File No. 333-249604
CIK #1798973
Securities And Exchange Commission
Washington, D.C. 20549
Amendment No. 1
to
Registration Statement
on
Form S-6
For Registration under the Securities Act of 1933 of Securities of Unit Investment Trusts Registered on Form N-8B-2.
A. | | Exact Name of Trust: Invesco Unit Trusts, SERIES 2097 |
B. | | Name of Depositor: Invesco Capital Markets, Inc. |
C. | | Complete address of Depositor’s principal executive offices: |
11 Greenway Plaza
Houston, Texas 77046-1173
D. | | Name and complete address of agents for service: |
MORGAN, LEWIS & BOCKIUS LLP | INVESCO CAPITAL MARKETS, INC. |
Attention: Thomas S. Harman, Esq. | Attention: John M. Zerr, Esq. |
1111 Pennsylvania Avenue NW | 11 Greenway Plaza |
Washington, DC 20004 | Houston, Texas 77046-1173 |
E. | | Title of securities being registered: Units of fractional undivided beneficial interest. |
F. | | Approximate date of proposed sale to the public: |
As Soon As Practicable After The Effective Date Of The Registration Statement
/ / | | Check box if it is proposed that this filing will become effective immediately upon filing on December 8, 2020, pursuant to Rule 487. |
The registrant hereby amends this Registration Statement on such date or dates as may be necessary to delay its effective date until the registrant shall file a further amendment which specifically states that this Registration Statement shall thereafter become effective in accordance with Section 8(a) of the Securities Act of 1933 or until the Registration Statement shall become effective on such date as the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, acting pursuant to said Section 8(a) may determine.
ETF Allocation Portfolio 2020-4
ETF Diversified Income Portfolio 2020-4
The unit investment trusts named above (the “Portfolios”), included in Invesco Unit Trusts, Series 2097, each invest in a portfolio of securities. Of course, we cannot guarantee that a Portfolio will achieve its objective.
An investment can be made in the underlying funds or notes directly rather than through a Portfolio. These direct investments can be made without paying a Portfolio’s sales charge, operating expenses and organization costs.
December 8, 2020
You should read this prospectus and retain it for future reference.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has not approved or disapproved of the Units
or passed upon the adequacy or accuracy of this prospectus.
Any contrary representation is a criminal offense.

ETF Allocation Portfolio
Investment Objective. The Portfolio seeks above-average capital appreciation.
Principal Investment Strategy. The Portfolio seeks to achieve its objective by investing in a portfolio that consists of exchange-traded funds (“ETFs”) that invest in stocks and fixed income securities, and exchange-traded notes (“ETNs”). The Portfolio provides broad market exposure to focused equity and fixed income styles through the use of ETFs.
In selecting the ETFs for the Portfolio, Invesco Capital Markets, Inc., the Sponsor, sought to choose ETFs that would provide broad asset class exposure to each particular investment style, index or sector. The Sponsor selected the equity ETFs based on asset class exposure and benchmark representation. Considerations for selection included the index from which each of the equity ETFs is based, as well as overall market capitalization and liquidity of the portfolio of the particular ETF. The Sponsor selected the fixed income ETFs based on the term and types of bonds that make up each fixed income ETF and how these particular ETFs fit into the fixed income allocation of the Portfolio. Considerations for the fixed income ETF allocations included economic outlook, current interest rates, credit risk and the yield curve as well as the term of the Portfolio. The Sponsor selected the alternative investment ETFs based upon factors such as asset class exposure, benchmark representation and underlying holdings, in seeking to provide the Portfolio with exposure to asset classes that may include real estate investment trusts (“REITs”) and inflation protected securities. In selecting the ETNs to be included in the Portfolio, the Sponsor sought to choose ETNs that would provide a broad range of commodities exposure. Considerations for selection included the credit quality of an ETN’s issuer, as well as the size and liquidity of the ETN.
Certain of the fixed income and alternative investment ETFs selected by the Sponsor hold below-investment grade fixed income securities and each seeks to correspond generally to the price and yield performance, before fees and expenses, of one of the various types of fixed income markets including United States Treasuries and domestic and foreign corporate bonds or the United States REIT or other real estate company market.
Approximately 28% of the Portfolio consists of ETFs that are funds classified as “non-diversified” under the Investment Company Act of 1940. These funds have the ability to invest a greater portion of their assets in obligations of a single issuer. As a result, these funds may be more susceptible to volatility than a more widely diversified fund.
Of course, we cannot guarantee that your Portfolio will achieve its objective. The value of your Units may fall below the price you paid for the Units. You should read the “Risk Factors” section before you invest.
The Portfolio is designed as part of a long-term investment strategy. The Sponsor may offer a subsequent series of the portfolio when the current Portfolio terminates. As a result, you may achieve more consistent overall results by following the strategy through reinvestment of your proceeds over several years if subsequent series are available. Repeatedly rolling over an investment in a unit investment trust may differ from long-term investments in other investment products when considering the sales charges, fees, expenses and tax consequences attributable to a Unitholder. For more information see “Rights of Unitholders--Rollover”.
ETFs. Your Portfolio invests in ETFs, which are investment pools that primarily hold a basket of equity or fixed income securities. As a result, investors in ETFs (and investors in your Portfolio) obtain exposure to a much greater number of securities than an individual investor would typically be able to obtain on their own. ETF shares are listed on securities exchanges for trading, allowing investors to purchase and sell individual ETF shares at market prices throughout the day. For more information please see the section titled “ETFs”.
Principal Risks. As with all investments, you can lose money by investing in this Portfolio. The Portfolio
2
also might not perform as well as you expect. This can happen for reasons such as these:
| • | Security prices will fluctuate. The value of your investment may fall over time. |
| • | The Portfolio invests in shares of ETFs. You should understand the section titled “ETFs” before you invest. In particular, shares of ETFs may trade at a discount from their net asset value and are subject to risks related to factors such as management’s ability to achieve a fund’s objective, market conditions affecting a fund’s investments and use of leverage. In addition, there is the risk that the market price of an ETF’s shares may trade at a discount from its net asset value, an active secondary market may not develop or be maintained, or trading may be halted by the exchange on which they trade, which may impact the Portfolio’s ability to sell the ETF shares. The underlying funds have management and operating expenses. You will bear not only your share of the Portfolio’s expenses, but also the expenses of the underlying funds. By investing in other funds, the Portfolio incurs greater expenses than you would incur if you invested directly in the funds. |
| • | The value of the fixed income securities held by certain of the ETFs in the Portfolio will generally fall if interest rates rise. In a low interest rate environment risks associated with rising rates are heightened. The negative impact on fixed income securities from any interest rate increases could be swift and significant. No one can predict whether interest rates will rise or fall in the future. |
| • | A security issuer may be unable to make payments of interest, dividends or principal in the future. This may reduce the level of dividends certain of the ETFs pay which would reduce your income and cause the value of your Units to fall. |
| • | The financial condition of a security issuer may worsen or its credit ratings may drop, resulting in a reduction in the value of your Units. This may occur at any point in time, including during the initial offering period. |
| • | You could experience dilution of your investment if the size of the Portfolio is increased as Units are sold. There is no assurance that your investment will maintain its proportionate share in the Portfolio’s profits and losses. |
| • | Securities of foreign issuers held by certain of the ETFs in the Portfolio present risks beyond those of U.S. issuers. These risks may include market and political factors related to the issuer’s foreign market, international trade conditions, less regulation, smaller or less liquid markets, increased volatility, differing accounting practices and changes in the value of foreign currencies. |
| • | Certain ETFs in the Portfolio invest in securities in emerging markets. Investing in emerging markets entails the risk that news and events unique to a country or region will affect those markets and their issuers. Countries with emerging markets may have relatively unstable governments, may present the risks of nationalization of businesses, restrictions on foreign ownership and prohibitions on the repatriation of assets. |
| • | Certain ETFs in the Portfolio invest in corporate bonds. Corporate bonds are debt obligations of a corporation, and as a result are generally subject to the various economic, political, regulatory, competitive and other such risks that may affect an issuer. Like other fixed income securities, corporate bonds generally decline in value with increases in interest rates. During periods of market turbulence, corporate bonds may experience illiquidity and volatility. |
3
During such periods, there can be uncertainty in assessing the financial condition of an issuer. As a result, the ratings of the bonds in certain ETFs in the Portfolio may not accurately reflect an issuer’s current financial condition, prospects, or the extent of the risks associated with investing in such issuer’s securities.
| • | Certain ETFs in the Portfolio invest in shares of REITs and other real estate companies. Shares of REITs and other real estate companies may appreciate or depreciate in value, or pay dividends depending upon global and local economic conditions, changes in interest rates and the strength or weakness of the overall real estate market. Negative developments in the real estate industry will affect the value of your investment more than would be the case in a more diversified investment. |
| • | Certain of the securities held by ETFs in the Portfolio are issued by issuers that are considered to be “value” companies. Such securities are subject to the risk of inaccurately estimating certain fundamental factors and will generally underperform during periods when value style investments are out of favor. |
| • | Certain of the securities held by ETFs in the Portfolio are issued by issuers that are considered to be “growth” companies. Securities of growth companies may be more volatile than other securities. If the perception of an issuer’s growth potential is not realized, the securities may not perform as expected, reducing the Portfolio’s return. |
| • | Certain of the securities held by ETFs in the Portfolio are stocks of smaller capitalization companies. These stocks are often more volatile and have lower trading volumes than stocks of larger companies. Smaller capitalization companies may have limited products or financial resources, management inexperience and less publicly available information. |
| • | The Portfolio invests in shares of ETNs. You should understand the section titled “Risk Factors--Exchange-Traded Notes” before you invest. ETNs are synthetic investment products that do not represent ownership of the securities of the indices they track, and are backed only by the issuer’s credit. In particular, an investment in these notes is subject to risks related to factors such as the note issuer’s credit, price volatility, limited portfolio diversification, issuer default, uncertain principal repayment, and uncertain federal income tax treatment. The ETNs charge an annual investor fee. You will bear not only your share of the Portfolio’s expenses, but also the fees of the underlying ETNs. By investing in other notes, the Portfolio incurs greater expenses than you would incur if you invested directly in the ETNs. |
| • | Certain ETFs in the Portfolio may invest in securities rated below investment grade and considered to be “junk” or “high-yield” securities. Securities rated below “BBB-” by Standard & Poor’s or below “Baa3” by Moody’s are considered to be below investment grade. These securities are considered to be speculative and are subject to greater market and credit risks. Accordingly, the risk of default is higher than with investment grade securities. In addition, these securities may be more sensitive to interest rate changes and may be more likely to make early returns of principal. |
| • | We do not actively manage the Portfolio. Except in limited circumstances, the Portfolio will hold, and may continue to buy, shares of the same securities even if their market value declines. |
4
Fee Table
The amounts below are estimates of the direct and indirect expenses that you may incur based on a $10 Public Offering Price per Unit. Actual expenses may vary.
| As a % of | |
| Public | Amount |
| Offering | Per 100 |
Sales Charge | Price | Units |
Initial sales charge | 0.000% | $ 0.000 |
Deferred sales charge | 1.350 | 13.500 |
Creation and development fee | 0.500 | 5.000 |
Maximum sales charge | 1.850% | $18.500 |
|
| As a % | Amount |
| of Net | Per 100 |
| Assets | Units |
|
Estimated Organization Costs | 0.667% | $6.500 |
Estimated Annual Expenses | | |
Trustee’s fee and operating expenses | 0.266% | $2.602 |
Supervisory, bookkeeping and administrative fees | 0.054 | 0.522 |
Underlying fund/note expenses | 0.229 | 2.233 |
|
Total | 0.549% | $5.357* |
Example
This example helps you compare the cost of the Portfolio with other unit trusts and mutual funds. In the example we assume that the expenses do not change and that the Portfolio’s annual return is 5%. Your actual returns and expenses will vary. This example also assumes that you continue to follow the Portfolio strategy and roll your investment, including all distributions, into a new trust each year subject to a sales charge of 1.85%. Based on these assumptions, you would pay the following expenses for every $10,000 you invest in the Portfolio:
1 year | $ 304 |
3 years | 928 |
5 years | 1,574 |
10 years | 3,295 |
___________________
| * | The estimated annual expenses are based upon the estimated trust size for the Portfolio determined as of the initial date of deposit. Because certain of the operating expenses are fixed amounts, if the Portfolio does not reach the estimated size, or if the value of the Portfolio or number of outstanding units decline over the life of the trust, or if the actual amount of the operating expenses exceeds the estimated amounts, the actual amount of the operating expenses per 100 units would exceed the estimated amounts. In some cases, the actual amount of operating expenses may substantially differ from the amounts reflected above. |
The maximum sales charge is 1.85% of the Public Offering Price per Unit. There is no initial sales charge at a Public Offering Price of $10 or less. If the Public Offering Price exceeds $10 per Unit, the initial sales charge is the difference between the total sales charge (maximum of 1.85% of the Public Offering Price) and the sum of the remaining deferred sales charge and the creation and development fee. The deferred sales charge is fixed at $0.135 per Unit and accrues daily from April 10, 2021 through September 9, 2021. Your Portfolio pays a proportionate amount of this charge on the 10th day of each month beginning in the accrual period until paid in full. The combination of the initial and deferred sales charges comprises the “transactional sales charge”. The creation and development fee is fixed at $0.05 per unit and is paid at the earlier of the end of the initial offering period (anticipated to be three months) or six months following the Initial Date of Deposit. For more detail, see “Public Offering Price - General.”
Although not an actual operating expense, the Portfolio, and therefore the Unitholders, will indirectly bear the operating expenses of the funds and ETNs held by the Portfolio in the estimated amount provided above. Estimated fund/note expenses are based upon the net asset value of the number of fund/note shares held by the Portfolio per Unit multiplied by the annual operating expenses of the funds/notes for the most recent fiscal year. The Trustee or Sponsor will waive fees otherwise payable by the Portfolio in an amount equal to any 12b-1 fees or other compensation the Trustee, the Sponsor or an affiliate receives from a fund/note in connection with the Portfolio’s investment in the funds/notes, including license fees receivable by an affiliate of the Sponsor from a fund/note.
Essential Information |
|
Unit Price at Initial Date of Deposit | $10.0000 |
Initial Date of Deposit | December 8, 2020 |
Mandatory Termination Date | March 9, 2022 |
Record Dates | 10th day of January 2021 |
| and each month thereafter |
Distribution Dates | 25th day of January 2021 |
| and each month thereafter |
CUSIP Numbers | Cash – 46148G225 |
| Reinvest – 46148G233 |
Fee Based Cash – 46148G241 |
Fee Based Reinvest – 46148G258 |
5
| | | | |
ETF Allocation Portfolio 2020-4 | | |
|
Portfolio | | | |
| | | | Cost of |
Number | | Market Value | Securities to |
of Shares | Name of Issuer (1) | per Share (2) | Portfolio (2) |
| | EXCHANGE-TRADED FUNDS - 96.67% | | |
| | U.S. Equity - 29.99% | | |
| 33 | iShares Core S&P Mid-Cap ETF | $ 223.38 | $ 7,371.54 |
| 83 | iShares Core S&P Small-Cap ETF | 88.99 | 7,386.17 |
| 274 | SPDR Portfolio S&P 500 Growth ETF | 54.23 | 14,859.02 |
| 433 | SPDR Portfolio S&P 500 Value ETF | 34.22 | 14,817.26 |
| | Non-U.S. Equity - 29.95% | | |
| 236 | iShares MSCI Canada ETF | 31.36 | 7,400.96 |
| 112 | iShares MSCI EAFE Small-Cap ETF | 65.94 | 7,385.28 |
| 114 | iShares MSCI Japan ETF | 65.09 | 7,420.26 |
| 157 | iShares MSCI Pacific ex Japan ETF | 47.10 | 7,394.70 |
| 150 | Vanguard FTSE Emerging Markets ETF | 49.34 | 7,401.00 |
| 124 | Vanguard FTSE Europe ETF | 59.49 | 7,376.76 |
| | U.S. Fixed Income - 20.05% | | |
| 69 | iShares 1-3 Year Treasury Bond ETF | 86.38 | 5,960.22 |
| 68 | iShares iBoxx $ High Yield Corporate Bond ETF | 86.81 | 5,903.08 |
| 96 | Vanguard Intermediate-Term Bond ETF | 93.17 | 8,944.32 |
| 92 | Vanguard Intermediate-Term Corporate Bond ETF | 96.77 | 8,902.84 |
| | Non-U.S. Fixed Income - 10.00% | | |
* | 260 | Invesco Emerging Markets Sovereign Debt ETF | 28.52 | 7,415.20 |
| 135 | iShares International Treasury Bond ETF | 54.79 | 7,396.65 |
| | Alternative Investments - 6.68% | | |
| 39 | iShares TIPS Bond ETF | 126.50 | 4,933.50 |
| 58 | Vanguard Real Estate ETF | 85.67 | 4,968.86 |
| | EXCHANGE-TRADED NOTES - 3.33% | | |
| 240 | iPath Bloomberg Commodity Index Total Return ETN, | | |
| | Due on June 12, 2036 | 20.56 | 4,934.40 |
|
| 2,773 | | | $ 148,172.02 |
|
See “Notes to Portfolios”. | | |
6
ETF Diversified Income Portfolio
Investment Objective. The Portfolio seeks above-average capital appreciation with high current income.
Principal Investment Strategy. The Portfolio seeks to achieve its objective by investing in a portfolio that consists of exchange-traded funds (“ETFs”) that invest in stocks and fixed income securities. The Portfolio provides broad market exposure to focused equity and fixed income styles through the use of ETFs.
In selecting the ETFs for the Portfolio, Invesco Capital Markets, Inc., the Sponsor, sought to choose ETFs that would provide broad asset class exposure to each particular investment style, index or sector. The Sponsor selected the equity ETFs based on asset class exposure and benchmark representation. Considerations for selection included the index from which each of the equity ETFs is based, as well as overall market capitalization and liquidity of the portfolio of the particular ETF. The Sponsor selected the fixed income ETFs based on the term and types of bonds that make up each fixed income ETF and how these particular ETFs fit into the fixed income allocation of the Portfolio. Considerations for the fixed income ETF allocations included economic outlook, current interest rates, credit risk and the yield curve as well as the term of the Portfolio. The Sponsor selected the alternative income ETFs based upon factors such as asset class exposure, benchmark representation and underlying holdings, in seeking to provide the Portfolio with exposure to asset classes that may include real estate investment trusts (“REITs”), master limited partnerships (“MLPs”) and preferred securities.
Certain of the fixed income and alternative income ETFs selected by the Sponsor hold below-investment grade fixed income securities and each seeks to correspond generally to the price and yield performance, before fees and expenses, of one of the various types of fixed income markets including United States Treasuries and domestic and foreign corporate bonds, or the United States preferred securities market, the MLP energy infrastructure market or the United States REIT, international REIT or other real estate company market.
Approximately 69% of the Portfolio consists of ETFs that are funds classified as “non-diversified” under the Investment Company Act of 1940. These funds have the ability to invest a greater portion of their assets in obligations of a single issuer. As a result, these funds may be more susceptible to volatility than a more widely diversified fund.
Of course, we cannot guarantee that your Portfolio will achieve its objective. The value of your Units may fall below the price you paid for the Units. You should read the “Risk Factors” section before you invest.
The Portfolio is designed as part of a long-term investment strategy. The Sponsor may offer a subsequent series of the portfolio when the current Portfolio terminates. As a result, you may achieve more consistent overall results by following the strategy through reinvestment of your proceeds over several years if subsequent series are available. Repeatedly rolling over an investment in a unit investment trust may differ from long-term investments in other investment products when considering the sales charges, fees, expenses and tax consequences attributable to a Unitholder. For more information see “Rights of Unitholders--Rollover”.
ETFs. Your Portfolio invests exclusively in ETFs, which are investment pools that primarily hold a basket of equity or fixed income securities. As a result, investors in ETFs (and investors in your Portfolio) obtain exposure to a much greater number of securities than an individual investor would typically be able to obtain on their own. ETF shares are listed on securities exchanges for trading, allowing investors to purchase and sell individual ETF shares at market prices throughout the day. For more information please see the section titled “ETFs”.
