel subject to that code of ethics to invest in securities for their personal investment accounts, subject to certain limitations, including limitations related to securities that may be purchased or held by the Fund. The Distributor (as defined below) relies on the principal underwriters exception under Rule 17j-1(c)(3), specifically where the Distributor is not affiliated with the Trust, the Adviser, and no officer, director, or general partner of the Distributor serves as an officer, director, or general partner of the Trust or the Adviser.
There can be no assurance that the codes of ethics will be effective in preventing such activities. Each code of ethics may be found at the SEC’s website at http://www.sec.gov.
The Board has delegated proxy voting responsibilities to the Adviser, subject to the Board’s oversight. In delegating proxy responsibilities, the Board has directed that proxies be voted consistent with the Fund’s and its shareholders’ best interests and in compliance with all applicable proxy voting rules and regulations. The Adviser has adopted proxy voting policies and guidelines for this purpose (“Proxy Voting Policies”), which have been adopted by the Trust as the policies and procedures that will be used when voting proxies on behalf of the Fund.
In the absence of a conflict of interest, the Adviser will generally vote “for” routine proposals, such as the election of directors, approval of auditors, and amendments or revisions to corporate documents to eliminate outdated or unnecessary provisions. Unusual or disputed proposals will be reviewed and voted on a case-by-case basis. The Proxy Voting Policies address, among other things, material conflicts of interest that may arise between the interests of the Fund and the interests of the Adviser. The Proxy Voting Policies will ensure that all issues brought to shareholders are analyzed in light of the Adviser’s fiduciary responsibilities.
The Trust’s Chief Compliance Officer is responsible for monitoring the effectiveness of the Proxy Voting Policies.
When available, information on how the Fund voted proxies relating to portfolio securities during the most recent 12-month period ended June 30 will be available (1) without charge, upon request, by calling (833) 333-9383, (2) on the Fund’s website at www.defianceetfs.com or (3) on the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov.
17
Tidal Investments LLC (“Tidal” or the “Adviser”), a Tidal Financial Group company, located at 234 West Florida Street, Suite 700, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53204, serves as investment adviser to the Fund and has overall responsibility for the general management and administration of the Fund.
Pursuant to the Investment Advisory Agreement (the “Advisory Agreement”), the Adviser provides investment advice to the Fund and oversees the day-to-day operations of the Fund, subject to the direction and control of the Board. Under the Advisory Agreement, the Adviser is also responsible for arranging transfer agency, custody, fund administration and accounting, and other related services necessary for the Fund to operate. The Adviser is responsible for trading portfolio securities and financial instruments for the Fund, including selecting broker-dealers to execute purchase and sale transactions. The Adviser administers the Fund’s business affairs, provides office facilities and equipment and certain clerical, bookkeeping, and administrative services. Under the Advisory Agreement, in exchange for a single unitary management fee from the Fund, the Adviser has agreed to pay all expenses incurred by the Fund except for its unitary management fee and the Excluded Expenses, as defined in the Prospectus. For services provided to the Fund, the Fund pays the Adviser a unitary management fee, which is calculated daily and paid monthly, at an annual rate of [ ]% based on the Fund’s average daily net assets.
The Advisory Agreement with respect to the Fund will continue in force for an initial period of two years. Thereafter, the Advisory Agreement will be renewable from year to year with respect to the Fund, so long as its continuance is approved at least annually (1) by the vote, cast in person (or in another manner permitted by the 1940 Act or pursuant to exemptive relief therefrom) at a meeting called for that purpose, of a majority of those Trustees who are not “interested persons” of the Adviser or the Trust; and (2) by the majority vote of either the full Board or the vote of a majority of the outstanding Shares. The Advisory Agreement automatically terminates on assignment and is terminable on a 60-day written notice either by the Trust or the Adviser.
The Adviser shall not be liable to the Trust or any shareholder for anything done or omitted by it, except acts or omissions involving willful misfeasance, bad faith, gross negligence or reckless disregard of the duties imposed upon it by its agreement with the Trust or for any losses that may be sustained in the purchase, holding, or sale of any security.
The Fund will report fees paid to the Adviser once their initial fiscal period is completed.
The Fund is managed by Andy Hicks and Qiao Duan, CFA, each a Portfolio Manager for the Adviser.
CFA® is a registered trademark owned by the CFA Institute.
Other Accounts. In addition to the Fund, the portfolio managers managed the following other accounts as of [ ].
Andy Hicks, Portfolio Manager for the Adviser
| Type of Accounts | Total
Number of Accounts |
Total
Assets of Accounts (in millions) |
Total
Number of Accounts Subject to a Performance- Based Fee |
Total
Assets of (in millions) |
| Registered Investment Companies | [ ] | $[ ] | 0 | $0 |
| Other Pooled Investment Vehicles | 0 | $0 | 0 | $0 |
| Other Accounts | 0 | $0 | 0 | 0 |
Qiao Duan, CFA, Portfolio Manager for the Adviser
| Type of Accounts | Total
Number of Accounts |
Total
Assets of Accounts (in millions) |
Total
Number of Accounts Subject to a Performance- Based Fee |
Total
Assets of Accounts Subject to a Performance- Based Fee (in millions) |
| Registered Investment Companies | [ ] | $[ ] | 0 | $0 |
| Other Pooled Investment Vehicles | 0 | $0 | 0 | $0 |
| Other Accounts | 0 | $0 | 0 | $0 |
Portfolio Manager Fund Ownership. The Fund is required to show the dollar range of each portfolio manager’s “beneficial ownership” of Shares as of the end of the most recently completed fiscal year. Dollar amount ranges disclosed are established by the SEC. “Beneficial ownership” is determined in accordance with Rule 16a-1(a)(2) under the 1934 Act. As of the date of this SAI, the Fund had not yet commenced operations and no Shares were owned by the portfolio managers.
18
Portfolio Manager Compensation. Each portfolio manager is compensated by the Adviser with a base salary and discretionary bonus based on the financial performance and profitability of the Adviser and not based on the performance of the Fund. To the extent a portfolio manager is an equity owner of the Adviser, such portfolio manager may benefit indirectly from the revenue generated by the Fund’s Advisory Agreement with the Adviser.
Description of Material Conflicts of Interest. The portfolio managers’ management of “other accounts” may give rise to potential conflicts of interest in connection with their management of the Fund’s investments, on the one hand, and the investments of the other accounts, on the other. The other accounts may have similar investment objectives or strategies as the Fund. A potential conflict of interest may arise as a result, whereby a portfolio manager could favor one account over another. Another potential conflict could include a portfolio manager’s knowledge about the size, timing, and possible market impact of Fund trades, whereby a portfolio manager could use this information to the advantage of other accounts and to the disadvantage of the Fund. For instance, the portfolio managers may receive fees from certain accounts that are higher than the fees received from the Fund, or receive a performance-based fee on certain accounts. In those instances, a portfolio manager has an incentive to favor the higher and/or performance-based fee accounts over the Fund. To mitigate these conflicts, the Adviser has established policies and procedures to ensure that the purchase and sale of securities among all accounts the firm manages are fairly and equitably allocated.
The Trust and Foreside Fund Services, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Foreside Financial Group (dba ACA Group), (the “Distributor”), are parties to a distribution agreement (“Distribution Agreement”), whereby the Distributor acts as principal underwriter for the Fund and distributes Shares on a best efforts basis. Shares are continuously offered for sale by the Distributor only in Creation Units. The Distributor will not distribute Shares in amounts less than a Creation Unit and does not maintain a secondary market in Shares. The principal business address of the Distributor is 190 Middle Street, Suite 301, Portland, Maine 04101.
Under the Distribution Agreement, the Distributor, as agent for the Trust, will review orders for the purchase and redemption of Creation Units, provided that any subscriptions and orders will not be binding on the Trust until accepted by the Trust. The Distributor is a broker-dealer registered under the 1934 Act and a member of FINRA.
The Distributor may also enter into agreements with securities dealers (“Soliciting Dealers”) who will solicit purchases of Creation Units of Shares. Such Soliciting Dealers may also be Authorized Participants (as discussed in “Procedures for Purchase of Creation Units” below) or DTC participants (as defined below).
The Distribution Agreement will continue for two years from its effective date and is renewable annually thereafter. The continuance of the Distribution Agreement must be specifically approved at least annually (1) by the vote of the Trustees or by a vote of the shareholders of the Fund and (2) by the vote of a majority of the Independent Trustees who have no direct or indirect financial interest in the operations of the Distribution Agreement or any related agreement, cast in person (or in another manner permitted by the 1940 Act or pursuant to exemptive relief therefrom) at a meeting called for the purpose of voting on such approval. The Distribution Agreement is terminable without penalty by the Trust on 60 days’ written notice when authorized either by majority vote of its outstanding voting Shares or by a vote of a majority of its Board (including a majority of the Independent Trustees), or by the Distributor on 60 days’ written notice, and will automatically terminate in the event of its assignment. The Distribution Agreement provides that, in the absence of willful misfeasance, bad faith, or gross negligence on the part of the Distributor, or reckless disregard by it of its obligations thereunder, the Distributor shall not be liable for any action or failure to act in accordance with its duties thereunder.
The Fund is new and has not incurred any underwriting commissions and the Distributor has not received any amounts as of the date of this SAI.
Intermediary Compensation. The Adviser or its affiliates, out of its own resources and not out of Fund assets (i.e., without additional cost to the Fund or its shareholders), may pay certain broker dealers, banks, and other financial intermediaries (“Intermediaries”) for certain activities related to the Fund, including participation in activities that are designed to make Intermediaries more knowledgeable about exchange traded products, including the Fund, or for other activities, such as marketing and educational training or support. These arrangements are not financed by the Fund and, thus, do not result in increased Fund expenses. They are not reflected in the fees and expenses listed in the fees and expenses sections of the Fund’s Prospectus and they do not change the price paid by investors for the purchase of Shares or the amount received by a shareholder as proceeds from the redemption of Shares.
Such compensation may be paid to Intermediaries that provide services to the Fund, including marketing and education support (such as through conferences, webinars, and printed communications). The Adviser will periodically assess the advisability of continuing to make these payments. Payments to an Intermediary may be significant to the Intermediary, and amounts that Intermediaries pay to your adviser, broker, or other investment professional, if any, may also be significant to such adviser, broker, or investment professional. Because an Intermediary may make decisions about what investment options it will make available or recommend, and what services to provide in connection with various products, based on payments it receives or is eligible to receive, such payments create conflicts of interest between the Intermediary and its clients. For example, these financial incentives may cause the Intermediary to recommend the Fund over other investments. The same conflict of interest exists with respect to your financial adviser, broker, or investment professional if they receive similar payments from their Intermediary firm.
19
Intermediary information is current only as of the date of this SAI. Please contact your adviser, broker, or other investment professional for more information regarding any payments their Intermediary firm may receive. Any payments made by the Adviser or its affiliates to an Intermediary may create the incentive for an Intermediary to encourage customers to buy Shares.
If you have any additional questions, please call (833) 333-9383.
Distribution (Rule 12b-1) Plan. The Trust has adopted a Distribution (Rule 12b-1) Plan (the “Plan”) in accordance with the provisions of Rule 12b-1 under the 1940 Act. No payments pursuant to the Plan are expected to be made during the twelve (12) month period from the date of this SAI. Rule 12b-1 fees to be paid by the Fund under the Plan may only be imposed after approval by the Board.
Continuance of the Plan must be approved annually by a majority of the Trustees of the Trust and by a majority of the Trustees who are not interested persons (as defined in the 1940 Act) of the Trust and have no direct or indirect financial interest in the Plan or in any agreements related to the Plan (“Independent Trustees”). None of the Independent Trustees have a direct or indirect financial interest in the Plan or in any agreements related to the Plan. The Plan may be continued from year-to-year only if the Board, including a majority of the Independent Trustees, concludes at least annually that continuation of the Plan is likely to benefit shareholders. The Board has determined that the Plan is likely to benefit the Fund by providing an incentive for brokers, dealers, and other financial intermediaries to engage in sales and marketing efforts on behalf of the Fund and to provide enhanced services to shareholders. The Board also determined that the Plan may enhance the Fund’s ability to sell shares and access important distribution channels.
The Plan requires that quarterly written reports of amounts spent under the Plan and the purposes of such expenditures be furnished to and reviewed by the Trustees. The Plan may not be amended to increase materially the amount that may be spent thereunder without approval by a majority of the outstanding Shares. All material amendments of the Plan will require approval by a majority of the Trustees of the Trust and of the Independent Trustees.
The Plan provides that the Fund pays the Distributor an annual fee of up to a maximum of 0.25% of the average daily net assets of the Shares. Under the Plan, the Distributor may make payments pursuant to written agreements to financial institutions and intermediaries such as banks, savings and loan associations, and insurance companies including, without limit, investment counselors, broker-dealers, and the Distributor’s affiliates and subsidiaries (collectively, “Agents”) as compensation for services and reimbursement of expenses incurred in connection with distribution assistance. The Plan is characterized as a compensation plan since the distribution fee will be paid to the Distributor without regard to the distribution expenses incurred by the Distributor or the amount of payments made to other financial institutions and intermediaries. The Trust intends to operate the Plan in accordance with its terms and with FINRA rules concerning sales charges.
Under the Plan, subject to the limitations of applicable law and regulations, the Fund is authorized to compensate the Distributor up to the maximum amount to finance any activity primarily intended to result in the sale of Creation Units of the Fund or for providing, or arranging for others to provide, shareholder services and for the maintenance of shareholder accounts. Such activities may include, but are not limited to: (1) delivering copies of the Fund’s then current reports, prospectuses, notices, and similar materials, to prospective purchasers of Creation Units; (2) marketing and promotional services, including advertising; (3) paying the costs of and compensating others, including Authorized Participants with whom the Distributor has entered into written Authorized Participant Agreements, for performing shareholder servicing on behalf of the Fund; (4) compensating certain Authorized Participants for providing assistance in distributing the Creation Units of the Fund, including the travel and communication expenses and salaries and/or commissions of sales personnel in connection with the distribution of the Creation Units of the Fund; (5) payments to financial institutions and intermediaries such as banks, savings and loan associations, insurance companies, and investment counselors, broker-dealers, mutual fund supermarkets, and the affiliates and subsidiaries of the Trust’s service providers as compensation for services or reimbursement of expenses incurred in connection with distribution assistance; (6) facilitating communications with beneficial owners of Shares, including the cost of providing, or paying others to provide, services to beneficial owners of Shares, including, but not limited to, assistance in answering inquiries related to Shareholder accounts; and (7) such other services and obligations as are set forth in the Distribution Agreement.
Tidal ETF Services LLC (the “Administrator”), a Tidal Financial Group company and an affiliate of the Adviser, serves as the Fund’s administrator. The Administrator is located at 234 West Florida Street, Suite 700, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53204. Pursuant to a Fund Administration Servicing Agreement between the Trust and the Administrator, the Administrator provides the Trust with, or arranges for, administrative, compliance, and management services (other than investment advisory services) to be provided to the Trust and the Board. Pursuant to the Fund Administration Servicing Agreement, officers or employees of the Administrator serve as the Trust’s principal executive officer, principal financial officer, and chief compliance officer, the Administrator coordinates the payment of Fund-related expenses, and the Administrator manages the Trust’s relationships with its various service providers. As compensation for the services it provides, the Administrator receives a fee based on the Fund’s average daily net assets, subject to a minimum annual fee. The Administrator also is entitled to certain out-of-pocket expenses for the services mentioned above.
20
The Fund is new, and the Administrator has not received any fees for administrative services to the Fund as of the date of this SAI.
TRANSFER AGENT AND FUND ACCOUNTANT
Global Fund Services, located at 615 East Michigan Street, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53202, serves as the Fund’s transfer agent and fund accountant.
Pursuant to a Transfer Agent/Fund Accounting Servicing Agreement between the Trust and Global Fund Services, Global Fund Services provides transfer agency and fund accounting services to the Fund. In this capacity, Global Fund Services does not have any responsibility or authority for the management of the Fund, the determination of investment policy, or for any matter pertaining to the distribution of Shares. As compensation for the transfer agency and fund accounting services, the Adviser pays Global Fund Services a fee based on the Fund’s average daily net assets, subject to a minimum annual fee. Global Fund Services also is entitled to certain out-of-pocket expenses for the services mentioned above, including pricing expenses.
The Fund is new, and Global Fund Services has not received any fees for services to the Fund as of the date of this SAI.
Pursuant to a Custody Agreement, U.S. Bank National Association (“U.S. Bank”), 1555 North Rivercenter Drive, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53212, serves as the custodian (the “Custodian”) of the Fund’s assets. U.S. Bank is the parent company of Global Fund Services. The Custodian holds and administers the assets in the Fund’s portfolio. Pursuant to the Custody Agreement, the Custodian receives an annual fee from the Adviser based on the Trust’s total average daily net assets, subject to a minimum annual fee, and certain settlement charges. The Custodian also is entitled to certain out-of-pocket expenses.
