As filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on October 19, 2016
1933 Act File No. 333-213480
1940 Act File No. 811-03763
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549
AMENDMENT NO. 1
TO
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: GUGGENHEIM DEFINED PORTFOLIOS, SERIES 1524
B. Name of Depositor: GUGGENHEIM FUNDS DISTRIBUTORS, LLC
C. Complete address of Depositor's principal executive offices:
2455 Corporate West Drive
Lisle, Illinois 60532
D. Name and complete address of agents for service:
GUGGENHEIM FUNDS DISTRIBUTORS, LLC
Attention: Amy Lee, Esq.
Vice President and Secretary
2455 Corporate West Drive
Lisle, Illinois 60532
CHAPMAN AND CUTLER LLP
Attention: Eric F. Fess, Esq.
111 West Monroe Street
Chicago, Illinois 60603
It is proposed that this filing will become effective (check appropriate box)
/_/ immediately upon filing pursuant to paragraph (b)
/_/ on (date) pursuant to paragraph (b)
/_/ 60 days after filing pursuant to paragraph (a)(1)
/_/ on (date) pursuant to paragraph (a)(1) of rule 485
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 on
(date) at (time) Eastern Time pursuant to Rule 487.
The information in this prospectus is not complete and may be changed. We may
not sell these securities until the registration statement filed with the
Securities and Exchange Commission is effective. This prospectus is not an
offer to sell these securities and is not soliciting an offer to buy these
securities in any state where the offer or sale is not permitted.
Preliminary Prospectus Dated October 19, 2016, Subject to Completion
Guggenheim Defined Portfolios, Series 1524
Guggenheim Balanced Income Builder
Portfolio, Series 17
GUGGENHEIM LOGO
PROSPECTUS PART A DATED OCTOBER 19, 2016
A portfolio containing securities selected by
Guggenheim Funds Distributors, LLC with the assistance of Guggenheim Partners
Investment Management, LLC
An investment can be made in the underlying exchange-traded
funds directly rather than through the trust. These direct investments can be
made without paying the sales charge, operating expenses and organizational
costs of the trust.
The Securities and Exchange Commission has not approved or
disapproved of these securities or passed upon the adequacy or accuracy of this
prospectus. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal offense.
================================================================================
INVESTMENT SUMMARY
================================================================================
Use this Investment Summary to help you decide whether an investment in
this trust is right for you. More detailed information can be found later in
this prospectus.
Overview
Guggenheim Defined Portfolios, Series 1524 is a unit investment trust that
consists of the Guggenheim Balanced Income Builder Portfolio, Series 17 (the
"trust"). Guggenheim Funds Distributors, LLC ("Guggenheim Funds" or the
"sponsor") serves as the sponsor of the trust.
The trust is scheduled to terminate in approximately two years.
Investment Objective
The trust seeks current income as the primary objective, with the
potential for capital appreciation as a secondary objective.
Principal Investment Strategy
The trust seeks to provide current income with the potential for capital
appreciation by investing in dividend-paying stocks of U.S.-listed companies
along with shares of exchange-traded funds ("ETFs") that invest substantially
all of their assets in fixed-income securities.
The sponsor, with the assistance of Guggenheim Partners Investment
Management, LLC ("GPIM"), an affiliate of Guggenheim Partners, LLC, has selected
the securities to be included in the trust's portfolio. The common stocks in the
trust are selected according to the quantitatively-selected US High Dividend
Strategy described below. The U.S.-listed common stocks held the trust may
include the common stocks of U.S. and non-U.S. companies of small-, mid- or
large-capitalizations. Certain of the common stocks included in the trust
portfolio are issued by real estate investment trusts ("REITs").
The sponsor and GPIM believe that companies that distribute significant
dividends on a consistent basis generally demonstrate strong financial strength
and positive performance relative to their peers. The common stocks selected
according to the US High Dividend Strategy will constitute approximately 50% of
the trust portfolio.
Shares of ETFs that invest substantially all of their assets in
fixed-income securities will make up the remaining 50% of the trust portfolio.
The fixed-income ETFs included in the portfolio invest in a wide range of debt
securities rated investment-grade through below investment-grade. High-yield,
below investment-grade securities or "junk" bonds are considered to be
speculative and are subject to greater market and credit risks than
investment-grade securities.
The fixed-income ETFs included in the portfolio will invest in debt
securities with short-term, medium-term and long-term maturities. Typically
fixed-income securities with longer periods before maturity are more sensitive
to interest rate changes.
Finally, the fixed-income ETFs included in the portfolio will also invest
in debt securities issued by foreign companies, including companies located in
emerging markets.
Security Selection
US High Dividend Strategy
Approximately 50% of the trust portfolio will constitute the common stocks
selected according to the US High Dividend Strategy. These stocks were selected
six business days prior to the initial date of deposit (the "Security Selection
Date") using the security selection rules described below.
Security Selection Rules:
In constructing the common stock component of the trust's portfolio,
securities will be selected based on the following fundamentally based
quantitative criteria:
1. Initial Universe: Start with an initial universe of all securities in
the Russell 3000[R] Index as of the Security Selection Date.
2. Rank on Fundamentals: Rank every company identified in the initial
universe against other companies in the same sector, as defined by
Global Industry Classification Standard (GICS), along each of the
following reported financial metrics. Each ranking is determined as of
the Security Selection Date using the most recently reported
information and uses a scale of 1 through 10 (1 representing the
highest scoring 10% in the sector and 10 representing the lowest
scoring 10% in the sector):
o Return on assets as provided by S&P Compustat, and calculated as
latest four quarters of reported operating income divided by the
average of most recent reported total assets and year ago
reported total assets.
o Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization
for the latest four quarters divided by enterprise value, as
provided by S&P Compustat. Enterprise value is determined by
adding the equity market capitalization as of the most recent
closing price with the total outstanding long term and short term
debt as determined by the most recently available balance sheet,
and then subtracting any cash and short term investments as
determined by the most recently available balance sheet.
o Year-over-year growth in sales per share, as provided by S&P
Compustat. Trailing year-over-year growth is the percentage
change in sales per-share for the trailing 12 months versus the
sales per-share from the prior 12 months. Sales per-share is the
trailing 12 months of sales from the most recent trailing
quarterly or semi-annual filings, whichever is most current,
divided by the end of period reported count of common shares
outstanding used to calculate basic earnings per share.
Each financial metric will create a separate score so that every
company will have three scores. These three scores are averaged
together to create one composite score for a company. This composite
score is used to rank the companies in the next step in order to
determine the sub-universe of securities.
3. Define Sub-Universe: Reduce the initial universe of securities to a
sub- universe that meets the following requirements, with each
requirement being applied independently to the initial universe from
the other requirements in this step, as of the Security Selection
Date:
o Exclude the lowest ranked 25% of securities from the initial
universe determined by the average of the three financial
rankings described in step 2.
o Exclude the 20% of the initial universe with the lowest trailing
six month total return.
o Exclude securities which do not have a policy of regular periodic
cash dividends (quarterly, semiannual or yearly), or have omitted
the most recent regular periodic cash dividend.
o Exclude securities with a market capitalization less than $200
million. Market capitalization is determined by the closing price
as of the Security Selection Date.
o Exclude securities with a liquidity of less than $0.6 million.
Liquidity is determined by the median trading volume in U.S.
dollars looking back 90 days from the Security Selection Date
(i.e., trading volume each day in shares multiplied by the
closing price for the day as provided by FactSet Research
Systems, Inc.).
o Exclude business development companies as identified by Bloomberg
Industry Classification System sub-industry.
o Exclude mortgage real estate investment trusts, as identified by
GICS sub-industry.
o Exclude securities that have a pending cash or stock merger and
acquisition or bankruptcy which will lead to delisting the
security. Such events will be determined by reviewing the
announced merger and acquisition data from Bloomberg.
o Exclude securities that are not one of the largest 500 companies
of the initial universe by market capitalization (per FactSet).
4. Selection: Select from the sub-universe the twenty-five top dividend
yielding securities (with higher rank given to larger market
capitalization when yields are equal) and equally weight these
securities as of the Security Selection Date so that each security
represents 2% of the total trust portfolio. Selected securities must
adhere to following strategy limits as of the Security Selection Date:
o Maximum 20% weight in any GICS sector.
o Minimum 80% in U.S. incorporated companies.
Once an investment limitation has been reached, additional securities
of the type that would violate the limitation will not be included in
the trust and the next highest yielding security will be used.
Please note that due to the fluctuating nature of security prices, the
weighting of an individual security or sector in the trust portfolio may change
after the Security Selection Date.
Fixed-Income Exchange-Traded Funds
Approximately 50% of the trust portfolio will constitute ETFs that invest
substantially all of their assets in fixed-income securities. The sponsor, with
the assistance of GPIM, has selected fixed-income ETFs believed to have the best
potential for current income. When selecting the ETFs for the trust, the sponsor
considers a number of factors, including but not limited to, the size, liquidity
and daily trading volume, the current dividend yield, the strategy and
investment objective, the fixed-income securities held by the ETF, the expense
ratio and the overlap of the underlying fixed-income securities held by the
ETFs.
Guggenheim Partners
Investment Management, LLC
Guggenheim Partners Investment Management, LLC is a subsidiary of
Guggenheim Partners, LLC and an affiliate of the sponsor, which offers financial
services expertise within its asset management, investment advisory, capital
markets, institutional finance and merchant banking business lines. Clients
consist of a mix of individuals, family offices, endowments, foundations,
insurance companies, pension plans and other institutions that together have
entrusted the firm with supervision of more than $100 billion in assets. A
global diversified financial services firm, Guggenheim Partners, LLC office
locations include New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami, Boston, Philadelphia,
St. Louis, Houston, London, Dublin, Geneva, Hong Kong, Singapore, Mumbai and
Dubai.
The sponsor is also indirectly owned by Guggenheim Partners, LLC and is an
affiliate of GPIM.
Exchange-Traded Funds
ETFs are investment pools that hold securities. ETFs provide an efficient
and relatively simple way to invest in that they offer investors the
opportunity to buy and sell an entire basket of securities with a single
transaction throughout the trading day. ETFs are often built like an index
fund, but trade like a stock on an exchange. ETFs generally offer advantages
similar to those found in index funds such as low operating costs, performance
designed to track an index, the potential for high tax efficiency and
consistent investment strategies. Unlike conventional mutual funds, ETFs
normally issue and redeem shares on a continuous basis at their net asset value
in large specified blocks of shares, known as "creation units." Market makers,
large investors and institutions deal in creation units. The trust will buy
shares of the ETF on the exchanges and will incur brokerage costs.
Future Trusts
The sponsor may create future trusts that follow the same general
investment strategy. One such trust is expected to be available approximately
three months after the trust's initial date of deposit (the "Inception Date")
and upon the trust's termination. If these future trusts are available, you may
be able to reinvest into one of the trusts at a reduced sales charge. Each
trust is designed to be part of a longer term strategy.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Essential Information
(as of the Inception Date)
Inception Date October 19, 2016
Unit Price $10.00
Termination Date October 19, 2018
Distribution Date 25th day of each month
(commencing November 25, 2016, if any)
Record Date 15th day of each month
(commencing November 15, 2016, if any)
CUSIP Numbers
Cash Distributions
Standard Accounts 40171M423
Fee Account Cash 40171M449
Reinvested Distributions
Standard Accounts 40171M431
Fee Account Reinvest 40171M456
Ticker CGBIQX
Portfolio Diversification
Approximate
Security Type Portfolio Percentage
------------------------ --------------------
Common Stocks 44.07%
Exchange-Traded Funds 49.94
Real Estate Investment Trusts 5.99
--------------------
Total 100.00%
====================
Sector
(excludes Exchange- Approximate
Traded Funds) Portfolio Percentage
------------------------ --------------------
Consumer Discretionary 4.02%
Consumer Staples 1.99
Energy 8.05
Financials 5.98
Health Care 3.99
Industrials 1.99
Information Technology 2.00
Materials 6.01
Real Estate 5.99
Telecommunication Services 4.03
Utilities 6.01
--------------------
Total 50.06%
====================
Country/Territory
(Headquartered
and excludes
Exchange-Traded Approximate
Funds) Portfolio Percentage
------------------------ --------------------
United States 50.06%
--------------------
Total 50.06%
====================
Market
Capitalization
(excludes Exchange- Approximate
Traded Funds) Portfolio Percentage
-------------------- --------------------
Mid-Capitalization 18.04%
Large-Capitalization 32.02
--------------------
Total 50.06%
====================
Minimum Investment
All accounts 1 unit
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Principal Risks
As with all investments, you may lose some or all of your investment in
the trust. No assurance can be given that the trust's investment objective will
be achieved. The trust also might not perform as well as you expect. This can
happen for reasons such as these:
o Securities prices can be volatile. The value of your investment may
fall over time. Market value fluctuates in response to various
factors. These can include stock market movements, purchases or sales
of securities by the trust, government policies, litigation, and
changes in interest rates, inflation, the financial condition of the
securities' issuer or even perceptions of the issuer. Units of the
trust are not deposits of any bank and are not insured or guaranteed
by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government
agency.
o The trust invests in shares of ETFs. ETFs are investment pools that
hold other securities. The ETFs in the trust may be passively-managed
index funds that seek to replicate the performance or composition of a
recognized securities index. ETFs are subject to various risks,
including management's ability to meet the fund's investment
objective. 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 the ETF 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. The underlying ETF has
management and operating expenses. Consequently, you will bear not
only your share of your trust's expenses, but also the expenses of the
underlying ETFs. By investing in ETFs, the trust incurs greater
expenses than you would incur if you invested directly in the ETFs.
o The ETFs are subject to annual fees and expenses, including a
management fee. Unitholders of the trust will bear these fees in
addition to the fees and expenses of the trust. See "Fees and
Expenses" for additional information.
o The trust is subject to an ETF's index correlation risk. To the extent
that an underlying ETF is an index tracking ETF, index correlation
risk is the risk that the performance of an ETF will vary from the
actual performance of the fund's target index, known as "tracking
error." This can happen due to fund expenses, transaction costs,
market impact, corporate actions (such as mergers and spin-offs) and
timing variances.
o The value of the fixed-income securities in the ETFs will generally
fall if interest rates, in general, rise. Typically, fixed-income
securities with longer periods before maturity are more sensitive to
interest rate changes. The trust may be subject to greater risk of
rising interest rates than would normally be the case due to the
current period of historically low rates.
o An ETF or an issuer of securities held by an ETF may be unwilling or
unable to make principal payments and/or to declare distributions in
the future, may call a security before its stated maturity, or may
reduce the level of distributions declared. This may result in a
reduction in the value of your units.
o The financial condition of an ETF or an issuer of securities held by
an ETF may worsen, resulting in a reduction in the value of your
units. This may occur at any point in time, including during the
primary offering period.
o Economic conditions may lead to limited liquidity and greater
volatility. The markets for fixed-income securities, such as those
held by certain ETFs, may experience periods of illiquidity and
volatility. General market uncertainty and consequent repricing risk
have led to market imbalances of sellers and buyers, which in turn
have resulted in significant valuation uncertainties in a variety of
fixed-income securities. These conditions resulted, and in many cases
continue to result in, greater volatility, less liquidity, widening
credit spreads and a lack of price transparency, with many debt
securities remaining illiquid and of uncertain value. These market
conditions may make valuation of some of the securities held by an ETF
uncertain and/or result in sudden and significant valuation increases
or declines in its holdings.
o Certain ETFs held by the trust invest in securities that are rated
below investment-grade and are considered to be "junk" securities.
