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STRIVE 500 ETF
Ticker Symbol: STRV
STRIVE EMERGING MARKETS Ex-CHINA ETF
Ticker Symbol: STXE
STRIVE U.S. ENERGY ETF
Ticker Symbol: DRLL
STRIVE U.S. SEMICONDUCTOR ETF
Ticker Symbol: SHOC
STRIVE NATURAL RESOURCES AND SECURITY ETF
Ticker Symbol: FTWO
STRIVE 1000 GROWTH ETF
Ticker Symbol: STXG
STRIVE 1000 VALUE ETF
Ticker Symbol: STXV
STRIVE SMALL-CAP ETF
Ticker Symbol: STXK
STRIVE 1000 DIVIDEND GROWTH ETF
Ticker Symbol: STXD
STRIVE MID-CAP ETF
Ticker Symbol: STXM
STRIVE INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPED MARKETS ETF
Ticker Symbol: STXI
each of the above is listed on New York Stock Exchange
Prospectus
October 31, 2025
These securities have not been approved or disapproved by the Securities and Exchange Commission nor has the Securities and Exchange Commission passed upon the accuracy or adequacy of this Prospectus. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal offense.



Table of Contents









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Strive 500 ETF
Fund Summary 
INVESTMENT OBJECTIVE
The Strive 500 ETF (the “Fund”) seeks to track the total return performance, before fees and expenses, of an index composed of U.S.-listed large cap equity securities.
FEES AND EXPENSES
This table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy, hold, and sell shares of the Fund (“Shares”). You may also pay brokerage commissions on the purchase and sale of Shares, which are not reflected in the table or example.
ANNUAL FUND OPERATING EXPENSES (EXPENSES THAT YOU PAY EACH YEAR AS A PERCENTAGE OF THE VALUE OF YOUR INVESTMENT)
Management Fee1
0.05 %
Distribution and/or Service (12b-1) Fees
None
Other Expenses
0.00 %
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses1
0.05 %
1 The Fund’s Management Fee and Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses are 0.0545%.
EXAMPLE
The following 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 for the time periods indicated and then hold or sell all of your Shares at the end of those periods. The example also assumes that the Fund provides a return of 5% a year and that operating expenses remain the same. You may also pay brokerage commissions on the purchase and sale of Shares, which are not reflected in the example. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:
One Year: Three Years: Five Years: Ten Years:
$6 $18 $31 $70
PORTFOLIO TURNOVER
The Fund may pay transaction costs, including 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 annual fund operating expenses or in the example, affect the Fund’s performance. For the fiscal period August 1, 2024 through June 30, 2025, the portfolio turnover rate for the Fund was 2% of the average value of its portfolio.
PRINCIPAL INVESTMENT STRATEGIES
The Fund’s Investment Strategy
The Fund seeks to track the investment results of the Bloomberg 500 Index (the “Index”), which measures the performance of the large-capitalization sector in the U.S. equity market as determined by Bloomberg (the “Index Provider” or “Bloomberg”).
The Index is a free float-adjusted capitalization-weighted index comprised primarily of U.S. equity securities. The Index consists of the 500 most highly capitalized companies.
To be eligible for inclusion in the Index, a security must first meet the following criteria: (i) it is primarily listed in the United States, (ii) it is listed on a U.S. exchange, and (iii) the security’s free float must be a minimum of 10% of the security’s total shares outstanding. The Index includes common stock and real estate investment trusts. To determine Index components, all equity securities that meet these criteria are sorted according to total market capitalization in descending order and ranked. The largest 500 securities are then selected for inclusion in the Index.
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The Index is expected to have significant exposure to the Information Technology sector. The components of the Index are subject to change over time.
The Index is calculated as a total return index in U.S. dollars. The Index is normally rebalanced on a semi-annual basis in January and July and such changes take effect in March and September. The Index constituents’ weights are normally updated in June and December.
Strive Asset Management, LLC (the “Sub-Adviser”) uses a “passive” or indexing approach to try to achieve the Fund’s investment objective. Unlike many investment companies, the Fund does not try to “beat” the index it tracks and does not seek temporary defensive positions when markets decline or appear overvalued.
Indexing may eliminate the chance that the Fund will substantially outperform the Index but also may reduce some of the risks of active management, such as poor security selection. Indexing seeks to achieve lower costs and better after-tax performance by aiming to keep portfolio turnover low in comparison to actively managed investment companies.
The Fund will generally use a “replication” strategy to seek to achieve its investment objective, meaning the Fund will invest in all of the component securities of the Index in the same approximate proportions as in the Index, but may, when the Sub-Adviser believes it is in the best interests of the Fund, use a “representative sampling” strategy, meaning the Fund 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.
The Fund will concentrate its investments (i.e., hold 25% or more of its total assets) in a particular industry or group of industries to approximately the same extent that the Index is concentrated.
PRINCIPAL INVESTMENT RISKS
An investment in the Fund involves risk, including those described below. There is no assurance that the Fund will achieve its investment objective. An investor may lose money by investing in the Fund. An investment in the Fund is not a bank deposit and is not insured or guaranteed by the FDIC or any government agency. More complete risk descriptions are set forth below under the heading “Additional Information About the Funds’ Principal Investment Risks.
Large-Capitalization Companies Risk. Large-capitalization companies may trail the returns of the overall stock market. Large-capitalization stocks tend to go through cycles of doing better - or worse - than the stock market in general. These periods have, in the past, lasted for as long as several years. When large capitalization companies are out of favor, these securities may lose value or may not appreciate in line with the overall market. In addition, large capitalization companies may be unable to respond quickly to new competitive challenges, such as changes in technology or consumer tastes, and also may not be able to attain the high growth rate of successful small companies, especially during extended periods of economic expansion.
Sector Risk. To the extent the Fund invests more heavily in particular sectors of the economy, its performance will be especially sensitive to developments that significantly affect those sectors. The Fund may invest a significant portion of its assets in the following sectors and, therefore, the performance of the Fund could be negatively impacted by events affecting each of these sectors.
Information Technology Sector Risk. The Fund may invest in companies in the technology sector, and therefore, the Fund’s performance could be negatively impacted by events affecting this sector. Market or economic factors impacting technology companies and companies that rely heavily on technological advances could have a significant effect on the value of the Fund’s investments. Technology companies, including information technology companies, may have limited product lines, financial resources and/or personnel. Technology companies typically face intense competition and potentially rapid product obsolescence. They are also heavily dependent on intellectual property rights and may be adversely affected by the loss or impairment of those rights. Companies in the technology sector also face increased government regulation, including new regulations and scrutiny related to data privacy, and may be subject to adverse government or regulatory actions, which may be costly.
Investment Risk. When you sell your Shares, they could be worth less than what you paid for them. Therefore, you may lose money by investing in the Fund. The Fund could lose money due to short-term market movements and over longer periods during market downturns. Securities may decline in value due to factors affecting securities markets generally or particular asset classes or industries represented in the markets. The value of a security may decline due to general
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market conditions, economic trends or events that are not specifically related to the issuer of the security, such as geopolitical events and environmental disasters. The value of a security may also decline due to factors that affect a particular industry or group of industries. During a general downturn in the securities markets, multiple asset classes may be negatively affected. Therefore, you may lose money by investing in the Fund.
Equity Investing Risk. An investment in the Fund involves risks similar to those of investing in any fund holding equity securities, such as market fluctuations, changes in interest rates and perceived trends in stock prices. The values of equity securities could decline generally or could underperform other investments. In addition, securities may decline in value due to factors affecting a specific issuer, market or securities markets generally.
Concentration Risk. In following its methodology, the Index from time to time may be concentrated to a significant degree in securities of issuers located in a single industry or group of industries. To the extent that the Index concentrates in the securities of issuers in a particular industry or group of industries, the Fund also may concentrate its investments to approximately the same extent. By concentrating its investments in an industry or group of industries, the Fund may face more risks than if it were diversified broadly over numerous industries or groups of industries. If the Index is not concentrated in a particular industry or group of industries, the Fund will not concentrate in a particular industry or group of industries.
Passive Investment Risk. The Fund is not actively managed and the Sub-Adviser will not sell any investments due to current or projected underperformance of the securities, industries or sector in which it invests, unless the investment is removed from the Index, sold in connection with a rebalancing of the Index as addressed in the Index methodology, or sold to comply with the Fund’s investment limitations (for example, to maintain the Fund’s tax status). The Fund will maintain investments until changes to its Index are triggered, which could cause the Fund’s return to be lower than if the Fund employed an active strategy.
Index Calculation Risk. The Index relies on various sources of information to assess the criteria of issuers included in the Index, including fundamental information that may be based on assumptions and estimates. Neither the Fund, the Adviser, the Sub-Adviser nor the Index Provider can offer assurances that the Index’s calculation methodology or sources of information will provide a correct valuation of securities, nor can they guarantee the availability or timeliness of the production of the Index.
Tracking Error Risk. As with all index funds, the performance of the Fund and its respective 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.
ETF Risks.
Authorized Participants, Market Makers and Liquidity Providers Concentration 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 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.
Premium-Discount Risk. The Shares may trade above or below their net asset value (“NAV”). The market prices of Shares will generally fluctuate in accordance with changes in NAV as well as the relative supply of, and demand for, Shares on New York Stock Exchange (the “Exchange”) or other securities exchanges. The trading price of Shares may deviate significantly from NAV during periods of market volatility or limited trading activity in Shares. In addition, you may incur the cost of the “spread,” that is, any difference between the bid price and the ask price of the Shares.
Cost of Trading Risk. Investors buying or selling Shares in the secondary market will pay brokerage commissions or other charges imposed by brokers as determined by that broker. Brokerage commissions are often a fixed amount and may be a significant proportional cost for investors seeking to buy or sell relatively small amounts of Shares. In addition, secondary market investors will also incur the cost of the difference between the price that an investor is willing to pay for Shares (the “bid” price) and the price at which an
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investor is willing to sell Shares (the “ask” price). This difference in bid and ask prices is often referred to as the “spread” or “bid/ask spread.” The bid/ask spread varies over time for Shares based on trading volume and market liquidity, and is generally lower if the Fund’s Shares have more trading volume and market liquidity and higher if the Fund’s Shares have little trading volume and market liquidity. Further, increased market volatility may cause increased bid/ask spreads.
Trading Risk. Although the Shares are listed on the Exchange, there can be no assurance that an active or liquid trading market for them will develop or be maintained. In addition, trading in Shares on the Exchange may be halted. In stressed market conditions, the liquidity of Shares may begin to mirror the liquidity of its underlying portfolio holdings, which can be less liquid than Shares, potentially causing the market price of Shares to deviate from its NAV. The spread varies over time for Shares of the Fund based on the Fund’s trading volume and market liquidity and is generally lower if the Fund has high trading volume and market liquidity, and higher if the Fund has little trading volume and market liquidity (which is often the case for funds that are newly launched or small in size).
Index Rebalance Risk. Because the Index generally changes its exposure based on data that is analyzed in connection with a quarterly rebalance (a “Rebalance”), (i) the Index’s exposure may be affected by significant market movements at or around the time of a Rebalance that are not predictive of the market’s performance for any subsequent Rebalance and (ii) changes to the Index’s exposure may lag a significant change in the market’s direction (up or down) by as long as a quarter if such changes first take effect at or around the time of a Rebalance. Such lags between market performance and changes to the Index’s exposure may result in significant underperformance relative to the broader equity or fixed income market.
PERFORMANCE
The following information provides some indication of the risks of investing in the Fund. The bar chart shows the Fund’s performance for calendar years ended December 31. The table shows how the Fund’s average annual returns for one-year and since inception periods compare with those of its Index, which represents a broad measure of market performance. The Fund’s past performance, before and after taxes, is not necessarily an indication of how the Fund will perform in the future. Performance information is also available on the Fund’s website at https://strivefunds.com/ or by calling the Fund at (215) 330-4476.
Calendar Year Total Returns as of December 31
14843407043705
The Fund’s calendar year-to-date return as of September 30, 2025 was 15.16%. During the period of time shown in the bar chart, the Fund’s highest return for a calendar quarter was 11.91% (quarter ended December 31, 2023) and the Fund’s lowest return for a calendar quarter was -3.01% (quarter ended September 30, 2023).
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Average Annual Total Returns
(for periods ended December 31, 2024)
Strive 500 ETF
1 Year
Since Inception
(09/14/2022)
Return Before Taxes
25.14% 21.00%
Return After Taxes on Distributions
24.78% 20.63%
Return After Taxes on Distributions and Sale of Shares
15.10% 16.37%
Bloomberg 500 Index (reflects no fees or expenses)
25.20% 21.06%
Bloomberg 500 Index/Solactive GBS United States 500 Index (reflects no fees or expenses) (reflects no fees or expenses) 25.26% 21.08%
Effective January 26, 2024, the Fund’s investment strategy changed to track the investment results of the Bloomberg 500 Index. Prior to January 26, 2024, the Fund’s investment strategy was to track the investment results of the Solactive GBS United States 500 Index. Performance shown for the Bloomberg 500 Index/Solactive GBS United States 500 Index for the period prior to January 26, 2024 is that of the Solactive GBS United States 500 Index and for the period beginning January 26, 2024 is that of the Bloomberg 500 Index.
After-tax returns are calculated using the highest historical individual U.S. federal marginal income tax rates during the period covered by the table above and do not reflect the impact of state and local taxes. Actual after-tax returns depend on an investor’s tax situation and may differ from those shown. After-tax returns shown are not relevant to investors who hold their Shares through tax-deferred arrangements such as an individual retirement account (“IRA”) or other tax-advantaged accounts.
INVESTMENT ADVISER & INVESTMENT SUB-ADVISER
Investment Adviser: Empowered Funds, LLC dba EA Advisers (the “Adviser”)
Investment Sub-Adviser: Strive Asset Management, LLC (the “Sub-Adviser”)
PORTFOLIO MANAGERS
Matthew Cole, Chief Executive Officer and Chief Investment Officer of Strive and Jeffrey Sherman, a Portfolio Manager of Strive, are each a co-Portfolio Manager of the Fund and are primarily responsible for the day-to-day management of the Fund. Mr. Cole has managed the Fund since its inception (September 2022) and Mr. Sherman has managed the Fund since June 2023.
PURCHASE AND SALE OF SHARES
Individual Shares are listed on a national securities exchange and may only be purchased and sold in the secondary market through a broker-dealer at a market price. Because Shares trade at market prices rather than NAV, Shares may trade at a price greater than NAV (at a “premium”) or less than NAV (at a “discount”). An investor may 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 and selling Shares in the secondary market (the “bid/ask spread”).
TAX INFORMATION
The Fund’s distributions generally are taxable to you as ordinary income, capital gain, or some combination of both, unless your investment is made through an IRA or other tax-advantaged account. However, subsequent withdrawals from such a tax-advantaged account may be subject to U.S. federal income tax. You should consult your own tax advisor about your specific tax situation.
PURCHASES THROUGH BROKER-DEALERS AND OTHER FINANCIAL INTERMEDIARIES
If you purchase Shares through a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary, the Fund and its related companies may pay the intermediary for the sale of Shares and related services. These payments may create a conflict of interest by influencing the broker-dealer or other intermediary and your salesperson to recommend Shares over another investment. Ask your salesperson or visit your financial intermediary’s website for more information.


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STRIVE EMERGING MARKETS EX-CHINA ETF
Fund Summary
INVESTMENT OBJECTIVE
The Strive Emerging Markets Ex-China ETF (the “Fund”) seeks to track the total return performance, before fees and expenses, of an index composed of emerging market, ex-China securities.
FEES AND EXPENSES
This table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy, hold, and sell shares of the Fund (“Shares”). You may also pay brokerage commissions on the purchase and sale of Shares, which are not reflected in the table or example.
ANNUAL FUND OPERATING EXPENSES (EXPENSES THAT YOU PAY EACH YEAR AS A PERCENTAGE OF THE VALUE OF YOUR INVESTMENT)
Management Fee
0.32 %
Distribution and/or Service (12b-1) Fees
None
Other Expenses
0.00 %
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses
0.32 %
EXAMPLE
The following 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 for the time periods indicated and then hold or sell all of your Shares at the end of those periods. The example also assumes that the Fund provides a return of 5% a year and that operating expenses remain the same. You may also pay brokerage commissions on the purchase and sale of Shares, which are not reflected in the example. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:
One Year: Three Years: Five Years: Ten Years:
$33 $103 $180 $406
PORTFOLIO TURNOVER
The Fund may pay transaction costs, including 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 annual fund operating expenses or in the example, affect the Fund’s performance. For the fiscal period August 1, 2024 through June 30, 2025, the portfolio turnover rate for the Fund was 21% of the average value of its portfolio.
PRINCIPAL INVESTMENT STRATEGIES
The Fund’s Investment Strategy
The Fund seeks to track the investment results of the Bloomberg Emerging Markets ex China Large & Mid Cap Index (the “Index”), which tracks large and mid-capitalization equity securities across 24 emerging market economies, excluding China. Components of the Index (each an “Index Component” and collectively the “Index Components”) are selected and weighted according to free-float market capitalization. Under normal circumstances, the Fund invests at least 80% of its net assets (plus any borrowings for investment purposes) in emerging market securities, which may include depositary receipts (including American Depository Receipts (“ADRs”) or Global Depository Receipts (“GDRs”)). Depositary receipts represent shares in a foreign company that are traded on a local stock exchange.
The Index will generally consist of over 500 securities. The Index consists of issuers in the following emerging market countries: Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Czech Republic, Egypt, Greece, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Kuwait, Malaysia, Mexico, Pakistan, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, and United Arab Emirates (each an “Emerging Market” and collectively, the “Emerging Markets”). The Index is expected to have significant exposure to India, Taiwan, and South Korea. The Index is expected to have significant
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exposure to the Information Technology and Financials sectors. The components of the Index and the Emerging Markets themselves will change over time.
Securities are first screened for inclusion in the “Index Universe.” The Index Universe is exclusively comprised of equity securities, which includes common stock and real estate investment trusts (REITs) from issuers in Emerging Markets.
To determine the Index Components, all equity securities in the Index Universe are sorted by Emerging Market country. Thereafter, Index Components are individually selected for inclusion based on such factors as free float market capitalization, trading volume thresholds, and market price cap levels. Equity securities passing these thresholds are included as Index Components within each Emerging Market.
Thereafter, the Index Components are aggregated together and ranked by total market capitalization. Each Index Component is subsequently assigned a weight based on its free float market capitalization. The weight represents the percentage amount of the Index Component as a percentage of the total Index. Starting with the largest free float market capitalization, the Index is fully comprised once approximately 85% of the accumulated free float market-capitalization of the Index Universe is selected.
The Fund’s exposure to any asset class, country or geographic region will vary from time to time as the weightings of the securities within the Index change, and the Fund may not be invested in each country or geographic region at all times. Bloomberg Index Services Limited (the “Index Provider”) will generally deem an issuer to be located in an emerging market country based on several factors related to economic development, market size and liquidity, and capital market structure. The Index is calculated as a net total return index in U.S. dollars.
The Index is normally reconstituted on a semi-annual basis in March and September and rebalanced on a quarterly basis. New securities from initial public offerings generally must have traded for at least three months before the semi-annual reconstitution date to be considered for inclusion in the Index. Securities subject to United States, United Nations, United Kingdom or European Union sanctions may not be eligible for inclusion in the Index. Index Components impacted by such sanctions will be dropped from the Index as soon as practically possible.
Strive Asset Management, LLC (the “Sub-Adviser”) uses a “passive” or indexing approach to try to achieve the Fund’s investment objective. Unlike many investment companies, the Fund does not try to “beat” the index it tracks and does not seek temporary defensive positions when markets decline or appear overvalued.
Indexing may eliminate the chance that the Fund will substantially outperform the Index but also may reduce some of the risks of active management, such as poor security selection. Indexing seeks to achieve lower costs and better after-tax performance by aiming to keep portfolio turnover low in comparison to actively managed investment companies.
The Fund will generally use a “representative sampling” strategy, meaning the Fund 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, but may, when the Sub-Adviser believes it is in the best interests of the Fund, use a “replication” strategy to seek to achieve its investment objective, meaning the Fund will invest in all of the component securities of the Index in the same approximate proportions as in the Index. For example, the Fund may utilize a representative sampling strategy when the Sub-Adviser believes a replication strategy might be detrimental or disadvantageous to shareholders, such as when buying each security in the Index is impracticable or inefficient, when there are practical difficulties or additional costs involved in replicating the Index, or if one or more securities in the Index is illiquid, unavailable or less liquid. In addition, the Fund may use a representative sampling as a result of legal restrictions or limitations (such as tax diversification requirements) that apply to the Fund but not to the Index. The Fund will be reconstituted and rebalanced on the same schedule as the Index.
The Fund will concentrate its investments (i.e., hold 25% or more of its total assets) in a particular industry or group of industries to approximately the same extent that the Index is concentrated.
PRINCIPAL INVESTMENT RISKS
An investment in the Fund involves risk, including those described below. There is no assurance that the Fund will achieve its investment objective. An investor may lose money by investing in the Fund. An investment in the Fund is not a bank deposit and is not insured or guaranteed by the FDIC or any government agency. More complete risk descriptions are set forth below under the heading “Additional Information About the Funds’ Principal Investment Risks.
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Emerging Markets Risk. Investments in securities and instruments traded in developing or emerging markets, or that provide exposure to those securities or markets, can involve additional risks relating to political, economic, or regulatory conditions not associated with investments in U.S. securities and instruments. For example, developing and emerging markets may be subject to (i) greater market volatility, (ii) lower trading volume and liquidity, (iii) greater social, political and economic uncertainty, (iv) governmental controls on foreign investments and limitations on repatriation of invested capital, (v) lower disclosure, corporate governance, auditing and financial reporting standards, (vi) fewer protections of property rights, (vii) restrictions on the transfer of securities or currency, and (viii) settlement and trading practices that differ from those in U.S. markets. Each of these factors may impact the ability of the Fund to buy, sell or otherwise transfer securities, adversely affect the trading market and price for Shares and cause the Fund to decline in value.
Foreign Investment Risk. Returns on investments in foreign securities could be more volatile than, or trail the returns on, investments in U.S. securities. Investments in or exposures to foreign securities are subject to special risks, including risks associated with foreign securities generally. Those special risks may arise due to differences in information available about issuers of securities and investor protection standards applicable in other jurisdictions; capital controls risks, including the risk of a foreign jurisdiction imposing restrictions on the ability to repatriate or transfer currency or other assets; currency risks; political, diplomatic and economic risks; regulatory risks; and foreign market and trading risks, including the costs of trading and risks of settlement in foreign jurisdictions.
Depositary Receipt Risk. The risks of investments in depositary receipts, including American Depositary Receipts (“ADRs”) and Global Depositary Receipts (“GDRs”), are substantially similar to Foreign Investment Risk. In addition, depositary receipts may not track the price of the underlying foreign securities, and their value may change materially at times when the U.S. markets are not open for trading. In addition, the underlying issuers of certain depositary receipts, particularly unsponsored or unregistered depositary receipts, are under no obligation to distribute shareholder communications to the holders of such receipts, or to pass through any voting rights with respect to the deposited securities. Therefore, the Sub-Adviser will not be able to vote on any matters with respect to these instruments.
Investment Risk. When you sell your Shares, they could be worth less than what you paid for them. Therefore, you may lose money by investing in the Fund. The Fund could lose money due to short-term market movements and over longer periods during market downturns. Securities may decline in value due to factors affecting securities markets generally or particular asset classes or industries represented in the markets. The value of a security may decline due to general market conditions, economic trends or events that are not specifically related to the issuer of the security, such as geopolitical events and environmental disasters. The value of a security may also decline due to factors that affect a particular industry or group of industries. During a general downturn in the securities markets, multiple asset classes may be negatively affected. Therefore, you may lose money by investing in the Fund.
Equity Investing Risk. An investment in the Fund involves risks similar to those of investing in any fund holding equity securities, such as market fluctuations, changes in interest rates and perceived trends in stock prices. The values of equity securities could decline generally or could underperform other investments. In addition, securities may decline in value due to factors affecting a specific issuer, market or securities markets generally.
Large-Capitalization Companies Risk. Large-capitalization companies may trail the returns of the overall stock market. Large-capitalization stocks tend to go through cycles of doing better - or worse - than the stock market in general. These periods have, in the past, lasted for as long as several years. When large capitalization companies are out of favor, these securities may lose value or may not appreciate in line with the overall market. In addition, large capitalization companies may be unable to respond quickly to new competitive challenges, such as changes in technology or consumer tastes, and also may not be able to attain the high growth rate of successful small companies, especially during extended periods of economic expansion.
Mid-Capitalization Companies Risk. The securities of mid-capitalization companies may be more vulnerable to adverse issuer, market, political, or economic developments than securities of larger-capitalization companies. The securities of 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 of these companies have limited product lines, markets, and financial and managerial resources and tend to concentrate on fewer geographical markets relative to larger capitalization companies.
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Sector Risk. To the extent the Fund invests more heavily in particular sectors of the economy, its performance will be especially sensitive to developments that significantly affect those sectors. The Fund may invest a significant portion of its assets in the following sectors and, therefore, the performance of the Fund could be negatively impacted by events affecting each of these sectors.
Financials Sector Risk. The Fund is expected to have exposure to companies in the financials sector, and therefore, the Fund’s performance could be negatively impacted by events affecting this sector. The financials sector includes, for example, banks and financial institutions providing mortgage and mortgage related services. This sector can be significantly affected by, among other things, changes in interest rates, government regulation, the rate of defaults on corporate, consumer and government debt, and the availability and cost of capital.
Information Technology Sector Risk. The Fund may invest in companies in the technology sector, and therefore, the Fund’s performance could be negatively impacted by events affecting this sector. Market or economic factors impacting technology companies and companies that rely heavily on technological advances could have a significant effect on the value of the Fund’s investments. Technology companies, including information technology companies, may have limited product lines, financial resources and/or personnel. Technology companies typically face intense competition and potentially rapid product obsolescence. They are also heavily dependent on intellectual property rights and may be adversely affected by the loss or impairment of those rights. Companies in the technology sector also face increased government regulation, including new regulations and scrutiny related to data privacy, and may be subject to adverse government or regulatory actions, which may be costly.
Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) Risk. A REIT is a company that owns or finances income-producing real estate. Through its investments in REITs, the Fund is subject to the risks of investing in the real estate market, including decreases in property revenues, increases in interest rates, increases in property taxes and operating expenses, legal and regulatory changes, a lack of credit or capital, defaults by borrowers or tenants, environmental problems and natural disasters. Investments in REITs may be volatile. REITs are pooled investment vehicles with their own fees and expenses and the Fund will indirectly bear a proportionate share of those fees and expenses.
Concentration Risk. In following its methodology, the Index from time to time may be concentrated to a significant degree in securities of issuers located in a single industry or group of industries. To the extent that the Index concentrates in the securities of issuers in a particular industry or group of industries, the Fund also may concentrate its investments to approximately the same extent. By concentrating its investments in an industry or group of industries, the Fund may face more risks than if it were diversified broadly over numerous industries or groups of industries. If the Index is not concentrated in a particular industry or group of industries, the Fund will not concentrate in a particular industry or group of industries.
Passive Investment Risk. The Fund is not actively managed and the Sub-Adviser will not sell any investments due to current or projected underperformance of the securities, industries or sector in which it invests, unless the investment is removed from the Index, sold in connection with a rebalancing of the Index as addressed in the Index methodology, or sold to comply with the Fund’s investment limitations (for example, to maintain the Fund’s tax status). The Fund will maintain investments until changes to its Index are triggered, which could cause the Fund’s return to be lower than if the Fund employed an active strategy.
Index Calculation Risk. The Index relies on various sources of information to assess the criteria of issuers included in the Index, including fundamental information that may be based on assumptions and estimates. Neither the Fund, the Adviser, the Sub-Adviser nor the Index Provider can offer assurances that the Index’s calculation methodology or sources of information will provide a correct valuation of securities, nor can they guarantee the availability or timeliness of the production of the Index.
Tracking Error Risk. As with all index funds, the performance of the Fund and its respective 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. In addition, the Fund’s use of a representative sampling approach may cause the Fund’s returns to not be as well correlated with the return of the Index as would be the case if the Fund purchased all of the securities in the Index in the proportions in which they are represented in the Index.
9


Sampling Risk. The Fund’s use of a representative sampling approach will result in it holding a smaller number of securities than are in the Index. As a result, an adverse development respecting a security held by the Fund could result in a greater decline in NAV than would be the case if the Fund held all of the securities in the Index. Conversely, a positive development relating to a security in the Index that is not held by the Fund could cause the Fund to underperform the Index. To the extent the Fund’s assets are smaller, it may be more difficult to effectively implement a representative sampling strategy, which could increase these risks.
ETF Risks.
Authorized Participants, Market Makers and Liquidity Providers Concentration 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 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.
Premium-Discount Risk. The Shares may trade above or below their net asset value (“NAV”). The market prices of Shares will generally fluctuate in accordance with changes in NAV as well as the relative supply of, and demand for, Shares on New York Stock Exchange (the “Exchange”) or other securities exchanges. The trading price of Shares may deviate significantly from NAV during periods of market volatility or limited trading activity in Shares. In addition, you may incur the cost of the “spread,” that is, any difference between the bid price and the ask price of the Shares.
Cost of Trading Risk. Investors buying or selling Shares in the secondary market will pay brokerage commissions or other charges imposed by brokers as determined by that broker. Brokerage commissions are often a fixed amount and may be a significant proportional cost for investors seeking to buy or sell relatively small amounts of Shares. In addition, secondary market investors will also incur the cost of the difference between the price that an investor is willing to pay for Shares (the “bid” price) and the price at which an investor is willing to sell Shares (the “ask” price). This difference in bid and ask prices is often referred to as the “spread” or “bid/ask spread.” The bid/ask spread varies over time for Shares based on trading volume and market liquidity, and is generally lower if the Fund’s Shares have more trading volume and market liquidity and higher if the Fund’s Shares have little trading volume and market liquidity. Further, increased market volatility may cause increased bid/ask spreads.
Trading Risk. Although the Shares are listed on the Exchange, there can be no assurance that an active or liquid trading market for them will develop or be maintained. In addition, trading in Shares on the Exchange may be halted. In stressed market conditions, the liquidity of Shares may begin to mirror the liquidity of its underlying portfolio holdings, which can be less liquid than Shares, potentially causing the market price of Shares to deviate from its NAV. The spread varies over time for Shares of the Fund based on the Fund’s trading volume and market liquidity and is generally lower if the Fund has high trading volume and market liquidity, and higher if the Fund has little trading volume and market liquidity (which is often the case for funds that are newly launched or small in size).
Index Rebalance Risk. Pursuant to the methodology that the Index Provider uses to maintain the Index, securities will only be added or removed from the Index during regular Index updates. The Index is reconstituted semi-annually and rebalanced quarterly. Changes to the Index’s exposure may lag a significant change in the market’s direction (up or down) by as long as six months if such changes first take effect following the most recent reconstitution. Such lags between market performance and changes to the Index’s exposure may result in significant underperformance relative to the broader market. Index updates may cause the Fund to purchase or sell securities at inopportune times or for prices other than at current market values. Due to these factors, the variation between the Fund’s annual return and the return of the Index may increase significantly.
PERFORMANCE
The following information provides some indication of the risks of investing in the Fund. The bar chart shows the Fund’s performance for calendar years ended December 31. The table shows how the Fund’s average annual returns for one-year and since inception periods compare with those of its Index, which represents a broad measure of market
10


performance. The Fund’s past performance, before and after taxes, is not necessarily an indication of how the Fund will perform in the future. Performance information is also available on the Fund’s website at https://strivefunds.com/ or by calling the Fund at (215) 330-4476.
Calendar Year Total Returns as of December 31
5497558248429
The Fund’s calendar year-to-date return as of September 30, 2025 was 21.12%. During the period of time shown in the bar chart, the Fund’s highest return for a calendar quarter was 4.13% (quarter ended June 30, 2024) and the Fund’s lowest return for a calendar quarter was -6.74% (quarter ended December 31, 2024).
Average Annual Total Returns
(for periods ended December 31, 2024)
Strive Emerging Markets Ex-China ETF
1 Year
Since Inception
(01/30/2023)
Return Before Taxes
3.30% 7.65%
Return After Taxes on Distributions
2.50% 7.16%
Return After Taxes on Distributions and Sale of Shares
2.45% 5.94%
Bloomberg Emerging Markets Ex-China Large & Mid-Cap Index (reflects no fees or expenses)
3.79% 8.99%
After-tax returns are calculated using the highest historical individual U.S. federal marginal income tax rates during the period covered by the table above and do not reflect the impact of state and local taxes. Actual after-tax returns depend on an investor’s tax situation and may differ from those shown. After-tax returns shown are not relevant to investors who hold their Shares through tax-deferred arrangements such as an individual retirement account (“IRA”) or other tax-advantaged accounts.
INVESTMENT ADVISER & INVESTMENT SUB-ADVISER
Investment Adviser: Empowered Funds, LLC dba EA Advisers (the “Adviser”)
Investment Sub-Adviser: Strive Asset Management, LLC (the “Sub-Adviser”)
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PORTFOLIO MANAGERS
Matthew Cole, Chief Executive Officer and Chief Investment Officer of Strive and Jeffrey Sherman, a Portfolio Manager of Strive, are each a co-Portfolio Manager of the Fund and are primarily responsible for the day-to-day management of the Fund. Mr. Cole has managed the Fund since its inception (January 2023) and Mr. Sherman has managed the Fund since June 2023.
PURCHASE AND SALE OF SHARES
Individual Shares are listed on a national securities exchange and may only be purchased and sold in the secondary market through a broker-dealer at a market price. Because Shares trade at market prices rather than NAV, Shares may trade at a price greater than NAV (at a “premium”) or less than NAV (at a “discount”). An investor may 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 and selling Shares in the secondary market (the “bid/ask spread”).
TAX INFORMATION
The Fund’s distributions generally are taxable to you as ordinary income, capital gain, or some combination of both, unless your investment is made through an IRA or other tax-advantaged account. However, subsequent withdrawals from such a tax-advantaged account may be subject to U.S. federal income tax. You should consult your own tax advisor about your specific tax situation.
PURCHASES THROUGH BROKER-DEALERS AND OTHER FINANCIAL INTERMEDIARIES
If you purchase Shares through a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary, the Fund and its related companies may pay the intermediary for the sale of Shares and related services. These payments may create a conflict of interest by influencing the broker-dealer or other intermediary and your salesperson to recommend Shares over another investment. Ask your salesperson or visit your financial intermediary’s website for more information.



