Troutman Pepper Locke LLP, 3000 Two Logan Square, Eighteenth and Arch Streets, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19103, serves as legal counsel for the Trust and the Independent Trustees.
INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM
[ ], serves as the independent registered public accounting firm for the Fund. Its services include auditing the Fund’s financial statements.
PORTFOLIO HOLDINGS DISCLOSURE POLICIES AND PROCEDURES
The Board has adopted a policy regarding the disclosure of information about the Fund’s security holdings. The Fund’s entire portfolio holdings are publicly disseminated each day the Fund is open for business and through financial reporting and news services including publicly available internet web sites. In addition, the composition of the Deposit Securities is publicly disseminated daily prior to the opening of the Exchange via the National Securities Clearing Corporation (“NSCC”).
The Declaration of Trust (“Declaration of Trust”) authorizes the issuance of an unlimited number of funds and shares. Each share represents an equal proportionate interest in the Fund with each other share. Shares are entitled upon liquidation to a pro rata share in the net assets of the Fund. Shareholders have no preemptive rights. The Declaration of Trust provides that the Trustees may create additional series or classes of shares. All consideration received by the Trust for shares of any additional funds and all assets in which such consideration is invested would belong to that fund and would be subject to the liabilities related thereto. Share certificates representing Shares will not be issued. Shares, when issued, are fully paid and non-assessable.
Each Share has one vote with respect to matters upon which a shareholder vote is required, consistent with the requirements of the 1940 Act and the rules promulgated thereunder. Shares of all funds in the Trust vote together as a single class, except that if the matter being voted on affects only a particular fund it will be voted on only by that fund and if a matter affects a particular fund differently from other funds, that fund will vote separately on such matter. As a Delaware statutory trust, the Trust is not required, and does not intend, to hold annual meetings of shareholders. Approval of shareholders will be sought, however, for certain changes in the operation of the Trust and for the election of Trustees under certain circumstances.
21
Under the Declaration of Trust, the Trustees have the power to liquidate the Fund without shareholder approval. While the Trustees have no present intention of exercising this power, they may do so if the Fund fails to reach a viable size within a reasonable amount of time or for such other reasons as may be determined by the Board.
LIMITATION OF TRUSTEES’ LIABILITY
The Declaration of Trust provides that a Trustee shall be liable only for his or her own willful misfeasance, bad faith, gross negligence, or reckless disregard of the duties involved in the conduct of the office of Trustee, and shall not be liable for errors of judgment or mistakes of fact or law. The Declaration of Trust also provides that the Trust shall indemnify each person who is, or has been, a Trustee or officer of the Trust, and upon the due approval of the Trustees, each person who is, or has been an employee or agent of the Trust, and, upon due approval of the Trustees, any person who is serving or has served at the Trust’s request as a director, officer, partner, trustee, employee, agent, or fiduciary of another organization with respect to any alleged acts or omissions while acting within the scope of a Trustee’s service in such a position. However, nothing in the Declaration of Trust shall protect or indemnify a Trustee against any liability for a Trustee’s willful misfeasance, bad faith, gross negligence, or reckless disregard of the duties involved in the conduct of the office of Trustee. Nothing contained in this section attempts to disclaim a Trustee’s individual liability in any manner inconsistent with the federal securities laws.
The policy of the Trust regarding purchases and sales of securities for the Fund is that primary consideration will be given to obtaining the most favorable prices and efficient executions of transactions. Consistent with this policy, when securities transactions are effected on a stock exchange, the Trust’s policy is to pay commissions which are considered fair and reasonable without necessarily determining that the lowest possible commissions are paid in all circumstances. The Trust believes that a requirement always to seek the lowest possible commission cost could impede effective portfolio management and preclude the Fund and the Adviser from obtaining a high quality of brokerage and research services. In seeking to determine the reasonableness of brokerage commissions paid in any transaction, the Adviser will rely upon their experience and knowledge regarding commissions generally charged by various brokers and on its judgment in evaluating the brokerage services received from the broker effecting the transaction. Such determinations are necessarily subjective and imprecise, as in most cases, an exact dollar value for those services is not ascertainable. The Trust has adopted policies and procedures that prohibit the consideration of sales of Shares as a factor in the selection of a broker or dealer to execute its portfolio transactions.
The Adviser owes a fiduciary duty to its clients to seek to provide best execution on trades effected. In selecting a broker/dealer for each specific transaction, the Adviser chooses the broker/dealer deemed most capable of providing the services necessary to obtain the most favorable execution. “Best execution” is generally understood to mean the most favorable cost or net proceeds reasonably obtainable under the circumstances. The full range of brokerage services applicable to a particular transaction may be considered when making this judgment, which may include, but is not limited to liquidity, price, commission, timing, aggregated trades, capable floor brokers or traders, competent block trading coverage, ability to position, capital strength and stability, reliable and accurate communications and settlement processing, use of automation, knowledge of other buyers or sellers, arbitrage skills, administrative ability, underwriting, and provision of information on a particular security or market in which the transaction is to occur. The specific criteria will vary depending upon the nature of the transaction, the market in which it is executed, and the extent to which it is possible to select from among multiple broker/ dealers. The Adviser will also use electronic crossing networks (“ECNs”) when appropriate.
Subject to the foregoing policies, brokers or dealers selected to execute the Fund’s portfolio transactions may include the Fund’s Authorized Participants (as discussed in “Purchase and Redemption of Shares in Creation Units — Procedures for Purchase of Creation Units” below) or their affiliates. An Authorized Participant or its affiliates may be selected to execute the Fund’s portfolio transactions in conjunction with an all-cash Creation Unit order or an order including “cash-in-lieu” (as described below under “Purchase and Redemption of Shares in Creation Units”), so long as such selection is in keeping with the foregoing policies. As described below under “Purchase and Redemption of Shares in Creation Units — Creation Transaction Fee” and “ — Redemption Transaction Fee”, the Fund may determine to not charge a variable fee on certain orders when the Adviser has determined that doing so is in the best interests of the Fund’s shareholders, even if the decision to not charge a variable fee could be viewed as benefiting the Authorized Participant or its affiliate selected to execute the Fund’s portfolio transactions in connection with such orders.
The Adviser may use the Fund’s assets for, or participate in, third-party soft dollar arrangements, in addition to receiving proprietary research from various full-service brokers, the cost of which is bundled with the cost of the broker’s execution services. The Adviser does not “pay up” for the value of any such proprietary research. Section 28(e) of the 1934 Act permits the Adviser, under certain circumstances, to cause the Fund to pay a broker or dealer a commission for effecting a transaction in excess of the amount of commission another broker or dealer would have charged for effecting the transaction in recognition of the value of brokerage and research services provided by the broker or dealer. The Adviser may receive a variety of research services and information on many topics, which it can use in connection with its management responsibilities with respect to the various accounts over which it exercises investment discretion or otherwise provides investment advice. The research services may include qualifying order management systems, portfolio attribution and monitoring services, and computer software and access charges which are directly related to investment research.
22
Accordingly, the Fund may pay a broker commission higher than the lowest available in recognition of the broker’s provision of such services to the Adviser, but only if the Adviser determines the total commission (including the soft dollar benefit) is comparable to the best commission rate that could be expected to be received from other brokers. The amount of soft dollar benefits received depends on the amount of brokerage transactions effected with the brokers. A conflict of interest exists because there is an incentive to (1) cause clients to pay a higher commission than the firm might otherwise be able to negotiate, (2) cause clients to engage in more securities transactions than would otherwise be optimal, and (3) only recommend brokers that provide soft dollar benefits.
The Adviser faces a potential conflict of interest when it uses client trades to obtain brokerage or research services. This conflict exists because the Adviser can use the brokerage or research services to manage client accounts without paying cash for such services, which reduces the Adviser’s expenses to the extent that the Adviser would have purchased such products had they not been provided by brokers. Section 28(e) permits the Adviser to use brokerage or research services for the benefit of any account it manages. Certain accounts managed by the Adviser may generate soft dollars used to purchase brokerage or research services that ultimately benefit other accounts managed by the Adviser effectively cross subsidizing the other accounts managed by the Adviser that benefit directly from the product. The Adviser may not necessarily use all of the brokerage or research services in connection with managing the Fund whose trades generated the soft dollars used to purchase such products.
The Adviser is responsible, subject to oversight by the Board, for placing orders on behalf of the Fund for the purchase or sale of portfolio securities. If purchases or sales of portfolio securities of the Fund and one or more other investment companies or clients supervised by the Adviser are considered at or about the same time, transactions in such securities are allocated among the several investment companies and clients in a manner deemed equitable and consistent with its fiduciary obligations to all by the Adviser. In some cases, this procedure could have a detrimental effect on the price or volume of the security so far as the Fund is concerned. However, in other cases, it is possible that the ability to participate in volume transactions and to negotiate lower brokerage commissions will be beneficial to the Fund. The primary consideration is prompt execution of orders at the most favorable net price.
The Fund may deal with affiliates in principal transactions to the extent permitted by exemptive order or applicable rule or regulation.
The Fund is new and has not paid any brokerage commissions as of the date of this SAI.
Brokerage with Fund Affiliates. The Fund may execute brokerage or other agency transactions through registered broker-dealer affiliates of the Fund or the Adviser for a commission in conformity with the 1940 Act, the 1934 Act and rules promulgated by the SEC. These rules require that commissions paid to the affiliate by the Fund for exchange transactions not exceed “usual and customary” brokerage commissions. The rules define “usual and customary” commissions to include amounts which are “reasonable and fair compared to the commission, fee or other remuneration received or to be received by other brokers in connection with comparable transactions involving similar securities being purchased or sold on a securities exchange during a comparable period of time.” The Trustees, including those who are not “interested persons” of the Fund, have adopted procedures for evaluating the reasonableness of commissions paid to affiliates and review these procedures periodically.
The Fund is required to identify the securities of their “regular brokers or dealers” that the Fund has acquired during its most recent fiscal year. The Fund is new and did not own equity securities of its regular broker-dealers or their parent companies as of the date of this SAI.
Directed Brokerage
The Fund is new and has not paid any commissions on brokerage transactions directed to brokers pursuant to an agreement or understanding whereby the broker provides research or other brokerage services to the Adviser.
Securities of “Regular Broker-Dealers.” The Fund is required to identify any securities of its “regular brokers and dealers” (as such term is defined in the 1940 Act) that it may hold at the close of its most recent fiscal year. “Regular brokers or dealers” of the Fund are the ten brokers or dealers that, during the most recent fiscal year: (1) received the greatest dollar amounts of brokerage commissions from the Fund’s portfolio transactions; (2) engaged as principal in the largest dollar amounts of portfolio transactions of the Fund; or (3) sold the largest dollar amounts of Shares.
The Fund is new and did not own equity securities of its regular broker-dealers or their parent companies as of the date of this SAI.
A portfolio turnover rate is, in summary, the percentage computed by dividing the lesser of the Fund’s purchases or sales of securities (excluding short-term securities and securities transferred in-kind) by the average market value of the Fund. A rate of 100% indicates that the equivalent of all of the Fund’s assets have been sold and reinvested in a year. High portfolio turnover may affect the amount, timing and character of distributions, and, as a result, may increase the amount of taxes payable by shareholders. Higher portfolio turnover also results in higher transaction costs. To the extent that net short-term capital gains are realized by the Fund, any distributions resulting from such gains are considered ordinary income for federal income tax purposes.
23
The Fund is new and does not have a portfolio turnover rate to report as of the date of this SAI.
The Depository Trust Company (“DTC”) acts as securities depositary for Shares. Shares are represented by securities registered in the name of DTC or its nominee, Cede & Co., and deposited with, or on behalf of, DTC. Except in limited circumstances set forth below, certificates will not be issued for Shares.
DTC is a limited-purpose trust company that was created to hold securities of its participants (the “DTC Participants”) and to facilitate the clearance and settlement of securities transactions among the DTC Participants in such securities through electronic book-entry changes in accounts of the DTC Participants, thereby eliminating the need for physical movement of securities certificates. DTC Participants include securities brokers and dealers, banks, trust companies, clearing corporations and certain other organizations, some of whom (and/or their representatives) own DTC. More specifically, DTC is owned by a number of its DTC Participants and by the NYSE and FINRA. Access to the DTC system is also available to others such as banks, brokers, dealers, and trust companies that clear through or maintain a custodial relationship with a DTC Participant, either directly or indirectly (the “Indirect Participants”).
Beneficial ownership of Shares is limited to DTC Participants, Indirect Participants, and persons holding interests through DTC Participants and Indirect Participants. Ownership of beneficial interests in Shares (owners of such beneficial interests are referred to in this SAI as “Beneficial Owners”) is shown on, and the transfer of ownership is effected only through, records maintained by DTC (with respect to DTC Participants) and on the records of DTC Participants (with respect to Indirect Participants and Beneficial Owners that are not DTC Participants). Beneficial Owners will receive from or through the DTC Participant a written confirmation relating to their purchase of Shares. The Trust recognizes DTC or its nominee as the record owner of all Shares for all purposes. Beneficial Owners of Shares are not entitled to have Shares registered in their names, and will not receive or be entitled to physical delivery of Share certificates. Each Beneficial Owner must rely on the procedures of DTC and any DTC Participant and/or Indirect Participant through which such Beneficial Owner holds its interests, to exercise any rights of a holder of Shares.
Conveyance of all notices, statements, and other communications to Beneficial Owners is effected as follows. DTC will make available to the Trust upon request and for a fee a listing of Shares held by each DTC Participant. The Trust shall obtain from each such DTC Participant the number of Beneficial Owners holding Shares, directly or indirectly, through such DTC Participant. The Trust shall provide each such DTC Participant with copies of such notice, statement, or other communication, in such form, number, and at such place as such DTC Participant may reasonably request, in order that such notice, statement, or communication may be transmitted by such DTC Participant, directly or indirectly, to such Beneficial Owners. In addition, the Trust shall pay to each such DTC Participant a fair and reasonable amount as reimbursement for the expenses attendant to such transmittal, all subject to applicable statutory and regulatory requirements.
Share distributions shall be made to DTC or its nominee, Cede & Co., as the registered holder of all Shares. DTC or its nominee, upon receipt of any such distributions, shall credit immediately DTC Participants’ accounts with payments in amounts proportionate to their respective beneficial interests in the Fund as shown on the records of DTC or its nominee. Payments by DTC Participants to Indirect Participants and Beneficial Owners of Shares held through such DTC Participants will be governed by standing instructions and customary practices, as is now the case with securities held for the accounts of customers in bearer form or registered in a “street name,” and will be the responsibility of such DTC Participants.
The Trust has no responsibility or liability for any aspect of the records relating to or notices to Beneficial Owners, or payments made on account of beneficial ownership interest in Shares, or for maintaining, supervising, or reviewing any records relating to such beneficial ownership interests, or for any other aspect of the relationship between DTC and the DTC Participants or the relationship between such DTC Participants and the Indirect Participants and Beneficial Owners owning through such DTC Participants.
DTC may determine to discontinue providing its service with respect to the Fund at any time by giving reasonable notice to the Fund and discharging its responsibilities with respect thereto under applicable law. Under such circumstances, the Fund shall act either to find a replacement for DTC to perform its functions at a comparable cost or, if such replacement is unavailable, to issue and deliver printed certificates representing ownership of Shares, unless the Trust makes other arrangements with respect thereto satisfactory to the Exchange.
24
PURCHASE AND REDEMPTION OF SHARES IN CREATION UNITS
The Trust issues and redeems Shares only in Creation Units on a continuous basis through the Transfer Agent, without a sales load (but subject to transaction fees, if applicable), at their NAV per share next determined after receipt of an order, on any Business Day, in proper form pursuant to the terms of the Authorized Participant Agreement (“Participant Agreement”). The NAV of Shares is calculated each Business Day as of the scheduled close of regular trading on the NYSE, generally 4:00 p.m., Eastern Time. The Fund will not issue fractional Creation Units. A “Business Day” is any day on which the NYSE is open for regular trading.