Below investment-grade obligations are considered to be speculative
and are subject to greater market and credit risks, and accordingly,
the risk of non-payment or default is higher than with
investment-grade securities. In addition, such securities may be more
sensitive to interest rate changes and more likely to receive early
returns of principal.
o Certain ETFs held by the trust may invest in securities that are rated
as investment-grade by only one rating agency. As a result, such
split-rated securities may have more speculative characteristics and
are subject to a greater risk of default than securities rated as
investment-grade by more than one rating agency.
o The trust and certain ETFs held by the trust invest in foreign
securities. Investment in foreign securities presents additional risk.
Foreign risk is the risk that foreign securities will be more volatile
than U.S. securities due to such factors as adverse economic,
currency, political, social or regulatory developments in a country,
including government seizure of assets, excessive taxation,
limitations on the use or transfer of assets, the lack of liquidity or
regulatory controls with respect to certain industries or differing
legal and/or accounting standards.
o Certain ETFs held by the trust invest in senior loans. Borrowers under
senior loans may default on their obligations to pay principal or
interest when due. This non-payment would result in a reduction of
income to the applicable ETF, a reduction in the value of the senior
loan experiencing non-payment and a decrease in the net asset value of
the ETF. Although senior loans in which the ETFs invest may be secured
by specific collateral, there can be no assurance that liquidation of
collateral would satisfy the borrower's obligation in the event of
non-payment of scheduled principal or interest or that such collateral
could be readily liquidated.
Senior loans in which the ETFs invest:
-- generally are of below investment-grade credit or "junk" quality;
-- may be unrated at the time of investment;
-- may be floating-rate instruments in which the interest rate
payable on the obligations fluctuates on a periodic basis based
upon changes in the base lending rate;
-- generally are not registered with the Securities and Exchange
Commission ("SEC") or any state securities commission; and
-- generally are not listed on any securities exchange.
In addition, the amount of public information available on senior
loans generally is less extensive than that available for other types
of assets.
o The trust invests in securities issued by mid-capitalization companies
and certain ETFs held by the trust may invest in securities issued by
small-capitalization and mid-capitalization companies. These
securities customarily involve more investment risk than securities of
large-capitalization companies. Small-capitalization and
mid-capitalization companies may have limited product lines, markets
or financial resources and may be more vulnerable to adverse general
market or economic developments.
o Share prices or dividend rates on the securities in the trust may
decline during the life of the trust. There is no guarantee that share
prices of securities in the trust will not decline and that the
issuers of the securities will declare dividends in the future and, if
declared, whether they will remain at current levels or increase over
time.
o Inflation may lead to a decrease in the value of assets or income from
investments.
o The sponsor does not actively manage the portfolio. The trust will
generally hold, and may, when creating additional units, continue to
buy, the same securities even though a security's outlook, market
value or yield may have changed.
See "Investment Risks" in Part A of the prospectus and "Risk Factors" in
Part B of the prospectus for additional information.
Who Should Invest
You should consider this investment if:
o The trust represents only a portion of your overall investment
portfolio;
o The trust is part of a longer-term investment strategy that may
include the investment in subsequent portfolios, if available; and
o The trust is combined with other investment vehicles to provide
diversification of method to your overall portfolio.
You should not consider this investment if:
o You are uncomfortable with the trust's investment strategy;
o You are uncomfortable with the risks of an unmanaged investment in
securities; or
o You want capital preservation.
Fees and Expenses
The amounts below are estimates of the direct and indirect fees and
expenses that you may incur based on a $10 unit price. Actual expenses may vary.
Percentage
of Public Amount Per
Offering $1,000
Investor Fees Price (4) Invested
---------------------------- ----------- -----------
Initial sales fee
paid on purchase (1) 1.00% $ 10.00
Deferred sales fee (2) 2.45 24.50
Creation and
development fee (3) 0.50 5.00
----------- -----------
Maximum sales fees
(including creation
and development fee) 3.95% $ 39.50
=========== ===========
Estimated organization costs
(amount per 100 units paid
by the trust at the end of the
initial offering period or
after six months, at the
discretion of the sponsor) $ 8.00
===========
Approximate
Annual Fund % of Public
Operating Offering Amount Per
Expenses Price (4) 100 Units
---------------------------- ----------- -----------
Trustee's fee 0.1050% $ 1.050
Sponsor's supervisory fee 0.0300 0.300
Evaluator's fee 0.0350 0.350
Bookkeeping and
administrative fee 0.0350 0.350
Estimated other trust
operating expenses (5) 0.0164 0.164
Estimated acquired fund
expenses (6) 0.1860 1.860
----------- -----------
Total 0.4074% $ 4.074
=========== ===========
(1) The initial sales fee provided above is based on the unit price on the
Inception Date. Because the initial sales fee equals the difference between
the maximum sales fee and the sum of the remaining deferred sales fee and
the creation and development fee ("C&D Fee") (as described below), the
percentage and dollar amount of the initial sales fee will vary as the unit
price varies and after deferred fees begin. Despite the variability of the
initial sales fee, each investor is obligated to pay the entire applicable
maximum sales fee.
(2) The deferred sales fee is fixed at $0.245 per unit and is deducted in
monthly installments of $0.0817 per unit on the last business day of each
month in February 2017 and March 2017 and $0.0816 per unit on the last
business day of April 2017. The percentage provided is based on a $10 per
unit Public Offering Price as of the Inception Date and the percentage
amount will vary over time. If units are redeemed prior to the deferred
sales fee period, the entire deferred sales fee will be collected.
(3) The C&D Fee compensates the sponsor for creating and developing your trust.
The actual C&D Fee is $0.05 per unit and is paid to the sponsor at the
close of the initial offering period, which is expected to be approximately
three months from the Inception Date. The percentages provided are based on
a $10 unit as of the Inception Date and the percentage amount will vary
over time. If the unit price exceeds $10.00 per unit, the C&D Fee will be
less than 0.50% of the Public Offering Price; if the unit price is less
than $10.00 per unit, the C&D Fee will exceed 0.50% of the Public Offering
Price. However, in no event will the maximum sales fee exceed 3.95% of a
unitholder's initial investment.
(4) Based on 100 units with a $10.00 per unit Public Offering Price as of the
Inception Date.
(5) The estimated trust operating expenses are based upon an estimated trust
size of approximately $46 million. Because certain of the operating
expenses are fixed amounts, if the trust does not reach such estimated size
or falls below the estimated size over its life, the actual amount of the
operating expenses may exceed the amounts reflected. In some cases, the
actual amount of the operating expenses may greatly exceed the amounts
reflected. Other operating expenses do not include brokerage costs and
other transactional fees.
(6) Although not an actual trust operating expense, the trust, and therefore
the unitholders of the trust, will indirectly bear similar operating
expenses of the ETFs held by the trust in the estimated amount provided
above. Estimated ETF expenses are based upon the net asset value of the
number of ETF shares held by the trust per unit multiplied by the Annual
Operating Expenses of the ETFs for the most recent fiscal year. Unitholders
will therefore indirectly pay higher expenses than if the underlying ETFs
were held directly. Please note that the sponsor or an affiliate may be
engaged as a service provider to certain ETFs held by your trust and
therefore certain fees paid by your trust to such ETFs will be paid to the
sponsor or an affiliate for its services to such ETFs.
Example
This example helps you compare the costs of this trust with other unit
trusts and mutual funds. In the example we assume that you reinvest your
investment in a new trust every other year at a reduced sales charge, the
trust's operating expenses do not change and the trust's annual return is 5%.
Your actual returns and expenses will vary. Based on these assumptions, you
would pay these expenses for every $10,000 you invest:
1 year $ 520
3 years 999
5 years 1,503
10 years 2,642
These amounts are the same regardless of whether you sell your investment
at the end of a period or continue to hold your investment. The example does
not consider any brokerage fees the trust pays or transaction fees that
broker-dealers may charge for processing redemption requests.
See "Expenses of the Trust" in Part B of the prospectus for additional
information.
Trust Portfolio
Guggenheim Defined Portfolios, Series 1524
Guggenheim Balanced Income Builder Portfolio, Series 17
The Trust Portfolio as of the Inception Date, October 19, 2016
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Percentage
of Aggregate Initial Per Share Cost To
Ticker Company Name (1) Offer Price Shares Price Portfolio (2)(3)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
COMMON STOCKS (44.07%)
Consumer Discretionary (4.02%)
F Ford Motor Company 2.02% 255 $ 11.8900 $ 3,032
GM General Motors Company 2.00 96 31.4000 3,014
Consumer Staples (1.99%)
PM Philip Morris International, Inc. 1.99 31 96.5600 2,993
Energy (8.05%)
CVX Chevron Corporation 2.03 30 101.7900 3,054
OKE ONEOK, Inc. 2.03 61 50.0300 3,052
TRGP Targa Resources Corporation 2.00 64 47.0900 3,014
VLO Valero Energy Corporation 1.99 54 55.4600 2,995
Financials (5.98%)
IVZ Invesco Limited (5) 1.99 101 29.5900 2,989
MET MetLife, Inc. 1.99 64 46.8000 2,995
WFC Wells Fargo & Company 2.00 67 44.9500 3,012
Health Care (3.99%)
ABBV AbbVie, Inc. 2.01 49 61.5500 3,016
PFE Pfizer, Inc. 1.98 91 32.6900 2,975
Industrials (1.99%)
EMR Emerson Electric Company 1.99 60 49.8800 2,993
Information Technology (2.00%)
IBM International Business Machines Corporation 2.00 20 150.7200 3,014
Materials (6.01%)
IP International Paper Company 2.00 64 47.0300 3,010
LYB LyondellBasell Industries NV (5) 1.97 37 80.1800 2,967
MOS The Mosaic Company 2.04 131 23.3900 3,064
Telecommunication Services (4.03%)
T AT&T, Inc. 2.02 77 39.3600 3,031
VZ Verizon Communications, Inc. 2.01 60 50.2700 3,016
Utilities (6.01%)
DUK Duke Energy Corporation 2.02 39 77.9000 3,038
ETR Entergy Corporation 1.99 40 74.9300 2,997
SO Southern Company 2.00 59 51.0900 3,014
Trust Portfolio (continued)
Guggenheim Defined Portfolios, Series 1524
Guggenheim Balanced Income Builder Portfolio, Series 17
The Trust Portfolio as of the Inception Date, October 19, 2016
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Percentage
of Aggregate Initial Per Share Cost To
Ticker Company Name (1) Offer Price Shares Price Portfolio (2)(3)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
EXCHANGE-TRADED FUNDS (49.94%)
CSJ iShares 1-3 Year Credit Bond ETF 4.99% 71 $105.6200 $ 7,499
LQD iShares iBoxx $ Investment Grade Corporate
Bond ETF 4.96 61 122.3200 7,462
MBB iShares MBS ETF 4.02 55 109.7800 6,038
TIP iShares TIPS Bond ETF (4) 7.49 97 116.0200 11,254
BKLN PowerShares Senior Loan Portfolio 9.98 648 23.1600 15,008
JNK SPDR Barclays High Yield Bond ETF 7.49 307 36.6900 11,264
HYD VanEck Vectors High-Yield Municipal Index ETF 4.00 190 31.6400 6,012
EMLC VanEck Vectors J.P. Morgan EM Local Currency
Bond ETF 7.01 559 18.8500 10,537
REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUSTS (5.99%)
Real Estate (5.99%)
DLR Digital Realty Trust, Inc. (8) 1.99 31 96.5700 2,994
HST Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. (8) 1.99 191 15.7000 2,999
HCN Welltower, Inc. (8) 2.01 43 70.3300 3,024
----------------
$ 150,376
================
(1) All securities are represented entirely by contracts to purchase
securities, which were entered into by the sponsor on October 18, 2016. All
contracts for securities are expected to be settled by the initial
settlement date for the purchase of units.
(2) Valuation of securities by the trustee was performed as of the Evaluation
Time on October 18, 2016. For securities quoted on a national exchange,
including the NASDAQ Stock Market, Inc., securities are generally valued at
the closing sale price using the market value per share. For foreign
securities traded on a foreign exchange, securities are generally valued at
the closing sale price on the applicable exchange converted into U.S.
dollars. The trust's investments are classified as Level 1, which refers to
security prices determined using quoted prices in active markets for
identical securities.
(3) There was a $0 loss to the sponsor on the Inception Date.
The following footnotes only apply when noted.
(4) Non-income producing security.
(5) U.S.-listed foreign security based on the country of incorporation, which
may differ from the way the company is classified for investment purposes
and portfolio diversification purposes.
(6) American Depositary Receipt ("ADR")/Global Depositary Receipt ("GDR")/CHESS
Depositary Interest ("CDI")/New York Registry Share.
(7) Foreign security listed on a foreign exchange, which may differ from the
way the company is classified for investment purposes and portfolio
diversification purposes.
(8) Common stock of a real estate investment trust ("REIT").
(9) Common stock of a master limited partnership ("MLP").
================================================================================
UNDERSTANDING YOUR INVESTMENT
================================================================================
How to Buy Units
You can buy units of your trust on any business day by contacting your
financial professional. Public offering prices of units are available daily on
the Internet at www.guggenheiminvestments.com. The unit price includes:
o the value of the securities,
o organization costs,
o the maximum sales fee (which includes an initial sales fee, a deferred
sales fee and the creation and development fee), and
o cash and other net assets in the portfolio.
We often refer to the purchase price of units as the "offer price" or the
"Public Offering Price." We must receive your order to buy units prior to the
close of the New York Stock Exchange (normally 4:00 p.m. Eastern time) to give
you the price for that day. If we receive your order after this time, you will
receive the price computed on the next business day.
Value of the Securities. The sponsor serves as the evaluator of the trust
(the "evaluator"). We cause the trustee to determine the value of the
securities as of the close of the New York Stock Exchange on each day that the
exchange is open (the "Evaluation Time").
Pricing the Securities. The value of securities is generally determined by
using the last sale price for securities traded on a national or foreign
securities exchange or the NASDAQ Stock Market. In some cases we will price a
security based on the last asked or bid price in the over-the-counter market or
by using other recognized pricing methods. We will only do this if a security is
not principally traded on a national or foreign securities exchange or the
NASDAQ Stock Market, or if the market quotes are unavailable or inappropriate.
If applicable, the trustee or its designee will value foreign securities
primarily traded on foreign exchanges at their fair value which may be other
than their market prices if the market quotes are unavailable or
inappropriate.
The trustee determined the initial prices of the securities shown in
"Trust Portfolio" for your trust in this prospectus. Such prices were
determined as described above at the close of the New York Stock Exchange on
the business day before the date of this prospectus. On the first day we sell
units we will compute the unit price as of the close of the New York Stock
Exchange or the time the registration statement filed with the Securities and
Exchange Commission becomes effective, if later.
Organization Costs. During the initial offering period, part of your
purchase price includes a per unit amount sufficient to reimburse us for some
or all of the costs of creating your trust. These costs include the costs of
preparing the registration statement and legal documents, legal fees, federal
and state registration fees, the portfolio consulting fee, if applicable, and
the initial fees and expenses of the trustee. Your trust will sell securities
to reimburse us for these costs at the end of the initial offering period or
after six months, at the discretion of the sponsor. Organization costs will not
exceed the estimate set forth under "Fees and Expenses."
