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Form 497K LITMAN GREGORY FUNDS

September 20, 2021 5:17 PM EDT

iM DBi Managed Futures Strategy ETF

 

Summary Prospectus

 

Ticker Symbol: DBMF   

September 20, 2021

Before you invest, you may want to review the Fund’s Prospectus, which contains more information about the Fund and its risks. You can find the Fund’s Prospectus, Statement of Additional Information and other information about the Fund online at http://partnerselectfunds.com/documents-forms. You may also obtain this information at no cost by calling 1-800-960-0188. The Fund’s Prospectus and Statement of Additional Information, each dated September 20, 2021, are incorporated by reference into this Summary Prospectus.

Paper copies of the Funds’ annual and semi-annual shareholder reports will no longer be sent by mail, unless you specifically request paper copies of the reports. Instead, the reports will be made available on the Funds’ website (www.partnerselectfunds.com), and you will be notified by mail each time a report is posted and provided with a website link to access the report.

You may elect to receive all future reports in paper free of charge. If you invest through a financial intermediary, you can contact your financial intermediary to request that you receive paper copies of your reports. If you invest directly with the Trust, you can call 1-800-960-0188. Your election to receive reports in paper will apply to all Funds in the Trust or held with your financial intermediary.

 

Investment Objective

 

The iM DBi Managed Futures Strategy ETF (the “Fund”) seeks long-term capital appreciation.

 

 
Fund Summary         1


Fees and Expenses of the Fund

 

This table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy and hold shares of the Fund.

 

Annual Operating Expenses (expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)

 

Management Fees

     0.85%  

Distribution and/or Service (12b-1) Fees

     0.00%  

Other Expenses(1)

     None  
  

 

 

 

Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses(2)

     0.85%  
  

 

 

 

 

(1)

“Other Expenses” have been estimated for the current fiscal year. Actual expenses may be different.

 

(2)

Pursuant to a contractual operating expense limitation between Litman Gregory Fund Advisors, LLC (“Litman Gregory” or the “Advisor”), the advisor to the Fund, and the Fund, Litman Gregory has agreed to limit Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses (excluding interest charges on any borrowings, dividends and other expenses on securities sold short, taxes, brokerage commissions and other transactional expenses, acquired fund fees and expenses, accrued deferred tax liability, extraordinary expenses and any distribution fees and expenses paid by the Fund under a Rule 12b- Plan) to 0.85% of the Fund’s average daily net assets for at least one year from the effective date of the Trust’s registration statement with respect to the Fund. This agreement may be renewed for additional periods of one (1) year and may be terminated by the Board of Trustees (the “Board”) of Litman Gregory Funds Trust (the “Trust”) upon sixty (60) days’ written notice to Litman Gregory. Litman Gregory may also decline to renew this agreement by written notice to the Trust at least thirty (30) days before the renewal date. Any fee waiver or expense reimbursement made by Litman Gregory pursuant to this agreement is subject to the repayment by the Fund only within three (3) years of the date such amounts were waived or reimbursed, provided that the repayment does not cause the Fund’s annual expense ratio to exceed the lesser of (i) the expense limitation applicable at the time of that fee waiver and/or expense reimbursement or (ii) the expense limitation in effect at the time of repayment, and the repayment is approved by the Board.

Example

This example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the Fund with the cost of investing in other mutual funds. The example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the Fund for the time periods indicated and then redeem 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. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:

 

     One Year   Three Years
  $87   $271

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 of the Fund are held in a taxable account as compared to shares of investment companies that hold investments for a longer period. These costs, which are not reflected in annual fund operating expenses or in the example, affect the Fund’s performance.

Simultaneous with the Fund’s commencement of operation, the Fund acquired the assets and assumed the liabilities of the iM DBi Managed Futures Strategy ETF, a series of Manager Directed Portfolios (the “Predecessor Fund”). Because amounts relating to derivatives and securities whose maturities or expiration dates at the time of acquisition were one year or less are excluded from the portfolio turnover calculation and these are the only types of instruments held by the Predecessor Fund, the Predecessor Fund did not report a portfolio turnover rate during the fiscal year ended December 31, 2020.