Placement of Creation or Redemption Orders. All orders to purchase or redeem Creation Units are to be governed according to the applicable Participant Agreement that each Authorized Participant has executed. In general, all orders to purchase or redeem Creation Units must be received by the transfer agent in the proper form required by the Participant Agreement no later than the closing time of the regular trading session of the NYSE (ordinarily 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time) on each day the NYSE is open for business (the “Closing Time”) in order for the purchase or redemption of Creation Units to be effected based on the NAV of shares of a Fund as next determined on such date after receipt of the order in proper form. At its discretion, a Fund may require an Authorized Participant to submit an order to purchase or redeem Creation Units earlier in the day, or the prior Business Day, including in circumstances in which an applicable market for a security included in the creation or redemption basket closes earlier than usual, or in such other circumstances as the Fund may determine and disclose to Authorized Participants. In general, any Fund Deposit (as defined below) or Additional Cash Deposit (as also defined below) corresponding to the placement of an order to purchase Creation Units must be transferred and delivered to the Custodian by no later than 2 p.m. Eastern Time for a Fund on the contractual settlement date (or such other time as specified by the Trust and disclosed to Authorized Participants) (in each instance, the “Deposit Deadline”).
Fund Deposit. The consideration for purchase of a Creation Unit of the Fund generally consists of the in-kind deposit of a designated portfolio of securities (the “Deposit Securities”) per each Creation Unit and the Cash Component (defined below), computed as described below. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the Trust reserves the right to permit or require the substitution of a “cash in lieu” amount (“Deposit Cash”) to be added to the Cash Component to replace any Deposit Security. When accepting purchases of Creation Units for all or a portion of Deposit Cash, the Fund may incur additional costs associated with the acquisition of Deposit Securities that would otherwise be provided by an in-kind purchaser.
Together, the Deposit Securities or Deposit Cash, as applicable, and the Cash Component constitute the “Fund Deposit,” which represents the minimum initial and subsequent investment amount for a Creation Unit of the Fund. The “Cash Component” is an amount equal to the difference between the NAV of Shares (per Creation Unit) and the value of the Deposit Securities or Deposit Cash, as applicable. If the Cash Component is a positive number (i.e., the NAV per Creation Unit exceeds the value of the Deposit Securities or Deposit Cash, as applicable), the Cash Component shall be such positive amount. If the Cash Component is a negative number (i.e., the NAV per Creation Unit is less than the value of the Deposit Securities or Deposit Cash, as applicable), the Cash Component shall be such negative amount and the creator will be entitled to receive cash in an amount equal to the Cash Component. The Cash Component serves the function of compensating for any differences between the NAV per Creation Unit and the value of the Deposit Securities or Deposit Cash, as applicable. Computation of the Cash Component excludes any stamp duty or other similar fees and expenses payable upon transfer of beneficial ownership of the Deposit Securities, if applicable, which shall be the sole responsibility of the Authorized Participant (as defined below).
The Fund, through NSCC, makes available on each Business Day, prior to the opening of business on the Exchange (currently 9:30 a.m., Eastern Time), the list of the names and the required number of Shares of each Deposit Security or the required amount of Deposit Cash, as applicable, to be included in the current Fund Deposit (based on information at the end of the previous Business Day) for the Fund. Such Fund Deposit is subject to any applicable adjustments as described below, to effect purchases of Creation Units of the Fund until such time as the next-announced composition of the Deposit Securities or the required amount of Deposit Cash, as applicable, is made available.
The identity and number of Shares of the Deposit Securities or the amount of Deposit Cash, as applicable, required for the Fund Deposit for the Fund may change from time to time.
Cash Purchase. The Trust may at its discretion permit full or partial cash purchases of Creation Units of a Fund. When full or partial cash purchases of Creation Units are available or specified for a Fund, they will be effected in essentially the same manner as in-kind purchases thereof. In the case of a full or partial cash purchase, the Authorized Participant must pay the cash equivalent of the Deposit Securities it would otherwise be required to provide through an in-kind purchase, plus the same Cash Component required to be paid by an in-kind purchaser together with a creation transaction fee and non-standard charges, as may be applicable.
Procedures for Purchase of Creation Units. To be eligible to place orders with the Transfer Agent to purchase a Creation Unit of the Fund, an entity must be (i) a “Participating Party” (i.e., a broker-dealer or other participant in the clearing process through the Continuous Net Settlement System of the NSCC (the “Clearing Process”)), a clearing agency that is registered with the SEC; or (ii) a DTC Participant (see “Book Entry Only System”). In addition, each Participating Party or DTC Participant (each, an “Authorized Participant”) must execute a Participant Agreement with respect to purchases and redemptions of Creation Units. Each Authorized Participant will agree, pursuant to the terms of a Participant Agreement, on behalf of itself or any investor on whose behalf it will act, to certain conditions, including that it will pay to the Trust, an amount of cash sufficient to pay the Cash Component together with the creation transaction fee (described below), if applicable, and any other applicable fees and taxes.
25
All orders to purchase Shares directly from the Fund must be placed for one or more Creation Units and in the manner and by the time set forth in the Participant Agreement and/or applicable order form. The order cut-off time for orders to purchase Creation Units is generally the Closing Time, which time may be modified by the Fund from time-to-time by amendment to the Participant Agreement and/or applicable order form or as noted under “Placement of Creation or Redemption Orders.” The date on which an order to purchase Creation Units (or an order to redeem Creation Units, as set forth below) is received and accepted is referred to as the “Order Placement Date.”
An Authorized Participant may require an investor to make certain representations or enter into agreements with respect to the order (e.g., to provide for payments of cash, when required). Investors should be aware that their particular broker may not have executed a Participant Agreement and that, therefore, orders to purchase Shares directly from the Fund in Creation Units must be placed by the investor’s broker through an Authorized Participant that has executed a Participant Agreement. In such cases there may be additional charges to such investor. At any given time, there may be only a limited number of broker-dealers that have executed a Participant Agreement and only a small number of such Authorized Participants may have international capabilities.
On days when the Exchange closes earlier than normal, the Fund may require orders to create Creation Units to be placed earlier in the day. In addition, if a market or markets on which the Fund’s investments are primarily traded is closed, the Fund will also generally not accept orders on such day(s). Orders must be transmitted by an Authorized Participant by telephone or other transmission method acceptable to the Transfer Agent pursuant to procedures set forth in the Participant Agreement and in accordance with the applicable order form. On behalf of the Fund, the Transfer Agent will notify the Custodian of such order. The Custodian will then provide such information to the appropriate local sub-custodian(s). Those placing orders through an Authorized Participant should allow sufficient time to permit proper submission of the purchase order to the Transfer Agent by the cut-off time on such Business Day. Economic or market disruptions or changes, or telephone or other communication failure may impede the ability to reach the Transfer Agent or an Authorized Participant.
Fund Deposits must be delivered by an Authorized Participant through the Federal Reserve System (for cash) or through DTC (for corporate securities), through a subcustody agent (for foreign securities) and/or through such other arrangements allowed by the Trust or its agents. With respect to foreign Deposit Securities, the Custodian shall cause the subcustodian of the Fund to maintain an account into which the Authorized Participant shall deliver, on behalf of itself or the party on whose behalf it is acting, such Deposit Securities (or Deposit Cash for all or a part of such securities, as permitted or required), with any appropriate adjustments as advised by the Trust. Foreign Deposit Securities must be delivered to an account maintained at the applicable local subcustodian. A Fund Deposit transfer must be ordered by the Authorized Participant in a timely fashion to ensure the delivery of the requisite number of Deposit Securities or Deposit Cash, as applicable, to the account of the Fund or its agents by no later than the Deposit Deadline. If the Fund or its agents do not receive all of the Deposit Securities, or the required Deposit Cash in lieu thereof, by such time, then the order may be deemed rejected and the Authorized Participant shall be liable to the Fund for losses, if any, resulting therefrom. All questions as to the number of Deposit Securities or Deposit Cash to be delivered, as applicable, and the validity, form and eligibility (including time of receipt) for the deposit of any tendered securities or cash, as applicable, will be determined by the Trust, whose determination shall be final and binding. The amount of cash represented by the Cash Component must be transferred directly to the Custodian through the Federal Reserve Bank wire transfer system in a timely manner to be received by the Custodian no later than the contractual settlement date. If the Cash Component and the Deposit Securities or Deposit Cash, as applicable, are not received by the Custodian in a timely manner by the contractual settlement date, the creation order may be cancelled. Upon written notice to the Transfer Agent, such canceled order may be resubmitted the following Business Day using a Fund Deposit as newly constituted to reflect the then current NAV of the Fund.
The order shall be deemed to be received on the Business Day on which the order is placed provided that the order is placed in proper form prior to the applicable cut-off time and the federal funds in the appropriate amount are deposited with the Custodian by no later than the Deposit Deadline. If the order is not placed in proper form as required, or federal funds in the appropriate amount are not received by the Deposit Deadline, then the order may be deemed to be rejected and the Authorized Participant shall be liable to the Fund for losses, if any, resulting therefrom. A creation request is in “proper form” if all procedures set forth in the Participant Agreement, order form and this SAI are properly followed.
Issuance of a Creation Unit. Except as provided in this SAI, Creation Units will not be issued until the transfer of good title to the Trust of the Deposit Securities or payment of Deposit Cash, as applicable, and the payment of the Cash Component have been completed. When the required Deposit Securities (or the cash value thereof) have been delivered to the account of the Custodian (or sub-custodian, as applicable), the Transfer Agent and the Adviser shall be notified of such delivery, and the Trust will issue and cause the delivery of the Creation Units. The typical settlement date for each transaction will be within one day of the transaction (commonly referred to as “T+1”), unless the Fund and Authorized Participant agree to a different timeline for settlement or the transaction is exempt from the requirements of Rule 15c6-1 under the 1934 Act. Due to the schedule of holidays in certain countries, however, the delivery of Shares may take longer than one Business Day following the day on which the purchase order is received. In such cases, the local market settlement procedures will not commence until the end of local holiday periods. The Authorized Participant shall be liable to the Fund for losses, if any, resulting from unsettled orders.
26
Creation Units may be purchased in advance of receipt by the Trust of all or a portion of the applicable Deposit Securities as described below. In these circumstances, the initial deposit will have a value greater than the NAV of the Shares on the date the order is placed in proper form since, in addition to available Deposit Securities, cash must be deposited in an amount equal to the sum of (i) the Cash Component, plus (ii) an additional amount of cash equal to a percentage of the value as set forth in the Participant Agreement, of the undelivered Deposit Securities (the “Additional Cash Deposit”), which shall be maintained in a separate non-interest bearing collateral account. The Authorized Participant must deposit with the Custodian the Additional Cash Deposit, as applicable, by the Deposit Deadline. If the Fund or its agents do not receive the Additional Cash Deposit in the appropriate amount, by such time, then the order may be deemed rejected and the Authorized Participant shall be liable to the Fund for losses, if any, resulting therefrom. An additional amount of cash shall be required to be deposited with the Trust, pending delivery of the missing Deposit Securities to the extent necessary to maintain the Additional Cash Deposit with the Trust in an amount at least equal to the applicable percentage, as set forth in the Participant Agreement, of the daily market value of the missing Deposit Securities. The Participant Agreement will permit the Trust to buy the missing Deposit Securities at any time. Authorized Participants will be liable to the Trust for the costs incurred by the Trust in connection with any such purchases. These costs will be deemed to include the amount by which the actual purchase price of the Deposit Securities exceeds the value of such Deposit Securities on the day the purchase order was deemed received by the Transfer Agent plus the brokerage and related transaction costs associated with such purchases. The Trust will return any unused portion of the Additional Cash Deposit once all of the missing Deposit Securities have been properly received by the Custodian or purchased by the Trust and deposited into the Trust. In addition, a transaction fee, as described below under “Creation Transaction Fee,” may be charged. The delivery of Creation Units so created generally will occur no later than the contractual settlement date.
Acceptance of Orders of Creation Units. The Trust reserves the right to reject an order for Creation Units transmitted to it by the Transfer Agent with respect to the Fund including if (a) the order is not in proper form; (b) the Deposit Securities or Deposit Cash, as applicable, delivered by the Authorized Participant are not as disseminated through the facilities of the NSCC for that date by the Custodian; (c) the investor(s), upon obtaining Shares ordered, would own 80% or more of the currently outstanding Shares; (d) the acceptance of the Fund Deposit would, in the opinion of counsel, be unlawful; (e) the acceptance or receipt of the order for a Creation Unit would, in the opinion of counsel to the Trust, be unlawful; or (f) in the event that circumstances outside the control of the Trust, the Custodian, the Transfer Agent and/or the Adviser make it for all practical purposes not feasible to process orders for Creation Units.
Examples of such circumstances include acts of God; public service or utility problems such as fires, floods, extreme weather conditions, and power outages resulting in telephone, telecopy, and computer failures; market conditions or activities causing trading halts; systems failures involving computer or other information systems affecting the Trust, the Distributor, the Custodian, a sub-custodian, the Transfer Agent, DTC, NSCC, Federal Reserve System, or any other participant in the creation process; and other extraordinary events. The Transfer Agent shall notify a prospective creator of a Creation Unit and/or the Authorized Participant acting on behalf of the creator of a Creation Unit of its rejection of the order of such person. The Trust, the Transfer Agent, the Custodian, any sub-custodian and the Distributor are under no duty, however, to give notification of any defects or irregularities in the delivery of Fund Deposits nor shall either of them incur any liability for the failure to give any such notification. The Trust, the Transfer Agent, the Custodian and the Distributor shall not be liable for the rejection of any purchase order for Creation Units.
All questions as to the number of Shares of each security in the Deposit Securities and the validity, form, eligibility, and acceptance for deposit of any securities to be delivered shall be determined by the Trust, and the Trust’s determination shall be final and binding.
Notwithstanding the Trust’s ability to reject an order for creation units, the Trust will only do so in a manner consistent with any current or future SEC rulemaking or guidance relating thereto; provided that, no such suspension of the issuance of creation units will be done in a manner that impairs the arbitrage mechanism for investors.
Creation Transaction Fee. A fixed purchase (i.e., creation) transaction fee, payable to the Custodian, may be imposed for the transfer and other transaction costs associated with the purchase of Creation Units (“Creation Order Costs”). The standard fixed creation transaction fee for the Fund, regardless of the number of Creation Units created in the transaction, can be found in the table below. The Fund may adjust the standard fixed creation transaction fee from time to time. The fixed creation fee may be waived on certain orders if the Custodian has determined to waive some or all of the Creation Order Costs associated with the order or another party, such as the Adviser, has agreed to pay such fee.
In addition, a variable fee, payable to the Fund, of up to the maximum percentage listed in the table below of the value of the Creation Units subject to the transaction may be imposed for cash purchases, non-standard orders, or partial cash purchases of Creation Units. The variable charge is primarily designed to cover additional costs (e.g., brokerage, taxes) involved with buying the securities with cash. The Fund may determine to not charge a variable fee on certain orders when the Adviser has determined that doing so is in the best interests of Fund shareholders.
| Name of Fund | Fixed Creation Transaction Fee | Maximum Variable Transaction Fee |
| Defiance Situational Awareness Select ETF | $[ ] | [ ]% |
27
Investors who use the services of a broker or other such intermediary may be charged a fee for such services. Investors are responsible for the fixed costs of transferring the Fund Securities (defined below) from the Trust to their account or on their order.
Risks of Purchasing Creation Units. There are certain legal risks unique to investors purchasing Creation Units directly from the Fund. Because Shares may be issued on an ongoing basis, a “distribution” of Shares could be occurring at any time. Certain activities that a shareholder performs as a dealer could, depending on the circumstances, result in the shareholder being deemed a participant in the distribution in a manner that could render the shareholder a statutory underwriter and subject to the prospectus delivery and liability provisions of the Securities Act. For example, a shareholder could be deemed a statutory underwriter if it purchases Creation Units from the Fund, breaks them down into the constituent Shares, and sells those Shares directly to customers, or if a shareholder chooses to couple the creation of a supply of new Shares with an active selling effort involving solicitation of secondary-market demand for Shares. Whether a person is an underwriter depends upon all of the facts and circumstances pertaining to that person’s activities, and the examples mentioned here should not be considered a complete description of all the activities that could cause you to be deemed an underwriter.
Dealers who are not “underwriters” but are participating in a distribution (as opposed to engaging in ordinary secondary-market transactions), and thus dealing with Shares as part of an “unsold allotment” within the meaning of Section 4(a)(3)(C) of the Securities Act, will be unable to take advantage of the prospectus delivery exemption provided by Section 4(a)(3) of the Securities Act.
Redemption. Shares may be redeemed only in Creation Units at their NAV next determined after receipt of a redemption request in proper form by the Fund through the Transfer Agent and only on a Business Day. EXCEPT UPON LIQUIDATION OF THE FUND, THE FUND WILL NOT REDEEM SHARES IN AMOUNTS LESS THAN CREATION UNITS. Investors must accumulate enough Shares in the secondary market to constitute a Creation Unit to have such Shares redeemed by the Trust. There can be no assurance, however, that there will be sufficient liquidity in the public trading market at any time to permit assembly of a Creation Unit. Investors should expect to incur brokerage and other costs in connection with assembling a sufficient number of Shares to constitute a redeemable Creation Unit.