Transactional Sales Fee. You pay a fee when you buy units. We refer to this
fee as the "transactional sales fee." The transactional sales fee has both an
initial and a deferred component and is 3.45% of the Public Offering Price,
based on a $10 unit. The percentage amount of the transactional sales fee is
based on the unit price on the Inception Date. Because the transactional sales
fee equals the difference between the maximum sales fee and the C&D Fee, the
percentage and dollar amount of the transactional sales fee will vary as the
unit price varies.
The transactional sales fee does not include the C&D Fee which is
described under "Expenses of the Trust" in Part B of the prospectus and in
"Fees and Expenses" in Part A of the prospectus.
Initial Sales Fee. Based on a $10 unit, the initial sales fee is initially
1% of the Public Offering Price. The initial sales fee, which you will pay at
the time of purchase, is equal to the difference between the maximum sales fee
(3.95% of the Public Offering Price) and the sum of the maximum remaining
deferred sales fees and the C&D Fee (initially $0.295 per unit). The dollar
amount and percentage amount of the initial sales fee will vary over time.
Deferred Sales Fee. We defer payment of the rest of the transactional
sales fee through the deferred sales fee ($0.245 per unit). You pay any
remaining deferred sales fee when you sell or redeem units. The trust may sell
securities to meet the trust's obligations with respect to the deferred sales
fee. Thus, no assurance can be given that the trust will retain its present
size and composition for any length of time.
In limited circumstances and only if deemed in the best interests of
unitholders, the sponsor may delay the payment of the deferred sales fee from
the dates listed under "Fees and Expenses."
Reducing Your Sales Fee. We offer a variety of ways for you to reduce the
maximum sales fee you pay. It is your financial professional's responsibility to
alert us of any discount when you order units. Since the deferred sales fee and
the C&D Fee are a fixed dollar amount per unit, your trust must charge the
deferred sales fee and the C&D Fee per unit regardless of any discounts.
However, when you purchase units of your trust, if you are eligible to receive a
discount such that your total maximum sales fee is less than the fixed dollar
amount of the deferred sales fee and the C&D Fee, the sponsor will credit you
the difference between your maximum sales fee and the sum of the deferred sales
fee and the C&D Fee at the time you buy units by providing you with additional
units.
Large Purchases. You can reduce your maximum sales fee by increasing the
size of your investment.
Investors who make large purchases are entitled to the following sales
charge reductions:
Sales Charge
Reductions (as a
% of the Public
Purchase Amount Offering Price)
------------------- ----------------
Less than $50,000 0.00%
$50,000 - $99,999 0.25
$100,000 - $249,999 0.50
$250,000 - $499,999 0.75
$500,000 - $999,999 1.00
$1,000,000 or more 1.50
Aggregate unit purchases of any Guggenheim Funds trust by the same person
on any single day from any one broker-dealer qualify for a purchase level. You
can include these purchases as your own for purposes of this aggregation:
o purchases by your spouse or children under the age of 21 living in the
same household, and
o purchases by your trust estate or fiduciary accounts.
The discounts described above apply only during the initial offering
period.
There can be no assurance that the sponsor will create future trusts with
investment strategies similar to your trust or that may fit within your
investment parameters.
Advisory and Fee Accounts. We eliminate your transactional sales fee for
purchases made through registered investment advisers, certified financial
planners or registered broker-dealers who charge periodic fees in lieu of
commissions or who charge for financial planning or for investment advisory or
asset management services or provide these services as part of an investment
account where a comprehensive "wrap fee" is imposed (a "Fee Account").
This discount applies during the initial offering period and in the
secondary market. Your financial professional may purchase units with the Fee
Account CUSIP numbers to facilitate purchases under this discount, however, we
do not require that you buy units with these CUSIP numbers to qualify for the
discount. If you purchase units with these special CUSIP numbers, you should be
aware that you may have the distributions automatically reinvest into
additional units of your trust or receive cash distributions. We reserve the
right to limit or deny purchases of units not subject to the transactional
sales fee by investors whose frequent trading activity we determine to be
detrimental to your trust. We, as sponsor, will receive and you will pay the
C&D Fee. See "Expenses of the Trust" in Part B of the prospectus for more
information.
Exchange or Rollover Option. If you are buying units of your trust in the
primary market with redemption or termination proceeds from any unit trust, you
may purchase units at 99% of the maximum Public Offering Price, which may
include an up-front sales fee and a deferred sales fee. To qualify for this
sales charge reduction, the termination or redemption proceeds being used to
purchase units of the trust must be no more than 30 days old. Such purchases
entitled to this sales charge reduction may be classified as "Rollover
Purchases." An exchange or rollover is generally treated as a sale for federal
income tax purposes. See "Taxes" in Part B of the prospectus.
Rollover Purchases are also subject to the C&D Fee. See "Expenses of the
Trust" in Part B of the prospectus.
Employees. We do not charge the portion of the transactional sales fee
that we would normally pay to your financial professional for purchases made by
officers, directors and employees and their family members (spouses, children
under the age of 21 living in the same household and parents) of Guggenheim
Funds and its affiliates, or by employees of selling firms and their family
members (spouses, children under the age of 21 living in the same household and
parents). You pay only the portion of the fee that the sponsor retains. Such
purchases are also subject to the C&D Fee. This discount applies during the
initial offering period and in the secondary market. Only those broker-dealers
that allow their employees to participate in employee discount programs will be
eligible for this discount.
Dividend Reinvestment Plan. We do not charge any transactional sales fee
when you reinvest distributions from your trust into additional units of the
trust. Since the deferred sales fee is a fixed dollar amount per unit, your
trust must charge the deferred sales fee per unit regardless of this discount.
If you elect the distribution reinvestment plan, we will credit you with
additional units with a dollar value sufficient to cover the amount of any
remaining deferred sales fee that will be collected on such units at the time of
reinvestment. The dollar value of these units will fluctuate over time. This
discount applies during the initial offering period and in the secondary market.
See "Purchase, Redemption and Pricing of Units" in Part B of the
prospectus for more information regarding buying units.
How We Distribute Units. We sell units to the public through
broker-dealers and other firms. We pay part of the sales fee you pay to these
distribution firms when they sell units. The distribution fee paid for a given
transaction is as follows:
Concession
per Unit (as a
Purchase Amount/ % of the Public
Form of Purchase Offering Price)
-------------------- ---------------
Less than $50,000 3.10%
$50,000 - $99,999 2.85
$100,000 - $249,999 2.60
$250,000 - $499,999 2.35
$500,000 - $999,999 2.25
$1,000,000 or more 1.80
Rollover Purchases 2.20
Fee Account and
Employee Purchases 0.00
We apply these amounts as a percent of the unit price per transaction at
the time of the transaction.
Broker-dealers and other firms that sell units of certain Guggenheim Funds
unit trusts are eligible to receive additional compensation for volume sales.
Such payments will be in addition to the regular concessions paid to dealer
firms as set forth in the applicable trust's prospectus. The additional payments
will be as follows:
Primary Offering Additional
Period Sales During Volume
Calendar Quarter Concession
---------------------------- ----------
$0 but less than $10 million 0.000%
$10 million but
less than $25 million 0.075
$25 million but
less than $50 million 0.100
$50 million or more 0.125
Eligible unit trusts include all Guggenheim Funds unit trusts sold in the
primary market. Redemptions of units during the primary offering period will
reduce the amount of units used to calculate the volume concessions. In
addition, dealer firms will not receive volume concessions on the sale of units
which are not subject to a transactional sales fee. However, such sales will be
included in determining whether a firm has met the sales level breakpoints for
volume concessions.
Guggenheim Funds reserves the right to modify or terminate the volume
concession program at any time. The sponsor may also pay to certain dealers an
administrative fee for information or service used in connection with the
distribution of trust units. Such amounts will be in addition to any
concessions received for the sale of units.
In addition to the concessions described above, the sponsor may pay
additional compensation out of its own assets to broker-dealers that meet
certain sales targets and that have agreed to provide services relating to the
trust to their customers.
Other Compensation and Benefits to Broker-Dealers. The sponsor, at its own
expense and out of its own profits, may provide additional compensation and
benefits to broker-dealers who sell shares of units of the trust and other
Guggenheim Funds products. This compensation is intended to result in additional
sales of Guggenheim Funds products and/or compensate broker-dealers and
financial advisors for past sales. A number of factors are considered in
determining whether to pay these additional amounts. Such factors may include,
but are not limited to, the level or type of services provided by the
intermediary, the level or expected level of sales of Guggenheim Funds products
by the intermediary or its agents, the placing of Guggenheim Funds products on a
preferred or recommended product list, access to an intermediary's personnel,
and other factors.
The sponsor makes these payments for marketing, promotional or related
expenses, including, but not limited to, expenses of entertaining retail
customers and financial advisers, advertising, sponsorship of events or
seminars, obtaining information about the breakdown of unit sales among an
intermediary's representatives or offices, obtaining shelf space in
broker-dealer firms and similar activities designed to promote the sale of the
sponsor's products. The sponsor may make such payments to many intermediaries
that sell Guggenheim Funds products. The sponsor may also make certain payments
to, or on behalf of, intermediaries to defray a portion of their costs incurred
for the purpose of facilitating unit sales, such as the costs of developing
trading or purchasing trading systems to process unit trades.
Payments of such additional compensation, some of which may be
characterized as "revenue sharing," may create an incentive for financial
intermediaries and their agents to sell or recommend a Guggenheim Funds product,
including your trust, over products offered by other sponsors or fund companies.
These arrangements will not change the price you pay for your units.
We generally register units for sale in various states in the United
States. We do not register units for sale in any foreign country. It is your
financial professional's responsibility to make sure that units are registered
or exempt from registration if you are a foreign investor or if you want to buy
units in another country. This prospectus does not constitute an offer of units
in any state or country where units cannot be offered or sold lawfully. We may
reject any order for units in whole or in part.
We may gain or lose money when we hold units in the primary or secondary
market due to fluctuations in unit prices. The gain or loss is equal to the
difference between the price we pay for units and the price at which we sell or
redeem them. We may also gain or lose money when we deposit securities to
create units. For example, we lost the amount set forth in the trust's "Trust
Portfolio" on the initial deposit of securities into the trust.
See "Purchase, Redemption and Pricing of Units" in Part B of the
prospectus for additional information.
How to Sell Your Units
You can sell your units on any business day by contacting your financial
professional or, in some cases, the trustee. Unit prices are available daily on
the Internet at www.guggenheiminvestments.com or through your financial
professional. We often refer to the sale price of units as the "liquidation
price." You pay any remaining deferred sales fee when you sell or redeem your
units. Certain broker-dealers may charge a transaction fee for processing unit
redemptions or sale requests.
Until the end of the initial offering period or six months after the
Inception Date, at the discretion of the sponsor, the price at which the
trustee will redeem units and the price at which the sponsor may repurchase
units include estimated organization costs. After such period, the amount paid
will not include such estimated organization costs. If units of the trust are
redeemed prior to the deferred sales fee period, the entire deferred sales fee
will be collected.
Selling Units. We do not intend to but may maintain a secondary market for
units. This means that if you want to sell your units, we may buy them at the
current price which is based on their net asset value. We may then resell the
units to other investors at the public offering price or redeem them for the
redemption price. Our secondary market repurchase price is generally the same
as the redemption price. Certain broker-dealers might also maintain a secondary
market in units. You should contact your financial professional for current
unit prices to determine the best price available. We may discontinue our
secondary market at any time without notice. Even if we do not make a market,
you will be able to redeem your units with the trustee on any business day for
the current price.
Redeeming Units. You may also be able to redeem your units directly with
the trustee, The Bank of New York Mellon, on any day the New York Stock Exchange
is open. The trustee must receive your completed redemption request prior to the
close of the New York Stock Exchange for you to receive the unit price for a
particular day. (For what constitutes a completed redemption request, see
"Purchase, Redemption and Pricing of Units--Redemption" in Part B of the
prospectus.) If your request is received after that time or is incomplete in any
way, you will receive the next price computed after the trustee receives your
completed request. Rather than contacting the trustee directly, your financial
professional may also be able to redeem your units by using the Investors'
Voluntary Redemptions and Sales (IVORS) automated redemption service offered
through Depository Trust Company.
If you redeem your units, the trustee will generally send you a payment
for your units no later than three business days after it receives all
necessary documentation. At the sponsor's discretion, certain redemptions may
be made by an in-kind distribution of the securities underlying the units in
lieu of cash.
You can generally request an in-kind distribution of the securities
underlying your units if you own units worth at least $25,000 or you originally
paid at least that amount for your units. This option is generally available
only for securities traded and held in the United States and is not available
within 30 business days of the trust's termination. We may modify or
discontinue this option at any time without notice. If you request an in-kind
distribution of the securities underlying units of your trust, you will incur
any distribution or service fees (Rule 12b-1 fees) applicable to those
securities.
Exchange Option. You may be able to exchange your units for units of other
Guggenheim Funds unit trusts at a reduced sales fee. You can contact your
financial professional or Guggenheim Funds for more information about trusts
currently available for exchanges. Before you exchange units, you should read
the prospectus 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. To qualify for a reduced sales fee, you may need to meet
certain criteria. We may discontinue this option at any time.
For more complete information regarding selling or redeeming your units,
see "Purchase, Redemption and Pricing of Units" in Part B of the prospectus.
Distributions
Dividends. Your trust generally pays dividends from its net investment
income, if any, along with any excess capital on each distribution date to
unitholders of record on the preceding record date. You can elect to:
o reinvest distributions in additional units of your trust at no fee, or
o receive distributions in cash.
You may change your election by contacting your financial professional or
the trustee. Once you elect to participate in a reinvestment program, the
trustee will automatically reinvest your distributions into additional units at
their net asset value three business days prior to the distribution date. We
waive the sales fee for reinvestments into units of your trust. We cannot
guarantee that units will always be available for reinvestment. If units are
unavailable, you will receive cash distributions. We may discontinue these
options at any time without notice.
Distributions will be made from the Income and Capital Accounts on the
distribution date provided the aggregate amount available for distribution
equals at least 0.1% of the net asset value of your trust. Undistributed money
in the Income and Capital Accounts will be distributed in the next month in
which the aggregate amount available for distribution equals or exceeds 0.1% of
the net asset value of your trust.
In some cases, your trust might pay a special distribution if it holds an
excessive amount of principal pending distribution. For example, this could
happen as a result of a merger or similar transaction involving a company whose
security is in your portfolio. The amount of your distributions will vary from
time to time as companies change their dividends, trust expenses change or as a
result of changes in the trust's portfolio.
Reinvest in Your Trust. You can keep your money working by electing to
reinvest your distributions in additional units of your trust. The easiest way
to do this is to have your financial professional purchase units with one of
the Reinvestment CUSIP numbers listed in the "Investment Summary" section of
this prospectus. You may also make or change your election by contacting your
financial professional or the trustee. This reinvestment option may be subject
to availability or limitation by the broker-dealer or selling firm. In certain
circumstances, broker-dealers may suspend or terminate the offering of a
reinvestment option at any time.
Reports. The trustee will send your financial professional a statement
showing income and other receipts of your trust for each distribution. Each
year the trustee will also provide an annual report on your trust's activity
and certain tax information. You can request copies of security evaluations to
enable you to complete your tax forms and audited financial statements for your
trust, if available.
See "Administration of the Trust" in Part B of the prospectus for
additional information.
Investment Risks
All investments involve risk. This section describes the main risks that
can impact the value of the securities in your trust. You should understand
these risks before you invest. You could lose some or all of your investment in
the trust. Recently, equity markets have experienced significant volatility. If
the value of the securities in your trust falls, the value of your units will
also fall. We cannot guarantee that your trust will achieve its objective or
that your investment return will be positive over any period.