Principal Strategies

 

The Fund is a non-diversified, actively-managed exchange-traded fund (“ETF”) that seeks to achieve its objective by: (i) investing its assets pursuant to a managed futures strategy (described below); (ii) allocating up to 20% of its total assets in its wholly-owned subsidiary (the “Subsidiary”), which is organized under the laws of the Cayman Islands, is advised by the Sub-Advisor (as defined herein), and will comply with the Fund’s investment objective and investment policies; and (iii) investing directly in select debt instruments for cash management and other purposes.

 

 
2       Litman Gregory Funds Trust


The Fund’s managed futures strategy employs long and short positions in derivatives, primarily futures contracts and forward contracts, across the broad asset classes of equities, fixed income, currencies and, through the Subsidiary, commodities. Fund positions in those contracts are determined based on a proprietary, quantitative model – the Dynamic Beta Engine – that seeks to identify the main drivers of performance by approximating the current asset allocation of a selected pool of the largest commodity trading advisor hedge funds (“CTA hedge funds”), which are hedge funds that use futures or forward contracts to achieve their investment objectives. The Dynamic Beta Engine analyzes recent (i.e., trailing 60-day) performance of CTA hedge funds in order to identify a portfolio of liquid financial instruments that closely reflects the estimated current asset allocation of the selected pool of CTA hedge funds, with the goal of simulating the performance, but not the underlying positions, of those funds. Based on this analysis, the Fund will invest in an optimized portfolio of long and short positions in domestically-traded, liquid derivative contracts.

The Dynamic Beta Engine uses data sourced from (1) publicly available U.S. futures market data obtained and cross-checked through multiple common subscription pricing sources, and (2) public CTA hedge fund indexes obtained through common subscription services and cross-checked with publicly available index information. The Sub-Advisor relies exclusively on the Dynamic Beta Engine and does not have discretion to override the model-determined asset allocation or portfolio weights. The Sub-Advisor will periodically review whether instruments should be added to or removed from the model in order to improve the model’s efficiency. The model’s asset allocation is limited to asset classes that are traded on U.S.-based exchanges. Based on this analysis, the Fund will invest in an optimized portfolio of long and short positions in domestically-traded, liquid derivative contracts selected from a pool of the most liquid derivative contracts, as determined by the Sub-Advisor.

Futures contracts and forward contracts are contractual agreements to buy or sell a particular currency, commodity or financial instrument at a pre-determined price in the future. The Fund takes long positions in derivative contracts that provide exposure to various asset classes, sectors and/or markets that the Fund expects to rise in value, and takes short positions in asset classes, sectors and/or markets that the Fund expects to fall in value. The Fund expects to limit its investments to highly-liquid, domestically-traded contracts that the Sub-Advisor believes exhibit the highest correlation to what the Sub-Advisor perceives to be the core positions of the target hedge funds. Such core positions are generally long and short positions in domestically-traded derivative contracts viewed as highly liquid by the Sub-Advisor. Agreeing to buy the underlying instrument is called buying a futures contract or taking a long position in the contract. Likewise, agreeing to sell the underlying instrument is called selling a futures contract or taking a short position in the contract.

The Fund may have gross notional exposure, which is defined as the sum of the notional exposure of both long and short derivative positions across the Fund, that approximates the current asset allocation and matches the risk profile of a diversified pool of the largest CTAs. The Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “1940 Act”), and the rules and interpretations thereunder, impose certain limitations on the Fund’s ability to use leverage. Under normal market conditions, the Sub-Advisor will seek to achieve Fund volatility of 8-10% on an annual basis, which refers to the approximate maximum amount of expected gains or losses during a given year expressed as a percentage of value.

The Sub-Advisor will, in an effort to reduce certain risks (e.g., volatility of returns), limit the Fund’s gross notional exposure on certain futures contracts whose returns are expected to be particularly volatile. In addition to these specific exposure limits, the Sub-Advisor will use quantitative methods to assess the level of risk for the Fund.