With respect to the Fund, the Custodian, through the NSCC, makes available prior to the opening of business on the Exchange (currently 9:30 a.m., Eastern Time) on each Business Day, the list of the names and Share quantities of the Fund’s portfolio securities that will be applicable (subject to possible amendment or correction) to redemption requests received in proper form (as defined below) on that day (“Fund Securities”). Fund Securities received on redemption may not be identical to Deposit Securities.
Redemption proceeds for a Creation Unit are paid either in-kind or in cash, or combination thereof, as determined by the Trust. With respect to in-kind redemptions of the Fund, redemption proceeds for a Creation Unit will consist of Fund Securities—as announced by the Custodian on the Business Day of the request for redemption received in proper form plus cash in an amount equal to the difference between the NAV of Shares being redeemed, as next determined after a receipt of a request in proper form, and the value of the Fund Securities (the “Cash Redemption Amount”), less a fixed redemption transaction fee, as applicable, as set forth below. If the Fund Securities have a value greater than the NAV of Shares, a compensating cash payment equal to the differential is required to be made by or through an Authorized Participant by the redeeming shareholder. Notwithstanding the foregoing, at the Trust’s discretion, an Authorized Participant may receive the corresponding cash value of the securities in lieu of the in-kind securities value representing one or more Fund Securities.
The typical settlement date for each redemption transaction will be within one day of the transaction (or T+1), unless the Fund and Authorized Participant agree to a different timeline for settlement or the transaction is exempt from the requirements of Rule 15c6-1 under the 1934 Act. Due to the schedule of holidays in certain countries, however, the receipt of redemption proceeds may take longer than one Business Day following the day on which the purchase order is received. In such cases, the local market settlement procedures will not commence until the end of local holiday periods.
Redemption Transaction Fee. A fixed redemption transaction fee, payable to the Custodian, may be imposed for the transfer and other transaction costs associated with the redemption of Creation Units (“Redemption Order Costs”). The standard fixed redemption transaction fee for the Fund, regardless of the number of Creation Units redeemed in the transaction, can be found in the table below. The Fund may adjust the redemption transaction fee from time to time. The fixed redemption fee may be waived on certain orders if the Custodian has determined to waive some or all of the Redemption Order Costs associated with the order or another party, such as the Adviser, has agreed to pay such fee.
In addition, a variable fee, payable to the Fund, of up to the maximum percentage listed in the table below of the value of the Creation Units subject to the transaction may be imposed for cash redemptions, non-standard orders, or partial cash redemptions (when cash redemptions are available) of Creation Units. The variable charge is primarily designed to cover additional costs (e.g., brokerage, taxes) involved with selling portfolio securities to satisfy a cash redemption. The Fund may determine to not charge a variable fee on certain orders when the Adviser has determined that doing so is in the best interests of Fund shareholders.
| Name of Fund | Fixed Redemption Transaction Fee | Maximum Variable Transaction Fee |
| Defiance Situational Awareness Select ETF | $[ ] | [ ]% |
28
Investors who use the services of a broker or other such intermediary may be charged a fee for such services. Investors are responsible for the fixed costs of transferring the Fund Securities from the Trust to their account or on their order.
Procedures for Redemption of Creation Units. Orders to redeem Creation Units must generally be submitted in proper form to the Transfer Agent prior to the Closing Time, subject to the Fund’s right to require an earlier submission as indicated under “Placement of Creation or Redemption Orders.” A redemption request is considered to be in “proper form” if (i) an Authorized Participant has transferred or caused to be transferred to the Trust’s Transfer Agent the Creation Unit(s) being redeemed through the book-entry system of DTC so as to be effective by the time as set forth in the Participant Agreement and (ii) a request in form satisfactory to the Trust is received by the Transfer Agent from the Authorized Participant on behalf of itself or another redeeming investor within the time periods specified in the Participant Agreement. If the Transfer Agent does not receive the investor’s Shares through DTC’s facilities by the times and pursuant to the other terms and conditions set forth in the Participant Agreement, the redemption request shall be rejected.
The Authorized Participant must transmit the request for redemption, in the form required by the Trust, to the Transfer Agent in accordance with procedures set forth in the Authorized Participant Agreement. Investors should be aware that their particular broker may not have executed an Authorized Participant Agreement, and that, therefore, requests to redeem Creation Units may have to be placed by the investor’s broker through an Authorized Participant who has executed an Authorized Participant Agreement. Investors making a redemption request should be aware that such request must be in the form specified by such Authorized Participant. Investors making a request to redeem Creation Units should allow sufficient time to permit proper submission of the request by an Authorized Participant and transfer of the Shares to the Trust’s Transfer Agent; such investors should allow for the additional time that may be required to effect redemptions through their banks, brokers or other financial intermediaries if such intermediaries are not Authorized Participants.
Additional Redemption Procedures. In connection with taking delivery of Shares of Fund Securities upon redemption of Creation Units, a redeeming shareholder or Authorized Participant acting on behalf of such Shareholder must maintain appropriate custody arrangements with a qualified broker-dealer, bank, or other custody providers in each jurisdiction in which any of the Fund Securities are customarily traded, to which account such Fund Securities will be delivered. Deliveries of redemption proceeds will generally be made within by the next Business Day of the trade date, as discussed above.
The Trust may in its discretion exercise its option to cause the Fund to redeem such Shares in cash, and the redeeming investor will be required to receive its redemption proceeds in cash. In addition, an investor may request a redemption in cash that the Fund may, in its sole discretion, permit. In either case, the investor will receive a cash payment equal to the NAV of its Shares of the Fund based on the NAV of Shares next determined after the redemption request is received in proper form (minus a redemption transaction fee, if applicable, and additional charge for requested cash redemptions specified above, to offset the Trust’s brokerage and other transaction costs associated with the disposition of Fund Securities). The Fund may also, in its sole discretion, upon request of a shareholder, provide such redeemer a portfolio of securities that differs from the exact composition of the Fund Securities but does not differ in NAV.
Redemptions of Shares for Fund Securities will be subject to compliance with applicable federal and state securities laws and the Fund (whether or not it otherwise permits cash redemptions) reserves the right to redeem Creation Units for cash to the extent that the Trust could not lawfully deliver specific Fund Securities upon redemptions or could not do so without first registering the Fund Securities under such laws. An Authorized Participant or an investor for which it is acting subject to a legal restriction with respect to a particular security included in the Fund Securities applicable to the redemption of Creation Units may be paid an equivalent amount of cash. The Authorized Participant may request the redeeming investor of the Shares to complete an order form or to enter into agreements with respect to such matters as compensating cash payment. Further, an Authorized Participant that is not a “qualified institutional buyer,” (“QIB”) as such term is defined under Rule 144A of the Securities Act, will not be able to receive Fund Securities that are restricted securities eligible for resale under Rule 144A. An Authorized Participant may be required by the Trust to provide a written confirmation with respect to QIB status to receive Fund Securities.
The right of redemption may be suspended or the date of payment postponed with respect to the Fund (1) for any period during which the Exchange is closed (other than customary weekend and holiday closings); (2) for any period during which trading on the Exchange is suspended or restricted; (3) for any period during which an emergency exists as a result of which disposal of the Shares or determination of the NAV of the Shares is not reasonably practicable; or (4) in such other circumstance as is permitted by the SEC.
DETERMINATION OF NET ASSET VALUE
NAV per Share for the Fund is computed by dividing the value of the net assets of the Fund (i.e., the value of its total assets less total liabilities) by the total number of Shares outstanding, rounded to the nearest cent. Expenses and fees, including the management fees, are accrued daily and taken into account for purposes of determining NAV. The NAV of the Fund is calculated by Global Fund Services and determined at the scheduled close of the regular trading session on the NYSE (ordinarily 4:00 p.m., Eastern Time) on each day that the NYSE is open, provided that fixed-income assets may be valued as of the announced closing time for trading in fixed-income instruments on any day that the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (“SIFMA”) announces an early closing time.
29
In calculating a Fund’s NAV per Share, the Fund’s investments are generally valued using market valuations. A market valuation generally means a valuation (1) obtained from an exchange, a pricing service, or a major market maker (or dealer), (2) based on a price quotation or other equivalent indication of value supplied by an exchange, a pricing service, or a major market maker (or dealer) or (3) based on amortized cost. In the case of shares of other funds that are not traded on an exchange, a market valuation means such fund’s published NAV per share. The Fund may use various pricing services, or discontinue the use of any pricing service, as approved by the Board from time to time. A price obtained from a pricing service based on such pricing service’s valuation matrix may be considered a market valuation. Any assets or liabilities denominated in currencies other than the U.S. dollar are converted into U.S. dollars at the current market rates on the date of valuation as quoted by one or more sources.
The Fund values swap agreements based on the nature of the underlying reference asset or index. The Fund may use the closing price of the underlying reference asset, as provided by independent pricing services, or evaluated prices generated by pricing vendors’ models. The Fund values exchange-traded options at the composite mean price, calculated as the average of the highest bid and lowest ask prices across the exchanges on which the option is principally traded.
When market valuations are not “readily available” or are deemed to be unreliable, consistent with Rule 2a-5 under the 1940 Act, the Trust and the Adviser have adopted procedures and methodologies wherein the Adviser, serving as the Fund’s Valuation Designee (as defined in Rule 2a-5), determines the fair value of Fund investments.
The following information supplements and should be read in conjunction with the section in the Prospectus entitled “Dividends, Distributions, and Taxes.”
General Policies. The Fund intends to pay out dividends and interest income, if any, [ ] and distribute any net realized capital gains to its shareholders at least annually. Distributions of net realized capital gains, if any, generally are declared and paid once a year, but the Fund may make distributions on a more frequent basis to comply with the distribution requirements of the Code, in all events in a manner consistent with the provisions of the 1940 Act.
The Fund will declare and pay income and capital gain distributions, if any, in cash. Dividends and other distributions on Shares are distributed, as described below, on a pro rata basis to Beneficial Owners of such Shares. Dividend payments are made through DTC Participants and Indirect Participants to Beneficial Owners then of record with proceeds received from the Trust.
The Fund makes additional distributions to the extent necessary (1) to distribute the entire annual taxable income of the Fund, plus any net capital gains and (2) to avoid imposition of the excise tax imposed by Section 4982 of the Code. Management of the Trust reserves the right to declare special dividends if, in its reasonable discretion, such action is necessary or advisable to preserve the Fund’s eligibility for treatment as a RIC or to avoid imposition of income or excise taxes on undistributed income at the Fund level.
Dividend Reinvestment Service. The Trust will not make the DTC book-entry dividend reinvestment service available for use by Beneficial Owners for reinvestment of their cash proceeds, but certain individual broker-dealers may make available the DTC book-entry Dividend Reinvestment Service for use by Beneficial Owners of the Fund through DTC Participants for reinvestment of their dividend distributions. Investors should contact their brokers to ascertain the availability and description of these services. Beneficial Owners should be aware that each broker may require investors to adhere to specific procedures and timetables to participate in the dividend reinvestment service and investors should ascertain from their brokers such necessary details. If this service is available and used, dividend distributions of both income and realized gains will be automatically reinvested in additional whole Shares issued by the Trust of the Fund at NAV per Share. Distributions reinvested in additional Shares will nevertheless be taxable to Beneficial Owners acquiring such additional Shares to the same extent as if such distributions had been received in cash.
The following is only a summary of certain U.S. federal income tax considerations generally affecting the Fund and its shareholders that supplements the discussion in the Prospectus. No attempt is made to present a comprehensive explanation of the federal, state, local or foreign tax treatment of the Fund or its shareholders, and the discussion here and in the Prospectus is not intended to be a substitute for careful tax planning.
The following general discussion of certain U.S. federal income tax consequences is based on provisions of the Code and the regulations issued thereunder as in effect on the date of this SAI. New legislation, as well as administrative changes or court decisions, may significantly change the conclusions expressed herein, and may have a retroactive effect with respect to the transactions contemplated herein.
30
The tax legislation commonly referred to as the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (the “Tax Act”) made significant changes to the U.S. federal income tax rules for taxation of individuals and corporations, generally effective for taxable years beginning after December 31, 2017. Many of the changes applicable to individuals are temporary and would apply only to taxable years before January 1, 2026. There were only minor changes with respect to the specific rules applicable to RICs, such as the Fund. The Tax Act, however, also made numerous other changes to the tax rules that may affect shareholders and the Fund. Subsequent legislation has modified certain changes to the U.S. federal income tax rules made by the Tax Act which may, in addition, affect shareholders and the Fund. You are urged to consult with your own tax advisor regarding how this legislation affects your investment in the Fund.
Shareholders are urged to consult their own tax advisers regarding the application of the provisions of tax law described in this SAI in light of the particular tax situations of the shareholders and regarding specific questions as to federal, state, local, or foreign taxes.
Taxation of the Fund. The Fund will elect and intends to qualify each year to be treated as a RIC under the Code. As such, the Fund should not be subject to federal income taxes on its net investment income and capital gains, if any, to the extent that it timely distributes such income and capital gains to its shareholders. Generally, to be taxed as a RIC, the Fund must distribute in each taxable year at least 90% of its “investment company taxable income” (before the deduction for dividends paid) for the taxable year, which includes, among other items, dividends, interest, net short-term capital gain, and net foreign currency gain, less expenses, as well as 90% of its net tax-exempt interest income, if any (the “Distribution Requirement”) and also must meet several additional requirements. Among these requirements are the following: (1) at least 90% of the Fund’s gross income each taxable year must be derived from dividends, interest, payments with respect to certain securities loans, gains from the sale or other disposition of stock, securities, or foreign currencies, or other income derived with respect to its business of investing in such stock, securities, or foreign currencies, and net income derived from interests in qualified publicly traded partnerships (the “Qualifying Income Requirement”); and (2) at the end of each quarter of the Fund’s taxable year, the Fund’s assets must be diversified so that (a) at least 50% of the value of the Fund’s total assets is represented by cash and cash items, U.S. government securities, securities of other RICs, and other securities, with such other securities limited, in respect to any one issuer, to an amount not greater in value than 5% of the value of the Fund’s total assets and to not more than 10% of the outstanding voting securities of such issuer, and (b) not more than 25% of the value of its total assets is invested in the securities (other than U.S. government securities or securities of other RICs) of any one issuer, the securities (other than securities of other RICs) of two or more issuers which the Fund controls and which are engaged in the same, similar, or related trades or businesses, or the securities of one or more qualified publicly traded partnerships (the “Diversification Requirement”).
There is no assurance that the Fund will be able to satisfy the Diversification Requirement. In some cases, identification of the issuer (or issuers) is uncertain under current law, and an adverse determination or future guidance by the IRS with respect to issuer identification for a particular type of investment may adversely affect the Fund’s ability to meet the Diversification Test.
To the extent the Fund makes investments that may generate income that is not qualifying income, including certain derivatives, the Fund will seek to restrict the resulting income from such investments so that the Fund’s non-qualifying income does not exceed 10% of its gross income.
Although the Fund intends to distribute substantially all of its net investment income and may distribute its capital gains for any taxable year, the Fund will be subject to federal income taxation to the extent any such income or gains are not distributed. The Fund is treated as a separate corporation for federal income tax purposes. The Fund therefore is considered to be a separate entity in determining its treatment under the rules for RICs described herein. The requirements (other than certain organizational requirements) for qualifying RIC status are determined at the Fund level rather than at the Trust level.
If the Fund fails to satisfy the Qualifying Income Requirement or the Diversification Requirement in any taxable year, the Fund may be eligible for relief provisions if the failures are due to reasonable cause and not willful neglect and if a penalty tax is paid with respect to each failure to satisfy the applicable requirements. Additionally, relief is provided for certain de minimis failures of the Diversification Requirement where the Fund corrects the failure within a specified period of time. To be eligible for the relief provisions with respect to a failure to meet the Diversification Requirement, the Fund may be required to dispose of certain assets. If these relief provisions were not available to the Fund and it were to fail to qualify for treatment as a RIC for a taxable year, all of its taxable income would be subject to tax at regular corporate rates without any deduction for distributions to shareholders, and its distributions (including capital gains distributions) generally would be taxable to the shareholders of the Fund as ordinary income dividends, subject to the dividends received deduction for corporate shareholders and the lower tax rates on qualified dividend income received by noncorporate shareholders, subject to certain limitations. Given the investment strategies of the Fund, it is unlikely that any dividends paid by the Fund will be qualified dividends or be eligible for the corporate dividends paid deduction. To requalify for treatment as a RIC in a subsequent taxable year, the Fund would be required to satisfy the RIC qualification requirements for that year and to distribute any earnings and profits from any year in which the Fund failed to qualify for tax treatment as a RIC. If the Fund failed to qualify as a RIC for a period greater than two taxable years, it would generally be required to pay a fund-level tax on certain net built in gains recognized with respect to certain of its assets upon disposition of such assets within five years of qualifying as a RIC in a subsequent year. The Board reserves the right not to maintain the qualification of the Fund for treatment as a RIC if it determines such course of action to be beneficial to shareholders. If the Fund determines that it will not qualify as a RIC, the Fund will establish procedures to reflect the anticipated tax liability in the Fund’s NAV.