Market risk. Market risk is the risk that a particular security in the
trust, the trust itself or securities in general may fall in value. Market
value may be affected by a variety of factors including:
o General securities markets movements;
o Changes in the financial condition of an issuer or a sector;
o Changes in perceptions about an issuer or a sector;
o Interest rates and inflation;
o Governmental policies and litigation; and
o Purchases and sales of securities by the trust.
Even though we carefully supervise the portfolio, you should remember that
we do not manage the portfolio. The trust will not sell a security solely
because the market value falls as is possible in a managed fund.
Exchange-traded funds risk. The trust invests in shares of ETFs, which are
investment pools that hold other securities. The ETFs in the trust may be
passively-managed index funds that seek to replicate the performance or
composition of a recognized securities index. The ETFs held by the trust are
either open-end management investment companies or unit investment trusts
registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended. Unlike mutual
funds or unit investment trusts, ETFs generally do not sell or redeem their
individual shares at net asset value. ETFs generally sell and redeem shares in
large blocks, often referred to as "creation units," however, the sponsor does
not intend to sell or redeem ETFs in this manner. Shares of ETFs are listed on
securities exchanges for trading, which allows investors to purchase and sell
individual ETF shares at current market prices throughout the day. The trust
will purchase and sell ETF shares on these securities exchanges. ETFs therefore
possess characteristics of traditional open-end mutual funds and unit investment
trusts, which issue redeemable shares, and of corporate common stocks or
closed-end funds, which generally issue shares that trade at negotiated prices
on securities exchanges and are not redeemable.
ETFs are subject to various risks, including management's ability to meet
the fund's investment objective. The trust is also subject to the risks to
which the underlying ETFs may be subject, as well as management and operating
expenses. You will bear not only your share of your trust's expenses, but also
the expenses of the ETFs. By investing in the ETFs, the trust incurs greater
expenses than you would incur if you invested directly in the ETFs. 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 the ETF 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.
Index correlation risk. Index correlation risk is the risk that the
performance of an index-tracking ETF will vary from the actual performance of
the ETF's target index, known as "tracking error." This can happen due to fund
expenses, 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 ETF invests in a representative
sample of securities in its target index rather than all of the index
securities. The use of representative sampling could increase the risk of a
tracking error.
Limited liquidity and volatility risk. The markets for fixed-income
securities, such as those held by certain ETFs in the trust, may experience
periods of illiquidity and volatility. General market uncertainty and
consequent repricing risk have led to market imbalances of sellers and buyers,
which in turn have resulted in significant valuation uncertainties in a variety
of fixed-income securities. These conditions resulted, and in many cases
continue to result in, greater volatility, less liquidity, widening credit
spreads and a lack of price transparency, with many debt securities remaining
illiquid and of uncertain value. These market conditions may make valuation of
some of the securities held by an ETF uncertain and/or result in sudden and
significant valuation increases or declines in its holdings.
In response to the current national economic downturn, governmental cost
burdens may be reallocated among federal, state and local governments. In
addition, laws enacted in the future by Congress or state legislatures or
referenda could extend the time for payment of principal and/or interest, or
impose other constraints on enforcement of such obligations, or on the ability
of municipalities to levy taxes. Issuers of bonds and certain fixed-income
securities might seek protection under the bankruptcy laws.
Credit and income risk. Credit risk is the risk that the issuer of a debt
security held by an ETF in the trust is unable to make interest and/or
principal payments on the security. An issuer's credit rating or general market
assessments of the issuer's ability to pay its obligations may affect the
market value of the securities in the trust.
Interest rate risk. Interest rate risk is the risk that the value of
securities held by an ETF in your trust will decline in value because of a rise
in interest rates. Generally, securities that pay fixed rates of return will
increase in value when interest rates decline and decrease in value when
interest rates rise. Typically, securities that pay fixed rates of return with
longer periods before maturity are more sensitive to interest rate changes. The
trust may be subject to greater risk of rising interest rates than would
normally be the case due to the current period of historically low rates.
Call risk. Call risk is the risk that securities held by an ETF in your
trust can be prepaid or "called" by the issuer before their stated maturity. If
securities are called, your income will decline and you may not be able to
reinvest the money you receive at as high a yield. Also, an early call at par
of a security trading at a premium will reduce your return. Securities held by
an ETF in the trust are more likely to be called when interest rates decline.
The securities may also be subject to special or extraordinary call provisions
and "mandatory put" features that may cause the securities to be removed from a
fund prior to maturity or stated call dates. High-yield or "junk" securities
that are rated below investment-grade are generally more susceptible to this
risk than investment-grade securities.
Security quality risk. Security quality risk is the risk that a reduction
in a security's rating may decrease its value, the value of an ETF and the value
of your investment in your trust. Securities ratings may be reduced at any time,
including during the primary offering period of your trust.
High-yield securities risk. Certain ETFs held by the trust invest in
high-yield 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 because an increase in rates generally decreases
values. An economic slowdown, or a reduction in an issuer's creditworthiness,
may affect an issuer's ability to make dividend payments.
High-yield or "junk" securities, the general names for securities rated
below investment-grade, 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. Obligations rated below
investment-grade should be 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.
Split-ratings risk. Split-rated securities are those securities that, at
the time of investment, are rated below investment-grade by one rating agency,
so long as at least one other rating agency rates such securities within the
four highest grades (i.e., investment-grade quality). This means that a
split-rated security may be regarded by one rating agency as having
predominately speculative characteristics with respect to the issuer's capacity
to pay interest and repay principal, and accordingly subject to a greater risk
of default. The prices of split-rated securities, in the view of one but not all
rating agencies, may be more sensitive than securities without a split-rating to
negative developments, such as a decline in the issuer's revenues or a general
economic downturn.
Foreign securities risk. The trust invests in U.S.-listed foreign
securities and certain ETFs held by the trust invest in foreign securities.
Securities of foreign issuers present risks beyond those of domestic
securities. The prices of foreign securities can be more volatile than U.S.
securities due to such factors as political, social and economic developments
abroad, the differences between the regulations to which U.S. and foreign
issuers and markets are subject, the seizure by the government of company
assets, excessive taxation, withholding taxes on dividends and interest,
limitations on the use or transfer of portfolio assets, and political or social
instability. Other risks include the following:
o Enforcing legal rights may be difficult, costly and slow in foreign
countries, and there may be special problems enforcing claims against
foreign governments.
o Foreign issuers may not be subject to accounting standards or
governmental supervision comparable to U.S. issuers, and there may be
less public information about their operations.
o Foreign markets may be less liquid and more volatile than U.S.
markets.
o Foreign securities often trade in currencies other than the U.S.
dollar. Changes in currency exchange rates may affect an ETF's value,
the value of dividends and interest earned, and gains and losses
realized on the sale of securities. An increase in the strength of the
U.S. dollar relative to these other currencies may cause the value of
an ETF to decline. Certain foreign currencies may be particularly
volatile, and foreign governments may intervene in the currency
markets, causing a decline in value or liquidity in an ETF's foreign
security holdings.
o Future political and governmental restrictions which might adversely
affect the payment or receipt of income on the foreign securities.
Emerging market risk. Certain ETFs held by the trust invest in securities
issued by companies headquartered or incorporated in countries considered to be
emerging markets. Emerging markets are generally defined as countries with low
per capita income in the initial stages of their industrialization cycles.
Risks of investing in developing or emerging countries include the possibility
of investment and trading limitations, liquidity concerns, delays and
disruptions in settlement transactions, political uncertainties and dependence
on international trade and development assistance. In addition, emerging market
countries may be subject to overburdened infrastructures, obsolete financial
systems and environmental problems. For these reasons, investments in emerging
markets are often considered speculative.
Currency risk. Certain ETFs held by your trust may include securities
whose value is dependent on currency exchange rates. The U.S. dollar value of
these securities 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 such as the activity level of large
international commercial banks, various central banks, speculators, hedge funds
and other buyers and sellers of foreign currencies.
REIT risk. The trust invests in REITs. A REIT is a company that buys,
develops, finances and/or manages income-producing real estate. Such securities
may concentrate their investments in specific geographic areas or in specific
property types, such as hotels, shopping malls, residential complexes and
office buildings. The value of the real estate securities and the ability of
such securities to distribute income may be adversely affected by several
factors, including: rising interest rates; changes in the global and local
economic climate and real estate conditions; perceptions of prospective tenants
of the safety, convenience and attractiveness of the properties; the ability of
the owner to provide adequate management, maintenance and insurance; the cost
of complying with the Americans with Disabilities Act; increased competition
from new properties; the impact of present or future environmental legislation
and compliance with environmental laws; changes in real estate taxes and other
operating expenses; adverse changes in governmental rules and fiscal policies;
adverse changes in zoning laws; declines in the value of real estate; the
downturn in the subprime mortgage lending market in the United States; and
other factors beyond the control of the issuer of the security.
Senior loan risk. Certain ETFs held by your trust invest in senior loans.
Senior loans in which the ETFs invest:
o generally are of below investment-grade or "junk" credit quality;
o may be unrated at the time of investment;
o may be floating-rate instruments in which the interest rate payable on
the obligations fluctuates on a periodic basis based upon changes in
the base lending rate;
o generally are not registered with the SEC or any state securities
commission; and
o generally are not listed on any securities exchange.
The amount of public information available on senior loans generally will
be less extensive than that available for other types of assets.
No reliable, active trading market currently exists for many senior loans,
although a secondary market for certain senior loans has developed over the
years. Senior loans are thus relatively illiquid. Liquidity relates to the
ability of an ETF to sell an investment in a timely manner at a price
approximately equal to its value on the ETF's books. The illiquidity of senior
loans may impair an ETF's ability to realize the full value of its assets in the
event of a voluntary or involuntary liquidation of such assets. Because of the
lack of an active trading market, illiquid securities are also difficult to
value and prices provided by external pricing services may not reflect the true
value of the securities. However, many senior loans are of a large principal
amount and are held by a large number of financial institutions. To the extent
that a secondary market does exist for certain senior loans, the market may be
subject to irregular trading activity, wide bid/ask spreads and extended trade
settlement periods. The market for senior loans could be disrupted in the event
of an economic downturn or a substantial increase or decrease in interest rates.
This could result in increased volatility in the market and in your trust's net
asset value.
If legislation or state or federal regulators impose additional
requirements or restrictions on the ability of financial institutions to make
loans that are considered highly leveraged transactions, the availability of
senior loans for investment by the ETFs may be adversely affected. In addition,
such requirements or restrictions could reduce or eliminate sources of
financing for certain borrowers. This would increase the risk of default. If
legislation or federal or state regulators require financial institutions to
dispose of senior loans that are considered highly leveraged transactions or
subject such senior loans to increased regulatory scrutiny, financial
institutions may determine to sell such senior loans. Such sales could result
in depressed prices. If an ETF attempts to sell a senior loan at a time when a
financial institution is engaging in such a sale, the price an ETF could get
for the senior loan may be adversely affected.
Some senior loans are subject to the risk that a court, pursuant to
fraudulent conveyance or other similar laws, could subordinate the senior loans
to presently existing or future indebtedness of the borrower or take other
action detrimental to lenders. Such court action could under certain
circumstances include invalidation of senior loans. Any lender, which could
include an ETF, is subject to the risk that a court could find the lender liable
for damages in a claim by a borrower arising under the common laws of tort or
contracts or anti-fraud provisions of certain securities laws for actions taken
or omitted to be taken by the lenders under the relevant terms of a loan
agreement or in connection with actions with respect to the collateral
underlying the senior loan.
Municipal bond risk. Certain ETFs held by the trust invest in municipal
bonds, which are subject to various risks. The primary risk associated with an
investment in municipal bonds is that the issuer or an insurer of the municipal
bond will default on principal and/or interest payments when due on the
municipal bond. In addition, fixed-rate municipal bonds are subject to further
risks, including the risk that the value of such municipal bonds will decline
with increases in interest rates or a decrease in the federal or state (if
applicable) income tax rate.
Certain municipal bonds held by the ETFs may be original issue discount
bonds and/or zero coupon bonds. Original issue discount bonds are bonds
originally issued at less than the market interest rate. Zero coupon bonds are
original issue discount bonds that do not provide for the payment of any
current interest. Zero coupon bonds are subject to substantially greater price
fluctuations during periods of changing market interest rates than bonds of
comparable quality that pay current income.
Certain municipal bonds held by the ETFs may have been purchased by the
sponsor or issuers of the securities in a trust on a "when issued" basis.
Municipal bonds purchased on a "when issued" basis have not yet been issued by
their governmental entity on the initial date of deposit (although such
governmental entity had committed to issue such municipal bonds). In the case
of these and/or certain other municipal bonds, the delivery of the municipal
bonds may be delayed ("delayed delivery") or may not occur.
Certain municipal bonds held by the ETFs are subject to redemption prior to
their stated maturity date pursuant to sinking fund or call provisions. A call
or redemption provision is more likely to be exercised when the offering price
valuation of a bond is higher than its call or redemption price. Such price
valuation is likely to be higher in periods of declining interest rates.
Some dividends on certain of the bonds in your trust may not qualify as
"exempt-interest dividends," which generally are excluded from your gross
income for federal income tax purposes. Some or all of the exempt-interest
dividends, however, may be taken into account in determining your alternative
minimum tax, and may have other tax consequences (e.g., they may affect the
amount of your social security benefits that are taxed).
Mortgage-backed securities risk. Certain ETFs held by the trust invest in
mortgage-backed securities. Mortgage-backed securities represent direct or
indirect participations in, or are secured by and payable from, mortgage loans
secured by real property and can include single- and multi-class pass-through
securities and collateralized mortgage obligations. Mortgage-backed securities
are based on different types of mortgages, including those on commercial real
estate or residential properties. These securities often have stated maturities
of up to thirty years when they are issued, depending upon the length of the
mortgages underlying the securities. In practice, however, unscheduled or early
payments of principal and interest on the underlying mortgages may make the
securities' effective maturity shorter than this. Rising interest rates tend to
extend the duration of mortgage-backed securities, making them more sensitive to
changes in interest rates, and may reduce the market value of the securities. In
addition, mortgage-backed securities are subject to prepayment risk, the risk
that borrowers may pay off their mortgages sooner than expected, particularly
when interest rates decline. This can reduce the ETFs, and therefore the
trust's, returns because the ETF may have to reinvest that money at lower
prevailing interest rates.
Small- and mid-capitalization company risk. The trust includes securities
issued by mid-capitalization companies and certain ETFs held by the trusts
include securities issued by small- and/or mid-capitalization companies. These
securities customarily involve more investment risk than large-capitalization
companies. These additional risks are due in part to the following factors.
Small- and mid-capitalization companies may:
o Have limited product lines, markets or financial resources;
o Be new and developing companies which seek to develop and utilize new
and/or emerging technologies. These technologies may be slow to
develop or fail to develop altogether;
o Have less publicly available information;
o Lack management depth or experience;
o Be less liquid;
o Be more vulnerable to adverse general market or economic developments;
and
o Be dependent upon products that were recently brought to market or key
personnel.
Litigation and legislation risk. Your trust is also subject to litigation
and legislation risk. From time to time, various legislative initiatives are
proposed in the United States and abroad which may have a negative impact on
certain issuers represented in the trust. In addition, litigation regarding any
of the issuers of the securities or of the sectors represented by these issuers,
may raise potential bankruptcy concerns and may negatively impact the share
prices of these securities. We cannot predict what impact any pending or
threatened litigation or any bankruptcy concerns will have on the share prices
of the securities.