The Fund intends to gain exposure to commodities through its investments in the Subsidiary and may invest up to 20% of its total assets in the Subsidiary. Generally, the Subsidiary will invest primarily in commodity futures, but it may also invest in financial futures, fixed income securities, pooled investment vehicles, including those that are not registered with the SEC under the 1940 Act, and other investments intended to serve as margin or collateral for the Subsidiary’s derivative positions. Unlike the Fund, the Subsidiary may invest without limitation in commodity-linked derivative instruments; however, the Subsidiary complies with the same 1940 Act asset coverage requirements with respect to its investments in commodity-linked derivatives that are applicable to the Fund’s transactions in derivatives. In addition, to the extent applicable to the investment activities of the Subsidiary, the Subsidiary will be subject to the same fundamental investment restrictions and will follow the same compliance policies and procedures as the Fund. Unlike the Fund, the Subsidiary will not seek to qualify as a regulated investment company (“RIC”) under Subchapter M of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”). The Fund is the sole investor in the Subsidiary and does not expect shares of the Subsidiary to be offered or sold to other investors.

In addition to its use of futures and investment in the Subsidiary, the Fund expects, under normal circumstances, to invest a large portion of the portfolio in debt securities in order to collateralize its derivative investments, for liquidity purposes, or to

 

 
Fund Summary         3


enhance yield. The Fund may hold fixed income instruments of varying maturities, but that have an average duration of less than one year. In particular, the Fund may hold government money market instruments, such as U.S. Treasury securities and U.S. government agency discount notes and bonds with maturities of two years or less.

Since the Fund is non-diversified, it may invest a greater percentage of its assets in a particular investment or issuer than a diversified fund.

Principal Risks

 

As with all mutual funds, it is possible to lose money on an investment in the Fund. An investment in the Fund is not a deposit of any bank and is not guaranteed, endorsed or insured by any financial institution, government authority or the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). The following risks could affect the value of your investment. Each risk summarized below is considered a “principal risk” of investing in the Fund, regardless of the order in which it appears. Some or all of these risks may adversely affect the Fund’s net asset value per share (“NAV”), total return and/or ability to meet its objective.

 

 

Managed Futures Strategy Risk. In seeking to achieve its investment objective, the Fund will utilize various investment strategies that involve the use of complex investment techniques, and there is no guarantee that these strategies will succeed. The use of such strategies and techniques may subject the Fund to greater volatility and loss. There can be no assurance that utilizing a certain approach or model will achieve a particular level of return or reduce volatility and loss.

 

 

Futures Contracts Risk. Futures contracts have a high degree of price variability and are subject to occasional rapid and substantial changes. There is an imperfect correlation between the change in market value of the futures contracts and the market value of the underlying instrument or reference assets with respect to such contracts. Futures contracts pose the risk of a possible lack of a liquid secondary market, resulting in the potential inability to close a futures contract when desired. Futures contracts are also subject to risks related to possible market disruptions or other extraordinary events, including but not limited to, governmental intervention, and potentially unlimited losses caused by unanticipated market movements. Futures contracts are subject to the possibility that the counterparties to the contracts will default in the performance of their obligations. If the Fund has insufficient cash, it may either have to sell securities from its portfolio to meet daily variation margin requirements with respect to its futures contracts, or close certain positions at a time when it may be disadvantageous to do so. The successful use of futures contracts draws upon the Sub-Advisor’s skill and experience with respect to such instruments and is subject to special risk considerations.

The use of futures contracts, which are derivative instruments, will have the economic effect of financial leverage. Financial leverage magnifies exposure to the swings in prices of an asset class underlying an investment and results in increased volatility, which means the Fund will have the potential for greater losses than if the Fund did not employ leverage in its investment activity. Leveraging tends to magnify, sometimes significantly, the effect of any increase or decrease in the Fund’s exposure to an asset class and may cause the value of the Fund’s securities or related derivatives instruments to be volatile. There is no assurance that the Fund’s investment in a futures contract with leveraged exposure to certain investments and markets will enable the Fund to achieve its investment objective.

 

 

General Market Risk; Recent Market Events Risk. The value of the Fund’s shares will fluctuate based on the performance of the Fund’s investments and other factors affecting the securities markets generally. Certain investments selected for the Fund’s portfolio may be worth less than the price originally paid for them, or less than they were worth at an earlier time. The value of the Fund’s investments may go up or down, sometimes dramatically and unpredictably, based on current market conditions, such as real or perceived adverse political or economic conditions, inflation, changes in interest rates, lack of liquidity in the fixed income markets or adverse investor sentiment.