12


STRIVE U.S. ENERGY ETF
Fund Summary
INVESTMENT OBJECTIVE
The Strive U.S. Energy ETF (the “Fund”) seeks to track the total return performance, before fees and expenses, of an index composed of U.S.-listed equities in the energy sector (the “Index”).
FEES AND EXPENSES
This table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy, hold, and sell shares of the Fund (“Shares”). You may also pay brokerage commissions on the purchase and sale of Shares, which are not reflected in the table or example.
ANNUAL FUND OPERATING EXPENSES (EXPENSES THAT YOU PAY EACH YEAR AS A PERCENTAGE OF THE VALUE OF YOUR INVESTMENT)
Management Fee
0.41 %
Distribution and/or Service (12b-1) Fees
None
Other Expenses
0.00 %
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses
0.41 %
EXAMPLE
The following 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 for the time periods indicated and then hold or sell all of your Shares at the end of those periods. The example also assumes that the Fund provides a return of 5% a year and that operating expenses remain the same. You may also pay brokerage commissions on the purchase and sale of Shares, which are not reflected in the example. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:
One Year: Three Years: Five Years: Ten Years:
$42 $132 $230 $518
PORTFOLIO TURNOVER
The Fund may pay transaction costs, including 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 annual fund operating expenses or in the example, affect the Fund’s performance. For the fiscal period August 1, 2024 through June 30, 2025, the portfolio turnover rate for the Fund was 8% of the average value of its portfolio.
PRINCIPAL INVESTMENT STRATEGIES
The Fund’s Investment Strategy
The Fund seeks to track the investment results of the Bloomberg US Energy Select Index (the “Index”), which measures the performance of U.S. oil and gas producers. The Index is designed by Bloomberg Index Services Limited (the “Index Provider”) and consists of U.S. equity securities. Under normal circumstances, the Fund invests at least 80% of its net assets (plus any borrowings for investment purposes) in U.S. energy companies. The Fund defines U.S. energy companies as those listed on U.S. exchanges that are in the energy industry or sector.
To be eligible for inclusion in the Index, a security must (i) be a member of the Bloomberg US 1500 Index (a free-float market-capitalization-weighted index of the 1500 most highly capitalized U.S. companies); and (ii) belong to the integrated oils, exploration & production, or refining & marketing sub-industries according to the Bloomberg Industry Classification System.
The Index is a free float-adjusted capitalization-weighted (i.e., market capitalization based on the number of shares available to the public) index. Constituents’ weights are capped such that no constituent’s weight exceeds 22.5% and the
13


cumulative weight of all constituents with weight greater than 4.5% does not exceed 45%. Any excess weight from capping is distributed proportionally to all the remaining uncapped constituents until the weighting conditions are satisfied. The weight of one or more securities in the Index may exceed these limits due to fluctuations in market value, corporate actions, or other events that change the Index composition between rebalance and reconstitution dates. The Index includes large- and mid-capitalization companies.
The Index was established in 2024 and is owned and maintained by the Index Provider.
Substantially all of the Index is expected to be represented by securities of companies in the energy industry or sector. Such companies generally include companies engaged in the exploration, production, refinement, and marketing of oil and gas, including integrated oil companies which engage in a combination of these activities across the value chain. The components of the Index are likely to change over time. The Index is calculated as a total return index in U.S. dollars. The Index is normally reconstituted semi-annually in March and September and rebalanced quarterly in March, June, September, and December.
Strive Asset Management, LLC (the “Sub-Adviser”) uses a “passive” or indexing approach to try to achieve the Fund’s investment objective. Unlike many investment companies, the Fund does not try to “beat” the index it tracks and does not seek temporary defensive positions when markets decline or appear overvalued.
Indexing may eliminate the chance that the Fund will substantially outperform the Index but also may reduce some of the risks of active management, such as poor security selection. Indexing seeks to achieve lower costs and better after-tax performance by aiming to keep portfolio turnover low in comparison to actively managed investment companies.
The Fund will generally use a “replication” strategy to seek to achieve its investment objective, meaning the Fund will invest in all of the component securities of the Index in the same approximate proportions as in the Index, but may, when the Sub-Adviser believes it is in the best interests of the Fund, use a “representative sampling” strategy, meaning the Fund 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.
The Fund will be considered to be non-diversified, which means that it may invest more of its assets in the securities of a single issuer or a smaller number of issuers than if it were a diversified fund.
The Fund will concentrate its investments (i.e., hold 25% or more of its total assets) in the energy industry to approximately the same extent that the Index is so concentrated.
PRINCIPAL INVESTMENT RISKS
An investment in the Fund involves risk, including those described below. There is no assurance that the Fund will achieve its investment objective. An investor may lose money by investing in the Fund. An investment in the Fund is not a bank deposit and is not insured or guaranteed by the FDIC or any government agency. More complete risk descriptions are set forth below under the heading “Additional Information About the Funds’ Principal Investment Risks.
Energy Sector Risk. The market value of securities in the energy sector may decline for many reasons including, fluctuations in energy prices and supply and demand of energy fuels caused by geopolitical events, the success of exploration projects, weather or meteorological events, taxes, increased governmental or environmental regulation, resource depletion, rising interest rates, declines in domestic or foreign production, accidents or catastrophic events that result in injury, loss of life or property, pollution or other environmental damage claims, terrorist threats or attacks, among other factors. Markets for various energy-related commodities can have significant volatility and are subject to control or manipulation by large producers or purchasers. Companies in the energy sector may need to make substantial expenditures, and may incur significant amounts of debt, to maintain or expand their reserves through exploration of new sources of supply, through the development of existing sources, through acquisitions, or through long-term contracts to acquire reserves. Factors adversely affecting producers, refiners, distributors, or others in the energy sector may adversely affect companies that service or supply those entities, either because demand for those services or products is curtailed, or those services or products come under price pressure. Issuers in the energy sector may also be impacted by changing investor and consumer preferences arising from the sector’s potential exposure to sustainability and environmental concerns.
Oil and Gas Sector Risk. The profitability of companies in the oil and gas sector is related to worldwide energy prices, exploration costs, and production spending. Companies in the oil and gas sector may be at risk for environmental damage
14


claims and other types of litigation, as well as negative publicity and perception. Companies in the oil and gas sector may be adversely affected by natural disasters or other catastrophes, changes in exchange rates, interest rates, changes in prices for competitive energy services, economic conditions, tax treatment, government regulation and intervention, and unfavorable events in the regions where companies operate (e.g., expropriation, nationalization, confiscation of assets and property or imposition of restrictions on foreign investments and repatriation of capital, military coups, social unrest, violence or labor unrest). As a result, the value of these companies may fluctuate widely. Companies in the oil and gas sector may have significant capital investments in, or engage in transactions involving, emerging market countries, which may heighten these risks. Any of these factors could result in a material adverse impact on the Fund’s securities and the performance of the Fund.
Investment Risk. When you sell your Shares, they could be worth less than what you paid for them. Therefore, you may lose money by investing in the Fund. The Fund could lose money due to short-term market movements and over longer periods during market downturns. Securities may decline in value due to factors affecting securities markets generally or particular asset classes or industries represented in the markets. The value of a security may decline due to general market conditions, economic trends or events that are not specifically related to the issuer of the security, such as geopolitical events and environmental disasters. The value of a security may also decline due to factors that affect a particular industry or group of industries. During a general downturn in the securities markets, multiple asset classes may be negatively affected. Therefore, you may lose money by investing in the Fund.
Equity Investing Risk. An investment in the Fund involves risks similar to those of investing in any fund holding equity securities, such as market fluctuations, changes in interest rates and perceived trends in stock prices. The values of equity securities could decline generally or could underperform other investments. In addition, securities may decline in value due to factors affecting a specific issuer, market or securities markets generally.
Large-Capitalization Companies Risk. Large-capitalization companies may trail the returns of the overall stock market. Large-capitalization stocks tend to go through cycles of doing better - or worse - than the stock market in general. These periods have, in the past, lasted for as long as several years. When large capitalization companies are out of favor, these securities may lose value or may not appreciate in line with the overall market. In addition, large capitalization companies may be unable to respond quickly to new competitive challenges, such as changes in technology or consumer tastes, and also may not be able to attain the high growth rate of successful small companies, especially during extended periods of economic expansion.
Mid-Capitalization Companies Risk. The securities of mid-capitalization companies may be more vulnerable to adverse issuer, market, political, or economic developments than securities of larger-capitalization companies. The securities of 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 of these companies have limited product lines, markets, and financial and managerial resources and tend to concentrate on fewer geographical markets relative to larger capitalization companies.
Concentration Risk. In following its methodology, the Index will be concentrated to a significant degree in securities of issuers located in the energy sector. To the extent that the Index concentrates in the securities of issuers in a particular industry or group of industries, the Fund also may concentrate its investments to approximately the same extent. By concentrating its investments in the energy sector, the Fund may face more risks than if it were diversified broadly over numerous industries or groups of industries.
Non-Diversification Risk. Because the Fund is non-diversified, it may be more sensitive to economic, business, political or other changes affecting individual issuers or investments than a diversified fund, which may result in greater fluctuation in the value of the Fund’s Shares and greater risk of loss.
Passive Investment Risk. The Fund is not actively managed and the Sub-Adviser will not sell any investments due to current or projected underperformance of the securities, industries or sector in which it invests, unless the investment is removed from the Index, sold in connection with a rebalancing of the Index as addressed in the Index methodology, or sold to comply with the Fund’s investment limitations (for example, to maintain the Fund’s tax status). The Fund will maintain investments until changes to its Index are triggered, which could cause the Fund’s return to be lower than if the Fund employed an active strategy.
Index Calculation Risk. The Index relies on various sources of information to assess the criteria of issuers included in the Index, including fundamental information that may be based on assumptions and estimates. Neither the Fund, the
15


Adviser, the Sub-Adviser nor the Index Provider can offer assurances that the Index’s calculation methodology or sources of information will provide a correct valuation of securities, nor can they guarantee the availability or timeliness of the production of the Index.
Tracking Error Risk. As with all index funds, the performance of the Fund and its respective 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.
ETF Risks.
Authorized Participants, Market Makers and Liquidity Providers Concentration 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 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.
Premium-Discount Risk. The Shares may trade above or below their net asset value (“NAV”). The market prices of Shares will generally fluctuate in accordance with changes in NAV as well as the relative supply of, and demand for, Shares on New York Stock Exchange (the “Exchange”) or other securities exchanges. The trading price of Shares may deviate significantly from NAV during periods of market volatility or limited trading activity in Shares. In addition, you may incur the cost of the “spread,” that is, any difference between the bid price and the ask price of the Shares.
Cost of Trading Risk. Investors buying or selling Shares in the secondary market will pay brokerage commissions or other charges imposed by brokers as determined by that broker. Brokerage commissions are often a fixed amount and may be a significant proportional cost for investors seeking to buy or sell relatively small amounts of Shares. In addition, secondary market investors will also incur the cost of the difference between the price that an investor is willing to pay for Shares (the “bid” price) and the price at which an investor is willing to sell Shares (the “ask” price). This difference in bid and ask prices is often referred to as the “spread” or “bid/ask spread.” The bid/ask spread varies over time for Shares based on trading volume and market liquidity, and is generally lower if the Fund’s Shares have more trading volume and market liquidity and higher if the Fund’s Shares have little trading volume and market liquidity. Further, increased market volatility may cause increased bid/ask spreads.
Trading Risk. Although the Shares are listed on the Exchange, there can be no assurance that an active or liquid trading market for them will develop or be maintained. In addition, trading in Shares on the Exchange may be halted. In stressed market conditions, the liquidity of Shares may begin to mirror the liquidity of its underlying portfolio holdings, which can be less liquid than Shares, potentially causing the market price of Shares to deviate from its NAV. The spread varies over time for Shares of the Fund based on the Fund’s trading volume and market liquidity and is generally lower if the Fund has high trading volume and market liquidity, and higher if the Fund has little trading volume and market liquidity (which is often the case for funds that are newly launched or small in size).
Index Rebalance Risk. Because the Index generally changes its exposure based on data only as of the last business day of each quarter, (i) the Index’s exposure may be affected by significant market movements at or near quarter end that are not predictive of the market’s performance for the subsequent quarter and (ii) changes to the Index’s exposure may lag a significant change in the market’s direction (up or down) by as long as a quarter if such changes first take effect at or near the beginning of a quarter. Such lags between market performance and changes to the Index’s exposure may result in significant underperformance relative to the broader equity or fixed income market.
PERFORMANCE
The following information provides some indication of the risks of investing in the Fund. The bar chart shows the Fund’s performance for calendar years ended December 31. The table shows how the Fund’s average annual returns for one-year and since inception periods compare with those of a broad measure of market performance and the Index. The
16


Fund’s past performance, before and after taxes, is not necessarily an indication of how the Fund will perform in the future. Performance information is also available on the Fund’s website at https://strivefunds.com/ or by calling the Fund at (215) 330-4476.
Calendar Year Total Returns as of December 31
14843407055752
The Fund’s calendar year-to-date return as of September 30, 2025 was 8.00%. During the period of time shown in the bar chart, the Fund’s highest return for a calendar quarter was 12.57% (quarter ended March 31, 2024) and the Fund’s lowest return for a calendar quarter was -5.94% (quarter ended December 31, 2023).
Average Annual Total Returns
(for periods ended December 31, 2024)
Strive U.S. Energy ETF
1 Year
Since Inception
(08/08/2022)
Return Before Taxes
(0.12)% 6.51%
Return After Taxes on Distributions
(0.79)% 5.78%
Return After Taxes on Distributions and Sale of Shares
0.44% 5.03%
Bloomberg US Energy Select Index/ Solactive United States Energy Regulated Capped Index (reflects no fees or expenses)
0.30% 6.91%
Bloomberg US 1000 Index (reflects no fees or expenses)
24.43% 17.10%
Effective April 11, 2024, the Fund’s investment strategy changed to track the investment results of the Bloomberg US Energy Select Index. Prior to April 11, 2024, the Fund’s investment strategy was to track the investment results of the Solactive United States Energy Regulated Capped Index. Performance shown for the Bloomberg US Energy Select Index/Solactive United States Energy Regulated Capped Index for periods prior to April 11, 2024 is that of the Solactive United States Energy Regulated Capped Index and for periods beginning April 11, 2024 is that of the Bloomberg US Energy Select Index.
After-tax returns are calculated using the highest historical individual U.S. federal marginal income tax rates during the period covered by the table above and do not reflect the impact of state and local taxes. Actual after-tax returns depend on an investor’s tax situation and may differ from those shown. After-tax returns shown are not relevant to investors who hold their Shares through tax-deferred arrangements such as an individual retirement account (“IRA”) or other tax-advantaged accounts. In certain instances, the figure representing “Return After Taxes on Distributions and Sale of Shares” may be higher than the other return figures for the same period. A higher after-tax return results when a capital loss occurs upon redemption and provides an assumed tax deduction that benefits the investor.
INVESTMENT ADVISER & INVESTMENT SUB-ADVISER
Investment Adviser: Empowered Funds, LLC dba EA Advisers (the “Adviser”)
Investment Sub-Adviser: Strive Asset Management, LLC (the “Sub-Adviser”)
PORTFOLIO MANAGERS
Matthew Cole, Chief Executive Officer and Chief Investment Officer of Strive and Jeffrey Sherman, a Portfolio Manager of Strive, are each a co-Portfolio Manager of the Fund and are primarily responsible for the day-to-day management of
17


the Fund. Mr. Cole has managed the Fund since its inception (August 2022) and Mr. Sherman has managed the Fund since June 2023.
PURCHASE AND SALE OF SHARES
Individual Shares are listed on a national securities exchange and may only be purchased and sold in the secondary market through a broker-dealer at a market price. Because Shares trade at market prices rather than NAV, Shares may trade at a price greater than NAV (at a “premium”) or less than NAV (at a “discount”). An investor may 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 and selling Shares in the secondary market (the “bid/ask spread”).
TAX INFORMATION
The Fund’s distributions generally are taxable to you as ordinary income, capital gain, or some combination of both, unless your investment is made through an IRA or other tax-advantaged account. However, subsequent withdrawals from such a tax-advantaged account may be subject to U.S. federal income tax. You should consult your own tax advisor about your specific tax situation.
PURCHASES THROUGH BROKER-DEALERS AND OTHER FINANCIAL INTERMEDIARIES
If you purchase Shares through a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary, the Fund and its related companies may pay the intermediary for the sale of Shares and related services. These payments may create a conflict of interest by influencing the broker-dealer or other intermediary and your salesperson to recommend Shares over another investment. Ask your salesperson or visit your financial intermediary’s website for more information.





















18


STRIVE U.S. SEMICONDUCTOR ETF
Fund Summary
INVESTMENT OBJECTIVE
The Strive U.S. Semiconductor ETF (the “Fund”) seeks to track the total return performance, before fees and expenses, of an index composed of U.S.-listed equities in the semiconductor sector.
FEES AND EXPENSES
This table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy, hold, and sell shares of the Fund (“Shares”). You may also pay brokerage commissions on the purchase and sale of Shares, which are not reflected in the table or example.
ANNUAL FUND OPERATING EXPENSES (EXPENSES THAT YOU PAY EACH YEAR AS A PERCENTAGE OF THE VALUE OF YOUR INVESTMENT)
Management Fee
0.40 %
Distribution and/or Service (12b-1) Fees
None
Other Expenses
0.00 %
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses
0.40 %
EXAMPLE
The following 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 for the time periods indicated and then hold or sell all of your Shares at the end of those periods. The example also assumes that the Fund provides a return of 5% a year and that operating expenses remain the same. You may also pay brokerage commissions on the purchase and sale of Shares, which are not reflected in the example. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:
One Year: Three Years: Five Years: Ten Years:
$41 $128 $224 $505
PORTFOLIO TURNOVER
The Fund may pay transaction costs, including 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 annual fund operating expenses or in the example, affect the Fund’s performance. For the fiscal period August 1, 2024 through June 30, 2025, the portfolio turnover rate for the Fund was 25% of the average value of its portfolio.
PRINCIPAL INVESTMENT STRATEGIES
The Fund’s Investment Strategy
The Fund seeks to track the investment results of the Bloomberg US Listed Semiconductors Select Index (the “Index”), which measures the performance of the top 30 U.S.-listed semiconductor companies. The Index is designed by Bloomberg Index Services Limited (the “Index Provider”) to consist of U.S.-listed equity securities of companies that have been classified by the Index Provider as providing exposure to the semiconductor sector. Under normal circumstances, the Fund invests at least 80% of its net assets (plus any borrowings for investment purposes) in U.S. semiconductor companies.
Index Eligibility Process
Semiconductor Universe Creation
The Index Provider determines eligible semiconductor companies based on a multistep process which is constructed to utilize both analyst expertise and data analytics. The process begins with the generation of a preliminary list of companies by Bloomberg Intelligence (an affiliate of the Index Provider) (“BI”) analysts and a list of key terms
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associated with semiconductor companies. Next, using search tools that employ Natural Language Processing capabilities, publicly available company documents are scraped for occurrences associated with the key terms related to semiconductor companies. This process also utilizes methods for synonym-matching to reduce variability in frequency counts due to corporate communication styles. Documents scraped include, but are not limited to, company filings, investor presentations, quarterly earnings reports, earnings call transcripts, press releases, news articles or media coverage. Companies identified using this process constitute the Index universe of semiconductor companies.
Relevancy Assessment
In addition, BI analysts reviews the identified universe of semiconductor companies to inform a BI view on each company’s current, and potential near-term, relevancy to the semiconductor theme across two categories — revenue exposure (“Revenue Score”) and theme exposure (“Theme Score”). All semiconductor companies are assigned a Revenue Score and a Theme Score ranging from 1 (most exposed) to 3 (least exposed) (each as further described below).
The Revenue Score reflects BI’s view of near-term (3 to 5 year) revenue exposure of each semiconductor company to the semiconductor theme as a percent of the company’s total revenue. BI analysts leverage publicly available company data such as financial disclosures, and where necessary other available research, to assess a semiconductor company’s Revenue Score. An Revenue Score of 1 reflects BI’s assessment of a company being more than 50% of revenue tied to the theme, 2 means 20-50%, and 3 means less than 20%.
The Theme Score aims to capture a view on a semiconductor company’s positioning and ability to execute within the competitive landscape of the semiconductor theme. BI analysts consider a series of data points to inform a perspective on relevant issues such as a company’s ability to ramp production, relevant capital allocation trends, and access to capital. Quantitative operational data is used, but BI’s assessment of other publicly availability data and industry knowledge is also used. Companies are assessed on a scale of 1 (high theme relevancy) to 3 (lower theme relevancy).
To be eligible for inclusion in the Index, a semiconductor company must i) have either a Revenue Score of 1 or a Theme Score of 1; and ii) have a combined Revenue Score and Theme Score that ranges from 2 to 4.
Further, for inclusion in the Index, companies that are identified as part of the universe described above must be listed on a U.S. exchange, and a security’s country of risk (i.e., an assessment of based on the location from which the majority of its revenue comes and its reporting currency) and country of domicile (i.e., where a company’s senior management is located) must not be classified as China, Taiwan, or Hong Kong.
Index Selection Process
All securities that satisfy the Index Eligibility Process described above are eligible for inclusion in the Index. Each eligible security’s free float market capitalization (i.e., market capitalization based on the number of shares available to the public) is adjusted by its Revenue Score to determine the security’s modified market capitalization (“Modified Market Cap”). The top 30 securities by Modified Market Cap are selected for inclusion in the Index.
Index Weighting
Index constituents are weighted using each constituent’s Modified Market Cap (i.e., constituents with a Revenue Score of 1 are included in the Index at its full free float adjusted market capitalization weight; constituents with a Revenue Score of 2 are included at half of its free float adjusted market capitalization weight; and constituents with a Revenue Score of 3 are included at one-third of its free float adjusted market capitalization weight). Constituents’ weights are then capped such that no constituent’s weight exceeds 22.5% and the cumulative weight of all constituents with weight greater than 4.5% does not exceed 45%. Any excess weight from capping is distributed proportionally to all the remaining uncapped constituents until the weighting conditions are satisfied. The weight of one or more securities in the Index may exceed these limits due to fluctuations in market value, corporate actions, or other events that change the Index composition between quarterly rebalance dates.
The Index was established in 2024 and is owned and maintained by the Index Provider.
The Index includes large- and mid-capitalization companies, and it is anticipated that the Fund’s holdings will be comprised primarily of large-capitalization companies.
Substantially all of the Index is expected to be represented by securities of companies in the semiconductor sector. Such companies generally include semiconductor manufacturers and suppliers of materials that are used by semiconductor
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companies. The components of the Index are likely to change over time. The Index is calculated as a total return index in U.S. dollars. The Index is normally reconstituted on a quarterly basis in March, June, September, and December.
Strive Asset Management, LLC (the “Sub-Adviser”) uses a “passive” or indexing approach to try to achieve the Fund’s investment objective. Unlike many investment companies, the Fund does not try to “beat” the index it tracks and does not seek temporary defensive positions when markets decline or appear overvalued.
Indexing may eliminate the chance that the Fund will substantially outperform the Index but also may reduce some of the risks of active management, such as poor security selection. Indexing seeks to achieve lower costs and better after-tax performance by aiming to keep portfolio turnover low in comparison to actively managed investment companies.
The Fund will generally use a “replication” strategy to seek to achieve its investment objective, meaning the Fund will invest in all of the component securities of the Index in the same approximate proportions as in the Index, but may, when the Sub-Adviser believes it is in the best interests of the Fund, use a “representative sampling” strategy, meaning the Fund 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.
The Fund will be considered to be non-diversified, which means that it may invest more of its assets in the securities of a single issuer or a smaller number of issuers than if it were a diversified fund.
The Fund will concentrate its investments (i.e., hold 25% or more of its total assets) in the semiconductor sector to approximately the same extent that the Index is concentrated.
PRINCIPAL INVESTMENT RISKS
An investment in the Fund involves risk, including those described below. There is no assurance that the Fund will achieve its investment objective. An investor may lose money by investing in the Fund. An investment in the Fund is not a bank deposit and is not insured or guaranteed by the FDIC or any government agency. More complete risk descriptions are set forth below under the heading “Additional Information About the Funds’ Principal Investment Risks.
Semiconductor Sector Risk. The semiconductor sector is highly cyclical and periodically experiences significant economic downturns characterized by diminished product demand, resulting in production overcapacity and excess inventory, which can result in rapid erosion of product selling prices. The sector has experienced significant downturns, often in connection with, or in anticipation of, maturing product cycles of both semiconductor companies’ and their customers’ products and the decline in general economic conditions.
Information Technology Sector Risk. The Fund may invest in companies in the technology sector, and therefore, the Fund’s performance could be negatively impacted by events affecting this sector. Market or economic factors impacting technology companies and companies that rely heavily on technological advances could have a significant effect on the value of the Fund’s investments. Technology companies, including information technology companies, may have limited product lines, financial resources and/or personnel. Technology companies typically face intense competition and potentially rapid product obsolescence. They are also heavily dependent on intellectual property rights and may be adversely affected by the loss or impairment of those rights. Companies in the technology sector also face increased government regulation, including new regulations and scrutiny related to data privacy, and may be subject to adverse government or regulatory actions, which may be costly.
Investment Risk. When you sell your Shares, they could be worth less than what you paid for them. Therefore, you may lose money by investing in the Fund. The Fund could lose money due to short-term market movements and over longer periods during market downturns. Securities may decline in value due to factors affecting securities markets generally or particular asset classes or industries represented in the markets. The value of a security may decline due to general market conditions, economic trends or events that are not specifically related to the issuer of the security, such as geopolitical events and environmental disasters. The value of a security may also decline due to factors that affect a particular industry or group of industries. During a general downturn in the securities markets, multiple asset classes may be negatively affected. Therefore, you may lose money by investing in the Fund.
Foreign Exposure Risk. Although the Fund invests in securities of companies listed on U.S. securities exchanges, the international operations of those companies may create exposure to foreign markets where such companies operate. The international operations of many semiconductor companies expose them to risks associated with political, social or economic events in other countries or regions, which may include instability and changes in economic and political
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conditions, foreign currency fluctuations, changes in foreign regulations, tariffs and trade disputes, competition from subsidized foreign competitors with lower production costs and other risks inherent to international business.
Equity Investing Risk. An investment in the Fund involves risks similar to those of investing in any fund holding equity securities, such as market fluctuations, changes in interest rates and perceived trends in stock prices. The values of equity securities could decline generally or could underperform other investments. In addition, securities may decline in value due to factors affecting a specific issuer, market or securities markets generally.
Large-Capitalization Companies Risk. Large-capitalization companies may trail the returns of the overall stock market. Large-capitalization stocks tend to go through cycles of doing better - or worse - than the stock market in general. These periods have, in the past, lasted for as long as several years. When large capitalization companies are out of favor, these securities may lose value or may not appreciate in line with the overall market. In addition, large capitalization companies may be unable to respond quickly to new competitive challenges, such as changes in technology or consumer tastes, and also may not be able to attain the high growth rate of successful small companies, especially during extended periods of economic expansion.
Mid-Capitalization Companies Risk. The securities of mid-capitalization companies may be more vulnerable to adverse issuer, market, political, or economic developments than securities of larger-capitalization companies. The securities of 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 of these companies have limited product lines, markets, and financial and managerial resources and tend to concentrate on fewer geographical markets relative to larger capitalization companies.
Concentration Risk. In following its methodology, the Index will be concentrated to a significant degree in securities of issuers in the semiconductor sector. To the extent that the Index concentrates in the securities of issuers in a particular industry, group of industries or sector(s), the Fund also will concentrate its investments to approximately the same extent. By concentrating its investments in the semiconductor sector, the Fund may face more risks than if it were diversified broadly over numerous industries, groups of industries or sectors.
Non-Diversification Risk. Because the Fund is non-diversified, it may be more sensitive to economic, business, political or other changes affecting individual issuers or investments than a diversified fund, which may result in greater fluctuation in the value of the Fund’s Shares and greater risk of loss.
Passive Investment Risk. The Fund is not actively managed and the Sub-Adviser will not sell any investments due to current or projected underperformance of the securities, industries or sector in which it invests, unless the investment is removed from the Index, sold in connection with a rebalancing of the Index as addressed in the Index methodology, or sold to comply with the Fund’s investment limitations (for example, to maintain the Fund’s tax status). The Fund will maintain investments until changes to its Index are triggered, which could cause the Fund’s return to be lower than if the Fund employed an active strategy.
Index Calculation Risk. The Index relies on various sources of information to assess the criteria of issuers included in the Index, including fundamental information that may be based on assumptions and estimates. Neither the Fund, the Adviser, the Sub-Adviser nor the Index Provider can offer assurances that the Index’s calculation methodology or sources of information will provide a correct valuation of securities, nor can they guarantee the availability or timeliness of the production of the Index.
Tracking Error Risk. As with all index funds, the performance of the Fund and its respective 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.
ETF Risks.
Authorized Participants, Market Makers and Liquidity Providers Concentration 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 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
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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.
Premium-Discount Risk. The Shares may trade above or below their net asset value (“NAV”). The market prices of Shares will generally fluctuate in accordance with changes in NAV as well as the relative supply of, and demand for, Shares on New York Stock Exchange (the “Exchange”) or other securities exchanges. The trading price of Shares may deviate significantly from NAV during periods of market volatility or limited trading activity in Shares. In addition, you may incur the cost of the “spread,” that is, any difference between the bid price and the ask price of the Shares.
Cost of Trading Risk. Investors buying or selling Shares in the secondary market will pay brokerage commissions or other charges imposed by brokers as determined by that broker. Brokerage commissions are often a fixed amount and may be a significant proportional cost for investors seeking to buy or sell relatively small amounts of Shares. In addition, secondary market investors will also incur the cost of the difference between the price that an investor is willing to pay for Shares (the “bid” price) and the price at which an investor is willing to sell Shares (the “ask” price). This difference in bid and ask prices is often referred to as the “spread” or “bid/ask spread.” The bid/ask spread varies over time for Shares based on trading volume and market liquidity, and is generally lower if the Fund’s Shares have more trading volume and market liquidity and higher if the Fund’s Shares have little trading volume and market liquidity. Further, increased market volatility may cause increased bid/ask spreads.
Trading Risk. Although the Shares are listed on the Exchange, there can be no assurance that an active or liquid trading market for them will develop or be maintained. In addition, trading in Shares on the Exchange may be halted. In stressed market conditions, the liquidity of Shares may begin to mirror the liquidity of its underlying portfolio holdings, which can be less liquid than Shares, potentially causing the market price of Shares to deviate from its NAV. The spread varies over time for Shares of the Fund based on the Fund’s trading volume and market liquidity and is generally lower if the Fund has high trading volume and market liquidity, and higher if the Fund has little trading volume and market liquidity (which is often the case for funds that are newly launched or small in size).
Index Rebalance Risk. Because the Index generally changes its exposure based on data that is analyzed in connection with a quarterly rebalance (a “Rebalance”), (i) the Index’s exposure may be affected by significant market movements at or around the time of a Rebalance that are not predictive of the market’s performance for the subsequent Rebalance and (ii) changes to the Index’s exposure may lag a significant change in the market’s direction (up or down) by as long as a quarter if such changes first take effect at or around the time of Rebalance. Such lags between market performance and changes to the Index’s exposure may result in significant underperformance relative to the broader equity or fixed income market. Index rebalances may cause the Fund to purchase or sell securities at inopportune times or for prices other than at current market values. Due to these factors, the variation between the Fund’s annual return and the return of the Index may increase significantly.
PERFORMANCE
The following information provides some indication of the risks of investing in the Fund. The bar chart shows the Fund’s performance for calendar years ended December 31. The table shows how the Fund’s average annual returns for one-year and since inception periods compare with those of a broad measure of market performance and the Index. The Fund’s past performance, before and after taxes, is not necessarily an indication of how the Fund will perform in the future. Performance information is also available on the Fund’s website at https://strivefunds.com/ or by calling the Fund at (215) 330-4476.
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Calendar Year Total Returns as of December 31
14843407055359
The Fund’s calendar year-to-date return as of September 30, 2025 was 36.57%. During the period of time shown in the bar chart, the Fund’s highest return for a calendar quarter was 25.32% (quarter ended March 31, 2023) and the Fund’s lowest return for a calendar quarter was -7.19% (quarter ended September 30, 2024).
Average Annual Total Returns
(for periods ended December 31, 2024)
Strive U.S. Semiconductor ETF
1 Year
Since Inception
(10/05/2022)
Return Before Taxes
16.71% 31.75%
Return After Taxes on Distributions
16.62% 31.56%
Return After Taxes on Distributions and Sale of Shares
9.96% 25.06%
Bloomberg US Listed Semiconductors Select Index/ Solactive United States Semiconductors 30 Capped Index (reflects no fees or expenses)
17.21% 32.35%
Bloomberg US 1000 Index (reflects no fees or expenses)
24.23% 23.18%
Effective March 21, 2024, the Fund’s investment strategy changed to track the investment results of the Bloomberg US Listed Semiconductors Select Index. Prior to March 21, 2024, the Fund’s investment strategy was to track the investment results of the Solactive United States Semiconductors 30 Capped Index. Performance shown for the Bloomberg US Listed Semiconductors Select Index/Solactive United States Semiconductors 30 Capped Index for periods prior to March 21, 2024 is that of the Solactive United States Semiconductors 30 Capped Index and for periods beginning March 21, 2024 is that of the Bloomberg US Listed Semiconductors Select Index.
After-tax returns are calculated using the highest historical individual U.S. federal marginal income tax rates during the period covered by the table above and do not reflect the impact of state and local taxes. Actual after-tax returns depend on an investor’s tax situation and may differ from those shown. After-tax returns shown are not relevant to investors who hold their Shares through tax-deferred arrangements such as an individual retirement account (“IRA”) or other tax-advantaged accounts.
INVESTMENT ADVISER & INVESTMENT SUB-ADVISER
Investment Adviser: Empowered Funds, LLC dba EA Advisers (the “Adviser”)
Investment Sub-Adviser: Strive Asset Management, LLC (the “Sub-Adviser”)
PORTFOLIO MANAGERS
Matthew Cole, Chief Executive Officer and Chief Investment Officer of Strive and Jeffrey Sherman, a Portfolio Manager of Strive, are each a co-Portfolio Manager of the Fund and are primarily responsible for the day-to-day management of the Fund. Mr. Cole has managed the Fund since its inception (October 2022) and Mr. Sherman has managed the Fund since June 2023.
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PURCHASE AND SALE OF SHARES
Individual Shares are listed on a national securities exchange and may only be purchased and sold in the secondary market through a broker-dealer at a market price. Because Shares trade at market prices rather than NAV, Shares may trade at a price greater than NAV (at a “premium”) or less than NAV (at a “discount”). An investor may 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 and selling Shares in the secondary market (the “bid/ask spread”).
TAX INFORMATION
The Fund’s distributions generally are taxable to you as ordinary income, capital gain, or some combination of both, unless your investment is made through an IRA or other tax-advantaged account. However, subsequent withdrawals from such a tax-advantaged account may be subject to U.S. federal income tax. You should consult your own tax advisor about your specific tax situation.
PURCHASES THROUGH BROKER-DEALERS AND OTHER FINANCIAL INTERMEDIARIES
If you purchase Shares through a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary, the Fund and its related companies may pay the intermediary for the sale of Shares and related services. These payments may create a conflict of interest by influencing the broker-dealer or other intermediary and your salesperson to recommend Shares over another investment. Ask your salesperson or visit your financial intermediary’s website for more information.