Principal Risks. As with all investments, you can lose money by investing in this Portfolio. The Portfolio also might not perform as well as you expect. This can happen for reasons such as these:
7
| • | Security prices will fluctuate. The value of your investment may fall over time. |
| • | The Portfolio invests in shares of ETFs. You should understand the section titled “ETFs” before you invest. In particular, shares of ETFs may trade at a discount from their net asset value and are subject to risks related to factors such as management’s ability to achieve a fund’s objective, market conditions affecting a fund’s investments and use of leverage. In addition, there is the risk that the market price of an ETF’s shares may trade at a discount from its net asset value, an active secondary market may not develop or be maintained, or trading may be halted by the exchange on which they trade, which may impact the Portfolio’s ability to sell the ETF shares. The underlying funds have management and operating expenses. You will bear not only your share of the Portfolio’s expenses, but also the expenses of the underlying funds. By investing in other funds, the Portfolio incurs greater expenses than you would incur if you invested directly in the funds. |
| • | The value of the fixed income securities held by certain of the ETFs in the Portfolio will generally fall if interest rates rise. In a low interest rate environment risks associated with rising rates are heightened. The negative impact on fixed income securities from any interest rate increases could be swift and significant. No one can predict whether interest rates will rise or fall in the future. |
| • | A security issuer may be unable to make payments of interest, dividends or principal in the future. This may reduce the level of dividends certain of the ETFs pay which would reduce your income and cause the value of your Units to fall. |
| • | The financial condition of a security issuer may worsen or its credit ratings may drop, resulting in a reduction in the value of your Units. This may occur at any point in time, including during the initial offering period. |
| • | You could experience dilution of your investment if the size of the Portfolio is increased as Units are sold. There is no assurance that your investment will maintain its proportionate share in the Portfolio’s profits and losses. |
| • | Securities of foreign issuers held by certain of the ETFs in the Portfolio present risks beyond those of U.S. issuers. These risks may include market and political factors related to the issuer’s foreign market, international trade conditions, less regulation, smaller or less liquid markets, increased volatility, differing accounting practices and changes in the value of foreign currencies. |
| • | Certain ETFs in the Portfolio invest in securities in emerging markets. Investing in emerging markets entails the risk that news and events unique to a country or region will affect those markets and their issuers. Countries with emerging markets may have relatively unstable governments, may present the risks of nationalization of businesses, restrictions on foreign ownership and prohibitions on the repatriation of assets. |
| • | Certain ETFs in the Portfolio invest in corporate bonds. Corporate bonds are debt obligations of a corporation, and as a result are generally subject to the various economic, political, regulatory, competitive and other such risks that may affect an issuer. Like other fixed income securities, corporate bonds generally decline in value with increases in interest rates. During periods of market turbulence, corporate bonds may experience illiquidity and volatility. During such periods, there can be uncertainty in assessing the financial condition of an issuer. As a result, the ratings of the bonds in certain ETFs |
8
in the Portfolio may not accurately reflect an issuer’s current financial condition, prospects, or the extent of the risks associated with investing in such issuer’s securities.
| • | Certain ETFs in the Portfolio invest in shares of REITs and other real estate companies. Shares of REITs and other real estate companies may appreciate or depreciate in value, or pay dividends depending upon global and local economic conditions, changes in interest rates and the strength or weakness of the overall real estate market. Negative developments in the real estate industry will affect the value of your investment more than would be the case in a more diversified investment. |
| • | Certain of the securities held by ETFs in the Portfolio are issued by issuers that are considered to be “value” companies. Such securities are subject to the risk of inaccurately estimating certain fundamental factors and will generally underperform during periods when value style investments are out of favor. |
| • | Certain of the securities held by ETFs in the Portfolio are issued by issuers that are considered to be “growth” companies. Securities of growth companies may be more volatile than other securities. If the perception of an issuer’s growth potential is not realized, the securities may not perform as expected, reducing the Portfolio’s return. |
| • | Certain of the securities held by ETFs in the Portfolio are stocks of smaller capitalization companies. These stocks are often more volatile and have lower trading volumes than stocks of larger companies. Smaller capitalization companies may have limited products or financial resources, management inexperience and less publicly available information. |
| • | Certain ETFs in the Portfolio may invest in securities rated below investment grade and considered to be “junk” or “high-yield” securities. Securities rated below “BBB-” by Standard & Poor’s or below “Baa3” by Moody’s are considered to be below investment grade. These securities are considered to be speculative and are subject to greater market and credit risks. Accordingly, the risk of default is higher than with investment grade securities. In addition, these securities may be more sensitive to interest rate changes and may be more likely to make early returns of principal. |
| • | Certain ETFs in your Portfolio invest in preferred securities. Preferred securities are typically subordinated to bonds and other debt instruments in a company’s capital structure in terms of priority to corporate income and therefore are subject to greater risk than those debt instruments. Income payments on many preferred securities may be deferred but investors are generally taxed as if they had received current income during any deferral period. |
| • | Certain ETFs in the Portfolio invest in MLPs. Most MLPs operate in the energy sector and are subject to the risks generally applicable to companies in that sector, including commodity pricing risk, supply and demand risk, depletion risk and exploration risk. MLPs are also subject to the risk that regulatory or legislative changes could limit or eliminate the tax benefits enjoyed by MLPs which could have a negative impact on the after-tax income available for distribution by the MLPs and/or the value of the Portfolio’s investments. |
| • | We do not actively manage the Portfolio. Except in limited circumstances, the Portfolio will hold, and may continue to buy, shares of the same securities even if their market value declines. |
9
Fee Table
The amounts below are estimates of the direct and indirect expenses that you may incur based on a $10 Public Offering Price per Unit. Actual expenses may vary.
| As a % of | |
| Public | Amount |
| Offering | Per 100 |
Sales Charge | Price | Units |
Initial sales charge | 0.000% | $ 0.000 |
Deferred sales charge | 1.350 | 13.500 |
Creation and development fee | 0.500 | 5.000 |
Maximum sales charge | 1.850% | $18.500 |
|
| As a % | Amount |
| of Net | Per 100 |
| Assets | Units |
|
Estimated Organization Costs | 0.667% | $6.500 |
Estimated Annual Expenses | | |
Trustee’s fee and operating expenses | 0.267% | $2.608 |
Supervisory, bookkeeping and administrative fees | 0.036 | 0.354 |
Underlying fund expenses | 0.465 | 4.529 |
|
Total | 0.768% | $7.491* |
Example
This example helps you compare the cost of the Portfolio with other unit trusts and mutual funds. In the example we assume that the expenses do not change and that the Portfolio’s annual return is 5%. Your actual returns and expenses will vary. This example also assumes that you continue to follow the Portfolio strategy and roll your investment, including all distributions, into a new trust each year subject to a sales charge of 1.85%. Based on these assumptions, you would pay the following expenses for every $10,000 you invest in the Portfolio:
1 year | $ 325 |
3 years | 990 |
5 years | 1,677 |
10 years | 3,492 |
___________________
| * | The estimated annual expenses are based upon the estimated trust size for the Portfolio determined as of the initial date of deposit. Because certain of the operating expenses are fixed amounts, if the Portfolio does not reach the estimated size, or if the value of the Portfolio or number of outstanding units decline over the life of the trust, or if the actual amount of the operating expenses exceeds the estimated amounts, the actual amount of the operating expenses per 100 units would exceed the estimated amounts. In some cases, the actual amount of operating expenses may substantially differ from the amounts reflected above. |
The maximum sales charge is 1.85% of the Public Offering Price per Unit. There is no initial sales charge at a Public Offering Price of $10 or less. If the Public Offering Price exceeds $10 per Unit, the initial sales charge is the difference between the total sales charge (maximum of 1.85% of the Public Offering Price) and the sum of the remaining deferred sales charge and the creation and development fee. The deferred sales charge is fixed at $0.135 per Unit and accrues daily from April 10, 2021 through September 9, 2021. Your Portfolio pays a proportionate amount of this charge on the 10th day of each month beginning in the accrual period until paid in full. The combination of the initial and deferred sales charges comprises the “transactional sales charge”. The creation and development fee is fixed at $0.05 per unit and is paid at the earlier of the end of the initial offering period (anticipated to be three months) or six months following the Initial Date of Deposit. For more detail, see “Public Offering Price - General.”
Although not an actual operating expense, the Portfolio, and therefore the Unitholders, will indirectly bear the operating expenses of the funds held by the Portfolio in the estimated amount provided above. Estimated fund expenses are based upon the net asset value of the number of fund shares held by the Portfolio per Unit multiplied by the annual operating expenses of the funds for the most recent fiscal year. The Trustee or Sponsor will waive fees otherwise payable by the Portfolio in an amount equal to any 12b-1 fees or other compensation the Trustee, the Sponsor or an affiliate receives from the funds in connection with the Portfolio’s investment in the funds, including license fees receivable by an affiliate of the Sponsor from a fund.
Essential Information |
|
Unit Price at Initial Date of Deposit | $10.0000 |
Initial Date of Deposit | December 8, 2020 |
Mandatory Termination Date | March 9, 2022 |
Record Dates | 10th day of January 2021 |
| and each month thereafter |
Distribution Dates | 25th day of January 2021 |
| and each month thereafter |
CUSIP Numbers | Cash – 46148G266 |
| Reinvest – 46148G274 |
Fee Based Cash – 46148G282 |
Fee Based Reinvest – 46148G290 |
10
| | | | |
ETF Diversified Income Portfolio 2020-4 | | |
|
Portfolio | | | |
| | | | Cost of |
Number | | Market Value | Securities to |
of Shares | Name of Issuer (1) | per Share (2) | Portfolio (2) |
| | EXCHANGE-TRADED FUNDS - 100.00% | | |
| | Equity Income - 34.96% | | |
* | 89 | Invesco KBW High Dividend Yield Financial ETF | $ 16.64 | $ 1,480.96 |
* | 389 | Invesco S&P 500 High Dividend Low Volatility ETF | 37.98 | 14,774.22 |
| 272 | SPDR S&P Emerging Markets Dividend ETF | 27.29 | 7,422.88 |
| 409 | SPDR S&P International Dividend ETF | 36.25 | 14,826.25 |
| 59 | WisdomTree International MidCap Dividend Fund | 62.36 | 3,679.24 |
| 45 | WisdomTree International SmallCap Dividend Fund | 65.97 | 2,968.65 |
| 107 | WisdomTree U.S. MidCap Dividend Fund | 34.54 | 3,695.78 |
| 114 | WisdomTree U.S. SmallCap Dividend Fund | 25.96 | 2,959.44 |
| | Fixed Income - 40.07% | | |
* | 364 | Invesco Emerging Markets Sovereign Debt ETF | 28.52 | 10,381.28 |
* | 537 | Invesco Fundamental High Yield Corporate Bond ETF | 19.34 | 10,385.58 |
* | 335 | Invesco Senior Loan ETF | 22.18 | 7,430.30 |
* | 357 | Invesco Taxable Municipal Bond ETF | 33.32 | 11,895.24 |
| 34 | iShares iBoxx $ High Yield Corporate Bond ETF | 86.81 | 2,951.54 |
| 93 | SPDR Bloomberg Barclays Convertible Securities ETF | 80.42 | 7,479.06 |
| 90 | VanEck Vectors J.P. Morgan EM Local Currency Bond ETF | 32.82 | 2,953.80 |
| 61 | Vanguard Intermediate-Term Corporate Bond ETF | 96.77 | 5,902.97 |
| | Alternative Income - 24.97% | | |
| 478 | Alerian MLP ETF | 27.79 | 13,283.62 |
* | 518 | Invesco Variable Rate Preferred ETF | 25.81 | 13,369.58 |
| 167 | iShares International Developed Real Estate ETF | 26.56 | 4,435.52 |
| 69 | Vanguard Real Estate ETF | 85.67 | 5,911.23 |
|
| 4,587 | | | $ 148,187.14 |
|
See “Notes to Portfolios”. | | |
11
Notes to Portfolios
| (1) | The Securities are initially represented by “regular way” contracts for the performance of which an irrevocable letter of credit has been deposited with the Trustee. Contracts to acquire Securities were entered into on December 7, 2020 and have a settlement date of December 9, 2020 (see “The Portfolios”). Shown under this heading for each exchange-traded note is the security title issuer name and scheduled maturity date. Each note was originally issued with a principal amount per share equal to $50. |
| (2) | The value of each Security is determined on the bases set forth under “Public Offering--Unit Price” as of the close of the New York Stock Exchange on the business day before the Initial Date of Deposit. In accordance with FASB Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”), ASC 820, Fair Value Measurements and Disclosures, the Portfolio’s investments are classified as Level 1, which refers to security prices determined using quoted prices in active markets for identical securities. Other information regarding the Securities, as of the Initial Date of Deposit, is as follows: |
| | Profit |
| Cost to | (Loss) To |
| Sponsor | Sponsor |
ETF Allocation Portfolio | $ 148,172 | $ 0 |
ETF Diversified Income Portfolio | $ 148,187 | $ 0 |
“*” The investment advisor of this fund is an affiliate of the Sponsor.
12
REPORT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM
To the Sponsor and Unitholders of Invesco Unit Trusts, Series 2097:
Opinion on the Financial Statements
We have audited the accompanying statements of condition (including the related portfolio schedules) of ETF Allocation Portfolio 2020-4 and ETF Diversified Income Portfolio 2020-4 (included in Invesco Unit Trusts, Series 2097 (the “Trust”)) as of December 8, 2020, and the related notes (collectively referred to as the “financial statements”). In our opinion, the financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the Trust as of December 8, 2020, in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America.
Basis for Opinion
These financial statements are the responsibility of Invesco Capital Markets, Inc., the Sponsor. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the Trust’s financial statements based on our audits. We are a public accounting firm registered with the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (“PCAOB”) and are required to be independent with respect to the Trust in accordance with the U.S. federal securities laws and the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PCAOB.
We conducted our audits in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audits to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement, whether due to error or fraud. The Trust is not required to have, nor were we engaged to perform, an audit of its internal control over financial reporting. As part of our audits we are required to obtain an understanding of internal control over financial reporting but not for the purpose of expressing an opinion on the effectiveness of the Trust’s internal control over financial reporting. Accordingly, we express no such opinion.
Our audits included performing procedures to assess the risks of material misstatement of the financial statements, whether due to error or fraud, and performing procedures that respond to those risks. Such procedures included examining, on a test basis, evidence regarding the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. Our audits also included evaluating the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by the Sponsor, as well as evaluating the overall presentation of the financial statements. Our procedures included confirmation of cash or irrevocable letters of credit deposited for the purchase of securities as shown in the statements of condition as of December 8, 2020 by correspondence with The Bank of New York Mellon, Trustee. We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinion.
/s/ GRANT THORNTON LLP
We have served as the auditor of one or more of the unit investment trusts, sponsored by Invesco Capital Markets, Inc. and its predecessors, since 1976.
New York, New York
December 8, 2020
13
| | |
STATEMENTS OF CONDITION |
As of December 8, 2020 |
|
| | ETF |
| ETF | Diversified |
| Allocation | Income |
INVESTMENT IN SECURITIES | Portfolio | Portfolio |
Contracts to purchase Securities (1) | $ 148,172 | $ 148,187 |
Total | $ 148,172 | $ 148,187 |
LIABILITIES AND INTEREST OF UNITHOLDERS | | |
Liabilities-- | | |
Organization costs (2) | $ 963 | $ 963 |
Deferred sales charge liability (3) | 2,000 | 2,001 |
Creation and development fee liability (4) | 741 | 741 |
Interest of Unitholders-- | | |
Cost to investors (5) | 148,172 | 148,187 |
Less: deferred sales charge, creation and development | | |
fee and organization costs (2)(4)(5)(6) | 3,704 | 3,705 |
Net interest to Unitholders (5) | 144,468 | 144,482 |
Total | $ 148,172 | $ 148,187 |
Units outstanding | 14,818 | 14,819 |
Net asset value per Unit | $ 9.750 | $ 9.750 |
_______________________
| (1) | The value of the Securities is determined by the Trustee on the bases set forth under “Public Offering--Unit Price”. The contracts to purchase Securities are collateralized by separate irrevocable letters of credit which have been deposited with the Trustee. |
| (2) | A portion of the Public Offering Price represents an amount sufficient to pay for all or a portion of the costs incurred in establishing a Portfolio. The amount of these costs are set forth in the “Fee Table”. A distribution will be made as of the earlier of the close of the initial offering period (approximately three months) or six months following the Initial Date of Deposit to an account maintained by the Trustee from which the organization expense obligation of the investors will be satisfied. To the extent that actual organization costs of a Portfolio are greater than the estimated amount, only the estimated organization costs added to the Public Offering Price will be reimbursed to the Sponsor and deducted from the assets of the Portfolio. |
| (3) | Represents the amount of mandatory distributions from a Portfolio on the bases set forth under “Public Offering”. |
| (4) | The creation and development fee is payable by a Portfolio on behalf of Unitholders out of the assets of the Portfolio as of the close of the initial offering period. If Units are redeemed prior to the close of the initial public offering period, the fee will not be deducted from the proceeds. |
| (5) | The aggregate public offering price and the aggregate sales charge are computed on the bases set forth under “Public Offering”. |
| (6) | Assumes the maximum sales charge. |
14
THE PORTFOLIOS
The Portfolios were created under the laws of the State of New York pursuant to a Trust Indenture and Trust Agreement (the “Trust Agreement”), dated the date of this prospectus (the “Initial Date of Deposit”), among Invesco Capital Markets, Inc., as Sponsor, Invesco Investment Advisers LLC, as Supervisor, and The Bank of New York Mellon, as Trustee.
The Portfolios offer investors the opportunity to purchase Units representing proportionate interests in a portfolio of securities. Each Portfolio may be an appropriate medium for investors who desire to participate in a portfolio of securities with greater diversification than they might be able to acquire individually.
On the Initial Date of Deposit, the Sponsor deposited delivery statements relating to contracts for the purchase of the Securities and an irrevocable letter of credit in the amount required for these purchases with the Trustee. In exchange for these contracts, the Trustee delivered to the Sponsor documentation evidencing the ownership of Units of the Portfolios. Unless otherwise terminated as provided in the Trust Agreement, a Portfolio will terminate on the Mandatory Termination Date and any remaining Securities will be liquidated or distributed by the Trustee within a reasonable time. As used in this prospectus the term “Securities” means the securities (including contracts to purchase these securities) listed under each “Portfolio” and any additional securities deposited into a Portfolio.
Additional Units of a Portfolio may be issued at any time by depositing in the Portfolio (i) additional Securities, (ii) contracts to purchase Securities together with cash or irrevocable letters of credit or (iii) cash (or a letter of credit or the equivalent) with instructions to purchase additional Securities. As additional Units are issued by a Portfolio, the aggregate value of the Securities will be increased and the fractional undivided interest represented by each Unit may be decreased. The Sponsor may continue to make additional deposits into a Portfolio following the Initial Date of Deposit provided that the additional deposits will be in amounts which will maintain, as nearly as practicable, the same percentage relationship among the number of shares of each Security in the Portfolio that existed immediately prior to the subsequent deposit. Investors may experience a dilution of their investments and a reduction in their anticipated income because of fluctuations in the prices of the Securities between the time of the deposit and the purchase of the Securities and because a Portfolio will pay the associated brokerage or acquisition fees. In addition, during the initial offering of Units it may not be possible to buy a particular Security due to regulatory or trading restrictions, or corporate actions. While such limitations are in effect, additional Units would be created by purchasing each of the Securities in your Portfolio that are not subject to those limitations. This would also result in the dilution of the investment in any such Security not purchased and potential variances in anticipated income. Purchases and sales of Securities by your Portfolio may impact the value of the Securities. This may especially be the case during the initial offering of Units, upon Portfolio termination and in the course of satisfying large Unit redemptions.
Each Unit of your Portfolio initially offered represents an undivided interest in the Portfolio. At the close of the New York Stock Exchange on the Initial Date of Deposit, the number of Units may be adjusted so that the Public Offering Price per Unit equals $10. The number of Units, fractional interest of each Unit in your Portfolio and figures expressed on a per Unit basis will increase or decrease to the extent of any adjustment. To the extent that any Units are redeemed to the Trustee or additional Units are issued as a result of additional Securities being deposited by the Sponsor, the fractional undivided interest in your Portfolio represented by each unredeemed Unit will increase or decrease accordingly, although the actual interest in your Portfolio will remain unchanged. Units will remain outstanding until redeemed upon tender to the Trustee by Unitholders, which may include the Sponsor, or until the termination of the Trust Agreement.
Each Portfolio consists of (a) the Securities (including contracts for the purchase thereof) listed under the applicable “Portfolio” as may continue to be held from
A-1
time to time in the Portfolio, (b) any additional Securities acquired and held by the Portfolio pursuant to the provisions of the Trust Agreement and (c) any cash held in the related Income and Capital Accounts. Neither the Sponsor nor the Trustee shall be liable in any way for any contract failure in any of the Securities.
OBJECTIVES AND SECURITIES SELECTION
The objective of each Portfolio is described in the individual Portfolio sections. There is no assurance that a Portfolio will achieve its objective.
The Sponsor does not manage the Portfolios. You should note that the Sponsor applied the selection criteria to the Securities for inclusion in the Portfolios prior to the Initial Date of Deposit. After this time, the Securities may no longer meet the selection criteria. Should a Security no longer meet the selection criteria, we will generally not remove the Security from a Portfolio. In offering the Units to the public, neither the Sponsor nor any broker-dealers are recommending any of the individual Securities but rather the entire pool of Securities in a Portfolio, taken as a whole, which are represented by the Units.
ETFs
ETFs are investment pools that hold other securities. The ETFs in your Portfolio are passively-managed index funds that seek to replicate the performance or composition of a recognized securities index. The ETFs held by your Portfolio are either open-end management investment companies or unit investment trusts registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (“1940 Act”). Unlike typical open-end funds or unit investment trusts, ETFs generally do not sell or redeem their individual shares at net asset value. Although ETFs sell and redeem shares in large blocks (often known as “Creation Units”), the Sponsor does not intend to sell or redeem ETF shares in this manner. Securities exchanges list ETF shares for trading, which allows investors to purchase and sell individual ETF shares among themselves at market prices throughout the day. Your Portfolio will purchase and sell ETF shares on these securities exchanges. ETFs therefore possess characteristics of corporate common stocks, which generally issue shares that trade at negotiated prices on securities exchanges and are not redeemable.
ETFs can provide exposure to broad-based indices, growth and value styles, market cap segments, sectors and industries, and specific countries or regions of the world. The securities comprising ETFs may include common equity securities, fixed income securities or other financial instruments. In general, ETFs may contain anywhere from fewer than 20 securities up to more than 1,000 securities. As a result, investors in ETFs (and investors in your Portfolio) obtain exposure to a much greater number of securities than an individual investor would typically be able to obtain on their own. The performance of ETFs is generally highly correlated with the indices or sectors which they are designed to track.
Certain of the funds in your Portfolio may be classified as “non-diversified” under the 1940 Act. These funds have the ability to invest a greater portion of their assets in securities of a single issuer which could reduce diversification.
Due to the level of their investments in MLPs, certain of the funds in the ETF Diversified Income Portfolio may be classified for federal income tax purposes as taxable regular corporations or so-called Subchapter “C” corporations (“C” corporations). Generally, “C” corporations in your Portfolio accrue a deferred tax liability for future tax liabilities associated with its investments in MLPs. A “C” corporation’s accrued deferred tax liability, if any, may be reflected in its net asset value per share. Any such deferred tax liability may vary greatly from year to year depending on the nature of the “C” corporation’s investment holdings, the performance of those investments and general market conditions. Actual deferred income tax expense, if any, is incurred over many years, depending on if and when investment gains and losses are realized, the then-current basis of the “C” corporation’s assets and other factors.
RISK FACTORS
All investments involve risk. This section describes the main risks that can impact the value of the securities in your Portfolio, the securities in the portfolios of the
A-2
underlying funds and, with respect to the ETF Allocation Portfolio, commodities related to the ETNs in the Portfolio. You should understand these risks before you invest. If the value of the securities falls, the value of your Units will also fall. We cannot guarantee that your Portfolio will achieve its objective or that your investment return will be positive over any period.
The relative weighting or composition of your Portfolio may change during the life of your Portfolio. Following the Initial Date of Deposit, the Sponsor intends to issue additional Units by depositing in your Portfolio additional securities in a manner consistent with the provisions described in the above section entitled “The Portfolio”. As described in that section, it may not be possible to retain or continue to purchase one or more Securities in your Portfolio. In addition, due to certain limited circumstances described under “Portfolio Administration”, the composition of the Securities in your Portfolio may change. Accordingly, the fluctuations in the relative weighting or composition of your Portfolio may result in concentrations (25% or more of a Portfolio’s assets) in securities of a particular type, industry and/or geographic region.
Market Risk. Market risk is the risk that the value of securities in your Portfolio or in the underlying ETFs or ETNs will fluctuate. This could cause the value of your Units to fall below your original purchase price. Market value fluctuates in response to various factors. These can include changes in interest rates, inflation, the financial condition of a security’s issuer, perceptions of the issuer, or ratings on a security. Certain geopolitical and other events, including environmental events and public health events such as epidemics and pandemics, may have a global impact and add to instability in world economies and markets generally. Changing economic, political or financial market conditions in one country or geographic region could adversely affect the market value of the securities held by your Portfolio in a different country or geographic region due to increasingly interconnected global economies and financial markets. Even though your Portfolio is supervised, you should remember that we do not manage your Portfolio. Your Portfolio will not sell a security solely because the market value falls as is possible in a managed fund.
Furthermore, a recent outbreak of a respiratory disease caused by a novel coronavirus (“COVID-19”), first detected in China in December 2019, has spread globally in a short period of time. COVID-19 has resulted in the disruption of, and delays in, production and supply chains and the delivery of healthcare services and processes, as well as the cancellation of organized events and educational institutions, a decline in consumer demand for certain goods and services, and general concern and uncertainty. In response, governments and businesses world-wide, including the United States, have taken aggressive measures, including closing borders, restricting international and domestic travel, imposing prolonged quarantines of large populations, and financial support of the economy and financial markets. COVID-19 and its effects have contributed to increased volatility in global markets, severe loses, liquidity constraints, and lowered yields; the duration of such effects cannot yet be determined but could be present for an extended period of time. The effects that COVID-19 may have on certain sectors and industries are uncertain and may adversely affect the value of your Portfolio.
Dividend Payment Risk. Dividend payment risk is the risk that an issuer of a security or an underlying security in an ETF or ETN is unwilling or unable to pay dividends on a security. Stocks represent ownership interests in the issuers and are not obligations of the issuers. Common stockholders have a right to receive dividends only after the company has provided for payment of its creditors, bondholders and preferred stockholders. Common stocks do not assure dividend payments. Dividends are paid only when declared by an issuer’s board of directors and the amount of any dividend may vary over time. If dividends received by your Portfolio are insufficient to cover expenses, redemptions or other Portfolio costs, it may be necessary for your Portfolio to sell Securities to cover such expenses, redemptions or other costs. Any such sales may result in capital gains or losses to you. See “Taxation”.
