GraniteShares XOUT U.S. Large Cap ETF
September 30, 2021 (Unaudited)
Investments | Shares | Value | ||||||
COMMON STOCKS - 99.89% | ||||||||
Aerospace & Defense - 0.07% | ||||||||
HEICO Corp. | 668 | $ | 88,089 | |||||
Air Freight & Logistics - 0.94% | ||||||||
Expeditors International of Washington, Inc. | 836 | 99,593 | ||||||
FedEx Corp. | 1,315 | 288,366 | ||||||
United Parcel Service, Inc., Class B | 4,306 | 784,123 | ||||||
Total Air Freight & Logistics | 1,172,082 | |||||||
Auto Components - 0.16% | ||||||||
Aptiv PLC(a) | 1,367 | 203,642 | ||||||
Banks - 0.71% | ||||||||
Fifth Third Bancorp | 3,496 | 148,370 | ||||||
First Republic Bank | 850 | 163,948 | ||||||
SVB Financial Group(a) | 279 | 180,480 | ||||||
Truist Financial Corp. | 6,569 | 385,272 | ||||||
Total Banks | 878,070 | |||||||
Beverages - 1.25% | ||||||||
Brown-Forman Corp., Class B | 2,332 | 156,267 | ||||||
Constellation Brands, Inc., Class A | 951 | 200,366 | ||||||
Monster Beverage Corp.(a) | 2,512 | 223,141 | ||||||
PepsiCo, Inc. | 6,508 | 978,869 | ||||||
Total Beverages | 1,558,643 | |||||||
Biotechnology - 2.71% | ||||||||
AbbVie, Inc. | 8,717 | 940,303 | ||||||
Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc.(a) | 601 | 113,475 | ||||||
Amgen, Inc. | 2,835 | 602,862 | ||||||
Biogen, Inc.(a) | 806 | 228,090 | ||||||
BioMarin Pharmaceutical, Inc.(a) | 938 | 72,498 | ||||||
Exact Sciences Corp.(a) | 900 | 85,905 | ||||||
Gilead Sciences, Inc. | 6,192 | 432,511 | ||||||
Horizon Therapeutics PLC(a) | 1,114 | 122,028 | ||||||
Incyte Corp.(a) | 1,111 | 76,415 | ||||||
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc.(a) | 517 | 312,878 | ||||||
Seagen, Inc.(a) | 915 | 155,367 | ||||||
Vertex Pharmaceuticals, Inc.(a) | 1,257 | 228,007 | ||||||
Total Biotechnology | 3,370,339 | |||||||
Building Products - 0.06% | ||||||||
Masco Corp. | 1,239 | 68,826 | ||||||
Capital Markets - 3.54% | ||||||||
Bank of New York Mellon Corp. | 4,471 | 231,777 | ||||||
BlackRock, Inc. | 782 | 655,832 | ||||||
Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. | 1,763 | 666,467 | ||||||
Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. | 2,790 | 320,348 | ||||||
MarketAxess Holdings, Inc. | 188 | 79,090 | ||||||
Moody’s Corp. | 922 | 327,411 | ||||||
Morgan Stanley | 9,159 | 891,261 | ||||||
MSCI, Inc. | 404 | 245,769 | ||||||
Nasdaq, Inc. | 809 | 156,153 | ||||||
Raymond James Financial, Inc. | 1,028 | 94,818 |
Investments | Shares | Value | ||||||
Capital Markets (continued) | ||||||||
S&P Global, Inc. | 1,190 | $ | 505,619 | |||||
T Rowe Price Group, Inc. | 1,150 | 226,205 | ||||||
Total Capital Markets | 4,400,750 | |||||||
Chemicals - 0.72% | ||||||||
Celanese Corp. | 547 | 82,400 | ||||||
Dow, Inc. | 3,714 | 213,778 | ||||||
Eastman Chemical Co. | 678 | 68,302 | ||||||
PPG Industries, Inc. | 1,170 | 167,322 | ||||||
Sherwin-Williams Co. | 1,303 | 364,488 | ||||||
Total Chemicals | 896,290 | |||||||
Commercial Services & Supplies - 0.46% | ||||||||
Cintas Corp. | 547 | 208,221 | ||||||
Copart, Inc.(a) | 1,166 | 161,748 | ||||||
Waste Connections, Inc. | 1,599 | 201,362 | ||||||
Total Commercial Services & Supplies | 571,331 | |||||||
Communications Equipment - 1.17% | ||||||||
Arista Networks, Inc.(a) | 384 | 131,958 | ||||||
Cisco Systems, Inc. | 20,703 | 1,126,864 | ||||||