Inflation risk. Inflation risk is the risk that the value of assets or
income from investments will be less in the future as inflation decreases the
value of money.
Significant unitholders risk. There may be unitholders of the trust who
hold a significant portion of the trust and, as result, a redemption by such
significant holder may have a material impact on the size, expenses and
viability of the trust.
See "Risk Factors" in Part B of the prospectus for additional information.
How the Trust Works
Your Trust. Your trust is a unit investment trust registered under the
Investment Company Act of 1940 and the Securities Act of 1933. We created your
trust under a trust agreement between Guggenheim Funds Distributors, LLC (as
sponsor, evaluator and supervisor) and The Bank of New York Mellon (as
trustee). To create your trust, we deposited contracts to purchase securities
with the trustee along with an irrevocable letter of credit or other
consideration to pay for the securities. In exchange, the trustee delivered
units of your trust to us. Each unit represents an undivided interest in the
assets of your trust. These units remain outstanding until redeemed or until
your trust terminates.
Changing Your Portfolio. Your trust is not a managed fund. Unlike a
managed fund, we designed your portfolio to remain relatively fixed after its
inception. Your trust will generally buy and sell securities:
o to pay expenses,
o to issue additional units or redeem units,
o in limited circumstances to protect the trust,
o to avoid direct or indirect ownership of a passive foreign investment
company,
o to make required distributions or avoid imposition of taxes on the
trust, or
o as permitted by the trust agreement.
You will not be able to dispose of or vote any of the securities in your
trust. As the holder of the securities, the trustee will vote the securities
and will endeavor to vote the securities such that the securities are voted as
closely as possible in the same manner and the same general proportion as are
the securities held by owners other than your trust. However, the trustee may
not be able to vote the securities in your trust that are traded on foreign
exchanges.
Your trust will generally reject any offer for securities or property other
than cash in exchange for the securities in its portfolio. However, if a public
tender offer has been made for a security or a merger or acquisition has been
announced affecting a security, your trust may either sell the security or
accept a tender offer for cash if the supervisor determines that the sale or
tender is in the best interest of unitholders. The trustee will distribute any
cash proceeds to unitholders. If your trust receives securities or property
other than cash, it may either hold the securities or property in its portfolio
or sell the securities or property and distribute the proceeds. For example,
this could happen in a merger or similar transaction.
We will increase the size of your trust as we sell units. When we create
additional units, we will seek to replicate the existing portfolio. In certain
cases, the trustee may need additional time to acquire the securities necessary
to create units and consequently, the trust may not be fully invested at all
times, which may impact the trust's performance. When your trust buys
securities, it will pay brokerage or other acquisition fees. You could
experience a dilution of your investment because of these fees and fluctuations
in security prices between the time we create units and the time your trust
buys the securities. When your trust buys or sells securities, we, acting in an
agency capacity, may direct that the trust places orders with and pay brokerage
commissions to brokers that sell units or are affiliated with your trust. We
will not select firms to handle these transactions on the basis of their sale
of units of your trust or any other products sponsored by us. We cannot
guarantee that the trust will keep its present size and composition for any
length of time.
Termination of Your Trust. Your trust will terminate no later than the
termination date listed in the "Investment Summary" section of this prospectus.
The trustee may terminate your trust early if the value of the trust is less
than $1 million or less than 40% of the value of the securities in the trust at
the end of the initial offering period. At this size, the expenses of your trust
may create an undue burden on your investment. Investors owning two-thirds of
the units in your trust may also vote to terminate the trust early. We may also
terminate your trust in other limited circumstances.
The trustee will notify you of any termination and sell any remaining
securities. The trustee will send your final distribution to you within a
reasonable time following liquidation of all the securities after deducting
final expenses. Your termination distribution may be less than the price you
originally paid for your units.
See "Administration of the Trust" in Part B of the prospectus for
additional information.
General Information
Guggenheim Funds. Guggenheim Funds Distributors, LLC specializes in the
creation, development and distribution of investment solutions for advisors and
their valued clients. In November 2001, we changed our name from Ranson &
Associates, Inc. to Claymore Securities, Inc. ("Claymore"). On September 27,
2010, Claymore officially changed its name to Guggenheim Funds Distributors,
LLC. This change follows the acquisition of Claymore by Guggenheim Partners,
LLC on October 14, 2009. Since the finalization of the acquisition, we have
been operating as a subsidiary of Guggenheim Partners, LLC.
During our history we have been active in public and corporate finance,
have underwritten closed-end funds and have distributed bonds, mutual funds,
closed-end funds, exchange-traded funds, structured products and unit trusts in
the primary and secondary markets. We are a registered broker-dealer and member
of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA). If we fail to or cannot
perform our duties as sponsor or become bankrupt, the trustee may replace us,
continue to operate your trust without a sponsor, or terminate your trust. You
can contact us at our headquarters at 2455 Corporate West Drive, Lisle, Illinois
60532 or by using the contacts listed on the back cover of this prospectus.
Guggenheim Funds personnel may from time to time maintain a position in certain
securities held by your trust.
Guggenheim Funds and your trust have adopted a code of ethics requiring
Guggenheim Funds' employees who have access to information on trust
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 trust.
See "Administration of the Trust" in Part B of the prospectus for
additional information.
The Trustee. The Bank of New York Mellon is the trustee of your trust. It
is a trust company organized under New York law. You can contact the trustee by
calling the telephone number on the back cover of this prospectus or write to
Unit Investment Trust Division, 2 Hanson Place, 12th Fl., Brooklyn, New York
11217. We may remove and replace the trustee in some cases without your
consent. The trustee may also resign by notifying the sponsor and investors.
See "Administration of the Trust" in Part B of the prospectus for
additional information.
Expenses
Your trust will pay various expenses to conduct its operations. The
"Investment Summary" section of this prospectus shows the estimated amount of
these expenses.
Your trust will pay a fee to the trustee for its services. The trustee also
benefits when it holds cash for your trust in non-interest bearing accounts.
Your trust will reimburse the sponsor as supervisor and evaluator for providing
portfolio supervisory services, evaluating your portfolio and performing
bookkeeping and administrative services. Our reimbursements may exceed the costs
of the services we provide to your trust but will not exceed the costs of
services provided to all Guggenheim Funds unit investment trusts in any calendar
year. In addition, the trustee may reimburse the sponsor out of its own assets
for services performed by employees of the sponsor in connection with the
operation of your trust. All of these fees may adjust for inflation without your
approval.
Your trust will pay a fee to the sponsor for creating and developing the
trust, including determining the trust's objective, policies, composition and
size, selecting service providers and information services, and for providing
other similar administrative and ministerial functions. Your trust pays this
"creation and development fee" of $0.05 per unit from the assets of the trust
as of the close of the initial public offering period. The sponsor does not use
the fee to pay distribution expenses or as compensation for sales efforts.
Your trust will also pay its general operating expenses, including any
licensing fees. Your trust may also pay expenses such as trustee expenses
(including legal and auditing expenses), organization expenses, various
governmental charges, fees for extraordinary trustee services, costs of taking
action to protect your trust, costs of indemnifying the trustee and Guggenheim
Funds, legal fees and expenses, expenses incurred in contacting you and costs
incurred to reimburse the trustee for advancing funds to meet distributions.
Your trust may pay the costs of updating its registration statement each year.
The trustee may sell securities to pay trust expenses. Your trust, and therefore
the unitholders of your trust, will also indirectly bear the expenses of the
underlying ETFs. While your trust will not pay these expenses directly out of
its assets, these expenses are shown under "Annual Fund Operating Expenses of
the Trust" in the "Fees and Expenses" section of the prospectus to illustrate
the impact of these expenses. Please note that the sponsor or an affiliate may
be engaged as a service provider to certain ETFs held by your trust and
therefore certain fees paid by your trust to such ETFs will be paid to the
sponsor or an affiliate for its services to such ETFs.
See "Expenses of the Trust" in Part B of the prospectus for additional
information.
Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm
Unitholders
Guggenheim Defined Portfolios, Series 1524
We have audited the accompanying statement of financial condition,
including the trust portfolio set forth on pages 12 and 13 of this prospectus,
of Guggenheim Defined Portfolios, Series 1524, as of October 19, 2016, the
initial date of deposit. This statement of financial condition is the
responsibility of the trust's sponsor. Our responsibility is to express an
opinion on this statement of financial condition based on our audit.
We conducted our audit in accordance with the auditing standards of the
Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States). Those standards
require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about
whether the statement of financial condition is free of material misstatement.
We were not engaged to perform an audit of the trust's internal control over
financial reporting. Our audit included consideration of internal control over
financial reporting as a basis for designing audit procedures that are
appropriate in the circumstances, 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. An audit also includes
examining, on a test basis, evidence supporting the amounts and disclosures in
the statement of financial condition, assessing the accounting principles used
and significant estimates made by the sponsor, as well as evaluating the
overall financial statement presentation. Our procedures included confirmation
with The Bank of New York Mellon, trustee, of cash or an irrevocable letter of
credit deposited for the purchase of securities as shown in the statement of
financial condition as of October 19, 2016. We believe that our audit of the
statement of financial condition provides a reasonable basis for our opinion.
In our opinion, the statement of financial condition referred to above
presents fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of Guggenheim
Defined Portfolios, Series 1524, as of October 19, 2016, in conformity with
accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America.
/s/ Grant Thornton LLP
Chicago, Illinois
October 19, 2016
Guggenheim Defined Portfolios, Series 1524
Statement of Financial Condition
as of the Inception Date, October 19, 2016
Investment in securities
Sponsor's contracts to purchase underlying securities backed by
letter of credit (1)(2) $ 150,376
------------
$ 150,376
============
Liabilities and interest of unitholders
Liabilities:
Organization costs (3) $ 1,215
Creation and development fee (6) 759
Deferred sales fee (4) 3,721
------------
5,695
------------
Interest of unitholders:
Cost to unitholders (5) 151,890
Less: initial sales fee (4) 1,514
Less: organization costs, C&D and deferred sales fees (3)(4)(5)(6) 5,695
------------
Net interest of unitholders 144,681
------------
Total $ 150,376
============
Number of units 15,189
============
Net Asset Value per Unit $ 9.525
============
-----------------------
(1) Aggregate cost of the securities is based on the closing sale price
evaluations as determined by the trustee.
(2) A letter of credit has been deposited with The Bank of New York Mellon,
trustee, covering the funds (aggregating $150,376) necessary for the
purchase of the securities in the trust, represented by purchase contracts.
(3) A portion of the Public Offering Price represents an amount sufficient to
pay for all or a portion of the costs incurred in establishing the trust.
These costs have been estimated at $8.00 per 100 units of the trust. A
distribution will be made as of the close of the initial offering period or
six months after the initial date of deposit (at the discretion of the
sponsor) to an account maintained by the trustee from which this obligation
of the investors will be satisfied. Organization costs will not be assessed
to units that are redeemed prior to the close of the initial offering
period or six months after the initial date of deposit (at the discretion
of the sponsor). To the extent that actual organization costs are greater
than the estimated amount, only the estimated organization costs added to
the Public Offering Price will be deducted from the assets of the trust.
(4) The aggregate cost to unitholders includes a maximum sales fee, which
consists of an initial sales fee, a deferred sales fee and a creation and
development fee. The initial sales fee is equal to the difference between
the maximum sales fee and the sum of the remaining deferred sales fee and
the creation and development fee. On the Inception Date, the maximum sales
fee is 3.95% of the Public Offering Price (equivalent to 3.99% of the net
amount invested). The deferred sales fee is equal to $0.245 per unit.
(5) The aggregate cost to investors includes the applicable sales fee, assuming
no reduction of sales fees.
(6) The trust is committed to pay a creation and development fee of $5.00 per
100 units at the close of the initial public offering period. The creation
and development fee will not be assessed to units that are redeemed prior
to the close of the initial offering period.
GUGGENHEIM DEFINED PORTFOLIOS
GUGGENHEIM PORTFOLIO PROSPECTUS
PART B DATED OCTOBER 19, 2016
The prospectus for a Guggenheim Defined Portfolio (a "trust") is divided
into two parts. Part A of the prospectus relates exclusively to a particular
trust or trusts and provides specific information regarding each trust's
portfolio, strategies, investment objectives, expenses, financial highlights,
income and capital distributions, hypothetical performance information, risk
factors and optional features. Part B of the prospectus provides more general
information regarding the Guggenheim Defined Portfolios. You should read both
parts of the prospectus and retain them for future reference. Except as provided
in Part A of the prospectus, the information contained in this Part B will apply
to each trust.
Contents
General Information 2
Investment Policies 2
Risk Factors 3
Administration of the Trust 16
Expenses of the Trust 22
Portfolio Transactions and Brokerage Allocation 24
Purchase, Redemption and Pricing of Units 24
Taxes 28
Experts 32
General Information
Each trust is one of a series of separate unit investment trusts created
under the name Guggenheim Defined Portfolios and registered under the
Investment Company Act of 1940 and the Securities Act of 1933. Each trust was
created as a common law trust on the inception date described in the prospectus
under the laws of the state of New York. Each trust was created under a trust
agreement among Guggenheim Funds Distributors, LLC (as sponsor, evaluator and
supervisor) and The Bank of New York Mellon (as trustee).
When your trust was created, the sponsor delivered to the trustee
securities or contracts for the purchase thereof for deposit in the trust and
the trustee delivered to the sponsor documentation evidencing the ownership of
units of the trust. After your trust is created, the sponsor may deposit
additional securities in the trust, contracts to purchase additional securities
along with cash (or a bank letter of credit in lieu of cash) to pay for such
contracted securities or cash (including a letter of credit) with instructions
to purchase additional securities. Such additional deposits will be in amounts
which will seek to replicate, as closely as practicable, the portfolio
immediately prior to such deposits. If the sponsor deposits cash, existing and
new 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 cash deposit and the purchase of the
securities and because the trust will pay the associated brokerage fees.
A trust consists of (i) the securities listed under "Trust Portfolio" in
the prospectus as may continue to be held from time to time in the trust; (ii)
any additional securities acquired and held by the trust pursuant to the
provisions of the trust agreement; and (iii) any cash held in the accounts of
the trust. Neither the sponsor nor the trustee shall be liable in any way for
any failure in any of the securities. However, should any contract for the
purchase of any of the securities initially deposited in a trust fail, the
sponsor will, unless substantially all of the moneys held in the trust to cover
such purchase are reinvested in substitute securities in accordance with the
trust agreement, refund the cash and sales charge attributable to such failed
contract to all unitholders on the next distribution date.
Investment Policies
The trust is a unit investment trust and is not an "actively managed"
fund. Traditional methods of investment management for a managed fund typically
involve frequent changes in a portfolio of securities on the basis of economic,
financial and market analysis. The portfolio of a trust, however, will not be
actively managed and therefore the adverse financial condition of an issuer
will not necessarily require the sale of its securities from a portfolio.
Unitholders will not be able to dispose of or vote any of the securities
in a trust. As the holder of the securities, the trustee will vote the
securities and will endeavor to vote the securities such that the securities
are voted as closely as possible in the same manner and the same general
proportion as are the securities held by owners other than such trust. However,
the trustee may not be able to vote the securities in a trust that are traded
on foreign exchanges.