Interest Rate Risk. Interest rate risk is the risk that the value of securities held by certain ETFs will fall if interest rates increase. The securities held by certain
A-3
ETFs typically fall in value when interest rates rise and rise in value when interest rates fall. The securities held by certain ETFs with longer periods before maturity are often more sensitive to interest rate changes. Given the historically low interest rate environment in the U.S., risks associated with rising rates are heightened. The negative impact on fixed income securities from any interest rate increases could be swift and significant and, as a result, a rise in interest rates may adversely affect the value of your Units. Prices of bonds, even inflation-protected bonds, held by certain ETFs may fall because of a rise in interest rates.
Credit Risk. Credit risk is the risk that a borrower is unable to meet its obligation to pay principal or interest on a security held by certain ETFs. This may reduce the level of dividends such funds pay which would reduce your income and could cause the value of your Units to fall.
The ETNs in the ETF Allocation Portfolio pay interest, if any, only at maturity of the ETN and do not provide for current interest payments during their terms. As a result, the Portfolio will not receive periodic income payments from the ETNs.
Exchange-Traded Funds. Each Portfolio invests in shares of ETFs. You should understand the preceding section titled “ETFs” before you invest. Shares of ETFs frequently trade at a discount from their net asset value in the secondary market. This risk is separate and distinct from the risk that the net asset value of fund shares may decrease. The amount of such discount from net asset value is subject to change from time to time in response to various factors. ETFs are subject to various risks, including management’s ability to meet the fund’s investment objective, and to manage the fund portfolio when the underlying securities are redeemed or sold, during periods of market turmoil and as investors’ perceptions regarding funds or their underlying investments change. Your Portfolio and the underlying funds have operating expenses. You will bear not only your share of your Portfolio’s expenses, but also the expenses of the underlying funds. By investing in other funds, your Portfolio incurs greater expenses than you would incur if you invested directly in the funds.
Index Correlation Risk. Index correlation risk is the risk that the performance of an ETF or ETN in your Portfolio will vary from the actual performance of a security’s target index, known as “tracking error.” This can happen due to transaction costs, market impact, corporate actions (such as mergers and spin-offs) and timing variances. Some ETFs use a technique called “representative sampling,” which means that the fund invests in a representative sample of securities in its target index rather than all of the index securities. This could increase the risk of a tracking error.
Exchange-Traded Notes. The ETF Allocation Portfolio invests in ETNs. ETNs are a type of senior, unsecured, unsubordinated debt security of the issuing company, meaning that if the issuer defaults on the ETN, investors may lose some or all of their investment. This type of debt security differs from other types of bonds and notes because ETN returns are based upon the performance of a market index minus applicable fees, no periodic coupon payments are distributed and no principal protection exists. The purpose of ETNs of the type held by your Portfolio is generally to create a type of security that combines certain aspects of ETFs and bonds. Similar to ETFs, ETNs are generally traded on a securities exchange and can be sold short. Investors can also hold the debt security until maturity. At that time the issuer is obligated to give the investor a cash amount that would be equal to the principal amount times the applicable index factor less investor fees. The index factor on any given day is a mathematical equation equal to the closing value of the underlying index on that day divided by the initial index level. The initial index level is the closing value of the underlying index on the creation/inception date of the note. It is important to note, however, that ETNs typically have 30 year terms and your Portfolio will terminate approximately 15 months after the Initial Date of Deposit. As a result, the Portfolio will not hold an ETN until maturity but will sell or redeem the ETNs in connection with the scheduled termination of your Portfolio if not liquidated earlier as provided in the Trust Agreement.
A-4
One significant factor that affects an ETN's value is the credit of the issuer. ETNs are synthetic investment products that do not represent ownership of the securities of the indices they track, and are backed only by the issuer’s credit. The value of the ETN may drop despite no change in the underlying index due to an adverse change in the issuer's creditworthiness or in perceptions of the issuer’s creditworthiness.
Each of the ETNs in the ETF Allocation Portfolio are liquid, exchange-traded securities at the time of selection. The Sponsor only considers for inclusion in the Portfolio ETNs deemed to have sufficient liquidity, as determined by analysis of an ETN’s trading history and volume, among other factors. However, as with other exchange-traded securities, an ETN may become delisted due to insufficient trading volume or other circumstances. Even if there is a secondary market, it may not provide liquidity. While the issuers of the notes may make a market for the notes, they are not required to do so. If the notes are not listed on any securities exchange and the issuers of the notes were to cease acting as a market maker in the notes, it is likely that there would be no secondary market for the notes. All of these factors impact the overall liquidity of the notes and may impact the price your Portfolio will receive upon disposition of the notes.
Additional risks of investing in ETNs include limited portfolio diversification, price fluctuations, uncertain principal repayment, conflicts of interest, and uncertain federal income tax treatment. Investing in ETNs is not equivalent to a direct investment in an index or index components. The performance of the ETNs in the Portfolio may vary from the actual performance of the underlying index and the performance of the underlying index components. By investing in ETNs, your Portfolio does not have certain rights that investors in the underlying index or the underlying index components may have, such as stock voting rights. Upon sale or redemption of the ETN shares held by your Portfolio, the Portfolio will be paid in cash, and will have no right to receive delivery of any of the underlying index components or commodities or other assets underlying the index components. Certain ETNs may be subject to early redemption or an accelerated maturity date at the discretion of the issuer or one of its affiliates. Similar to ETFs, ETNs have operating fees that will reduce the amount of return at maturity or on redemption, and as a result your Portfolio may receive less than the principal amount of its investment upon sale or redemption of an ETN, even if the value of the relevant index has increased. A conflict of interest may arise if an ETN issuer engages in trading activities, such as shortselling, which may be at odds with the interests of the ETN holders.
The issuing companies of the underlying ETNs in your Portfolio are generally investment banks, broker-dealers and other financial services companies. As a result, your Portfolio’s investment in ETNs will be more susceptible to risks related to these companies. Banks and their holding companies are especially subject to the adverse effects of economic recession; volatile interest rates; portfolio concentrations in geographic markets and in commercial and residential real estate loans; and competition from new entrants in their fields of business. In addition, banks and their holding companies are extensively regulated at both the federal and state level and may be adversely affected by increased regulations. Banks face increased competition from nontraditional lending sources as regulatory changes permit new entrants to offer various financial products. Technological advances such as the Internet allow nontraditional lending sources to cut overhead and permit the more efficient use of customer data. Banks are already facing tremendous pressure from mutual funds, brokerage firms and other financial service providers in the competition to furnish services that were traditionally offered by banks.
Companies engaged in investment management and broker-dealer activities are subject to volatility in their earnings and share prices that often exceed the volatility of the equity market in general. Adverse changes in the direction of the stock market, investor confidence, equity transaction volume, the level and direction of interest rates and the outlook of emerging markets could adversely affect the financial stability, as well as the stock prices, of these companies. Additionally, competitive pressures, including increased competition with new and existing competitors, the
A-5
ongoing commoditization of traditional businesses and the need for increased capital expenditures on new technology could adversely impact the profit margins of companies in the investment management and brokerage industries. Companies involved in investment management and broker-dealer activities are also subject to extensive regulation by government agencies and self-regulatory organizations, and changes in laws, regulations or rules, or in the interpretation of such laws, regulations and rules could adversely affect the stock prices of such companies.
The appropriate treatment of ETNs for federal income tax purposes is uncertain. Consistent with current market practice, investors are not required to accrue or recognize current income with respect to an ETN’s contingent payout until maturity or disposition, at which time the contingent payout or sale would generally give rise to capital gain or loss. The Internal Revenue Service (the “IRS”) indicated, in 2007, that it was reviewing the appropriate treatment of ETNs for federal income tax purposes. See the “Taxation” section of the Information Supplement.
Corporate Bond Risk. Certain of the ETFs held by the Portfolios may invest in corporate bonds. Corporate bonds, which are debt instruments issued by corporations to raise capital, have priority over preferred securities and common stock in an issuer’s capital structure, but may be subordinated to an issuer’s other debt instruments. The market value of a corporate bond may be affected by factors directly related to the issuer, such as investors’ perceptions of the creditworthiness of the issuer, the issuer’s financial performance, perceptions of the issuer in the market place, performance of the issuer’s management, the issuer’s capital structure, the use of financial leverage and demand for the issuer’s goods and services, and by factors not directly related to the issuer such as general market liquidity. The market value of corporate bonds generally may be expected to rise and fall inversely with interest rates, and as a result, corporate bonds may lose value in a rising-rate environment. To the extent any of the ETFs held your Portfolios are invested in below investment grade corporate bonds, such bonds are often high risk and have speculative characteristics and may be particularly susceptible to adverse issuer-specific developments (see “High-Yield Security Risk” immediately below).
High-Yield Security Risk. Certain of the ETFs held by your Portfolio may invest in high-yield securities or unrated securities. High-yield, high risk securities are subject to greater market fluctuations and risk of loss than securities with higher investment ratings. The value of these securities will decline significantly with increases in interest rates, not only because increases in rates generally decrease values, but also because increased rates may indicate an economic slowdown. An economic slowdown, or a reduction in an issuer’s creditworthiness, may result in the issuer being unable to maintain earnings at a level sufficient to maintain interest and principal payments.
High-yield or “junk” securities, the generic names for securities rated below “BBB-” by Standard & Poor’s or “Baa3” by Moody’s, are frequently issued by corporations in the growth stage of their development or by established companies who are highly leveraged or whose operations or industries are depressed. Securities rated below BBB- or Baa3 are considered speculative as these ratings indicate a quality of less than investment grade. Because high-yield securities are generally subordinated obligations and are perceived by investors to be riskier than higher rated securities, their prices tend to fluctuate more than higher rated securities and are affected by short-term credit developments to a greater degree.
The market for high-yield securities is smaller and less liquid than that for investment grade securities. High-yield securities are generally not listed on a national securities exchange but trade in the over-the-counter markets. Due to the smaller, less liquid market for high-yield securities, the bid-offer spread on such securities is generally greater than it is for investment grade securities and the purchase or sale of such securities may take longer to complete.
Senior Loans. Certain of the funds held by the ETF Diversified Income Portfolio invest in senior loans. Senior loans are debt instruments issued by various financial institutions and other issuers to corporations,
A-6
partnerships, limited liability companies and other entities to finance leveraged buyouts, recapitalizations, mergers, acquisitions, stock repurchases, debt refinancings and, to a lesser extent, for general operating and other purposes. Senior loans are backed by a company’s assets and generally hold the most senior position in a company’s capital structure, ahead of other types of debt securities, as well as preferred and common stock. Senior secured loans are typically backed by assets such as inventory, receivables, real estate property, buildings, intellectual property such as patents or trademarks, and even the stock of other companies or subsidiaries. In the event of non-payment, there is no assurance that such collateral could be readily liquidated, or that liquidation would satisfy the borrower’s obligation. In addition, while secured creditors generally receive greater protection in insolvency situations, there is no assurance that collateral could be readily liquidated, or that liquidation of collateral will be sufficient to repay interest and/or principal in such situations. In the event of non-payment concerning a loan held by a fund in your Portfolio, the value of your Units may be adversely affected.
Additionally, the underlying loan interest rates “float” above indices, which can move up or down with market rate movements, such as the prime rate offered by one or more major banks, the London Interbank Offered Rate (“LIBOR”) or other alternative benchmark rates or the certificate of deposit rate or other base lending rates used by commercial lenders. As a result, the yield on funds investing in senior loans will generally decline in a falling interest rate environment and increase in a rising interest rate environment. Additionally, since senior loans generally have floating interest rates, they are typically not as sensitive as fixed-income investments to price fluctuations due to changes in interest rates. Senior loans have historically paid a higher rate of interest than most short-term investments. Of course, there is no guarantee that this will occur in the future.
As noted above, certain senior loans invested in by funds that the ETF Diversified Income Portfolio owns may reference LIBOR. On July 27, 2017, the United Kingdom's Financial Conduct Authority, which regulates LIBOR, announced that it intends to phase out LIBOR by the end of 2021. On November 30, 2020, the administrator of LIBOR announced a delay in the phase out of the majority of the U.S. dollar LIBOR publications until June 30, 2023, with the remainder of LIBOR publications to still end at the end of 2021. There remains uncertainty regarding the future of LIBOR and the nature of any replacement rate. While some instruments may contemplate a scenario where LIBOR is no longer available by providing for an alternative rate setting methodology, not all instruments may have such provisions and there is uncertainty regarding the effectiveness of any alternative methodology. The replacement and/or discontinuation of LIBOR could lead to significant short-term and long-term uncertainty and market instability. The unavailability or replacement of LIBOR may affect the value, liquidity or return on certain investments and may result in costs incurred in connection with closing out positions and entering into new positions. Any pricing adjustments to the funds' investments resulting from a substitute reference rate may also adversely affect the Portfolio's performance and/or net asset value.
Taxable Municipal Securities Risk. Certain of the funds held by the ETF Diversified Income Portfolio invest in taxable municipal securities. Litigation, legislation or other political events, local business or economic conditions or the bankruptcy of the issuer could have a significant effect on the ability of an issuer of municipal securities to make payments of principal and/or interest. Political changes and uncertainties in the municipal market related to taxation, legislative changes or the rights of municipal security holders can significantly affect municipal securities. Because many securities are issued to finance similar projects, especially those relating to education, health care, transportation and utilities, conditions in those sectors can affect the overall municipal market. In addition, changes in the financial condition of an individual municipal issuer can affect the overall municipal market.
Foreign Issuer Risk. Certain of the underlying securities held by certain of the ETFs in your Portfolio may be issued by foreign issuers. This subjects your Portfolio to more risks than if it invested in securities linked solely to domestic issuers.
A-7
These risks include the risk of losses due to future political and economic developments, international trade conditions, foreign withholding taxes and restrictions on foreign investments or exchange of securities, foreign currency fluctuations or restriction on exchange or repatriation of currencies.
The political, economic and social structures of some foreign countries may be less stable and more volatile than those in the U.S. Investments in these countries may be subject to the risks of internal and external conflicts, currency devaluations, foreign ownership limitations and tax increases. It is possible that a government may take over the assets or operations of a company or impose restrictions on the exchange or export of currency or other assets. Diplomatic and political developments, including rapid and adverse political changes, social instability, regional conflicts, terrorism and war, could affect the economies, industries, and securities and currency markets, and the value of an investment, in non-U.S. countries. No one can predict the impact that these factors could have on the value of foreign securities.
In addition, for foreign securities of European issuers, the departure of any European Union (“EU”) member from use of the Euro could lead to serious disruptions to foreign exchanges, operations and settlements, which may have an adverse effect on European issuers. More recently, there is uncertainty regarding the state of the EU following the United Kingdom’s (“U.K.”) initiation on March 27, 2017 of the process to exit from the EU (“Brexit”). As of January 31, 2020, the U.K. has officially exited the EU, though trade negotiations are ongoing. The effect that Brexit may have on the global financial markets is uncertain. No one can predict the impact that these factors could have on the securities held by your Portfolio.
The purchase and sale of the foreign securities may occur in foreign securities markets. Certain of the factors stated above may make it impossible to buy or sell them in a timely manner or may adversely affect the value received on a sale of securities. In addition, round lot trading requirements exist in certain foreign securities markets. Brokerage commissions and other fees generally are higher for foreign securities. Government supervision and regulation of foreign securities markets, currency markets, trading systems and brokers may be less than in the U.S. The procedures and rules governing foreign transactions and custody also may involve delays in payment, delivery or recovery of money or investments.
Foreign companies may not be subject to the same disclosure, accounting, auditing and financial reporting standards and practices as U.S. companies. Thus, there may be less information publicly available about foreign companies than about most U.S. companies. Certain foreign securities may be less liquid (harder to sell) and more volatile than many U.S. securities.
Because securities of foreign issuers not listed on a U.S. securities exchange generally pay dividends and trade in foreign currencies, the U.S. dollar value of these securities and dividends will vary with fluctuations in foreign exchange rates. Most foreign currencies have fluctuated widely in value against the U.S. dollar for various economic and political reasons and foreign currency exchange markets can be quite volatile depending on the activity of the large international commercial banks, various central banks, large multi-national corporations, speculators and other buyers and sellers of foreign currencies.
Emerging Market Risk. Each Portfolio is exposed to securities issued by entities located in emerging markets and frontier emerging markets through its investment in the underlying ETFs. Emerging markets are generally defined as countries in the initial states of their industrialization cycles with low per capita income. Frontier emerging markets are the smallest, less developed, less liquid countries that make up the emerging markets. The markets of emerging markets and frontier emerging markets countries are generally more volatile than the markets of developed countries with more mature economies. All of the risks of investing in foreign securities described above are heightened by investing in emerging markets and frontier emerging markets countries.
A-8
Alternative Assets and Strategies Risk. Your Portfolio may invest in ETFs or ETNs, as applicable, which invest in non-traditional or alternative asset classes including, but not limited to REITs, MLPs, commodities, preferred securities and inflation-protected securities.
Real Estate Companies. The Portfolios are exposed to real estate investment trusts (“REITs”) and other real estate companies (collectively “real estate companies”) through investment in certain ETFs. You should understand the risks of real estate companies before you invest. Many factors can have an adverse impact on the performance of a particular real estate company, including its cash available for distribution, the credit quality of a particular company or the real estate industry generally. The success of real estate companies depends on various factors, including the quality of property management, occupancy and rent levels, appreciation of the underlying property and the ability to raise rents on those properties. Economic recession, over-building, tax law changes, environmental issues, higher interest rates or excessive speculation can all negatively impact these companies, their future earnings and share prices.
Risks associated with the direct ownership of real estate include, among other factors,
| • | general U.S. and global as well as local economic conditions, |
| • | decline in real estate values, |
| • | possible lack of availability of mortgage funds, |
| • | the financial health of tenants, |
| • | over-building and increased competition for tenants, |
| • | over-supply of properties for sale, |
| • | changes in interest rates, tax rates and other operating expenses, |
| • | changes in government regulations, |
| • | faulty construction and the ongoing need for capital improvements, |
| • | regulatory and judicial requirements, including relating to liability for environmental hazards, |
| • | the ongoing financial strength and viability of government sponsored enterprises, such as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, |
| • | changes in neighborhood values and buyer demand, and |
| • | the unavailability of construction financing or mortgage loans at rates acceptable to developers. |
Variations in rental income and space availability and vacancy rates in terms of supply and demand are additional factors affecting real estate generally and real estate companies in particular. Properties owned by a company may not be adequately insured against certain losses and may be subject to significant environmental liabilities, including remediation costs.
You should also be aware that real estate companies may not be diversified and are subject to the risks of financing projects. The real estate industry may be cyclical, and, if your Portfolio acquires securities at or near the top of the cycle, there is increased risk of a decline in value of the securities during the life of your Portfolio.
Real estate companies are also subject to defaults by borrowers and the market’s perception of the real estate industry generally.
Because of the structure of certain real estate companies, and legal requirements in many countries that these companies distribute a certain minimum amount of their taxable income to shareholders annually, real estate companies often require frequent amounts of new funding, through both borrowing money and issuing stock. Thus, many real estate companies historically have frequently issued substantial amounts of new equity shares (or equivalents) to purchase or build new properties. This may have adversely affected security market prices. Both existing and new share issuances may have an adverse effect on these prices in the future, especially when companies continue to issue stock when real estate prices are relatively high and stock prices are relatively low.
A-9
Master Limited Partnership Risk. Certain of the funds in the ETF Diversified Income Portfolio invest in master limited partnerships (“MLPs”). MLPs are generally organized as limited partnerships or limited liability companies that are taxed as partnerships and whose equity shares (limited partnership units or limited liability company units) are traded on securities exchanges like shares of common stock. An MLP generally consists of a general partner and limited partners. The general partner manages the partnership, has an ownership stake in the partnership (generally around 2%) and may hold incentive distribution rights, which entitle the general partner to a higher percentage of cash distributions as cash flows grow over time. The limited partners own the majority of the shares in an MLP, but generally do not have a role in the operation and management of the partnership and do not have voting rights. MLPs generally distribute nearly all of their income to investors (generally around 90%) in the form of quarterly distributions. MLPs are not required to pay out a certain percentage of income but are able to do so because they do not pay corporate taxes.
Currently, most MLPs operate in the energy sector, with a particular emphasis on the midstream sector of the energy value chain, which includes the infrastructure necessary to transport, refine and store oil and gas. Investments in MLP interests are subject to the risks generally applicable to companies in the energy and natural resources sectors, including commodity pricing risk, supply and demand risk, depletion risk and exploration risk. In addition, the potential for regulatory or legislative changes that could impact the highly regulated sectors in which MLPs invest remains a significant risk to the segment. Since MLPs typically distribute most of their free cash flow, they are often heavily dependent upon access to capital markets to facilitate continued growth. A severe economic downturn could reduce the ability of MLPs to access capital markets and could also reduce profitability by reducing energy demand. Certain MLPs may be subject to additional liquidity risk due to limited trading volumes.
There are certain tax risks associated with MLPs to which your Portfolio may be exposed, including the risk that regulatory or legislative changes could limit or eliminate the tax benefits enjoyed by MLPs. These tax risks, and any adverse determination with respect thereto, could have a negative impact on the after-tax income available for distribution by the MLPs and/or the value of your Portfolio’s investments.
Commodity Risk. The ETF Allocation Portfolio is exposed to commodities primarily through investment in ETNs. A commodity is a basic good used in commerce that is interchangeable with other commodities of the same type and which is supplied without qualitative differentiation across a given market. Commodities are most often used as inputs in the production of other goods or services. The quality of a given commodity may differ slightly, but it is essentially uniform across producers. Well-established physical commodities have actively traded spot and derivative markets. Generally, these are basic resources and agricultural products such as iron ore, crude oil, coal, ethanol, sugar, soybeans, aluminum, rice, wheat, gold and silver. Commodities prices are highly volatile and are affected by numerous factors in addition to economic activity. These include political events, weather, labor activity, pandemics direct government intervention, such as embargoes, and supply disruptions in major producing or consuming regions. Those events tend to affect prices worldwide, regardless of the location of the event. Market expectations about these events and speculative activity also cause prices to fluctuate. These factors may adversely affect the performance of the reference assets or their components and, as a result, the market value of the funds in the Portfolio and the amount the underlying securities in the Portfolio will receive at maturity. Certain commodity exchanges have regulations that limit the amount of fluctuation in futures contract prices which may occur during a single business day. These limits are generally referred to as “daily price fluctuation limits”, and the maximum or minimum price of a futures contract on any given day as a result of these limits is referred to as a “limit price.” Once the limit price has been reached in a particular futures contract, no trades may be made at a different price. Limit prices may have the effect of precluding trading in a particular contract or forcing the liquidation of futures contracts at disadvantageous times or prices.
A-10
These circumstances could adversely affect the prices of the commodities comprising the reference asset and, therefore, could adversely affect the value of the underlying securities in the Portfolio. Suspensions or disruptions of market trading in the commodity markets and related futures markets may adversely affect the amount of principal, interest or any other amounts payable on the underlying securities and/or the market value of the underlying securities. The commodity markets are subject to temporary distortions or other disruptions due to various factors, including a lack of liquidity in the markets, the participation of speculators and potential government regulation and intervention. In addition, some futures exchanges have regulations that limit the amount of fluctuation in futures contract prices that may occur during a single business day. These factors may adversely affect the performance of the reference assets or their components and, as a result, the market value of the underlying securities and the principal, interest and other amounts payable on the underlying securities.
Preferred Securities Risk. Certain funds held by the ETF Diversified Income Portfolio invest in preferred securities including preferred stocks, trust preferred securities or other similar securities.