Motorola Solutions, Inc. | 838 | 194,684 | ||||||
Total Communications Equipment | 1,453,506 | |||||||
Consumer Finance - 0.15% | ||||||||
Discover Financial Services | 1,521 | 186,855 | ||||||
Distributors - 0.07% | ||||||||
Pool Corp. | 204 | 88,620 | ||||||
Electrical Equipment - 0.16% | ||||||||
Generac Holdings, Inc.(a) | 312 | 127,505 | ||||||
Plug Power, Inc.(a) | 2,943 | 75,164 | ||||||
Total Electrical Equipment | 202,669 | |||||||
Electronic Equipment, Instruments & Components - 0.77% | ||||||||
CDW Corp. | 698 | 127,050 | ||||||
Cognex Corp. | 893 | 71,636 | ||||||
Corning, Inc. | 4,242 | 154,791 | ||||||
Keysight Technologies, Inc.(a) | 914 | 150,161 | ||||||
TE Connectivity, Ltd. | 1,646 | 225,864 | ||||||
Trimble, Inc.(a) | 1,279 | 105,198 | ||||||
Zebra Technologies Corp., Class A(a) | 274 | 141,225 | ||||||
Total Electronic Equipment, Instruments & Components | 975,925 | |||||||
Entertainment - 0.64% | ||||||||
Activision Blizzard, Inc. | 3,893 | 301,279 | ||||||
Electronic Arts, Inc. | 1,385 | 197,016 | ||||||
Roku, Inc.(a) | 684 | 214,331 | ||||||
Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc.(a) | 586 | 90,285 | ||||||
Total Entertainment | 802,911 | |||||||
Equity Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) - 0.14% | ||||||||
SBA Communications Corp. | 531 | 175,533 | ||||||
Food & Staples Retailing - 2.61% | ||||||||
Costco Wholesale Corp. | 2,159 | 970,147 | ||||||
Kroger Co. | 3,642 | 147,246 | ||||||
Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. | 4,423 | 208,102 | ||||||
Walmart, Inc. | 13,614 | 1,897,520 | ||||||
Total Food & Staples Retailing | 3,223,015 | |||||||
Food Products - 0.05% | ||||||||
J M Smucker Co. | 526 | 63,136 |
Investments | Shares | Value | ||||||
Health Care Equipment & Supplies - 3.99% | ||||||||
ABIOMED, Inc.(a) | 233 | $ | 75,846 | |||||
Align Technology, Inc.(a) | 397 | 264,176 | ||||||
Baxter International, Inc. | 2,457 | 197,617 | ||||||
Boston Scientific Corp.(a) | 7,200 | 312,408 | ||||||
Cooper Cos., Inc. | 248 | 102,501 | ||||||
Danaher Corp. | 3,473 | 1,057,320 | ||||||
Dexcom, Inc.(a) | 477 | 260,852 | ||||||
Edwards Lifesciences Corp.(a) | 3,053 | 345,630 | ||||||
Hologic, Inc.(a) | 1,275 | 94,108 | ||||||
IDEXX Laboratories, Inc.(a) | 421 | 261,820 | ||||||
Insulet Corp.(a) | 346 | 98,344 | ||||||
Intuitive Surgical, Inc.(a) | 581 | 577,601 | ||||||
Masimo Corp.(a) | 264 | 71,467 | ||||||
Medtronic PLC | 6,768 | 848,369 | ||||||
Novocure, Ltd.(a) | 534 | 62,035 | ||||||
ResMed, Inc. | 715 | 188,438 | ||||||
West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. | 365 | 154,957 | ||||||
Total Health Care Equipment & Supplies | 4,973,489 | |||||||
Health Care Providers & Services - 3.20% | ||||||||
AmerisourceBergen Corp. | 1,043 | 124,586 | ||||||
Anthem, Inc. | 1,186 | 442,141 | ||||||
Centene Corp.(a) | 2,904 | 180,948 | ||||||
Cigna Corp. | 1,683 | 336,869 | ||||||
CVS Health Corp. | 6,472 | 549,214 | ||||||
Humana, Inc. | 621 | 241,662 | ||||||
Laboratory Corp. of America Holdings(a) | 491 | 138,187 | ||||||
Molina Healthcare, Inc.(a) | 282 | 76,509 | ||||||
Quest Diagnostics, Inc. | 650 | 94,452 | ||||||
UnitedHealth Group, Inc. | 4,556 | 1,780,211 | ||||||
Total Health Care Providers & Services | 3,964,779 | |||||||