U.S. and international markets have experienced volatility in recent months and years due to a number of economic, political and global macro factors, including the impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) global pandemic, which has resulted in a public health crisis, business interruptions, growth concerns in the U.S. and overseas, layoffs, rising unemployment claims, changed travel and social behaviors and reduced consumer spending. The effects of COVID-19 may lead to a substantial economic downturn or recession in the U.S. and global economies, the recovery from which is uncertain and may last for an extended period of time.

 

 

Derivatives Risk. Derivatives include instruments and contracts that are based on, and are valued in relation to, one or more underlying securities, financial benchmarks or indices, such as futures swap agreements and forward contracts. Derivatives typically have economic leverage inherent in their terms. The primary types of derivatives in which the Fund or the Subsidiary invest are futures contracts and forward contracts. Futures contracts and forward contracts can be highly

 

 
4       Litman Gregory Funds Trust


 

volatile, illiquid and difficult to value, and changes in the value of such instruments held directly or indirectly by the Fund may not correlate with the underlying instrument or reference assets, or the Fund’s other investments. Although the value of futures contracts and forward contracts depends largely upon price movements in the underlying instrument or reference asset, there are additional risks associated with futures contracts and forward contracts that are possibly greater than the risks associated with investing directly in the underlying instruments or reference assets, including illiquidity risk, leveraging risk and counterparty credit risk. A small position in futures contracts or forward contracts could have a potentially large impact on the Fund’s performance. Trading restrictions or limitations may be imposed by an exchange, and government regulations may restrict trading in futures contracts and forward contracts.

 

 

Commodities Risk. Exposure to the commodities markets (including financial futures markets) may subject the Fund, through its investment in the Subsidiary, to greater volatility than investments in traditional securities. Prices of commodities and related contracts may fluctuate significantly over short periods for a variety of reasons, including changes in interest rates, supply and demand relationships and balances of payments and trade; weather and natural disasters; governmental, agricultural, trade, fiscal, monetary and exchange control programs and policies, public health crises and trade or price wars among commodity producers or buyers. The commodity markets are subject to temporary distortions and other disruptions. U.S. futures exchanges and some foreign exchanges have regulations that limit the amount of fluctuation in futures contract prices which may occur during a single business day. Limit prices have the effect of precluding trading in a particular contract or forcing the liquidation of contracts at disadvantageous times or prices.

 

 

Equity Securities Risk. The Fund may have exposure to equity securities. Equity securities tend to be more volatile than other investment choices, such as debt and money market instruments. The value of your investment may decrease in response to overall stock market movements or the value of individual securities.

 

 

Currency Risk. The Fund’s exposure to foreign currencies subjects the Fund to the risk that those currencies will decline in value relative to the U.S. Dollar, or, in the case of short positions, that the U.S. Dollar will decline in value relative to the currency that the Fund is short. Currency rates in foreign countries may fluctuate significantly over short periods of time for any number of reasons, including changes in interest rates and the imposition of currency controls or other political developments in the U.S. or abroad.

 

 

Credit Risk. Credit risk refers to the possibility that the issuer of the security or a counterparty in respect of a derivative instrument will not be able to satisfy its payment obligations to the Fund when due. Changes in an issuer’s credit rating or the market’s perception of an issuer’s creditworthiness may also affect the value of the Fund’s investment in that issuer. Securities rated in the four highest categories by the rating agencies are considered investment grade but they may also have some speculative characteristics. Investment grade ratings do not guarantee that bonds will not lose value or default. In addition, the credit quality of securities may be lowered if an issuer’s financial condition changes.

 

 

ETF Risks. The Fund is an ETF, and, as a result of an ETF’s structure, it is exposed to the following risks:

 

  ¡   

Authorized Participants, Market Makers, and Liquidity Providers Limitation Risk. The Fund has a limited number of financial institutions that may act as Authorized Participants (“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 of the Fund (“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. 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.