Preferred stocks are unique securities that combine some of the characteristics of both common stocks and bonds. Preferred stocks generally pay a fixed rate of return and are sold on the basis of current yield, like bonds. However, because they are equity securities, preferred stocks provide equity ownership of a company and the income is paid in the form of dividends. Preferred stocks typically have a yield advantage over common stocks as well as comparably-rated fixed income investments. Preferred stocks are typically subordinated to bonds and other debt instruments in a company’s capital structure, in terms of priority to corporate income, and therefore will be subject to greater credit risk than those debt instruments.
Trust preferred securities are securities typically issued by corporations, generally in the form of interest-bearing notes or preferred securities, or by an affiliated business trust of a corporation, generally in the form of beneficial interests in subordinated debentures or similarly structured securities. Distribution payments of the Portfolio preferred securities generally coincide with interest payments on the underlying obligations. Trust preferred securities generally have a yield advantage over traditional preferred stocks, but unlike preferred stocks, in some cases distributions are treated as interest rather than dividends for federal income tax purposes and therefore, are not eligible for the dividends-received deduction. Trust preferred securities prices fluctuate for several reasons including changes in investors’ perception of the financial condition of an issuer or the general condition of the market for trust preferred securities, or when political or economic events affecting the issuers occur. Trust preferred securities are also sensitive to interest rate fluctuations, as the cost of capital rises and borrowing costs increase in a rising interest rate environment and the risk that a trust preferred security may be called for redemption in a falling interest rate environment. Certain trust preferred securities are also subject to unique risks which include the fact that dividend payments will only be paid if interest payments on the underlying obligations are made, which interest payments are dependent on the financial condition of the issuer and may be deferred. During any deferral period, investors are generally taxed as if they had received current income. In such a case, an investor may have income taxes due prior to receiving cash distributions to pay such taxes. In addition, the underlying obligations, and thus the trust preferred securities, may be pre-paid after a stated call date or as a result of certain tax or regulatory events. Preferred securities are typically subordinated to bonds and other debt instruments in a company’s capital structure, in terms of priority to corporate income, and therefore will be subject to greater credit risk than those debt instruments.
Inflation-Protected Securities Risk. Certain of the ETFs in the ETF Allocation Portfolio invest in Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities (“TIPS”) issued by the U.S. Department of Treasury or similar securities issued by foreign governments. TIPS are inflation-indexed fixed-income securities that utilize an inflation mechanism tied to the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (“CPI”). TIPS are backed by the full faith and credit of the
A-11
United States. TIPS are offered with coupon interest rates lower than those of nominal rate Treasury securities. The coupon interest rate remains fixed throughout the term of the securities. However, each day the principal value of the TIPS is adjusted based upon a pro-rata portion of the CPI as reported three months earlier. Future interest payments are made based upon the coupon interest rate and the adjusted principal value. Inflation-protected securities issued by foreign governments offer similar features as TIPS. In a falling inflationary environment, both interest payments and the value of the TIPS and other inflation-protected securities will decline. If interest rates rise for reasons other than inflation, the value of inflation-protected securities may be negatively impacted. In certain interest rate environments, inflation-protected securities may experience greater losses than other fixed income securities with similar durations.
Energy Issuers. The ETF Diversified Income Portfolio is exposed to companies in the energy sector primarily through its investment in ETFs that invest in MLPs. Energy companies can be significantly impacted by fluctuations in the prices of energy fuels, such as crude oil, natural gas, and other fossil fuels. Extended periods of low energy fuel prices can have a material adverse impact on an energy company’s financial condition and results of operations. The prices of energy fuels can be materially impacted by general economic conditions, demand for energy fuels, industry inventory levels, production quotas or other actions that might be imposed by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (“OPEC”), weather-related disruptions and damage, competing fuel prices, and geopolitical risks. Recently, the price of crude oil, natural gas and other fossil fuels has declined substantially and experienced significant volatility, which has adversely impacted energy companies and their stock prices and dividends. The price of energy fuels may decline further and have further adverse effects on energy companies.
Some energy companies depend on their ability to find and acquire additional energy reserves. The exploration and recovery process involves significant operating hazards and can be very costly. An energy company has no assurance that it will find reserves or that any reserves found will be economically recoverable.
The energy industry also faces substantial government regulation, including environmental regulation regarding air emissions and disposal of hazardous materials. These regulations may increase costs and limit production and usage of certain fuels. Additionally, governments have been increasing their attention to issues related to greenhouse gas (“GHG”) emissions and climate change, and regulatory measures to limit or reduce GHG emissions are currently in various stages of discussion or implementation. GHG emissions-related regulations could substantially harm energy companies, including by reducing the demand for energy fuels and increasing compliance costs. Energy companies also face risks related to political conditions in oil producing regions (such as the Middle East). Political instability or war in these regions could negatively impact energy companies.
The operations of energy companies can be disrupted by natural or human factors beyond the control of the energy company. These include hurricanes, floods, severe storms, and other weather events, civil unrest, accidents, war, earthquakes, fire, political events, systems failures, terrorist attacks, and pandemics, any of which could result in suspension of operations. Energy companies also face certain hazards inherent to operating in their industry, such as accidental releases of energy fuels or other hazardous materials, explosions, and mechanical failures, which can result in environmental damage, loss of life, loss of revenues, legal liability and/or disruption of operations.
Financial Services Issuers. Due to certain ETFs held by the ETF Diversified Income Portfolio investing significantly in financial services companies, the Portfolio has significant exposure to financial services companies. Companies in the financial services industry include, but are not limited to, companies involved in activities such as banking, mortgage finance, consumer finance, specialized finance, industrial finance and leasing, investment banking and brokerage, asset management and custody, corporate lending, insurance, and financial investment. In general, financial services issuers are substantially affected by changes in economic and market conditions, including: the liquidity and volatility levels in the global financial markets;
A-12
interest rates, as well as currency and commodities prices; investor sentiment; the rate of corporate and consumer defaults; inflation and unemployment; the availability and cost of capital and credit; exposure to various geographic markets or in commercial and residential real estate; competition from new entrants in their fields of business; extensive government regulation; and the overall health of the U.S. and international economies. Due to the wide variety of companies in the financial services sector, they may behave and react in different ways in response to changes in economic and market conditions.
Companies in the financial services sector are subject to several distinct risks. Such companies may be subject to systematic risk, which may result due to factors outside the control of a particular financial institution — like the failure of another, significant financial institution or material disruptions to the credit markets — that could adversely affect the ability of the financial institution to operate normally or may impair its financial condition. Financial services companies are typically affected by changes in interest rates, and may be disproportionally affected as a result of volatile and/ or rising interest rates.
Certain financial services companies may themselves have concentrated portfolios, which makes them vulnerable to economic conditions that affect that industry. Companies in this sector are often subject to credit risk, meaning they may have exposure to investments or agreements which under certain circumstances may lead to losses.
The financial services sector may be adversely affected by global developments including recessionary conditions, deterioration in the credit markets and concerns over sovereign debt. This may increase the credit risk, and possibility of default, of bonds issued by such institutions faced with these problems. In addition, the liquidity of certain debt instruments may be reduced or eliminated due to the lack of available market makers. There can be no assurance that the risks associated with investment in financial services issuers will decrease even assuming that the U.S. and/or foreign governments and agencies take steps to address problems that may arise.
Most financial services companies are subject to extensive governmental regulation, which limits their activities and may affect their ability to earn a profit from a given line of business. This also exposes financial services issuers to regulatory risk, where certain financial services companies may suffer setbacks if regulators change the rules under which they operate. Challenging economic and political conditions, along with increased public scrutiny during the past several years, led to new legislation and increased regulation in the U.S. and abroad, creating additional difficulties for financial institutions. Regulatory initiatives and requirements that were proposed around the world may be inconsistent or may conflict with previous regulations to which financial services issuers were subject, thereby resulting in higher compliance and legal costs, as well as the potential for higher operational, capital and liquidity costs. Proposed or enacted regulations may further limit the amounts and types of loans and other financial commitments certain financial services issuers can make, and further, may limit the interest rates and fees they can charge, the prices they can charge and the amount of capital they must maintain. These laws and regulations may affect the manner in which a particular financial institution does business and the products and services it may provide. Increased regulation may restrict a company’s ability to compete in its current businesses or to enter into or acquire new businesses. New regulations may reduce or limit a company’s revenue or impose additional fees, limit the scope of their activities, increase assessments or taxes on those companies and intensify regulatory supervision, adversely affecting business operations or leading to other negative consequences.
Among the most prominent pieces of U.S. legislation following the 2008 financial crisis was the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (the “Dodd-Frank Act”), enacted into federal law on July 21, 2010. The Dodd-Frank Act included reforms and refinements to modernize existing laws to address emerging risks and issues in the nation’s evolving financial system. It also established entirely new regulatory regimes, including in areas such as systemic risk regulation, over-the-counter derivatives market
A-13
oversight, and federal consumer protection. The Dodd-Frank Act intended to cover virtually all participants in the financial services industry for years to come, including banks, thrifts, depository institution holding companies, mortgage lenders, insurance companies, industrial loan companies, broker-dealers and other securities and investment advisory firms, private equity and hedge funds, consumers, numerous federal agencies and the federal regulatory structure. In particular, certain provisions of the Dodd-Frank Act increased the capital requirements of certain financial services companies supervised by the Federal Reserve, resulting in such companies incurring generally higher deposit premiums. These types of regulatory changes led to some adverse effects on certain financial services issuers and decreases in such issuers’ profits or revenues.
The Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief and Consumer Protection Act (the “Relief Act”), enacted into federal law on May 23, 2018, introduces changes on several aspects of the U.S. financial industry. The Relief Act dilutes some of the stringent regulations imposed by the Dodd-Frank Act and aims to make things easier for small- and medium-sized U.S. banks – however, all banks will remain regulated. The Relief Act will relieve small- and medium-sized banks from major regulatory compliance costs linked with stricter scrutiny. The Relief Act may lead to further deregulation and roll-back of the Dodd-Frank Act and the Sponsor is unable to predict the impact that such changes may have on financial services issuers.
Financial services companies in foreign countries are also subject to regulatory and interest rate concerns. In particular, government regulation in certain foreign countries may include controls on interest rates, credit availability, prices and currency transfers. The departure of any member from use of the Euro could lead to serious disruptions to foreign exchanges, operations and settlements, which may have an adverse effect on financial services issuers.
Commercial banks (including “money center” regional and community banks), savings and loan associations and holding companies of the foregoing are especially subject to adverse effects of volatile interest rates, concentrations of loans in particular industries or classifications (such as real estate, energy, or sub-prime mortgages), and significant competition. The profitability of these businesses is to a significant degree dependent on the availability and cost of capital funds. Economic conditions in the real estate market may have a particularly strong effect on certain banks and savings associations. Commercial banks and savings associations are subject to extensive federal and, in many instances, state regulation. Neither such extensive regulation nor the federal insurance of deposits ensures the solvency or profitability of companies in this industry, and there is no assurance against losses in securities issued by such companies.
Insurance companies are particularly subject to government regulation and rate setting, potential antitrust and tax law changes, and industry-wide pricing and competition cycles. Property and casualty insurance companies also may be affected by weather, terrorism, long-term climate changes, and other catastrophes. Life and health insurance companies may be affected by mortality and morbidity rates, including the effects of epidemics. Individual insurance companies may be exposed to reserve inadequacies, problems in investment portfolios (for example, real estate or “junk” bond holdings) and failures of reinsurance carriers.
Many of the investment considerations discussed in connection with banks and insurance companies also apply to other financial services companies. These companies are subject to extensive regulation, rapid business changes, and volatile performance dependent on the availability and cost of capital and prevailing interest rates and significant competition. General economic conditions significantly affect these companies. Credit and other losses resulting from the financial difficulty of borrowers or other third parties have a potentially adverse effect on companies in this industry. Investment banking, securities brokerage and investment advisory companies are particularly subject to government regulation and the risks inherent in securities trading and underwriting activities.
The financial condition of customers, clients and counterparties, including other financial institutions,
A-14
could adversely affect financial services issuers. Financial services issuers are interrelated as a result of market making, trading, clearing or other counterparty relationships. Many of these transactions expose financial services issuers to credit risk as a result of the actions of, or deterioration in, the commercial soundness of other counterparty financial institutions. Economic and market conditions may increase credit exposures due to the increased risk of customer, client or counterparty default. Downgrades to the credit ratings of financial services issuers could have a negative effect on liquidity, cash flows, competitive position, financial condition and results of operations by significantly limiting access to funding or capital markets, increasing borrowing costs or triggering increased collateral requirements. Financial services issuers face significant legal risk, both from regulatory investigations and proceedings, as well as private actions. Profit margins of these companies continue to shrink due to the commoditization of traditional businesses, new competitors, capital expenditures on new technology and the pressure to compete globally.
Convertible Securities Risk. Certain funds held by the ETF Diversified Income Portfolio may invest in convertible securities. Convertible securities generally offer lower interest or dividend yields than non-convertible fixed-income securities of similar credit quality because of the potential for capital appreciation. The market values of convertible securities tend to decline as interest rates increase and, conversely, to increase as interest rates decline. However, a convertible security’s market value also tends to reflect the market price of the common stock of the issuing company, particularly when the stock price is greater than the convertible security’s conversion price. The conversion price is defined as the predetermined price or exchange ratio at which the convertible security can be converted or exchanged for the underlying common stock. As the market price of the underlying common stock declines below the conversion price, the price of the convertible security tends to be increasingly influenced more by the yield of the convertible security than by the market price of the underlying common stock. Thus, it may not decline in price to the same extent as the underlying common stock, and convertible securities generally have less potential for gain or loss than common stocks. However, mandatory convertible securities (as discussed below) generally do not limit the potential for loss to the same extent as securities convertible at the option of the holder. In the event of a liquidation of the issuing company, holders of convertible securities would be paid before that company’s common stockholders. Consequently, an issuer’s convertible securities generally entail less risk than its common stock. However, convertible securities fall below the debt obligations of the same issuer in order of preference or priority in the event of a liquidation and are typically unrated or rated lower than such debt obligations.
Mandatory convertible securities are distinguished as a subset of convertible securities because the conversion is not optional and the conversion price at maturity is based solely upon the market price of the underlying common stock, which may be significantly less than par or the price (above or below par) paid. For these reasons, the risks associated with investing in mandatory convertible securities most closely resemble the risks inherent in common stocks. Mandatory convertible securities customarily pay a higher coupon yield to compensate for the potential risk of additional price volatility and loss upon conversion. Because the market price of a mandatory convertible security increasingly corresponds to the market price of its underlying common stock as the convertible security approaches its conversion date, there can be no assurance that the higher coupon will compensate for the potential loss.
Value-Style Investment Risk. Certain of the securities held by certain funds in your Portfolio are issued by issuers which, based upon their relatively lower than average price/book ratios, may be undervalued or inexpensive relative to other issuers in the same industry or the economy as a whole. These securities are generally selected on the basis of factors such as an issuer’s business and economic fundamentals or the securities’ current and projected credit profiles, relative to current market price. Such securities are subject to the risk of inaccurately
A-15
estimating certain fundamental factors and will generally underperform during periods when value style investments are out of favor. In addition, securities believed to be undervalued are subject to the risks such as the issuer’s potential business prospects not being realized; their potential values not being recognized by the market; and the risk that they were appropriately priced (or overpriced) when acquired due to unanticipated or unforeseen problems associated with the issuer or industry.
Growth-Style Investment Risk. Certain of the securities held by certain funds in your Portfolio are issued by issuers that are considered to be “growth” companies which have relatively higher than average price/book ratios or are believed to have potential to experience greater earnings growth rates relative to other issuers in the same industry or the economy as a whole. Securities of growth companies may be more volatile than other securities. If the perception of an issuer's growth potential is not realized, the securities may not perform as expected, reducing your Portfolio's return. Because different types of securities tend to shift in and out of favor depending on market and economic conditions, growth securities may perform differently from the market as a whole and other types of securities. In addition, due to their relatively high valuations, growth-themed securities are often more volatile than value-themed securities. Also, because the value of growth issuers is generally a function of their expected earnings growth, there is a risk that such earnings growth may not occur or cannot be sustained.
Smaller Capitalization Companies. Certain of the securities held by certain funds in your Portfolio may be issued by small capitalization and mid capitalization (collectively “smaller cap”) companies. Investing in stocks of smaller cap companies may involve greater risk than investing in stocks of larger capitalization companies, since they can be subject to more abrupt or erratic price movements. Many smaller cap companies will have had their securities publicly traded, if at all, for only a short period of time and will not have had the opportunity to establish a reliable trading pattern through economic cycles. The price volatility of smaller cap companies is relatively higher than larger, older and more mature companies. This greater price volatility of smaller cap companies may result from the fact that there may be less market liquidity, less information publicly available or fewer investors who monitor the activities of these companies. In addition, the market prices of these securities may exhibit more sensitivity to changes in industry or general economic conditions. Some smaller cap companies will not have been in existence long enough to experience economic cycles or to demonstrate whether they are sufficiently well managed to survive downturns or inflationary periods. Further, a variety of factors may affect the success of a company's business beyond the ability of its management to prepare or compensate for them, including domestic and international political developments, government trade and fiscal policies, patterns of trade and war or other military conflict which may affect industries or markets or the economy generally.
Regulated Investment Company Risk of the Underlying ETFs. The Portfolios intend on investing in ETFs that are classified as regulated investment companies (“RICs”) under Subchapter M of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”). To qualify for the favorable U.S. federal income tax treatment generally accorded to a RIC, an underlying ETF must, among other requirements, derive in each taxable year at least 90% of its gross income from certain prescribed sources and satisfy a diversification test on a quarterly basis. If an ETF fails to satisfy the qualifying income or diversification requirements to be treated as a RIC in any taxable year, the ETF may be eligible for relief provisions. If relief provisions were not available to an ETF and such ETF were to fail to qualify for treatment as a RIC for a taxable year, all of its taxable income (including its net capital gain) would be subject to tax at the 21% regular corporate rate without any deduction for distributions to shareholders. Furthermore, such distributions (including capital gains distributions and distributions derived from interest on municipal securities) would be taxable as ordinary dividends to the extent of the ETF’s current and accumulated earnings and profits, which would
A-16
effectively reduce (and could eliminate) the ETF’s returns. In addition, each ETF must timely distribute annually at least 90% of its net investment income (which includes dividends, taxable interest, and the excess of net short-term capital gains over net long-term capital losses, less operating expenses) and at least 90% of its net tax-exempt interest income, if any, for each tax year. Retained net capital gain or investment company taxable income by an ETF will generally be subject to tax at the regular corporate rate on the amount retained.
Liquidity Risk. Liquidity risk is the risk that the value of a security will fall if trading in the security is limited or absent. The market for certain investments may become less liquid or illiquid due to adverse changes in the conditions of a particular issuer or due to adverse market or economic conditions. In the absence of a liquid trading market for a particular security, the price at which such security may be sold to meet redemptions, as well as the value of the Units of your Portfolio, may be adversely affected. No one can guarantee that a liquid trading market will exist for any security.
Tax and Legislation Risk. Tax legislation proposed by the President or Congress, tax regulations proposed by the U.S. Treasury or positions taken by the Internal Revenue Service could affect the value of your Portfolio by changing the taxation or tax characterizations of its portfolio securities, or dividends and other income paid by or related to such securities. Congress has considered such proposals in the past and may do so in the future. In December 2017, Congress passed, and the President signed, significant tax legislation much of which became effective in 2018. No one can predict whether any other legislation will be proposed, adopted or amended by Congress and no one can predict the impact that any other legislation might have on your Portfolio or its portfolio securities, or on the tax treatment of your Portfolio or of your investment in your Portfolio.
No FDIC Guarantee. An investment in your Portfolio is not a deposit of any bank and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government agency.
PUBLIC OFFERING
General. Units are offered at the Public Offering Price which consists of the net asset value per Unit plus organization costs plus the sales charge. The net asset value per Unit is the value of the securities, cash and other assets in your Portfolio reduced by the liabilities of the Portfolio divided by the total Units outstanding. The maximum sales charge equals 1.85% of the Public Offering Price per Unit (1.885% of the aggregate offering price of the Securities) at the time of purchase.
The initial sales charge is the difference between the total sales charge amount (maximum of 1.85% of the Public Offering Price per Unit) and the sum of the remaining fixed dollar deferred sales charge and the fixed dollar creation and development fee (initially $0.185 per Unit). Depending on the Public Offering Price per Unit, you pay the initial sales charge at the time you buy Units. The deferred sales charge is fixed at $0.135 per Unit. Your Portfolio pays the deferred sales charge in installments as described in the “Fee Table.” If any deferred sales charge payment date is not a business day, we will charge the payment on the next business day. If you purchase Units after the initial deferred sales charge payment, you will only pay that portion of the payments not yet collected. If you redeem or sell your Units prior to collection of the total deferred sales charge, you will pay any remaining deferred sales charge upon redemption or sale of your Units. The initial and deferred sales charges are referred to as the “transactional sales charge.” The transactional sales charge does not include the creation and development fee which compensates the Sponsor for creating and developing your Portfolio and is described under “Expenses.” The creation and development fee is fixed at $0.05 per Unit. Your Portfolio pays the creation and development fee as of the close of the initial offering period as described in the “Fee Table.” If you redeem or sell your Units prior to collection of the creation and development fee, you will not pay the creation and development fee upon redemption or sale of your Units. After the initial offering period the maximum sales charge will be reduced by 0.50%, reflecting the previous collection of the creation and development fee. Because the deferred sales
A-17
charge and creation and development fee are fixed dollar amounts per Unit, the actual charges will exceed the percentages shown in the “Fee Table” if the Public Offering Price per Unit falls below $10 and will be less than the percentages shown in the “Fee Table” if the Public Offering Price per Unit exceeds $10. In no event will the maximum total sales charge exceed 1.85% of the Public Offering Price per Unit.
The “Fee Table” shows the sales charge calculation at a $10 Public Offering Price per Unit. At a $10 Public Offering Price, there is no initial sales charge during the initial offering period. If the Public Offering Price exceeds $10 per Unit, you will pay an initial sales charge equal to the difference between the total sales charge and the sum of the remaining deferred sales charge and the creation and development fee. For example, if the Public Offering Price per Unit rose to $14, the maximum sales charge would be $0.259 (1.85% of the Public Offering Price per Unit), consisting of an initial sales charge of $0.074, a deferred sales charge of $0.135 and the creation and development fee of $0.050. Since the deferred sales charge and creation and development fee are fixed dollar amounts per Unit, your Portfolio must charge these amounts per Unit regardless of any decrease in net asset value. However, if the Public Offering Price per Unit falls to the extent that the maximum sales charge percentage results in a dollar amount that is less than the combined fixed dollar amounts of the deferred sales charge and creation and development fee, your initial sales charge will be a credit equal to the amount by which these fixed dollar charges exceed your sales charge at the time you buy Units. In such a situation, the value of securities per Unit would exceed the Public Offering Price per Unit by the amount of the initial sales charge credit and the value of those securities will fluctuate, which could result in a benefit or detriment to Unitholders that purchase Units at that price. The initial sales charge credit is paid by the Sponsor and is not paid by your Portfolio. If the Public Offering Price per Unit fell to $6, the maximum sales charge would be $0.111 (1.85% of the Public Offering Price per Unit), which consists of an initial sales charge (credit) of -$0.074, a deferred sales charge of $0.135 and a creation and development fee of $0.050.
The actual sales charge that may be paid by an investor may differ slightly from the sales charges shown herein due to rounding that occurs in the calculation of the Public Offering Price and in the number of Units purchased.