Health Care Technology - 0.34% | ||||||||
Cerner Corp. | 1,482 | 104,511 | ||||||
Teladoc Health, Inc.(a) | 812 | 102,970 | ||||||
Veeva Systems, Inc., Class A(a) | 768 | 221,315 | ||||||
Total Health Care Technology | 428,796 | |||||||
Hotels, Restaurants & Leisure - 0.41% | ||||||||
Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc.(a) | 140 | 254,453 | ||||||
Domino’s Pizza, Inc. | 189 | 90,145 | ||||||
Yum! Brands, Inc. | 1,475 | 180,407 | ||||||
Total Hotels, Restaurants & Leisure | 525,005 | |||||||
Household Durables - 0.43% | ||||||||
DR Horton, Inc. | 1,803 | 151,399 | ||||||
Garmin, Ltd. | 947 | 147,221 | ||||||
Lennar Corp., Class A | 1,518 | 142,206 | ||||||
NVR, Inc.(a) | 18 | 86,293 | ||||||
Total Household Durables | 527,119 | |||||||
Household Products - 0.16% | ||||||||
Church & Dwight Co., Inc. | 1,212 | 100,075 | ||||||
Clorox Co. | 606 | 100,360 | ||||||
Total Household Products | 200,435 | |||||||
Insurance - 0.75% | ||||||||
Aon PLC, Class A | 1,126 | 321,777 | ||||||
Arthur J Gallagher & Co. | 1,020 | 151,623 | ||||||
Brown & Brown, Inc. | 1,373 | 76,133 |
Investments | Shares | Value | ||||||
Insurance (continued) | ||||||||
Marsh & McLennan Cos., Inc. | 2,532 | $ | 383,421 | |||||
Total Insurance | 932,954 | |||||||
Interactive Media & Services - 11.86% | ||||||||
Alphabet, Inc., Class A(a) | 3,314 | 8,860,044 | ||||||
Facebook, Inc., Class A(a) | 14,153 | 4,803,387 | ||||||
Match Group, Inc.(a) | 1,321 | 207,384 | ||||||
Pinterest, Inc., Class A(a) | 3,339 | 170,122 | ||||||
Snap, Inc., Class A(a) | 7,995 | 590,591 | ||||||
Zillow Group, Inc., Class A(a) | 1,303 | 115,420 | ||||||
Total Interactive Media & Services | 14,746,948 | |||||||
Internet & Direct Marketing Retail - 7.20% | ||||||||
Amazon.com, Inc.(a) | 2,527 | 8,301,295 | ||||||
Chewy, Inc., Class A(a) | 2,238 | 152,430 | ||||||
eBay, Inc. | 3,387 | 235,972 | ||||||
Etsy, Inc.(a) | 658 | 136,838 | ||||||
Wayfair, Inc., Class A(a) | 531 | 135,676 | ||||||
Total Internet & Direct Marketing Retail | 8,962,211 | |||||||
IT Services - 6.17% | ||||||||
Accenture PLC, Class A | 3,082 | 985,993 | ||||||
Akamai Technologies, Inc.(a) | 802 | 83,881 | ||||||
Automatic Data Processing, Inc. | 2,049 | 409,636 | ||||||
Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp., Class A | 2,585 | 191,833 | ||||||
EPAM Systems, Inc.(a) | 275 | 156,882 | ||||||
FleetCor Technologies, Inc.(a) | 405 | 105,814 | ||||||
Gartner, Inc.(a) | 428 | 130,061 | ||||||
Global Payments, Inc. | 1,403 | 221,085 | ||||||
GoDaddy, Inc., Class A(a) | 856 | 59,663 | ||||||
MongoDB, Inc.(a) | 330 | 155,598 | ||||||
Okta, Inc.(a) | 778 | 184,651 | ||||||
Paychex, Inc. | 1,766 | 198,587 | ||||||
PayPal Holdings, Inc.(a) | 5,825 | 1,515,723 | ||||||
Square, Inc., Class A(a) | 2,306 | 553,071 | ||||||
Twilio, Inc., Class A(a) | 910 | 290,336 | ||||||
VeriSign, Inc.(a) | 557 | 114,191 | ||||||
Visa, Inc. | 10,379 | 2,311,922 | ||||||
Total IT Services | 7,668,927 | |||||||
Leisure Products - 0.11% | ||||||||
Peloton Interactive, Inc., Class A(a) | 1,515 | 131,881 | ||||||
Life Sciences Tools & Services - 1.96% | ||||||||
Agilent Technologies, Inc. | 1,503 | 236,767 | ||||||
Bio-Techne Corp. | 195 | 94,491 | ||||||
Charles River Laboratories International, Inc.(a) | 249 | 102,755 | ||||||