 

  ¡   

Costs of Buying or Selling Shares. Due to the costs of buying or selling Shares, including brokerage commissions imposed by brokers and bid/ask spreads, frequent trading of Shares may significantly 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

 

 
Fund Summary         5


 

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 and volatility in the Fund’s portfolio holdings, 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. If an investor purchases Shares at a time when the market price is at a premium to the NAV of the Shares or sells at a time when the market price is at a discount to the NAV of the Shares, then the investor may sustain losses that are in addition to any losses caused by a decrease in NAV.

 

  ¡   

Trading. Although Shares are listed for trading on a national securities exchange, and may be traded on other U.S. exchanges, 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.

 

 

Leverage Risk. Although the Fund will not borrow funds for trading, the Fund should be considered highly leveraged and is suitable only for investors with high tolerance for investment risk. Leverage embedded in the various derivative instruments traded may result in the Fund or its Subsidiary holding positions whose face or notional value may be many times the Fund’s NAV. As a result of this leveraging, even a small movement in the price of a commodity can cause a correspondingly large profit or loss. Losses incurred on leveraged investments increase in direct proportion to the degree of leverage employed. Furthermore, derivative instruments and futures contracts are highly volatile and are subject to occasional rapid and substantial fluctuations. Volatility is a statistical measurement of the variation of returns of a security or fund or index over time. Higher volatility generally indicates higher risk. You could lose all or substantially all of your investment in the Fund should the Fund’s trading positions suddenly turn unprofitable.

 

 

Debt Securities and Fixed-Income Risk. Fixed income securities, such as U.S. Treasuries, or derivatives based on fixed income securities are subject to credit risk and interest rate risk. Credit risk, as described more fully above, refers to the possibility that the issuer of a debt security will be unable to make interest payments or repay principal when it becomes due. Interest rate risk, as described more fully below, refers to fluctuations in the value of a debt security resulting from changes in the general level of interest rates. Prices of fixed income securities tend to move inversely with changes in interest rates. Typically, a rise in rates will adversely affect fixed income security prices and, accordingly, the Fund’s returns and share price. In addition, the Fund may be subject to “call” risk, which is the risk that during a period of falling interest rates the issuer may redeem a security by repaying it early (which may reduce the Fund’s income if the proceeds are reinvested at lower interest rates), and “extension” risk, which occurs during a rising interest rate environment because certain obligations will be paid off by an issuer more slowly than anticipated (causing the value of those securities held by the Fund to fall).

 

 

Interest Rate Risk. Prices of fixed income securities generally increase when interest rates decline and decrease when interest rates increase. The Fund may lose money if short term or long term interest rates rise sharply or otherwise change in a manner not anticipated by the Sub-Advisor. The Fund may be subject to heightened interest rate risk due to rising rates as the current period of historically low interest rates may be ending. Interest rate risk is generally greater for fixed-income securities with longer maturities or durations, but increasing interest rates may have an adverse effect on the value of the Fund’s investment portfolio as a whole, as investors and markets adjust expected returns relative to such increasing rates. The negative impact on fixed income securities from the resulting rate increases for that and other reasons could be swift and significant.

 

 

Management Risk. The Fund is actively-managed and may not meet its investment objective based on the portfolio managers’ success or failure to implement investment strategies for the Fund.

 

 

Models and Data Risk. This is the risk that one or all of the proprietary systematic and quantitative models may fail to identify profitable opportunities at any time. Furthermore, the models may incorrectly identify opportunities and these misidentified opportunities may lead to substantial losses for the Fund. Models may be predictive in nature and such models may result in an incorrect assessment of future events. Data used in the construction of models may prove to be inaccurate or stale, which may result in losses for the Fund.

 

 

Non-Diversified Fund Risk. Because the Fund is “non-diversified,” it may invest a greater percentage of its assets in the securities of a single issuer. As a result, a decline in the value of an investment in a single issuer could cause the Fund’s overall value to decline to a greater degree than if the Fund held a more diversified portfolio.