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STRIVE NATURAL RESOURCES AND SECURITY ETF
Fund Summary
INVESTMENT OBJECTIVE
The Strive Natural Resources and Security ETF (the “Fund”) seeks to track the total return performance, before fees and expenses, of an index composed of companies that are engaged in national security and natural resource security.
FEES AND EXPENSES
This table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy, hold, and sell shares of the Fund (“Shares”). You may also pay brokerage commissions on the purchase and sale of Shares, which are not reflected in the table or example.
ANNUAL FUND OPERATING EXPENSES (EXPENSES THAT YOU PAY EACH YEAR AS A PERCENTAGE OF THE VALUE OF YOUR INVESTMENT)
Management Fee 0.49 %
Distribution and/or Service (12b-1) Fees
None
Other Expenses
0.00 %
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses 0.49 %
EXAMPLE
The following 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 for the time periods indicated and then hold or sell all of your Shares at the end of those periods. The example also assumes that the Fund provides a return of 5% a year and that operating expenses remain the same. You may also pay brokerage commissions on the purchase and sale of Shares, which are not reflected in the example. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:
One Year: Three Years: Five Years: Ten Years:
$50 $157 $274 $616
PORTFOLIO TURNOVER
The Fund may pay transaction costs, including 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 annual fund operating expenses or in the example, affect the Fund’s performance. For the fiscal period August 1, 2024 through June 30, 2025, the portfolio turnover rate for the Fund was 21% of the average value of its portfolio.
PRINCIPAL INVESTMENT STRATEGIES
The Fund’s Investment Strategy
The Fund seeks to track the investment results of the Bloomberg Natural Resources & Security Index (the “Index”), which measures the performance of companies that are engaged in national security and natural resource security as defined by Bloomberg (the “Index Provider” or “Bloomberg”). The Index includes large- and mid-capitalization companies. Under normal circumstances, the Fund invests at least 80% of its net assets (plus any borrowings for investment purposes) in companies in the Natural Resources and Security Sectors. The Fund defines “Natural Resources and Security Sectors” as companies that focus their primary business activities in the “Fuel”, “Aerospace and Defense”, “Agriculture”, “Nuclear”, or “Gold and Other Base and Precious Metals” (“Gold”) sectors (collectively, the “Natural Resources and Security Sectors”).
To be eligible for inclusion in the Index, a security must be a member of the Bloomberg Developed Markets North America Large, Mid & Small Index, which is a free float, market-cap weighted equity index. The Bloomberg North America Large, Mid & Small Index includes the largest companies that comprise 99% of total market capitalization in North America. Thereafter, only U.S. and Canadian listed securities are included.
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Each company that is included in the Index must focus its primary business activities in the Natural Resources and Security Sectors. Companies within the Natural Resources and Security Sectors must be classified as: (i) Fuel, which includes issuers in the oil and gas sector, (ii) Aerospace, which includes companies in the aerospace and defense sector, (iii) Agriculture, which includes companies in the agriculture chemicals, agriculture producers, agricultural machinery sector, (iv) Nuclear, which includes issuers in the nuclear energy sector, and (v) Gold, which includes companies involved in mining of base and precious metals. The Index utilizes Bloomberg Industry Classification codes to determine sector classifications for the Fuel, Aerospace and Defense, Agriculture, and Gold categories, and the Nuclear BI Theme Basket for the Nuclear category.
Bloomberg identifies companies that are within each Natural Resources and Security Sector and those companies are ranked based on issuer free float market capitalization. Each of the five Natural Resources and Security Sectors are equal-weighted (20% each) at the time of rebalance. Within each Natural Resources and Security Sector, the top 10 issuers based on free float market capitalization are selected for inclusion in the Index. Thereafter, each security’s weight is determined by dividing its free float market capitalization by the sum of the free float market capitalizations of all securities in the Index. The Index has approximately 50 constituents. The components of the Index are likely to change over time.
The Index is calculated as a total return index in U.S. dollars. The Index is normally rebalanced on a quarterly basis in March, June, September, and December. The Fund is also rebalanced in March, June, September, and December.
Strive Asset Management, LLC (the “Sub-Adviser”) uses a “passive” or indexing approach to try to achieve the Fund’s investment objective. Unlike many investment companies, the Fund does not try to “beat” the index it tracks and does not seek temporary defensive positions when markets decline or appear overvalued.
Indexing may eliminate the chance that the Fund will substantially outperform the Index but also may reduce some of the risks of active management, such as poor security selection. Indexing seeks to achieve lower costs and better after-tax performance by aiming to keep portfolio turnover low in comparison to actively managed investment companies.
The Fund will generally use a “replication” strategy to seek to achieve its investment objective, meaning the Fund will invest in all of the component securities of the Index in the same approximate proportions as in the Index, but may, when the Sub-Adviser believes it is in the best interests of the Fund, use a “representative sampling” strategy, meaning the Fund 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.
The Fund will be considered to be non-diversified, which means that it may invest more of its assets in the securities of a single issuer or a smaller number of issuers than if it were a diversified fund.
The Fund will concentrate its investments (i.e., hold 25% or more of its total assets) in a particular industry or group of industries to approximately the same extent that the Index is concentrated.
PRINCIPAL INVESTMENT RISKS
An investment in the Fund involves risk, including those described below. There is no assurance that the Fund will achieve its investment objective. An investor may lose money by investing in the Fund. An investment in the Fund is not a bank deposit and is not insured or guaranteed by the FDIC or any government agency. More complete risk descriptions are set forth below under the heading “Additional Information About the Funds’ Principal Investment Risks.
Equity Investing Risk. An investment in the Fund involves risks similar to those of investing in any fund holding equity securities, such as market fluctuations, changes in interest rates and perceived trends in stock prices. The values of equity securities could decline generally or could underperform other investments. In addition, securities may decline in value due to factors affecting a specific issuer, market or securities markets generally.
Oil and Gas Sector Risk. The profitability of companies in the oil and gas sector is related to worldwide energy prices, exploration costs, and production spending. Companies in the oil and gas sector may be at risk for environmental damage claims and other types of litigation, as well as negative publicity and perception. Companies in the oil and gas sector may be adversely affected by natural disasters or other catastrophes, changes in exchange rates, interest rates, changes in prices for competitive energy services, economic conditions, tax treatment, government regulation and intervention, and unfavorable events in the regions where companies operate (e.g., expropriation, nationalization, confiscation of assets and property or imposition of restrictions on foreign investments and repatriation of capital, military coups, social unrest,
27


violence or labor unrest). As a result, the value of these companies may fluctuate widely. Companies in the oil and gas sector may have significant capital investments in, or engage in transactions involving, emerging market countries, which may heighten these risks. Any of these factors could result in a material adverse impact on the Fund’s securities and the performance of the Fund.
Aerospace and Defense Sector Risk. Aerospace and defense companies can be significantly affected by government aerospace and defense regulation and spending policies because companies involved in this industry rely to a significant extent on U.S. (and other) government demand for their products and services. Thus, the financial condition of, and investor interest in, aerospace and defense companies are heavily influenced by governmental defense spending policies which are typically under pressure from efforts to control the U.S. (and other) government budgets. The aerospace industry in particular has recently been affected by adverse economic conditions and consolidation within the industry.
Nuclear Energy Sector Risk. The Fund will be sensitive to, and its performance will depend to a greater extent on, the overall condition of nuclear energy companies. The companies represented in the Fund’s portfolio may face considerable risk as a result of, among other risks, incidents and accidents, breaches of security, ill-intentioned acts or terrorism, natural disasters (such as floods or earthquakes), equipment malfunctions or mishandling in storage, handling, transportation, treatment or conditioning of substances and nuclear materials. Such events could have serious consequences, especially in case of radioactive contamination and irradiation of the environment, for the general population, as well as a material, negative impact on the Fund’s portfolio companies and thus the Fund’s financial situation. In addition, the nuclear energy sector is subject to competitive risk associated with the prices of other energy sources, such as natural gas and oil. Consumers of nuclear energy may have the ability to switch between nuclear energy and other energy sources and, as a result, during periods when competing energy sources are less expensive, the revenues of companies in the nuclear energy sector may decline with a corresponding impact on earnings.
Nuclear activity is also subject to particularly detailed and restrictive regulations, with a scheme for the monitoring and periodic re-examination of operating authorization, which primarily takes into account nuclear safety, environmental and public health protection, and also national security considerations (terrorist threats in particular). These regulations and any future regulations may be subject to significant tightening by national and international authorities. This could result in increased operating costs, which would have a negative impact on the Fund’s portfolio companies and may cause operating businesses related to nuclear energy to become unprofitable or impractical to operate. Furthermore, uranium prices are subject to fluctuation. The price of uranium has been and will continue to be affected by numerous factors beyond the Fund’s control. With respect to uranium, such factors include the demand for nuclear power, political and economic conditions in uranium producing and consuming countries, uranium supply from secondary sources and uranium production levels and costs of production. In addition, the prices of crude oil, natural gas and electricity produced from traditional hydro power and possibly other undiscovered energy sources could potentially have a negative impact on the competitiveness of nuclear energy companies in which the Fund invests.
Agriculture Sector Risk. Economic forces, including forces affecting agricultural markets, as well as government policies and regulations affecting agriculture companies, could adversely impact the Fund’s investments. Agricultural and livestock production and trade flows are significantly affected by government policies and regulations. Governmental policies affecting agriculture companies, such as taxes, tariffs, duties, subsidies and import and export restrictions on agricultural commodities, commodity products and livestock, can influence agriculture company profitability, the planting/raising of certain crops/livestock versus other uses of resources, the location and size of crop and livestock production, whether unprocessed or processed commodity products are traded and the volume and types of imports and exports. In addition, companies in the agriculture sector must comply with a broad range of environmental laws and regulations.
Gold and Precious Metals Risk. The Fund will be sensitive to changes in the overall condition of the gold, precious metals and mining sector. Competitive pressures may have a significant effect on the financial condition of companies in such industry. Also, such companies are highly dependent on the price of certain precious metals. These prices may fluctuate substantially over short periods of time, so the Fund’s share price may be more volatile than other types of investments. The prices of precious metals rise and fall in response to many factors, including: economic cycles; changes in inflation or expectations about inflation in various countries; interest rates; currency fluctuations; metal sales by governments, central banks, or international agencies; investment speculation; resource availability; fluctuations in industrial and commercial supply and demand; government regulation of the metals and materials industries; and government prohibitions or restrictions on the private ownership of certain precious and rare metals. The Index
28


measures, in part, the performance of equity securities of gold and precious metals companies and does not measure the performance of direct investment in precious metals. Consequently, the Fund’s share price may not move in the same direction and to the same extent as the spot prices of precious metals.
Foreign Investment Risk. Returns on investments in foreign securities could be more volatile than, or trail the returns on, investments in U.S. securities. Investments in or exposures to foreign securities are subject to special risks, including risks associated with foreign securities generally, such as differences in information available about issuers of securities and investor protection standards applicable in other jurisdictions; capital controls risks, including the risk of a foreign jurisdiction imposing restrictions on the ability to repatriate or transfer currency or other assets; currency risks; political, diplomatic and economic risks; regulatory risks; and foreign market and trading risks, including the costs of trading and risks of settlement in foreign jurisdictions.
Canadian Investment Risk. Investments in securities of Canadian issuers involve risks and special considerations not typically associated with investments in the U.S. securities markets. The Canadian economy is very dependent on the demand for, and supply and price of, natural resources. The Canadian market is relatively concentrated in issuers involved in the production and distribution of natural resources. There is a risk that any changes in natural resources sectors could have an adverse impact on the Canadian economy. Additionally, the Canadian economy is heavily dependent on relationships with certain key trading partners including the United States, countries in the European Union and China. Because the United States is Canada’s largest trading partner and foreign investor, the Canadian economy is dependent on and may be significantly affected by developments impacting the U.S. economy. Reduction in spending on Canadian products and services or changes in the U.S. economy may adversely impact the Canadian economy. Uncertainty as to the future of certain trade agreements between the U.S. and Canada may cause a decline in the value of the Fund’s Shares. In addition, certain sectors of Canada’s economy may be subject to foreign ownership limitations. This may negatively impact the Fund’s ability to invest in Canadian issuers and to track the Index.
Natural Resources and Commodity-Related Industries Risk. The Fund is subject to the risks associated with companies in the natural resources and commodities-related industries. These industries can be significantly affected by (and often rapidly affected by) changes in the supply of, or demand for, various natural resources and commodities. Investments in natural resources companies, which include companies engaged in energy (oil, gas & consumable fuels), agriculture, and precious and industrial metals and mining can be significantly affected by events relating to these industries, including international political and economic developments, embargoes, tariffs, inflation, weather and natural disasters, livestock diseases, limits on exploration, rapid changes in the supply and demand for natural resources and other factors. The Fund’s investments may experience substantial price fluctuations as a result of these factors, and may move independently of the trends of other operating companies. Companies engaged in the sectors listed above may be adversely affected by changes in government policies and regulations, technological advances and/or obsolescence, environmental damage claims, energy conservation efforts, the success of exploration projects, limitations on the liquidity of certain natural resources and commodities and competition from new market entrants. Changes in general economic conditions, including commodity price volatility, changes in exchange rates, imposition of import controls, rising interest rates, prices of raw materials and other commodities, depletion of resources and labor relations, could adversely affect the Fund’s investments.
Investment Risk. When you sell your Shares, they could be worth less than what you paid for them. Therefore, you may lose money by investing in the Fund. The Fund could lose money due to short-term market movements and over longer periods during market downturns. Securities may decline in value due to factors affecting securities markets generally or particular asset classes or industries represented in the markets. The value of a security may decline due to general market conditions, economic trends or events that are not specifically related to the issuer of the security, such as geopolitical events and environmental disasters. The value of a security may also decline due to factors that affect a particular industry or group of industries. During a general downturn in the securities markets, multiple asset classes may be negatively affected. Therefore, you may lose money by investing in the Fund.
Large-Capitalization Companies Risk. Large-capitalization companies may trail the returns of the overall stock market. Large-capitalization stocks tend to go through cycles of doing better - or worse - than the stock market in general. These periods have, in the past, lasted for as long as several years. When large capitalization companies are out of favor, these securities may lose value or may not appreciate in line with the overall market. In addition, large capitalization companies may be unable to respond quickly to new competitive challenges, such as changes in
29


technology or consumer tastes, and also may not be able to attain the high growth rate of successful small companies, especially during extended periods of economic expansion.
Mid-Capitalization Companies Risk. The securities of mid-capitalization companies may be more vulnerable to adverse issuer, market, political, or economic developments than securities of larger-capitalization companies. The securities of 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 of these companies have limited product lines, markets, and financial and managerial resources and tend to concentrate on fewer geographical markets relative to larger capitalization companies.
Concentration Risk. In following its methodology, the Index may be concentrated to a significant degree in securities of issuers located in the Fuel, Aerospace, Nuclear, Agriculture, and Gold sectors. By concentrating its investments in the Fuel, Aerospace, Nuclear, Agriculture and Gold sectors, the Fund may face more risks than if it were diversified broadly over numerous industries or groups of industries.
Non-Diversification Risk. Because the Fund is non-diversified, it may be more sensitive to economic, business, political or other changes affecting individual issuers or investments than a diversified fund, which may result in greater fluctuation in the value of the Fund’s Shares and greater risk of loss.
Passive Investment Risk. The Fund is not actively managed and the Sub-Adviser will not sell any investments due to current or projected underperformance of the securities, industries or sector in which it invests, unless the investment is removed from the Index, sold in connection with a rebalancing of the Index as addressed in the Index methodology, or sold to comply with the Fund’s investment limitations (for example, to maintain the Fund’s tax status). The Fund will maintain investments until changes to its Index are triggered, which could cause the Fund’s return to be lower than if the Fund employed an active strategy.
Index Calculation Risk. The Index relies on various sources of information to assess the criteria of issuers included in the Index, including fundamental information that may be based on assumptions and estimates. Neither the Fund, the Adviser, the Sub-Adviser nor the Index Provider can offer assurances that the Index’s calculation methodology or sources of information will provide a correct valuation of securities, nor can they guarantee the availability or timeliness of the production of the Index.
Tracking Error Risk. As with all index funds, the performance of the Fund and its respective 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.
ETF Risks.
Authorized Participants, Market Makers and Liquidity Providers Concentration 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 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.
Premium-Discount Risk. The Shares may trade above or below their net asset value (“NAV”). The market prices of Shares will generally fluctuate in accordance with changes in NAV as well as the relative supply of, and demand for, Shares on New York Stock Exchange (the “Exchange”) or other securities exchanges. The trading price of Shares may deviate significantly from NAV during periods of market volatility or limited trading activity in Shares. In addition, you may incur the cost of the “spread,” that is, any difference between the bid price and the ask price of the Shares.
Cost of Trading Risk. Investors buying or selling Shares in the secondary market will pay brokerage commissions or other charges imposed by brokers as determined by that broker. Brokerage commissions are often a fixed amount and may be a significant proportional cost for investors seeking to buy or sell relatively small amounts of Shares. In addition, secondary market investors will also incur the cost of the difference between the price that an investor is willing to pay for Shares (the “bid” price) and the price at which an
30


investor is willing to sell Shares (the “ask” price). This difference in bid and ask prices is often referred to as the “spread” or “bid/ask spread.” The bid/ask spread varies over time for Shares based on trading volume and market liquidity, and is generally lower if the Fund’s Shares have more trading volume and market liquidity and higher if the Fund’s Shares have little trading volume and market liquidity. Further, increased market volatility may cause increased bid/ask spreads.
Trading Risk. Although the Shares are listed on the Exchange, there can be no assurance that an active or liquid trading market for them will develop or be maintained. In addition, trading in Shares on the Exchange may be halted. In stressed market conditions, the liquidity of Shares may begin to mirror the liquidity of its underlying portfolio holdings, which can be less liquid than Shares, potentially causing the market price of Shares to deviate from its NAV. The spread varies over time for Shares of the Fund based on the Fund’s trading volume and market liquidity and is generally lower if the Fund has high trading volume and market liquidity, and higher if the Fund has little trading volume and market liquidity (which is often the case for funds that are newly launched or small in size).
Index Rebalance Risk. Because the Index generally changes its exposure based on data only as of the last business day of March, June, September, and December (i) the Index’s exposure may be affected by significant market movements at or near quarter end that are not predictive of the market’s performance for the subsequent quarter and (ii) changes to the Index’s exposure may lag a significant change in the market’s direction (up or down) by as long as a quarter if such changes first take effect at or near the beginning of a quarter. Such lags between market performance and changes to the Index’s exposure may result in significant underperformance relative to the broader equity or fixed income market. Unusual market conditions may cause the Index Provider to postpone a scheduled rebalance, which could cause the Index to vary from its normal or expected composition.
PERFORMANCE
The following information provides some indication of the risks of investing in the Fund. The bar chart shows the Fund’s performance for calendar years ended December 31. The table shows how the Fund’s average annual returns for one-year and since inception periods compare with those of a broad measure of market performance and the Index. The Fund’s past performance, before and after taxes, is not necessarily an indication of how the Fund will perform in the future. Performance information is also available on the Fund’s website at https://strivefunds.com/ or by calling the Fund at (215) 330-4476.
Calendar Year Total Returns as of December 31
5497558249508
The Fund’s calendar year-to-date return as of September 30, 2025 was 37.68%. During the period of time shown in the bar chart, the Fund’s highest return for a calendar quarter was 11.09% (quarter ended September 30, 2024) and the Fund’s lowest return for a calendar quarter was -7.17%% (quarter ended December 31, 2024).
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Average Annual Total Returns
(for periods ended December 31, 2024)
Strive Natural Resources and Security ETF 1 Year
Since Inception
(08/30/2023)
Return Before Taxes
15.36% 12.16%
Return After Taxes on Distributions
15.03% 11.80%
Return After Taxes on Distributions and Sale of Shares
9.34% 9.30%
Bloomberg Natural Resources and Security Index (reflects no fees or expenses)
15.87% 12.75%
Bloomberg US 1000 Index (reflects no fees or expenses)
24.23% 23.43%
After-tax returns are calculated using the highest historical individual U.S. federal marginal income tax rates during the period covered by the table above and do not reflect the impact of state and local taxes. Actual after-tax returns depend on an investor’s tax situation and may differ from those shown. After-tax returns shown are not relevant to investors who hold their Shares through tax-deferred arrangements such as an individual retirement account (“IRA”) or other tax-advantaged accounts.
INVESTMENT ADVISER & INVESTMENT SUB-ADVISER
Investment Adviser: Empowered Funds, LLC dba EA Advisers (the “Adviser”)
Investment Sub-Adviser: Strive Asset Management, LLC (the “Sub-Adviser”)
PORTFOLIO MANAGERS
Matthew Cole, Chief Executive Officer and Chief Investment Officer of Strive and Jeffrey Sherman, a Portfolio Manager of Strive, are each a co-Portfolio Manager of the Fund and have been primarily responsible for the day-to-day management of the Fund since its inception (August 2023).
PURCHASE AND SALE OF SHARES
Individual Shares are listed on a national securities exchange and may only be purchased and sold in the secondary market through a broker-dealer at a market price. Because Shares trade at market prices rather than NAV, Shares may trade at a price greater than NAV (at a “premium”) or less than NAV (at a “discount”). An investor may 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 and selling Shares in the secondary market (the “bid/ask spread”).
TAX INFORMATION
The Fund’s distributions generally are taxable to you as ordinary income, capital gain, or some combination of both, unless your investment is made through an IRA or other tax-advantaged account. However, subsequent withdrawals from such a tax-advantaged account may be subject to U.S. federal income tax. You should consult your own tax advisor about your specific tax situation.
PURCHASES THROUGH BROKER-DEALERS AND OTHER FINANCIAL INTERMEDIARIES
If you purchase Shares through a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary, the Fund and its related companies may pay the intermediary for the sale of Shares and related services. These payments may create a conflict of interest by influencing the broker-dealer or other intermediary and your salesperson to recommend Shares over another investment. Ask your salesperson or visit your financial intermediary’s website for more information.




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STRIVE 1000 GROWTH ETF
Fund Summary 
INVESTMENT OBJECTIVE
The Strive 1000 Growth ETF (the “Fund”) seeks to track the total return performance, before fees and expenses, of an index composed of large- and mid-capitalization U.S. equity securities that exhibit growth characteristics.
FEES AND EXPENSES
This table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy, hold, and sell shares of the Fund (“Shares”). You may also pay brokerage commissions on the purchase and sale of Shares, which are not reflected in the table or example.
ANNUAL FUND OPERATING EXPENSES (EXPENSES THAT YOU PAY EACH YEAR AS A PERCENTAGE OF THE VALUE OF YOUR INVESTMENT)
Management Fee
0.18 %
Distribution and/or Service (12b-1) Fees
None
Other Expenses
0.00 %
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses
0.18 %
EXAMPLE
The following 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 for the time periods indicated and then hold or sell all of your Shares at the end of those periods. The example also assumes that the Fund provides a return of 5% a year and that operating expenses remain the same. You may also pay brokerage commissions on the purchase and sale of Shares, which are not reflected in the example. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:
One Year: Three Years: Five Years: Ten Years:
$18 $58 $101 $230
PORTFOLIO TURNOVER
The Fund may pay transaction costs, including 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 annual fund operating expenses or in the example, affect the Fund’s performance. For the fiscal period August 1, 2024 through June 30, 2025, the portfolio turnover rate for the Fund was 8% of the average value of its portfolio.
PRINCIPAL INVESTMENT STRATEGIES
The Fund’s Investment Strategy
The Fund seeks to track the investment results of the Bloomberg US 1000 Growth Index (the “Index”), which measures the performance of large- and mid-capitalization growth companies in the U.S. equity market as determined by Bloomberg (the “Index Provider” or “Bloomberg”). The Index includes large- and mid-capitalization companies and is a subset of the Bloomberg US 1000 Index (the “Growth Index Universe”). Under normal circumstances, the Fund invests at least 80% of its net assets (plus any borrowings for investment purposes) in equity securities of growth companies. The Fund defines growth companies as companies with higher forecasted growth, higher valuations, lower earnings yield and lower dividend yield relative to all issuers included in the Growth Index Universe.
The Index will generally consist of over 500 constituents. The Index is expected to have significant exposure to the Information Technology sector. The components of the Index will change over time.
The Index is a free float-adjusted capitalization-weighted index comprised primarily of U.S. equity securities issued by the largest growth-oriented U.S. companies. The Index measures the performance of U.S. equity securities of issuers
33


with higher forecasted growth, higher valuations, lower earnings yield and lower dividend yield relative to all issuers included in the Growth Index Universe. The Index Provider ranks the securities in the Growth Index Universe according to a value formula that takes into consideration the following criteria: earnings yield, valuation, dividend yield and growth, each of which are equal weighted. Within each equal weighted criteria, underlying accounting screens are assessed. Using current market prices, these accounting screens are captured at the month end prior to Index rebalancing. Virtually all accounting screens are based on trailing twelve month data, except for Earnings to Price ratios, which use forward-looking twelve-month forecasts.
Using the screens above, the Index selects the highest scoring growth stocks for inclusion. Specifically, companies that rank highly in terms of growth metrics (e.g., sales growth) and/or possess high market prices relative to peers across valuation (e.g., Sales to Price), dividend yield (Dividend to Price), and earnings metrics (e.g. Earnings to Price) are deemed to be growth stocks.
Based on this ranking, the securities that score within the highest 30% of the Growth Index Universe are included in the Index and market cap weighted. The following 40% of securities are included at a decreasing linear scale with the full 100% weight given at the 30th percentile and a 0% weight given at the 30th percentile. The bottom scoring 30% of stocks are excluded from the Index.
To be eligible for inclusion in the Index, a security must first meet the following criteria: (i) it is primarily listed in the United States, (ii) it is listed on a U.S. exchange, and (iii) the security’s free float must be a minimum of 10% of the security’s total shares outstanding. The Index includes common stock and real estate investment trusts.
The Index is calculated as a total return index in U.S. dollars. The Index is normally rebalanced on a semi-annual basis in January and July and such changes take effect in March and September.
Strive Asset Management, LLC (the “Sub-Adviser”) uses a “passive” or indexing approach to try to achieve the Fund’s investment objective. Unlike many investment companies, the Fund does not try to “beat” the index it tracks and does not seek temporary defensive positions when markets decline or appear overvalued.
Indexing may eliminate the chance that the Fund will substantially outperform the Index but also may reduce some of the risks of active management, such as poor security selection. Indexing seeks to achieve lower costs and better after-tax performance by aiming to keep portfolio turnover low in comparison to actively managed investment companies.
The Fund will generally use a “replication” strategy to seek to achieve its investment objective, meaning the Fund will invest in all of the component securities of the Index in the same approximate proportions as in the Index, but may, when the Sub-Adviser believes it is in the best interests of the Fund, use a “representative sampling” strategy, meaning the Fund 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. The Fund will be reconstituted and rebalanced on the same schedule as the Index.
The Fund will concentrate its investments (i.e., hold 25% or more of its total assets) in a particular industry or group of industries to approximately the same extent that the Index is concentrated.
The Fund intends to be diversified in approximately the same proportion as the Index is diversified. The Fund may become “non‑diversified,” as defined in the 1940 Act, solely as a result of a change in relative market capitalization or index weighting of one or more constituents of the Index. Shareholder approval will not be sought if the Fund becomes “non‑diversified” due solely to a change in the relative market capitalization or index weighting of one or more constituents of the Index. The Fund discloses its portfolio holdings and weightings at www.strivefunds.com/stxg.
PRINCIPAL INVESTMENT RISKS
An investment in the Fund involves risk, including those described below. There is no assurance that the Fund will achieve its investment objective. An investor may lose money by investing in the Fund. An investment in the Fund is not a bank deposit and is not insured or guaranteed by the FDIC or any government agency. More complete risk descriptions are set forth below under the heading “Additional Information About the Funds’ Principal Investment Risks.
Equity Investing Risk. An investment in the Fund involves risks similar to those of investing in any fund holding equity securities, such as market fluctuations, changes in interest rates and perceived trends in stock prices. The values of equity securities could decline generally or could underperform other investments. In addition, securities may decline in value due to factors affecting a specific issuer, market or securities markets generally.
34


Growth Investing Risk. The Fund invests in growth securities, which may be more volatile than other types of investments, may perform differently than the market as a whole and may underperform when compared to securities with different investment parameters. Under certain market conditions, growth securities have performed better during the later stages of economic recovery (although there is no guarantee that they will continue to do so). Therefore, growth securities may go in and out of favor over time.
Investment Risk. When you sell your Shares, they could be worth less than what you paid for them. Therefore, you may lose money by investing in the Fund. The Fund could lose money due to short-term market movements and over longer periods during market downturns. Securities may decline in value due to factors affecting securities markets generally or particular asset classes or industries represented in the markets. The value of a security may decline due to general market conditions, economic trends or events that are not specifically related to the issuer of the security, such as geopolitical events and environmental disasters. The value of a security may also decline due to factors that affect a particular industry or group of industries. During a general downturn in the securities markets, multiple asset classes may be negatively affected. Therefore, you may lose money by investing in the Fund.
Large-Capitalization Companies Risk. Large-capitalization companies may trail the returns of the overall stock market. Large-capitalization stocks tend to go through cycles of doing better - or worse - than the stock market in general. These periods have, in the past, lasted for as long as several years. When large capitalization companies are out of favor, these securities may lose value or may not appreciate in line with the overall market. In addition, large capitalization companies may be unable to respond quickly to new competitive challenges, such as changes in technology or consumer tastes, and also may not be able to attain the high growth rate of successful small companies, especially during extended periods of economic expansion.
Mid-Capitalization Companies Risk. The securities of mid-capitalization companies may be more vulnerable to adverse issuer, market, political, or economic developments than securities of larger-capitalization companies. The securities of 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 of these companies have limited product lines, markets, and financial and managerial resources and tend to concentrate on fewer geographical markets relative to larger capitalization companies.
Sector Risk. To the extent the Fund invests more heavily in particular sectors of the economy, its performance will be especially sensitive to developments that significantly affect those sectors. The Fund may invest a significant portion of its assets in the following sectors and, therefore, the performance of the Fund could be negatively impacted by events affecting each of these sectors.
Information Technology Sector Risk. The Fund may invest in companies in the technology sector, and therefore, the Fund’s performance could be negatively impacted by events affecting this sector. Market or economic factors impacting technology companies and companies that rely heavily on technological advances could have a significant effect on the value of the Fund’s investments. Technology companies, including information technology companies, may have limited product lines, financial resources and/or personnel. Technology companies typically face intense competition and potentially rapid product obsolescence. They are also heavily dependent on intellectual property rights and may be adversely affected by the loss or impairment of those rights. Companies in the technology sector also face increased government regulation, including new regulations and scrutiny related to data privacy, and may be subject to adverse government or regulatory actions, which may be costly.
Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) Risk. A REIT is a company that owns or finances income-producing real estate. Through its investments in REITs, the Fund is subject to the risks of investing in the real estate market, including decreases in property revenues, increases in interest rates, increases in property taxes and operating expenses, legal and regulatory changes, a lack of credit or capital, defaults by borrowers or tenants, environmental problems and natural disasters. Investments in REITs may be volatile. REITs are pooled investment vehicles with their own fees and expenses and the Fund will indirectly bear a proportionate share of those fees and expenses.
Passive Investment Risk. The Fund is not actively managed and the Sub-Adviser will not sell any investments due to current or projected underperformance of the securities, industries or sector in which it invests, unless the investment is removed from the Index, sold in connection with a rebalancing of the Index as addressed in the Index methodology, or sold to comply with the Fund’s investment limitations (for example, to maintain the Fund’s tax status). The Fund will
35


maintain investments until changes to its Index are triggered, which could cause the Fund’s return to be lower than if the Fund employed an active strategy.
Index Calculation Risk. The Index relies on various sources of information to assess the criteria of issuers included in the Index, including fundamental information that may be based on assumptions and estimates. Neither the Fund, the Adviser, the Sub-Adviser nor the Index Provider can offer assurances that the Index’s calculation methodology or sources of information will provide a correct valuation of securities, nor can they guarantee the availability or timeliness of the production of the Index.
Tracking Error Risk. As with all index funds, the performance of the Fund and its respective 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. In following its methodology, the Index from time to time may be concentrated to a significant degree in securities of issuers located in a single industry or group of industries. To the extent that the Index concentrates in the securities of issuers in a particular industry or group of industries, the Fund also may concentrate its investments to approximately the same extent. By concentrating its investments in an industry or group of industries, the Fund may face more risks than if it were diversified broadly over numerous industries or groups of industries. If the Index is not concentrated in a particular industry or group of industries, the Fund will not concentrate in a particular industry or group of industries.
ETF Risks.
Authorized Participants, Market Makers and Liquidity Providers Concentration 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 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.
Premium-Discount Risk. The Shares may trade above or below their net asset value (“NAV”). The market prices of Shares will generally fluctuate in accordance with changes in NAV as well as the relative supply of, and demand for, Shares on New York Stock Exchange (the “Exchange”) or other securities exchanges. The trading price of Shares may deviate significantly from NAV during periods of market volatility or limited trading activity in Shares. In addition, you may incur the cost of the “spread,” that is, any difference between the bid price and the ask price of the Shares.
Cost of Trading Risk. Investors buying or selling Shares in the secondary market will pay brokerage commissions or other charges imposed by brokers as determined by that broker. Brokerage commissions are often a fixed amount and may be a significant proportional cost for investors seeking to buy or sell relatively small amounts of Shares. In addition, secondary market investors will also incur the cost of the difference between the price that an investor is willing to pay for Shares (the “bid” price) and the price at which an investor is willing to sell Shares (the “ask” price). This difference in bid and ask prices is often referred to as the “spread” or “bid/ask spread.” The bid/ask spread varies over time for Shares based on trading volume and market liquidity, and is generally lower if the Fund's Shares have more trading volume and market liquidity and higher if the Fund's Shares have little trading volume and market liquidity. Further, increased market volatility may cause increased bid/ask spreads.
Trading Risk. Although the Shares are listed on the Exchange, there can be no assurance that an active or liquid trading market for them will develop or be maintained. In addition, trading in Shares on the Exchange may be halted. In stressed market conditions, the liquidity of Shares may begin to mirror the liquidity of its underlying portfolio holdings, which can be less liquid than Shares, potentially causing the market price of Shares to deviate from its NAV. The spread varies over time for Shares of the Fund based on the Fund’s trading volume and market liquidity and is generally lower if the Fund has high trading volume and market liquidity, and higher if the Fund has little trading volume and market liquidity (which is often the case for funds that are newly launched or small in size).
36