31
The Fund may elect to treat part or all of any “qualified late year loss” as if it had been incurred in the succeeding taxable year in determining the Fund’s taxable income, net capital gain, net short-term capital gain, and earnings and profits. The effect of this election is to treat any such “qualified late year loss” as if it had been incurred in the succeeding taxable year in characterizing Fund distributions for any calendar year. A “qualified late year loss” generally includes net capital loss, net long-term capital loss, or net short-term capital loss incurred after October 31 of the current taxable year, subject to special rules in the event the Fund makes an election under Section 4982(e)(4) of the Code, (commonly referred to as “post-October losses”), and certain other late-year losses.
Capital losses in excess of capital gains (“net capital losses”) are not permitted to be deducted against a RIC’s net investment income. Instead, for U.S. federal income tax purposes, potentially subject to certain limitations, the Fund may carry a net capital loss from any taxable year forward indefinitely to offset its capital gains, if any, in years following the year of the loss. To the extent subsequent capital gains are offset by such losses, they will not result in U.S. federal income tax liability to the Fund and may not be distributed as capital gains to its shareholders. Generally, the Fund may not carry forward any losses other than net capital losses. The carryover of capital losses may be limited under the general loss limitation rules if the Fund experiences an ownership change as defined in the Code.
The Fund will be subject to a nondeductible 4% federal excise tax on certain undistributed income if it does not distribute to its shareholders in each calendar year an amount at least equal to 98% of its ordinary income for the calendar year plus 98.2% of its capital gain net income for either the one-year period ending on October 31 of that year, or, if the Fund makes an election under Section 4982(e)(4) of the Code, the Fund’s fiscal year, subject to an increase for any shortfall in the prior year’s distribution. The Fund intends to declare and distribute dividends and distributions in the amounts and at the times necessary to avoid the application of the excise tax, but can make no assurances that all such tax liability will be eliminated.
The Fund intends to distribute substantially all of its net investment income and net capital gain to shareholders for each taxable year. If the Fund meets the Distribution Requirement but retains some or all of its income or gains, it will be subject to federal income tax at regular corporate rates to the extent any such income or gains are not distributed. The Fund may elect to designate certain amounts retained as undistributed net capital gain as deemed distributions in a notice to its shareholders, who (i) will be required to include in income for U.S. federal income tax purposes, as long-term capital gain, their proportionate shares of the undistributed amount so designated, (ii) will be entitled to credit their proportionate shares of the income tax paid by the Fund on that undistributed amount against their federal income tax liabilities and to claim refunds to the extent such credits exceed their tax liabilities, and (iii) will be entitled to increase their tax basis, for federal income tax purposes, in their Shares by an amount equal to the excess of the amount of undistributed net capital gain included in their respective income over their respective income tax credits.
Taxation of Shareholders – Distributions. The Fund intends to distribute annually to its shareholders substantially all of its investment company taxable income (computed without regard to the deduction for dividends paid), its net tax-exempt income, if any, and any net capital gain (net long-term capital gains in excess of net short-term capital losses, taking into account any capital loss carryforwards). The distribution of investment company taxable income (as so computed) and net capital gain will be taxable to Fund shareholders regardless of whether the shareholder receives these distributions in cash or reinvests them in additional Shares.
The Fund (or your broker) will report to shareholders annually the amounts of dividends paid from ordinary income, the amount of distributions of net capital gain, the portion of dividends which may qualify for the dividends received deduction for corporate shareholders, if any, and the portion of dividends which may qualify for treatment as qualified dividend income, if any, which is taxable to non-corporate shareholders at long-term capital gain rates.
Distributions from the Fund’s net capital gain will be taxable to shareholders at long-term capital gains rates, regardless of how long shareholders have held their Shares. Distributions may be subject to state and local taxes.
Distributions by the Fund of its net short-term capital gains will be taxable to shareholders as ordinary income.
Although dividends generally will be treated as distributed when paid, any dividend declared by the Fund in October, November or December and payable to shareholders of record in such a month that is paid during the following January will be treated for U.S. federal income tax purposes as received by shareholders on December 31 of the calendar year in which it was declared.
In addition to the federal income tax, certain individuals, trusts and estates may be subject to a Net Investment Income (“NII”) tax of 3.8%. The NII tax is imposed on the lesser of: (i) a taxpayer’s investment income, net of deductions properly allocable to such income; or (ii) the amount by which such taxpayer’s modified adjusted gross income exceeds certain thresholds ($250,000 for married individuals filing jointly, $200,000 for unmarried individuals and $125,000 for married individuals filing separately). The Fund’s distributions are includable in a shareholder’s investment income for purposes of this NII tax. In addition, any capital gain realized by a shareholder upon a sale or redemption of Fund shares is includable in such shareholder’s investment income for purposes of this NII tax.
Shareholders who have not held Shares for a full year should be aware that the Fund may report and distribute, as ordinary dividends or capital gain dividends, a percentage of income that is not equal to the percentage of the Fund’s ordinary income or net capital gain, respectively, actually earned during the applicable shareholder’s period of investment in the Fund. A taxable shareholder may wish to avoid investing in the Fund shortly before a dividend or other distribution, because the distribution will generally be taxable to the shareholder even though it may economically represent a return of a portion of the shareholder’s investment.
32
If the Fund’s distributions exceed its earnings and profits, all or a portion of the distributions made for a taxable year may be recharacterized as a return of capital to shareholders. A return of capital distribution will generally not be taxable, but will reduce each shareholder’s cost basis in the Fund and result in a higher capital gain or lower capital loss when the Shares on which the distribution was received are sold. After a shareholder’s basis in the Shares has been reduced to zero, distributions in excess of earnings and profits will be treated as gain from the sale of the shareholder’s Shares.
Taxation of Shareholders – Sale of Shares. A sale or redemption of Shares may give rise to a gain or loss. In general, any gain or loss realized upon a taxable disposition of Shares will be treated as long-term capital gain or loss if Shares have been held for more than 12 months. Otherwise, the gain or loss on the taxable disposition of Shares will generally be treated as short-term capital gain or loss. Any loss realized upon a taxable disposition of Shares held for six months or less will be treated as long-term capital loss, rather than short-term capital loss, to the extent of any amounts treated as distributions to the shareholder of long-term capital gain with respect to such Shares (including any amounts credited to the shareholder as undistributed capital gains). All or a portion of any loss realized upon a taxable disposition of Shares may be disallowed if substantially identical Shares are acquired (through the reinvestment of dividends or otherwise) within a 61-day period beginning 30 days before and ending 30 days after the disposition. In such a case, the basis of the newly acquired Shares will be adjusted to reflect the disallowed loss.
The cost basis of Shares acquired by purchase will generally be based on the amount paid for Shares and then may be subsequently adjusted for other applicable transactions as required by the Code. The difference between the selling price and the cost basis of Shares generally determines the amount of the capital gain or loss realized on the sale of Shares. Contact the broker through whom you purchased your Shares to obtain information with respect to the available cost basis reporting methods and elections for your account.
An Authorized Participant who exchanges securities for Creation Units generally will recognize a gain or a loss. The gain or loss will be equal to the difference between the market value of the Creation Units at the time and the sum of the exchanger’s aggregate basis in the securities surrendered plus the amount of cash paid for such Creation Units. A person who redeems Creation Units will generally recognize a gain or loss equal to the difference between the exchanger’s basis in the Creation Units and the sum of the aggregate market value of any securities received plus the amount of any cash received for such Creation Units. The Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”), however, may assert that a loss realized upon an exchange of securities for Creation Units cannot currently be deducted under the rules governing “wash sales” (for an exchanger who does not mark-to-market its portfolio) or on the basis that there has been no significant change in economic position.
Any capital gain or loss realized upon the creation of Creation Units will generally be treated as long-term capital gain or loss if the securities exchanged for such Creation Units have been held for more than one year. Any capital gain or loss realized upon the redemption of Creation Units will generally be treated as long-term capital gain or loss if the Shares composing the Creation Units have been held for more than one year. Otherwise, such capital gains or losses will generally be treated as short-term capital gains or losses. Any loss upon a redemption of Creation Units held for six months or less may be treated as long-term capital loss to the extent of any amounts treated as distributions to the applicable Authorized Participant of long-term capital gain with respect to the Creation Units (including any amounts credited to the Authorized Participant as undistributed capital gains).
The Trust, on behalf of the Fund, has the right to reject an order for Creation Units if the purchaser (or a group of purchasers) would, upon obtaining the Creation Units so ordered, own 80% or more of the outstanding Shares and if, pursuant to Section 351 of the Code, the Fund would have a basis in the deposit securities different from the market value of such securities on the date of deposit. The Trust also has the right to require the provision of information necessary to determine beneficial Share ownership for purposes of the 80% determination. If the Fund does issue Creation Units to a purchaser (or a group of purchasers) that would, upon obtaining the Creation Units so ordered, own 80% or more of the outstanding Shares, the purchaser (or a group of purchasers) will not recognize gain or loss upon the exchange of securities for Creation Units.
Persons purchasing or redeeming Creation Units should consult their own tax advisers with respect to the tax treatment of any creation or redemption transaction and whether the wash sales rule applies and when a loss may be deductible.
Taxation of Fund Investments. Certain of the Fund’s investments may be subject to complex provisions of the Code (including provisions relating to hedging transactions, straddles, integrated transactions, foreign currency contracts, forward foreign currency contracts, and notional principal contracts) that, among other things, may affect the Fund’s ability to qualify as a RIC, affect the character of gains and losses realized by the Fund (e.g., may affect whether gains or losses are ordinary or capital), accelerate recognition of income to the Fund and defer losses. These rules could therefore affect the character, amount and timing of distributions to shareholders. These provisions also may require the Fund to mark to market certain types of positions in its portfolio (i.e., treat them as if they were closed out) which may cause the Fund to recognize income without the Fund receiving cash with which to make distributions in amounts sufficient to enable the Fund to satisfy the RIC distribution requirements for avoiding Fund-level income and excise taxes. The Fund intends to monitor its transactions, intends to make appropriate tax elections, and intends to make appropriate entries in its books and records to mitigate the effect of these rules and preserve the Fund’s qualification for treatment as a RIC. To the extent the Fund invests in an underlying fund that is taxable as a RIC, the rules applicable to the tax treatment of complex securities will also apply to the underlying funds that also invest in such complex securities and investments. In addition, because the tax rules applicable to such instruments may be uncertain under current law, an adverse determination or future IRS guidance with respect to these rules (which determination or guidance could be retroactive) may affect whether the Fund has made sufficient distributions and otherwise satisfied the relevant requirements to maintain its qualification as a RIC and avoid a Fund-level tax.
33
Backup Withholding. The Fund will be required in certain cases to withhold (as “backup withholding”) on amounts payable to any shareholder who (1) fails to provide a correct taxpayer identification number certified under penalty of perjury; (2) is subject to backup withholding by the IRS for failure to properly report all payments of interest or dividends; (3) fails to provide a certified statement that they are not subject to “backup withholding;” or (4) fails to provide a certified statement that they are a U.S. person (including a U.S. resident alien). The backup withholding rate is at a rate set under Section 3406 of the Code. Backup withholding is not an additional tax and any amounts withheld may be credited against the shareholder’s ultimate U.S. federal income tax liability. Backup withholding will not be applied to payments that have been subject to the 30% withholding tax on shareholders who are neither citizens nor permanent residents of the United States.
Non-U.S. Shareholders. Any non-U.S. investors in the Fund may be subject to U.S. withholding and estate tax and are encouraged to consult their tax advisors prior to investing in the Fund. Foreign shareholders (i.e., nonresident alien individuals and foreign corporations, partnerships, trusts and estates) are generally subject to a U.S. withholding tax at the rate of 30% (or a lower tax treaty rate) on distributions derived from taxable ordinary income. The Fund may, under certain circumstances, report all or a portion of a dividend as an “interest-related dividend” or a “short-term capital gain dividend,” which would generally be exempt from this 30% U.S. withholding tax, provided certain other requirements are met. Short-term capital gain dividends received by a nonresident alien individual who is present in the U.S. for a period or periods aggregating 183 days or more during the taxable year are not exempt from this 30% withholding tax. Gains realized by foreign shareholders from the sale or other disposition of Shares generally are not subject to U.S. taxation, unless the recipient is an individual who is physically present in the U.S. for 183 days or more per year (based on a formula that factors in presence in the U.S. during the two preceding years as well). Foreign shareholders who fail to provide an applicable IRS form may be subject to backup withholding on certain payments from the Fund. Backup withholding will not be applied to payments that are subject to the 30% (or lower applicable treaty rate) withholding tax described in this paragraph. Different tax consequences may result if the foreign shareholder is engaged in a trade or business within the United States. In addition, the tax consequences to a foreign shareholder entitled to claim the benefits of a tax treaty may be different than those described above.
Under the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (“FATCA”), the Fund may be required to withhold a generally nonrefundable 30% tax on distributions of net investment income paid to (a) certain “foreign financial institutions” unless such foreign financial institution agrees to verify, monitor, and report to the IRS the identity of certain of its account holders, among other items (or unless such entity is otherwise deemed compliant under the terms of an intergovernmental agreement between the United States and the foreign financial institution’s country of residence), and (b) certain “non-financial foreign entities” unless such entity certifies to the Fund that it does not have any substantial U.S. owners or provides the name, address, and taxpayer identification number of each substantial U.S. owner, among other items. This FATCA withholding tax could also affect the Fund’s return on its investments in foreign securities or affect a shareholder’s return if the shareholder holds its Fund shares through a foreign intermediary. You are urged to consult your tax adviser regarding the application of this FATCA withholding tax to your investment in the Fund and the potential certification, compliance, due diligence, reporting, and withholding obligations to which you may become subject in order to avoid this withholding tax.
For foreign shareholders to qualify for an exemption from backup withholding, described above, the foreign shareholder must comply with special certification and filing requirements. Foreign shareholders in the Fund should consult their tax advisors in this regard.
Tax-Exempt Shareholders. Certain tax-exempt shareholders, including qualified pension plans, individual retirement accounts, salary deferral arrangements, 401(k) plans, and other tax-exempt entities, generally are exempt from federal income taxation, except with respect to their unrelated business taxable income (“UBTI”). Tax-exempt entities are generally not permitted to offset losses from one unrelated trade or business against the income or gain of another unrelated trade or business. Certain net losses incurred prior to January 1, 2018 are permitted to offset gain and income created by an unrelated trade or business, if otherwise available. Under current law, the Fund generally serves to block UBTI from being realized by its tax-exempt shareholders with respect to their shares of Fund income. However, notwithstanding the foregoing, tax-exempt shareholders could realize UBTI by virtue of their investment in the Fund if, for example, shares in the Fund constitute debt-financed property in the hands of the tax-exempt shareholders within the meaning of section 514(b) of the Code. Charitable remainder trusts are subject to special rules and should consult their tax advisers. The IRS has issued guidance with respect to these issues and prospective shareholders, especially charitable remainder trusts, are strongly encouraged to consult with their tax advisers regarding these issues.
Certain Potential Tax Reporting Requirements. Under U.S. Treasury regulations, if a shareholder recognizes a loss on disposition of the Shares of $2 million or more for an individual shareholder or $10 million or more for a corporate shareholder (or certain greater amounts over a combination of years), the shareholder must file with the IRS a disclosure statement on IRS Form 8886. Direct shareholders of portfolio securities are in many cases excepted from this reporting requirement, but under current guidance, shareholders of a RIC are not excepted. Significant penalties may be imposed for the failure to comply with the reporting requirements. The fact that a loss is reportable under these regulations does not affect the legal determination of whether the taxpayer’s treatment of the loss is proper. Shareholders should consult their tax advisors to determine the applicability of these regulations in light of their individual circumstances.
Other Issues. In those states which have income tax laws, the tax treatment of the Fund and of Fund shareholders with respect to distributions by the Fund may differ from federal tax treatment.
Financial statements and annual reports will be available after the Fund has completed a fiscal year of operations. When available, you may request a copy of the Fund’s Annual Certified Shareholder Report at no charge by calling (833) 333-9383 or through the Fund’s website at www.defianceetfs.com.