 

 
6       Litman Gregory Funds Trust


 

Government Securities and Agency Risk. Direct obligations of the U.S. Government such as Treasury bills, notes and bonds are supported by its full faith and credit. Indirect obligations issued by Federal agencies and government-sponsored entities generally are not backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. Treasury. Accordingly, while U.S. Government agencies and instrumentalities may be chartered or sponsored by Acts of Congress, their securities are neither issued nor guaranteed by the U.S. Treasury. Some of these indirect obligations may be supported by the right of the issuer to borrow from the Treasury; others are supported by the discretionary authority of the U.S. Government to purchase the agency’s obligations; still others are supported only by the credit of the instrumentality.

 

 

Liquidity Risk. The Fund is subject to liquidity risk primarily due to its investments in derivatives. Investments in derivative instruments involve the risk that the Fund may be unable to sell the derivative instrument or sell it at a reasonable price.

 

 

Short Position Risk. The Fund will incur a loss as a result of a short position if the price of the short position instrument increases in value between the date of the short position sale and the date on which the Fund purchases an offsetting position. Short positions may be considered speculative transactions and involve special risks, including greater reliance on the ability to accurately anticipate the future value of a security or instrument. The Fund’s losses are potentially unlimited in a short position transaction.

 

 

Subsidiary Risk. By investing in the Subsidiary, the Fund is indirectly exposed to the risks associated with the Subsidiary’s investments. The derivatives and other investments held by the Subsidiary are generally similar to those that are permitted to be held by the Fund and are subject to the same risks that apply to similar investments if held directly by the Fund. The Subsidiary is not registered under the 1940 Act, and, unless otherwise noted in this Prospectus, is not subject to all the investor protections of the 1940 Act. Changes in the laws of the United States and/or the Cayman Islands could result in the inability of the Fund and/or the Subsidiary to continue to operate as it does currently and could adversely affect the Fund.

 

 

Forward Contracts Risk. Forward contracts involve an obligation to purchase or sell a specific currency at a future date, which may be any fixed number of days from the date of the contract as agreed by the parties in an amount and at a price set at the time of the contract. At the maturity of a forward contract, a fund may either accept or make delivery of the currency specified in the contract or, at or prior to maturity, enter into a closing transaction involving the purchase or sale of an offsetting contract. The Fund may invest in non-deliverable forwards, which are cash-settled, short-term forward contracts on foreign currencies that are non-convertible and that may be thinly traded or illiquid. The use of forward contracts involves various risks, including the risks associated with fluctuations in foreign currency and the risk that the counterparty will fail to fulfill its obligations.

 

 

Tax Risk. The federal income tax treatment of the Fund’s income from the Subsidiary may be negatively affected by future legislation, Treasury Regulations (proposed or final), and/or other Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) guidance or authorities that could affect the character, timing of recognition, and/or amount of the Fund’s investment company taxable income and/or net capital gains and, therefore, the distributions it makes. If the Fund failed the source of income test for any taxable year but was eligible to and did cure the failure, it could incur potentially significant additional federal income tax expenses. If, on the other hand, the Fund failed to qualify as a RIC for any taxable year and was ineligible to or otherwise did not cure the failure, it would be subject to federal income tax at the fund-level on its taxable income at the regular corporate tax rate (without reduction for distributions to shareholders), with the consequence that its income available for distribution to shareholders would be reduced and distributions from its current or accumulated earnings and profits would generally be taxable to its shareholders as dividend income.

Changes in the laws of the United States and/or the Cayman Islands could result in the inability of the Fund and/or the Subsidiary to operate as described in this Prospectus and the Statement of Additional Information (“SAI”) and could adversely affect the Fund. For example, the Cayman Islands does not currently impose any income, corporate or capital gains tax or withholding tax on the Subsidiary. If Cayman Islands law changes such that the Subsidiary must pay Cayman Islands taxes, Fund shareholders would likely suffer decreased investment returns.

 

 

Operational Risk. Operational risks include human error, changes in personnel, system changes, faults in communication, and failures in systems, technology, or processes. Various operational events or circumstances are outside the Advisor’s or Sub-Advisor’s control, including instances at third parties. The Fund, the Advisor and the Sub-Advisor seek to reduce these operational risks through controls and procedures. However, these measures do not address every possible risk and may be inadequate to address these risks.