Index Rebalance Risk. Because the Index generally changes its exposure based on data only as of the last week of January and July, (i) the Index’s exposure may be affected by significant market movements at or near the rebalance date that are not predictive of the market’s performance for the subsequent six-month period and (ii) changes to the Index’s exposure may lag a significant change in the market’s direction (up or down) by as long as a six months if such changes first take effect at or near the beginning of a rebalance date. Such lags between market performance and changes to the Index’s exposure may result in significant underperformance relative to the broader equity market.
Change in Diversification Status Risk. In seeking to track its Index, the Strive 1000 Growth ETF may become non-diversified as a result of a change in relative market capitalization or index weighting of one or more constituents of the Index. A “non-diversified” fund generally invests a greater portion of its assets in the securities of one or more issuers and invests overall in a smaller number of issuers than a diversified fund. The Fund may be more sensitive to a single economic, business, political, regulatory, or other occurrence than a more diversified fund might be, which may negatively impact the Fund’s performance and result in greater fluctuation in the value of the Fund’s shares.
PERFORMANCE
The following information provides some indication of the risks of investing in the Fund. The bar chart shows the Fund’s performance for calendar years ended December 31. The table shows how the Fund’s average annual returns for one-year and since inception periods compare with those of a broad measure of market performance and the Index. The Fund’s past performance, before and after taxes, is not necessarily an indication of how the Fund will perform in the future. Performance information is also available on the Fund’s website at https://strivefunds.com/ or by calling the Fund at (215) 330-4476.
Calendar Year Total Returns as of December 31
14843407069692
The Fund’s calendar year-to-date return as of September 30, 2025 was 15.63%. During the period of time shown in the bar chart, the Fund’s highest return for a calendar quarter was 13.33% (quarter ended December 31, 2023) and the Fund’s lowest return for a calendar quarter was -3.83% (quarter ended September 30, 2023).
Average Annual Total Returns
(for periods ended December 31, 2024)
Strive 1000 Growth ETF
1 Year
Since Inception
(11/09/2022)
Return Before Taxes
28.59% 31.41%
Return After Taxes on Distributions
28.43% 31.21%
Return After Taxes on Distributions and Sale of Shares
17.03% 24.71%
Bloomberg US 1000 Growth Index (reflects no fees or expenses)
28.88% 31.66%
Bloomberg US 1000 Index (reflects no fees or expenses)
24.23% 25.09%
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After-tax returns are calculated using the highest historical individual U.S. federal marginal income tax rates during the period covered by the table above and do not reflect the impact of state and local taxes. Actual after-tax returns depend on an investor’s tax situation and may differ from those shown. After-tax returns shown are not relevant to investors who hold their Shares through tax-deferred arrangements such as an individual retirement account (“IRA”) or other tax-advantaged accounts.
INVESTMENT ADVISER & INVESTMENT SUB-ADVISER
Investment Adviser: Empowered Funds, LLC dba EA Advisers (the “Adviser”)
Investment Sub-Adviser: Strive Asset Management, LLC (the “Sub-Adviser”)
PORTFOLIO MANAGERS
Matthew Cole, Chief Executive Officer and Chief Investment Officer of Strive and Jeffrey Sherman, a Portfolio Manager of Strive, are each a co-Portfolio Manager of the Fund and are primarily responsible for the day-to-day management of the Fund. Mr. Cole has managed the Fund since its inception (November 2022) and Mr. Sherman has managed the Fund since June 2023.
PURCHASE AND SALE OF SHARES
Individual Shares are listed on a national securities exchange and may only be purchased and sold in the secondary market through a broker-dealer at a market price. Because Shares trade at market prices rather than NAV, Shares may trade at a price greater than NAV (at a “premium”) or less than NAV (at a “discount”). An investor may 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 and selling Shares in the secondary market (the “bid/ask spread”).
TAX INFORMATION
The Fund’s distributions generally are taxable to you as ordinary income, capital gain, or some combination of both, unless your investment is made through an IRA or other tax-advantaged account. However, subsequent withdrawals from such a tax-advantaged account may be subject to U.S. federal income tax. You should consult your own tax advisor about your specific tax situation.
PURCHASES THROUGH BROKER-DEALERS AND OTHER FINANCIAL INTERMEDIARIES
If you purchase Shares through a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary, the Fund and its related companies may pay the intermediary for the sale of Shares and related services. These payments may create a conflict of interest by influencing the broker-dealer or other intermediary and your salesperson to recommend Shares over another investment. Ask your salesperson or visit your financial intermediary’s website for more information.












38


STRIVE 1000 VALUE ETF
Fund Summary
INVESTMENT OBJECTIVE
The Strive 1000 Value ETF (the “Fund”) seeks to track the total return performance, before fees and expenses, of an index composed of large- and mid-capitalization U.S. equity securities that exhibit value characteristics.
FEES AND EXPENSES
This table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy, hold, and sell shares of the Fund (“Shares”). You may also pay brokerage commissions on the purchase and sale of Shares, which are not reflected in the table or example.
ANNUAL FUND OPERATING EXPENSES (EXPENSES THAT YOU PAY EACH YEAR AS A PERCENTAGE OF THE VALUE OF YOUR INVESTMENT)
Management Fee
0.18 %
Distribution and/or Service (12b-1) Fees
None
Other Expenses
0.00 %
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses
0.18 %
EXAMPLE
The following 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 for the time periods indicated and then hold or sell all of your Shares at the end of those periods. The example also assumes that the Fund provides a return of 5% a year and that operating expenses remain the same. You may also pay brokerage commissions on the purchase and sale of Shares, which are not reflected in the example. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:
One Year: Three Years: Five Years: Ten Years:
$18 $58 $101 $230
PORTFOLIO TURNOVER
The Fund may pay transaction costs, including 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 annual fund operating expenses or in the example, affect the Fund’s performance. For the fiscal period August 1, 2024 through June 30, 2025, the portfolio turnover rate for the Fund was 17% of the average value of its portfolio.
PRINCIPAL INVESTMENT STRATEGIES
The Fund’s Investment Strategy
The Fund seeks to track the investment results of the Bloomberg US 1000 Value Index (the “Index”), which measures the performance of the large- and mid-capitalization value sector of the U.S. equity market as determined by Bloomberg (the “Index Provider” or “Bloomberg”). The Index includes large- and mid-capitalization companies and is a subset of the Bloomberg US 1000 Index (the “Value Index Universe”). Under normal circumstances, the Fund invests at least 80% of its net assets (plus any borrowings for investment purposes) in equity securities of value companies. The Fund defines value companies as companies with higher earnings yield, higher dividend yield and lower forecasted growth and lower valuations relative to all securities included in the Value Index Universe.
The Index will generally consist of over 500 constituents. The Index is expected to have significant exposure to the Financials sector. The components of the Index will change over time.
The Index is a free float-adjusted capitalization-weighted index comprised primarily of U.S. equity securities issued by the largest value-oriented U.S. companies. The Index measures the performance of U.S. equity securities of issuers with
39


higher earnings yield, higher dividend yield and lower forecasted growth and lower valuations relative to all securities included in the Value Index Universe. The Index Provider ranks the securities in the Value Index Universe according to a value formula that takes into consideration the following criteria: earnings yield, valuation, dividend yield and growth, each of which are equal weighted. Within each equal weighted criteria, underlying accounting screens are assessed. Using current market prices, these accounting screens are captured at the month end prior to Index rebalancing. Virtually all accounting screens are based on trailing twelve month data, except for Earnings to Price ratios, which use forward-looking twelve-month forecasts.
Using the screens above, the Index selects the highest scoring value stocks for inclusion. Specifically, companies that rank highly in terms of value metrics (e.g., stable or mature sales growth) and/or possess low market prices relative to peers across valuation (e.g., Sales to Price), dividend yield (Dividend to Price), and earnings metrics (e.g. Earnings to Price) are deemed to be value stocks.
Based on this ranking, the securities that score within the highest 30% of the Value Index Universe are included in the Index and are market cap weighted. The following 40% of securities are included at an increasing linear scale with the full 100% weight given at the 30th percentile and a 0% weight given at the 70th percentile. The bottom scoring 30% of stocks are excluded from the Index.
To be eligible for inclusion in the Index, a security must meet the following criteria: (i) it is primarily listed in the United States, (ii) it is listed on a U.S. exchange, and (iii) the security’s free float must be a minimum of 10% of the security’s total shares outstanding. The Index includes common stock and real estate investment trusts.
The Index is calculated as a total return index in U.S. dollars. The Index is normally reconstituted on a semi-annual basis in January and July and such changes take effect in March and September. The Index constituents’ weights are normally updated in June and December.
Strive Asset Management, LLC (the “Sub-Adviser”) uses a “passive” or indexing approach to try to achieve the Fund’s investment objective. Unlike many investment companies, the Fund does not try to “beat” the index it tracks and does not seek temporary defensive positions when markets decline or appear overvalued.
Indexing may eliminate the chance that the Fund will substantially outperform the Index but also may reduce some of the risks of active management, such as poor security selection. Indexing seeks to achieve lower costs and better after-tax performance by aiming to keep portfolio turnover low in comparison to actively managed investment companies.
The Fund will generally use a “replication” strategy to seek to achieve its investment objective, meaning the Fund will invest in all of the component securities of the Index in the same approximate proportions as in the Index, but may, when the Sub-Adviser believes it is in the best interests of the Fund, use a “representative sampling” strategy, meaning the Fund 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. The Fund will be reconstituted and rebalanced on the same schedule as the Index.
The Fund will concentrate its investments (i.e., hold 25% or more of its total assets) in a particular industry or group of industries to approximately the same extent that the Index is concentrated.
PRINCIPAL INVESTMENT RISKS
An investment in the Fund involves risk, including those described below. There is no assurance that the Fund will achieve its investment objective. An investor may lose money by investing in the Fund. An investment in the Fund is not a bank deposit and is not insured or guaranteed by the FDIC or any government agency. More complete risk descriptions are set forth below under the heading “Additional Information About the Funds’ Principal Investment Risks.
Equity Investing Risk. An investment in the Fund involves risks similar to those of investing in any fund holding equity securities, such as market fluctuations, changes in interest rates and perceived trends in stock prices. The values of equity securities could decline generally or could underperform other investments. In addition, securities may decline in value due to factors affecting a specific issuer, market or securities markets generally.
Value Investing Risk. Securities issued by companies that may be perceived as undervalued may be appropriately valued. Value securities may fail to appreciate for long periods of time or may never realize their full potential value. In addition, the Fund’s ability to realize any benefits of investing in value securities may depend on the Fund’s ability to stay invested until the market’s perception of such securities change. Value securities have generally performed better
40


than non-value securities during periods of economic recovery (although there is no assurance that they will continue to do so). Value securities may go in and out of favor over time.
Investment Risk. When you sell your Shares, they could be worth less than what you paid for them. Therefore, you may lose money by investing in the Fund. The Fund could lose money due to short-term market movements and over longer periods during market downturns. Securities may decline in value due to factors affecting securities markets generally or particular asset classes or industries represented in the markets. The value of a security may decline due to general market conditions, economic trends or events that are not specifically related to the issuer of the security, such as geopolitical events and environmental disasters. The value of a security may also decline due to factors that affect a particular industry or group of industries. During a general downturn in the securities markets, multiple asset classes may be negatively affected. Therefore, you may lose money by investing in the Fund.
Large-Capitalization Companies Risk. Large-capitalization companies may trail the returns of the overall stock market. Large-capitalization stocks tend to go through cycles of doing better - or worse - than the stock market in general. These periods have, in the past, lasted for as long as several years. When large capitalization companies are out of favor, these securities may lose value or may not appreciate in line with the overall market. In addition, large capitalization companies may be unable to respond quickly to new competitive challenges, such as changes in technology or consumer tastes, and also may not be able to attain the high growth rate of successful small companies, especially during extended periods of economic expansion.
Mid-Capitalization Companies Risk. The securities of mid-capitalization companies may be more vulnerable to adverse issuer, market, political, or economic developments than securities of larger-capitalization companies. The securities of 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 of these companies have limited product lines, markets, and financial and managerial resources and tend to concentrate on fewer geographical markets relative to larger capitalization companies.
Sector Risk. To the extent the Fund invests more heavily in particular sectors of the economy, its performance will be especially sensitive to developments that significantly affect those sectors. The Fund may invest a significant portion of its assets in the following sectors and, therefore, the performance of the Fund could be negatively impacted by events affecting each of these sectors.
Financials Sector Risk. The Fund is expected to have exposure to companies in the financials sector, and therefore, the Fund’s performance could be negatively impacted by events affecting this sector. The financials sector includes, for example, banks and financial institutions providing mortgage and mortgage related services. This sector can be significantly affected by, among other things, changes in interest rates, government regulation, the rate of defaults on corporate, consumer and government debt, the availability and cost of capital, and fallout from the housing and sub-prime mortgage crisis.
Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) Risk. A REIT is a company that owns or finances income-producing real estate. Through its investments in REITs, the Fund is subject to the risks of investing in the real estate market, including decreases in property revenues, increases in interest rates, increases in property taxes and operating expenses, legal and regulatory changes, a lack of credit or capital, defaults by borrowers or tenants, environmental problems and natural disasters. Investments in REITs may be volatile. REITs are pooled investment vehicles with their own fees and expenses and the Fund will indirectly bear a proportionate share of those fees and expenses.
Passive Investment Risk. The Fund is not actively managed and the Sub-Adviser will not sell any investments due to current or projected underperformance of the securities, industries or sector in which it invests, unless the investment is removed from the Index, sold in connection with a rebalancing of the Index as addressed in the Index methodology, or sold to comply with the Fund’s investment limitations (for example, to maintain the Fund’s tax status). The Fund will maintain investments until changes to its Index are triggered, which could cause the Fund’s return to be lower than if the Fund employed an active strategy.
Concentration Risk. In following its methodology, the Index from time to time may be concentrated to a significant degree in securities of issuers located in a single industry or group of industries. To the extent that the Index concentrates in the securities of issuers in a particular industry or group of industries, the Fund also may concentrate its investments to approximately the same extent. By concentrating its investments in an industry or group of industries, the Fund may face more risks than if it were diversified broadly over numerous industries or groups of industries. If the Index is not
41


concentrated in a particular industry or group of industries, the Fund will not concentrate in a particular industry or group of industries.
Index Calculation Risk. The Index relies on various sources of information to assess the criteria of issuers included in the Index, including fundamental information that may be based on assumptions and estimates. Neither the Fund, the Adviser, the Sub-Adviser nor the Index Provider can offer assurances that the Index’s calculation methodology or sources of information will provide a correct valuation of securities, nor can they guarantee the availability or timeliness of the production of the Index.
Tracking Error Risk. As with all index funds, the performance of the Fund and its respective 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.
ETF Risks.
Authorized Participants, Market Makers and Liquidity Providers Concentration 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 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.
Premium-Discount Risk. The Shares may trade above or below their net asset value (“NAV”). The market prices of Shares will generally fluctuate in accordance with changes in NAV as well as the relative supply of, and demand for, Shares on New York Stock Exchange (the “Exchange”) or other securities exchanges. The trading price of Shares may deviate significantly from NAV during periods of market volatility or limited trading activity in Shares. In addition, you may incur the cost of the “spread,” that is, any difference between the bid price and the ask price of the Shares.
Cost of Trading Risk. Investors buying or selling Shares in the secondary market will pay brokerage commissions or other charges imposed by brokers as determined by that broker. Brokerage commissions are often a fixed amount and may be a significant proportional cost for investors seeking to buy or sell relatively small amounts of Shares. In addition, secondary market investors will also incur the cost of the difference between the price that an investor is willing to pay for Shares (the “bid” price) and the price at which an investor is willing to sell Shares (the “ask” price). This difference in bid and ask prices is often referred to as the “spread” or “bid/ask spread.” The bid/ask spread varies over time for Shares based on trading volume and market liquidity, and is generally lower if the Fund's Shares have more trading volume and market liquidity and higher if the Fund's Shares have little trading volume and market liquidity. Further, increased market volatility may cause increased bid/ask spreads.
Trading Risk. Although the Shares are listed on the Exchange, there can be no assurance that an active or liquid trading market for them will develop or be maintained. In addition, trading in Shares on the Exchange may be halted. In stressed market conditions, the liquidity of Shares may begin to mirror the liquidity of its underlying portfolio holdings, which can be less liquid than Shares, potentially causing the market price of Shares to deviate from its NAV. The spread varies over time for Shares of the Fund based on the Fund’s trading volume and market liquidity and is generally lower if the Fund has high trading volume and market liquidity, and higher if the Fund has little trading volume and market liquidity (which is often the case for funds that are newly launched or small in size).
Index Rebalance Risk. Because the Index generally changes its exposure based on data only as of the last week of January and July, (i) the Index’s exposure may be affected by significant market movements at or near the rebalance date that are not predictive of the market’s performance for the subsequent six-month period and (ii) changes to the Index’s exposure may lag a significant change in the market’s direction (up or down) by as long as six months if such changes first take effect at or near the beginning of a quarter. Such lags between market performance and changes to the Index’s exposure may result in significant underperformance relative to the broader equity or fixed income market. Unusual
42


market conditions may cause the Index Provider to postpone a scheduled rebalance, which could cause the Index to vary from its normal or expected composition.
PERFORMANCE
The following information provides some indication of the risks of investing in the Fund. The bar chart shows the Fund’s performance for calendar years ended December 31. The table shows how the Fund’s average annual returns for one-year and since inception periods compare with those of a broad measure of market performance and the Index. The Fund’s past performance, before and after taxes, is not necessarily an indication of how the Fund will perform in the future. Performance information is also available on the Fund’s website at https://strivefunds.com/ or by calling the Fund at (215) 330-4476.
Calendar Year Total Returns as of December 31
14843407061551
The Fund’s calendar year-to-date return as of September 30, 2025 was 11.71%. During the period of time shown in the bar chart, the Fund’s highest return for a calendar quarter was 9.25% (quarter ended March 31, 2024) and the Fund’s lowest return for a calendar quarter was -2.34% (quarter ended June 30, 2024).
Average Annual Total Returns
(for periods ended December 31, 2024)
Strive 1000 Value ETF
1 Year
Since Inception
(11/09/2022)
Return Before Taxes
13.32% 11.74%
Return After Taxes on Distributions
12.67% 11.11%
Return After Taxes on Distributions and Sale of Shares
8.32% 9.01%
Bloomberg US 1000 Value Index (reflects no fees or expenses)
13.63% 11.97%
Bloomberg US 1000 Index (reflects no fees or expenses)
24.23% 25.09%
After-tax returns are calculated using the highest historical individual U.S. federal marginal income tax rates during the period covered by the table above and do not reflect the impact of state and local taxes. Actual after-tax returns depend on an investor’s tax situation and may differ from those shown. After-tax returns shown are not relevant to investors who hold their Shares through tax-deferred arrangements such as an individual retirement account (“IRA”) or other tax-advantaged accounts.
INVESTMENT ADVISER & INVESTMENT SUB-ADVISER
Investment Adviser: Empowered Funds, LLC dba EA Advisers (the “Adviser”)
Investment Sub-Adviser: Strive Asset Management, LLC (the “Sub-Adviser”)
43


PORTFOLIO MANAGERS
Matthew Cole, Chief Executive Officer and Chief Investment Officer of Strive and Jeffrey Sherman, a Portfolio Manager of Strive, are each a co-Portfolio Manager of the Fund and are primarily responsible for the day-to-day management of the Fund. Mr. Cole has managed the Fund since its inception (November 2022) and Mr. Sherman has managed the Fund since June 2023.
PURCHASE AND SALE OF SHARES
Individual Shares are listed on a national securities exchange and may only be purchased and sold in the secondary market through a broker-dealer at a market price. Because Shares trade at market prices rather than NAV, Shares may trade at a price greater than NAV (at a “premium”) or less than NAV (at a “discount”). An investor may 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 and selling Shares in the secondary market (the “bid/ask spread”).
TAX INFORMATION
The Fund’s distributions generally are taxable to you as ordinary income, capital gain, or some combination of both, unless your investment is made through an IRA or other tax-advantaged account. However, subsequent withdrawals from such a tax-advantaged account may be subject to U.S. federal income tax. You should consult your own tax advisor about your specific tax situation.
PURCHASES THROUGH BROKER-DEALERS AND OTHER FINANCIAL INTERMEDIARIES
If you purchase Shares through a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary, the Fund and its related companies may pay the intermediary for the sale of Shares and related services. These payments may create a conflict of interest by influencing the broker-dealer or other intermediary and your salesperson to recommend Shares over another investment. Ask your salesperson or visit your financial intermediary’s website for more information.



















44


STRIVE SMALL-CAP ETF
Fund Summary
INVESTMENT OBJECTIVE
The Strive Small-Cap ETF (the “Fund”) seeks to track the total return performance, before fees and expenses, of an index composed of U.S. small-capitalization companies.
FEES AND EXPENSES
This table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy, hold, and sell shares of the Fund (“Shares”). You may also pay brokerage commissions on the purchase and sale of Shares, which are not reflected in the table or example.
ANNUAL FUND OPERATING EXPENSES (EXPENSES THAT YOU PAY EACH YEAR AS A PERCENTAGE OF THE VALUE OF YOUR INVESTMENT)
Management Fee
0.18 %
Distribution and/or Service (12b-1) Fees
None
Other Expenses
0.00 %
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses
0.18 %
EXAMPLE
The following 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 for the time periods indicated and then hold or sell all of your Shares at the end of those periods. The example also assumes that the Fund provides a return of 5% a year and that operating expenses remain the same. You may also pay brokerage commissions on the purchase and sale of Shares, which are not reflected in the example. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:
One Year: Three Years: Five Years: Ten Years:
$18 $58 $101 $230
PORTFOLIO TURNOVER
The Fund may pay transaction costs, including 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 annual fund operating expenses or in the example, affect the Fund’s performance. For the fiscal period August 1, 2024 through June 30, 2025, the portfolio turnover rate for the Fund was 32% of the average value of its portfolio.
PRINCIPAL INVESTMENT STRATEGIES
The Fund’s Investment Strategy
The Fund seeks to track the investment results of the Bloomberg US 600 Index (the “Index”), which measures the performance of the small-capitalization sector in the U.S. equity market as determined by Bloomberg (the “Index Provider” or “Bloomberg”). Under normal circumstances, the Fund invests at least 80% of its net assets (plus any borrowings for investment purposes) in U.S. small cap equity securities. The Fund defines U.S. small cap equity securities as companies listed on U.S. exchanges and are the lowest 600 by market capitalization of the Bloomberg US 1500, as described below.
The Index is a free float-adjusted capitalization-weighted index comprised primarily of U.S. equity securities. The Index is a subset of the Bloomberg US 3000 Index, which measures the performance of the broad U.S. equity market, and the Bloomberg US 1500 Index, which consists of the securities ranked 1 to 1500 by market capitalization in the Bloomberg US 3000 Index. The Index consists of the lowest 600 in capitalization of the Bloomberg US 1500 Index (i.e., 901 to 1500). The Index primarily measures the performance of the small-capitalization sector of the U.S. equity market.
45


To be eligible for inclusion in the Index, a security must first meet the following criteria: (i) it is primarily listed in the United States, (ii) it is listed on a U.S. exchange, and (iii) the security’s free float must be a minimum of 10% of the security’s total shares outstanding. The Index includes common stock and real estate investment trusts (“REITs”).
The Index is calculated as a total return index in U.S. dollars. The Index is normally rebalanced on a semi-annual basis in January and July and such changes take effect in March and September. The Index constituents’ weights are normally updated in June and December.
Strive Asset Management, LLC (the “Sub-Adviser”) uses a “passive” or indexing approach to try to achieve the Fund’s investment objective. Unlike many investment companies, the Fund does not try to “beat” the index it tracks and does not seek temporary defensive positions when markets decline or appear overvalued.
Indexing may eliminate the chance that the Fund will substantially outperform the Index but also may reduce some of the risks of active management, such as poor security selection. Indexing seeks to achieve lower costs and better after-tax performance by aiming to keep portfolio turnover low in comparison to actively managed investment companies.
The Fund will generally use a “replication” strategy to seek to achieve its investment objective, meaning the Fund will invest in all of the component securities of the Index in the same approximate proportions as in the Index, but may, when the Sub-Adviser believes it is in the best interests of the Fund, use a “representative sampling” strategy, meaning the Fund 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. The Fund will be reconstituted and rebalanced on the same schedule as the Index.
The Fund will concentrate its investments (i.e., hold 25% or more of its total assets) in a particular industry or group of industries to approximately the same extent that the Index is concentrated.
PRINCIPAL INVESTMENT RISKS
An investment in the Fund involves risk, including those described below. There is no assurance that the Fund will achieve its investment objective. An investor may lose money by investing in the Fund. An investment in the Fund is not a bank deposit and is not insured or guaranteed by the FDIC or any government agency. More complete risk descriptions are set forth below under the heading “Additional Information About the Funds’ Principal Investment Risks.
Equity Investing Risk. An investment in the Fund involves risks similar to those of investing in any fund holding equity securities, such as market fluctuations, changes in interest rates and perceived trends in stock prices. The values of equity securities could decline generally or could underperform other investments. In addition, securities may decline in value due to factors affecting a specific issuer, market or securities markets generally.
Investment Risk. When you sell your Shares, they could be worth less than what you paid for them. Therefore, you may lose money by investing in the Fund. The Fund could lose money due to short-term market movements and over longer periods during market downturns. Securities may decline in value due to factors affecting securities markets generally or particular asset classes or industries represented in the markets. The value of a security may decline due to general market conditions, economic trends or events that are not specifically related to the issuer of the security, such as geopolitical events and environmental disasters. The value of a security may also decline due to factors that affect a particular industry or group of industries. During a general downturn in the securities markets, multiple asset classes may be negatively affected. Therefore, you may lose money by investing in the Fund.
Small-Capitalization Companies Risk. The securities of small-capitalization companies may be more vulnerable to adverse issuer, market, political, or economic developments than securities of large- or mid-capitalization companies. The securities of small-capitalization companies generally trade in lower volumes and during adverse circumstances, may be more difficult to sell and receive a sales price comparable to the value assigned to the security by the Fund. These securities are subject to greater and more unpredictable price changes than large- or mid-capitalization stocks or the stock market as a whole. There is typically less publicly available information concerning smaller-capitalization companies than for larger, more established companies, which may make the valuation of such securities more difficult if there isn’t a readily available market price.
Sector Risk. To the extent the Fund invests more heavily in particular sectors of the economy, its performance will be especially sensitive to developments that significantly affect those sectors. The Fund may invest a significant portion of
46


its assets in the following sectors and, therefore, the performance of the Fund could be negatively impacted by events affecting each of these sectors.
Industrials Sector Risk. The Fund is expected to have exposure to companies in the Industrials sector, and therefore, the Fund’s performance could be negatively impacted by events affecting this sector. This sector can be significantly affected by, among other things, business cycle fluctuations, worldwide economy growth, international political and economic developments, exchange rates, commodity prices, environmental issues, government and corporate spending, supply and demand for specific products and manufacturing, and government regulation.
Financials Sector Risk. The Fund is expected to have exposure to companies in the financials sector, and therefore, the Fund’s performance could be negatively impacted by events affecting this sector. The financials sector includes, for example, banks and financial institutions providing mortgage and mortgage related services. This sector can be significantly affected by, among other things, changes in interest rates, government regulation, the rate of defaults on corporate, consumer and government debt, and the availability and cost of capital.
Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) Risk. A REIT is a company that owns or finances income-producing real estate. Through its investments in REITs, the Fund is subject to the risks of investing in the real estate market, including decreases in property revenues, increases in interest rates, increases in property taxes and operating expenses, legal and regulatory changes, a lack of credit or capital, defaults by borrowers or tenants, environmental problems and natural disasters. Investments in REITs may be volatile. REITs are pooled investment vehicles with their own fees and expenses and the Fund will indirectly bear a proportionate share of those fees and expenses.
Passive Investment Risk. The Fund is not actively managed and the Sub-Adviser will not sell any investments due to current or projected underperformance of the securities, industries or sector in which it invests, unless the investment is removed from the Index, sold in connection with a rebalancing of the Index as addressed in the Index methodology, or sold to comply with the Fund’s investment limitations (for example, to maintain the Fund’s tax status). The Fund will maintain investments until changes to its Index are triggered, which could cause the Fund’s return to be lower than if the Fund employed an active strategy.
Index Calculation Risk. The Index relies on various sources of information to assess the criteria of issuers included in the Index, including fundamental information that may be based on assumptions and estimates. Neither the Fund, the Adviser, the Sub-Adviser nor the Index Provider can offer assurances that the Index’s calculation methodology or sources of information will provide a correct valuation of securities, nor can they guarantee the availability or timeliness of the production of the Index.
Concentration Risk. In following its methodology, the Index from time to time may be concentrated to a significant degree in securities of issuers located in a single industry or group of industries. To the extent that the Index concentrates in the securities of issuers in a particular industry or group of industries, the Fund also may concentrate its investments to approximately the same extent. By concentrating its investments in an industry or group of industries, the Fund may face more risks than if it were diversified broadly over numerous industries or groups of industries. If the Index is not concentrated in a particular industry or group of industries, the Fund will not concentrate in a particular industry or group of industries.
Tracking Error Risk. As with all index funds, the performance of the Fund and its respective 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.
ETF Risks.
Authorized Participants, Market Makers and Liquidity Providers Concentration 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 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
47


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.
Premium-Discount Risk. The Shares may trade above or below their net asset value (“NAV”). The market prices of Shares will generally fluctuate in accordance with changes in NAV as well as the relative supply of, and demand for, Shares on New York Stock Exchange (the “Exchange”) or other securities exchanges. The trading price of Shares may deviate significantly from NAV during periods of market volatility or limited trading activity in Shares. In addition, you may incur the cost of the “spread,” that is, any difference between the bid price and the ask price of the Shares.
Cost of Trading Risk. Investors buying or selling Shares in the secondary market will pay brokerage commissions or other charges imposed by brokers as determined by that broker. Brokerage commissions are often a fixed amount and may be a significant proportional cost for investors seeking to buy or sell relatively small amounts of Shares. In addition, secondary market investors will also incur the cost of the difference between the price that an investor is willing to pay for Shares (the “bid” price) and the price at which an investor is willing to sell Shares (the “ask” price). This difference in bid and ask prices is often referred to as the “spread” or “bid/ask spread.” The bid/ask spread varies over time for Shares based on trading volume and market liquidity, and is generally lower if the Fund’s Shares have more trading volume and market liquidity and higher if the Fund’s Shares have little trading volume and market liquidity. Further, increased market volatility may cause increased bid/ask spreads.
Trading Risk. Although the Shares are listed on the Exchange, there can be no assurance that an active or liquid trading market for them will develop or be maintained. In addition, trading in Shares on the Exchange may be halted. In stressed market conditions, the liquidity of Shares may begin to mirror the liquidity of its underlying portfolio holdings, which can be less liquid than Shares, potentially causing the market price of Shares to deviate from its NAV. The spread varies over time for Shares of the Fund based on the Fund’s trading volume and market liquidity and is generally lower if the Fund has high trading volume and market liquidity, and higher if the Fund has little trading volume and market liquidity (which is often the case for funds that are newly launched or small in size).
Index Rebalance Risk. Because the Index generally changes its exposure based on data only as of the last week of January and July, (i) the Index’s exposure may be affected by significant market movements at or near the rebalance date that are not predictive of the market’s performance for the subsequent six-month period and (ii) changes to the Index’s exposure may lag a significant change in the market’s direction (up or down) by as long as a six months if such changes first take effect at or near the beginning of a rebalance date. Such lags between market performance and changes to the Index’s exposure may result in significant underperformance relative to the broader equity market. Unusual market conditions may cause the Index Provider to postpone a scheduled rebalance, which could cause the Index to vary from its normal or expected composition.
PERFORMANCE
The following information provides some indication of the risks of investing in the Fund. The bar chart shows the Fund’s performance for calendar years ended December 31. The table shows how the Fund’s average annual returns for one-year and since inception periods compare with those of a broad measure of market performance and the Index. The Fund’s past performance, before and after taxes, is not necessarily an indication of how the Fund will perform in the future. Performance information is also available on the Fund’s website at https://strivefunds.com/ or by calling the Fund at (215) 330-4476.
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Calendar Year Total Returns as of December 31
14843407053274
The Fund’s calendar year-to-date return as of September 30, 2025 was 7.09%. During the period of time shown in the bar chart, the Fund’s highest return for a calendar quarter was 15.76% (quarter ended December 31, 2023) and the Fund’s lowest return for a calendar quarter was -4.88% (quarter ended September 30, 2023).
Average Annual Total Returns
(for periods ended December 31, 2024)
Strive Small-Cap ETF
1 Year
Since Inception
(11/09/2022)
Return Before Taxes
9.50% 14.09%
Return After Taxes on Distributions
9.00% 13.62%
Return After Taxes on Distributions and Sale of Shares
5.85% 10.82%
Bloomberg US 600 Index/Bloomberg US 2000 Index (reflects no fees or expenses)
9.66% 14.28%
Bloomberg US 1000 Index (reflects no fees or expenses) 24.23% 25.09%
Effective January 25, 2023, the Fund’s investment objective changed to track the total return performance, before fees and expenses, of an index composed of U.S. small-capitalization companies, and the Fund’s investment strategy changed to track the investment results of the Bloomberg 600 Index. Prior to January 25, 2023, the Fund’s investment objective was to track the total return performance, before fees and expenses, of an index composed of U.S. small- and mid-capitalization companies, and the Fund’s investment strategy was to track the investment results of the Bloomberg US 2000 Index. Performance shown for the Bloomberg US 600 Index/Bloomberg US 2000 Index for periods prior to January 25, 2023 is that of the Bloomberg US 2000 Index and for periods beginning January 25, 2023 is that of the Bloomberg US 600 Index.
After-tax returns are calculated using the highest historical individual U.S. federal marginal income tax rates during the period covered by the table above and do not reflect the impact of state and local taxes. Actual after-tax returns depend on an investor’s tax situation and may differ from those shown. After-tax returns shown are not relevant to investors who hold their Shares through tax-deferred arrangements such as an individual retirement account (“IRA”) or other tax-advantaged accounts.
INVESTMENT ADVISER & INVESTMENT SUB-ADVISER
Investment Adviser: Empowered Funds, LLC dba EA Advisers (the “Adviser”)
Investment Sub-Adviser: Strive Asset Management, LLC (the “Sub-Adviser”)
PORTFOLIO MANAGERS
Matthew Cole, Chief Executive Officer and Chief Investment Officer of Strive and Jeffrey Sherman a Portfolio Manager of Strive, are each a co-Portfolio Manager of the Fund and are primarily responsible for the day-to-day management of the Fund. Mr. Cole has managed the Fund since its inception (November 2022) and Mr. Sherman has managed the Fund since June 2023.
49


PURCHASE AND SALE OF SHARES
Individual Shares are listed on a national securities exchange and may only be purchased and sold in the secondary market through a broker-dealer at a market price. Because Shares trade at market prices rather than NAV, Shares may trade at a price greater than NAV (at a “premium”) or less than NAV (at a “discount”). An investor may 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 and selling Shares in the secondary market (the “bid/ask spread”).
TAX INFORMATION
The Fund’s distributions generally are taxable to you as ordinary income, capital gain, or some combination of both, unless your investment is made through an IRA or other tax-advantaged account. However, subsequent withdrawals from such a tax-advantaged account may be subject to U.S. federal income tax. You should consult your own tax advisor about your specific tax situation.
PURCHASES THROUGH BROKER-DEALERS AND OTHER FINANCIAL INTERMEDIARIES
If you purchase Shares through a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary, the Fund and its related companies may pay the intermediary for the sale of Shares and related services. These payments may create a conflict of interest by influencing the broker-dealer or other intermediary and your salesperson to recommend Shares over another investment. Ask your salesperson or visit your financial intermediary’s website for more information.