34
TIDAL TRUST V
PART C: OTHER INFORMATION
Item 28. Exhibits
| Exhibit
No. |
Description of Exhibit | |
| (a) | (i) | Certificate of Trust of Tidal Trust V (the “Trust” or the “Registrant”), previously filed with the Trust’s registration statement on Form N-1A on August 22, 2025, is hereby incorporated by reference. |
| (ii) | Registrant’s Declaration of Trust, previously filed with the Trust’s registration statement on Form N-1A on August 22, 2025, is hereby incorporated by reference. | |
| (b) | Registrant’s By-Laws, previously filed with the Trust’s registration statement on Form N-1A on August 22, 2025, is hereby incorporated by reference. | |
| (c) | Instruments Defining Rights of Security Holders – See relevant portions of Declaration of Trust and By-Laws. | |
| (d) | (i) | Investment Advisory Agreement between the Trust and Tidal Investments LLC, previously filed with Pre-Effective Amendment No. 1 on Form N-1A on March 27, 2026, is incorporated herein by reference. |
| (1) First Amendment to Investment Advisory Agreement to add the Defiance Daily Target 2x Long HQ ETF, Defiance Daily Target 2X Long JBL ETF, Defiance Daily Target 2X Long MXL ETF, Defiance Daily Target 2x Long P ETF, Defiance Daily Target 2X Long STM ETF, and Defiance Daily Target 2X Long SYM ETF – to be filed by subsequent amendment. | ||
| (2) Second Amendment to Investment Advisory Agreement to add the Defiance Compute ETF – to be filed by subsequent amendment. | ||
| (3) Third Amendment to Investment Advisory Agreement to add the Defiance Pure Memory Daily 2X Strategy ETF – to be filed by subsequent amendment. | ||
| (4) Fourth Amendment to Investment Advisory Agreement to add Defiance Korea AI Semiconductor Top 10 ETF, Defiance Korea Semiconductor Top 10 ETF and Defiance China Semiconductor Top 10 ETF – to be filed by subsequent amendment. | ||
| (5) Fifth Amendment to Investment Advisory Agreement to add Defiance US Top 10 Small Modular Reactor ETF – to be filed by subsequent amendment. | ||
| (6) Sixth Amendment to Investment Advisory Agreement to add Defiance Daily Target 2X Long SIMO ETF, Defiance Daily Target 2X Long PLPC ETF, Defiance Daily Target 2X Long AMSC ETF, Defiance Daily Target 2X Long CAMT ETF, Defiance Daily Target 2X Long PENG ETF, Defiance Daily Target 2X Long NTNX ETF, Defiance Daily Target 2X Long RXT ETF, and Defiance Daily Target 2X Long SHAZ ETF – to be filed by subsequent amendment. | ||
| (7) Seventh Amendment to Investment Advisory Agreement to add Defiance KSM Israel 120 ETF and Defiance CoinDesk 5 Equal Weight ETF – to be filed by subsequent amendment. | ||
| (8) Eighth Amendment to Investment Advisory Agreement to add Defiance Helium and Strategic Gases ETF – to be filed by subsequent amendment. | ||
| (9) Ninth Amendment to Investment Advisory Agreement to add Defiance 2X Daily Long Photonics ETF – to be filed by subsequent amendment. | ||
| (10) Tenth Amendment to Investment Advisory Agreement to add Defiance Global Foundries ETF – to be filed by subsequent amendment. | ||
| (11) Eleventh Amendment to Investment Advisory Agreement to add Defiance Situational Awareness Select ETF – to be filed by subsequent amendment. | ||
| (e) | (i) | Distribution Agreement between the Foreside Fund Services, LLC – to be filed by subsequent amendment. |
| (1) First Amendment to the Distribution Agreement (adding Defiance 2X Daily Long Photonics ETF) – to be filed by subsequent amendment. | ||
| (2) Second Amendment to the Distribution Agreement (adding Defiance Global Foundries ETF) – to be filed by subsequent amendment. | ||
| (3) Third Amendment to the Distribution Agreement (adding Defiance Situational Awareness Select ETF) – to be filed by subsequent amendment. | ||
| (ii) | Distribution Agreement between the Trust and Ultimus Fund Distributors, LLC & Northern Lights Distributors, LLC – to be filed by subsequent amendment. | |
| (1) First Amendment to the Distribution Agreement (adding Defiance Daily Target 2x Long HQ ETF, Defiance Daily Target 2X Long JBL ETF, Defiance Daily Target 2X Long MXL ETF, Defiance Daily Target 2x Long P ETF, Defiance Daily Target 2X Long STM ETF, and Defiance Daily Target 2X Long SYM ETF) – to be filed by subsequent amendment. | ||
| (2) Second Amendment to the Distribution Agreement (adding Defiance Compute ETF) – to be filed by subsequent amendment. | ||
| (3) Third Amendment to the Distribution Agreement (adding Defiance Pure Memory Daily 2X Strategy ETF) – to be filed by subsequent amendment. | ||
| (4) Fourth Amendment to the Distribution Agreement (adding Defiance Korea AI Semiconductor Top 10 ETF, Defiance Korea Semiconductor Top 10 ETF and Defiance China Semiconductor Top 10 ETF) – to be filed by subsequent amendment. | ||
C-1
| (5) Fifth Amendment to the Distribution Agreement (adding Defiance US Top 10 Small Modular Reactor ETF) – to be filed by subsequent amendment. | ||
| (6) Sixth Amendment to the Distribution Agreement (adding Defiance Daily Target 2X Long SIMO ETF, Defiance Daily Target 2X Long PLPC ETF, Defiance Daily Target 2X Long AMSC ETF, Defiance Daily Target 2X Long CAMT ETF, Defiance Daily Target 2X Long PENG ETF, Defiance Daily Target 2X Long NTNX ETF, Defiance Daily Target 2X Long RXT ETF, and Defiance Daily Target 2X Long SHAZ ETF) – to be filed by subsequent amendment. | ||
| (7) Seventh Amendment to the Distribution Agreement (adding Defiance KSM Israel 120 ETF and Defiance CoinDesk 5 Equal Weight ETF) – to be filed by subsequent amendment. | ||
| (8) Eighth Amendment to the Distribution Agreement (adding Defiance Helium and Strategic Gases ETF) – to be filed by subsequent amendment. | ||
| (iii) | Form of Authorized Participant Agreement – to be filed by subsequent amendment. | |
| (f) | Not applicable. | |
| (g) | Custodian Agreement between the Trust and U.S. Bank National Association, previously filed with Pre-Effective Amendment No. 1 on Form N-1A on March 27, 2026, is incorporated herein by reference. | |
| (1) First Amendment to the Custodian Agreement (adding Defiance Daily Target 2x Long HQ ETF, Defiance Daily Target 2X Long JBL ETF, Defiance Daily Target 2X Long MXL ETF, Defiance Daily Target 2x Long P ETF, Defiance Daily Target 2X Long STM ETF, and Defiance Daily Target 2X Long SYM ETF) – to be filed by subsequent amendment. | ||
| (2) Second Amendment to the Custodian Agreement (adding Defiance Compute ETF) – to be filed by subsequent amendment. | ||
| (3) Third Amendment to the Custodian Agreement (adding Defiance Pure Memory Daily 2X Strategy ETF) – to be filed by subsequent amendment. | ||
| (4) Fourth Amendment to the Custodian Agreement (adding Defiance Korea AI Semiconductor Top 10 ETF, Defiance Korea Semiconductor Top 10 ETF and Defiance China Semiconductor Top 10 ETF) – to be filed by subsequent amendment. | ||
| (5) Fifth Amendment to the Custodian Agreement (adding Defiance US Top 10 Small Modular Reactor ETF) – to be filed by subsequent amendment. | ||
| (6) Sixth Amendment to the Custodian Agreement (adding Defiance Daily Target 2X Long SIMO ETF, Defiance Daily Target 2X Long PLPC ETF, Defiance Daily Target 2X Long AMSC ETF, Defiance Daily Target 2X Long CAMT ETF, Defiance Daily Target 2X Long PENG ETF, Defiance Daily Target 2X Long NTNX ETF, Defiance Daily Target 2X Long RXT ETF, and Defiance Daily Target 2X Long SHAZ ETF) – to be filed by subsequent amendment. | ||
| (7) Seventh Amendment to the Custodian Agreement (adding Defiance KSM Israel 120 ETF and Defiance CoinDesk 5 Equal Weight ETF) – to be filed by subsequent amendment. | ||
| (8) Eighth Amendment to the Custodian Agreement (adding Defiance Helium and Strategic Gases ETF) – to be filed by subsequent amendment. | ||
| (9) Ninth Amendment to the Custodian Agreement (adding Defiance 2X Daily Long Photonics ETF) – to be filed by subsequent amendment. | ||
| (10) Tenth Amendment to the Custodian Agreement (adding Defiance Global Foundries ETF) – to be filed by subsequent amendment. | ||
| (11) Eleventh Amendment to the Custodian Agreement (adding Defiance Situational Awareness Select ETF) – to be filed by subsequent amendment. | ||
| (h) | (i) | Fund Administration Servicing Agreement between the Trust and Tidal ETF Services LLC, previously filed with Pre-Effective Amendment No. 1 on Form N-1A on March 27, 2026, is incorporated herein by reference. |
| (1) First Amendment to the Fund Administration Servicing Agreement (adding Defiance Daily Target 2x Long HQ ETF, Defiance Daily Target 2X Long JBL ETF, Defiance Daily Target 2X Long MXL ETF, Defiance Daily Target 2x Long P ETF, Defiance Daily Target 2X Long STM ETF, and Defiance Daily Target 2X Long SYM ETF) – to be filed by subsequent amendment. | ||
| (2) Second Amendment to the Fund Administration Servicing Agreement (adding Defiance Compute ETF) – to be filed by subsequent amendment. | ||
| (3) Third Amendment to the Fund Administration Servicing Agreement (adding Defiance Pure Memory 2X Strategy ETF) – to be filed by subsequent amendment. | ||
| (4) Fourth Amendment to the Fund Administration Servicing Agreement (adding Defiance Korea AI Semiconductor Top 10 ETF, Defiance Korea Semiconductor Top 10 ETF and Defiance China Semiconductor Top 10 ETF) – to be filed by subsequent amendment. | ||
| (5) Fifth Amendment to the Fund Administration Servicing Agreement (adding Defiance US Top 10 Small Modular Reactor ETF) – to be filed by subsequent amendment. | ||
| (6) Sixth Amendment to the Fund Administration Servicing Agreement (adding Defiance Daily Target 2X Long SIMO ETF, Defiance Daily Target 2X Long PLPC ETF, Defiance Daily Target 2X Long AMSC ETF, Defiance Daily Target 2X Long CAMT ETF, Defiance Daily Target 2X Long PENG ETF, Defiance Daily Target 2X Long NTNX ETF, Defiance Daily Target 2X Long RXT ETF, and Defiance Daily Target 2X Long SHAZ ETF) – to be filed by subsequent amendment. | ||
| (7) Seventh Amendment to the Fund Administration Servicing Agreement (adding Defiance KSM Israel 120 ETF and Defiance CoinDesk 5 Equal Weight ETF) – to be filed by subsequent amendment. |
C-2
| (8) Eighth Amendment to the Fund Administration Servicing Agreement (adding Defiance Helium and Strategic Gases ETF) – to be filed by subsequent amendment. | ||
| (9) Ninth Amendment to the Fund Administration Servicing Agreement (adding Defiance 2X Daily Long Photonics ETF) – to be filed by subsequent amendment. | ||
| (10) Tenth Amendment to the Fund Administration Servicing Agreement (adding Defiance Global Foundries ETF) – to be filed by subsequent amendment. | ||
| (11) Eleventh Amendment to the Fund Administration Servicing Agreement (adding Defiance Situational Awareness Select ETF) – to be filed by subsequent amendment. | ||
| (ii) | Fund Accounting Servicing Agreement between the Trust and U.S. Bancorp Fund Services, LLC d/b/a U.S. Bank Global Fund Services, previously filed with Pre-Effective Amendment No. 1 on Form N-1A on March 27, 2026, is incorporated herein by reference. | |
| (1) First Amendment to the Fund Accounting Servicing Agreement (adding Defiance Daily Target 2x Long HQ ETF, Defiance Daily Target 2X Long JBL ETF, Defiance Daily Target 2X Long MXL ETF, Defiance Daily Target 2x Long P ETF, Defiance Daily Target 2X Long STM ETF, and Defiance Daily Target 2X Long SYM ETF) – to be filed by subsequent amendment. | ||
| (2) Second Amendment to the Fund Accounting Servicing Agreement (adding Defiance Compute ETF) – to be filed by subsequent amendment. | ||
| (3) Third Amendment to the Fund Accounting Servicing Agreement (adding Defiance Pure Memory 2X Strategy ETF) – to be filed by subsequent amendment. | ||
| (4) Fourth Amendment to the Fund Accounting Servicing Agreement (adding Defiance Korea AI Semiconductor Top 10 ETF, Defiance Korea Semiconductor Top 10 ETF and Defiance China Semiconductor Top 10 ETF) – to be filed by subsequent amendment. | ||
| (5) Fifth Amendment to the Fund Accounting Servicing Agreement (adding Defiance US Top 10 Small Modular Reactor ETF) – to be filed by subsequent amendment. | ||
| (6) Sixth Amendment to the Fund Accounting Servicing Agreement (adding Defiance Daily Target 2X Long SIMO ETF, Defiance Daily Target 2X Long PLPC ETF, Defiance Daily Target 2X Long AMSC ETF, Defiance Daily Target 2X Long CAMT ETF, Defiance Daily Target 2X Long PENG ETF, Defiance Daily Target 2X Long NTNX ETF, Defiance Daily Target 2X Long RXT ETF, and Defiance Daily Target 2X Long SHAZ ETF) – to be filed by subsequent amendment. | ||
| (7) Seventh Amendment to the Fund Accounting Servicing Agreement (adding Defiance KSM Israel 120 ETF and Defiance CoinDesk 5 Equal Weight ETF) – to be filed by subsequent amendment. | ||
| (8) Eighth Amendment to the Fund Accounting Servicing Agreement (adding Defiance Helium and Strategic Gases ETF) – to be filed by subsequent amendment. | ||
| (9) Ninth Amendment to the Fund Accounting Servicing Agreement (adding Defiance 2X Daily Long Photonics ETF) – to be filed by subsequent amendment. | ||
| (10) Tenth Amendment to the Fund Accounting Servicing Agreement (adding Defiance Global Foundries ETF) – to be filed by subsequent amendment. | ||
| (11) Eleventh Amendment to the Fund Accounting Servicing Agreement (adding Defiance Situational Awareness Select ETF) – to be filed by subsequent amendment. | ||
| (iii) | Transfer Agent Agreement between the Trust and U.S. Bancorp Fund Services, LLC d/b/a U.S. Bank Global Fund Services, previously filed with Pre-Effective Amendment No. 1 on Form N-1A on March 27, 2026, is incorporated herein by reference. | |
| (1) First Amendment to the Transfer Agent Agreement (adding Defiance Daily Target 2x Long HQ ETF, Defiance Daily Target 2X Long JBL ETF, Defiance Daily Target 2X Long MXL ETF, Defiance Daily Target 2x Long P ETF, Defiance Daily Target 2X Long STM ETF, and Defiance Daily Target 2X Long SYM ETF) – to be filed by subsequent amendment. | ||
| (2) Second Amendment to the Transfer Agent Agreement (adding Defiance Compute ETF) – to be filed by subsequent amendment. | ||
| (3) Third Amendment to the Transfer Agent Agreement (adding Defiance Pure Memory 2X Strategy ETF) – to be filed by subsequent amendment. | ||
| (4) Fourth Amendment to the Transfer Agent Agreement (adding Defiance Korea AI Semiconductor Top 10 ETF, Defiance Korea Semiconductor Top 10 ETF and Defiance China Semiconductor Top 10 ETF) – to be filed by subsequent amendment. | ||
| (5) Fifth Amendment to the Transfer Agent Agreement (adding Defiance US Top 10 Small Modular Reactor ETF) – to be filed by subsequent amendment. | ||
| (6) Sixth Amendment to the Transfer Agent Agreement (adding Defiance Daily Target 2X Long SIMO ETF, Defiance Daily Target 2X Long PLPC ETF, Defiance Daily Target 2X Long AMSC ETF, Defiance Daily Target 2X Long CAMT ETF, Defiance Daily Target 2X Long PENG ETF, Defiance Daily Target 2X Long NTNX ETF, Defiance Daily Target 2X Long RXT ETF, and Defiance Daily Target 2X Long SHAZ ETF) – to be filed by subsequent amendment. | ||
| (7) Seventh Amendment to the Transfer Agent Agreement (adding Defiance KSM Israel 120 ETF and Defiance CoinDesk 5 Equal Weight ETF) – to be filed by subsequent amendment. | ||
| (8) Eighth Amendment to the Transfer Agent Agreement (adding Defiance Helium and Strategic Gases ETF) – to be filed by subsequent amendment. | ||
| (9) Ninth Amendment to the Transfer Agent Agreement (adding Defiance 2X Daily Long Photonics ETF) – to be filed by subsequent amendment. |
C-3
| (10) Tenth Amendment to the Transfer Agent Agreement (adding Defiance Global Foundries ETF) – to be filed by subsequent amendment. | ||
| (11) Eleventh Amendment to the Transfer Agent Agreement (adding Defiance Situational Awareness Select ETF) – to be filed by subsequent amendment. | ||
| (iv) | Powers of Attorney, previously filed with Post-Effective Amendment No. 1 on Form N-1A on May 15, 2026, is incorporated herein by reference. | |
| (i) | (i) | Opinion and Consent of Counsel (for Robotaxi ETF) – to be filed by subsequent amendment. |
| (ii) | Opinion and Consent of Counsel (for Defiance Daily Target 2x Long HQ ETF, Defiance Daily Target 2X Long JBL ETF, Defiance Daily Target 2X Long MXL ETF, Defiance Daily Target 2x Long P ETF, Defiance Daily Target 2X Long STM ETF, and Defiance Daily Target 2X Long SYM ETF) – to be filed by subsequent amendment. | |
| (iii) | Opinion and Consent of Counsel (for Defiance Compute ETF) – to be filed by subsequent amendment. |
| (iv) | Opinion and Consent of Counsel (for Defiance Pure Memory 2X Strategy ETF) – to be filed by subsequent amendment. | |
| (v) | Opinion and Consent of Counsel (for Defiance Korea AI Semiconductor Top 10 ETF, Defiance Korea Semiconductor Top 10 ETF and Defiance China Semiconductor Top 10 ETF) – to be filed by subsequent amendment. | |
| (vi) | Opinion and Consent of Counsel (for Defiance US Top 10 Small Modular Reactor ETF) – to be filed by subsequent amendment. | |
| (vii) | Opinion and Consent of Counsel (for Defiance Daily Target 2X Long SIMO ETF, Defiance Daily Target 2X Long PLPC ETF, Defiance Daily Target 2X Long AMSC ETF, Defiance Daily Target 2X Long CAMT ETF, Defiance Daily Target 2X Long PENG ETF, Defiance Daily Target 2X Long NTNX ETF, Defiance Daily Target 2X Long RXT ETF, and Defiance Daily Target 2X Long SHAZ ETF) – to be filed by subsequent amendment. | |
| (viii) | Opinion and Consent of Counsel (for Defiance KSM Israel 120 ETF and Defiance CoinDesk 5 Equal Weight ETF) – to be filed by subsequent amendment. | |
| (ix) | Opinion and Consent of Counsel (for Defiance Helium and Strategic Gases ETF) – to be filed by subsequent amendment. | |
| (x) | Opinion and Consent of Counsel (for Defiance 2X Daily Long Photonics ETF) – to be filed by subsequent amendment. | |
| (xi) | Opinion and Consent of Counsel (for Defiance Global Foundries ETF) – to be filed by subsequent amendment. | |
| (xii) | Opinion and Consent of Counsel (for Defiance Situational Awareness Select ETF) – to be filed by subsequent amendment. | |
| (j) | Not applicable. | |
| (k) | Not applicable. | |
| (l) | (i) | Subscription Agreement – to be filed by subsequent amendment. |
| (ii) | Letter of Representations between the Trust and Depository Trust Company – to be filed by subsequent amendment. | |
| (m) | Rule 12b-1 Plan, previously filed with Pre-Effective Amendment No. 1 on Form N-1A on March 27, 2026, is incorporated herein by reference. | |
| (n) | Not applicable. | |
| (o) | Reserved. | |
| (p) | (i) | Code of Ethics for Tidal Trust V, previously filed with the Trust’s registration statement on Form N-1A on August 22, 2025, is hereby incorporated by reference. |
| (ii) | Code of Ethics for Tidal Investments LLC, previously filed with the Trust’s registration statement on Form N-1A on August 22, 2025, is hereby incorporated by reference. | |
| (iii) | Code of Ethics for Distributor – not applicable per Rule 17j-1(c)(3). |
Item 29. Persons Controlled by or Under Common Control with Registrant
No person is directly or indirectly controlled by or under common control with the Registrant.