The minimum purchase is 100 Units (25 Units for retirement accounts) but may vary by selling firm. Certain broker-dealers or selling firms may charge an order handling fee for processing Unit purchases.
Reducing Your Sales Charge. The Sponsor offers ways for you to reduce the sales charge that you pay. It is your financial professional’s responsibility to alert the Sponsor of any discount when you purchase Units. Before you purchase Units you must also inform your financial professional of your qualification for any discount to be eligible for a reduced sales charge. Since the deferred sales charge and creation and development fee are fixed dollar amounts per Unit, your Portfolio must charge these amounts per Unit regardless of any discounts. However, if you are eligible to receive a discount such that your total sales charge is less than the fixed dollar amounts of the deferred sales charges and creation and development fee, you will receive a credit equal to the difference between your total sales charge and these fixed dollar charges at the time you buy Units.
Fee Accounts. Investors may purchase Units through registered investment advisers, certified financial planners and registered broker-dealers who in each case either charge periodic fees for brokerage services, financial planning, investment advisory or asset management services, or provide such services in connection with the establishment of an investment account for which a comprehensive “fee based” charge (“Fee Based”) is imposed (“Fee Accounts”). If Units of a Portfolio are purchased for a Fee Account and the Portfolio is subject to a Fee Based charge (i.e., the Portfolio is “Fee Based Eligible”), then the purchase will not be subject to the transactional sales charge but will be subject to the creation and development fee of $0.05 per Unit that is retained by the Sponsor. Please refer to the section called “Fee Accounts” for additional information on these purchases. The Sponsor reserves the right to limit or deny purchases of Units described in
A-18
this paragraph by investors or selling firms whose frequent trading activity is determined to be detrimental to a Portfolio. Fee Based Eligible Units are not eligible for any sales charge discounts in addition to that which is described in this paragraph and under the “Fee Accounts” section found below.
Employees. Employees, officers and directors (including their spouses (or the equivalent if recognized under local law) and children or step-children under 21 living in the same household, parents or step-parents and trustees, custodians or fiduciaries for the benefit of such persons) of Invesco Capital Markets, Inc. and its affiliates, and dealers and their affiliates may purchase Units at the Public Offering Price less the applicable dealer concession. All employee discounts are subject to the policies of the related selling firm. Only employees, officers and directors of companies that allow their employees to participate in this employee discount program are eligible for the discounts.
Distribution Reinvestments. We do not charge any sales charge when you reinvest distributions from your Portfolio into additional Units of your Portfolio. Since the deferred sales charge and creation and development fee are fixed dollar amounts per unit, your Portfolio must charge these amounts per unit regardless of this discount. If you elect to reinvest distributions, the Sponsor will credit you with additional Units with a dollar value sufficient to cover the amount of any remaining deferred sales charge and creation and development fee that will be collected on such Units at the time of reinvestment. The dollar value of these Units will fluctuate over time.
Unit Price. The Public Offering Price of Units will vary from the amounts stated under “Essential Information” in accordance with fluctuations in the prices of the underlying Securities in your Portfolio. The initial price of the Securities upon deposit by the Sponsor was determined by the Trustee. The Trustee will generally determine the value of the Securities as of the Evaluation Time on each business day and will adjust the Public Offering Price of Units accordingly. The Evaluation Time is the close of the New York Stock Exchange on each business day. The term “business day”, as used herein and under “Rights of Unitholders--Redemption of Units”, means any day on which the New York Stock Exchange is open for regular trading. The Public Offering Price per Unit will be effective for all orders received prior to the Evaluation Time on each business day. Orders received by the Sponsor prior to the Evaluation Time and orders received by authorized financial professionals prior to the Evaluation Time that are properly transmitted to the Sponsor by the time designated by the Sponsor, are priced based on the date of receipt. Orders received by the Sponsor after the Evaluation Time, and orders received by authorized financial professionals after the Evaluation Time or orders received by such persons that are not transmitted to the Sponsor until after the time designated by the Sponsor, are priced based on the date of the next determined Public Offering Price per Unit provided they are received timely by the Sponsor on such date. It is the responsibility of authorized financial professionals to transmit orders received by them to the Sponsor so they will be received in a timely manner.
The value of portfolio securities is based on the securities’ market price when available. When a market price is not readily available, including circumstances under which the Trustee determines that a security’s market price is not accurate, a portfolio security is valued at its fair value, as determined under procedures established by the Trustee or an independent pricing service used by the Trustee. In these cases, your Portfolio’s net asset value will reflect certain portfolio securities’ fair value rather than their market price. With respect to securities that are primarily listed on foreign exchanges, the value of the portfolio securities may change on days when you will not be able to purchase or sell Units. The value of any foreign securities is based on the applicable currency exchange rate as of the Evaluation Time. The Sponsor will provide price dissemination and oversight services to your Portfolio.
During the initial offering period, part of the Public Offering Price represents an amount that will pay the costs incurred in establishing your Portfolio. These costs include the costs of preparing documents relating to your Portfolio (such as the registration statement, prospectus, trust agreement and legal documents), federal and state registration fees, the initial fees and expenses of the Trustee and the initial audit. Your
A-19
Portfolio will sell securities to reimburse us for these costs at the end of the initial offering period or after six months, if earlier. The value of your Units will decline when your Portfolio pays these costs.
Unit Distribution. Units will be distributed to the public by the Sponsor, broker-dealers and others at the Public Offering Price. Units repurchased in the secondary market, if any, may be offered by this prospectus at the secondary market Public Offering Price in the manner described above.
Unit Sales Concessions. Brokers, dealers and others will be allowed a regular concession or agency commission in connection with the distribution of Units during the initial offering period of 1.25% of the Public Offering Price per Unit.
Volume Concession Based Upon Annual Sales. As described below, broker-dealers and other selling agents may in certain cases be eligible for an additional concession based upon their annual eligible sales of all Invesco fixed income and equity unit investment trusts. Eligible sales include all units of any Invesco unit investment trust underwritten or purchased directly from Invesco during a trust’s initial offering period. For purposes of this concession, trusts designated as either “Invesco Unit Trusts, Taxable Income Series” or “Invesco Unit Trusts, Municipal Series” are fixed income trusts, and trusts designated as “Invesco Unit Trusts Series” are equity trusts. In addition to the regular concessions or agency commissions described above in “Unit Sales Concessions” all broker-dealers and other selling firms will be eligible to receive additional compensation based on total initial offering period sales of all eligible Invesco unit investment trusts during the previous consecutive 12-month period through the end of the most recent month. The Volume Concession, as applicable to equity and fixed income trust units, is set forth in the following table:
| Volume Concession |
Total Sales | Equity Trust | Fixed Income |
(in millions) | Units | Trust Units |
$25 but less than $100 | 0.035% | 0.100% |
$100 but less than $150 | 0.050 | 0.100 |
$150 but less than $250 | 0.075 | 0.100 |
$250 but less than $1,000 | 0.100 | 0.100 |
$1,000 but less than $5,000 | 0.125 | 0.100 |
$5,000 but less than $7,500 | 0.150 | 0.100 |
$7,500 or more | 0.175 | 0.100 |
Broker-dealers and other selling firms will not receive the Volume Concession on the sale of units purchased in Fee Accounts, however, such sales will be included in determining whether a firm has met the sales level breakpoints set forth in the Volume Concession table above. Secondary market sales of all unit investment trusts are excluded for purposes of the Volume Concession. Eligible dealer firms and other selling agents include clearing firms that place orders with Invesco and provide Invesco with information with respect to the representatives who initiated such transactions. Eligible dealer firms and other selling agents will not include firms that solely provide clearing services to other broker-dealer firms or firms who place orders through clearing firms that are eligible dealers. We reserve the right to change the amount of the concessions or agency commissions from time to time. For a trust to be eligible for this additional compensation, the trust’s prospectus must include disclosure related to this additional compensation.
Additional Information. Except as provided in this section, any sales charge discount provided to investors will be borne by the selling broker-dealer or agent. For all secondary market transactions the total concession or agency commission will amount to 80% of the applicable sales charge. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary herein, in no case shall the total of any concessions, agency commissions and any additional compensation allowed or paid to any broker, dealer or other distributor of Units with respect to any individual transaction exceed the total sales charge applicable to such transaction. The Sponsor reserves the right to reject, in whole or in part, any order for the purchase of Units and to change the amount of the concession or agency commission to dealers and others from time to time.
A-20
We may provide, at our own expense and out of our own profits, additional compensation and benefits to broker-dealers who sell Units of a Portfolio and our other products. This compensation is intended to result in additional sales of our products and/or compensate broker-dealers and financial advisors for past sales. We may make these payments for marketing, promotional or related expenses, including, but not limited to, expenses of entertaining retail customers and financial advisors, advertising, sponsorship of events or seminars, obtaining shelf space in broker-dealer firms and similar activities designed to promote the sale of a Portfolio and our other products. Fees may include payment for travel expenses, including lodging, incurred in connection with trips taken by invited registered representatives for meetings or seminars of a business nature. These arrangements will not change the price you pay for your Units.
Sponsor Compensation. The Sponsor will receive the total sales charge applicable to each transaction. Except as provided under “Unit Distribution” above, any sales charge discount provided to investors will be borne by the selling dealer or agent. In addition, the Sponsor will realize a profit or loss as a result of the difference between the price paid for the Securities by the Sponsor and the cost of the Securities to a Portfolio on the Initial Date of Deposit as well as on subsequent deposits. See “Notes to Portfolios”. Invesco Capital Management LLC, an affiliate of the Sponsor, acts as investment advisor to certain of the underlying funds in your Portfolio, and will receive compensation in this capacity. The Sponsor has not participated as sole underwriter or as manager or as a member of the underwriting syndicates or as an agent in a private placement for any of the Securities. The Sponsor may realize profit or loss as a result of possible fluctuations in the market value of Units held by the Sponsor for sale to the public. In maintaining a secondary market, the Sponsor will realize profits or losses in the amount of any difference between the price at which Units are purchased and the price at which Units are resold (which price includes the applicable sales charge) or from a redemption of repurchased Units at a price above or below the purchase price. Cash, if any, made available to the Sponsor prior to the date of settlement for the purchase of Units may be used in the Sponsor’s business and may be deemed to be a benefit to the Sponsor, subject to the limitations of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (“1934 Act”).
Affiliated companies of the Sponsor may receive license fees from certain ETFs in your Portfolio for use of certain trademarks, service marks or other property related to indices maintained by these companies. The ETFs are not sponsored, endorsed, sold or promoted by these affiliates. These affiliates make no representation or warranty, express or implied, to the owners of these funds or any member of the public regarding the advisability of investing in funds or in these funds particularly or the ability of the indices to track general stock market performance. The indices are determined, composed and calculated without regard to the issuer of these funds or their owners, including your Portfolio.
The Sponsor or an affiliate may have participated in a public offering of one or more of the Securities. The Sponsor, an affiliate or their employees may have a long or short position in these Securities or related securities. An affiliate may act as a specialist or market maker for these Securities. An officer, director or employee of the Sponsor or an affiliate may be an officer or director for issuers of the Securities.
Market for Units. Although it is not obligated to do so, the Sponsor may maintain a market for Units and to purchase Units at the secondary market repurchase price (which is described under “Right of Unitholders--Redemption of Units”). The Sponsor may discontinue purchases of Units or discontinue purchases at this price at any time. In the event that a secondary market is not maintained, a Unitholder will be able to dispose of Units by tendering them to the Trustee for redemption at the Redemption Price. See “Rights of Unitholders--Redemption of Units”. Unitholders should contact their broker to determine the best price for Units in the secondary market. Units sold prior to the time the entire deferred sales charge has been collected will be assessed the amount of any remaining deferred sales charge at the time of sale. The Trustee will notify the Sponsor of any Units tendered for redemption. If the Sponsor’s bid in the secondary market equals or exceeds the Redemption Price per Unit, it may purchase the Units not later than the day on which Units would have been redeemed by the
A-21
Trustee. The Sponsor may sell repurchased Units at the secondary market Public Offering Price per Unit.
RETIREMENT ACCOUNTS
Units are available for purchase in connection with certain types of tax-sheltered retirement plans, including Individual Retirement Accounts for individuals, Simplified Employee Pension Plans for employees, qualified plans for self-employed individuals, and qualified corporate pension and profit sharing plans for employees. The minimum purchase for these accounts is reduced to 25 Units but may vary by selling firm. The purchase of Units may be limited by the plans’ provisions and does not itself establish such plans.
FEE ACCOUNTS
As described above, Units may be available for purchase by investors in Fee Accounts where your Portfolio is Fee Based Eligible. You should consult your financial professional to determine whether you can benefit from these accounts. This table illustrates the sales charge you will pay if your Portfolio is Fee Based Eligible as a percentage of the initial Public Offering Price per Unit on the Initial Date of Deposit (the percentage will vary thereafter).
Initial sales charge | 0.00% |
Deferred sales charge | 0.00 |
Transactional sales charge | 0.00% |
Creation and development fee | 0.50% |
Total sales charge | 0.50% |
You should consult the “Public Offering--Reducing Your Sales Charge” section for specific information on this and other sales charge discounts. That section governs the calculation of all sales charge discounts. The Sponsor reserves the right to limit or deny purchases of Units in Fee Accounts by investors or selling firms whose frequent trading activity is determined to be detrimental to your Portfolio. To purchase Units in these Fee Accounts, your financial professional must purchase Units designated with one of the Fee Based CUSIP numbers set forth under “Essential Information,” either Fee Based Cash for cash distributions or Fee Based Reinvest for the reinvestment of distributions in additional Units, if available. See “Rights of Unitholders--Reinvestment Option.”
RIGHTS OF UNITHOLDERS
Distributions. Dividends and interest (pro rated on an annual basis), net of expenses, and any net proceeds from the sale of Securities received by your Portfolio will generally be distributed to Unitholders on each Distribution Date to Unitholders of record on the preceding Record Date. These dates appear under “Essential Information”. Distributions made by the ETFs in your Portfolio include ordinary income, but may also include sources other than ordinary income such as returns of capital, loan proceeds, short-term capital gains and long-term capital gains (see “Taxation--Distributions”). In addition, your Portfolio will generally make required distributions at the end of each year because it is structured as a “regulated investment company” for federal tax purposes. Unitholders will also receive a final distribution of income when their Portfolio terminates. A person becomes a Unitholder of record on the date of settlement (generally two business days after Units are ordered, or any shorter period as may be required by the applicable rules under the 1934 Act). Unitholders may elect to receive distributions in cash or to have distributions reinvested into additional Units. See “Rights of Unitholders--Reinvestment Option”.
Dividends and interest received by your Portfolio are credited to the Income Account of the Portfolio. Other receipts (e.g., capital gains, proceeds from the sale of Securities, etc.) are credited to the Capital Account. Proceeds received on the sale of any Securities, to the extent not used to meet redemptions of Units or pay deferred sales charges, fees or expenses, will be distributed to Unitholders. Proceeds received from the disposition of any Securities after a Record Date and prior to the following Distribution Date will be held in the Capital Account and not distributed until the next Distribution Date. Any distribution to Unitholders consists of each Unitholder’s pro rata share of the available cash in the Income and Capital Accounts as of the related Record Date.
The income distribution to the Unitholders of your Portfolio as of each Record Date will be made on the
A-22
following Distribution Date or shortly thereafter and shall consist of an amount substantially equal to such portion of each Unitholder’s pro rata share of the estimated net annual income distributions in the Income Account. Because income payments are not received by your Portfolio at a constant rate throughout the year, such distributions to Unitholders may be more or less than the amount credited to the Income Account as of the Record Date. For the purpose of minimizing fluctuation in the distributions from the Income Account, the Trustee is authorized to advance such amounts as may be necessary to provide income distributions of approximately equal amounts. The Trustee shall be reimbursed, without interest, for any such advances from funds in the Income Account on the ensuing Record Date.
Reinvestment Option. Unitholders may have distributions automatically reinvested in additional Units without a sales charge (to the extent Units may be lawfully offered for sale in the state in which the Unitholder resides). The CUSIP numbers for either “Cash” distributions or “Reinvest” for the reinvestment of distributions are set forth under “Essential Information”. Brokers and dealers can use the Dividend Reinvestment Service through Depository Trust Company (“DTC”) or purchase a Reinvest (or Fee Based Reinvest in the case of Fee Based Eligible Units held in Fee Accounts) CUSIP, if available. To participate in this reinvestment option, a Unitholder must file with the Trustee a written notice of election, together with any other documentation that the Trustee may then require, at least five days prior to the related Record Date. A Unitholder’s election will apply to all Units owned by the Unitholder and will remain in effect until changed by the Unitholder. The reinvestment option is not offered during the 30 calendar days prior to termination. If Units are unavailable for reinvestment or this reinvestment option is no longer available, distributions will be paid in cash. Distributions will be taxable to Unitholders if paid in cash or automatically reinvested in additional Units. See “Taxation.” A participant may elect to terminate his or her reinvestment plan and receive future distributions in cash by notifying the Trustee in writing no later than five days before a Distribution Date. The Sponsor shall have the right to suspend or terminate the reinvestment plan at any time. The reinvestment plan is subject to availability or limitation by each broker-dealer or selling firm. Broker-dealers may suspend or terminate the offering of a reinvestment plan at any time. Please contact your financial professional for additional information.
Redemption of Units. All or a portion of your Units may be tendered to The Bank of New York Mellon, the Trustee, for redemption at Unit Investment Trust Division, 111 Sanders Creek Parkway, East Syracuse, New York 13057, on any day the New York Stock Exchange is open. No redemption fee will be charged by the Sponsor or the Trustee, but you are responsible for applicable governmental charges, if any. Units redeemed by the Trustee will be canceled. You may redeem all or a portion of your Units by sending a request for redemption to your bank or broker-dealer through which you hold your Units. No later than two business days (or any shorter period as may be required by the applicable rules under the 1934 Act) following satisfactory tender, the Unitholder will be entitled to receive in cash an amount for each Unit equal to the Redemption Price per Unit next computed on the date of tender. The “date of tender” is deemed to be the date on which Units are received by the Trustee, except that with respect to Units received by the Trustee after the Evaluation Time or on a day which is not a business day, the date of tender is deemed to be the next business day. Redemption requests received by the Trustee after the Evaluation Time, and redemption requests received by authorized financial professionals after the Evaluation Time or redemption requests received by such persons that are not transmitted to the Trustee until after the time designated by the Trustee, are priced based on the date of the next determined redemption price provided they are received timely by the Trustee on such date. It is the responsibility of authorized financial professionals to transmit redemption requests received by them to the Trustee so they will be received in a timely manner. Certain broker-dealers or selling firms may charge an order handling fee for processing redemption requests. Units redeemed directly through the Trustee are not subject to such fees.
A-23
Unitholders tendering 1,000 or more Units (or such higher amount as may be required by your broker-dealer or selling agent) for redemption may request an in kind distribution of Securities equal to the Redemption Price per Unit on the date of tender. Unitholders may not request an in kind distribution during the initial offering period or within 30 calendar days of a Portfolio’s termination. The Portfolios generally will not offer in kind distributions of portfolio securities that are held in foreign markets. An in kind distribution will be made by the Trustee through the distribution of each of the Securities in book-entry form to the account of the Unitholder’s broker-dealer at DTC. Amounts representing fractional shares will be distributed in cash. The Trustee may adjust the number of shares of any Security included in a Unitholder’s in kind distribution to facilitate the distribution of whole shares. The in kind distribution option may be modified or discontinued at any time without notice. Notwithstanding the foregoing, if the Unitholder requesting an in kind distribution is the Sponsor or an affiliated person of a Portfolio, the Trustee may make an in kind distribution to such Unitholder provided that no one with a pecuniary incentive to influence the in kind distribution may influence selection of the distributed securities, the distribution must consist of a pro rata distribution of all portfolio securities (with limited exceptions) and the in kind distribution may not favor such affiliated person to the detriment of any other Unitholder. Unitholders will incur transaction costs in liquidating securities received in an in-kind distribution, and any such securities received will be subject to market risk until sold. In the event that any securities received in-kind are illiquid, Unitholders will bear the risk of not being able to sell such securities in the near term, or at all.
The Trustee may sell Securities to satisfy Unit redemptions. To the extent that Securities are redeemed in kind or sold, the size of a Portfolio will be, and the diversity of a Portfolio may be, reduced. Sales may be required at a time when Securities would not otherwise be sold and may result in lower prices than might otherwise be realized. The price received upon redemption may be more or less than the amount paid by the Unitholder depending on the value of the Securities at the time of redemption. Special federal income tax consequences will result if a Unitholder requests an in kind distribution. See “Taxation”.
The Redemption Price per Unit and the secondary market repurchase price per Unit are equal to the pro rata share of each Unit in your Portfolio determined on the basis of (i) the cash on hand in the Portfolio, (ii) the value of the Securities in the Portfolio and (iii) dividends or other income distributions receivable on the Securities in the Portfolio trading ex-dividend as of the date of computation, less (a) amounts representing taxes or other governmental charges payable out of the Portfolio, (b) the accrued expenses of the Portfolio (including costs associated with liquidating securities after the end of the initial offering period) and (c) any unpaid deferred sales charge payments. During the initial offering period, the redemption price and the secondary market repurchase price will not be reduced by estimated organization costs or the creation and development fee. For these purposes, the Trustee will determine the value of the Securities as described under “Public Offering--Unit Price.” The right of redemption may be suspended and payment postponed for any period during which the New York Stock Exchange is closed, other than for customary weekend and holiday closings, or any period during which the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) determines that trading on that Exchange is restricted or an emergency exists, as a result of which disposal or evaluation of the Securities is not reasonably practicable, or for other periods as the SEC may permit.
Rollover. We may offer a subsequent series of your Portfolio for a Rollover when your Portfolio terminates.
On the Mandatory Termination Date you will have the option to (1) participate in a Rollover and have your Units reinvested into a subsequent trust series or (2) receive a cash distribution.
If you elect to participate in a cash Rollover, your Units will be redeemed on the Mandatory Termination Date. As the redemption proceeds become available, the proceeds (including dividends) will be invested in a new trust series at the public offering price for the new trust. The Trustee will attempt to sell Securities to satisfy
A-24
the redemption as quickly as practicable on the Mandatory Termination Date. We do not anticipate that the sale period will be longer than one day, however, certain factors could affect the ability to sell the Securities and could impact the length of the sale period. The liquidity of any Security depends on the daily trading volume of the Security and the amount available for redemption and reinvestment on any day.
We may make subsequent trust series available for sale at various times during the year. Of course, we cannot guarantee that a subsequent trust or sufficient units will be available or that any subsequent trusts will offer the same investment strategies or objectives as the current Portfolios. We cannot guarantee that a Rollover will avoid any negative market price consequences resulting from trading large volumes of securities. Market price trends may make it advantageous to sell or buy securities more quickly or more slowly than permitted by Portfolio procedures. We may, in our sole discretion, modify a Rollover or stop creating units of a trust at any time regardless of whether all proceeds of Unitholders have been reinvested in a Rollover. If we decide not to offer a subsequent series, Unitholders will be notified prior to the Mandatory Termination Date. Cash which has not been reinvested in a Rollover will be distributed to Unitholders shortly after the Mandatory Termination Date. Rollover participants may receive taxable dividends or realize taxable capital gains which are reinvested in connection with a Rollover but may not be entitled to a deduction for capital losses due to the “wash sale” tax rules. Due to the reinvestment in a subsequent trust, no cash will be distributed to pay any taxes. See “Taxation”.