50


STRIVE 1000 DIVIDEND GROWTH ETF
Fund Summary
INVESTMENT OBJECTIVE
The Strive 1000 Dividend Growth ETF (the “Fund”) seeks to track the total return performance, before fees and expenses, of an index composed of U.S.-listed equities with a history of consistently growing dividends.
FEES AND EXPENSES
This table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy, hold, and sell shares of the Fund (“Shares”). You may also pay brokerage commissions on the purchase and sale of Shares, which are not reflected in the table or example.
ANNUAL FUND OPERATING EXPENSES (EXPENSES THAT YOU PAY EACH YEAR AS A PERCENTAGE OF THE VALUE OF YOUR INVESTMENT)
Management Fee
0.35 %
Distribution and/or Service (12b-1) Fees
None
Other Expenses
0.00 %
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses
0.35 %
EXAMPLE
The following 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 for the time periods indicated and then hold or sell all of your Shares at the end of those periods. The example also assumes that the Fund provides a return of 5% a year and that operating expenses remain the same. You may also pay brokerage commissions on the purchase and sale of Shares, which are not reflected in the example. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:
One Year: Three Years: Five Years: Ten Years:
$36 $113 $197 $443
PORTFOLIO TURNOVER
The Fund may pay transaction costs, including 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 annual fund operating expenses or in the example, affect the Fund’s performance. For the fiscal period August 1, 2024 through June 30, 2025, the portfolio turnover rate for the Fund was 18% of the average value of its portfolio.
PRINCIPAL INVESTMENT STRATEGIES
The Fund’s Investment Strategy
The Fund seeks to track the investment results of the Bloomberg US 1000 Dividend Growth Index (the “Index”). The Index is a subset of the Bloomberg US 1000 Growth Index, which measures the performance of large- and mid-capitalization growth companies in the U.S. equity market as determined by Bloomberg. Under normal circumstances, the Fund invests at least 80% of its net assets (plus any borrowings for investment purposes) in dividend paying equity securities. The Fund defines dividend paying equity securities as companies that have i) demonstrated five consecutive years of positive growth and ii) exhibits a five year-dividend growth ratio that is greater than the overall Bloomberg US 1000 Growth Index (“Dividend Paying Companies”).
The Index will generally consist of approximately 200 constituents. The Index is expected to have significant exposure to the Information Technology and Financials sectors. The components of the Index will change over time.
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A security is eligible for inclusion in the Index if such security i) is a Dividend Paying Company and ii) has a minimum average daily value traded that is greater than or equal to $5 million. Each security in the Index is free float market capitalization weighted.
An Index position is capped at (i) 5% maximum at the issuer level (only the top eight securities are eligible to be weighted at 5%) and (ii) securities that are not part of the top eight securities in the Index are capped at a 2.5% maximum weight. Any excess weight from capping is redistributed proportionally to the remaining uncapped securities until there are no issuers with a weight greater than either 5% (for the top eight securities) or 2.5% (for the remaining securities).
If there are less than 20 issuers included in the Index, then all the issuers are equally weighted. For issuers with multiple securities, the issuer weight is redistributed proportionally based on the free float market capitalization of each security for a given issuer.
The Index is calculated as a total return index in U.S. dollars. The Index is normally reconstituted on an annual basis in April. The Index constituents’ weights are normally rebalanced quarterly in January, April, July and October.
Strive Asset Management, LLC (the “Sub-Adviser”) uses a “passive” or indexing approach to try to achieve the Fund’s investment objective. Unlike many investment companies, the Fund does not try to “beat” the index it tracks and does not seek temporary defensive positions when markets decline or appear overvalued.
Indexing may eliminate the chance that the Fund will substantially outperform the Index but also may reduce some of the risks of active management, such as poor security selection. Indexing seeks to achieve lower costs and better after-tax performance by aiming to keep portfolio turnover low in comparison to actively managed investment companies.
The Fund will generally use a “replication” strategy to seek to achieve its investment objective, meaning the Fund will invest in all of the component securities of the Index in the same approximate proportions as in the Index, but may, when the Sub-Adviser believes it is in the best interests of the Fund, use a “representative sampling” strategy, meaning the Fund 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. The Fund will be reconstituted and rebalanced on the same schedule as the Index.
The Fund will concentrate its investments (i.e., hold 25% or more of its total assets) in a particular industry or group of industries to approximately the same extent that the Index is concentrated.
PRINCIPAL INVESTMENT RISKS
An investment in the Fund involves risk, including those described below. There is no assurance that the Fund will achieve its investment objective. An investor may lose money by investing in the Fund. An investment in the Fund is not a bank deposit and is not insured or guaranteed by the FDIC or any government agency. More complete risk descriptions are set forth below under the heading “Additional Information About the Funds’ Principal Investment Risks.
Equity Investing Risk. An investment in the Fund involves risks similar to those of investing in any fund holding equity securities, such as market fluctuations, changes in interest rates and perceived trends in stock prices. The values of equity securities could decline generally or could underperform other investments. In addition, securities may decline in value due to factors affecting a specific issuer, market or securities markets generally.
Dividend-Paying Common Equity Security Risk. Investing in dividend-paying stocks involves the risk that such stocks may fall out of favor with investors and underperform the broader market. Companies that issue dividend-paying stocks are not required to pay or continue paying dividends on such stocks. It is possible that issuers of the stocks held by the Fund will not declare dividends in the future or will reduce or eliminate the payment of dividends (including reducing or eliminating anticipated accelerations or increases in the payment of dividends) in the future.
Growth Investing Risk. The Fund invests in growth securities, which may be more volatile than other types of investments, may perform differently than the market as a whole and may underperform when compared to securities with different investment parameters. Under certain market conditions, growth securities have performed better during the later stages of economic recovery (although there is no guarantee that they will continue to do so). Therefore, growth securities may go in and out of favor over time.
Investment Risk. When you sell your Shares, they could be worth less than what you paid for them. Therefore, you may lose money by investing in the Fund. The Fund could lose money due to short-term market movements and over longer
52


periods during market downturns. Securities may decline in value due to factors affecting securities markets generally or particular asset classes or industries represented in the markets. The value of a security may decline due to general market conditions, economic trends or events that are not specifically related to the issuer of the security, such as geopolitical events and environmental disasters. The value of a security may also decline due to factors that affect a particular industry or group of industries. During a general downturn in the securities markets, multiple asset classes may be negatively affected. Therefore, you may lose money by investing in the Fund.
Large-Capitalization Companies Risk. Large-capitalization companies may trail the returns of the overall stock market. Large-capitalization stocks tend to go through cycles of doing better - or worse - than the stock market in general. These periods have, in the past, lasted for as long as several years. When large capitalization companies are out of favor, these securities may lose value or may not appreciate in line with the overall market. In addition, large capitalization companies may be unable to respond quickly to new competitive challenges, such as changes in technology or consumer tastes, and also may not be able to attain the high growth rate of successful small companies, especially during extended periods of economic expansion.
Mid-Capitalization Companies Risk. The securities of mid-capitalization companies may be more vulnerable to adverse issuer, market, political, or economic developments than securities of larger-capitalization companies. The securities of 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 of these companies have limited product lines, markets, and financial and managerial resources and tend to concentrate on fewer geographical markets relative to larger capitalization companies.
Sector Risk. To the extent the Fund invests more heavily in particular sectors of the economy, its performance will be especially sensitive to developments that significantly affect those sectors. The Fund may invest a significant portion of its assets in the following sectors and, therefore, the performance of the Fund could be negatively impacted by events affecting each of these sectors.
Information Technology Sector Risk. The Fund may invest in companies in the technology sector, and therefore, the Fund’s performance could be negatively impacted by events affecting this sector. Market or economic factors impacting technology companies and companies that rely heavily on technological advances could have a significant effect on the value of the Fund’s investments. Technology companies, including information technology companies, may have limited product lines, financial resources and/or personnel. Technology companies typically face intense competition and potentially rapid product obsolescence. They are also heavily dependent on intellectual property rights and may be adversely affected by the loss or impairment of those rights. Companies in the technology sector also face increased government regulation, including new regulations and scrutiny related to data privacy, and may be subject to adverse government or regulatory actions, which may be costly.
Financials Sector Risk. The Fund is expected to have exposure to companies in the financials sector, and therefore, the Fund’s performance could be negatively impacted by events affecting this sector. The financials sector includes, for example, banks and financial institutions providing mortgage and mortgage related services. This sector can be significantly affected by, among other things, changes in interest rates, government regulation, the rate of defaults on corporate, consumer and government debt, and the availability and cost of capital.
Passive Investment Risk. The Fund is not actively managed and the Sub-Adviser will not sell any investments due to current or projected underperformance of the securities, industries or sector in which it invests, unless the investment is removed from the Index, sold in connection with a rebalancing of the Index as addressed in the Index methodology, or sold to comply with the Fund’s investment limitations (for example, to maintain the Fund’s tax status). The Fund will maintain investments until changes to its Index are triggered, which could cause the Fund’s return to be lower than if the Fund employed an active strategy.
Index Calculation Risk. The Index relies on various sources of information to assess the criteria of issuers included in the Index, including fundamental information that may be based on assumptions and estimates. Neither the Fund, the Adviser, the Sub-Adviser nor the Index Provider can offer assurances that the Index’s calculation methodology or sources of information will provide a correct valuation of securities, nor can they guarantee the availability or timeliness of the production of the Index.
53


Concentration Risk. In following its methodology, the Index from time to time may be concentrated to a significant degree in securities of issuers located in a single industry or group of industries. To the extent that the Index concentrates in the securities of issuers in a particular industry or group of industries, the Fund also may concentrate its investments to approximately the same extent. By concentrating its investments in an industry or group of industries, the Fund may face more risks than if it were diversified broadly over numerous industries or groups of industries. If the Index is not concentrated in a particular industry or group of industries, the Fund will not concentrate in a particular industry or group of industries.
Tracking Error Risk. As with all index funds, the performance of the Fund and its respective 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.
ETF Risks.
Authorized Participants, Market Makers and Liquidity Providers Concentration 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 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.
Premium-Discount Risk. The Shares may trade above or below their net asset value (“NAV”). The market prices of Shares will generally fluctuate in accordance with changes in NAV as well as the relative supply of, and demand for, Shares on New York Stock Exchange (the “Exchange”) or other securities exchanges. The trading price of Shares may deviate significantly from NAV during periods of market volatility or limited trading activity in Shares. In addition, you may incur the cost of the “spread,” that is, any difference between the bid price and the ask price of the Shares.
Cost of Trading Risk. Investors buying or selling Shares in the secondary market will pay brokerage commissions or other charges imposed by brokers as determined by that broker. Brokerage commissions are often a fixed amount and may be a significant proportional cost for investors seeking to buy or sell relatively small amounts of Shares. In addition, secondary market investors will also incur the cost of the difference between the price that an investor is willing to pay for Shares (the “bid” price) and the price at which an investor is willing to sell Shares (the “ask” price). This difference in bid and ask prices is often referred to as the “spread” or “bid/ask spread.” The bid/ask spread varies over time for Shares based on trading volume and market liquidity, and is generally lower if the Fund’s Shares have more trading volume and market liquidity and higher if the Fund’s Shares have little trading volume and market liquidity. Further, increased market volatility may cause increased bid/ask spreads.
Trading Risk. Although the Shares are listed on the Exchange, there can be no assurance that an active or liquid trading market for them will develop or be maintained. In addition, trading in Shares on the Exchange may be halted. In stressed market conditions, the liquidity of Shares may begin to mirror the liquidity of its underlying portfolio holdings, which can be less liquid than Shares, potentially causing the market price of Shares to deviate from its NAV. The spread varies over time for Shares of the Fund based on the Fund’s trading volume and market liquidity and is generally lower if the Fund has high trading volume and market liquidity, and higher if the Fund has little trading volume and market liquidity (which is often the case for funds that are newly launched or small in size).
Index Rebalance Risk. Because the Index generally changes its exposure based on data only as January, April, July and October (i) the Index’s exposure may be affected by significant market movements at or near the rebalance date that are not predictive of the market’s performance for the subsequent annual period and (ii) changes to the Index’s exposure may lag a significant change in the market’s direction (up or down) by as long as a year if such changes first take effect at or near the beginning of a year. Such lags between market performance and changes to the Index’s exposure may result in significant underperformance relative to the broader equity or fixed income market. Unusual market conditions
54


may cause the Index Provider to postpone a scheduled rebalance, which could cause the Index to vary from its normal or expected composition.
PERFORMANCE
The following information provides some indication of the risks of investing in the Fund. The bar chart shows the Fund’s performance for calendar years ended December 31. The table shows how the Fund’s average annual returns for one-year and since inception periods compare with those of a broad measure of market performance and the Index. The Fund’s past performance, before and after taxes, is not necessarily an indication of how the Fund will perform in the future. Performance information is also available on the Fund’s website at https://strivefunds.com/ or by calling the Fund at (215) 330-4476.
Calendar Year Total Returns as of December 31
14843407053200
The Fund’s calendar year-to-date return as of September 30, 2025 was 12.74%. During the period of time shown in the bar chart, the Fund’s highest return for a calendar quarter was 10.24% (quarter ended December 31, 2023) and the Fund’s lowest return for a calendar quarter was -3.86% (quarter ended September 30, 2023).
Average Annual Total Returns
(for periods ended December 31, 2024)
Strive 1000 Dividend Growth ETF
1 Year
Since Inception
(11/09/2022)
Return Before Taxes
14.62% 15.75%
Return After Taxes on Distributions
14.28% 15.38%
Return After Taxes on Distributions and Sale of Shares
8.89% 12.19%
Bloomberg US 1000 Dividend Growth Index (reflects no fees or expenses)
15.05% 16.18%
Bloomberg US 1000 Index (reflects no fees or expenses)
24.23% 25.09%
After-tax returns are calculated using the highest historical individual U.S. federal marginal income tax rates during the period covered by the table above and do not reflect the impact of state and local taxes. Actual after-tax returns depend on an investor’s tax situation and may differ from those shown. After-tax returns shown are not relevant to investors who hold their Shares through tax-deferred arrangements such as an individual retirement account (“IRA”) or other tax-advantaged accounts.
INVESTMENT ADVISER & INVESTMENT SUB-ADVISER
Investment Adviser: Empowered Funds, LLC dba EA Advisers (the “Adviser”)
Investment Sub-Adviser: Strive Asset Management, LLC (the “Sub-Adviser”)
55


PORTFOLIO MANAGERS
Matthew Cole, Chief Executive Officer and Chief Investment Officer of Strive and Jeffrey Sherman, a Portfolio Manager of Strive, are each a co-Portfolio Manager of the Fund and are primarily responsible for the day-to-day management of the Fund. Mr. Cole has managed the Fund since its inception (November 2022) and Mr. Sherman has managed the Fund since June 2023.
PURCHASE AND SALE OF SHARES
Individual Shares are listed on a national securities exchange and may only be purchased and sold in the secondary market through a broker-dealer at a market price. Because Shares trade at market prices rather than NAV, Shares may trade at a price greater than NAV (at a “premium”) or less than NAV (at a “discount”). An investor may 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 and selling Shares in the secondary market (the “bid/ask spread”).
TAX INFORMATION
The Fund’s distributions generally are taxable to you as ordinary income, capital gain, or some combination of both, unless your investment is made through an IRA or other tax-advantaged account. However, subsequent withdrawals from such a tax-advantaged account may be subject to U.S. federal income tax. You should consult your own tax advisor about your specific tax situation.
PURCHASES THROUGH BROKER-DEALERS AND OTHER FINANCIAL INTERMEDIARIES
If you purchase Shares through a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary, the Fund and its related companies may pay the intermediary for the sale of Shares and related services. These payments may create a conflict of interest by influencing the broker-dealer or other intermediary and your salesperson to recommend Shares over another investment. Ask your salesperson or visit your financial intermediary’s website for more information.












56


STRIVE MID-CAP ETF
Fund Summary
INVESTMENT OBJECTIVE
The Strive Mid-Cap ETF (the “Fund”) seeks to track the total return performance, before fees and expenses, of an index composed of U.S. mid-capitalization companies.
FEES AND EXPENSES
This table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy, hold, and sell shares of the Fund (“Shares”). You may also pay brokerage commissions on the purchase and sale of Shares, which are not reflected in the table or example.
ANNUAL FUND OPERATING EXPENSES (EXPENSES THAT YOU PAY EACH YEAR AS A PERCENTAGE OF THE VALUE OF YOUR INVESTMENT)
Management Fee 0.18  %
Distribution and/or Service (12b-1) Fees None
Other Expenses 0.00 %
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses 0.18  %
EXAMPLE
The following 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 for the time periods indicated and then hold or sell all of your Shares at the end of those periods. The example also assumes that the Fund provides a return of 5% a year and that operating expenses remain the same. You may also pay brokerage commissions on the purchase and sale of Shares, which are not reflected in the example. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:
One Year: Three Years: Five Years: Ten Years:
$18 $58 $101 $230
PORTFOLIO TURNOVER
The Fund may pay transaction costs, including 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 annual fund operating expenses or in the example, affect the Fund’s performance. For the fiscal period August 1, 2024 through June 30, 2025, the Fund's portfolio turnover rate was 24% of the average value of its portfolio.
PRINCIPAL INVESTMENT STRATEGIES
The Fund’s Investment Strategy
The Fund seeks to track the investment results of the Bloomberg US 400 Index (the “Index”), which measures the performance of the mid-capitalization sector in the U.S. equity market as determined by Bloomberg (the “Index Provider” or “Bloomberg”). Under normal circumstances, the Fund invests at least 80% of its net assets (plus any borrowings for investment purposes) will be invested in mid-capitalization companies, as defined below. The Index is a free float-adjusted capitalization-weighted (i.e., market capitalization based on the number of shares available to the public) index comprised primarily of U.S. equity securities. The constituents of the Index are determined using the following steps:
Step 1. To be eligible for inclusion in the Index, a security must meet the following criteria: (i) it is primarily listed in the United States, (ii) it is listed on a U.S. exchange, and (iii) the security’s free float (i.e., the proportion of shares that are publicly available) must be a minimum of 10% of the security’s total shares outstanding. The Index includes common stock and real estate investment trusts (“REITs”).
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Step 2. Eligible securities are sorted in descending order of total market capitalization and the cumulative free-float market capitalization is determined for each company to create the Bloomberg US 3000 Index (which measures the performance of the broad U.S. equity market).
Step 3. After completing the reconstitution of the Bloomberg US 3000 Index, the securities ranked 1 to 1500 within the Bloomberg US 3000 Index by market capitalization constitute the Bloomberg US 1500.
Step 4. After completing the reconstitution of the Bloomberg US 1500, the securities ranked 501 to 900 (i.e., the middle 400 companies by capitalization) (“Mid-Capitalization Companies”) constitute the Index.
The Index is expected to have significant exposure to the Industrials and Financials sector. The Industrials sector includes, for example, aerospace and defense, non-residential construction, engineering, machinery, transportation, and commercial and professional services companies. The financials sector includes, for example, banks and financial institutions providing mortgage and mortgage related services. The components of the Index are likely to change over time.
The Index is calculated as a total return index in U.S. dollars. The Index is normally rebalanced on a semi-annual basis in January and July and such changes take effect in March and September. The Index constituents’ weights are normally updated in June and December.
Strive Asset Management, LLC (the “Sub-Adviser”) uses a “passive” or indexing approach to try to achieve the Fund’s investment objective. Unlike many investment companies, the Fund does not try to “beat” the index it tracks and does not seek temporary defensive positions when markets decline or appear overvalued.
Indexing may eliminate the chance that the Fund will substantially outperform the Index but also may reduce some of the risks of active management, such as poor security selection. Indexing seeks to achieve lower costs and better after-tax performance by aiming to keep portfolio turnover low in comparison to actively managed investment companies.
The Fund will generally use a “replication” strategy to seek to achieve its investment objective, meaning the Fund will invest in all of the component securities of the Index in the same approximate proportions as in the Index, but may, when the Sub-Adviser believes it is in the best interests of the Fund, use a “representative sampling” strategy, meaning the Fund 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. For example, the Fund may utilize a representative sampling strategy when the Sub-Adviser believes a replication strategy might be detrimental or disadvantageous to shareholders, such as when buying each security in the Index is impracticable or inefficient, when there are practical difficulties or additional costs involved in replicating the Index, or if one or more securities in the Index is illiquid, unavailable or less liquid. In addition, the Fund may use a representative sampling as a result of legal restrictions or limitations (such as tax diversification requirements) that apply to the Fund but not to the Index. The Fund will be reconstituted and rebalanced on the same schedule as the Index.
The Fund will concentrate its investments (i.e., hold 25% or more of its total assets) in a particular industry or group of industries to approximately the same extent that the Index is concentrated.
PRINCIPAL INVESTMENT RISKS
An investment in the Fund involves risk, including those described below. There is no assurance that the Fund will achieve its investment objective. An investor may lose money by investing in the Fund. An investment in the Fund is not a bank deposit and is not insured or guaranteed by the FDIC or any government agency. More complete risk descriptions are set forth below under the heading “Additional Information About the Funds’ Principal Investment Risks.
Equity Investing Risk. An investment in the Fund involves risks similar to those of investing in any fund holding equity securities, such as market fluctuations, changes in interest rates and perceived trends in stock prices. The values of equity securities could decline generally or could underperform other investments. In addition, securities may decline in value due to factors affecting a specific issuer, market or securities markets generally.
Investment Risk. When you sell your Shares, they could be worth less than what you paid for them. Therefore, you may lose money by investing in the Fund. The Fund could lose money due to short-term market movements and over longer periods during market downturns. Securities may decline in value due to factors affecting securities markets generally or particular asset classes or industries represented in the markets. The value of a security may decline due to general market conditions, economic trends or events that are not specifically related to the issuer of the security, such as
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geopolitical events and environmental disasters. The value of a security may also decline due to factors that affect a particular industry or group of industries. During a general downturn in the securities markets, multiple asset classes may be negatively affected. Therefore, you may lose money by investing in the Fund.
Mid-Capitalization Companies Risk. Investing in securities of mid-capitalization companies involves greater risk than customarily is associated with investing in larger, more established companies. These companies’ securities may be more volatile and less liquid than those of more established companies. Often mid-capitalization companies and the industries in which they focus are still evolving and, as a result, they may be more sensitive to changing market conditions.
Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) Risk. A REIT is a company that owns or finances income-producing real estate. Through its investments in REITs, the Fund is subject to the risks of investing in the real estate market, including decreases in property revenues, increases in interest rates, increases in property taxes and operating expenses, legal and regulatory changes, a lack of credit or capital, defaults by borrowers or tenants, environmental problems and natural disasters. Investments in REITs may be volatile. REITs are pooled investment vehicles with their own fees and expenses and the Fund will indirectly bear a proportionate share of those fees and expenses.
Passive Investment Risk. The Fund is not actively managed and the Sub-Adviser will not sell any investments due to current or projected underperformance of the securities, industries or sector in which it invests, unless the investment is removed from the Index, sold in connection with a rebalancing of the Index as addressed in the Index methodology, or sold to comply with the Fund’s investment limitations (for example, to maintain the Fund’s tax status). The Fund will maintain investments until changes to its Index are triggered, which could cause the Fund’s return to be lower than if the Fund employed an active strategy.
Index Calculation Risk. The Index relies on various sources of information to assess the criteria of issuers included in the Index, including fundamental information that may be based on assumptions and estimates. Neither the Fund, the Adviser, the Sub-Adviser nor the Index Provider can offer assurances that the Index’s calculation methodology or sources of information will provide a correct valuation of securities, nor can they guarantee the availability or timeliness of the production of the Index. Errors in index data, index computation or the construction of the Index in accordance with its methodology may occur from time to time and may not be identified and corrected by the Index Provider for a period of time or at all, which may negatively impact the Fund and its shareholders.
Concentration Risk. In following its methodology, the Index from time to time may be concentrated to a significant degree in securities of issuers located in a single industry or group of industries. To the extent that the Index concentrates in the securities of issuers in a particular industry or group of industries, the Fund also may concentrate its investments to approximately the same extent. By concentrating its investments in an industry or group of industries, the Fund may face more risks than if it were diversified broadly over numerous industries or groups of industries. If the Index is not concentrated in a particular industry or group of industries, the Fund will not concentrate in a particular industry or group of industries.
Tracking Error Risk. As with all index funds, the performance of the Fund and its respective 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.
ETF Risks.
Authorized Participants, Market Makers and Liquidity Providers Concentration 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 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.
Premium-Discount Risk. The Shares may trade above or below their net asset value (“NAV”). The market prices of Shares will generally fluctuate in accordance with changes in NAV as well as the relative supply of, and demand for, Shares on the New York Stock Exchange (the “Exchange”) or other securities exchanges. The trading price of Shares may deviate significantly from NAV during periods of market volatility or limited
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trading activity in Shares. In addition, you may incur the cost of the “spread,” that is, any difference between the bid price and the ask price of the Shares.
Cost of Trading Risk. Investors buying or selling Shares in the secondary market will pay brokerage commissions or other charges imposed by brokers as determined by that broker. Brokerage commissions are often a fixed amount and may be a significant proportional cost for investors seeking to buy or sell relatively small amounts of Shares.
Trading Risk. Although the Shares are listed on the Exchange, there can be no assurance that an active or liquid trading market for them will develop or be maintained. In addition, trading in Shares on the Exchange may be halted. In stressed market conditions, the liquidity of Shares may begin to mirror the liquidity of its underlying portfolio holdings, which can be less liquid than Shares, potentially causing the market price of Shares to deviate from its NAV. The spread varies over time for Shares of the Fund based on the Fund’s trading volume and market liquidity and is generally lower if the Fund has high trading volume and market liquidity, and higher if the Fund has little trading volume and market liquidity (which is often the case for funds that are newly launched or small in size).
Sector Risk. To the extent the Fund invests more heavily in particular sectors of the economy, its performance will be especially sensitive to developments that significantly affect those sectors. The Fund may invest a significant portion of its assets in the following sectors and, therefore, the performance of the Fund could be negatively impacted by events affecting each of these sectors.
Industrials Sector Risk. The Fund is expected to have exposure to companies in the Industrials sector, and therefore, the Fund’s performance could be negatively impacted by events affecting this sector. This sector can be significantly affected by, among other things, business cycle fluctuations, worldwide economy growth, international political and economic developments, exchange rates, commodity prices, environmental issues, government and corporate spending, supply and demand for specific products and manufacturing, and government regulation.
Financials Sector Risk. The Fund is expected to have exposure to companies in the financials sector, and therefore, the Fund’s performance could be negatively impacted by events affecting this sector. The financials sector includes, for example, banks and financial institutions providing mortgage and mortgage related services. This sector can be significantly affected by, among other things, changes in interest rates, government regulation, the rate of defaults on corporate, consumer and government debt, and the availability and cost of capital.
Index Rebalance Risk. Because the Index generally changes its exposure based on data only as of the last week of January and July, (i) the Index’s exposure may be affected by significant market movements at or near the rebalance date that are not predictive of the market’s performance for the subsequent six-month period and (ii) changes to the Index’s exposure may lag a significant change in the market’s direction (up or down) by as long as a six-months if such changes first take effect at or near the beginning of a rebalance date. Such lags between market performance and changes to the Index’s exposure may result in significant underperformance relative to the broader equity market. Unusual market conditions may cause the Index Provider to postpone a scheduled rebalance, which could cause the Index to vary from its normal or expected composition.
Limited Operating History. The Fund is a recently organized management investment company with limited operating history. As a result, prospective investors have a limited track record on which to base their investment decision. An investment in the Fund may therefore involve greater uncertainty than an investment in a fund with a more established record of performance.
PERFORMANCE
Performance information is not provided below because the Fund has not yet been in operation for one full calendar year. When provided, the information will provide some indication of the risks of investing in the Fund by showing how the Fund’s average annual returns compare with a broad measure of market performance. Past performance does not necessarily indicate how the Fund will perform in the future. Updated performance information will be available at https://strivefunds.com/ or by calling the Fund at (215) 330-4476.
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INVESTMENT ADVISER & INVESTMENT SUB-ADVISER
Investment Adviser:   Empowered Funds, LLC, dba EA Advisers (the “Adviser”)
Investment Sub-Adviser:
 
Strive Asset Management, LLC (the “Sub-Adviser”)
PORTFOLIO MANAGERS
Matthew Cole, Chief Executive Officer and Chief Investment Officer of Strive and Jeffrey Sherman, a Portfolio Manager of Strive, are each a co-Portfolio Manager of the Fund and are primarily responsible for the day-to-day management of the Fund. Mr. Cole and Mr. Sherman have managed the Fund since its inception (April 2024).
PURCHASE AND SALE OF SHARES
Individual Shares are listed on a national securities exchange and may only be purchased and sold in the secondary market through a broker-dealer at a market price. Because Shares trade at market prices rather than NAV, Shares may trade at a price greater than NAV (at a “premium”) or less than NAV (at a “discount”). An investor may 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 and selling Shares in the secondary market (the “bid/ask spread”).
TAX INFORMATION
The Fund’s distributions generally are taxable to you as ordinary income, capital gain, or some combination of both, unless your investment is made through an Individual Retirement Account (“IRA”) or other tax-advantaged account. However, subsequent withdrawals from such a tax-advantaged account may be subject to U.S. federal income tax. You should consult your own tax advisor about your specific tax situation.
PURCHASES THROUGH BROKER-DEALERS AND OTHER FINANCIAL INTERMEDIARIES
If you purchase Shares through a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary, the Fund and its related companies may pay the intermediary for the sale of Shares and related services. These payments may create a conflict of interest by influencing the broker-dealer or other intermediary and your salesperson to recommend Shares over another investment. Ask your salesperson or visit your financial intermediary’s website for more information.
