Illumina, Inc.(a) | 743 | 301,368 | ||||||
IQVIA Holdings, Inc.(a) | 959 | 229,719 | ||||||
Mettler-Toledo International, Inc.(a) | 114 | 157,019 | ||||||
PerkinElmer, Inc. | 560 | 97,042 | ||||||
Thermo Fisher Scientific, Inc. | 1,938 | 1,107,237 | ||||||
Waters Corp.(a) | 303 | 108,262 | ||||||
Total Life Sciences Tools & Services | 2,434,660 | |||||||
Machinery - 0.55% | ||||||||
Cummins, Inc. | 730 | 163,929 | ||||||
Deere & Co. | 1,562 | 523,380 | ||||||
Total Machinery | 687,309 |
Investments | Shares | Value | ||||||
Media - 1.70% | ||||||||
Charter Communications, Inc., Class A(a) | 1,065 | $ | 774,851 | |||||
Comcast Corp., Class A | 22,454 | 1,255,852 | ||||||
Discovery, Inc., Class A(a) | 3,483 | 88,399 | ||||||
Total Media | 2,119,102 | |||||||
Metals & Mining - 0.12% | ||||||||
Nucor Corp. | 1,508 | 148,523 | ||||||
Multiline Retail - 0.63% | ||||||||
Dollar General Corp. | 1,138 | 241,415 | ||||||
Target Corp. | 2,415 | 552,480 | ||||||
Total Multiline Retail | 793,895 | |||||||
Oil, Gas & Consumable Fuels - 0.17% | ||||||||
Cheniere Energy, Inc. | 1,297 | 126,678 | ||||||
Diamondback Energy, Inc. | 977 | 92,493 | ||||||
Total Oil, Gas & Consumable Fuels | 219,171 | |||||||
Pharmaceuticals - 4.33% | ||||||||
Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. | 10,984 | 649,923 | ||||||
Catalent, Inc.(a) | 867 | 115,372 | ||||||
Eli Lilly & Co. | 4,825 | 1,114,816 | ||||||
Johnson & Johnson | 13,158 | 2,125,018 | ||||||
Merck & Co., Inc. | 12,445 | 934,744 | ||||||
Zoetis, Inc. | 2,310 | 448,463 | ||||||
Total Pharmaceuticals | 5,388,336 | |||||||
Professional Services - 0.39% | ||||||||
CoStar Group, Inc.(a) | 1,913 | 164,633 | ||||||
IHS Markit, Ltd. | 1,957 | 228,225 | ||||||
TransUnion | 927 | 104,111 | ||||||
Total Professional Services | 496,969 | |||||||
Real Estate Management & Development - 0.13% | ||||||||
CBRE Group, Inc., Class A(a) | 1,704 | 165,901 | ||||||
Road & Rail - 0.20% | ||||||||
JB Hunt Transport Services, Inc. | 513 | 85,784 | ||||||
Old Dominion Freight Line, Inc. | 567 | 162,151 | ||||||
Total Road & Rail | 247,935 | |||||||
Semiconductors & Semiconductor Equipment - 8.44% | ||||||||
Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.(a) | 6,182 | 636,128 | ||||||
Analog Devices, Inc. | 2,687 | 450,019 | ||||||
Applied Materials, Inc. | 4,587 | 590,485 | ||||||
Broadcom, Inc. | 2,028 | 983,437 | ||||||
Enphase Energy, Inc.(a) | 737 | 110,528 | ||||||
Entegris, Inc. | 688 | 86,619 | ||||||
Intel Corp. | 20,085 | 1,070,128 | ||||||
KLA Corp. | 772 | 258,242 | ||||||
Lam Research Corp. | 714 | 406,373 | ||||||
Marvell Technology, Inc. | 4,111 | 247,934 | ||||||
Microchip Technology, Inc. | 1,413 | 216,881 | ||||||
Micron Technology, Inc. | 5,640 | 400,327 | ||||||
Monolithic Power Systems, Inc. | 226 | 109,538 | ||||||
NVIDIA Corp. | 13,072 | 2,707,995 | ||||||
ON Semiconductor Corp.(a) | 2,203 | 100,831 | ||||||
Qorvo, Inc.(a) | 552 | 92,289 | ||||||
QUALCOMM, Inc. | 5,570 | 718,419 | ||||||
Skyworks Solutions, Inc. | 811 | 133,637 | ||||||
Teradyne, Inc. | 840 | 91,703 | ||||||
Texas Instruments, Inc. | 4,612 | 886,473 |
Investments | Shares | Value | ||||||
Semiconductors & Semiconductor Equipment (continued) | ||||||||
Xilinx, Inc.(a) | 1,245 | $ | 187,983 | |||||