The trust agreement provides that the sponsor may (but need not) direct
the trustee to dispose of a security in certain events such as the issuer
having defaulted on the payment on any of its outstanding obligations, the
issuer having qualified as a passive foreign investment company under the
Internal Revenue Code or the price of a security has declined to such an extent
or other such credit factors exist so that in the opinion of the sponsor the
retention of such securities would be detrimental to the trust. If a public
tender offer has been made for a security or a merger or acquisition has been
announced affecting a security, the trustee may either sell the security or
accept a tender offer for cash if the supervisor determines that the sale or
tender is in the best interest of unitholders. The trustee will distribute any
cash proceeds to unitholders. Pursuant to the trust agreement and with limited
exceptions, the trustee may sell any securities or other properties acquired in
exchange for securities such as those acquired in connection with a merger or
other transaction. If offered such new or exchanged securities or property
other than cash, the trustee shall reject the offer. However, in the event such
securities or property are nonetheless acquired by the trust, they may be
accepted for deposit in a trust and either sold by the trustee or held in a
trust pursuant to the direction of the sponsor. Proceeds from the sale of
securities (or any securities or other property received by the trust in
exchange for securities) are credited to the Capital Account for distribution
to unitholders or to meet redemptions.
Except as stated in the trust agreement, or in the prospectus, the
acquisition by the trust of any securities other than the portfolio securities
is prohibited. The trustee may sell securities, designated by the sponsor, from
the trust for the purpose of redeeming units of a trust tendered for redemption
and the payment of expenses and for such other purposes as permitted under the
trust agreement.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, the trustee is authorized to reinvest any
funds held in the Capital or Income Accounts, pending distribution, in U.S.
Treasury obligations which mature on or before the next applicable distribution
date. Any obligations so acquired must be held until they mature and proceeds
therefrom may not be reinvested.
Proceeds from the sale of securities (or any securities or other property
received by a trust in exchange for securities) are credited to the Capital
Account of a trust for distribution to unitholders or to meet redemptions.
Except for failed securities and as provided in the prospectus or in the trust
agreement, the acquisition by a trust of any securities other than the
portfolio securities is prohibited. The trustee may sell securities from a
trust for limited purposes, including redeeming units tendered for redemption
and the payment of expenses.
Risk Factors
Stocks. An investment in units of a trust should be made with an
understanding of the risks inherent in an investment in equity securities,
including the risk that the financial condition of issuers of the securities may
become impaired or that the general condition of the stock market may worsen
(both of which may contribute directly to a decrease in the value of the
securities and thus, in the value of the units) or the risk that holders of
common stock have a right to receive payments from the issuers of those stocks
that is generally inferior to that of creditors of, or holders of debt
obligations issued by, the issuers and that the rights of holders of common
stock generally rank inferior to the rights of holders of preferred stock. You
could lose some or all of your investment in the trust. Common stocks are
especially susceptible to general stock market movements and to volatile
increases and decreases in 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, and global or
regional political, economic or banking crises.
Holders of common stock incur more risk than the holders of preferred
stocks and debt obligations because common stockholders, as owners of the
entity, have generally inferior rights to receive payments from the issuer in
comparison with the rights of creditors of, or holders of debt obligations or
preferred stock issued by the issuer. Holders of common stock of the type held
by a trust have a right to receive dividends only when and if, and in the
amounts, declared by the issuer's board of directors and to participate in
amounts available for distribution by the issuer only after all other claims on
the issuer have been paid or provided for. By contrast, holders of preferred
stock have the right to receive dividends at a fixed rate when and as declared
by the issuer's board of directors, normally on a cumulative basis, but do not
participate in other amounts available for distribution by the issuing
corporation. Cumulative preferred stock dividends must be paid before common
stock dividends and any cumulative preferred stock dividend omitted is added to
future dividends payable to the holders of cumulative preferred stock.
Preferred stocks are also entitled to rights on liquidation which are senior to
those of common stocks. Moreover, common stocks do not represent an obligation
of the issuer and therefore do not offer any assurance of income or provide the
degree of protection of capital debt securities. Indeed, the issuance of debt
securities or even preferred stock will create prior claims for payment of
principal, interest, liquidation preferences and dividends which could
adversely affect the ability and inclination of the issuer to declare or pay
dividends on its common stock or the rights of holders of common stock with
respect to assets of the issuer upon liquidation or bankruptcy. Further, unlike
debt securities which typically have a stated principal amount payable at
maturity (whose value, however, will be subject to market fluctuations prior
thereto), common stocks have neither a fixed principal amount nor a maturity
and have values which are subject to market fluctuations for as long as the
stocks remain outstanding. The value of the securities in a portfolio thus may
be expected to fluctuate over the entire life of a trust to values higher or
lower than those prevailing at the time of purchase.
The sponsor's buying and selling of the securities, especially during the
initial offering of units of the trust or to satisfy redemptions of units may
impact upon the value of the underlying securities and the units. The
publication of the list of the securities selected for the trust may also cause
increased buying activity in certain of the stocks comprising the portfolio.
After such announcement, investment advisory and brokerage clients of the
sponsor and its affiliates may purchase individual securities appearing on the
list during the course of the initial offering period or may purchase warrants
issued by the sponsor or its affiliates which are based on the performance of
the securities on the list. The sponsor or its affiliates may also purchase
securities as a hedge against its risk on the warrants (although generally the
sponsor and its affiliates will not purchase securities for their own account
until after the trust portfolio has been acquired). Such buying activity in the
stock of these companies or issuance of the warrants prior to the purchase of
the securities by the trust may cause the trust to purchase stocks at a higher
price than those buyers who effect purchases by the trust.
Fixed Portfolio. Investors should be aware that the trust is not "managed"
and as a result, the adverse financial condition of a company will not result in
the elimination of its securities from the portfolio of the trust except under
extraordinary circumstances. Investors should note in particular that the
securities were selected on the basis of the criteria set forth in the
prospectus and that the trust may continue to purchase or hold securities
originally selected through this process even though the evaluation of the
attractiveness of the securities may have changed. A number of the securities in
the trust may also be owned by other clients of the sponsor. However, because
these clients may have differing investment objectives, the sponsor may sell
certain securities from those accounts in instances where a sale by the trust
would be impermissible, such as to maximize return by taking advantage of market
fluctuations. In the event a public tender offer is made for a security or a
merger or acquisition is announced affecting a security, the sponsor may
instruct the trustee to tender or sell the security on the open market when, in
its opinion, it is in the best interest of the unitholders of the unit to do so.
Although the portfolio is regularly reviewed and evaluated and the sponsor may
instruct the trustee to sell securities under certain limited circumstances,
securities will not be sold by the trust to take advantage of market
fluctuations or changes in anticipated rates of appreciation. As a result, the
amount realized upon the sale of the securities may not be the highest price
attained by an individual security during the life of the trust. The prices of
single shares of each of the securities in the trust vary widely, and the effect
of a dollar of fluctuation, either higher or lower, in stock prices will be much
greater as a percentage of the lower-price stocks' purchase price than as a
percentage of the higher-price stocks' purchase price.
Closed-End Fund Risks. If set forth in Part A of the prospectus, a trust
may invest in the common stock of closed-end funds ("Closed-End Funds").
Closed-End Funds are actively managed investment companies which invest in
various types of securities. Closed-End Funds issue shares of common stock that
are traded on a securities exchange. Closed-End Funds are subject to various
risks, including management's ability to meet the Closed-End Fund's investment
objective, and to manage the Closed-End Fund portfolio when the underlying
securities are redeemed or sold, during periods of market turmoil and as
investors' perceptions regarding Closed-End Funds or their underlying
investments change.
Shares of Closed-End Funds 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 Closed-End 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.
Certain of the Closed-End Funds included in a trust may employ the use of
leverage in their portfolios through the issuance of preferred stock. While
leverage often serves to increase the yield of a Closed-End Fund, this leverage
also subjects the Closed-End Fund to increased risks, including the likelihood
of increased volatility and the possibility that the Closed-End Fund's common
share income will fall if the dividend rate on the preferred shares or the
interest rate on any borrowing rises.
Exchange-Traded Fund Risks. If set forth in Part A of the prospectus, a
trust may invest in the common stock of exchange-traded funds ("ETFs"). ETFs are
investment pools that hold other securities. ETFs are either open-end management
investment companies or unit investment trusts registered under the Investment
Company Act of 1940. Unlike typical open-end funds or unit investment trusts,
ETFs generally do not sell or redeem their individual shares at net asset value.
In addition, securities exchanges list ETF shares for trading, which allows
investors to purchase and sell individual ETF shares at current market prices
throughout the day. ETFs therefore possess characteristics of traditional
open-end funds and unit investment trusts, which issue redeemable shares, and of
corporate common stocks or closed-end funds, which generally issue shares that
trade at negotiated prices on securities exchanges and are not redeemable. ETFs
are subject to various risks, including management's ability to meet the fund's
investment objective. The underlying ETF has management and operating expenses.
You will bear not only your share of the trust's expenses, but also the expenses
of the underlying ETF. By investing in an ETF, the trust incurs greater expenses
than you would incur if you invested directly in the ETF.
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 the ETF 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.
Market Discounts or Premiums. Certain of the securities may have been
deposited at a market discount or premium principally because their dividend
rates are lower or higher than prevailing rates on comparable securities. The
current returns of market discount securities are lower than comparably rated
securities selling at par because discount securities tend to increase in
market value as they approach maturity. The current returns of market premium
securities are higher than comparably rated securities selling at par because
premium securities tend to decrease in market value as they approach maturity.
Because part of the purchase price is returned through current income payments
and not at maturity, an early redemption at par of a premium security will
result in a reduction in yield to the trust. Market premium or discount
attributable to dividend rate changes does not indicate market confidence or
lack of confidence in the issue.
Liquidity. Whether or not the securities are listed on a national
securities exchange, the principal trading market for the securities may be in
the over-the-counter market. As a result, 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. In addition, a trust is
restricted under the Investment Company Act of 1940 from selling securities to
the sponsor. The price at which the securities may be sold to meet redemptions
and the value of a trust will be adversely affected if trading markets for the
securities are limited or absent.
Additional Deposits. The trust agreement authorizes the sponsor to
increase the size of a trust and the number of units thereof by the deposit of
additional securities, or cash (including a letter of credit) with instructions
to purchase additional securities, in such trust and the issuance of a
corresponding number of additional units. If the sponsor deposits cash,
existing and new 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 cash deposit and the purchase of the
securities and because a trust will pay the associated brokerage fees. To
minimize this effect, the trusts will attempt to purchase the securities as
close to the evaluation time or as close to the evaluation prices as possible.
Some of the securities may have limited trading volume. The trustee, with
directions from the sponsor, will endeavor to purchase securities with deposited
cash as soon as practicable reserving the right to purchase those securities
over the 20 business days following each deposit in an effort to reduce the
effect of these purchases on the market price of those stocks. This could,
however, result in the trusts' failure to participate in any appreciation of
those stocks before the cash is invested. If any cash remains at the end of this
period (and such date is within the 90-day period following the inception date)
and cannot be invested in one or more stocks, at what the sponsor considers
reasonable prices, it intends to use that cash to purchase each of the other
securities in the original proportionate relationship among those securities.
Similarly, at termination of the trust, the sponsor reserves the right to sell
securities over a period of up to nine business days to lessen the impact of its
sales on the market price of the securities. The proceeds received by
unitholders following termination of the trust will reflect the actual sales
proceeds received on the securities, which will likely differ from the closing
sale price on the termination date.
Litigation and Legislation. At any time litigation may be initiated on a
variety of grounds, or legislation may be enacted with respect to the
securities in a trust or the issuers of the securities. There can be no
assurance that future litigation or legislation will not have a material
adverse effect on the trust or will not impair the ability of issuers to
achieve their business goals.
Financial Sector Risks. If set forth in Part A of the prospectus, certain
of the issuers of securities in a trust may be involved in the financial
sector. An investment in units of a trust containing securities of such issuers
should be made with an understanding of the problems and risks inherent in the
financial sector in general.
Banks, thrifts and their holding companies are especially subject to the
adverse effects of economic recession; volatile interest rates; portfolio
concentrations in geographic markets, in commercial and residential real estate
loans or any particular segment or industry; and competition from new entrants
in their fields of business. Banks and thrifts are highly dependent on net
interest margin. Banks and thrifts traditionally receive a significant portion
of their revenues from consumer mortgage fee income as a result of activity in
mortgage and refinance markets.
Banks, thrifts 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 and
thrifts 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 thrifts and increases in deposit insurance premiums required to be
paid by banks and thrifts to the 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.
The statutory requirements applicable to and regulatory supervision of
banks, thrifts and their holding companies have increased significantly and
have undergone substantial change in the recent past.
The Securities and Exchange Commission and the Financial Accounting
Standards Board ("FASB") require the expanded use of market value accounting by
banks and have imposed rules requiring mark-to-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.
Accounting Standards Codification 820, "Fair Value Measurements and Disclosures"
changed the requirements of mark-to-market accounting and determining fair value
when the volume and level of activity for the asset or liability has
significantly decreased. These changes and other potential changes in financial
accounting rules and valuation techniques may have a significant impact on the
banking and financial services industries in terms of accurately pricing assets
or liabilities. Additional legislative and regulatory changes may be
forthcoming. For example, the bank regulatory authorities have proposed
substantial changes to the Community Reinvestment Act and fair lending laws,
rules and regulations, and there can be no certainty as to the effect, if any,
that such changes would have on the securities in a trust's portfolio. 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 change the dollar amount or number of deposits insured for any depositor. On
October 3, 2008, EESA increased the maximum amount of federal deposit insurance
coverage payable as to any certificate of deposit from $100,000 to $250,000 per
depositor. The impact of this reform is unknown and could reduce profitability
as investment opportunities available to bank institutions become more limited
and as consumers look for savings vehicles other than bank deposits. The sponsor
makes no prediction as to what, if any, manner of bank and thrift regulatory
actions might ultimately be adopted or what ultimate effect such actions might
have on a trust's portfolio.
The Federal Bank Holding Company Act of 1956 ("BHC Act") generally
prohibits a bank holding company from (i) acquiring, directly or indirectly,
more than 5% of the outstanding shares of any class of voting securities of a
bank or bank holding company; (ii) acquiring control of a bank or another bank
holding company; (iii) acquiring all or substantially all the assets of a bank;
or (iv) merging or consolidating with another bank holding company, without
first obtaining FRB approval. In considering an application with respect to any
such transaction, the FRB is required to consider a variety of factors,
including the potential anti-competitive effects of the transaction, the
financial condition and future prospects of the combining and resulting
institutions, the managerial resources of the resulting institution, the
convenience and needs of the communities the combined organization would serve,
the record of performance of each combining organization under the Community
Reinvestment Act and the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, and the prospective
availability to the FRB of information appropriate to determine ongoing
regulatory compliance with applicable banking laws. In addition, the federal
Change In Bank Control Act and various state laws impose limitations on the
ability of one or more individuals or other entities to acquire control of
banks or bank holding companies.
The FRB has issued a policy statement on the payment of cash dividends by
bank holding companies in which 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 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.
The sponsor makes no prediction as to the effect, if any, such laws will have on
the securities in a trust or whether such approvals, if necessary, will be
obtained.
Companies engaged in investment banking/brokerage and investment
management include brokerage firms, broker/dealers, investment banks, finance
companies and mutual fund companies. Earnings and share prices of companies in
this industry are quite volatile, and often exceed the volatility levels of the
market as a whole. Negative economic events in the credit markets have led some
firms to declare bankruptcy, forced short-notice sales to competing firms, or
required government intervention by the FDIC or through an infusions of
Troubled Asset Relief Program funds. Consolidation in the industry and the
volatility in the stock market have negatively impacted investors.