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STRIVE INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPED MARKETS ETF
Fund Summary
INVESTMENT OBJECTIVE
The Strive International Developed Markets ETF (the “Fund”) seeks to track the total return performance, before fees and expenses, of an index composed of developed markets, ex-US securities.
FEES AND EXPENSES
This table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy, hold, and sell shares of the Fund (“Shares”). You may also pay brokerage commissions on the purchase and sale of Shares, which are not reflected in the table or example.
ANNUAL FUND OPERATING EXPENSES (EXPENSES THAT YOU PAY EACH YEAR AS A PERCENTAGE OF THE VALUE OF YOUR INVESTMENT)
Management Fee
0.29 %
Distribution and/or Service (12b-1) Fees
None
Other Expenses
0.00 %
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses
0.29 %
EXAMPLE
The following 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 for the time periods indicated and then hold or sell all of your Shares at the end of those periods. The example also assumes that the Fund provides a return of 5% a year and that operating expenses remain the same. You may also pay brokerage commissions on the purchase and sale of Shares, which are not reflected in the example. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:
One Year: Three Years: Five Years: Ten Years:
$30 $93 $163 $368
PORTFOLIO TURNOVER
The Fund may pay transaction costs, including 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 annual fund operating expenses or in the example, affect the Fund’s performance. For the fiscal period August 1, 2024 through June 30, 2025, the Fund's portfolio turnover rate was 12% of the average value of its portfolio.
PRINCIPAL INVESTMENT STRATEGIES
The Fund’s Investment Strategy
The Fund seeks to track the investment results of the Bloomberg Developed Markets ex US Large & Mid Cap Total Return Index (the “Index”), which tracks mid- and large- cap companies of developed market countries, not including the U.S. (each an “Index Component” and collectively the “Index Components”), which are selected and weighted according to free-float market capitalization. Under normal circumstances, the Fund invests at least 80% of its net assets (plus any borrowings for investment purposes) in developed markets securities.
The Bloomberg Developed Markets ex US Large & Mid Cap Total Return Index is a free float market-cap-weighted equity benchmark that covers 85% market cap of the measured market. To qualify as a developed market country security, securities must have a country classification corresponding to the developed markets within the Index and a free float adjusted market capitalization of at least $100 million. The Index may include depositary receipts (including American Depositary Receipts and Global Depositary Receipts.
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The Index consists of issuers in the following developed market countries: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Chile, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Macau, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and United Kingdom (each a “Developed Market” and collectively, the “Developed Markets”). The Index will generally have significant exposure to companies in Japan, United Kingdom, Canada, and France.
The Index will generally consist of over 500 securities. The Index will generally have significant exposure to the Financials and Industrial sectors. Index Components and the Developed Markets themselves will change over time.
Securities are first screened for inclusion in the “Index Universe.” The Index Universe is exclusively comprised of equity securities, which includes common stock and real estate investment trusts (REITs) from issuers in Developed Markets.
To determine the Index Components, all equity securities in the Index Universe are sorted by Developed Market country. Thereafter, Index Components are individually selected for inclusion based on factors such as free float market capitalization, trading volume thresholds, and market price cap levels. Equity securities passing these thresholds are included as Index Components within each Developed Market.
Thereafter, the Index Components are aggregated together and ranked by total market capitalization. Each Index Component is subsequently assigned a weight based on its free float market capitalization. The weight represents the percentage amount of the Index Component as a percentage of the total Index. Starting with the largest free float market capitalization, the Index is fully comprised once approximately 85% of the accumulated free float market-capitalization of the Index Universe is selected.
The Fund’s exposure to any asset class, country or geographic region will vary from time to time as the weightings of the securities within the Index change, and the Fund may not be invested in each country or geographic region at all times. Bloomberg Index Services Limited (the “Index Provider”) will generally deem an issuer to be located in a developed market country based on several factors related to economic development, market size and liquidity, and capital market structure. The Index is calculated as a total return index in U.S. dollars.
The Index is normally reconstituted on a semi-annual basis in March and September and rebalanced on a quarterly basis. New securities from initial public offerings generally must have traded for at least three months before the semi-annual reconstitution date to be considered for inclusion in the Index. Securities subject to US Office of Financial Assets Control, US Department of Defense United States, United Nations, United Kingdom or European Union sanctions may not be eligible for inclusion in the Index. Securities incorporated, listed and/or with a country of risk pointing to a country subject to comprehensive economic sanctions may also not be eligible for inclusion in the Index. Index Components impacted by such sanctions will be dropped from the Index as soon as practically possible.
Strive Asset Management, LLC (the “Sub-Adviser”) uses a “passive” or indexing approach to try to achieve the Fund’s investment objective. Unlike many investment companies, the Fund does not try to “beat” the index it tracks and does not seek temporary defensive positions when markets decline or appear overvalued.
Indexing may eliminate the chance that the Fund will substantially outperform the Index but also may reduce some of the risks of active management, such as poor security selection. Indexing seeks to achieve lower costs and better after-tax performance by aiming to keep portfolio turnover low in comparison to actively managed investment companies.
The Fund will generally use a “representative sampling” strategy, meaning the Fund 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, but may, when the Sub-Adviser believes it is in the best interests of the Fund, use a “replication” strategy to seek to achieve its investment objective, meaning the Fund will invest in all of the component securities of the Index in the same approximate proportions as in the Index. For example, the Fund may utilize a representative sampling strategy when the Sub-Adviser believes a replication strategy might be detrimental or disadvantageous to shareholders, such as when buying each security in the Index is impracticable or inefficient, when there are practical difficulties or additional costs involved in replicating the Index, or if one or more securities in the Index is illiquid, unavailable or less liquid. In addition, the Fund may use a representative sampling as a result of legal restrictions or limitations (such as tax diversification requirements) that apply to the Fund but not to the Index. The Fund will be reconstituted and rebalanced on the same schedule as the Index.
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PRINCIPAL INVESTMENT RISKS
An investment in the Fund involves risk, including those described below. There is no assurance that the Fund will achieve its investment objective. An investor may lose money by investing in the Fund. An investment in the Fund is not a bank deposit and is not insured or guaranteed by the FDIC or any government agency. More complete risk descriptions are set forth below under the heading “Additional Information About the Funds’ Principal Investment Risks.
Developed Markets Risk. Developed market countries generally tend to rely on the services sectors (e.g., the financial sector) as the primary source of economic growth and may be susceptible to the risks of individual service sectors. Many developed market countries have heavy indebtedness, which may lead downward pressure on the economies of these countries. As a result, it is possible that interest rates on debt of certain developed countries may rise to levels that make it difficult for such countries to service high debt levels without significant help from other countries or from a central bank. Developed market countries generally are dependent on the economies of certain key trading partners. Changes in any one economy may cause an adverse impact on several developed countries.
Foreign Investment Risk. Returns on investments in foreign securities could be more volatile than, or trail the returns on, investments in U.S. securities. Investments in or exposures to foreign securities are subject to special risks, including risks associated with foreign securities generally, including differences in information available about issuers of securities and investor protection standards applicable in other jurisdictions; capital controls risks, including the risk of a foreign jurisdiction imposing restrictions on the ability to repatriate or transfer currency or other assets; currency risks; political, diplomatic and economic risks; regulatory risks; and foreign market and trading risks, including the costs of trading and risks of settlement in foreign jurisdictions.
Geographic Investment Risk. To the extent the Fund invests a significant portion of its assets in the securities of companies of a single country or region, it is more likely to be impacted by events or conditions affecting that country or region.
Risks Related to Investing in Japan. To the extent the Fund invests Japanese securities, it will be subject to the risks related to investing in Japan. Political, social or economic disruptions in Japan or the region, even in countries in which the Fund is not invested, may adversely affect the value of investments held by the Fund.
The Japanese economy may be subject to considerable degrees of economic, political and social instability, which could have a negative impact on Japanese securities. Since the year 2000, Japan’s economic growth rate has remained relatively low and it may remain low in the future. In addition, Japan is subject to the risk of natural disasters, such as earthquakes, volcanoes, typhoons and tsunamis.
Additionally, decreasing U.S. imports, new trade regulations, changes in the U.S. dollar exchange rates, a recession in the United States or continued increases in foreclosure rates may have an adverse impact on the economy of Japan. Japan also has few natural resources, and any fluctuation or shortage in the commodity markets could have a negative impact on Japanese securities. In addition, Japan is subject to the risk of natural disasters, such as earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, typhoons and tsunamis, which could negatively affect the Funds’ investment in Japan.
Risks Related to Investing in Europe. To the extent the Fund invests in European securities, it will be subject to risks related to investing in Europe. The economies and markets of European countries are often closely connected and interdependent, and events in one country in Europe can have an adverse impact on other European countries. The Fund makes investments in securities of issuers that are domiciled in, or have significant operations in, member countries of the European Union (the “EU”) that are subject to economic and monetary controls that can adversely affect the Fund’s investments. The European financial markets have experienced volatility and adverse trends in recent years and these events have adversely affected the exchange rate of the euro and may continue to significantly affect other European countries. Decreasing imports or exports, changes in governmental or EU regulations on trade, changes in the exchange rate of the euro, the default or threat of default by an EU member country on its sovereign debt, and/or an economic recession in an EU member country may have a significant adverse effect on the economies of EU member countries and their trading partners, including some or all of the European countries in which the Fund invests.
In addition, the United Kingdom resolved to leave the EU, an event commonly known as “Brexit.” The United Kingdom officially left the EU on January 31, 2020. Although the UK and EU have made a trade agreement
64


that was entered into force on May 1, 2021, certain post-EU arrangements were outside the scope of the negotiating mandate and remain unresolved and subject to further negotiation and agreement. There remains significant market uncertainty regarding Brexit’s ramifications, and the range of possible political, regulatory, economic and market outcomes are difficult to predict. The uncertainty surrounding the UK’s economy, and its legal, political, and economic relationship with the remaining member states of the EU, may continue to be a source of instability and cause considerable disruption in securities markets, including increased volatility and illiquidity, as well as currency fluctuations in the British pound’s exchange rate against the U.S. dollar.
Risks Related to Investing in Canada. The Canadian economy is very dependent on the demand for, and supply and price of, natural resources. The Canadian market is relatively concentrated in issuers involved in the production and distribution of natural resources. There is a risk that any changes in natural resources sectors could have an adverse impact on the Canadian economy. Additionally, the Canadian economy is heavily dependent on relationships with certain key trading partners including the United States, countries in the European Union and China. Because the United States is Canada’s largest trading partner and foreign investor, the Canadian economy is dependent on and may be significantly affected by developments impacting the U.S. economy. Reduction in spending on Canadian products and services or changes in the U.S. economy may adversely impact the Canadian economy. Uncertainty as to the future of certain trade agreements between the U.S. and Canada may cause a decline in the value of the Fund’s Shares. In addition, certain sectors of Canada’s economy may be subject to foreign ownership limitations. This may negatively impact the Fund’s ability to invest in Canadian issuers and to track the Index.
Depositary Receipt Risk. The risks of investments in depositary receipts, including American Depositary Receipts (“ADRs”), European Depositary Receipts (“EDRs”), and Global Depositary Receipts (“GDRs”), are substantially similar to Foreign Investment Risk. In addition, depositary receipts may not track the price of the underlying foreign securities, and their value may change materially at times when the U.S. markets are not open for trading. In addition, the underlying issuers of certain depositary receipts, particularly unsponsored or unregistered depositary receipts, are under no obligation to distribute shareholder communications to the holders of such receipts, or to pass through any voting rights with respect to the deposited securities. Therefore, the Sub-Adviser will not be able to vote on any matters with respect to these instruments.
Investment Risk. When you sell your Shares, they could be worth less than what you paid for them. Therefore, you may lose money by investing in the Fund. The Fund could lose money due to short-term market movements and over longer periods during market downturns. Securities may decline in value due to factors affecting securities markets generally or particular asset classes or industries represented in the markets. The value of a security may decline due to general market conditions, economic trends or events that are not specifically related to the issuer of the security, such as geopolitical events and environmental disasters. The value of a security may also decline due to factors that affect a particular industry or group of industries. During a general downturn in the securities markets, multiple asset classes may be negatively affected. Therefore, you may lose money by investing in the Fund.
Equity Investing Risk. An investment in the Fund involves risks similar to those of investing in any fund holding equity securities, such as market fluctuations, changes in interest rates and perceived trends in stock prices. The values of equity securities could decline generally or could underperform other investments. In addition, securities may decline in value due to factors affecting a specific issuer, market or securities markets generally.
Large-Capitalization Companies Risk. Large-capitalization companies may trail the returns of the overall stock market. Large-capitalization stocks tend to go through cycles of doing better - or worse - than the stock market in general. These periods have, in the past, lasted for as long as several years. When large capitalization companies are out of favor, these securities may lose value or may not appreciate in line with the overall market. In addition, large capitalization companies may be unable to respond quickly to new competitive challenges, such as changes in technology or consumer tastes, and also may not be able to attain the high growth rate of successful small companies, especially during extended periods of economic expansion.
Mid-Capitalization Companies Risk. Investing in securities of mid-capitalization companies involves greater risk than customarily is associated with investing in larger, more established companies. These companies’ securities may be more volatile and less liquid than those of more established companies. Often mid-capitalization companies and the industries in which they focus are still evolving and, as a result, they may be more sensitive to changing market conditions.
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Sector Risk. To the extent the Fund invests more heavily in particular sectors of the economy, its performance will be especially sensitive to developments that significantly affect those sectors. The Fund may invest a significant portion of its assets in the following sectors and, therefore, the performance of the Fund could be negatively impacted by events affecting each of these sectors.
Financials Sector Risk. The Fund is expected to have exposure to companies in the financials sector, and therefore, the Fund’s performance could be negatively impacted by events affecting this sector. The financials sector includes, for example, banks and financial institutions providing mortgage and mortgage related services. This sector can be significantly affected by, among other things, changes in interest rates, government regulation, the rate of defaults on corporate, consumer and government debt, and the availability and cost of capital.
Industrials Sector Risk. The Fund is expected to have exposure to companies in the Industrials sector, and therefore, the Fund’s performance could be negatively impacted by events affecting this sector. This sector can be significantly affected by, among other things, business cycle fluctuations, worldwide economy growth, international political and economic developments, exchange rates, commodity prices, environmental issues, government and corporate spending, supply and demand for specific products and manufacturing, and government regulation.
REITs Risk. In addition to the risks associated with investing in securities of real estate companies and real estate related companies, REITs are subject to certain additional risks. Equity REITs may be affected by changes in the value of the underlying properties owned by the trusts. Mortgage REITs are exposed to risks associated with changes in interest rates, changes in credit spreads, and declines in real estate values. Debt investments are also subject to loss in value due to high or sustained inflation because the debt could be paid back in significantly depreciated currency. Further, REITs are dependent upon specialized management skills and cash flows, and may have investments in relatively few properties, or in a small geographic area or a single property type. Failure of a company to qualify as a REIT under federal tax law may have adverse consequences to the Fund. In addition, REITs have their own expenses, and the Fund will bear a proportionate share of those expenses. The value of a REIT may be affected by changes in interest rates.
Passive Investment Risk. The Fund is not actively managed and the Sub-Adviser will not sell any investments due to current or projected underperformance of the securities, industries or sector in which it invests, unless the investment is removed from the Index, sold in connection with a rebalancing of the Index as addressed in the Index methodology, or sold to comply with the Fund’s investment limitations (for example, to maintain the Fund’s tax status). The Fund will maintain investments until changes to its Index are triggered, which could cause the Fund’s return to be lower than if the Fund employed an active strategy.
Index Calculation Risk. The Index relies on various sources of information to assess the criteria of issuers included in the Index, including fundamental information that may be based on assumptions and estimates. Neither the Fund, the Adviser, the Sub-Adviser nor the Index Provider can offer assurances that the Index’s calculation methodology or sources of information will provide a correct valuation of securities, nor can they guarantee the availability or timeliness of the production of the Index. Errors in index data, index computation or the construction of the Index in accordance with its methodology may occur from time to time and may not be identified and corrected by the Index Provider for a period of time or at all, which may negatively impact the Fund and its shareholders.
Tracking Error Risk. As with all index funds, the performance of the Fund and its respective 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. In addition, the Fund’s use of a representative sampling approach may cause the Fund’s returns to not be as well correlated with the return of the Index as would be the case if the Fund purchased all of the securities in the Index in the proportions in which they are represented in the Index.
Sampling Risk. The Fund’s use of a representative sampling approach will result in it holding a smaller number of securities than are in the Index. As a result, an adverse development respecting a security held by the Fund could result in a greater decline in NAV than would be the case if the Fund held all of the securities in the Index. Conversely, a positive development relating to a security in the Index that is not held by the Fund could cause the Fund to underperform the
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Index. To the extent the Fund’s assets are smaller, it may be more difficult to effectively implement a representative sampling strategy, which could increase these risks.
ETF Risks.
Authorized Participants, Market Makers and Liquidity Providers Concentration 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 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.
Premium-Discount Risk. The Shares may trade above or below their net asset value (“NAV”). The market prices of Shares will generally fluctuate in accordance with changes in NAV as well as the relative supply of, and demand for, Shares on the New York Stock Exchange (the “Exchange”) or other securities exchanges. The trading price of Shares may deviate significantly from NAV during periods of market volatility or limited trading activity in Shares. In addition, you may incur the cost of the “spread,” that is, any difference between the bid price and the ask price of the Shares. In addition, because securities held by the Fund may trade on foreign exchanges that are closed when its primary listing exchange is open, the Fund is likely to experience premiums and discounts greater than those of domestic ETFs.
Cost of Trading Risk. Investors buying or selling Shares in the secondary market will pay brokerage commissions or other charges imposed by brokers as determined by that broker. Brokerage commissions are often a fixed amount and may be a significant proportional cost for investors seeking to buy or sell relatively small amounts of Shares.
Trading Risk. Although the Shares are listed on the Exchange, there can be no assurance that an active or liquid trading market for them will develop or be maintained. In addition, trading in Shares on the Exchange may be halted. In stressed market conditions, the liquidity of Shares may begin to mirror the liquidity of its underlying portfolio holdings, which can be less liquid than Shares, potentially causing the market price of Shares to deviate from its NAV. The spread varies over time for Shares of the Fund based on the Fund’s trading volume and market liquidity and is generally lower if the Fund has high trading volume and market liquidity, and higher if the Fund has little trading volume and market liquidity (which is often the case for funds that are newly launched or small in size).
Index Rebalance Risk. Pursuant to the methodology that the Index Provider uses to maintain the Index, securities will only be added or removed from the Index during regular Index updates. The Index is reconstituted semi-annually and rebalanced quarterly. Changes to the Index’s exposure may lag a significant change in the market’s direction (up or down) by as long as six months if such changes first take effect following the most recent reconstitution. Such lags between market performance and changes to the Index’s exposure may result in significant underperformance relative to the broader market. Index updates may cause the Fund to purchase or sell securities at inopportune times or for prices other than at current market values. Due to these factors, the variation between the Fund’s annual return and the return of the Index may increase significantly.
Limited Operating History. The Fund is a recently organized management investment company with limited operating history. As a result, prospective investors have a limited track record on which to base their investment decision. An investment in the Fund may therefore involve greater uncertainty than an investment in a fund with a more established record of performance.
PERFORMANCE
Performance information is not provided below because the Fund has not yet been in operation for one full calendar year. When provided, the information will provide some indication of the risks of investing in the Fund by showing how the Fund’s average annual returns compare with a broad measure of market performance. Past performance does not necessarily indicate how the Fund will perform in the future. Updated performance information will be available at https://strivefunds.com/ or by calling the Fund at (215) 330-4476.
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INVESTMENT ADVISER & INVESTMENT SUB-ADVISER
Investment Adviser: Empowered Funds, LLC dba EA Advisers (the “Adviser”)
Investment Sub-Adviser: Strive Asset Management, LLC (the “Sub-Adviser”)
PORTFOLIO MANAGERS
Matthew Cole, Chief Executive Officer and Chief Investment Officer of Strive and Jeffrey Sherman, a Portfolio Manager of Strive, are each a co-Portfolio Manager of the Fund and are primarily responsible for the day-to-day management of the Fund since its inception (June 2024).
PURCHASE AND SALE OF SHARES
Individual Shares are listed on a national securities exchange and may only be purchased and sold in the secondary market through a broker-dealer at a market price. Because Shares trade at market prices rather than NAV, Shares may trade at a price greater than NAV (at a “premium”) or less than NAV (at a “discount”). An investor may 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 and selling Shares in the secondary market (the “bid/ask spread”).
TAX INFORMATION
The Fund’s distributions generally are taxable to you as ordinary income, capital gain, or some combination of both, unless your investment is made through an Individual Retirement Account (“IRA”) or other tax-advantaged account. However, subsequent withdrawals from such a tax-advantaged account may be subject to U.S. federal income tax. You should consult your own tax advisor about your specific tax situation.
PURCHASES THROUGH BROKER-DEALERS AND OTHER FINANCIAL INTERMEDIARIES
If you purchase Shares through a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary, the Fund and its related companies may pay the intermediary for the sale of Shares and related services. These payments may create a conflict of interest by influencing the broker-dealer or other intermediary and your salesperson to recommend Shares over another investment. Ask your salesperson or visit your financial intermediary’s website for more information.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ABOUT THE FUNDS’ INVESTMENT OBJECTIVES AND PRINCIPAL INVESTMENT STRATEGIES
Each Fund’s investment objective is a non-fundamental investment policy and may be changed without a vote of shareholders upon 60 days’ prior written notice to shareholders.
Certain Funds have adopted the following policies to comply with Rule 35d-1 under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “Investment Company Act”). Such policies have been adopted as a non-fundamental investment policies and may be changed without shareholder approval upon 60 days’ prior written notice to shareholders.
Under normal circumstances, each Fund invests at least 80% of its net assets (plus any borrowings for investment purposes) in...
STXE
… emerging market securities.
DRLL
… U.S. energy companies.
SHOC
… U.S. semiconductor companies.
FTWO
… companies in the Natural Resources and Security Sectors.
STXG
… equity securities of growth companies.
STXV
… equity securities of value companies.
STXK
… U.S. small cap equity securities.
STXD
… dividend paying equity securities.
STXM
… mid-capitalization companies.
STXI
… developed markets securities.

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ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ABOUT THE FUNDS’ PRINCIPAL INVESTMENT RISKS
The table below provides additional information about the risks of investing in each Fund (in alphabetical order), including the principal risks identified under “Principal Risks” in each Fund Summary. Following the table, each risk is explained.
Principal Risks
STRV
STXG STXV STXK STXD
Change in Diversification Risk X
Concentration Risk X X X X X
Dividend-Paying Common Equity Security Risk X
Equity Investing Risk X X X X X
ETF Risks X X X X X
Financials Sector Risk X X X
Growth Investing Risk X X
Index Calculation Risk X X X X X
Index Rebalance Risk X X X X X
Industrials Sector Risk X
Information Technology Sector Risk X X X
Investment Risk X X X X X
Large-Cap Companies Risk X X X   X
Mid-Cap Companies Risk X X X X
Passive Investment Risk X X X X X
REIT Risk X X X
Sector Risk X X X X X
Small-Capitalization Companies Risk X
Tracking Error Risk X X X X X
Value Investing Risk X