 

 
Fund Summary         7


 

Regulatory Risk. Governments, agencies or other regulatory bodies may adopt or change laws or regulations that could adversely affect the issuer, or market value, of an instrument held by the Fund or its Subsidiary or that could adversely impact the Fund’s performance.

Performance

 

Simultaneous with the Fund’s commencement of operation, all of the assets and liabilities of the Predecessor Fund were transferred to the Fund in a reorganization (the “Reorganization”). The Fund assumed the performance and accounting history of the Predecessor Fund on the date of the Reorganization.

The following performance information provides some indication of the risks of investing in the Fund. The bar chart shows changes in the performance of the Predecessor Fund from year to year. The table below shows how the Predecessor Fund’s average annual total returns for the 1-year and since inception periods compare to those of a broad-based market index. Past performance, before and after taxes, does not necessarily indicate how the Fund will perform in the future. Updated performance information is available on the Fund’s website at www.partnerselectfunds.com.

Predecessor Fund

Calendar Year Total Return as of

December 31

 

LOGO

During the period shown above, the highest and lowest quarterly returns earned by the Predecessor Fund were:

 

Highest:

    4.74%        Quarter ended December 31, 2020

Lowest:

    -3.29%        Quarter ended June 30, 2020

 

Average Annual Total Returns (for the periods ended December 31, 2020)

 

      1 Year     

Since
Inception

(5/7/2019)

 

Predecessor Fund

     

Return Before Taxes

     1.84%        7.56%  

Return After Taxes on Distributions

     1.57%        5.66%  

Return After Taxes on Distributions and Sale of Shares

     1.17%        5.33%  

SG CTA Index

     

(reflects no deduction for fees, expenses, or taxes)

     3.43%        3.60%  

The Predecessor Fund’s after-tax returns as shown in the above table are calculated using the historical highest applicable individual federal marginal income tax rates for the period and do not reflect the impact of state and local taxes. Your actual after-tax returns depend on your tax situation and may differ from those shown. If you own shares of the Fund in a tax-deferred account, such as a 401(k) plan or an individual retirement account, after-tax returns shown are not relevant to your investment. The after-tax returns on distributions and sale of Fund shares may be higher than returns before taxes due to the effect of a tax benefit an investor may receive from the realization of capital losses that would have been incurred on the sale of Fund shares.

 

Management          
SUB-ADVISOR    PORTFOLIO MANAGER    MANAGED THE PREDECESSOR
FUND SINCE:

Dynamic Beta investments, LLC

   Andrew Beer, Managing Member    2019
     Mathias Mamou-Mani, Managing Member    2019

 

 
8       Litman Gregory Funds Trust


Purchase and Sale of Shares

 

Shares of each Fund (“Shares”) are listed and trade on the NYSE Arca (the “Exchange”). Individual Shares may only be bought and sold on the Exchange through a broker or dealer at market prices, rather than at NAV. Because Shares trade at market prices rather than at NAV, Shares may trade at a price greater than at NAV (premium) or less than at NAV (discount). Investors may also incur costs attributable to the difference between the highest price a buyer is willing to pay to purchase Shares (bid) and the lowest price a seller is willing to accept for Shares (ask) when buying or selling Shares in the secondary market (the “Bid-Ask Spread”).

Each Fund issues and redeems Shares at NAV only in large blocks known as “Creation Units,” which only Authorized Participants (“APs”) (typically, broker-dealers) may purchase or redeem. Each Fund generally issues and redeems Creation Units in exchange for a designated amount of U.S. cash and/or a portfolio of securities closely approximating the holdings of the Fund (the “Deposit Securities”).

Information on each Fund’s NAV, market price, premiums and discounts to NAV, and bid-ask spreads is available on the Fund’s website www.partnerselectfunds.com.

Tax Information

 

Fund distributions are generally taxable as ordinary income, qualified dividend income, or capital gains (or a combination), unless your investment is in an 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.

Payments to Broker-Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries

 

If you purchase Shares through a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary (such as a bank) (an “Intermediary”), Litman Gregory Fund Advisors, LLC, the Funds’ investment 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.

 

 
Fund Summary         9


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