Total Semiconductors & Semiconductor Equipment | 10,485,969 | |||||||
Software - 16.27% | ||||||||
Adobe, Inc.(a) | 2,309 | 1,329,337 | ||||||
ANSYS, Inc.(a) | 426 | 145,032 | ||||||
Autodesk, Inc.(a) | 1,075 | 306,558 | ||||||
Bill.com Holdings, Inc.(a) | 482 | 128,670 | ||||||
Cadence Design Systems, Inc.(a) | 1,371 | 207,624 | ||||||
Citrix Systems, Inc. | 613 | 65,818 | ||||||
Coupa Software, Inc.(a) | 421 | 92,275 | ||||||
Crowdstrike Holdings, Inc., Class A(a) | 1,172 | 288,054 | ||||||
Datadog, Inc., Class A(a) | 1,558 | 220,223 | ||||||
DocuSign, Inc.(a) | 995 | 256,143 | ||||||
Dynatrace, Inc.(a) | 1,479 | 104,965 | ||||||
Fair Isaac Corp.(a) | 141 | 56,108 | ||||||
Fortinet, Inc.(a) | 810 | 236,552 | ||||||
HubSpot, Inc.(a) | 248 | 167,670 | ||||||
Intuit, Inc. | 1,344 | 725,101 | ||||||
Microsoft Corp. | 36,561 | 10,307,277 | ||||||
NortonLifeLock, Inc. | 3,036 | 76,811 | ||||||
Nuance Communications, Inc.(a) | 1,397 | 76,891 | ||||||
Oracle Corp. | 14,037 | 1,223,044 | ||||||
Palo Alto Networks, Inc.(a) | 482 | 230,878 | ||||||
Paycom Software, Inc.(a) | 301 | 149,221 | ||||||
PTC, Inc.(a) | 586 | 70,197 | ||||||
RingCentral, Inc., Class A(a) | 472 | 102,660 | ||||||
salesforce.com, Inc.(a) | 4,650 | 1,261,173 | ||||||
ServiceNow, Inc.(a) | 979 | 609,202 | ||||||
Splunk, Inc.(a) | 832 | 120,399 | ||||||
SS&C Technologies Holdings, Inc. | 1,243 | 86,264 | ||||||
Synopsys, Inc.(a) | 753 | 225,456 | ||||||
Trade Desk, Inc., Class A(a) | 2,302 | 161,831 | ||||||
Tyler Technologies, Inc.(a) | 201 | 92,189 | ||||||
VMware, Inc., Class A(a) | 2,152 | 320,002 | ||||||
Workday, Inc., Class A(a) | 1,254 | 313,362 | ||||||
Zendesk, Inc.(a) | 610 | 70,998 | ||||||
Zoom Video Communications, Inc., Class A(a) | 1,543 | 403,495 | ||||||
Total Software | 20,231,480 | |||||||
Specialty Retail - 3.27% | ||||||||
AutoZone, Inc.(a) | 104 | 176,591 | ||||||
Bath & Body Works, Inc. | 1,411 | 88,935 | ||||||
Best Buy Co., Inc. | 1,220 | 128,966 | ||||||
Burlington Stores, Inc.(a) | 327 | 92,727 | ||||||
CarMax, Inc.(a) | 824 | 105,439 | ||||||
Carvana Co.(a) | 825 | 248,771 | ||||||
Home Depot, Inc. | 5,216 | 1,712,204 | ||||||
Lowe’s Cos., Inc. | 3,482 | 706,359 | ||||||
O’Reilly Automotive, Inc.(a) | 339 | 207,149 | ||||||
RH(a) | 110 | 73,360 | ||||||
TJX Cos., Inc. | 5,929 | 391,195 | ||||||
Tractor Supply Co. | 561 | 113,664 | ||||||
Victoria’s Secret & Co.(a) | 470 | 25,972 | ||||||
Total Specialty Retail | 4,071,332 |
Investments | Shares | Value | ||||||
Technology Hardware, Storage & Peripherals - 9.44% | ||||||||
Apple, Inc. | 79,815 | $ | 11,293,823 | |||||
HP, Inc. | 6,057 | 165,720 | ||||||
NetApp, Inc. | 1,150 | 103,224 | ||||||
Seagate Technology Holdings PLC | 1,157 | 95,476 | ||||||
Western Digital Corp.(a) | 1,578 | 89,062 | ||||||
Total Technology Hardware, Storage & Peripherals | 11,747,305 | |||||||
Textiles, Apparel & Luxury Goods - 1.11% | ||||||||
Lululemon Athletica, Inc.(a) | 633 | 256,175 | ||||||
NIKE, Inc., Class B | 7,737 | 1,123,644 | ||||||
Total Textiles, Apparel & Luxury Goods | 1,379,819 | |||||||
Trading Companies & Distributors - 0.18% | ||||||||
United Rentals, Inc.(a) | 361 | 126,686 | ||||||
WW Grainger, Inc. | 256 | 100,623 | ||||||
Total Trading Companies & Distributors | 227,309 | |||||||