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Principal Risks
STXE
DRLL SHOC FTWO STXM STXI
Aerospace and Defense Sector Risk X
Agricultural Sector Risk X
Canadian Investment Risk X X
Concentration Risk X X X X X
Depositary Receipt Risk X X
Developed Markets Risk X
Emerging Markets Risk X
Energy Sector Risk X
Equity Investing Risk X X X X X X
ETF Risks X X X X X X
Financials Sector Risk X X X
Foreign Exposure Risk X
Foreign Investment Risk X X X
Geographic Investment Risk X
Gold and Precious Metals Risk
X
Index Calculation Risk X X X X X X
Index Rebalance Risk X X X X X X
Industrial Sector Risk X
Information Technology Sector Risk X X
Investment Risk X X X X X X
Large-Cap Companies Risk X X X X X
Limited Operating History Risk X X
Mid-Cap Companies Risk X X X X X X
Natural Resources and Commodity-Related Industries Risk X
Non-Diversification Risk X X X
Nuclear Energy Sector Risk
X
Oil and Gas Sector Risk X X
Passive Investment Risk X X X X X X
REIT Risk X X X
Sampling Risk X X
Sector Risk X X X
Semiconductor Sector Risk X
Tracking Error Risk X X X X X X
Aerospace and Defense Sector Risk. Aerospace and defense companies can be significantly affected by government aerospace and defense regulation and spending policies because companies involved in this industry rely to a significant extent on U.S. (and other) government demand for their products and services. Thus, the financial condition of, and investor interest in, aerospace and defense companies are heavily influenced by governmental defense spending policies which are typically under pressure from efforts to control the U.S. (and other) government budgets. The aerospace industry in particular has recently been affected by adverse economic conditions and consolidation within the industry.
Agriculture Sector Risk. The Fund will invest in agriculture companies. Economic forces, including forces affecting agricultural markets, as well as government policies and regulations affecting agriculture companies, could adversely impact a Fund’s investments. Agricultural and livestock production and trade flows are significantly affected by government policies and regulations. Governmental policies affecting agriculture companies, such as taxes, tariffs, duties, subsidies and import and export restrictions on agricultural commodities, commodity products and livestock, can
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influence agriculture company profitability, the planting/raising of certain crops/livestock versus other uses of resources, the location and size of crop and livestock production, whether unprocessed or processed commodity products are traded and the volume and types of imports and exports. In addition, companies in the agriculture sector must comply with a broad range of environmental laws and regulations. Additional or more stringent environmental laws and regulations may be enacted in the future and such changes could have a material adverse effect on the business of such companies. In addition, agriculture companies may be significantly affected by adverse weather, pollution and/or disease which could limit or halt production.
Canadian Investment Risk. Investments in securities of Canadian issuers, including issuers located outside of Canada that generate significant revenue from Canada, involve risks and special considerations not typically associated with investments in the U.S. securities markets. The Canadian economy is very dependent on the demand for, and supply and price of, natural resources. The Canadian market is relatively concentrated in issuers involved in the production and distribution of natural resources. There is a risk that any changes in natural resources sectors could have an adverse impact on the Canadian economy. Additionally, the Canadian economy is heavily dependent on relationships with certain key trading partners, including the United States, countries in the EU and China. Because the United States is Canada’s largest trading partner and foreign investor, the Canadian economy is dependent on and may be significantly affected by the U.S. economy. Reduction in spending on Canadian products and services or changes in the U.S. economy may adversely impact the Canadian economy. Trade agreements may further increase Canada’s dependency on the U.S. economy, and uncertainty as to the future of such trade agreements may cause a decline in the value of the Fund’s Shares. Past periodic demands by the Province of Quebec for sovereignty have significantly affected equity valuations and foreign currency movements in the Canadian market and such demands may have this effect in the future. In addition, certain sectors of Canada’s economy may be subject to foreign ownership limitations. This may negatively impact the Fund’s ability to invest in Canadian issuers and to track the Fund’s Index.
Change in Diversification Risk. In seeking to track its Index, the Strive 1000 Growth ETF may become non-diversified as a result of a change in relative market capitalization or index weighting of one or more constituents of the Index. A “non-diversified” fund generally invests a greater portion of its assets in the securities of one or more issuers and invests overall in a smaller number of issuers than a diversified fund. The Fund may be more sensitive to a single economic, business, political, regulatory, or other occurrence than a more diversified fund might be, which may negatively impact the Fund’s performance and result in greater fluctuation in the value of the Fund’s shares.
Concentration Risk. In following its methodology, the Index from time to time may be concentrated to a significant degree in securities of issuers located in a single industry or group of industries. To the extent that the Index concentrates in the securities of issuers in a particular industry or group of industries, the Fund also may concentrate its investments to approximately the same extent. By concentrating its investments in an industry or group of industries, the Fund may face more risks than if it were diversified broadly over numerous industries or groups of industries. If the Index is not concentrated in a particular industry or group of industries, the Fund will not concentrate in a particular industry or group of industries.
Depositary Receipt Risk. The Fund’s investments in foreign companies may be in the form of depositary receipts, including ADRs, EDRs, and GDRs. ADRs, EDRs, and GDRs are generally subject to the risks of investing directly in foreign securities and, in some cases, there may be less information available about the underlying issuers than would be the case with a direct investment in the foreign issuer. ADRs are U.S. dollar-denominated receipts representing shares of foreign-based corporations. GDRs are similar to ADRs but are shares of foreign-based corporations generally issued by international banks in one or more markets around the world. Investment in ADRs and GDRs may be more or less liquid than the underlying shares in their primary trading market and GDRs may be more volatile. Depositary receipts may be “sponsored” or “unsponsored” and may be unregistered and unlisted. Sponsored depositary receipts are established jointly by a depositary and the underlying issuer, whereas unsponsored depositary receipts may be established by a depositary without participation by the underlying issuer. Holders of an unsponsored depositary receipt generally bear all the costs associated with establishing the unsponsored depositary receipt. In addition, the issuers of the securities underlying unsponsored depositary receipts are not obligated to disclose material information in the United States and, therefore, there may be less information available regarding those issuers and there may not be a correlation between that information and the market value of the depositary receipts. In general, ADRs must be sponsored, but the Fund may invest in unsponsored ADRs under various limited circumstances. It is expected that not more than 10% of the net assets of the Fund will be invested in unsponsored ADRs. The Fund’s investments may also include ADRs and GDRs that are not purchased in the public markets and are restricted securities that can be offered and sold only to “qualified
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institutional buyers” under Rule 144A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”). The Adviser will determine the liquidity of these investments pursuant to guidelines established by the Board. If a particular investment in ADRs or GDRs is deemed illiquid, that investment will be included within the Fund’s limitation on investment in illiquid securities. Moreover, if adverse market conditions were to develop during the period between the Fund’s decision to sell these types of ADRs or GDRs and the point at which the Fund is permitted or able to sell the security, the Fund might obtain a price less favorable than the price that prevailed when it decided to sell.
Developed Markets Risk. Developed market countries generally tend to rely on the services sectors (e.g., the financial sector) as the primary source of economic growth and may be susceptible to the risks of individual service sectors. Many developed market countries have heavy indebtedness, which may lead downward pressure on the economies of these countries. As a result, it is possible that interest rates on debt of certain developed countries may rise to levels that make it difficult for such countries to service high debt levels without significant help from other countries or from a central bank. Developed market countries generally are dependent on the economies of certain key trading partners. Changes in any one economy may cause an adverse impact on several developed countries.
Dividend-Paying Common Equity Security Risk. The Fund will normally receive income from dividends that are paid by issuers of the Fund’s investments. The amount of the dividend payments may vary and depends on performance and decisions of the issuer. Poor performance by the issuer or other factors may cause the issuer to lower or eliminate dividend payments to investors, including the Fund. Additionally, these types of securities may fall out of favor with investors and underperform the broader market. Depending upon market conditions, dividend-paying securities that meet the Fund’s investment criteria may not be widely available or may be highly concentrated in only a few market sectors.
Emerging Markets Risk. Investments in securities and instruments traded in developing or emerging markets, or that provide exposure to those securities or markets, can involve additional risks relating to political, economic, or regulatory conditions not associated with investments in U.S. securities and instruments. For example, developing and emerging markets may be subject to (i) greater market volatility, (ii) lower trading volume and liquidity, (iii) greater social, political and economic uncertainty, (iv) governmental controls on foreign investments and limitations on repatriation of invested capital, (v) lower disclosure, corporate governance, auditing and financial reporting standards, (vi) fewer protections of property rights, (vii) restrictions on the transfer of securities or currency, and (viii) settlement and trading practices that differ from those in U.S. markets. Each of these factors may impact the ability of the Fund to buy, sell or otherwise transfer securities, adversely affect the trading market and price for Shares and cause the Fund to decline in value.
Specifically with respect to index funds, the conditions in emerging markets may lead to potential errors in index data, index computation, and/or index construction if information on non-U.S. companies is unreliable or outdated, or if less information about the non-U.S. companies is publicly available due to differences in regulatory, accounting, auditing and financial recordkeeping standards. This, in turn, may limit the fund adviser’s ability to oversee the index provider’s due diligence process over index data prior to its use in index computation, construction, and/or rebalancing. All of these factors may adversely impact fund performance. In addition, the rights and remedies associated with investments in a fund that tracks an index comprised of foreign securities may be different than a fund that tracks an index of domestic securities.
Energy Sector Risk. The market value of securities in the energy sector may decline for many reasons including, fluctuations in energy prices and supply and demand of energy fuels caused by geopolitical events, the success of exploration projects, weather or meteorological events, taxes, increased governmental or environmental regulation, resource depletion, rising interest rates, declines in domestic or foreign production, accidents or catastrophic events that result in injury, loss of life or property, pollution or other environmental damage claims, terrorist threats or attacks, among others. Markets for various energy-related commodities can have significant volatility and are subject to control or manipulation by large producers or purchasers. Companies in the energy sector may need to make substantial expenditures, and may incur significant amounts of debt, to maintain or expand their reserves through exploration of new sources of supply, through the development of existing sources, through acquisitions, or through long-term contracts to acquire reserves. Factors adversely affecting producers, refiners, distributors, or others in the energy sector may adversely affect companies that service or supply those entities, either because demand for those services or products is curtailed, or those services or products come under price pressure. Issuers in the energy sector may also be impacted by changing investor and consumer preferences.
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Equity Investing Risk. An investment in the Fund involves risks similar to those of investing in any fund holding equity securities, such as market fluctuations, changes in interest rates and perceived trends in stock prices. The values of equity securities could decline generally or could underperform other investments. Different types of equity securities tend to go through cycles of outperformance and underperformance in comparison to the general securities markets. In addition, securities may decline in value due to factors affecting a specific issuer, market or securities markets generally. Recent turbulence in financial markets and reduced liquidity in credit and fixed income markets may negatively affect many issuers worldwide, which may have an adverse effect on the Fund.
ETF Risks.
Authorized Participants, Market Makers and Liquidity Providers Concentration Risk. Each 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 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.
Premium-Discount Risk. The Shares may trade above or below their NAV. The NAV of the Fund will generally fluctuate with changes in the market value of the Fund’s holdings. The market prices of Shares, however, will generally fluctuate in accordance with changes in NAV as well as the relative supply of, and demand for, Shares on the Exchange and other securities exchanges. The trading price of Shares may deviate significantly from NAV during periods of market volatility or limited trading in Shares. In addition, you may incur the cost of the “spread,” that is, any difference between the bid price and the ask price of the Shares. The Adviser cannot predict whether Shares will trade below, at or above their NAV. Price differences may be due, in large part, to the fact that supply and demand forces at work in the secondary trading market for Shares will be closely related to, but not identical to, the same forces influencing the prices of the securities held by the Fund. However, given that Shares can be purchased and redeemed in large blocks of Shares, called Creation Units (unlike shares of closed-end funds, which frequently trade at appreciable discounts from, and sometimes at premiums to, their NAV), and the Fund’s portfolio holdings are fully disclosed on a daily basis, the Adviser believes that large discounts or premiums to the NAV of Shares should not be sustained, but that may not be the case. In addition, because securities held by the Fund may trade on foreign exchanges that are closed when its primary listing exchange is open, the Fund is likely to experience premiums and discounts greater than those of domestic ETFs.
Cost of Trading Risk. Investors buying or selling Shares in the secondary market will pay brokerage commissions or other charges imposed by brokers as determined by that broker. Brokerage commissions are often a fixed amount and may be a significant proportional cost for investors seeking to buy or sell relatively small amounts of Shares. In addition, secondary market investors will also incur the cost of the difference between the price that an investor is willing to pay for Shares (the “bid” price) and the price at which an investor is willing to sell Shares (the “ask” price). This difference in bid and ask prices is often referred to as the “spread” or “bid/ask spread.” The bid/ask spread varies over time for Shares based on trading volume and market liquidity, and is generally lower if Shares have more trading volume and market liquidity and higher if Shares have little trading volume and market liquidity. Further, increased market volatility may cause increased bid/ask spreads.
Trading Risk. Although the Shares are listed on the Exchange, there can be no assurance that an active or liquid trading market for them will develop or be maintained. In addition, trading in Shares on the Exchange may be halted due to market conditions or for reasons that, in the view of the Exchange, make trading in Shares inadvisable. When markets are stressed, Shares could suffer erratic or unpredictable trading activity, extraordinary volatility or wide bid/ask spreads, which could cause some market makers and APs to reduce their market activity or “step away” from making a market in ETF shares. This could cause a Fund’s market price to deviate, materially, from the NAV, and reduce the effectiveness of the ETF arbitrage process. Further, trading in Shares on the Exchange is subject to trading halts caused by extraordinary market volatility pursuant to the “circuit breaker” rules, which temporarily halt trading on the Exchange when a decline in the S&P 500 Index during a single day reaches certain thresholds (e.g., 7%, 13% and 20%). There can be no assurance that the requirements of the Exchange necessary to maintain the listing of each Fund will continue to be met or will
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remain unchanged. In stressed market conditions, the liquidity of Shares may begin to mirror the liquidity of a Fund’s underlying portfolio holdings, which can be significantly less liquid than Shares, and this could lead to differences between the market price of the Shares and the underlying value of those Shares.
Financials Sector Risk. The financials sector includes, for example, banks and financial institutions providing mortgage and mortgage related services. This sector can be significantly affected by, among other things, changes in interest rates, government regulation, the rate of defaults on corporate, consumer and government debt, and the availability and cost of capital. These factors and events have had, and may continue to have, a significant negative impact on the valuations and stock prices of companies in this sector and have increased the volatility of investments in this sector.
Foreign Exposure Risk. Although the Fund invests in securities of companies listed on U.S. securities exchanges, the international operations of those companies may create exposure to foreign markets where such companies operate. The international operations of many semiconductor companies expose them to risks associated with political, social or economic events in other countries or regions, which may include instability and changes in economic and political conditions, foreign currency fluctuations, changes in foreign regulations, tariffs and trade disputes, competition from subsidized foreign competitors with lower production costs and other risks inherent to international business.
Foreign Investment Risk. The Fund may invest in foreign securities, including non-U.S. dollar-denominated securities traded outside of the United States and U.S. dollar-denominated securities of foreign issuers traded in the United States. Returns on investments in foreign securities could be more volatile than, or trail the returns on, investments in U.S. securities. Investments in foreign securities, including investments in American Depositary Receipts (ADRs), European Depositary Receipts (EDRs) and Global Depositary Receipts (GDRs), are subject to special risks, including the following:
Foreign Securities Risk. Investments in non-U.S. securities involve certain risks that may not be present with investments in U.S. securities. For example, investments in non-U.S. securities may be subject to risk of loss due to foreign currency fluctuations or to political or economic instability. There may be less information publicly available about a non-U.S. issuer than a U.S. issuer. Non-U.S. issuers may be subject to different accounting, auditing, financial reporting and investor protection standards than U.S. issuers. Changes to the financial condition or credit rating of foreign issuers may also adversely affect the value of the Fund’s securities. Investments in non-U.S. securities may be subject to withholding or other taxes and may be subject to additional trading, settlement, custodial, and operational risks. Because legal systems differ, there is also the possibility that it will be difficult to obtain or enforce legal judgments in certain countries. Since foreign exchanges may be open on days when the Fund does not price its Shares, the value of the securities in the Fund’s portfolio may change on days when shareholders will not be able to purchase or sell the Fund’s Shares. Conversely, Shares may trade on days when foreign exchanges are closed. Investment in foreign securities may involve higher costs than investment in U.S. securities, including higher transaction and custody costs as well as the imposition of additional taxes by foreign governments. Each of these factors can make investments in an underlying ETF more volatile and potentially less liquid than other types of investments.
Capital Controls Risk. Economic conditions, such as volatile currency exchange rates and interest rates, political events and other conditions may, without prior warning, lead to government intervention and the imposition of “capital controls” or expropriation or nationalization of assets. The possible establishment of exchange controls or freezes on the convertibility of currency, or the adoption of other governmental restrictions, might adversely affect an investment in foreign securities. Capital controls include the prohibition of, or restrictions on, the ability to transfer currency, securities or other assets within or out of a jurisdiction. Levies may be placed on profits repatriated by foreign entities (such as the Fund). Capital controls may impact the ability of the Fund to buy, sell or otherwise transfer securities or currency, may adversely affect the trading market and price for Shares of the Fund, and may cause the Fund to decline in value.
Currency Risk. The Fund’s NAV is determined on the basis of U.S. dollars; therefore, the Fund may lose value if the local currency of a foreign market depreciates against the U.S. dollar, even if the local currency value of the Fund’s holdings goes up. Currency exchange rates may fluctuate significantly over short periods of time. Currency exchange rates also can be affected unpredictably by intervention; by failure to intervene by U.S. or foreign governments or central banks; or by currency controls or political developments in the U.S. or abroad. Changes in foreign currency exchange rates may affect the NAV of the Fund and the price of the Fund’s Shares.
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Devaluation of a currency by a country’s government or banking authority would have a significant impact on the value of any investments denominated in that currency.
Political and Economic Risk. The Fund is subject to foreign political and economic risk not associated with U.S. investments, meaning that political events (civil unrest, national elections, changes in political conditions and foreign relations, imposition of exchange controls and repatriation restrictions), social and economic events (labor strikes, rising inflation) and natural disasters occurring in a foreign country could cause the Fund’s investments to experience gains or losses. The Fund also could be unable to enforce its ownership rights or pursue legal remedies in countries where it invests.
Foreign Market and Trading Risk. The trading markets for many foreign securities are not as active as U.S. markets and may have less governmental regulation and oversight. Foreign markets also may have clearance and settlement procedures that make it difficult for the Fund to buy and sell securities. The procedures and rules governing foreign transactions and custody (holding of the Fund’s assets) also may involve delays in payment, delivery or recovery of money or investments. These factors could result in a loss to the Fund by causing the Fund to be unable to dispose of an investment or to miss an attractive investment opportunity, or by causing Fund assets to be uninvested for some period of time.
Geographic Investment Risk. To the extent the Fund invests a significant portion of its assets in the securities of companies of a single country or region, it is more likely to be impacted by events or conditions affecting that country or region.
Risks Related to Investing in Japan. To the extent the Fund invests Japanese securities, it will be subject to the risks related to investing in Japan. Political, social or economic disruptions in Japan or the region, even in countries in which the Fund is not invested, may adversely affect the value of investments held by the Fund.
The Japanese economy may be subject to considerable degrees of economic, political and social instability, which could have a negative impact on Japanese securities. Since the year 2000, Japan’s economic growth rate has remained relatively low and it may remain low in the future. In addition, Japan is subject to the risk of natural disasters, such as earthquakes, volcanoes, typhoons and tsunamis.
Additionally, decreasing U.S. imports, new trade regulations, changes in the U.S. dollar exchange rates, a recession in the United States or continued increases in foreclosure rates may have an adverse impact on the economy of Japan. Japan also has few natural resources, and any fluctuation or shortage in the commodity markets could have a negative impact on Japanese securities. In addition, Japan is subject to the risk of natural disasters, such as earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, typhoons and tsunamis, which could negatively affect the Funds’ investment in Japan.
Risks Related to Investing in Europe. To the extent the Fund invests in European securities, it will be subject to risks related to investing in Europe. The economies and markets of European countries are often closely connected and interdependent, and events in one country in Europe can have an adverse impact on other European countries. The Fund makes investments in securities of issuers that are domiciled in, or have significant operations in, member countries of the European Union (the “EU”) that are subject to economic and monetary controls that can adversely affect the Fund’s investments. The European financial markets have experienced volatility and adverse trends in recent years and these events have adversely affected the exchange rate of the euro and may continue to significantly affect other European countries. Decreasing imports or exports, changes in governmental or EU regulations on trade, changes in the exchange rate of the euro, the default or threat of default by an EU member country on its sovereign debt, and/or an economic recession in an EU member country may have a significant adverse effect on the economies of EU member countries and their trading partners, including some or all of the European countries in which the Fund invests.
In addition, the United Kingdom resolved to leave the EU, an event commonly known as “Brexit.” The United Kingdom officially left the EU on January 31, 2020. Although the UK and EU have made a trade agreement that was entered into force on May 1, 2021, certain post-EU arrangements were outside the scope of the negotiating mandate and remain unresolved and subject to further negotiation and agreement. There remains significant market uncertainty regarding Brexit’s ramifications, and the range of possible political, regulatory, economic and market outcomes are difficult to predict. The uncertainty surrounding the UK’s economy, and its legal, political, and economic relationship with the remaining member states of the EU, may continue to be a
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source of instability and cause considerable disruption in securities markets, including increased volatility and illiquidity, as well as currency fluctuations in the British pound’s exchange rate against the U.S. dollar.
Risks Related to Investing in Canada. The Canadian economy is very dependent on the demand for, and supply and price of, natural resources. The Canadian market is relatively concentrated in issuers involved in the production and distribution of natural resources. There is a risk that any changes in natural resources sectors could have an adverse impact on the Canadian economy. Additionally, the Canadian economy is heavily dependent on relationships with certain key trading partners including the United States, countries in the European Union and China. Because the United States is Canada’s largest trading partner and foreign investor, the Canadian economy is dependent on and may be significantly affected by developments impacting the U.S. economy. Reduction in spending on Canadian products and services or changes in the U.S. economy may adversely impact the Canadian economy. Uncertainty as to the future of certain trade agreements between the U.S. and Canada may cause a decline in the value of the Fund’s Shares. In addition, certain sectors of Canada’s economy may be subject to foreign ownership limitations. This may negatively impact the Fund’s ability to invest in Canadian issuers and to track the Index.
Gold and Precious Metals Risk. The Fund will be sensitive to changes in the overall condition of the metals and mining industry. Competitive pressures may have a significant effect on the financial condition of companies in such industry. Also, such companies are highly dependent on the price of certain precious metals. These prices may fluctuate substantially over short periods of time, so the Fund’s share price may be more volatile than other types of investments. The prices of precious metals rise and fall in response to many factors, including: economic cycles; changes in inflation or expectations about inflation in various countries; interest rates; currency fluctuations; metal sales by governments, central banks, or international agencies; investment speculation; resource availability; fluctuations in industrial and commercial supply and demand; government regulation of the metals and materials industries; and government prohibitions or restrictions on the private ownership of certain precious and rare metals. The Index measures, in part, the performance of equity securities of gold and precious metals companies and does not measure the performance of direct investment in precious metals. Consequently, the Fund’s share price may not move in the same direction and to the same extent as the spot prices of precious metals.
In times of stable economic growth, traditional equity and debt investments could offer greater appreciation potential, and the value of precious metals may be adversely affected, which could in turn affect the Fund’s returns. The production and sale of precious metals by governments, central banks, or other large holders can be affected by various economic, financial, social, and political factors, which may be unpredictable and may have a significant impact on the supply and prices of precious metals. Economic and political conditions in those countries that are the largest producers of precious metals may have a direct effect on the production and marketing of such metals and on sales of central bank holdings. Some precious metals mining operation companies may hedge their exposure to falls in precious metals prices by selling forward future production, which may result in lower returns during periods when the price of precious metals increases. The precious metals industry can be significantly affected by events relating to international political developments, the success of exploration projects, commodity prices, and tax and government regulations. If a natural disaster or other event with a significant economic impact occurs in a region where the companies in which the Fund invests operate, such disaster or event could negatively affect the profitability of such companies and, in turn, the Fund’s investment in them.
Growth Investing Risk. The Fund invests in growth securities, which may be more volatile than other types of investments, may perform differently than the market as a whole and may underperform when compared to securities with different investment parameters. Under certain market conditions, growth securities have performed better during the later stages of economic recovery (although there is no guarantee that they will continue to do so). Therefore, growth securities may go in and out of favor over time.
Healthcare Sector Risk. The profitability of companies in the healthcare sector may be adversely affected by the following factors, government regulations, including new regulations and scrutiny related to data privacy, restrictions on government reimbursement for medical expenses, rising costs of medical products and services, pricing pressure, an increased emphasis on outpatient services, changes in the demand for medical products and services, a limited number of products, industry innovation, changes in technologies and other market developments. A number of issuers in the healthcare sector have recently merged or otherwise experienced consolidation. The effects of this trend toward consolidation are unknown and may be far-reaching. Many healthcare companies are heavily dependent on patent protection. The expiration of a company’s patents may adversely affect that company’s profitability. Many healthcare
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companies are subject to extensive litigation based on product liability and similar claims. Healthcare companies are subject to competitive forces that may make it difficult to raise prices and, in fact, may result in price discounting. Many new products in the healthcare sector may be subject to regulatory approvals. The process of obtaining such approvals may be long and costly, and such efforts ultimately may be unsuccessful. Companies in the healthcare sector may be thinly capitalized and may be susceptible to product obsolescence. In addition, a number of legislative proposals concerning healthcare have been considered by the U.S. Congress in recent years. It is unclear what proposals will ultimately be enacted, if any, and what effect they may have on companies in the healthcare sector. Companies in the healthcare sector may be subject to adverse government or regulatory actions, which may be costly.
Index Calculation Risk. The Index relies on various sources of information to assess the criteria of issuers included in the Index, including fundamental information that may be based on assumptions and estimates. Neither the Fund, the Adviser, the Sub-Adviser nor the Index Provider can offer assurances that the Index’s calculation methodology or sources of information will provide a correct valuation of securities, nor can they guarantee the availability or timeliness of the production of the Index. Errors in index data, index computation or the construction of the Index in accordance with its methodology may occur from time to time and may not be identified and corrected by the Index Provider for a period of time or at all, which may negatively impact the Fund and its shareholders.
Index Rebalance Risk. Because each Index generally only changes their respective exposures based on data as of a quarter end, semi-annual period end, or annually (each, a “Period End”), (i) an Index’s exposure may be affected by significant market movements at or near a Period End that are not predictive of the market’s performance for the subsequent Period End and (ii) changes to the Index’s exposure may lag a significant change in the market’s direction (up or down) by as long as the next Period End if such changes first take effect at or near the beginning of a Period End. Such lags between market performance and changes to the Index’s exposure may result in significant underperformance relative to the broader equity or fixed income market. Unusual market conditions may cause the Index Provider to postpone a scheduled rebalance, which could cause the Index to vary from its normal or expected composition.
Industrials Sector Risk. The industrials sector includes, for example, aerospace and defense, non-residential construction, engineering, machinery, transportation, and commercial and professional services companies. This sector can be significantly affected by, among other things, business cycle fluctuations, worldwide economic growth, exchange rates, commodity prices, government and corporate spending, supply and demand for specific products and manufacturing, rapid technological developments, international political and economic developments, environmental issues, and tax and governmental regulatory policies. As the demand for, or prices of, industrials increase, the value of a Fund’s investments generally would be expected to also increase. Conversely, declines in the demand for, or prices of, industrials generally would be expected to contribute to declines in the value of such securities. Such declines may occur quickly and without warning and may negatively impact the value of a Fund and your investment.
Investment Risk. As with all investments, an investment in the Fund is subject to investment risk. Investors in the Fund could lose money, including the possible loss of the entire principal amount of an investment, over short or long periods of time.
Large-Capitalization Companies Risk. Large-capitalization companies may trail the returns of the overall stock market. Large-capitalization stocks tend to go through cycles of doing better - or worse - than the stock market in general. These periods have, in the past, lasted for as long as several years. When large capitalization companies are out of favor, these securities may lose value or may not appreciate in line with the overall market. In addition, large capitalization companies may be unable to respond quickly to new competitive challenges, such as changes in technology or consumer tastes, and also may not be able to attain the high growth rate of successful small companies, especially during extended periods of economic expansion.
Limited Operating History Risk. A Fund that is recently organized has a limited operating history. As a result, prospective investors have a limited track record or history on which to base their investment decision. There can be no assurance that a Fund will grow to or maintain an economically viable size.
Mid-Capitalization Companies Risk. The securities of mid-capitalization companies may be more vulnerable to adverse issuer, market, political, or economic developments than securities of larger-capitalization companies. The securities of 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 mid-capitalization
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companies have limited product lines, markets, and financial and managerial resources and tend to concentrate on fewer geographical markets relative to larger capitalization companies.
Natural Resources and Commodity-Related Industries Risk. The Fund is subject to the risks associated with companies in the natural resources and commodities-related industries. These industries can be significantly affected by (and often rapidly affected by) changes in the supply of, or demand for, various natural resources and commodities. Investments in natural resources companies, which include companies engaged in energy (oil, gas & consumable fuels), agriculture, and precious and industrial metals and mining can be significantly affected by events relating to these industries, including international political and economic developments, embargoes, tariffs, inflation, weather and natural disasters, livestock diseases, limits on exploration, rapid changes in the supply and demand for natural resources and other factors. The Fund’s investments may experience substantial price fluctuations as a result of these factors, and may move independently of the trends of other operating companies. Companies engaged in the sectors listed above may be adversely affected by changes in government policies and regulations, technological advances and/or obsolescence, environmental damage claims, energy conservation efforts, the success of exploration projects, limitations on the liquidity of certain natural resources and commodities and competition from new market entrants. Changes in general economic conditions, including commodity price volatility, changes in exchange rates, imposition of import controls, rising interest rates, prices of raw materials and other commodities, depletion of resources and labor relations, could adversely affect the Fund’s investments.
Non-Diversification Risk. A non-diversified fund may be more sensitive to economic, business, political or other changes affecting individual issuers or investments than a diversified fund, which may result in greater fluctuation in the value of the Shares and greater risk of loss.
Nuclear Energy Sector Risk. The Fund will be sensitive to, and its performance will depend to a greater extent on, the overall condition of nuclear energy companies. The companies represented in the Fund’s portfolio may face considerable risk as a result of, among other risks, incidents and accidents, breaches of security, ill-intentioned acts or terrorism, natural disasters (such as floods or earthquakes), equipment malfunctions or mishandling in storage, handling, transportation, treatment or conditioning of substances and nuclear materials. Such events could have serious consequences, especially in case of radioactive contamination and irradiation of the environment, for the general population, as well as a material, negative impact on the Fund’s portfolio companies and thus the Fund’s financial situation. In addition, the nuclear energy sector is subject to competitive risk associated with the prices of other energy sources, such as natural gas and oil, obsolescence of existing technology, short product cycles, falling prices and profits, competition from new market entrants and general economic conditions. The price of uranium may be affected by changes in inflation rates, interest rates, monetary policy, economic conditions and political stability. In addition, uranium mining companies may also be significantly affected by import controls, energy conservation efforts, the success of energy exploration projects, liability for environmental damage, depletion of resources, and mandated expenditures for safety and pollution control devices. Consumers of nuclear energy may have the ability to switch between nuclear energy and other energy sources and, as a result, during periods when competing energy sources are less expensive, the revenues of companies in the nuclear energy sector may decline with a corresponding impact on earnings.
Nuclear activity is also subject to particularly detailed and restrictive regulations, with a scheme for the monitoring and periodic re-examination of operating authorization, which primarily takes into account nuclear safety, environmental and public health protection, and also national security considerations (terrorist threats in particular). These regulations and any future regulations may be subject to significant tightening by national and international authorities. There are substantial differences among the regulatory practices and policies of various jurisdictions, and any given regulatory agency may make major shifts in policy from time to time. There is no assurance that regulatory authorities will, in the future, grant rate increases or that such increases will be adequate to permit the payment of dividends on common stocks issued by a utility company. Additionally, existing and possible future regulatory legislation may make it even more difficult for utilities to obtain adequate relief. In addition, governmental authorities may from time-to-time review existing policies and impose additional requirements governing the licensing, construction and operation of nuclear power plants. This could result in increased operating costs, which would have a negative impact on the Fund’s portfolio companies and may cause operating businesses related to nuclear energy to become unprofitable or impractical to operate.
Uranium prices are subject to fluctuation. The price of uranium has been and will continue to be affected by numerous factors beyond the Fund’s control. Such factors include the demand for nuclear power, political and economic conditions
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in uranium producing and consuming countries, uranium supply from secondary sources and uranium production levels and costs of production. In addition, the prices of crude oil, natural gas and electricity produced from traditional hydro power and possibly other undiscovered energy sources could potentially have a negative impact on the competitiveness of nuclear energy companies in which the Fund invests.
Securities of the companies involved in this industry have been significantly more volatile than securities of companies operating in other more established industries. Certain valuation methods currently used to value companies involved in the nuclear power and power technology sectors, particularly those companies that have not yet traded profitably, have not been in widespread use for a significant period of time. As a result, the use of these valuation methods may serve to increase further the volatility of certain alternative power and power technology company share prices.
Oil and Gas Sector Risk. The profitability of companies in the oil and gas sector is related to worldwide energy prices, exploration costs, and production spending. Companies in the oil and gas sector may be at risk for environmental damage claims and other types of litigation, as well as negative publicity and perception. Companies in the oil and gas sector may be adversely affected by natural disasters or other catastrophes, changes in exchange rates, interest rates, changes in prices for competitive energy services, economic conditions, tax treatment, government regulation and intervention, and unfavorable events in the regions where companies operate (e.g., expropriation, nationalization, confiscation of assets and property or imposition of restrictions on foreign investments and repatriation of capital, military coups, social unrest, violence or labor unrest). As a result, the value of these companies may fluctuate widely. Companies in the oil and gas sector may have significant capital investments in, or engage in transactions involving, emerging market countries, which may heighten these risks. Any of these factors could result in a material adverse impact on the Fund’s securities and the performance of the Fund.
Passive Investment Risk. Each Fund invests in the securities included in, or representative of, it’s Index regardless of their investment merit. The Fund does not attempt to outperform its respective 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. The returns from the types of securities in which the Fund invests may underperform returns from the various general securities markets or different asset classes. The Fund is not actively managed and the Sub-Adviser will not sell any investments due to current or projected underperformance of the securities, industries or sector in which it invests, unless the investment is removed from the Index, sold in connection with a rebalancing of the Index as addressed in the Index methodology, or sold to comply with the Fund’s investment limitations (for example, to maintain the Fund’s tax status). The Fund will maintain investments until changes to its Index are triggered, which could cause the Fund’s return to be lower than if the Fund employed an active strategy.
REIT Risk. Investments in REITs involve unique risks. REITs may have limited financial resources, may trade less frequently and in limited volume, and may be more volatile than other securities. In addition, to the extent the Fund holds interests in REITs, it is expected that investors in the Fund will bear two layers of asset-based management fees and expenses (directly at the Fund level and indirectly at the REIT level). The risks of investing in REITs include risks associated with the direct ownership of real estate and the real estate industry in general. These include risks related to general, regional and local economic conditions; fluctuations in interest rates and property tax rates; shifts in zoning laws, environmental regulations and other governmental action like the exercise of eminent domain; cash flow dependency; increased operating expenses; lack of availability of mortgage funds; losses due to natural disasters; overbuilding; losses due to casualty or condemnation; changes in property values and rental rates; and other factors. In addition to these risks, residential/diversified REITs and commercial equity REITs may be affected by changes in the value of the underlying property owned by the trusts, while mortgage REITs may be affected by the quality of any credit extended. Further, REITs are dependent upon management skills and generally may not be diversified. REITs are also subject to heavy cash flow dependency, defaults by borrowers and self-liquidation. In addition, REITs could possibly fail to qualify for the beneficial tax treatment available to REITs under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (the “Code”), or to maintain their exemptions from registration under the Investment Company Act. The Fund expects that dividends received from a REIT and distributed to Fund shareholders generally will be taxable to the shareholder as ordinary income. The above factors may also adversely affect a borrower’s or a lessee’s ability to meet its obligations to the REIT. In the event of a default by a borrower or lessee, the REIT may experience delays in enforcing its rights as a mortgagee or lessor and may incur substantial costs associated with protecting investments.
Sampling Risk. The Fund’s use of a representative sampling approach will result in it holding a smaller number of securities than are in the Index. As a result, an adverse development respecting a security held by the Fund could result in
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a greater decline in NAV than would be the case if the Fund held all of the securities in the Index. Conversely, a positive development relating to a security in an Index that is not held by the Fund could cause the Fund to underperform its Index. To the extent the Fund’s assets are smaller, it may be more difficult to effectively implement a representative sampling strategy, which could increase these risks.
Sector Risk. Companies with similar characteristics may be grouped together into broad categories called sectors. A certain sector may underperform other sectors or the market as a whole. As a Fund allocates more of its portfolio holdings to a particular sector, the Fund’s performance will be more susceptible to any economic, business, or other developments which generally affect that sector.
Semiconductor Sector Risk. The semiconductor sector is highly cyclical and periodically experiences significant economic downturns characterized by diminished product demand, resulting in production overcapacity and excess inventory, which can result in rapid erosion of product selling prices. The sector has experienced significant downturns, often in connection with, or in anticipation of, maturing product cycles of both semiconductor companies’ and their customers’ products and the decline in general economic conditions.
Small-Capitalization Companies Risk. The securities of small-capitalization companies may be more vulnerable to adverse issuer, market, political, or economic developments than securities of large- or mid-capitalization companies. The securities of small-capitalization companies generally trade in lower volumes and during adverse circumstances, may be more difficult to sell and receive a sales price comparable to the value assigned to the security by the Fund. These securities are subject to greater and more unpredictable price changes than large- or mid-capitalization stocks or the stock market as a whole. There is typically less publicly available information concerning smaller-capitalization companies than for larger, more established companies, which may make the valuation of such securities more difficult if there isn’t a readily available market price.
Information Technology Sector Risk. Market or economic factors impacting technology companies and companies that rely heavily on technological advances could have a significant effect on the value of the Fund’s investments. Technology companies, including information technology companies, may have limited product lines, financial resources and/or personnel. Technology companies typically face intense competition and potentially rapid product obsolescence. They are also heavily dependent on intellectual property rights and may be adversely affected by the loss or impairment of those rights. Companies in the technology sector also face increased government regulation, including new regulations and scrutiny related to data privacy, and may be subject to adverse government or regulatory actions, which may be costly.
Tracking Error Risk. As with all index funds, the performance of the Fund and its respective 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. Tracking error risk may be heightened during times of market volatility or other unusual market conditions. In addition, the Fund’s use of a representative sampling approach may cause the Fund’s returns to not be as well correlated with the return of the Index as would be the case if the Fund purchased all of the securities in its Index in the proportions in which they are represented in the Index. The Fund’s investments may also vary from the securities of the Index due to the Fund’s inability to invest in certain securities as a result of legal and compliance restrictions applicable to the Fund and regulatory limits or other restrictions on securities that may be purchased by the Fund. As an Index may consist of relatively few securities or issuers, tracking error may be heightened at times that the Fund is limited by restrictions on potential investments.
Value Investing Risk. Securities issued by companies that may be perceived as undervalued may be appropriately valued. Value securities may fail to appreciate for long periods of time or may never realize their full potential value. In addition, the Fund’s ability to realize any benefits of investing in value securities may depend on the Fund’s ability to stay invested until the market’s perception of such securities change. Value securities have generally performed better than non-value securities during periods of economic recovery (although there is no assurance that they will continue to do so). Value securities may go in and out of favor over time.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ABOUT THE INDEXES
The Sub-Adviser has entered into a license agreement with the Index Provider pursuant to which the Sub-Adviser pays a fee to use each Index and the marketing names as licensed trademarks of Bloomberg (“Bloomberg”). The Index Provider
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has also licensed the use of each Index to the Adviser and the Trust. Each Index is compiled and calculated by Bloomberg.
No entity that creates, compiles, sponsors or maintains an index is or will be an affiliated person, as defined in Section 2(a)(3) of the Investment Company Act, or an affiliated person of an affiliated person, of the Trust, the Adviser, the Sub-Adviser, the Distributor or a promoter of a Fund.
Neither the Adviser, the Sub-Adviser, nor any of their respective affiliates have any rights to influence the selection of the securities in an Index.
“Bloomberg®” and the Bloomberg indices listed herein (the “Indices”) are service marks of Bloomberg Finance L.P. and its affiliates, including Bloomberg Index Services Limited (“BISL”), the administrator of the index (collectively, “Bloomberg”), and have been licensed for use for certain purposes by the distributor hereof (the “Licensee”). The Sub-Adviser has licensed the use of the each Index to the Adviser and the Adviser is sub-licensing the rights to such Index to the respective Fund. Each Index is compiled and calculated by the Index Provider.
The financial products named herein (the “Products”) are not sponsored, endorsed, sold or promoted by Bloomberg. Bloomberg does not make any representation or warranty, express or implied, to the owners of or counterparties to the Products or any member of the public regarding the advisability of investing in securities or commodities generally or in the Product particularly. The only relationship of Bloomberg to Licensee is the licensing of certain trademarks, trade names and service marks and of the Indices, which are determined, composed and calculated by BISL without regard to Licensee or the Products. Bloomberg has no obligation to take the needs of Licensee or the owners of the Products into consideration in determining, composing or calculating the Indices. Bloomberg is not responsible for and has not participated in the determination of the timing, price, or quantities of the Products to be issued. Bloomberg shall not have any obligation or liability, including, without limitation, to customers of the Products, in connection with the administration, marketing or trading of the Products.
BLOOMBERG DOES NOT GUARANTEE THE ACCURACY AND/OR THE COMPLETENESS OF THE INDICES OR ANY DATA RELATED THERETO AND SHALL HAVE NO LIABILITY FOR ANY ERRORS, OMISSIONS OR INTERRUPTIONS THEREIN. BLOOMBERG DOES NOT MAKE ANY WARRANTY, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, AS TO RESULTS TO BE OBTAINED BY LICENSEE, OWNERS OF THE PRODUCT OR ANY OTHER PERSON OR ENTITY FROM THE USE OF THE INDICES OR ANY DATA RELATED THERETO. BLOOMBERG DOES NOT MAKE ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES AND EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE OR USE WITH RESPECT TO THE INDICES OR ANY DATA RELATED THERETO. WITHOUT LIMITING ANY OF THE FOREGOING, TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT ALLOWED BY LAW, BLOOMBERG, ITS LICENSORS, AND ITS AND THEIR RESPECTIVE EMPLOYEES, CONTRACTORS, AGENTS, SUPPLIERS, AND VENDORS SHALL HAVE NO LIABILITY OR RESPONSIBILITY WHATSOEVER FOR ANY INJURY OR DAMAGES—WHETHER DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, INCIDENTAL, PUNITIVE OR OTHERWISE—ARISING IN CONNECTION WITH THE PRODUCT OR INDICES OR ANY DATA OR VALUES RELATING THERETO—WHETHER ARISING FROM THEIR NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE, EVEN IF NOTIFIED OF THE POSSIBILITY THEREOF.
FUND MANAGEMENT
Investment Adviser
Empowered Funds, LLC dba EA Advisers serves as each Fund’s investment adviser (the “Adviser”). The Adviser is located at 3803 West Chester Pike, Suite 150, Newtown Square, PA 19073 and is wholly-owned by Alpha Architect, LLC. The Adviser is registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 and provides investment advisory services to the Fund, other exchange-traded funds, and Alpha Architect, LLC, its parent company. The Adviser was founded in October 2013.
The Adviser provides trading, execution and various other administrative services and supervises the overall daily affairs of the Funds, subject to the general supervision and control of the Board. The Adviser performs its services to each Fund pursuant to the terms of an investment advisory agreement (the “Advisory Agreement”) between the EA Series Trust (the
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“Trust”) and the Adviser, each Fund will pay the Adviser an annual advisory fee based on its average daily net assets payable at the annual rates set forth in the table below:
Fund
Advisory Fee
Strive 500 ETF
0.0545%
Strive 1000 Growth ETF
0.18%
Strive 1000 Value ETF
0.18%
Strive Small-Cap ETF
0.18%
Strive 1000 Dividend Growth ETF
0.35%
Strive Emerging Markets Ex-China ETF
0.32%
Strive U.S. Energy ETF
0.41%
Strive U.S. Semiconductor ETF
0.40%
Strive Natural Resources and Security ETF
0.49%
Strive Mid-Cap ETF
0.18%
Strive International Developed Markets ETF 0.29%
For the fiscal year ended June 30, 2025, the aggregate advisory fees paid to the Adviser by the Funds as a percentage of average daily net assets are set forth in the table below:
Fund
Advisory Fee Paid*
Strive 500 ETF
0.0499%
Strive 1000 Growth ETF
0.16%
Strive 1000 Value ETF
0.16%
Strive Small-Cap ETF
0.16%
Strive 1000 Dividend Growth ETF
0.32%
Strive Emerging Markets Ex-China ETF
0.29%
Strive U.S. Energy ETF
0.38%
Strive U.S. Semiconductor ETF
0.37%
Strive Natural Resources and Security ETF
0.45%
Strive Mid-Cap ETF
0.16%
Strive International Developed Markets ETF 0.27%
*For the period August 1, 2024 to June 30, 2025. Effective February 1, 2025, each Fund’s fiscal year end changed from July 31 to June 30.
The Adviser (or an affiliate of the Adviser) bears all of the Adviser’s own costs associated with providing these advisory services and all expenses of the Fund, except for the fee payment under the Advisory Agreement, payments under the Fund’s Rule 12b-1 Distribution and Service Plan (the “Plan”), brokerage expenses, acquired fund fees and expenses (including affiliated funds’ fees and expenses), taxes (including tax-related services), interest (including borrowing costs), litigation expenses (including class action-related services) and other non-routine or extraordinary expenses. Additionally, the Fund shall be responsible for its non-operating expenses (see the italicized items in the preceding sentence) and fees and expenses associated with the Fund’s securities lending program, if applicable.
The Advisory Agreement for each Fund provides that it may be terminated at any time, without the payment of any penalty, by the Board or, with respect to the Fund, by a majority of the outstanding shares of the Fund, on 60 days’ written notice to the Adviser, and by the Adviser upon 60 days’ written notice, and that it shall be automatically terminated if it is assigned. The Adviser retains the authority, pursuant to the terms of the investment sub-advisory agreement, to exercise its right to control the overall management of the Fund’s assets.
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Investment Sub-Adviser
The Adviser has retained Strive Asset Management, LLC (the “Sub-Adviser”), an investment adviser registered with the SEC, to provide sub-advisory services for the Funds. The Sub-Adviser is organized as an Ohio limited liability company with its principal office located at 200 Crescent Court, Suite 1400, Dallas TX 75201. The Sub-Adviser was founded in 2022. The Sub-Adviser has discretionary responsibility to select each Fund’s investments in accordance with each Fund’s investment objectives, policies and restrictions. The Sub-Adviser is not responsible for selecting broker-dealers or placing each Fund’s trades. Rather, the Sub-Adviser constructs the overall portfolio and provides trading instructions to the Adviser, and, in turn, the Adviser is responsible for selecting broker-dealers and placing each Fund’s trades.
Pursuant to a sub-advisory agreement (the “Sub-Advisory Agreement”), the Adviser pays the Sub-Adviser a fee, which is calculated daily and paid monthly, at an annual rate based on a Fund’s average daily net assets as follows:
Fund
 Sub-Advisory Fee
Strive 500 ETF
0.0200%
Strive 1000 Growth ETF
0.10%
Strive 1000 Value ETF
0.10%
Strive Small-Cap ETF
0.10%
Strive 1000 Dividend Growth ETF
0.18%
Strive Emerging Markets Ex-China ETF
0.12%
Strive U.S. Energy ETF
0.20%
Strive U.S. Semiconductor ETF
0.20%
Strive Natural Resources and Security ETF
0.25%
Strive Mid-Cap ETF
0.09%
Strive International Developed Markets ETF 0.15%
Fund Sponsor
The Adviser has entered into a fund sponsorship agreement with the Sub-Adviser pursuant to which the Sub-Adviser is also the sponsor of each Fund (“Fund Sponsor”). Under this arrangement, the Fund Sponsor has agreed to provide financial support to each Fund (as described below) and, in turn, the Adviser has agreed to share with the Fund Sponsor a portion of profits, if any, generated by each Fund’s Advisory Fee (also as described below). Every month, the Advisory Fee, which is a unitary management fee, is calculated and paid to the Adviser.
If the amount of the unitary management fee exceeds a Fund’s operating expenses and the Adviser-retained amount, the Adviser pays the net total to the Fund Sponsor. The amount paid to the Fund Sponsor represents both the sub-advisory fee and any remaining profits from the Advisory Fee. During months where there are no profits or the funds are not sufficient to cover the entire sub-advisory fee, the sub-advisory fee is automatically waived.
If the amount of the unitary management fee is less than a Fund’s operating expenses and the Adviser-retained amount, Fund Sponsor is obligated to reimburse the Adviser for the shortfall.
The Adviser-retained amount represents an agreed upon fee arrangement between the Adviser and Fund Sponsor. This arrangement calls for the Fund Sponsor to pay the Adviser a fee and reimburse the Adviser for certain Fund operating expenses it paid pursuant to the Advisory Agreement.
APPROVAL OF ADVISORY AGREEMENT & INVESTMENT SUB-ADVISORY AGREEMENT
A discussion regarding the basis for the Board’s approval of the Advisory Agreement and the Sub-Advisory Agreement with respect to the Fund is available in the Funds’ Form N-CSR to shareholders for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2025.
Manager of Managers Structure (with respect to the Strive International Developed Markets Fund only)
The Adviser and the Trust have received an exemptive order (the “Order”) from the SEC that allows the Fund to operate in a “manager of managers” structure whereby the Adviser can appoint and replace unaffiliated sub-advisers, and enter into, amend and terminate sub-advisory agreements with such sub-advisers, each subject to Board approval, but without obtaining prior shareholder approval (“Manager of Managers Structure”). The Fund will, however, inform shareholders
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of the hiring of any new sub-adviser within 90 days after the hiring, to the extent the Fund is relying on the Order. The Order provides the Fund with greater flexibility and efficiency by preventing the Fund from incurring the expense and delays associated with obtaining shareholder approval of such sub-advisory agreements.
To the extent the Fund relies on the Order, the Fund’s use of the Manager of Managers Structure is subject to certain conditions that are set forth in the Order. Under the Manager of Managers Structure, the Adviser has the ultimate responsibility, subject to oversight by the Board, to oversee sub-advisers and recommend their hiring, termination and replacement. The Adviser will also, subject to the review and approval of the Board; set the Fund’s overall investment strategy; evaluate, select and recommend sub-advisers to manage all or a portion of the Fund’s assets; and implement procedures reasonably designed to ensure that each sub-adviser complies with the Fund’s investment goal, policies and restrictions. Subject to review by the Board, the Adviser will allocate and, when appropriate, reallocate the Fund’s assets among sub-advisers and monitor and evaluate the sub-advisers’ performance.
PORTFOLIO MANAGERS
Mr. Matthew Cole and Mr. Jeffrey Sherman are co-Portfolio Managers and are primarily responsible for the day-to-day management of each Fund.
Mr. Cole has been with the Sub-Adviser since 2022, where he is the Chief Executive Officer and Chief Investment Officer. Mr. Cole has advised on determining the investment exposures of each Fund since each Fund’s respective inception. Prior to Mr. Cole’s tenure with the Sub-Adviser, Mr. Cole was a Fixed Income Portfolio Manager for a large U.S. pension fund starting in 2011. Mr. Cole has a MBA in Finance and a B.Sc in Finance and Risk Management & Insurance from Sacramento State University. He is also a CFA® Charterholder.
Mr. Sherman joined the Sub-Adviser as a portfolio manager in 2023. Mr. Sherman has advised on determining the investment exposures of each Fund since June 2023 (except for Strive Natural Resources and Security ETF, Strive Mid-Cap ETF, and Strive International Developed Markets ETF which Mr. Sherman has served as portfolio manager for since each Fund’s inception). Prior to Mr. Sherman’s tenure with the Sub-Adviser, Mr. Sherman was a Quantitative Analyst for a large insurance company and built multi-asset model portfolios for an investment advisory platform from 2020 to 2022. Additionally, Mr. Sherman worked as an Investment Officer in the Public Equities department of a large U.S. pension fund from 2017 to 2020. Mr. Sherman holds a master’s degree in Quantitative Finance & Risk Analytics from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics from the University at Albany, State University of New York.
The Funds’ Statement of Additional Information (“SAI”) provides additional information about the portfolio managers, including other accounts each manages, their ownership in the Fund, and compensation.
OTHER SERVICE PROVIDERS
PINE Distributors LLC (“Distributor”) serves as the distributor of Creation Units (defined above) for the Funds on an agency basis. The Distributor does not maintain a secondary market in Shares.
U.S. Bancorp Fund Services, LLC, doing business as U.S. Bank Global Fund Services, is the administrator, fund accountant, and transfer agent for the Funds.
U.S. Bank National Association is the custodian for the Funds.
Practus, LLP, 11300 Tomahawk Creek Parkway, Suite 310, Leawood, Kansas 66211, serves as legal counsel to the Trust.
Tait, Weller & Baker LLP, 50 South 16th Street, Suite 2900, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19102, serves as the Funds’ independent registered public accounting firm. The independent registered public accounting firm is responsible for auditing the annual financial statements of the Funds.
THE EXCHANGE
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 of, prices of, 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
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no event shall the Exchange have any liability for any direct, indirect, special, punitive, consequential or any other damages (including lost profits) even if notified of the possibility of such damages.
BUYING AND SELLING FUND SHARES
Each 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. Creation Units are generally issued and redeemed only in-kind for securities although a portion may be in cash.
Shares will trade on the secondary market, however, which is where most retail investors will buy and sell Shares. It is expected that only a limited number of institutional investors, called Authorized Participants or “APs,” will purchase and redeem Shares directly from the Funds. APs may acquire Shares directly from the Funds, and APs may tender their Shares for redemption directly to the Funds, at NAV per Share only in large blocks, or Creation Units. Purchases and redemptions directly with the Funds must follow the Funds’ procedures, which are described in the SAI.
Except when aggregated in Creation Units, Shares are not redeemable with the Funds.
BUYING AND SELLING SHARES ON THE SECONDARY MARKET
Most investors will buy and sell Shares in secondary market transactions through brokers and, therefore, must have a brokerage account to buy and sell Shares. Shares can be bought or sold through your broker throughout the trading day like shares of any publicly traded issuer. The Trust does not impose any redemption fees or restrictions on redemptions of Shares in the secondary market. 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 offered prices in the secondary market for Shares. The price at which you buy or sell Shares (i.e., the market price) may be more or less than the NAV of the Shares. Unless imposed by your broker, there is no minimum dollar amount you must invest in a Fund and no minimum number of Shares you must buy.
Shares of each Fund are listed on the Exchange under the following symbol:
Fund Trading Symbol
Strive 500 ETF
STRV
Strive 1000 Growth ETF
STXG
Strive 1000 Value ETF
STXV
Strive Small-Cap ETF
STXK
Strive 1000 Dividend Growth ETF
STXD
Strive Emerging Markets Ex-China ETF
STXE
Strive U.S. Energy ETF
DRLL
Strive U.S. Semiconductor ETF
SHOC
Strive Natural Resources and Security ETF
FTWO
Strive Mid-Cap ETF STXM
Strive International Developed Markets ETF STXI
The Exchange is generally open Monday through Friday and is closed for weekends and the following holidays: New Year’s Day, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, Washington’s Birthday, Good Friday, Memorial Day, Juneteenth National Independence Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day, and Christmas Day.
For information about buying and selling Shares on the Exchange or in the secondary markets, please contact your broker or dealer.
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, will be the registered owner of all outstanding Shares and is recognized as the owner of all Shares. Participants in DTC 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 on the procedures of DTC and its participants. These procedures are the same as those that apply to any stocks
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that you hold in book entry or “street name” through your brokerage account. Your account information will be maintained by your broker, which will provide you with account statements, confirmations of your purchases and sales of Shares, and tax information. Your broker also will be responsible for distributing income dividends and capital gain distributions and for ensuring that you receive shareholder reports and other communications from each Fund.
Share Trading Prices. The trading prices of Shares may differ from the applicable Fund’s daily NAV and can be affected by market forces of supply and demand for Shares, the prices of the applicable Fund’s portfolio securities, economic conditions and other factors.
The Exchange, through the facilities of the Consolidated Tape Association or another market information provider, intends to disseminate the approximate value of a Fund’s portfolio every fifteen seconds during regular U.S. trading hours. This approximate value should not be viewed as a “real-time” update of the NAV of a Fund because the approximate value may not be calculated in the same manner as the NAV, which is computed once a day. The quotations for certain investments may not be updated during U.S. trading hours if such holdings do not trade in the U.S., except such quotations may be updated to reflect currency fluctuations. A Fund is not involved in, or responsible for, the calculation or dissemination of the approximate values and makes no warranty as to the accuracy of these values.
Continuous Offering. The method by which Creation Units of Shares are created and traded may raise certain issues under applicable securities laws. Because new Creation Units of Shares are issued and sold by a Fund on an ongoing basis, a “distribution,” as such term is used in the Securities Act, may occur at any point. Broker-dealers and other persons are cautioned that some activities on their part may, depending on the circumstances, result in their being deemed participants in a distribution in a manner which could render them statutory underwriters and subject them to the prospectus delivery requirements and liability provisions of the Securities Act. For example, a broker-dealer firm or its client may be deemed a statutory underwriter if it takes Creation Units after placing an order with the Distributor, breaks them down into constituent Shares and sells the Shares directly to customers or if it chooses to couple the creation of a supply of new Shares with an active selling effort involving solicitation of secondary market demand for Shares. A determination of whether one is an underwriter for purposes of the Securities Act must take into account all the facts and circumstances pertaining to the activities of the broker-dealer or its client in the particular case, and the examples mentioned above should not be considered a complete description of all the activities that could lead to a characterization as an underwriter.
Broker-dealer firms should also note that dealers who are not “underwriters” but are effecting transactions in Shares, whether or not participating in the distribution of Shares, are generally required to deliver a prospectus. This is because the prospectus delivery exemption in Section 4(a)(3) of the Securities Act is not available in respect of such transactions as a result of Section 24(d) of the Investment Company Act. As a result, broker-dealer firms should note that dealers who are not “underwriters” but are participating in a distribution (as contrasted with engaging in ordinary secondary market transactions) and thus dealing with the Shares that are part of an overallotment 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. For delivery of prospectuses to exchange members, the prospectus delivery mechanism of Rule 153 under the Securities Act is only available with respect to transactions on a national exchange.
ACTIVE INVESTORS AND MARKET TIMING
The Board has evaluated the risks of market timing activities by the Funds’ shareholders. The Board noted that Shares can be purchased and redeemed directly from a Fund only in Creation Units by APs and that the vast majority of trading in Shares occurs on the secondary market. Because the secondary market trades do not directly involve the Funds, it is unlikely those trades would cause the harmful effects of market timing, including dilution, disruption of portfolio management, increases in the Funds’ trading costs and the realization of capital gains. With regard to the purchase or redemption of Creation Units directly with a Fund, to the extent effected in-kind (i.e., for securities), the Board noted that those trades do not cause the harmful effects (as previously noted) that may result from frequent cash trades. To the extent trades are effected in whole or in part in cash, the Board noted that those trades could result in dilution to a Fund and increased transaction costs, which could negatively impact the Funds’ ability to achieve its investment objective, although in certain circumstances (e.g., in conjunction with a reallocation of the Fund’s investments), such trades may benefit Fund shareholders by increasing the tax efficiency of a Fund. The Board also noted that direct trading by APs is critical to ensuring that Shares trade at or close to NAV. In addition, the Funds will impose transaction fees on purchases and redemptions of Shares to cover the custodial and other costs incurred by a Fund in effecting trades. Given this
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structure, the Board determined that it is not necessary to adopt policies and procedures to detect and deter market timing of Shares.
DISTRIBUTION AND SERVICE PLAN
Each Fund has adopted the Plan pursuant to Rule 12b-1 under the Investment Company Act. Under the Plan, a Fund may be authorized to pay distribution fees of up to 0.25% of its average daily net assets each year to the Distributor and other firms that provide distribution and shareholder services (“Service Providers”). As of the date of this Prospectus, the maximum amount payable under the Plan is set at 0% until further action by the Board. In the event 12b-1 fees are charged, over time they would increase the cost of an investment in a Fund because they would be paid on an ongoing basis.
Payments to Certain Employee Benefit Plan Financial Intermediaries. The Sub-Adviser may provide compensation to certain employee benefit plan financial intermediaries with respect to the Funds. These payments may be made, at the discretion of the Sub-Adviser, for shareholder recordkeeping or other administrative services provided to eligible defined contribution employee benefit plans holding a Fund’s Shares, either directly or indirectly. The level of payments made to such a qualifying employee benefit plan Financial Intermediary in any given year may vary depending on the market value of a Fund’s Shares serviced by the Financial Intermediary. A number of factors will be considered in determining whether compensation should be paid to a Financial Intermediary, including the qualifying Financial Intermediary’s willingness to enter into a recordkeeping agreement (or something equivalent) that calls for recordkeeping, reporting, or other services to be provided, and the quality of the relationship with the Fund. The Sub-Adviser will make these payments to help defray the costs incurred by qualifying financial intermediaries in connection with efforts to maintain employee benefit plan accounts for participants in a cost-efficient manner; however, the Sub-Adviser does not audit the financial intermediaries to verify the extent or nature of services provided. The Sub-Adviser will, on a periodic basis, determine the advisability of continuing these payments. These payments may be more or less than the payments received by financial intermediaries with respect to other funds and may influence your Financial Intermediary to make available a Fund over other funds. You should ask your Financial Intermediary about these differing and divergent interests and how it is compensated for administering your investment in a Fund’s Shares.
NET ASSET VALUE
The NAV of Shares is calculated each business day as of the close of regular trading on the New York Stock Exchange (“NYSE”), generally 4:00 p.m., Eastern time.
Each Fund calculates its NAV per Share by:
Taking the current market value of its total assets,
Subtracting any liabilities, and
Dividing that amount by the total number of Shares owned by shareholders.
If you buy or sell Shares on the secondary market, you will pay or receive the market price, which may be higher or lower than NAV. Your transaction will be priced at NAV only if you purchase or redeem your Shares in Creation Units.
Because securities listed on foreign exchanges may trade on weekends or other days when a Fund does not price its Shares, the NAV of the Fund, to the extent it may hold foreign securities, may change on days when shareholders will not be able to purchase or sell Shares. In particular, where all or a portion of the Fund’s underlying securities trade in a market that is closed when the market in which the Fund’s shares are listed and trading in that market is open, there may be changes between the last quote from its closed foreign market and the value of such security during the Fund’s domestic trading day. In addition, please note that this in turn could lead to differences between the market price of the Fund’s shares and the underlying value of those shares.
Equity securities that are traded on a national securities exchange, except those listed on the NASDAQ Global Market® (“NASDAQ”) are valued at the last reported sale price on the exchange on which the security is principally traded. Securities traded on NASDAQ will be valued at the NASDAQ Official Closing Price (“NOCP”). If, on a particular day, an exchange-traded or NASDAQ security does not trade, then the most recent quoted bid for exchange traded or the mean between the most recent quoted bid and ask price for NASDAQ securities will be used. Equity securities that are not traded on a listed exchange are generally valued at the last sale price in the over-the-counter market. If a
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nonexchange traded security does not trade on a particular day, then the mean between the last quoted closing bid and asked price will be used.
The value of assets denominated in foreign currencies is converted into U.S. dollars using exchange rates deemed appropriate by the Fund.
Redeemable securities issued by open-end investment companies are valued at the investment company’s applicable net asset value, with the exception of exchange-traded open-end investment companies which are priced as equity securities.
If a market price is not readily available or is deemed not to reflect market value, the relevant Fund will determine the price of the security held by the Fund based on a determination of the security’s fair value pursuant to policies and procedures approved by the Board.
To the extent a Fund holds securities that may trade infrequently, fair valuation may be used more frequently. Fair valuation may have the effect of reducing stale pricing arbitrage opportunities presented by the pricing of Shares. However, when a Fund uses fair valuation to price securities, it may value those securities higher or lower than another fund would have priced the security. Also, the use of fair valuation may cause the Shares’ NAV performance to diverge from the Shares’ market price and from the performance of various benchmarks used to compare a Fund’s performance because benchmarks generally do not use fair valuation techniques. Because of the judgment involved in fair valuation decisions, there can be no assurance that the value ascribed to a particular security is accurate.
FUND WEBSITE AND DISCLOSURE OF PORTFOLIO HOLDINGS
The Sub-Adviser maintains a website for each Fund at https://strivefunds.com/. Among other things, the website includes this Prospectus and the SAI, the Funds’ holdings, proxy information, and the Funds’ last annual and semi-annual reports. The website shows each Fund’s daily NAV per share, market price, and premium or discount, each as of the prior business day. The website also shows the extent and frequency of each Fund’s premiums and discounts. Further, the website includes each Fund’s median bid-ask spread over the most recent thirty calendar days.
Each day a Fund is open for business, the Trust publicly disseminates each Fund’s full portfolio holdings as of the close of the previous day through its website at https://strivefunds.com/. A description of the Trust’s policies and procedures with respect to the disclosure of the Funds’portfolio holdings is available in the Funds’ SAI.
INVESTMENTS BY OTHER INVESTMENT COMPANIES
For purposes of the Investment Company Act, Shares are issued by a registered investment company and purchases of such Shares by registered investment companies and companies relying on Section 3(c)(1) or 3(c)(7) of the Investment Company Act are subject to the restrictions set forth in Section 12(d)(1) of the Investment Company Act, except as permitted by Rule 6c-11, Rule 12d1-4, or an exemptive order of the SEC.
DIVIDENDS, DISTRIBUTIONS, AND TAXES
As with any investment, you should consider how your investment in Shares will be taxed. The tax information in this Prospectus 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-exempt entity or tax-deferred retirement account, such as an IRA, you need to be aware of the possible tax consequences when:
Your Fund makes distributions,
You sell your Shares listed on the Exchange, and
You purchase or redeem Creation Units.
Dividends and Distributions
Dividends and Distributions. Each Fund has elected and intends to qualify each year as a regulated investment company under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended. As a regulated investment company, a Fund generally pays no U.S. federal income tax on the income and gains it distributes to you. Each Fund expects to declare and to distribute its net investment income, if any, to shareholders as dividends quarterly. Each Fund will distribute net realized capital gains, if any, at least annually. A Fund may distribute such income dividends and capital gains more frequently, if necessary, in
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order to reduce or eliminate U.S. federal excise or income taxes on the Fund. The amount of any distribution will vary, and there is no guarantee a Fund will pay either an income dividend or a capital gains distribution. Distributions may be reinvested automatically in additional whole Shares only if the broker through whom you purchased Shares makes such option available.
Avoid “Buying a Dividend.” At the time you purchase Shares of a Fund, the Fund’s NAV may reflect undistributed income, undistributed capital gains, or net unrealized appreciation in value of portfolio securities held by the Fund. For taxable investors, a subsequent distribution to you of such amounts, although constituting a return of your investment, would be taxable. Buying Shares in a Fund just before it declares an income dividend or capital gains distribution is sometimes known as “buying a dividend.”
Taxes
Tax Considerations. Each Fund expects, based on its investment objective and strategies, that its distributions, if any, will be taxable as ordinary income, capital gains, or some combination of both. This is true whether you reinvest your distributions in additional Shares or receive them in cash. For U.S. federal income tax purposes, Fund distributions of short-term capital gains are taxable to you as ordinary income. Fund distributions of long-term capital gains are taxable to you as long-term capital gain no matter how long you have owned your Shares. A portion of income dividends reported by a Fund may be qualified dividend income eligible for taxation by certain shareholders at long-term capital gain rates provided certain holding period requirements are met.
Taxes on Sales of Shares. A sale or exchange of Shares is a taxable event and, accordingly, a capital gain or loss will generally be recognized. Currently, any capital gain or loss realized upon a sale of Shares generally is treated as long-term capital gain or loss if the Shares have been held for more than one year and as short-term capital gain or loss if the Shares have been held for one year or less. The ability to deduct capital losses may be limited.
Medicare Tax. An additional 3.8% Medicare tax is imposed on certain net investment income (including ordinary dividends and capital gain distributions received from a Fund and net gains from redemptions or other taxable dispositions of Shares) of U.S. individuals, estates, and trusts to the extent that such person’s “modified adjusted gross income” (in the case of an individual) or “adjusted gross income” (in the case of an estate or trust) exceeds a threshold amount. This Medicare tax, if applicable, is reported by you on, and paid with, your U.S. federal income tax return.
Backup Withholding. By law, if you do not provide a Fund with your proper taxpayer identification number and certain required certifications, you may be subject to backup withholding on any distributions of income, capital gains or proceeds from the sale of your Shares. A Fund also must backup withhold if the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) instructs it to do so. When backup withholding is required, the amount will be 24% of any distributions or proceeds paid.
State and Local Taxes. Fund distributions and gains from the sale or exchange of your Shares generally are subject to applicable state and local taxes.
Taxes on Purchase and Redemption of Creation Units. An AP who exchanges equity 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 of purchase and the exchanger’s aggregate basis in the securities surrendered and the cash amount paid. A person who exchanges Creation Units for equity securities generally will recognize a gain or loss equal to the difference between the exchanger’s basis in the Creation Units and the aggregate market value of the securities received and the cash amount received. The IRS, however, may assert that a loss realized upon an exchange of securities for Creation Units cannot be deducted currently under the rules governing “wash sales,” 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 the wash sale rules apply and when a loss might not be deductible.
Under current U.S. federal tax laws, any capital gain or loss realized upon redemption of Creation Units is generally treated as long-term capital gain or loss if the Shares have been held for more than one year and as a short-term capital gain or loss if the Shares have been held for one year or less.
If a Fund redeems Creation Units in cash, it may recognize more capital gains than it will if it redeems Creation Units in-kind.
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Foreign Tax Credits. If a Fund qualifies to pass through to you the tax benefits from foreign taxes it pays on its investments, and elects to do so, then any foreign taxes it pays on these investments may be passed through to you as a foreign tax credit.
Non-U.S. Investors. Non-U.S. investors may be subject to U.S. federal withholding tax at a 30% or lower treaty rate and are subject to special U.S. federal tax certification requirements to avoid backup withholding and claim any treaty benefits. An exemption from U.S. federal withholding tax is provided for capital gain dividends paid by a Fund from long-term capital gains, if any. However, interest-related dividends paid by a Fund from its qualified net interest income from U.S. sources and short-term capital gain dividends may be exempt from U.S. withholding provided the Fund makes certain designations and other requirements are met. Furthermore, notwithstanding such exemptions from U.S. federal withholding at the source, any such dividends and distributions of income and capital gains will be subject to U.S. federal backup withholding at a rate of 24% if you fail to properly certify that you are not a U.S. person. In addition, U.S. estate tax may apply to Shares of a Fund.
Other Reporting and Withholding Requirements. Under the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA), each Fund will be required to withhold a 30% tax on (i) income dividends paid by the Fund, and (ii) possibly in the future, certain capital gain distributions and the proceeds arising from the sale of Shares paid by the Fund, to certain foreign entities, referred to as foreign financial institutions or non-financial foreign entities, that fail to comply (or be deemed compliant) with extensive reporting and withholding requirements designed to inform the U.S. Department of the Treasury of U.S.-owned foreign investment accounts. A Fund may disclose the information that it receives from its shareholders to the IRS, non-U.S. taxing authorities or other parties as necessary to comply with FATCA. Withholding also may be required if a foreign entity that is a shareholder of a Fund fails to provide the Fund with appropriate certifications or other documentation concerning its status under FATCA.
Possible Tax Law Changes. At the time that this prospectus is being prepared, various administrative and legislative changes to the U.S. federal tax laws are under consideration, but it is not possible at this time to determine whether any of these changes will be made or what the changes might entail.
This discussion of “Dividends, Distributions and Taxes” is not intended or written to be used as tax advice. Because everyone’s tax situation is unique, you should consult your tax professional about U.S. federal, state, local or foreign tax consequences before making an investment in a Fund.
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FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS

The financial highlights tables are intended to help you understand each Fund’s financial performance for the period of such Fund’s operations. Certain information reflects financial results for a single Share. The total returns in the tables represent the rate that an investor would have gained (or lost) on an investment in a Fund (assuming reinvestment of all dividends and distributions). The information in the tables below has been audited by Tait, Weller & Baker LLP, an independent registered public accounting firm, whose report, along with the Funds’ financial statements, is included in the Funds’ Form N-CSR, which is available upon request.
INVESTMENT OPERATIONS:
LESS DISTRIBUTIONS FROM:
SUPPLEMENTAL DATA AND RATIOS:
For the period ended
Net asset value, beginning of period
Net investment income (loss)(a)
Net realized and unrealized gain (loss) on investments(b)
Total from investment operations
Net investment income
Return of capital
Net realized gains
Total distributions
ETF transaction fees per share
Net asset value, end of period
Total return(c)
Net assets, end of period (in thousands)
Ratio of expense to average net assets(d)
Ratio of net investment income (loss) to average net assets(d)
Portfolio turnover rate(c)(e)
Strive 1000 Dividend Growth ETF
6/30/2025(p)
$32.24
0.39
2.50
2.89
(0.41)
(0.41)
$34.72
9.02%
$52,082
0.35%
1.29%
18%
7/31/2024
$28.02
0.44
4.20
4.64
(0.42)
(0.42)
$32.24
16.73%
$43,200
0.35%
1.50%
10%
7/31/2023(f)
$24.59
0.30
3.35
3.65
(0.22)
(0.22)
0.00(g)
$28.02
14.90%
$22,415
0.35%
1.56%
18%
Strive 1000 Growth ETF
6/30/2025(p)
$39.70
0.24
6.27
6.51
(0.23)
(0.01)
(0.24)
$45.97
16.43%
$129,629
0.18%
0.61%
8%
7/31/2024
$32.20
0.24
7.49
7.73
(0.23)
(0.23)
0.00(g)
$39.70
24.14%
$86,953
0.18%
0.65%
9%
7/31/2023(f)
$24.51
0.16
7.64
7.80
(0.11)
(0.11)
$32.20
31.88%
$28,978
0.18%
0.74%
2%
Strive 1000 Value ETF
6/30/2025(p)
$29.56
0.73 1.30
2.03
(0.77)
(0.77)
$30.82
6.97%
$62,251
0.18%
2.63%
17%
7/31/2024
$26.31
0.73
3.18
3.91
(0.66)
(0.66)
$29.56
15.12%
$54,679
0.18%
2.66%
13%
7/31/2023(f)
$24.45
0.47
1.72
2.19
(0.33)
(0.33)
$26.31
9.03%
$17,101
0.18%
2.62%
4%
Strive 500 ETF
6/30/2025(p)
$35.34
0.44
4.67
5.11
(0.45)
(0.45)
0.00(g)
$40.00
14.50%
$923,505
0.05%
1.28%
2%
7/31/2024
$29.29
0.44
6.02
6.46
(0.41)
(0.41)
0.00(g)
$35.34
22.26%
$601,208
0.05%
1.40%
4%
7/31/2023(h)
$25.10
0.35
4.10
4.45
(0.26)
(0.26)
$29.29
17.85%
$251,869
0.05%
1.52%
3%
Strive Emerging Markets Ex-China ETF
6/30/2025(p)
$29.95
0.59
1.63
2.22
(1.16)
(1.16)
0.02
$31.03
7.72%
$99,301
0.32%
2.24%
21%
7/31/2024
$26.97
0.82
2.35
3.17
(0.31)
(0.31)
0.12
$29.95
12.38%
$100,346
0.32%
3.02%
80%
7/31/2023(i)
$25.17
0.29
1.43
1.88
(0.08)
(0.08)
0.16
$26.97
7.49%
$153,727
1.29%
2.28%
39%
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INVESTMENT OPERATIONS:
LESS DISTRIBUTIONS FROM:
SUPPLEMENTAL DATA AND RATIOS:
For the period ended
Net asset value, beginning of period
Net investment income (loss)(a)
Net realized and unrealized gain (loss) on investments(b)
Total from investment operations
Net investment income
Return of capital
Net realized gains
Total distributions
ETF transaction fees per share
Net asset value, end of period
Total return(c)
Net assets, end of period (in thousands)
Ratio of expense to average net assets(d)
Ratio of net investment income (loss) to average net assets(d)
Portfolio turnover rate(c)(e)
Strive International Developed Markets ETF
6/30/2025(p)
$25.67
0.65
2.93
3.58
(0.62)
(0.62)
0.00(g)
$28.63
14.05%
$18,607
0.29%
2.73%
12%
7/31/2024(k)
$25.11
0.02
0.54
0.56
0.00(g)
$25.67
2.24%
$10,269
0.29%
0.77%
0%
Strive Mid Cap ETF
6/30/2025(p)
$25.28
0.31 1.12
1.43
(0.32)
(0.00)(g)
(0.32)
$26.39
5.71%
$17,154
0.18%
1.31%
24%
7/31/2024(l)
$24.50
0.09
0.75
0.84
(0.06)
(0.06)
$25.28
3.44%
$12,388
0.18%
1.24%
4%
Strive Natural Resources and Security ETF
6/30/2025(p)
$29.01
0.40
6.63
7.03
(0.39)
(0.39)
$35.65
24.46%
$35,652
0.49%
1.40%
21%
7/31/2024(m)
$25.13
0.30
3.84
4.14
(0.26)
(0.26)
$29.01
16.60%
$23,208
0.49%
1.20%
27%
Strive Small-Cap ETF
6/30/2025(p)
$31.52
0.39 (1.04)
(0.65)
(0.47) (0.05)
(0.52)
0.00(g)
$30.35
-2.08%
$60,701
0.18%
1.41%
32%
7/31/2024
$28.05
0.38
3.48
3.86
(0.39)
(0.39)
0.00(g)
$31.52
13.99%
$54,846
0.18%
1.36%
31%
7/31/2023(f)
$24.32
0.25
3.67
3.92
(0.19)
(0.19)
0.00(g)
$28.05
16.20%
$23,840
0.18%
1.34%
20%
Strive U.S. Energy ETF
6/30/2025(p)
$30.41
0.79
(3.24)
(2.45)
(0.82)
(0.82)
$27.14
-8.08%
$261,917
0.41%
3.07%
8%
7/31/2024
$29.38
0.81
1.06
1.87
(0.84)
(0.84)
$30.41
6.43%
$344,211
0.41%
2.74%
21%
7/31/2023(n)
$25.12
0.84
4.20
5.04
(0.78)
(0.78)
0.00(g)
$29.38
20.22%
$360,203
0.41%
3.04%
6%
Strive U.S. Semiconductor ETF
6/30/2025(p)
$47.53
0.16
5.55
5.71
(0.17)
(0.17)
$53.07
12.07%
$102,954
0.40%
0.38%
25%
92


INVESTMENT OPERATIONS:
LESS DISTRIBUTIONS FROM:
SUPPLEMENTAL DATA AND RATIOS:
For the period ended
Net asset value, beginning of period
Net investment income (loss)(a)
Net realized and unrealized gain (loss) on investments(b)
Total from investment operations
Net investment income
Return of capital
Net realized gains
Total distributions
ETF transaction fees per share
Net asset value, end of period
Total return(c)
Net assets, end of period (in thousands)
Ratio of expense to average net assets(d)
Ratio of net investment income (loss) to average net assets(d)
Portfolio turnover rate(c)(e)
7/31/2024
$36.63
0.21
10.90
11.11
(0.21)
(0.21)
$47.53
30.46%
$83,169
0.40%
0.51%
29%
7/31/2023(o)
$25.07
0.22
11.53
11.75
(0.19)
(0.19)
$36.63
47.03%
$36,626
0.40%
0.92%
10%
(a)
Net investment income per share has been calculated based on average shares outstanding during the periods.
(b)
Realized and unrealized gains and losses per share in the caption are balancing amounts necessary to reconcile the change in net asset value per share for the periods, and may not reconcile with the aggregate gains and losses in the Statement of Operations due to share transactions for the periods.
(c)
Not annualized for periods less than one year.
(d)
Annualized for periods less than one year.
(e)
Portfolio turnover rate excludes in-kind transactions.
(f)
Inception date of the Fund was November 9, 2022.
(g)
Amount represents less than $0.005 per share.
(h)
Inception date of the Fund was September 14, 2022.
(i)
Inception date of the Fund was January 30, 2023.
(j)
Inception date of the Fund was August 9, 2023.
(k)
Inception date of the Fund was June 25, 2024.
(l)
Inception date of the Fund was April 10, 2024.
(m)
Inception date of the Fund was August 30, 2023.
(n)
Inception date of the Fund was August 8, 2022.
(o)
Inception date of the Fund was October 5, 2022.
(p) For the period August 1, 2024 to June 30, 2025.
93


If you would like more information about the Funds and the Trust, the following documents are available free, upon request:
ANNUAL/SEMI-ANNUAL REPORTS TO SHAREHOLDERS
Additional information about each Fund is available in its annual and semi-annual reports to shareholders and in Form N-CSR. The annual report explains the market conditions and investment strategies affecting each Fund’s performance during the last fiscal year. In Form N-CSR, you will find each Fund’s annual and semi-annual financial statements.
STATEMENT OF ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
The SAI dated October 31, 2025 which contains more details about the Funds, is incorporated by reference in its entirety into this Prospectus, which means that it is legally part of this Prospectus.
Recent information regarding each Fund covered by this Prospectus, including its NAV, market price, premiums and discounts, and bid/ask spreads, is available on the Fund’s website listed below. To receive a free copy of the latest annual or semi-annual report, or the SAI, or to request additional information about the Funds, please contact us as follows:
Call: (215) 330-4476
Write:  3803 West Chester Pike, Suite 150
Newtown Square, PA 19073
Visit:
https://strivefunds.com/
INFORMATION PROVIDED BY THE SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Reports and other information about each Fund are also available:
Free of charge from the SEC’s EDGAR database on the SEC’s website at http://www.sec.gov; or
For a duplicating fee, by e-mail request to [email protected].



Investment Company Act File No. 811-22961.
94