3. Risk Factors (continued):
Concentration Risk. To the extent that the fund’s or the index’s portfolio is concentrated in the securities of issuers in a particular market, industry, group of industries, sector, country, or asset class (including the real estate industry, as described above), the fund may be adversely affected by the performance of those securities, may be subject to increased price volatility and may be more vulnerable to adverse economic, market, political or regulatory occurrences affecting that market, industry, group of industries, sector, country, or asset class.
Derivatives Risk. The fund may use derivatives to enhance returns or hedge against market declines. Examples of derivatives are options, futures, options on futures and swaps. An option is the right to buy or sell an instrument at a specific price before a specific date. A future is an agreement to buy or sell a financial instrument at a specific price on a specific day. A swap is an agreement whereby two parties agree to exchange payment streams calculated in relation to a rate, index, instrument or certain securities and a predetermined amount. The fund’s use of derivatives that are subject to regulation by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) could cause the fund to become a commodity pool, which would require the fund to comply with certain CFTC rules.
The fund’s use of derivative instruments involves risks different from, or possibly greater than, the risks associated with investing directly in securities and other traditional investments. Certain of these risks, such as liquidity risk, leverage risk, and market risk, are discussed elsewhere in this section. The fund’s use of derivatives is also subject to lack of availability risk, credit risk, valuation risk, correlation risk and tax risk. Lack of availability risk is the risk that suitable derivative transactions may not be available in all circumstances for risk management or other purposes. Credit risk is the risk that the counterparty to a derivatives transaction may not fulfill its obligations. Valuation risk is the risk that a particular derivative may be valued incorrectly. Correlation risk is the risk that changes in the value of the derivative may not correlate perfectly with the underlying asset, rate or index. Tax risk is the risk that the use of derivatives may cause the fund to realize higher amounts of short-term capital gains. The fund’s use of derivatives could reduce the fund’s performance, increase the fund’s volatility, and could cause the fund to lose more than the initial amount invested.
Leverage Risk.Certain fund transactions, such as derivatives transactions, may give rise to a form of leverage and may expose the fund to greater risk. Leverage tends to magnify the effect of any decrease or increase in the value of the fund’s portfolio securities. The use of leverage may cause the fund to liquidate portfolio positions when it would not be advantageous to do so in order to satisfy its obligations.
ETF Risk. The fund may purchase shares of ETFs to gain exposure to a particular portion of the market while awaiting an opportunity to purchase securities directly. When the fund invests in an ETF, in addition to directly bearing the expenses associated with its own operation, it will bear a proportionate share of the ETF’s expenses. Therefore, it may be more costly to own an ETF than to own the underlying securities directly. In addition, while the risks of owning shares of an ETF generally reflect the risks of owning the underlying securities the ETF holds, lack of liquidity in the market for an ETF’s shares can result in its value being more volatile than the underlying portfolio of securities.
Liquidity Risk. The fund may be unable to sell certain securities, such as illiquid securities, readily at a favorable time or price, or the fund may have to sell them at a loss.
Please refer to the fund’s prospectus for a more complete description of the principal risks of investing in the fund.
4. Affiliates and Affiliated Transactions:
Investment Adviser
CSIM, a wholly owned subsidiary of The Charles Schwab Corporation, serves as the fund’s investment adviser and administrator pursuant to the Advisory Agreement between CSIM and the trust.
For its advisory and administrative services to the fund, CSIM is entitled to receive an annual fee, payable monthly, equal to 0.39% of the fund’s average daily net assets.
Other Affiliated Transactions
CSIM has a licensing agreement with the Frank Russell Company to use certain Russell indices and trademarks in connection with the offering and operation of certain registered investment companies. The fund entered into a sublicense agreement with CSIM pursuant to which CSIM has agreed to sublicense certain Russell indices and trademarks to the fund. CSIM pays all applicable licensing fees for the fund.