Exchange Option. When you redeem Units of your Portfolio or when your Portfolio terminates (see “Rollover” above), you may be able to exchange your Units for units of other Invesco unit trusts. You should contact your financial professional for more information about trusts currently available for exchanges. Before you exchange Units, you should read the prospectus of the new trust carefully and understand the risks and fees. You should then discuss this option with your financial professional to determine whether your investment goals have changed, whether current trusts suit you and to discuss tax consequences. A rollover or exchange is a taxable event to you. We may discontinue this option at any time.
Units. Ownership of Units is evidenced in book-entry form only and will not be evidenced by certificates. Units purchased or held through your bank or broker-dealer will be recorded in book-entry form and credited to the account of your bank or broker-dealer at DTC. Units are transferable by contacting your bank or broker-dealer through which you hold your Units. Transfer, and the requirements therefore, will be governed by the applicable procedures of DTC and your agreement with the DTC participant in whose name your Units are registered on the transfer records of DTC.
Reports Provided. Unitholders will receive a statement of dividends and other amounts received by a Portfolio for each distribution. Within a reasonable time after the end of each year, each person who was a Unitholder during that year will receive a statement describing dividends and capital received, actual Portfolio distributions, Portfolio expenses, a list of the Securities and other Portfolio information. Unitholders may obtain evaluations of the Securities upon request to the Trustee. If you have questions regarding your account or your Portfolio, please contact your financial advisor or the Trustee. The Sponsor does not have access to individual account information.
PORTFOLIO ADMINISTRATION
Portfolio Administration. Your Portfolio is not a managed fund and, except as provided in the Trust Agreement, Securities generally will not be sold or replaced. The Sponsor may, however, direct that Securities be sold in certain limited circumstances to protect your Portfolio based on advice from the Supervisor. These situations may include events such as the issuer having defaulted on payment of any of its outstanding obligations or the price of a Security has declined to such an extent or other credit factors exist so that in the opinion of the Supervisor retention of the Security would be detrimental to your Portfolio. If a public tender offer has been made for a Security or a
A-25
merger or acquisition has been announced affecting a Security, the Trustee may either sell the Security or accept an offer if the Supervisor determines that the sale or exchange is in the best interest of Unitholders. The Trustee will distribute any cash proceeds to Unitholders. In addition, the Trustee may sell Securities to redeem Units or pay Portfolio expenses or deferred sales charges. If securities or property are acquired by your Portfolio, the Sponsor may direct the Trustee to sell the securities or property and distribute the proceeds to Unitholders or to accept the securities or property for deposit in your Portfolio. Should any contract for the purchase of any of the Securities fail, the Sponsor will (unless substantially all of the moneys held in your Portfolio to cover the purchase are reinvested in substitute Securities in accordance with the Trust Agreement) refund the cash and sales charge attributable to the failed contract to all Unitholders on or before the next Distribution Date.
The Sponsor may direct the reinvestment of proceeds of the sale of Securities if the sale is the direct result of serious adverse credit factors which, in the opinion of the Sponsor, would make retention of the Securities detrimental to your Portfolio. In such a case, the Sponsor may, but is not obligated to, direct the reinvestment of sale proceeds in any other securities that meet the criteria for inclusion in your Portfolio on the Initial Date of Deposit. The Sponsor may also instruct the Trustee to take action necessary to ensure that your Portfolio continues to satisfy the qualifications of a regulated investment company and to avoid imposition of tax on undistributed income of the Portfolio.
The Trust Agreement requires the Trustee to vote all shares of the funds held in your Portfolio in the same manner and ratio on all proposals as the owners of such shares not held by your Portfolio. The Sponsor will instruct the Trustee how to vote the securities held in your Portfolio, if any. The Trustee will vote the securities in the same general proportion as shares held by other shareholders if the Sponsor fails to provide instructions.
When your Portfolio sells Securities, the composition and diversity of the Securities in the Portfolio may be altered. However, if the Trustee sells fund shares to redeem Units or to pay Portfolio expenses or sales charges, the Trustee will do so, as nearly as practicable, on a pro rata basis. In order to obtain the best price for your Portfolio, it may be necessary for the Supervisor to specify minimum amounts in which blocks of Securities are to be sold. In effecting purchases and sales of portfolio securities, the Sponsor may direct that orders be placed with and brokerage commissions be paid to brokers, including brokers which may be affiliated with your Portfolio, the Sponsor or dealers participating in the offering of Units.
Pursuant to an exemptive order, your Portfolio may be permitted to sell Securities to a new trust when it terminates if those Securities are included in the new trust. The exemption may enable your Portfolio to eliminate commission costs on these transactions. The price for those securities will be the closing sale price on the sale date on the exchange where the Securities are principally traded, as certified by the Sponsor.
Amendment of the Trust Agreement. The Trustee and the Sponsor may amend the Trust Agreement without the consent of Unitholders to correct any provision which may be defective or to make other provisions that will not materially adversely affect Unitholders (as determined in good faith by the Sponsor and the Trustee). The Trust Agreement may not be amended to increase the number of Units or permit acquisition of securities in addition to or substitution for the Securities (except as provided in the Trust Agreement). The Trustee will notify Unitholders of any amendment.
Termination. Your Portfolio will terminate on the Mandatory Termination Date specified under “Essential Information” or upon the sale or other disposition of the last Security held in the Portfolio. Your Portfolio may be terminated at any time with consent of Unitholders representing two-thirds of the outstanding Units or by the Trustee when the value of the Portfolio is less than $500,000 ($3,000,000 if the value of the Portfolio has exceeded $15,000,000) (the “Minimum Termination Value”). Your Portfolio will be liquidated by the Trustee in the event that a sufficient number of Units of the Portfolio not yet sold are tendered for redemption by the Sponsor, so that the net worth of the Portfolio would be reduced to less than 40% of the value of the Securities at the time they were deposited in the
A-26
Portfolio. If your Portfolio is liquidated because of the redemption of unsold Units by the Sponsor, the Sponsor will refund to each purchaser of Units the entire sales charge paid by such purchaser. The Trustee may begin to sell Securities in connection with a Portfolio termination nine business days before, and no later than, the Mandatory Termination Date. Qualified Unitholders may elect an in kind distribution of Securities, provided that Unitholders may not request an in kind distribution of Securities within 30 calendar days of a Portfolio’s termination. Any in kind distribution of Securities will be made in the manner and subject to the restrictions described under “Rights of Unitholders--Redemption of Units”, provided that, in connection with an in kind distribution election more than 30 calendar days prior to termination, Unitholders tendering 1,000 or more Units of a Portfolio (or such higher amount as may be required by your broker-dealer or selling agent) may request an in kind distribution of Securities equal to the Redemption Price per Unit on the date of tender. Unitholders will receive a final cash distribution within a reasonable time after the Mandatory Termination Date. All distributions will be net of Portfolio expenses and costs. Unitholders will receive a final distribution statement following termination. The Information Supplement contains further information regarding termination of your Portfolio. See “Additional Information”.
Limitations on Liabilities. The Sponsor, Supervisor and Trustee are under no liability for taking any action or for refraining from taking any action in good faith pursuant to the Trust Agreement, or for errors in judgment, but shall be liable only for their own willful misfeasance, bad faith or gross negligence (negligence in the case of the Trustee) in the performance of their duties or by reason of their reckless disregard of their obligations and duties hereunder. The Trustee is not liable for depreciation or loss incurred by reason of the sale by the Trustee of any of the Securities. In the event of the failure of the Sponsor to act under the Trust Agreement, the Trustee may act thereunder and is not liable for any action taken by it in good faith under the Trust Agreement. The Trustee is not liable for any taxes or other governmental charges imposed on the Securities, on it as Trustee under the Trust Agreement or on your Portfolio which the Trustee may be required to pay under any present or future law of the United States of America or of any other taxing authority having jurisdiction. In addition, the Trust Agreement contains other customary provisions limiting the liability of the Trustee. The Sponsor and Supervisor may rely on any evaluation furnished by the Trustee and have no responsibility for the accuracy thereof. Determinations by the Trustee shall be made in good faith upon the basis of the best information available to it.
Sponsor. Invesco Capital Markets, Inc. is the Sponsor of your Portfolio. The Sponsor is a wholly owned subsidiary of Invesco Advisers, Inc. (“Invesco Advisers”). Invesco Advisers is an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of Invesco Ltd., a leading independent global investment manager that provides a wide range of investment strategies and vehicles to its retail, institutional and high net worth clients around the globe. The Sponsor’s principal office is located at 11 Greenway Plaza, Houston, Texas 77046-1173. As of September 30, 2020, the total stockholders’ equity of Invesco Capital Markets, Inc. was $88,599,212.22 (unaudited). The current assets under management and supervision by Invesco Ltd. and its affiliates were valued at approximately $1,218.2 billion as of September 30, 2020.
The Sponsor and your Portfolio have adopted a code of ethics requiring Invesco Ltd.’s employees who have access to information on Portfolio transactions to report personal securities transactions. The purpose of the code is to avoid potential conflicts of interest and to prevent fraud, deception or misconduct with respect to your Portfolio. The Information Supplement contains additional information about the Sponsor.
If the Sponsor shall fail to perform any of its duties under the Trust Agreement or become incapable of acting or shall become bankrupt or its affairs are taken over by public authorities, then the Trustee may (i) appoint a successor Sponsor at rates of compensation deemed by the Trustee to be reasonable and not exceeding amounts prescribed by the SEC, (ii) terminate the Trust Agreement and liquidate your Portfolio as provided therein or (iii) continue to act as Trustee without terminating the Trust Agreement.
A-27
Trustee. The Trustee is The Bank of New York Mellon, a trust company organized under the laws of New York. The Bank of New York Mellon has its principal unit investment trust division offices at 2 Hanson Place, 12th Floor, Brooklyn, New York 11217, (800) 856-8487. If you have questions regarding your account or your Portfolio, please contact the Trustee at its principal unit investment trust division offices or your financial adviser. The Sponsor does not have access to individual account information. The Bank of New York Mellon is subject to supervision and examination by the Superintendent of Banks of the State of New York and the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, and its deposits are insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation to the extent permitted by law. Additional information regarding the Trustee is set forth in the Information Supplement, including the Trustee’s qualifications and duties, its ability to resign, the effect of a merger involving the Trustee and the Sponsor’s ability to remove and replace the Trustee. See “Additional Information”.
TAXATION
This section summarizes some of the principal U.S. federal income tax consequences of owning Units of the Portfolios. Tax laws and interpretations are subject to change, possibly with retroactive effect, and this summary does not describe all of the tax consequences to all taxpayers. This summary generally does not describe your situation if you are a corporation, a non-U.S. person, a broker/dealer, a tax-exempt entity, financial institution, person who marks to market their Units or other investor with special circumstances. In addition, this section does not describe your alternative minimum, state, local or foreign tax consequences of an investment in a Portfolio.
This federal income tax summary is based in part on the advice of counsel to the Sponsor. The Internal Revenue Service could disagree with any conclusions set forth in this section. In addition, our counsel was not asked to review the federal income tax treatment of the assets to be deposited in your Portfolio.
Additional information related to taxes is contained in the Information Supplement. As with any investment, you should seek advice based on your individual circumstances from your own tax advisor.
Portfolio Status. Your Portfolio intends to elect and to qualify annually as a RIC under the federal tax laws. If your Portfolio qualifies under the tax law as a RIC and distributes its income in the manner and amounts required by the RIC tax requirements, the Portfolio generally will not pay federal income taxes. But there is no assurance that the distributions made by your Portfolio will eliminate all taxes for every year at the level of your Portfolio.
Distributions. Portfolio distributions are generally taxable to you. After the end of each year, you will receive a tax statement reporting your Portfolio’s distributions, including the amounts of ordinary income distributions and capital gains dividends. Your Portfolio may make taxable distributions to you even in periods during which the value of your Units has declined. Ordinary income distributions are generally taxed at your federal tax rate for ordinary income, however, as further discussed below, certain ordinary income distributions received from your Portfolio may be taxed, under current federal law, at capital gains tax rates. Certain ordinary income dividends on Units that are attributable to qualifying dividends received by your Portfolio from certain corporations may be reported by the Portfolio as being eligible for the dividends received deduction for corporate Unitholders provided certain holding period requirements are met. Income from the Portfolio and gains on the sale of your Units may also be subject to a 3.8% federal tax imposed on net investment income if your adjusted gross income exceeds certain threshold amounts, which currently are $250,000 in the case of married couples filing joint returns and $200,000 in the case of single individuals. In addition, your Portfolio may make distributions that represent a return of capital for tax purposes to the extent of the Unitholder’s basis in the Units, and any additional amounts in excess of basis would be taxed as a capital gain. Generally, you will treat all capital gains dividends as long-term capital gains regardless of how long you have owned your Units. The tax status of your distributions from your Portfolio is not affected by whether you reinvest your distributions in additional Units or receive them in cash.
A-28
The income from your Portfolio that you must take into account for federal income tax purposes is not reduced by amounts used to pay a deferred sales charge, if any. The tax laws may require you to treat certain distributions made to you in January as if you had received them on December 31 of the previous year.
A distribution paid by your Portfolio reduces the Portfolio’s net asset value per Unit on the date paid by the amount of the distribution. Accordingly, a distribution paid shortly after a purchase of Units by a Unitholder would represent, in substance, a partial return of capital, however, it would be subject to income taxes. Non-corporate taxpayers are now generally eligible for a 20% deduction with respect to certain non-investment related income earned from a “qualified publicly traded partnership,” a term which often includes MLPs. A Portfolio taxed as a RIC, however, is currently not permitted to pass the special character of the qualified publicly traded partnership income through to its shareholders. Currently, non-corporate taxpayers that invest in entities, such as MLPs that often generate qualified publicly traded partnership income, may be entitled to this 20% deduction, but non-corporate taxpayers that invest in a RIC that invest in such entities will not.
Sale or Redemption of Units. If you sell or redeem your Units, you will generally recognize a taxable gain or loss. To determine the amount of this gain or loss, you must subtract your adjusted tax basis in your Units from the amount you receive for the sale of the Units. Your initial tax basis in your Units is generally equal to the cost of your Units, generally including sales charges. In some cases, however, you may have to adjust your tax basis after you purchase your Units.
Capital Gains and Losses and Certain Ordinary Income Dividends. Net capital gain equals net long-term capital gain minus net short-term capital loss for the taxable year. Capital gain or loss is long-term if the holding period for the asset is more than one year and is short-term if the holding period for the asset is one year or less. You must exclude the date you purchase your Units to determine your holding period. However, if you receive a capital gain dividend from your Portfolio and sell your Units at a loss after holding it for six months or less, the loss will be recharacterized as long-term capital loss to the extent of the capital gain dividend received. The tax rates for capital gains realized from assets held for one year or less are generally the same as for ordinary income.
In certain circumstances, ordinary income dividends received by an individual Unitholder from a RIC such as your Portfolio may be taxed at the same federal rates that apply to net capital gain (as discussed above), provided certain holding period requirements are satisfied and provided the dividends are attributable to qualified dividend income received by the Portfolio itself. Qualified dividend income means dividends paid to a Portfolio (a) by domestic corporations, (b) by foreign corporations that are either (i) incorporated in a possession of the United States or (ii) are eligible for benefits under certain income tax treaties with the United States that include an exchange of information program, or (c) with respect to stock of a foreign corporation that is readily tradeable on an established securities market in the United States. Both the Portfolio and the Unitholder must meet certain holding period requirements to qualify Portfolio dividends for this treatment. Income derived from investments in derivatives, fixed-income securities, U.S. real estate investment trusts, passive foreign investment companies, and income received “in lieu of” dividends in a securities lending transactions generally is not eligible for treatment as qualified dividend income. If the qualified dividend income received by a Portfolio is equal to 95% (or a greater percentage) of the Portfolio’s gross income (exclusive of net capital gain) in any taxable year, all of the ordinary income dividends paid by the Portfolio will be qualified dividend income. Your Portfolio will provide notice to its Unitholders of the amount of any distribution which may be taken into account as qualified dividend income which is eligible for capital gains tax rates. There is no requirement that tax consequences be taken into account in administering your Portfolio.
In Kind Distributions. Under certain circumstances, as described in this prospectus, you may receive an in kind distribution of Portfolio securities when you redeem your Units. In general, this distribution will be treated as a
A-29
sale for federal income tax purposes and you will recognize gain or loss, based on the value at that time of the securities and the amount of cash received, and subject to certain limitations on the deductibility of losses under the tax law.
Rollovers and Exchanges. If you elect to have your proceeds from your Portfolio rolled over into a future trust, it would generally be considered a sale for federal income tax purposes and any gain on the sale will be treated as a capital gain, and, in general, any loss will be treated as a capital loss. However, any loss realized on a sale or exchange will be disallowed to the extent that Units disposed of are replaced (including through reinvestment of dividends) within a period of 61 days beginning 30 days before and ending 30 days after disposition of Units or to the extent that the Unitholder, during such period, acquires or enters into an option or contract to acquire, substantially identical stock or securities. In such a case, the basis of the Units acquired will be adjusted to reflect the disallowed loss. The deductibility of capital losses is subject to other limitations in the tax law.
Deductibility of Portfolio Expenses. Expenses incurred and deducted by your Portfolio will generally not be treated as taxable income to you. In certain cases if your Portfolio is not considered “publicly offered” under the Code, each U.S. Unitholder that is either an individual, trust or estate will be treated as having received a taxable distribution from the Portfolio in the amount of that U.S. Unitholder’s allocable share of certain of the Portfolio's expenses for the calendar year, and these fees and expenses will be treated as miscellaneous itemized deductions of those U.S. Unitholders. The deductibility of expenses that are characterized as miscellaneous itemized deductions, which include investment expenses, is suspended for tax years beginning prior to January 1, 2026.
Foreign Investors. If you are a foreign investor (i.e., an investor other than a U.S. citizen or resident or a U.S. corporation, partnership, estate or trust), generally, subject to applicable tax treaties, distributions to you from your Portfolio will be characterized as dividends for federal income tax purposes (other than dividends that your Portfolio reports as capital gain dividends) and will be subject to U.S. income taxes, including withholding taxes, subject to certain exceptions described below. You may be eligible under certain income tax treaties for a reduction in withholding rates. However, distributions received by a foreign investor from your Portfolio that are properly reported by the trust as capital gain dividends, interest-related dividends paid by the Portfolio from its qualified net interest income from U.S. sources and short-term capital gain dividends, may not be subject to U.S. federal income taxes, including withholding taxes, provided that your Portfolio makes certain elections and certain other conditions are met.
The Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (“FATCA”). A 30% withholding tax on your Portfolio’s distributions generally applies if paid to a foreign entity unless: (i) if the foreign entity is a “foreign financial institution” as defined under FATCA, the foreign entity undertakes certain due diligence, reporting, withholding, and certification obligations, (ii) if the foreign entity is not a “foreign financial institution,” it identifies certain of its U.S. investors or (iii) the foreign entity is otherwise excepted under FATCA. If required under the rules above and subject to the applicability of any intergovernmental agreements between the United States and the relevant foreign country, withholding under FATCA may apply. Under existing regulations, FATCA withholding on gross proceeds from the sale of Units and capital gain distributions from your Portfolio took effect on January 1, 2019; however, recently proposed U.S. tax regulations would eliminate FATCA withholding on such types of payments. Taxpayers generally may rely on these proposed Treasury Regulations until final Treasury Regulations are issued. If withholding is required under FATCA on a payment related to your Units, investors that otherwise would not be subject to withholding (or that otherwise would be entitled to a reduced rate of withholding) on such payment generally will be required to seek a refund or credit from the IRS to obtain the benefit of such exemption or reduction. Your Portfolio will not pay any additional amounts in respect of amounts withheld under FATCA. You should consult your tax advisor regarding the effect of FATCA based on your individual circumstances.
A-30
Foreign Tax Credit. If your Portfolio invests in any foreign securities, the tax statement that you receive may include an item showing foreign taxes your Portfolio paid to other countries. In this case, dividends taxed to you will include your share of the taxes your Portfolio paid to other countries. If more than 50% of the value of the Portfolio's total assets at the end of a fiscal year is invested in foreign securities, the Portfolio may elect to “pass-through” to the Unitholders the amount of foreign income tax paid by the Portfolio in lieu of deducting such amount in determining its investment company taxable income. In such a case, Unitholders will be required (i) to include in gross income, even though not actually received, their respective pro rata shares of the foreign income tax paid by the Portfolio that are attributable to any distributions they receive; and (ii) either to deduct their pro rata share of foreign tax in computing their taxable income or to use it (subject to various limitations) as a foreign tax credit against federal income tax (but not both). No deduction for foreign tax may be claimed by a non-corporate Unitholder who does not itemize deductions or who is subject to the alternative minimum tax. Unitholders may be unable to claim a credit for the full amount of their proportionate shares of the foreign income tax paid by the Portfolio due to certain limitations that may apply. The Portfolio reserves the right not to pass-through to its Unitholders the amount of foreign income taxes paid by the Portfolio.
Backup Withholding. By law, your Portfolio must withhold as backup withholding a percentage (currently 24%) of your taxable distributions and redemption proceeds if you do not provide your correct social security or taxpayer identification number and certify that you are not subject to backup withholding, or if the IRS instructs your Portfolio to do so.
Investors should consult their advisors concerning the federal, state, local and foreign tax consequences of investing in a Portfolio.
PORTFOLIO OPERATING EXPENSES
General. The fees and expenses of your Portfolio will generally accrue on a daily basis. Portfolio operating fees and expenses are generally paid out of the Income Account to the extent funds are available, and then from the Capital Account. The deferred sales charge, creation and development fee and organization costs are generally paid out of the Capital Account of your Portfolio. It is expected that Securities will be sold to pay these amounts which will result in capital gains or losses to Unitholders. See “Taxation”. These sales will reduce future income distributions. The Sponsor’s, Supervisor’s and Trustee’s fees may be increased without approval of the Unitholders by amounts not exceeding proportionate increases under the category “Services Less Rent of Shelter” in the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers or, if this category is not published, in a comparable category.
Organization Costs. You and the other Unitholders will bear all or a portion of the organization costs and charges incurred in connection with the establishment of your Portfolio. These costs and charges will include the cost of the preparation, printing and execution of the trust agreement, registration statement and other documents relating to your Portfolio, federal and state registration fees and costs, the initial fees and expenses of the Trustee, and legal and auditing expenses. The Public Offering Price of Units includes the estimated amount of these costs. The Trustee will deduct these expenses from your Portfolio’s assets at the end of the initial offering period.
Creation and Development Fee. The Sponsor will receive a fee from your Portfolio for creating and developing the Portfolio, including determining the Portfolio’s objectives, policies, composition and size, selecting service providers and information services and for providing other similar administrative and ministerial functions. The creation and development fee is a charge of $0.05 per Unit. The Trustee will deduct this amount from your Portfolio’s assets as of the close of the initial offering period. No portion of this fee is applied to the payment of distribution expenses or as compensation for sales efforts. This fee will not be deducted from proceeds received upon a repurchase, redemption or exchange of Units before the close of the initial public offering period.
Trustee’s Fee. For its services the Trustee will receive the fee from your Portfolio set forth in the “Fee
A-31
Table” (which includes the estimated amount of miscellaneous Portfolio expenses). The Trustee benefits to the extent there are funds in the Capital and Income Accounts since these Accounts are non-interest bearing to Unitholders and the amounts earned by the Trustee are retained by the Trustee. Part of the Trustee’s compensation for its services to your Portfolio is expected to result from the use of these funds.
Compensation of Sponsor and Supervisor. The Sponsor and the Supervisor, which is an affiliate of the Sponsor, will receive the annual fee for providing bookkeeping and administrative services and portfolio supervisory services set forth in the “Fee Table”. These fees may exceed the actual costs of providing these services to your Portfolio but at no time will the total amount received for these services rendered to all Invesco unit investment trusts in any calendar year exceed the aggregate cost of providing these services in that year.