Item 30. Indemnification
Reference is made to Article VII of the Registrant’s Declaration of Trust. The general effect of this provision is to indemnify the Trustees, officers, employees and other agents of the Trust who are parties pursuant to any proceeding by reason of their actions performed in their scope of service on behalf of the Trust.
Pursuant to Rule 484 under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”), the Registrant furnishes the following undertaking: “Insofar as indemnification for liability arising under the Securities Act of 1933 may be permitted to trustees, officers and controlling persons of the Registrant pursuant to the foregoing provisions, or otherwise, the Registrant has been advised that, in the opinion of the Securities and Exchange Commission such indemnification is against public policy as expressed in the Securities Act and is, therefore, unenforceable. In the event that a claim for indemnification against such liabilities (other than the payment by the Registrant of expenses incurred or paid by a trustee, officer or controlling person of the Registrant in the successful defense of any action, suit or proceeding) is asserted by such trustee, officer or controlling person in connection with the securities being registered, the Registrant will, unless in the opinion of its counsel the matter has been settled by controlling precedent, submit to a court of appropriate jurisdiction the question whether such indemnification by it is against public policy as expressed in the Securities Act and will be governed by the final adjudication of such issue.”
C-4
Item 31. Business and Other Connections of Investment Adviser
This Item incorporates by reference each investment adviser’s Uniform Application for Investment Adviser Registration (Form ADV) on file with the SEC, as listed below. Each Form ADV may be obtained, free of charge, at the SECs website at www.adviserinfo.sec.gov. Additional information as to any other business, profession, vocation or employment of a substantial nature engaged in by each officer and director of the below-listed investment advisers is included in the Trust’s Statement of Additional Information.
| Investment Adviser | SEC File No. |
| Tidal Investments LLC | 801-76857 |
Item 32. Principal Underwriters
| (i)(a) | Foreside Fund Services, LLC (the “Distributor”) serves as principal underwriter for the following investment companies registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended: |
| 1. | AB Active ETFs, Inc. |
| 2. | ABS Long/Short Strategies Fund |
| 3. | ActivePassive Core Bond ETF, Series of Trust for Professional Managers |
| 4. | ActivePassive Intermediate Municipal Bond ETF, Series of Trust for Professional Managers |
| 5. | ActivePassive International Equity ETF, Series of Trust for Professional Managers |
| 6. | ActivePassive U.S. Equity ETF, Series of Trust for Professional Managers |
| 7. | AdvisorShares Trust |
| 8. | AFA Private Credit Fund |
| 9. | AGF Investments Trust |
| 10. | AIM ETF Products Trust |
| 11. | Alexis Practical Tactical ETF, Series of Listed Funds Trust |
| 12. | AlphaCentric Prime Meridian Income Fund |
| 13. | Alternative Strategies Income Fund |
| 14. | American Century ETF Trust |
| 15. | AMG ETF Trust |
| 16. | Amplify ETF Trust |
| 17. | Applied Finance Dividend Fund, Series of World Funds Trust |
| 18. | Applied Finance Explorer Fund, Series of World Funds Trust |
| 19. | Applied Finance Select Fund, Series of World Funds Trust |
| 20. | Ardian Access LLC |
| 21. | ARK ETF Trust |
| 22. | ARK Venture Fund |
| 23. | Bitwise Funds Trust |
| 24. | BondBloxx ETF Trust |
| 25. | Bramshill Multi-Strategy Income Fund, Series of Investment Managers Series Trust |
| 26. | Bridgeway Funds, Inc. |
| 27. | Brinker Capital Destinations Trust |
| 28. | Brookfield Real Assets Income Fund Inc. |
| 29. | Build Funds Trust |
| 30. | Calamos Convertible and High Income Fund |
| 31. | Calamos Convertible Opportunities and Income Fund |
| 32. | Calamos Dynamic Convertible and Income Fund |
| 33. | Calamos Global Dynamic Income Fund |
| 34. | Calamos Global Total Return Fund |
| 35. | Calamos Strategic Total Return Fund |
| 36. | Carlyle Tactical Private Credit Fund |
| 37. | Cascade Private Capital Fund |
| 38. | Catalyst/Perini Strategic Income Fund |
| 39. | CBRE Global Real Estate Income Fund |
| 40. | Center Coast Brookfield MLP & Energy Infrastructure Fund |
| 41. | Cliffwater Corporate Lending Fund |
| 42. | Cliffwater Enhanced Lending Fund |
| 43. | Coatue Innovative Strategies Fund |
| 44. | Cohen & Steers ETF Trust |
C-5
| 45. | Convergence Long/Short Equity ETF, Series of Trust for Professional Managers |
| 46. | CrossingBridge Ultra-Short Duration ETF, Series of Trust for Professional Managers |
| 47. | Curasset Capital Management Core Bond Fund, Series of World Funds Trust |
| 48. | Curasset Capital Management Limited Term Income Fund, Series of World Funds Trust |
| 49. | CYBER HORNET S&P 500® and Bitcoin 75/25 Strategy ETF, Series of CYBER HORNET Trust |
| 50. | Davis Fundamental ETF Trust |
| 51. | Defiance BMNR Option Income ETF, Series of ETF Series Solutions |
| 52. | Defiance Connective Technologies ETF, Series of ETF Series Solutions |
| 53. | Defiance Drone and Modern Warfare ETF, Series of ETF Series Solutions |
| 54. | Defiance Quantum ETF, Series of ETF Series Solutions |
| 55. | Defiance Retail Kings ETF, Series of ETF Series Solutions |
| 56. | Denali Structured Return Strategy Fund |
| 57. | Dodge & Cox Funds |
| 58. | DoubleLine ETF Trust |
| 59. | DoubleLine Income Solutions Fund |
| 60. | DoubleLine Opportunistic Credit Fund |
| 61. | DoubleLine Yield Opportunities Fund |
| 62. | DriveWealth ETF Trust |
| 63. | EIP Investment Trust |
| 64. | Ellington Income Opportunities Fund |
| 65. | ETF Opportunities Trust |
| 66. | Exchange Listed Funds Trust |
| 67. | Exchange Place Advisors Trust |
| 68. | FIS Trust |
| 69. | FlexShares Trust |
| 70. | Fortuna Hedged Bitcoin ETF, Series of Listed Funds Trust |
| 71. | Forum Funds |
| 72. | Forum Funds II |
| 73. | Forum Real Estate Income Fund |
| 74. | GMO ETF Trust |
| 75. | GoldenTree Opportunistic Credit Fund |
| 76. | Gramercy Emerging Markets Debt Fund, Series of Investment Managers Series Trust |
| 77. | Grayscale Funds Trust |
| 78. | Guinness Atkinson Funds |
| 79. | Harbor ETF Trust |
| 80. | Harris Oakmark ETF Trust |
| 81. | Hawaiian Tax-Free Trust |
| 82. | Horizon Kinetics Blockchain Development ETF, Series of Listed Funds Trust |
| 83. | Horizon Kinetics Energy and Remediation ETF, Series of Listed Funds Trust |
| 84. | Horizon Kinetics Inflation Beneficiaries ETF, Series of Listed Funds Trust |
| 85. | Horizon Kinetics Japan Owner Operator ETF, Series of Listed Funds Trust |
| 86. | Horizon Kinetics Medical ETF, Series of Listed Funds Trust |
| 87. | Horizon Kinetics SPAC Active ETF, Series of Listed Funds Trust |
| 88. | Horizon Kinetics Texas ETF, Series of Listed Funds Trust |
| 89. | Innovator ETFs Trust |
| 90. | Ironwood Institutional Multi-Strategy Fund LLC |
| 91. | Ironwood Multi-Strategy Fund LLC |
| 92. | Jensen Quality Growth ETF, Series of Trust for Professional Managers |
| 93. | John Hancock Exchange-Traded Fund Trust |
| 94. | Kurv ETF Trust |
| 95. | Lazard Active ETF Trust |
| 96. | LDR Real Estate Value-Opportunity Fund, Series of World Funds Trust |
| 97. | Lone Peak Value Fund, Series of World Funds Trust |
| 98. | Mairs & Power Balanced Fund, Series of Trust for Professional Managers |
| 99. | Mairs & Power Growth Fund, Series of Trust for Professional Managers |
| 100. | Mairs & Power Minnesota Municipal Bond ETF, Series of Trust for Professional Managers |
| 101. | Mairs & Power Small Cap Fund, Series of Trust for Professional Managers |
| 102. | Manor Investment Funds |
| 103. | MoA Funds Corporation |
| 104. | Moerus Worldwide Fund, Series of Northern Lights Fund Trust IV |
C-6
| 105. | Morgan Stanley ETF Trust |
| 106. | Morgan Stanley Pathway Large Cap Equity ETF, Series of Morgan Stanley Pathway Funds |
| 107. | Morgan Stanley Pathway Small-Mid Cap Equity ETF, Series of Morgan Stanley Pathway Funds |
| 108. | Morningstar Funds Trust |
| 109. | NEOS ETF Trust |
| 110. | Niagara Income Opportunities Fund |
| 111. | NXG Cushing® Midstream Energy Fund |
| 112. | NXG NextGen Infrastructure Income Fund |
| 113. | OTG Latin American Fund, Series of World Funds Trust |
| 114. | Overlay Shares Core Bond ETF, Series of Listed Funds Trust |
| 115. | Overlay Shares Foreign Equity ETF, Series of Listed Funds Trust |
| 116. | Overlay Shares Hedged Large Cap Equity ETF, Series of Listed Funds Trust |
| 117. | Overlay Shares Large Cap Equity ETF, Series of Listed Funds Trust |
| 118. | Overlay Shares Municipal Bond ETF, Series of Listed Funds Trust |
| 119. | Overlay Shares Short Term Bond ETF, Series of Listed Funds Trust |
| 120. | Overlay Shares Small Cap Equity ETF, Series of Listed Funds Trust |
| 121. | Palmer Square Funds Trust |
| 122. | Palmer Square Opportunistic Income Fund |
| 123. | Partners Group Private Income Opportunities, LLC |
| 124. | Perkins Discovery Fund, Series of World Funds Trust |
| 125. | Philotimo Focused Growth and Income Fund, Series of World Funds Trust |
| 126. | Plan Investment Fund, Inc. |
| 127. | Point Bridge America First ETF, Series of ETF Series Solutions |
| 128. | Precidian ETFs Trust |
| 129. | Rareview 2x Bull Cryptocurrency & Precious Metals ETF, Series of Collaborative Investment Series Trust |
| 130. | Rareview Dynamic Fixed Income ETF, Series of Collaborative Investment Series Trust |
| 131. | Rareview Systematic Equity ETF, Series of Collaborative Investment Series Trust |
| 132. | Rareview Tax Advantaged Income ETF, Series of Collaborative Investment Series Trust |
| 133. | Rareview Total Return Bond ETF, Series of Collaborative Investment Series Trust |
| 134. | Renaissance Capital Greenwich Funds |
| 135. | REX ETF Trust |
| 136. | Reynolds Funds, Inc. |
| 137. | RMB Investors Trust |
| 138. | Robinson Opportunistic Income Fund, Series of Investment Managers Series Trust |
| 139. | Robinson Tax Advantaged Income Fund, Series of Investment Managers Series Trust |
| 140. | Roundhill Ball Metaverse ETF, Series of Listed Funds Trust |
| 141. | Roundhill Cannabis ETF, Series of Listed Funds Trust |
| 142. | Roundhill ETF Trust |
| 143. | Roundhill Magnificent Seven ETF, Series of Listed Funds Trust |
| 144. | Roundhill Sports Betting & iGaming ETF, Series of Listed Funds Trust |
| 145. | Roundhill Video Games ETF, Series of Listed Funds Trust |
| 146. | Rule One Fund, Series of World Funds Trust |
| 147. | Russell Investments Exchange Traded Funds |
| 148. | Securian AM Real Asset Income Fund, Series of Investment Managers Series Trust |
| 149. | Six Circles Trust |
| 150. | Sound Shore Fund, Inc. |
| 151. | SP Funds Trust |
| 152. | Sparrow Funds |
| 153. | Spear Alpha ETF, Series of Listed Funds Trust |
| 154. | STF Tactical Growth & Income ETF, Series of Listed Funds Trust |
| 155. | STF Tactical Growth ETF, Series of Listed Funds Trust |
| 156. | Strategic Trust |
| 157. | Strategy Shares |
| 158. | Swan Hedged Equity US Large Cap ETF, Series of Listed Funds Trust |
| 159. | Tekla World Healthcare Fund |
| 160. | Tema ETF Trust |
| 161. | The 2023 ETF Series Trust |
| 162. | The Community Development Fund |
| 163. | The Cook & Bynum Fund, Series of World Funds Trust |
| 164. | The Private Shares Fund |
C-7
| 165. | The SPAC and New Issue ETF, Series of Collaborative Investment Series Trust |
| 166. | Third Avenue Trust |
| 167. | Third Avenue Variable Series Trust |
| 168. | Tidal Trust I |
| 169. | Tidal Trust II |
| 170. | Tidal Trust III |
| 171. | Tidal Trust IV |
| 172. | TIFF Investment Program |
| 173. | Timothy Plan High Dividend Stock ETF, Series of The Timothy Plan |
| 174. | Timothy Plan International ETF, Series of The Timothy Plan |
| 175. | Timothy Plan Market Neutral ETF, Series of The Timothy Plan |
| 176. | Timothy Plan US Large/Mid Cap Core ETF, Series of The Timothy Plan |
| 177. | Timothy Plan US Small Cap Core ETF, Series of The Timothy Plan |
| 178. | Total Fund Solution |
| 179. | Touchstone ETF Trust |
| 180. | Trailmark Series Trust |
| 181. | T-Rex 2X Inverse Bitcoin Daily Target ETF, Series of World Funds Trust |
| 182. | T-Rex 2x Inverse Ether Daily Target ETF, Series of World Funds Trust |