TOTAL COMMON STOCKS | ||||||||
(Cost $103,183,770) | 124,287,791 | |||||||
INVESTMENT COMPANY - 0.06% | ||||||||
iShares Core S&P 500 ETF | 170 | 73,239 | ||||||
TOTAL INVESTMENT COMPANY | ||||||||
(Cost $71,728) | 73,239 | |||||||
TOTAL INVESTMENTS - 99.95% | ||||||||
(Cost $103,255,498) | $ | 124,361,030 | ||||||
Other Assets In Excess Of Liabilities - 0.05% | 65,765 | |||||||
NET ASSETS (100.00%) | $ | 124,426,795 |
(a) | Non-Income Producing Security. |
The following table summarizes valuation of the Fund’s investments under the fair value hierarchy levels as of September 30, 2021:
GraniteShares XOUT U.S. Large Cap ETF Investments in Securities at Value | Level 1 | Level 2 | Level 3 | Total | ||||||||||||
Common Stocks | $ | 124,287,791 | $ | – | $ | – | $ | 124,287,791 | ||||||||
Investment Company | 73,239 | – | – | 73,239 | ||||||||||||
Total | $ | 124,361,030 | $ | – | $ | – | $ | 124,361,030 |
As of September 30, 2021, there were no Level 3 investments held in the Fund.
GraniteShares ETF Trust
Notes to Quarterly Schedules of Investments
September 30, 2021 (Unaudited)
1. FAIR VALUE MEASUREMENT
The Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) established a framework for measuring fair value in accordance with U.S. GAAP. Under Fair Value Measurements and Disclosures, various inputs are used in determining the value of the exchange traded fund’s investments. The inputs or methodology used for valuing securities are not necessarily an indication of the risk associated with investing in those securities. The three Levels of inputs of the fair value hierarchy are defined as follows:
Level 1 – | Unadjusted quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities. |
Level 2 – | Observable inputs other than quoted prices included in Level 1 that are observable for the asset or liability, either directly or indirectly. These inputs may include quoted prices for the identical instrument on an inactive market, prices for similar securities, interest rates, prepayment speeds, credit risk, yield curves, default rates and similar data. |
Level 3 – | Unobservable inputs for the asset or liability, to the extent relevant observable inputs are not available; representing the Funds’ own assumptions about the assumptions a market participant would use in valuing the asset or liability, and would be based on the best information available. |
A financial instrument’s level within the fair value hierarchy is based on the lowest level of any input that is significant to the fair value measurement.
The availability of observable inputs can vary from security to security and is affected by a wide variety of factors, including, for example, the type of security, whether the security is new and not yet established in the marketplace, the liquidity of markets, and other characteristics particular to the security. To the extent that valuation is based on models or inputs that are less observable or unobservable in the market, the determination of fair value requires more judgment. Accordingly, the degree of judgment exercised in determining fair value is greatest for instruments categorized in Level 3.
The hierarchy classification of inputs used to value each Fund’s investments is disclosed at the end of the Fund’s Schedule of Investments.