Miscellaneous Expenses. The following additional charges are or may be incurred by your Portfolio: (a) normal expenses (including the cost of mailing reports to Unitholders) incurred in connection with the operation of the Portfolio, (b) fees of the Trustee for extraordinary services, (c) expenses of the Trustee (including legal and auditing expenses) and of counsel designated by the Sponsor, (d) various governmental charges, (e) expenses and costs of any action taken by the Trustee to protect the Portfolio and the rights and interests of Unitholders, (f) indemnification of the Trustee for any loss, liability or expenses incurred in the administration of the Portfolio without negligence, bad faith or wilful misconduct on its part, (g) foreign custodial and transaction fees (which may include compensation paid to the Trustee or its subsidiaries or affiliates), (h) costs associated with liquidating the securities held in the Portfolio, (i) any offering costs incurred after the end of the initial offering period and (j) expenditures incurred in contacting Unitholders upon termination of the Portfolio. Your Portfolio may pay the expenses of updating its registration statement each year.
Fund and ETN Expenses. Each Portfolio will also bear the expenses of the underlying ETFs and ETNs, as applicable. While your Portfolio will not pay these expenses directly out of its assets, an estimate of these expenses is shown in your Portfolio’s “Estimated Annual Expenses” in the “Fee Table” to illustrate the impact of these expenses. This estimate is based upon each underlying ETF or ETN’s annual operating expenses for the most recent fiscal year. Each underlying ETF or ETN’s annual operating expense amount is subject to change in the future.
OTHER MATTERS
Legal Opinions. The legality of the Units offered hereby has been passed upon by Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP. Dorsey & Whitney LLP has acted as counsel to the Trustee.
Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm. The statements of condition and the related portfolios included in this prospectus have been audited by Grant Thornton LLP, independent registered public accounting firm, as set forth in their report in this prospectus, and are included herein in reliance upon the authority of said firm as experts in accounting and auditing.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
This prospectus does not contain all the information set forth in the registration statements filed by your Portfolio with the SEC under the Securities Act of 1933 and the Investment Company Act of 1940 (file no. 811-02754). The Information Supplement, which has been filed with the SEC and is incorporated herein by reference, includes more detailed information concerning the Securities, investment risks and general information about the Portfolios. Reports and other information about your Portfolio are available on the EDGAR Database on the SEC’s Internet site at http://www.sec.gov. Copies of this information may be obtained, after paying a duplication fee, by electronic request at the following e-mail address: publicinfo@sec.gov or by writing the SEC’s Public Reference Section, Washington, DC 20549-0102.
A-32
THIS PAGE INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK.
| |
TABLE OF CONTENTS | |
Title | Page |
ETF Allocation Portfolio | 2 |
ETF Diversified Income Portfolio | 7 |
Notes to Portfolios | 12 |
Report of Independent Registered | |
Public Accounting Firm | 13 |
Statements of Condition | 14 |
The Portfolios | A-1 |
Objectives and Securities Selection | A-2 |
ETFs | A-2 |
Risk Factors | A-2 |
Public Offering | A-17 |
Retirement Accounts | A-22 |
Fee Accounts | A-22 |
Rights of Unitholders | A-22 |
Portfolio Administration | A-25 |
Taxation | A-28 |
Portfolio Operating Expenses | A-31 |
Other Matters | A-32 |
Additional Information | A-32 |
_______________________
When Units of the Portfolios are no longer available this prospectus may be used as a preliminary prospectus for a future Portfolio. If this prospectus is used for future Portfolios you should note the following:
The information in this prospectus is not complete with respect to future Portfolio series and may be changed. No person may sell Units of future Portfolios until a registration statement is filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission and is effective. This prospectus is not an offer to sell Units and is not soliciting an offer to buy Units in any state where the offer or sale is not permitted.
U-EMSPRO2097
PROSPECTUS
_____________________
December 8, 2020
ETF Allocation Portfolio 2020-4
ETF Diversified Income
Portfolio 2020-4
Please retain this prospectus for future reference.

Information Supplement
ETF Allocation Portfolio 2020-4
ETF Diversified Income Portfolio 2020-4
This Information Supplement provides additional information concerning the risks and operations of the Portfolios which is not described in the prospectus. You should read this Information Supplement in conjunction with the prospectus. This Information Supplement is not a prospectus (but is incorporated into the prospectus by reference). It does not include all of the information that you should consider before investing in the Portfolios. This Information Supplement may not be used to offer or sell Units without the prospectus. You can obtain copies of the prospectus by contacting the Sponsor’s unit investment trust division at 3500 Lacey Road, Suite 700, Downers Grove, Illinois 60515-5456, or by contacting your broker. This Information Supplement is dated as of the date of the prospectus. All capitalized terms have been defined in the prospectus.
Table of Contents |
| | Page |
Risk Factors | | 2 |
Sponsor Information | | 9 |
Trustee Information | | 10 |
Taxation | | 10 |
Portfolio Termination | | 13 |

RISK FACTORS
The securities in your Portfolio represent shares of exchange-traded funds (“ETFs”). The ETF Allocation Portfolio may also invest in exchange-traded notes (“ETNs”). As such, an investment in Units of your Portfolio should be made with an understanding of the risks of investing in these types of securities.
Exchange-Traded Funds. Shares of ETFs may trade at a discount from their net asset value in the secondary market. This risk is separate and distinct from the risk that the net asset value of fund shares may decrease. The amount of such discount from net asset value is subject to change from time to time in response to various factors. ETFs are subject to various risks, including management’s ability to meet the fund’s investment objective, and to manage the fund portfolio when the underlying securities are redeemed or sold, during periods of market turmoil and as investors’ perceptions regarding funds or their underlying investments change. Your Portfolio and the underlying ETFs have operating expenses. You will bear not only your share of your Portfolio’s expenses, but also the expenses of the underlying funds. By investing in other funds, your Portfolio incurs greater expenses than you would incur if you invested directly in such funds.
Exchange-traded funds may use leveraging in their portfolios. Leveraging can be expected to cause increased price volatility for those fund’s shares, and as a result, increased volatility for the price of the Units of a Portfolio. There can be no assurance that a leveraging strategy will be successful during any period in which it is employed.
In limited cases certain ETFs may employ an investment strategy which includes investments in derivatives such as forward contracts, options, futures contracts, options on futures contracts and swap agreements or intricate derivative-like features, including reverse convertibles, steepener notes, reference point investments and knockout/knock-in features. These strategies may utilize multiple features that affect investment returns differently under various scenarios. Derivatives may be purchased on established exchanges or through privately negotiated transactions. Derivatives can be volatile and involve various types and degrees of risk, depending upon the characteristics of the particular derivative. Derivatives may entail investment exposures that are greater than their cost would suggest, meaning that a small investment in derivatives could have a large potential impact on performance. The market for many derivatives is, or suddenly can become, illiquid. Changes in liquidity may result in significant, rapid and unpredictable changes in the prices for derivatives. Structured notes and other related instruments carry risks similar to those of more traditional derivatives such as futures, forward and option contracts. Structured instruments may entail a greater degree of market risk and volatility than other types of debt obligations. There can be no assurance that a derivative based strategy will be successful during any period in which it is employed.
An exclusion has been claimed for each Portfolio from the definition of the term “commodity pool operator” under the Commodity Exchange Act (“CEA”) and, therefore, your Portfolio is not subject to registration as a commodity pool operator under the CEA.
Price Volatility. Because your Portfolio and the funds and notes, if any, in your Portfolio may directly or indirectly invest in stocks, you should understand the risks of investing in stocks before purchasing Units. These risks include the risk that the financial condition of the company or the general condition of the stock market may worsen and the value of the stocks (and therefore Units) will fall. Stocks are especially susceptible to general stock market movements. The value of stocks often rises or falls rapidly and unpredictably as market confidence and perceptions of companies change. These perceptions are based on factors including expectations regarding government economic policies, inflation, interest rates, economic expansion or contraction, political climates and economic or banking crises. The value of Units will fluctuate with the value of the securities in your Portfolio and the underlying stocks in the funds in the Portfolio and may be more or less than the price you originally paid for your Units. As with any investment, we cannot guarantee that the performance of your Portfolio will be positive over any period of time. Because your Portfolio is unmanaged, the Trustee will not sell securities in
2
response to market fluctuations as is common in managed investments.
Dividends. Stocks represent ownership interests in a company and are not obligations of the company. Common stockholders have a right to receive payments from the company that is subordinate to the rights of creditors, bondholders or preferred stockholders of the company. This means that common stockholders have a right to receive dividends only if a company’s board of directors declares a dividend and the company has provided for payment of all of its creditors, bondholders and preferred stockholders. If a company issues additional debt securities or preferred stock, the owners of these securities will have a claim against the company’s assets before common stockholders if the company declares bankruptcy or liquidates its assets even though the common stock was issued first. As a result, the company may be less willing or able to declare or pay dividends on its common stock.
Foreign Issuers. Since certain of the underlying securities held by certain of the ETFs in your Portfolio are issued by foreign issuers, an investment in your Portfolio involves certain investment risks that are different in some respects from an investment in a Portfolio which invests entirely in the securities of domestic issuers. These investment risks include future political or governmental restrictions which might adversely affect the payment or receipt of payment of dividends on the relevant securities, the possibility that the financial condition of the issuers of the securities may become impaired or that the general condition of the relevant stock market may worsen (both of which would contribute directly to a decrease in the value of the securities and thus in the value of the Units), the limited liquidity and relatively small market capitalization of the relevant securities market, expropriation or confiscatory taxation, economic uncertainties and foreign currency devaluations and fluctuations. In addition, for foreign issuers that are not subject to the reporting requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, there may be less publicly available information than is available from a domestic issuer. In addition, foreign issuers are not necessarily subject to uniform accounting, auditing and financial reporting standards, practices and requirements comparable to those applicable to domestic issuers. The securities of many foreign issuers are less liquid and their prices more volatile than securities of comparable domestic issuers. In addition, fixed brokerage commissions and other transaction costs in foreign securities markets are generally higher than in the United States and there is generally less government supervision and regulation of exchanges, brokers and issuers in foreign countries than there is in the United States.
Securities issued by non-U.S. issuers generally pay income in foreign currencies and principally trade in foreign currencies. Therefore, there is a risk that the U.S. dollar value of these securities will vary with fluctuations in the U.S. dollar foreign exchange rates for the various securities.
There can be no assurance that exchange control regulations might not be adopted in the future which might adversely affect payment to the ETFs or the Portfolios. The adoption of exchange control regulations and other legal restrictions could have an adverse impact on the marketability of international securities. In addition, restrictions on the settlement of transactions on either the purchase or sale side, or both, could cause delays or increase the costs associated with the purchase and sale of the foreign Securities and correspondingly could affect the price of the Units.
Investors should be aware that it may not be possible to buy all securities at the same time because of the unavailability of any security, and restrictions relating to the purchase of a security by reason of the federal securities laws or otherwise.
Foreign securities generally have not been registered under the Securities Act of 1933 and may not be exempt from the registration requirements of such Act. Sales of non-exempt securities by an ETF in the United States securities markets are subject to severe restrictions and may not be practicable. Accordingly, sales of these securities by an ETF will generally be effected only in foreign securities markets. Investors should realize that the securities in the ETFs might be traded in foreign countries where the securities markets are not as developed or efficient and may not be as
3
liquid as those in the United States. The value of the securities will be adversely affected if trading markets for the securities are limited or absent.
Foreign Currencies. Your Portfolio may also involve the risk that fluctuations in exchange rates between the U.S. dollar and foreign currencies may negatively affect the value of the stocks in certain funds in the Portfolio. For example, if a foreign stock rose 10% in price but the U.S. dollar gained 5% against the related foreign currency, a U.S. investor’s return would be reduced to about 5%. This is because the foreign currency would “buy” fewer dollars or, conversely, a dollar would buy more of the foreign currency. Many foreign currencies have fluctuated widely against the U.S. dollar for a variety of reasons such as supply and demand of the currency, investor perceptions of world or country economies, political instability, currency speculation by institutional investors, changes in government policies, buying and selling of currencies by central banks of countries, trade balances and changes in interest rates.
Preferred Stock Risks. Certain securities in the underlying funds of the ETF Diversified Income Portfolio may be preferred stocks, and an investment in units should be made with an understanding of the risks which an investment in preferred stocks entails, including the risk that the financial condition of the issuers of the securities or the general condition of the preferred stock market may worsen, and the value of the preferred stocks and therefore the value of the units may decline. Preferred stocks may be susceptible to general stock market movements and to volatile increases and decreases of value as market confidence in and perceptions of the issuers change. These perceptions are based on unpredictable factors, including expectations regarding government, economic, monetary and fiscal policies, inflation and interest rates, economic expansion or contraction, market liquidity, and global or regional political, economic or banking crises. Preferred stocks are also vulnerable to congressional reductions in the dividends-received deduction which would adversely affect the after-tax return to the investors who can take advantage of the deduction. Such a reduction might adversely affect the value of preferred stocks in general. Holders of preferred stocks, as owners of the entity, have rights to receive payments from the issuers of those preferred stocks that are generally subordinate to those of creditors of, or holders of debt obligations or, in some cases, other senior preferred stocks of, such issuers. Preferred stocks do not represent an obligation of the issuer and, therefore, do not offer any assurance of income or provide the same degree of protection of capital as do debt securities. The issuance of additional debt securities or senior preferred stocks will create prior claims for payment of principal and interest and senior dividends which could adversely affect the ability and inclination of the issuer to declare or pay dividends on its preferred stock or the rights of holders of preferred stock with respect to assets of the issuer upon liquidation or bankruptcy. The value of preferred stocks is subject to market fluctuations for as long as the preferred stocks remain outstanding, and thus the value of the securities may be expected to fluctuate over the life of your Portfolio to values higher or lower than those prevailing on the Initial Date of Deposit.
Trust Preferred Securities Risks. Certain funds held in the ETF Diversified Income Portfolio may invest in various preferred securities, including trust preferred securities. Holders of trust preferred securities incur risks in addition to or slightly different than the typical risks of holding preferred stocks. Trust preferred securities are securities that are typically issued by corporations, generally in the form of interest-bearing notes or preferred securities issued by corporations, or by an affiliated business trust of a corporation, generally in the form of beneficial interests in subordinated debentures issued by the corporation, or similarly structured securities. The maturity and coupon rate of the trust preferred securities are structured to match the maturity and coupon interest rate of the interest-bearing notes, preferred securities or subordinated debentures. Trust preferred securities usually mature on the stated maturity date of the interest-bearing notes, preferred securities or subordinated debentures and may be redeemed or liquidated prior to the stated maturity date of such instruments for any reason on or after their stated call date or upon the occurrence of certain circumstances at
4
any time. Trust preferred securities generally have a yield advantage over traditional preferred stocks, but unlike preferred stocks, distributions on the trust preferred securities are generally treated as interest rather than dividends for federal income tax purposes. Unlike most preferred stocks, distributions received from certain trust preferred securities may not be eligible for the dividends received deduction. Certain of the risks unique to trust preferred securities include: (i) distributions on trust preferred securities will be made only if distribution payments on the interest-bearing notes, preferred securities or subordinated debentures are made; (ii) a corporation issuing the interest-bearing notes, preferred securities or subordinated debentures may defer interest payments on these instruments for up to 20 consecutive quarters and if such election is made, distributions will not be made on the trust preferred securities during the deferral period; (iii) certain tax or regulatory events may trigger the redemption of the interest-bearing notes, preferred securities or subordinated debentures by the issuing corporation and result in prepayment of the trust preferred securities prior to their stated maturity date; (iv) future legislation may be proposed or enacted that may prohibit the corporation from deducting its interest payments on the interest-bearing notes, preferred securities or subordinated debentures for tax purposes, making redemption of these instruments likely; (v) a corporation may redeem the interest-bearing notes, preferred securities or subordinated debentures in whole at any time or in part from time to time on or after a stated call date; (vi) trust preferred securities holders have very limited voting rights; and (vii) payment of interest on the interest-bearing notes, preferred securities or subordinated debentures, and therefore distributions on the trust preferred securities, is dependent on the financial condition of the issuing corporation.
High-Yield Securities. An investment in Units of your Portfolio should be made with an understanding of the risks that an investment in “high-yield, high-risk” debt obligations or “junk” obligations may entail, including increased credit risks and the risk that the value of the Units will decline, and may decline precipitously, with increases in interest rates. In recent years there have been wide fluctuations in interest rates and thus in the value of debt obligations generally. Certain of the securities included in the funds in your Portfolio may be subject to greater market fluctuations and risk of loss of income and principal than are investments in lower-yielding, higher-rated securities, and their value may decline precipitously because of increases in interest rates, not only because the increases in rates generally decrease values, but also because increased rates may indicate a slowdown in the economy and a decrease in the value of assets generally that may adversely affect the credit of issuers of high-yield, high-risk securities resulting in a higher incidence of defaults among high-yield, high-risk securities. A slowdown in the economy, or a development adversely affecting an issuer’s creditworthiness, may result in the issuer being unable to maintain earnings or sell assets at the rate and at the prices, respectively, that are required to produce sufficient cash flow to meet its interest and principal requirements. For an issuer that has outstanding both senior commercial bank debt and subordinated high-yield, high-risk securities, an increase in interest rates will increase that issuer’s interest expense insofar as the interest rate on the bank debt is fluctuating. However, many leveraged issuers enter into interest rate protection agreements to fix or cap the interest rate on a large portion of their bank debt. This reduces exposure to increasing rates, but reduces the benefit to the issuer of declining rates. The sponsor cannot predict future economic policies or their consequences or, therefore, the course or extent of any similar market fluctuations in the future.
“High-yield” or “junk” securities, the generic names for securities rated below BBB- by Standard & Poor’s, or below Baa3 by Moody’s, are frequently issued by corporations in the growth stage of their development, by established companies whose operations or industries are depressed or by highly leveraged companies purchased in leveraged buyout transactions. The market for high-yield securities is very specialized and investors in it have been predominantly financial institutions. High-yield securities are generally not listed on a national securities exchange. Trading of high-yield securities, therefore, takes place primarily in
5
over-the-counter markets that consist of groups of dealer firms that are typically major securities firms. Because the high-yield security market is a dealer market, rather than an auction market, no single obtainable price for a given security prevails at any given time. Prices are determined by negotiation between traders. The existence of a liquid trading market for the securities may depend on whether dealers will make a market in the securities. There can be no assurance that a market will be made for any of the securities, that any market for the securities will be maintained or of the liquidity of the securities in any markets made. Not all dealers maintain markets in all high-yield securities. Therefore, since there are fewer traders in these securities than there are in “investment grade” securities, the bid-offer spread is usually greater for high-yield securities than it is for investment grade securities. The price at which the securities may be sold and the value of your Portfolio will be adversely affected if trading markets for the securities are limited or absent. If the rate of redemptions is great, the value of your Portfolio may decline to a level that requires liquidation.
Lower-rated securities tend to offer higher yields than higher-rated securities with the same maturities because the creditworthiness of the issuers of lower-rated securities may not be as strong as that of other issuers. Moreover, if a security is recharacterized as equity by the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) for federal income tax purposes, the issuer’s interest deduction with respect to the security will be disallowed and this disallowance may adversely affect the issuer’s credit rating. Because investors generally perceive that there are greater risks associated with the lower-rated securities in the funds in your Portfolio, the yields and prices of these securities tend to fluctuate more than higher-rated securities with changes in the perceived quality of the credit of their issuers. In addition, the market value of high-yield, high-risk securities may fluctuate more than the market value of higher-rated securities since these securities tend to reflect short-term credit development to a greater extent than higher-rated securities. Lower-rated securities generally involve greater risks of loss of income and principal than higher-rated securities. Issuers of lower-rated securities may possess fewer creditworthiness characteristics than issuers of higher-rated securities and, especially in the case of issuers whose obligations or credit standing have recently been downgraded, may be subject to claims by debtholders, owners of property leased to the issuer or others which, if sustained, would make it more difficult for the issuers to meet their payment obligations. High-yield, high-risk securities are also affected by variables such as interest rates, inflation rates and real growth in the economy. Therefore, investors should consider carefully the relative risks associated with investment in securities that carry lower ratings.
The value of the shares of the funds reflects the value of the portfolio securities, including the value (if any) of securities in default. Should the issuer of any security default in the payment of principal or interest, the funds in your Portfolio may incur additional expenses seeking payment on the defaulted security. Because amounts (if any) recovered by the funds in payment under the defaulted security may not be reflected in the value of the fund shares until actually received by the funds, and depending upon when a Unitholder purchases or sells his or her Units, it is possible that a Unitholder would bear a portion of the cost of recovery without receiving any portion of the payment recovered.
High-yield, high-risk securities are generally subordinated obligations. The payment of principal (and premium, if any), interest and sinking fund requirements with respect to subordinated obligations of an issuer is subordinated in right of payment to the payment of senior obligations of the issuer. Senior obligations generally include most, if not all, significant debt obligations of an issuer, whether existing at the time of issuance of subordinated debt or created thereafter. Upon any distribution of the assets of an issuer with subordinated obligations upon dissolution, total or partial liquidation or reorganization of or similar proceeding relating to the issuer, the holders of senior indebtedness will be entitled to receive payment in full before holders of subordinated indebtedness will be entitled to receive any payment. Moreover, generally no payment with respect to subordinated indebtedness may be made while there exists a default with respect to any senior indebtedness. Thus, in the event of insolvency, holders of senior indebtedness of an issuer
6
generally will recover more, ratably, than holders of subordinated indebtedness of that issuer.
Obligations that are rated lower than “BBB-” by Standard & Poor’s, or “Baa3” by Moody’s, respectively, should be considered speculative as such ratings indicate a quality of less than investment grade. Investors should carefully review the objective of your Portfolio and consider their ability to assume the risks involved before making an investment in the Portfolio.
Financial Services Issuers. An investment in Units of the ETF Diversified Income Portfolio should be made with an understanding of the risks inherent in the bank and financial services sector in general.
Banks and their holding companies are especially subject to the adverse effects of economic recession, volatile interest rates, portfolio concentrations in geographic markets and in commercial and residential real estate loans, and competition from new entrants in their fields of business. Banks are highly dependent on net interest margin. Bank profitability is largely dependent on the availability and cost of capital funds, and can fluctuate significantly when interest rates change or due to increased competition.
Banks and their holding companies are subject to extensive federal regulation and, when such institutions are state-chartered, to state regulation as well. Such regulations impose strict capital requirements and limitations on the nature and extent of business activities that banks may pursue. Furthermore, bank regulators have a wide range of discretion in connection with their supervisory and enforcement authority and may substantially restrict the permissible activities of a particular institution if deemed to pose significant risks to the soundness of such institution or the safety of the federal deposit insurance fund. Regulatory actions, such as increases in the minimum capital requirements applicable to banks and increases in deposit insurance premiums required to be paid by banks and thrifts to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (“FDIC”), can negatively impact earnings and the ability of a company to pay dividends. Neither federal insurance of deposits nor governmental regulations, however, insures the solvency or profitability of banks or their holding companies, or insures against any risk of investment in the securities issued by such institutions.
Technological advances allow nontraditional lending sources to cut overhead and permit the more efficient use of customer data. Banks continue to face tremendous pressure from mutual funds, brokerage firms and other financial service providers in the competition to furnish services that were traditionally offered by banks.
The Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) and the Financial Accounting Standards Board require the expanded use of market value accounting by banks and have imposed rules requiring market accounting for investment securities held in trading accounts or available for sale. Adoption of additional such rules may result in increased volatility in the reported health of the industry, and mandated regulatory intervention to correct such problems. Additional legislative and regulatory changes may be enacted in the future. In addition, from time to time the deposit insurance system is reviewed by Congress and federal regulators, and proposed reforms of that system could, among other things, further restrict the ways in which deposited moneys can be used by banks or reduce the dollar amount or number of deposits insured for any depositor. Such reforms could reduce profitability, as investment opportunities available to bank institutions become more limited and as consumers look for savings vehicles other than bank deposits. Banks face significant competition from other financial institutions such as mutual funds, credit unions, mortgage banking companies and insurance companies, and increased competition may result from legislative broadening of regional and national interstate banking powers. The Sponsor makes no prediction as to what, if any, manner of bank regulatory actions might ultimately be adopted or what ultimate effect such actions might have on your Portfolio.
The Federal Reserve Board (“FRB”) has issued a policy statement on the payment of cash dividends by bank holding companies. In the policy statement, the FRB expressed its view that a bank holding company experiencing earnings weaknesses should not pay cash dividends which exceed its net income or which could
7
only be funded in ways that would weaken its financial health, such as by borrowing. The FRB also may impose limitations on the payment of dividends as a condition to its approval of certain applications, including applications for approval of mergers and acquisitions.
Companies engaged in the investment management industry are subject to the adverse effects of economic recession, volatile interest rates, and competition from new entrants in their fields of business. Adverse changes in the direction of the stock market, investor confidence, equity transaction volume, the level and direction of interest rates and the outlook of emerging markets could adversely affect the financial stability, as well as the stock prices, of these companies. Additionally, competitive pressures, including increased competition with new and existing competitors, the ongoing commoditization of traditional businesses and the need for increased capital expenditures on new technology could adversely impact the profit margins of companies in the investment management and brokerage industries. Companies involved in the investment management industry are also subject to extensive regulation by government agencies and self-regulatory organizations, and changes in laws, regulations or rules, or in the interpretation of such laws, regulations and rules could adversely affect the stock prices of such companies.
Companies involved in the insurance, reinsurance and risk management industry underwrite, sell or distribute property, casualty and business insurance. Many factors affect insurance, reinsurance and risk management company profits, including but not limited to interest rate movements, the imposition of premium rate caps, a misapprehension of the risks involved in given underwritings, competition and pressure to compete globally, weather catastrophes or other disasters and the effects of client mergers. Individual companies may be exposed to material risks including reserve inadequacy and the inability to collect from reinsurance carriers. Insurance companies are subject to extensive governmental regulation, including the imposition of maximum rate levels, which may not be adequate for some lines of business. Proposed or potential tax law changes may also adversely affect insurance companies' policy sales, tax obligations and profitability. In addition to the foregoing, profit margins of these companies continue to shrink due to the commoditization of traditional businesses, new competitors, capital expenditures on new technology and the pressure to compete globally.
In addition to the normal risks of business, companies involved in the insurance and risk management industry are subject to significant risk factors, including those applicable to regulated insurance companies, such as:
| • | the inherent uncertainty in the process of establishing property-liability loss reserves, and the fact that ultimate losses could materially exceed established loss reserves, which could have a material adverse effect on results of operations and financial condition; |
| • | the fact that insurance companies have experienced, and can be expected in the future to experience, catastrophic losses, which could have a material adverse impact on their financial conditions, results of operations and cash flow; |
| • | the inherent uncertainty in the process of establishing property-liability loss reserves due to changes in loss payment patterns caused by new claim settlement practices; |
| • | the need for insurance companies and their subsidiaries to maintain appropriate levels of statutory capital and surplus, particularly in light of continuing scrutiny by rating organizations and state insurance regulatory authorities, and in order to maintain acceptable financial strength or claims-paying ability ratings; |
| • | the extensive regulation and supervision to which insurance companies are subject, and various regulatory and other legal actions; |
| • | the adverse impact that increases in interest rates could have on the value of an insurance company's investment portfolio and on the attractiveness of certain of its products; and |
8
| • | the uncertainty involved in estimating the availability of reinsurance and the collectability of reinsurance recoverables. |
The state insurance regulatory framework has, during recent years, come under increased federal scrutiny, and certain state legislatures have considered or enacted laws that alter and, in many cases, increase state authority to regulate insurance companies and insurance holding company systems. Further, the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (“NAIC”) and state insurance regulators are reexamining existing laws and regulations, specifically focusing on insurance companies, interpretations of existing laws and the development of new laws. In addition, Congress and certain federal agencies have investigated the condition of the insurance industry in the United States to determine whether to promulgate additional federal regulation. All insurance companies are subject to state laws and regulations that require diversification of their investment portfolios and limit the amount of investments in certain investment categories. Failure to comply with these laws and regulations would cause non-conforming investments to be treated as non-admitted assets for purposes of measuring statutory surplus and, in some instances, would require divestiture. The Sponsor is unable to predict whether any state or federal legislation will be enacted to change the nature or scope of regulation of the insurance industry, or what effect, if any, such legislation would have on the industry.
Liquidity. Whether or not the securities in your Portfolio are listed on an exchange, the securities may delist from the exchange or principally trade in an over-the-counter market. As a result, the existence of a liquid trading market could depend on whether dealers will make a market in the securities. We cannot guarantee that dealers will maintain a market or that any market will be liquid. The value of the securities could fall if trading markets are limited or absent.
Additional Units. The Sponsor may create additional Units of the Portfolios by depositing into the Portfolios additional securities or cash with instructions to purchase additional securities. A deposit could result in a dilution of your investment and anticipated income because of fluctuations in the price of the securities between the time of the deposit and the purchase of the securities and because the Portfolios will pay acquisition or brokerage fees.
Voting. Only the Trustee may sell or vote the securities in the Portfolios. While you may sell or redeem your Units, you may not sell or vote the securities in your Portfolio. The Trustee will vote the underlying funds in the same general proportion as shares held by other shareholders.
SPONSOR INFORMATION
Invesco Capital Markets, Inc. is the Sponsor of your Portfolio. The Sponsor is a wholly owned subsidiary of Invesco Advisers, Inc. (“Invesco Advisers”). Invesco Advisers is an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of Invesco Ltd., a leading independent global investment manager that provides a wide range of investment strategies and vehicles to its retail, institutional and high net worth clients around the globe. The Sponsor’s principal office is located at 11 Greenway Plaza, Houston, Texas 77046-1173. As of September 30, 2020, the total stockholders’ equity of Invesco Capital Markets, Inc. was $88,599,212.22 (unaudited). The current assets under management and supervision by Invesco Ltd. and its affiliates were valued at approximately $1,218.2 billion as of September 30, 2020. (This paragraph relates only to the Sponsor and not to your Portfolio or to any other Series thereof. The information is included herein only for the purpose of informing investors as to the financial responsibility of the Sponsor and its ability to carry out its contractual obligations. More detailed financial information will be made available by the Sponsor upon request).
The Sponsor and your Portfolio have adopted a code of ethics requiring Invesco Ltd.’s employees who have access to information on Portfolio transactions to report personal securities transactions. The purpose of the code is to avoid potential conflicts of interest and to prevent fraud, deception or misconduct with respect to your Portfolio.
If the Sponsor shall fail to perform any of its duties under the Trust Agreement or become incapable of acting or shall become bankrupt or its affairs are taken
9
over by public authorities, then the Trustee may (i) appoint a successor Sponsor at rates of compensation deemed by the Trustee to be reasonable and not exceeding amounts prescribed by the Securities and Exchange Commission, (ii) terminate the Trust Agreement and liquidate your Portfolio as provided therein or (iii) continue to act as Trustee without terminating the Trust Agreement.
TRUSTEE INFORMATION
The Trustee is The Bank of New York Mellon, a trust company organized under the laws of New York. The Bank of New York Mellon has its principal unit investment trust division offices at 2 Hanson Place, 12th Floor, Brooklyn, New York 11217, (800) 856-8487. The Bank of New York Mellon is subject to supervision and examination by the Superintendent of Banks of the State of New York and the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, and its deposits are insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation to the extent permitted by law.
The duties of the Trustee are primarily ministerial in nature. It did not participate in the selection of Securities for your Portfolio.
In accordance with the Trust Agreement, the Trustee shall keep proper books of record and account of all transactions at its office for your Portfolio. Such records shall include the name and address of, and the number of Units of your Portfolio held by, every Unitholder. Such books and records shall be open to inspection by any Unitholder at all reasonable times during the usual business hours. The Trustee shall make such annual or other reports as may from time to time be required under any applicable state or federal statute, rule or regulation. The Trustee is required to keep a certified copy or duplicate original of the Trust Agreement on file in its office available for inspection at all reasonable times during the usual business hours by any Unitholder, together with a current list of the Securities held in your Portfolio.
Under the Trust Agreement, the Trustee or any successor trustee may resign and be discharged of its responsibilities created by the Trust Agreement by executing an instrument in writing and filing the same with the Sponsor. The Trustee or successor trustee must mail a copy of the notice of resignation to all Unitholders then of record, not less than 60 days before the date specified in such notice when such resignation is to take effect. The Sponsor upon receiving notice of such resignation is obligated to appoint a successor trustee promptly. If, upon such resignation, no successor trustee has been appointed and has accepted the appointment within 30 days after notification, the retiring Trustee may apply to a court of competent jurisdiction for the appointment of a successor. The Sponsor may remove the Trustee and appoint a successor trustee as provided in the Trust Agreement at any time with or without cause. Notice of such removal and appointment shall be mailed to each Unitholder by the Sponsor. Upon execution of a written acceptance of such appointment by such successor trustee, all the rights, powers, duties and obligations of the original trustee shall vest in the successor. The resignation or removal of a Trustee becomes effective only when the successor trustee accepts its appointment as such or when a court of competent jurisdiction appoints a successor trustee.
Any corporation into which a Trustee may be merged or with which it may be consolidated, or any corporation resulting from any merger or consolidation to which a Trustee shall be a party, shall be the successor trustee. The Trustee must be a banking corporation organized under the laws of the United States or any state and having at all times an aggregate capital, surplus and undivided profits of not less than $5,000,000.
TAXATION
The prospectus contains a discussion of certain U.S. federal income tax issues concerning your Portfolio and the purchase, ownership and disposition of Portfolio Units. The discussion below supplements the prospectus discussion and is qualified in its entirety by the prospectus discussion. Prospective investors should consult their own tax advisors with regard to the federal tax consequences of the purchase, ownership, or disposition of Portfolio Units, as well as the tax
10
consequences arising under the laws of any state, locality, non-U.S. country, or other taxing jurisdiction.
The federal income tax summary below and in the prospectus is based in part on the advice of counsel to the Sponsor. The IRS could disagree with any conclusions set forth in these discussions. In addition, our counsel was not asked to review, and has not reached a conclusion with respect to the federal income tax treatment of the assets to be held by your Portfolio.
Your Portfolio intends to elect and to qualify annually as a regulated investment company under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”) and to comply with applicable distribution requirements so that it will not pay federal income tax on income and capital gains distributed to its Unitholders.
To qualify for the favorable U.S. federal income tax treatment generally accorded to regulated investment companies, your Portfolio must, among other things, (a) derive in each taxable year at least 90% of its gross income from dividends, interest, payments with respect to securities loans and gains from the sale or other disposition of stock, securities or foreign currencies or other income derived with respect to its business of investing in such stock, securities or currencies, and net income from qualified publicly traded partnerships; (b) diversify its holdings so that, at the end of each quarter of the taxable year, (i) at least 50% of the market value of the Portfolio’s assets is represented by cash and cash items (including receivables), U.S. government securities, the securities of other regulated investment companies and other securities, with such other securities of any one issuer generally limited for the purposes of this calculation to an amount not greater than 5% of the value of the Portfolio’s total assets and not greater than 10% of the outstanding voting securities of such issuer, and (ii) not more than 25% of the value of its total assets is invested in the securities (other than U.S. government securities or the securities of other regulated investment companies) of any one issuer, or two or more issuers which the Portfolio controls (by owning 20% or more of the issuer’s outstanding voting securities) and which are engaged in the same, similar or related trades or businesses, or the securities of qualified publicly traded partnerships; and (c) distribute at least 90% of its investment company taxable income (which includes, among other items, dividends, interest and net short-term capital gains in excess of net long-term capital losses but excludes net capital gain, if any) and at least 90% of its net tax-exempt interest income, if any, each taxable year.
As a regulated investment company, your Portfolio generally will not be subject to U.S. federal income tax on its investment company taxable income (as that term is defined in the Code, but without regard to the deduction for dividends paid) and net capital gain (the excess of net long-term capital gain over net short-term capital loss), if any, that it distributes to Unitholders. Your Portfolio intends to distribute to its Unitholders, at least annually, substantially all of its investment company taxable income and net capital gain. If your Portfolio retains any net capital gain or investment company taxable income, it will generally be subject to federal income tax at regular corporate rates on the amount retained. In addition, amounts not distributed on a timely basis in accordance with a calendar year distribution requirement are subject to a nondeductible 4% excise tax unless, generally, your Portfolio distributes during each calendar year an amount equal to the sum of (1) at least 98% of its ordinary income (not taking into account any capital gains or losses) for the calendar year, (2) at least 98.2% of its capital gains in excess of its capital losses (adjusted for certain ordinary losses) for the one-year period ending October 31 of the calendar year, and (3) any ordinary income and capital gains for previous years that were not distributed or taxed during those years. To prevent application of the excise tax, your Portfolio intends to make its distributions in accordance with the calendar year distribution requirement. Further, if your Portfolio retains any net capital gain, the Portfolio may designate the retained amount as undistributed capital gains in a notice to Unitholders who, if subject to federal income tax on long-term capital gains, (i) will be required to include in income for federal income tax purposes, as long-term capital gain, their share of such undistributed amount, and (ii) will be entitled to credit their proportionate share of the tax paid by the Portfolio against their federal income tax liabilities, if any, and to
11
claim refunds to the extent the credit exceeds such liabilities. A distribution will be treated as paid on December 31 of the current calendar year if it is declared by the Portfolio in October, November or December with a record date in such a month and paid by your Portfolio during January of the following calendar year. These distributions will be taxable to Unitholders in the calendar year in which the distributions are declared, rather than the calendar year in which the distributions are received. There is no assurance that distributions made by your Portfolio will be sufficient to eliminate all taxes on the Trust for all periods. Your Portfolio may make taxable distributions to you even during periods in which the value of your Units has declined.
If your Portfolio failed to qualify as a regulated investment company or failed to satisfy the 90% distribution requirement in any taxable year, the Portfolio would be taxed as an ordinary corporation on its taxable income (even if such income were distributed to its Unitholders) and all distributions out of earnings and profits would be taxable to Unitholders as ordinary dividend income.
Your Portfolio may be required to withhold as backup withholding federal income tax at the backup withholding rate on all taxable distributions payable to you if you fail to provide your correct taxpayer identification number or to make required certifications, or if the IRS indicates that you are subject to backup withholding. Backup withholding is not an additional tax. Any amounts withheld may be credited against your federal income tax liability if you provide the required information or certification.
If your Portfolio is treated as holding directly or indirectly 10 percent or more of the combined value or voting power of the stock of a foreign corporation, and all U.S. shareholders collectively own more than 50 percent of the vote or value of the stock of such corporation, the foreign corporation may be treated as a “controlled foreign corporation” (a “CFC”) for U.S. federal income tax purposes. In such circumstances, your Portfolio will be required to include certain types of passive income and certain other types of income relating to insurance, sales and services with related parties and oil related income in the Portfolio’s taxable income whether or not such income is distributed.
If your Portfolio holds an equity interest in any “passive foreign investment companies” (“PFICs”), which are generally certain foreign corporations that receive at least 75% of their annual gross income from passive sources (such as interest, dividends, certain rents and royalties or capital gains) or that hold at least 50% of their assets in investments producing such passive income, the Portfolio could be subject to U.S. federal income tax and additional interest charges on gains and certain distributions with respect to those equity interests, even if all the income or gain is timely distributed to its Unitholders. Your Portfolio will not be able to pass through to its Unitholders any credit or deduction for such taxes. Your Portfolio may be able to make an election that could ameliorate these adverse tax consequences. In this case, your Portfolio would recognize as ordinary income any increase in the value of such PFIC shares, and as ordinary loss any decrease in such value to the extent it did not exceed prior increases included in income. Under this election, your Portfolio might be required to recognize in a year income in excess of its distributions from PFICs and its proceeds from dispositions of PFIC stock during that year, and such income would nevertheless be subject to the distribution requirement and would be taken into account for purposes of the 4% excise tax (described above). Dividends paid by PFICs will not be treated as qualified dividend income.
Certain of the Portfolios will invest in ETNs. The appropriate treatment of ETNs for federal income tax purposes is uncertain. Consistent with current market practice, investors generally treat ETNs as pre-paid forward contracts which are open transactions for federal income tax purposes. Pursuant to such treatment, investors are not required to accrue or recognize current income with respect to an ETN’s contingent payout until maturity or disposition, at which time the contingent payout or sale would generally give rise to capital gain or loss.
The IRS has indicated in an official notice that it is reviewing the appropriate treatment of ETNs for federal
12
income tax purposes. Pursuant to such notice, the IRS is considering alternatives for reforming the current treatment of ETNs, including (i) requiring investors to apply mark-to-market accounting to investments in ETNs, (ii) expanding the current rules applicable to contingent interest debt instruments to apply also to ETNs, (iii) requiring pre-paid forward contracts, including ETNs, generally to be treated as debt for tax purposes, and (iv) requiring ETNs to be treated as constructive ownership transactions under Section 1260 of the Code, which could require a portion of the gain realized with respect to the ETN to be treated as ordinary income rather than capital gain.
In addition, legislation has been proposed in Congress which, if enacted, would change the current federal income tax treatment of ETNs. Pursuant to the provisions of the proposed legislation, investors in ETNs would be required to accrue interest income with respect to the ETN in an amount equal to the greater of a current interest rate set by the IRS or any accrual or crediting rate under the terms of the ETN. The annual interest accrual would not exceed the sum of the amount of appreciation in the ETN and any distributions made during the year. Interest accruals would increase an investor’s basis in the ETN. Current distributions on the ETN, if any, would reduce the investor’s basis, and distributions in excess of the investor’s basis would be treated as capital gain. Upon disposition or maturity of the ETN, the investor would realize capital gain or loss, except that a loss would be ordinary loss to the extent of prior interest accruals. The legislation would apply to ETNs acquired after the effective date of the legislation, even if the ETN was originally issued prior to such date.
As of the date of this Information Supplement, neither Congress nor the IRS has implemented any of these proposed changes to the federal income tax treatment of ETNs.
Although a regulated investment company such as your Portfolio is generally restricted from investing in commodities under federal tax rules, it may be possible for a regulated investment company to have commodities exposure through a commodity-linked ETN.
PORTFOLIO TERMINATION
Your Portfolio may be liquidated at any time by consent of Unitholders representing 66 2/3% of the Units of the Portfolio then outstanding or by the Trustee when the value of the Securities owned by the Portfolio, as shown by any evaluation, is less than $500,000 ($3,000,000 if the value of the Portfolio has exceeded $15,000,000). Your Portfolio will be liquidated by the Trustee in the event that a sufficient number of Units of the Portfolio not yet sold are tendered for redemption by the Sponsor, so that the net worth of the Portfolio would be reduced to less than 40% of the value of the Securities at the time they were deposited in the Portfolio. If your Portfolio is liquidated because of the redemption of unsold Units by the Sponsor, the Sponsor will refund to each purchaser of Units the entire sales charge paid by such purchaser. The Trust Agreement will terminate upon the sale or other disposition of the last Security held thereunder, but in no event will it continue beyond the Mandatory Termination Date.
Commencing during the period beginning nine business days prior to, and no later than, the Mandatory Termination Date, Securities will begin to be sold in connection with the termination of your Portfolio. The Sponsor will determine the manner, timing and execution of the sales of the Securities. The Sponsor shall direct the liquidation of the Securities in such manner as to effectuate orderly sales and a minimal market impact. In the event the Sponsor does not so direct, the Securities shall be sold within a reasonable period and in such manner as the Trustee, in its sole discretion, shall determine. Unitholders will receive a cash distribution from the sale of the remaining Securities within a reasonable time following the Mandatory Termination Date. The Trustee will deduct from the funds of your Portfolio any accrued costs, expenses, advances or indemnities provided by the Trust Agreement, including estimated compensation of the Trustee, costs of liquidation and any amounts required as a reserve to provide for payment of any applicable taxes or other governmental charges. Any sale of Securities in your Portfolio upon termination may result in a lower amount than might otherwise be
13
realized if such sale were not required at such time. The Trustee will then distribute to each Unitholder of your Portfolio his pro rata share of the balance of the Income and Capital Accounts of the Portfolios.
The Sponsor may, but is not obligated to, offer for sale units of a subsequent series of the Portfolios. There is, however, no assurance that units of any new series of the Portfolios will be offered for sale at that time, or if offered, that there will be sufficient units available for sale to meet the requests of any or all Unitholders.
Within 60 days of the final distribution Unitholders will be furnished a final distribution statement of the amount distributable. At such time as the Trustee in its sole discretion will determine that any amounts held in reserve are no longer necessary, it will make distribution thereof to Unitholders in the same manner.
U-EMSSUP2097
14
Contents of Registration Statement
This Amendment of the Registration Statement comprises the following papers and documents:
The Facing Sheet of Form S-6.
The Prospectus.
The Undertaking to File Reports.
The Undertaking Regarding Indemnification.
The Signatures.
The Written Consents of Legal Counsel, Initial Evaluator and Independent Registered Public
Accounting Firm.
The following exhibits:
1.1 Trust Agreement.
Undertaking to File Reports
Subject to the terms and conditions of Section 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the undersigned registrant hereby undertakes to file with the Securities and Exchange Commission such supplementary and periodic information, documents, and reports as may be prescribed by any rule or regulation of the Commission heretofore or hereafter duly adopted pursuant to authority conferred in that section.
Undertaking Regarding Indemnification
Insofar as indemnification for liability arising under the Securities Act of 1933 may be permitted to directors, officers and controlling persons of the registrant pursuant to the foregoing provisions, or otherwise, the registrant has been advised that in the opinion of the Securities and Exchange Commission such indemnification is against public policy as expressed in the Act and is, therefore, unenforceable. In the event that a claim for indemnification against such liabilities (other than the payment by the registrant of expenses incurred or paid by a director, officer or controlling person of the registrant in the successful defense of any action, suit or proceeding) is asserted by such director, officer or controlling person in connection with the securities being registered, the registrant will, unless in the opinion of its counsel the matter has been settled by controlling precedent, submit to a court of appropriate jurisdiction the question whether such indemnification by it is against public policy as expressed in the Act and will be governed by the final adjudication of such issue.
Signatures
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, the Registrant, Invesco Unit Trusts, Series 2097, has duly caused this Amendment to the Registration Statement to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized, in the City of Chicago and State of Illinois on the 8th day of December, 2020.
Invesco Unit Trusts, Series 2097
By: Invesco Capital Markets, Inc., as Depositor
By: /s/ CRAIG S. FALDUTO
Executive Director, Investment Research
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, this Amendment to the Registration Statement has been signed below on December 8, 2020, by the following persons who constitute the principal officers and a majority of the Board of Directors of Invesco Capital Markets, Inc.:
Signature | Title |
Brian C. Hartigan | Director and Co-President |
William S. Geyer | Director and Co-President |
Mark W. Gregson | Chief Financial Officer |
By: /s/ CRAIG S. FALDUTO
(Attorney-in-fact*)
* | | An executed copy of each of the related powers of attorney is filed herewith or incorporated herein by reference as set forth in Exhibit 7.1. |