| 183. | T-Rex 2X Long Bitcoin Daily Target ETF, Series of World Funds Trust |
| 184. | T-Rex 2x Long Ether Daily Target ETF |
| 185. | U.S. Global Investors Funds |
| 186. | Union Street Partners Value Fund, Series of World Funds Trust |
| 187. | Vest Bitcoin Strategy Managed Volatility Fund, Series of World Funds Trust |
| 188. | Vest S&P 500® Dividend Aristocrats Target Income Fund, Series of World Funds Trust |
| 189. | Vest US Large Cap 10% Buffer Strategies Fund, Series of World Funds Trust |
| 190. | Vest US Large Cap 20% Buffer Strategies Fund, Series of World Funds Trust |
| 191. | Virtus Stone Harbor Emerging Markets Income Fund |
| 192. | Volatility Shares Trust |
| 193. | WEBs ETF Trust |
| 194. | Wedbush Series Trust |
| 195. | Wellington Global Multi-Strategy Fund |
| 196. | Wilshire Mutual Funds, Inc. |
| 197. | Wilshire Variable Insurance Trust |
| 198. | WisdomTree Trust |
| 199. | XAI Octagon Floating Rate & Alternative Income Term Trust |
| (i)(b) | The following are the Officers and Manager of the Distributor, the Registrant’s underwriter. The Distributor’s main business address is 190 Middle Street, Suite 301, Portland, Maine 04101. |
| Name | Address | Position with Underwriter | Position
with Registrant | |||
| Teresa Cowan | 190 Middle Street, Suite 301 Portland, ME 04101 |
President/Manager | None | |||
| Chris Lanza | 190 Middle Street, Suite 301 Portland, ME 04101 |
Vice President | None | |||
| Kate Macchia | 190 Middle Street, Suite 301 Portland, ME 04101 |
Vice President | None | |||
| Alicia Strout | 190 Middle Street, Suite 301 Portland, ME 04101 |
Vice President and Chief Compliance Officer | None | |||
| Gabriel E. Edelman | 190 Middle Street, Suite 301 Portland, ME 04101 |
Secretary | None | |||
| Susan L. LaFond | 190 Middle Street, Suite 301 Portland, ME 04101 |
Treasurer | None | |||
| Weston Sommers | 190 Middle Street, Suite 301 Portland, ME 04101 |
Financial and Operations Principal and Chief Financial Officer | None |
| (i)(c) | Not applicable. |
C-8
| (ii)(a) | Ultimus Fund Distributors, LLC & Northern Lights Distributors, LLC (the “Distributor”) serves as principal underwriter for the following investment companies registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended: |
| ABS Global Investments - NLD |
| Absolute Capital Mgmt - NLD |
| Absolute Investment Adv - NLD |
| Absolute Investment Adv - UFD |
| Adler Asset Management, LLC - UFD |
| AlphaCentric Advisors - NLD |
| Altegris Investments - NLD |
| Anchor Capital Mgmt Grp - NLD |
| Anfield Capital Mgmt - NLD |
| Astor Investment Mgmt - NLD |
| AthenaInvest Advisors - NLD |
| Atlas U.S. Tactical Income Fund - NLD |
| Bain Capital Public Equity - NLD |
| Ballast Asset Mgmt - NLD |
| Beacon Capital - NLD |
| Beacon Pointe - UFD |
| Belmont Capital Group - UFD |
| Biondo Investment Adv - NLD |
| Blueprint Fund Management - UFD |
| Booster Asset Management - UFD |
| Boyar Asset Mgmt - NLD |
| Boyd Watterson Asset Mgmt - NLD |
| Bradley, Foster & Sargent, Inc. - UFD |
| Brighton Jones - UFD |
| Brookstone ETF (FormulaFolio) - NLD |
| Bruce Funds - UFD |
| BTS Asset Mgmt - NLD |
| Canterbury Investment Management - UFD |
| Cantor Fitzgerald Infrastructure - UFD |
| Cantor Select - UFD |
| Cary Street Partners (Fairlead) - NLD |
| Catalyst Capital Advisors - NLD |
| CAZ Investments - UFD |
| Centerstone Advisors - NLD |
| Ceros Financial Services NSCC - UFD |
| Changing Parameters - NLD |
| Channel Investment Partners - UFD |
| Channing Capital Management - UFD |
| Chesapeake Growth Fund - UFD |
| CIM Capital IC - NLD |
| Clark Capital Mgmt Group - NLD |
| CM Advisors Fixed Income Fund - UFD |
| Commonwealth International Series Trust - UFD |
| Conestoga Capital Advisors - UFD |
| Connors Investor Services - UFD |
| Copeland Capital Mgmt - NLD |
| Counterpoint (ETF) - NLD |
| Counterpoint Mutual Funds - NLD |
| Crawford Investment Counsel, Inc. - UFD |
| Cutler Investment Counsel - UFD |
| Cyber Hornet (OneFund) - UFD |
| Dana Investment Advisors - UFD |
| Davenport & Company LLC - UFD |
| David Lerner Associates, Inc. - UFD |
| DCM Advisors, LLC (f.k.a. Copley) - UFD |
| Dean Capital Management - UFD |
| Dearborn Cap Mgmt (Grant Park) - NLD |
C-9
| DGI Investment Trust - NLD |
| Donoghue Forlines LLC - NLD |
| Donoghue Forlines LLC (VIT) - NLD |
| EBS Asset Management - UFD |
| Edge Capital [Group/Partners] (Blue Current) - UFD |
| Edgemoor Investment Advisors - UFD |
| Efficient Capital Management - UFD |
| Empiric Advisors - NLD |
| Eventide Asset Mgmt - NLD |
| Evolutionary Tree Capital Management - UFD |
| Fairway Capital Management - UFD |
| Finance Authority of Maine (FAME 529) - NLD |
| First Associated Inv Adv (Teberg) - NLD |
| First Manhattan Co - NLD |
| Fisher Investments Institutional Group (FIIG) - UFD |
| Fisher Tactical Multi-Purpose Fund - UFD |
| Flat Rock Core Income Fund - UFD |
| Flat Rock Enhanced Income Fd - UFD |
| Flat Rock Opportunity Fund - UFD |
| Fort Pitt Capital (Kovitz) - UFD |
| Fulcrum Asset Mgmt - NLD |
| Fuller & Thaler Asset Management, Inc - UFD |
| Future Fund - NLD |
| Gator Capital Management - UFD |
| GGM Wealth Adv - NLD |
| Grandeur Peak Global Adv - NLD |
| Guardian Capital LP - UFD |
| Hamilton Capital - UFD |
| Hirtle Callahan - UFD |
| Hodges Capital Mgmt - NLD |
| Holbrook Holdings, Inc. - NLD |
| Horizon Capital Mgmt (Issachar) - NLD |
| Howard Capital (ETF) - NLD |
| Howard Capital Mgmt - NLD |
| Hudson Valley Investment Advisors - UFD |
| Hull Tactical (HTAA) - NLD |
| Humankind Investments LLC - NLD |
| Hunter Perkins Capital Mgmt - NLD |
| Hussman Strategic Advisors, Inc. - UFD |
| Hypatia Capital - NLD |
| IC - FDFA Customer in UFD |
| iCapital Markets (NSCC) - UFD |
| Innealta Capital - NLD |
| Invenomic Capital Mgmt - NLD |
| IronHorse Capital - NLD |
| JAG Capital Mgmt - NLD |
| James Investment Research - UFD |
| Johnson Investment Counsel - UFD |
| Kempner Capital Management - UFD |
| Kingsview Wealth Mgmt - NLD |
| KKM Financial (ETF) - NLD |
| Kovitz IGP (Al Frank) - NLD |
| Kovitz IGP (ETF) - NLD |
| Ladenburg Thalmann Asset Management NSCC - UFD |
| Leavell Investment Management - UFD |
| LGM Capital Mgmt - NLD |
| Lind Capital Partners - UFD |
| Long Short Advisors, LLC - UFD |
| Longboard Asset Mgmt - NLD |
| Lowe, Brockenbrough & Co. - UFD |
C-10
| Main Mgmt ETF - NLD |
| Main Mgmt Fund - NLD |
| Marshfield Associates - UFD |
| Morton Wealth (M83) - UFD |
| New Age Alpha (VIT) - UFD |
| New Age Alpha Advisors - UFD |
| Nia Impact Capital - UFD |
| Nightview Capital - NLD |
| North Country Inv Adv - NLD |
| North Star Investment Mgmt - NLD |
| Oak Associates, Ltd. - UFD |
| Oak Harvest Inv Svcs - UFD |
| Ocean Park Asset Mgmt (ETF) - NLD |
| Ocean Park Asset Mgmt (Sierra/Wright) - NLD |
| Oelschlager (Towpath) - UFD |
| OneAscent Cap. (C.E./Interval) - UFD |
| OneAscent Financial Services (ETF) - NLD |
| Orrell Capital Mgmt (OCM) - NLD |
| Pacific Financial (PFG - RiskPro) - NLD |
| Papp Investment Trust - UFD |
| Pathstone (WOA) - NLD |
| Peachtree Alternative Strategies Fund - UFD |
| PeakShares - NLD |
| Pekin Singer Strauss Asset Management, Inc. - UFD |
| Persimmon Capital Mgmt - NLD |
| Pinnacle Family Advisors - NLD |
| PlanRock (ETF) - NLD |
| Princeton Fund - NLD |
| Princeton Private - NLD |
| Private College 529 Plan (PC529) - NLD |
| Q3 Asset Management - UFD |
| Q3 Asset Mgmt Corp (ETF) - NLD |
| Quantum Advisors Pvt Ltd - UFD |
| Rational Advisors - NLD |
| Recurrent Inv Adv - NLD |
| Redwood Inv Mgmt [Fund] - NLD |
| Redwood Investment Mgmt [ETF] - NLD |
| Reflection Asset Mgmt (Sphere) - UFD |
| Regan Capital - NLD |
| Regents Park Funds - NLD |
| RESQ Investment Partners - NLD |
| Reynders, McVeigh Capital Mgmt - UFD |
| SB Auer Funds, LLC - UFD |
| Schwartz Investment Counsel, Inc. - UFD |
| Segall Bryant & Hamill - UFD |
| Segall Bryant & Hamill (ETF) - NLD |
| Slow Capital - UFD |
| SMI Advisory Services, LLC - UFD |
| Standpoint Asset Management - UFD |
| Sterling Capital Mgmt - NLD |
| Sterling Capital Mgmt (CST) - NLD |
| Stonebridge Cap Adv - NLD |
| Summitry, LLC - UFD |
| Swan Capital Mgmt - NLD |
| Swan Capital Mgmt (ETF) - NLD |
| Texas Capital Bank PWA (ETF) - NLD |
| Texas Capital Bank PWA (MF) - NLD |
| The Investment House LLC - UFD |
| Toews Corporation - NLD |
| Toews Corporation (ETF) - NLD |
C-11
| Tributary Capital Mgmt - NLD |
| Tuttle Capital (Cramer) - NLD |
| USA Mutuals Advisors, Inc - NLD |
| VELA Investment Management - UFD |
| Volumetric Advisers Inc - UFD |
| Wavelength Capital Management - UFD |
| Waycross Partners, LLC - UFD |
| Wellesley Inv Adv (Miller) - NLD |
| WesBanco Inv Dept (WesMark) - UFD |
| Westwood Management - UFD |
| Westwood Mgmt (ETF) |
| XDUS Fund Advisor |
| Yorktown Management & Research |
| Zacks Inv Mgmt (ETF) |
| Zacks Inv Mgmt (MF) |
(ii)(b) The following are the Officers and Manager of the Distributor, the Registrant’s underwriter. The Distributor’s main business address is 225 Pictoria Drive, Cincinnati, OH 45246.
| Officer Name | Position | Principal Address |
| Kevin Guerette | President | 225 Pictoria Drive, Cincinnati, OH 45246 |
| Steve Preston | Chief Compliance Officer | 225 Pictoria Drive, Cincinnati, OH 45246 |
| William Strait | General Counsel, Secretary | 4221 North 203rd Street, Elkhorn, NE 68022 |
| Gregory Evans | Financial Operations Principal | 225 Pictoria Drive, Cincinnati, OH 45246 |
| Jason Stevens | Chief Technology Officer | 225 Pictoria Drive, Cincinnati, OH 45246 |
| Gary Danahy | Assistant Chief Compliance Officer | 4221 North 203rd Street, Elkhorn, NE 68022 |
| (ii)(c) | Not applicable. |
Item 33. Location of Accounts and Records
The books and records required to be maintained by Section 31(a) of the Investment Company Act of 1940 are maintained at the following locations:
| Records Relating to: | Are located at: | |
| Registrant’s Fund Administrator | Tidal ETF Services LLC 234 West Florida Street, Suite 700 Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53204 | |
| Registrant’s Fund Accountant and Transfer Agent | U.S. Bancorp Fund Services, LLC, doing business as U.S. Bank Global Fund Services P.O. Box 219252 Kansas City, Missouri 64121-9252 | |
| Registrant’s Custodian | U.S. Bank National Association 1555 N. Rivercenter Dr. Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53212 | |
| Registrant’s Principal Underwriters | Foreside Fund Services, LLC 190 Middle Street, Suite 301 Portland, Maine 04101 | |
| Ultimus Fund Distributors, LLC & Northern Lights Distributors, LLC 225 Pictoria Drive, Suite 450 Cincinnati, Ohio 45246 | ||
| Registrant’s Investment Adviser | Tidal Investments LLC 234 West Florida Street, Suite 700 Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53204 |
C-12
Item 34. Management Services
Not applicable.
Item 35. Undertakings
Not applicable.
C-13
SIGNATURES
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, the Registrant has duly caused this Post-Effective Amendment No. 11 to its Registration Statement on Form N-1A to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, duly authorized, in the City of Milwaukee, State of Wisconsin, on June 4, 2026.
| Tidal Trust V | ||
| /s/ Eric W. Falkeis | ||
| President |
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, this Registration Statement has been signed below by the following persons in the capacities indicated on June 4, 2026.
| Signature | Title | ||
| /s/ Eric W. Falkeis | President, Principal Executive Officer, and Trustee | ||
| Eric W. Falkeis | |||
| /s/ John Hagist* | Trustee | ||
| John Hagist | |||
| /s/ Michelle McDonough* | Trustee | ||
| Michelle McDonough | |||
| /s/ Dave Norris* | Trustee | ||
| Dave Norris | |||
| /s/ Aaron Perkovich | Treasurer (principal financial officer and principal accounting officer) | ||
| Aaron Perkovich | |||
| *By: | /s/ Eric W. Falkeis | ||
| Eric Falkeis, Attorney in Fact By Power of Attorney |
|||
C-14
Serious News for Serious Traders! Try StreetInsider.com Premium Free!
You May Also Be Interested In
- Man Group PLC : Form 8.3 - DCC Plc
- Ovation Healthcare Outlines Strategies for Sustainable Rural Healthcare Transformation
- Why Energy Intelligence Is the New KPI for AI
Create E-mail Alert Related Categories
SEC FilingsSign up for StreetInsider Free!
Receive full access to all new and archived articles, unlimited portfolio tracking, e-mail alerts, custom newswires and RSS feeds - and more!



Tweet
Share