Additionally, government intervention has required many financial
institutions to become bank holding companies under the BHC Act. Under the
system of functional regulation established under the BHC Act, the FRB
supervises bank holding companies as an umbrella regulator. The BHC Act and
regulations generally restrict bank holding companies from engaging in business
activities other than the business of banking and certain closely related
activities. The FRB and FDIC have also issued substantial risk-based and
leverage capital guidelines applicable to U.S. banking organizations. The
guidelines define a three-tier framework, requiring depository institutions to
maintain certain leverage ratios depending on the type of assets held. If any
depository institution controlled by a financial or bank holding company ceases
to meet capital or management standards, the FRB may impose corrective capital
and/or managerial requirements on the company and place limitations on its
ability to conduct broader financial activities. Furthermore, proposed
legislation will allow the Treasury and the FDIC to create a resolution regime
to "take over" bank and financial holding companies. The "taking over" would be
based on whether the firm is in default or in danger of defaulting and whether
such a default would have a serious adverse effect on the financial system or
the economy. This mechanism would only be used by the government in exceptional
circumstances to mitigate these effects. This type of intervention has unknown
risks and costs associated with it, which may cause unforeseeable harm in the
industry.
Companies involved in the insurance industry are engaged in underwriting,
reinsuring, selling, distributing or placing of property and casualty, life or
health insurance. Other growth areas within the insurance industry include
brokerage, reciprocals, claims processors and multi-line insurance companies.
Interest rate levels, general economic conditions and price and marketing
competition affect insurance company profits. Property and casualty insurance
profits may also be affected by weather catastrophes and other disasters. Life
and health insurance profits may be affected by mortality and morbidity rates.
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 pressures to compete globally.
In addition to the normal risks of business, companies involved in the
insurance industry are subject to significant risk factors, including those
applicable to regulated insurance companies, such as: (i) the inherent
uncertainty in the process of establishing property-liability loss reserves,
particularly reserves for the cost of environmental, asbestos and mass tort
claims, 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; (ii) the fact that insurance companies have
experienced, and can be expected in the future to experience, catastrophe losses
which could have a material adverse impact on their financial condition, results
of operations and cash flow; (iii) the inherent uncertainty in the process of
establishing property-liability loss reserves due to changes in loss payment
patterns caused by new claims settlement practices; (iv) 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 rating; (v) the
extensive regulation and supervision to which insurance companies' subsidiaries
are subject, various regulatory initiatives that may affect insurance companies,
and regulatory and other legal actions; (vi) 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; (vii) the need
to adjust the effective duration of the assets and liabilities of life insurance
operations in order to meet the anticipated cash flow requirements of its
policyholder obligations; and (viii) the uncertainty involved in estimating the
availability of reinsurance and the collectability of reinsurance recoverables.
This enhanced oversight into the insurance industry may pose unknown risks to
the sector as a whole.
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 re-examining 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.
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.
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.
Environmental pollution clean-up is the subject of both federal and state
regulation. By some estimates, there are thousands of potential waste sites
subject to clean up. The insurance industry is involved in extensive litigation
regarding coverage issues. The Comprehensive Environmental Response Compensation
and Liability Act of 1980 ("Superfund") and comparable state statutes
("mini-Superfund") govern the clean-up and restoration by "Potentially
Responsible Parties" ("PRPs"). Superfund and the mini-Superfunds ("Environmental
Clean-up Laws" or "ECLs") establish a mechanism to pay for clean-up of waste
sites if PRPs fail to do so, and to assign liability to PRPs. The extent of
liability to be allocated to a PRP is dependent on a variety of factors. The
extent of clean-up necessary and the assignment of liability has not been fully
established. The insurance industry is disputing many such claims. Key coverage
issues include whether Superfund response costs are considered damages under the
policies, when and how coverage is triggered, applicability of pollution
exclusions, the potential for joint and several liability and definition of an
occurrence. Similar coverage issues exist for clean up and waste sites not
covered under Superfund. To date, courts have been inconsistent in their rulings
on these issues. An insurer's exposure to liability with regard to its insureds
which have been, or may be, named as PRPs is uncertain. Superfund reform
proposals have been introduced in Congress, but none have been enacted. There
can be no assurance that any Superfund reform legislation will be enacted or
that any such legislation will provide for a fair, effective and cost-efficient
system for settlement of Superfund related claims.
While current federal income tax law permits the tax-deferred accumulation
of earnings on the premiums paid by an annuity owner and holders of certain
savings-oriented life insurance products, no assurance can be given that future
tax law will continue to allow such tax deferrals. If such deferrals were not
allowed, consumer demand for the affected products would be substantially
reduced. In addition, proposals to lower the federal income tax rates through a
form of flat tax or otherwise could have, if enacted, a negative impact on the
demand for such products.
Major determinants of future earnings of companies in the financial
services sector are the direction of the stock market, investor confidence,
equity transaction volume, the level and direction of long-term and short-term
interest rates, and the outlook for emerging markets. Negative trends in any of
these earnings determinants could have a serious adverse effect on the
financial stability, as well as the stock prices, of these companies.
Furthermore, there can be no assurance that the issuers of the securities
included in the trust will be able to respond in a timely manner to compete in
the rapidly developing marketplace. 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 pressures to compete globally.
Foreign Securities Risk. If set forth in Part A of the prospectus, a
trust, or issuers of securities held by a trust, may invest in foreign issuers,
and therefore, an investment in such a trust involves some investment risks
that are different in some respects from an investment in a trust that invests
entirely in securities of domestic issuers. Those investment risks include
future political and governmental restrictions which might adversely affect the
payment or receipt of payment of dividends on the relevant securities, currency
exchange rate fluctuations, exchange control policies, and the limited
liquidity and small market capitalization of such foreign countries' securities
markets. 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. Also, foreign
issuers are not necessarily subject to uniform accounting, auditing and
financial reporting standards, practices and requirements comparable to those
applicable to domestic issuers. However, due to the nature of the issuers of
the securities included in the trust, the sponsor believes that adequate
information will be available to allow the sponsor to provide portfolio
surveillance.
Certain of the securities in the trust may be in ADR or GDR form. ADRs,
American Depositary Receipts and GDRs, Global Depositary Receipts, represent
common stock deposited with a custodian in a depositary. American Depositary
Receipts and Global Depositary Receipts (collectively, the "Depositary
Receipts") are issued by a bank or trust company to evidence ownership of
underlying securities issued by a foreign corporation. These instruments may
not necessarily be denominated in the same currency as the securities into
which they may be converted. For purposes of the discussion herein, the terms
ADR and GDR generally include American Depositary Shares and Global Depositary
Shares, respectively.
Depositary Receipts may be sponsored or unsponsored. In an unsponsored
facility, the depositary initiates and arranges the facility at the request of
market makers and acts as agent for the Depositary Receipts holder, while the
company itself is not involved in the transaction. In a sponsored facility, the
issuing company initiates the facility and agrees to pay certain administrative
and shareholder-related expenses. Sponsored facilities use a single depositary
and entail a contractual relationship between the issuer, the shareholder and
the depositary; unsponsored facilities involve several depositaries with no
contractual relationship to the company. The depositary bank that issues
Depositary Receipts generally charges a fee, based on the price of the
Depositary Receipts, upon issuance and cancellation of the Depositary Receipts.
This fee would be in addition to the brokerage commissions paid upon the
acquisition or surrender of the security. In addition, the depositary bank
incurs expenses in connection with the conversion of dividends or other cash
distributions paid in local currency into U.S. dollars and such expenses are
deducted from the amount of the dividend or distribution paid to holders,
resulting in a lower payout per underlying shares represented by the Depositary
Receipts than would be the case if the underlying share were held directly.
Certain tax considerations, including tax rate differentials and withholding
requirements, arising from the application of the tax laws of one nation to
nationals of another and from certain practices in the Depositary Receipts
market may also exist with respect to certain Depositary Receipts. In varying
degrees, any or all of these factors may affect the value of the Depositary
Receipts compared with the value of the underlying shares in the local market.
In addition, the rights of holders of Depositary Receipts may be different than
those of holders of the underlying shares, and the market for Depositary
Receipts may be less liquid than that for the underlying shares. Depositary
Receipts are registered securities pursuant to the Securities Act of 1933 and
may be subject to the reporting requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of
1934.
For the securities that are Depositary Receipts, currency fluctuations
will affect the United States dollar equivalent of the local currency price of
the underlying domestic share and, as a result, are likely to affect the value
of the Depositary Receipts and consequently the value of the securities. The
foreign issuers of securities that are Depositary Receipts may pay dividends in
foreign currencies which must be converted into United States dollars. Most
foreign currencies have fluctuated widely in value against the United States
dollar for many reasons, including supply and demand of the respective
currency, the soundness of the world economy and the strength of the respective
economy as compared to the economies of the United States and other countries.
Therefore, for any securities of issuers (whether or not they are in Depositary
Receipt form) whose earnings are stated in foreign currencies, or which pay
dividends in foreign currencies or which are traded in foreign currencies,
there is a risk that their United States dollar value will vary with
fluctuations in the United States dollar foreign exchange rates for the
relevant currencies.
Preferred Stock Risks. If set forth in Part A of the prospectus, a trust,
or issuers of securities held by a trust, may invest in preferred stock. If this
is the case, 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 the trust to values higher or lower than
those prevailing on the initial date of deposit.
Trust Preferred Securities Risks. If set forth in Part A of the
prospectus, a trust, or issuers of securities held by a trust, may invest in
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 limited-life preferred
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 dividend 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 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 trust preferred securities are
generally not 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 interest 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.
Convertible Securities Risks. If set forth in Part A of the prospectus, a
trust, or issuers of securities held by a trust, 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 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. In addition,
contingent payment, convertible securities allow the issuer to claim deductions
based on its nonconvertible cost of debt, which generally will result in
deduction in excess of the actual cash payments made on the securities (and
accordingly, holders will recognize income in amounts in excess of the cash
payments received).
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.
Senior Loan Risks. If set forth in Part A of the prospectus, a trust, or
issuers of securities held by a trust, may invest in senior loans.
Senior loans in which a Closed-End Fund or an ETF may invest:
o generally are of below investment-grade or "junk" credit quality;
o may be unrated at the time of investment;
o generally are not registered with the SEC or any state securities
commission; and
o generally are not listed on any securities exchange.
The amount of public information available on senior loans generally will
be less extensive than that available for other types of assets.
No reliable, active trading market currently exists for many senior loans,
although a secondary market for certain senior loans has developed over the
past several years. Senior loans are thus relatively illiquid. Liquidity
relates to the ability of a Closed-End Fund or an ETF to sell an investment in
a timely manner at a price approximately equal to its value on the Closed-End
Fund's or the ETF's books. The illiquidity of senior loans may impair a
Closed-End Fund's or an ETF's ability to realize the full value of its assets
in the event of a voluntary or involuntary liquidation of such assets. Because
of the lack of an active trading market, illiquid securities are also difficult
to value and prices provided by external pricing services may not reflect the
true value of the securities. However, many senior loans are of a large
principal amount and are held by a large number of financial institutions. To
the extent that a secondary market does exist for certain senior loans, the
market may be subject to irregular trading activity, wide bid/ask spreads and
extended trade settlement periods. The market for senior loans could be
disrupted in the event of an economic downturn or a substantial increase or
decrease in interest rates. This could result in increased volatility in the
market and in the trusts' net asset value.
If legislation or state or federal regulators impose additional
requirements or restrictions on the ability of financial institutions to make
loans that are considered highly leveraged transactions, the availability of
senior loans for investment by the Closed-End Funds or the ETFs may be
adversely affected. In addition, such requirements or restrictions could reduce
or eliminate sources of financing for certain borrowers. This would increase
the risk of default. If legislation or federal or state regulators require
financial institutions to dispose of senior loans that are considered highly
leveraged transactions or subject such senior loans to increased regulatory
scrutiny, financial institutions may determine to sell such senior loans. Such
sales could result in depressed prices. If a Closed-End Fund or an ETF attempts
to sell a senior loan at a time when a financial institution is engaging in
such a sale, the price a Closed-End Fund or an ETF could get for the senior
loan may be adversely affected.
Some senior loans are subject to the risk that a court, pursuant to
fraudulent conveyance or other similar laws, could subordinate the senior loans
to presently existing or future indebtedness of the borrower or take other
action detrimental to lenders. Such court action could under certain
circumstances include invalidation of senior loans. Any lender, which could
include a Closed-End Fund or an ETF, is subject to the risk that a court could
find the lender liable for damages in a claim by a borrower arising under the
common laws of tort or contracts or anti-fraud provisions of certain securities
laws for actions taken or omitted to be taken by the lenders under the relevant
terms of a loan agreement or in connection with actions with respect to the
collateral underlying the senior loan.
Floating-Rate Securities Risk. If set forth in Part A of the prospectus, a
trust, or issuers of securities held by a trust may invest in floating-rate
securities. Certain Closed-End Funds or ETFs held by the trust may invest in
securities that are structured as floating-rate instruments in which the
interest rate payable on the obligations fluctuates on a periodic basis based
upon changes in a base lending rate. As a result, the yield on these securities
will generally decline in a falling interest rate environment, causing the
Closed-End Funds or the ETFs to experience a reduction in the income they
receive from these securities. A sudden and significant increase in market
interest rates may increase the risk of payment defaults and cause a decline in
the value of these investments and the value of the Closed-End Funds or the
ETFs held by the trust.
Small-Capitalization and Mid-Capitalization Stocks Risk. If set forth in
Part A of the prospectus, a trust may invest in small-capitalization or
mid-capitalization stocks. Investing in small-capitalization stocks or
mid-capitalization stocks may involve greater risk than investing in
large-capitalization stocks, since they can be subject to more abrupt or erratic
price movements. Many small market capitalization companies ("Small-Cap
Companies") or middle market capitalization companies ("Mid-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 Small-Cap Companies and
Mid-Cap Companies is relatively higher than larger, older and more mature
companies. The greater price volatility of Small-Cap Companies and Mid-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
Small-Cap Companies or Mid-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.
Administration of the Trust
Distributions to Unitholders. Income received by a trust is credited by
the trustee to the Income Account of the trust. Other receipts are credited to
the Capital Account of a trust. Income received by a trust will be distributed
on or shortly after the distribution dates each year shown in the prospectus on
a pro rata basis to unitholders of record as of the preceding record date shown
in the prospectus. However, if set forth in Part A of the prospectus that the
trust will prorate distributions on an annual basis ("Income Averaging"), then
income received by the trust will be distributed on a prorated basis of
one-twelfth of the estimated annual income to the trust for the ensuing 12
months. All distributions will be net of applicable expenses. There is no
assurance that any actual distributions will be made since all dividends
received may be used to pay expenses. In addition, excess amounts from the
Capital Account of a trust, if any, will be distributed at least annually to
the unitholders then of record. Proceeds received from the disposition of any
of the 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 applicable to the Capital Account. The trustee shall be
required to make a distribution from the Capital Account if the cash balance on
deposit therein available for distribution shall be sufficient to distribute at
least $1.00 per 100 units. The trustee is not required to pay interest on funds
held in the Capital or Income Accounts (but may itself earn interest thereon
and therefore benefits from the use of such funds). The trustee is authorized
to reinvest any funds held in the Capital or Income Accounts, pending
distribution, in U.S. Treasury obligations which mature on or before the next
applicable distribution date. Any obligations so acquired must be held until
they mature and proceeds therefrom may not be reinvested.
The distribution to the unitholders as of each record date will be made on
the following distribution date or shortly thereafter and shall consist of an
amount substantially equal to such portion of the unitholders' pro rata share of
the dividend distributions then held in the Income Account after deducting
estimated expenses. Because dividends are not received by a trust at a constant
rate throughout the year, such distributions to unitholders are expected to
fluctuate. However, if the trust uses Income Averaging, the trust prorates the
income distribution on an annual basis and annual income distributions are
expected to vary from year to year. If the amount on deposit in the Income
Account is insufficient for payment of the amount of income to be distributed on
a monthly basis, the trustee shall advance out of its own funds and cause to be
deposited in and credited to such Income Account such amount as may be required
to permit payment of the monthly income distribution. The trustee shall be
entitled to be reimbursed by the trust, without interest, out of income received
by the trust subsequent to the date of such advance and subject to the condition
that any such reimbursement shall be made only if it will not reduce the funds
in or available for the Income Account to an amount less than required for the
next ensuing distribution. Persons who purchase units will commence receiving
distributions only after such person becomes a record owner. A person will
become the owner of units, and thereby a unitholder of record, on the date of
settlement provided payment has been received. Notification to the trustee of
the transfer of units is the responsibility of the purchaser, but in the normal
course of business such notice is provided by the selling broker-dealer.
The trustee will periodically deduct from the Income Account of a trust
and, to the extent funds are not sufficient therein, from the Capital Account
of a trust amounts necessary to pay the expenses of a trust. The trustee also
may withdraw from said accounts such amounts, if any, as it deems necessary to
establish a reserve for any governmental charges payable out of a trust.
Amounts so withdrawn shall not be considered a part of a trust's assets until
such time as the trustee shall return all or any part of such amounts to the
appropriate accounts. In addition, the trustee may withdraw from the Income and
Capital Accounts of a trust such amounts as may be necessary to cover
redemptions of units.
Distribution Reinvestment. Unitholders may elect to have distributions of
capital (including capital gains) or dividends, if any, or both automatically
invested into additional units of their trust without a sales fee.
Your trust will pay any deferred sales fee per unit regardless of any
sales fee discounts. However, if you elect to have distributions on your units
reinvested into additional units of your trust, you will be credited the amount
of any remaining deferred sales charge on such additional units at the time of
reinvestment.
Unitholders who are receiving distributions in cash may elect to
participate in distribution reinvestment by filing with the Program Agent an
election to have such distributions reinvested without charge. Such election
must be received by the Program Agent at least ten days prior to the record
date applicable to any distribution in order to be in effect for such record
date. Any such election shall remain in effect until a subsequent notice is
received by the Program Agent.
The Program Agent is The Bank of New York Mellon. All inquiries concerning
participating in distribution reinvestment should be directed to The Bank of
New York Mellon at its Unit Investment Trust Division office.
Statements to Unitholders. With each distribution, the trustee will
furnish to each registered holder a statement of the amount of income and the
amount of other receipts, if any, which are being distributed, expressed in
each case as a dollar amount per unit.
The accounts of a trust will not be audited annually unless the sponsor
determines that such an audit would be in the best interest of the unitholders
of the trust. If an audit is conducted, it will be done at the related trust's
expense, by independent public accountants designated by the sponsor. The
accountants' report will be furnished by the trustee to any unitholder upon
written request. Within a reasonable period of time after the end of each
calendar year, the trustee shall furnish to each person who at any time during
the calendar year was a unitholder of a trust a statement, covering the calendar
year, generally setting forth for the trust:
(A) As to the Income Account:
(1) Income received;
(2) Deductions for applicable taxes and for fees and expenses of the trust
and for redemptions of units, if any; and
(3) The balance remaining after such distributions and deductions,
expressed in each case both as a total dollar amount and as a dollar
amount representing the pro rata share of each unit outstanding on the
last business day of such calendar year; and
(B) As to the Capital Account:
(1) The dates of disposition of any securities and the net proceeds
received therefrom;
(2) Deductions for payment of applicable taxes and fees and expenses of
the trust; and
(3) The balance remaining after such distributions and deductions
expressed both as a total dollar amount and as a dollar amount
representing the pro rata share of each unit outstanding on the last
business day of such calendar year; and
(C) The following information:
(1) A list of the securities as of the last business day of such calendar
year;
(2) The number of units outstanding on the last business day of such
calendar year;
(3) The redemption price based on the last evaluation made during such
calendar year; and
(4) The amount actually distributed during such calendar year from the
Income and Capital Accounts separately stated, expressed both as total
dollar amounts and as dollar amounts per unit outstanding on the
record dates for each such distribution.
Rights of Unitholders. A unitholder may at any time tender units to the
trustee for redemption. The death or incapacity of any unitholder will not
operate to terminate a trust nor entitle legal representatives or heirs to claim
an accounting or to bring any action or proceeding in any court for partition or
winding up of a trust. No unitholder shall have the right to control the
operation and management of a trust in any manner, except to vote with respect
to the amendment of the trust agreement or termination of a trust.
Amendment and Termination. The trust agreement may be amended by the
trustee and the sponsor without the consent of any of the unitholders: (i) to
cure any ambiguity or to correct or supplement any provision which may be
defective or inconsistent; (ii) to change any provision thereof as may be
required by the Securities and Exchange Commission or any successor governmental
agency; (iii) to make such provisions as shall not materially adversely affect
the interests of the unitholders; or (iv) to make such other amendments as may
be necessary for a trust to qualify as a regulated investment company, in the
case of a trust which has elected to qualify as such. The trust agreement with
respect to any trust may also be amended in any respect by the sponsor and the
trustee, or any of the provisions thereof may be waived, with the consent of the
holders of units representing 66 2/3% of the units then outstanding of the
trust, provided that no such amendment or waiver will reduce the interest of any
unitholder thereof without the consent of such unitholder or reduce the
percentage of units required to consent to any such amendment or waiver without
the consent of all unitholders of the trust. In no event shall the trust
agreement be amended to increase the number of units of a trust issuable
thereunder, to permit the acquisition of any securities in addition to or in
substitution for those initially deposited in the trust or to adversely affect
the characterization of a trust as a regulated investment company for federal
income tax purposes, except in accordance with the provisions of the trust
agreement. The trustee shall promptly notify unitholders of the substance of any
such amendment.
The trust agreement provides that a trust shall terminate upon the
liquidation, redemption or other disposition of the last of the securities held
in the trust but in no event is it to continue beyond the mandatory termination
date set forth in Part A of the prospectus. If the value of a trust shall be
less than the applicable minimum value stated in the prospectus, the trustee
may, in its discretion, and shall, when so directed by the sponsor, terminate
the trust. A trust may be terminated at any time by the holders of units
representing 66 2/3% of the units thereof then outstanding. In addition, the
sponsor may terminate a trust if it is based on a security index and the index
is no longer maintained.
Beginning nine business days prior to, but no later than, the mandatory
termination date described in the prospectus, the trustee may begin to sell all
of the remaining underlying securities on behalf of unitholders in connection
with the termination of the trust. The sponsor may assist the trustee in these
sales and receive compensation to the extent permitted by applicable law. The
sale proceeds will be net of any incidental expenses involved in the sales.
The trustee will attempt to sell the securities as quickly as it can
during the termination proceedings without, in its judgment, materially
adversely affecting the market price of the securities, but it is expected that
all of the securities will in any event be disposed of within a reasonable time
after a trust's termination. The sponsor does not anticipate that the period
will be longer than one month, and it could be as short as one day, depending
on the liquidity of the securities being sold. The liquidity of any security
depends on the daily trading volume of the security and the amount that the
sponsor has available for sale on any particular day. Of course, no assurances
can be given that the market value of the securities will not be adversely
affected during the termination proceedings.
Within a reasonable period after termination, the trustee will sell any
securities remaining in a trust and, after paying all expenses and charges
incurred by the trust, will distribute to unitholders thereof their pro rata
share of the balances remaining in the Income and Capital Accounts of the trust.
The sponsor currently intends, but is not obligated, to offer for sale
units of a subsequent series of certain trusts at approximately one year after
the inception date of such trusts. If the sponsor does offer such units for
sale, unitholders may be given the opportunity to purchase such units at a
public offering price which includes a reduced sales fee. There is, however, no
assurance that units of any new series of a trust 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.
The 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 Unit
Investment Trust Division offices at 2 Hanson Place, 12th Fl., Brooklyn, New
York 11217, telephone 1-800-701-8178. 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 trustee, whose duties are ministerial in nature, has not participated
in selecting the portfolio of any trust. In accordance with the trust
agreement, the trustee shall keep records of all transactions at its office.
Such records shall include the name and address of, and the number of units
held by, every unitholder of a trust. Such books and records shall be open to
inspection by any unitholder at all reasonable times during 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 shall keep a certified copy or duplicate original of
the trust agreement on file in its office available for inspection at all
reasonable times during usual business hours by any unitholder, together with a
current list of the securities held in each trust. Pursuant to the trust
agreement, the trustee may employ one or more agents for the purpose of custody
and safeguarding of securities comprising a trust.
Under the trust agreement, the trustee or any successor trustee may resign
and be discharged of a trust 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 sixty 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 thirty days after
notification, the retiring trustee may apply to a court of competent
jurisdiction for the appointment of a successor. The sponsor may at any time
remove the trustee, with or without cause, and appoint a successor trustee as
provided in the trust agreement. 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 trustee must be a corporation organized under the laws of the
United States, or any state thereof, be authorized under such laws to exercise
trust powers and have at all times an aggregate capital, surplus and undivided
profits of not less than $5,000,000.
The Sponsor. Guggenheim Funds Distributors, LLC specializes in the
creation, development and distribution of investment solutions for advisors and
their valued clients. Guggenheim Funds Distributors, LLC was created as Ranson &
Associates, Inc. in 1995 and is the successor sponsor to unit investment trusts
formerly sponsored by EVEREN Unit Investment Trusts, a service of EVEREN
Securities, Inc. Guggenheim Funds Distributors, LLC is also the sponsor and
successor sponsor of Series of Ranson Unit Investment Trusts and The Kansas
Tax-Exempt Trust and Multi-State Series of The Ranson Municipal Trust. On
October 29, 2001, Ranson & Associates, Inc. was acquired by Claymore Group LLC.
The sale to Claymore Group LLC was financed by a loan from The Bank of New York
Mellon, the trustee. In November 2001, the sponsor changed its name from Ranson
& Associates, Inc. to Claymore Securities, Inc. On October 14, 2009, Guggenheim
Partners, LLC acquired Claymore Securities, Inc. Since the finalization of the
acquisition, Claymore Securities, Inc. has been operating as a subsidiary of
Guggenheim Partners, LLC. On September 27, 2010, Claymore Securities, Inc.
officially changed its name to Guggenheim Funds Distributors, LLC.
Guggenheim Funds Distributors, LLC has been active in public and corporate
finance, has underwritten closed-end funds and has sold bonds, mutual funds,
closed-end funds, exchange-traded funds, structured products and unit
investment trusts and maintained secondary market activities relating thereto.
At present, Guggenheim Funds Distributors, LLC which is a member of the
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), is the sponsor to each of the
above-named unit investment trusts. The sponsor's offices are located at 2455
Corporate West Drive, Lisle, Illinois 60532.
If at any time the sponsor shall fail to perform any of its duties under
the trust agreement or shall become incapable of acting or shall be adjudged a
bankrupt or insolvent or shall have its affairs 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 such
reasonable amounts as may be prescribed by the Securities and Exchange
Commission; (ii) terminate the trust agreement and liquidate any trust as
provided therein; or (iii) continue to act as trustee without terminating the
trust agreement.
The Supervisor and the Evaluator. Guggenheim Funds Distributors, LLC, the
sponsor, also serves as evaluator and supervisor. The evaluator and supervisor
may resign or be removed by the trustee in which event the trustee is to use
its best efforts to appoint a satisfactory successor. Such resignation or
removal shall become effective upon acceptance of appointment by the successor
evaluator. If upon resignation of the evaluator no successor has accepted
appointment within thirty days after notice of resignation, the evaluator may
apply to a court of competent jurisdiction for the appointment of a successor.
Notice of such registration or removal and appointment shall be mailed by the
trustee to each unitholder. As evaluator, Guggenheim Funds Distributors, LLC
utilizes the trustee to perform certain evaluation services.
Limitations on Liability. The sponsor is liable for the performance of its
obligations arising from its responsibilities under the trust agreement, but
will be under no liability to the unitholders for taking any action or
refraining from any action in good faith pursuant to the trust agreement or for
errors in judgment, except in cases of its own gross negligence, bad faith or
willful misconduct or its reckless disregard for its duties thereunder. The
sponsor shall not be liable or responsible in any way for depreciation or loss
incurred by reason of the sale of any securities.
The trust agreement provides that the trustee shall be under no liability
for any action taken in good faith in reliance upon prima facie properly
executed documents or for the disposition of moneys, securities or certificates
except by reason of its own gross negligence, bad faith or willful misconduct,
or its reckless disregard for its duties under the trust agreement, nor shall
the trustee be liable or responsible in any way for depreciation or loss
incurred by reason of the sale by the trustee of any securities. In the event
that the sponsor shall fail to act, the trustee may act and shall not be liable
for any such action taken by it in good faith. The trustee shall not be
personally liable for any taxes or other governmental charges imposed upon or in
respect of the securities or upon the interest thereof. In addition, the trust
agreement contains other customary provisions limiting the liability of the
trustee.
The unitholders may rely on any evaluation furnished by the evaluator and
shall have no responsibility for the accuracy thereof. The trust agreement
provides that the determinations made by the evaluator shall be made in good
faith upon the basis of the best information available to it, provided,
however, that the evaluator shall be under no liability to the trustee or
unitholders for errors in judgment, but shall be liable for its gross
negligence, bad faith or willful misconduct or its reckless disregard for its
obligations under the trust agreement.
Expenses of the Trust
The sponsor does not charge a trust an annual advisory fee. The sponsor
will receive a portion of the sale commissions paid in connection with the
purchase of units and will share in profits, if any, related to the deposit of
securities in the trust. The sponsor and/or its affiliates do, also, receive an
annual fee as set forth in Part A of the prospectus for maintaining
surveillance over the portfolio and for performing certain administrative
services for the trust (the "Sponsor's Supervisory Fee"). In providing such
supervisory services, the sponsor may purchase research from a variety of
sources, which may include dealers of the trusts. If so provided in Part A of
the prospectus, the sponsor may also receive an annual fee for providing
bookkeeping and administrative services for a trust (the "Bookkeeping and
Administrative Fee"). Such services may include, but are not limited to, the
preparation of various materials for unitholders and providing account
information to the unitholders. If so provided in Part A of the prospectus, the
evaluator may also receive an annual fee for performing evaluation services for
the trusts (the "Evaluator's Fee"). In addition, if so provided in Part A of
the prospectus, a trust may be charged an annual licensing fee to cover
licenses for the use of service marks, trademarks, trade names and intellectual
property rights and/or for the use of databases and research. The trust will
bear all operating expenses. Estimated annual trust operating expenses are as
set forth in Part A of the prospectus; if actual expenses are higher than the
estimate, the excess will be borne by the trust. The estimated expenses include
listing fees but do not include the brokerage commissions and other
transactional fees payable by the trust in purchasing and selling securities.
The trustee receives for its services that fee set forth in Part A of the
prospectus. The trustee's fee, which is paid monthly, is based on the largest
number of units of a trust outstanding at any time during the primary offering
period. After the primary offering period, the fee shall accrue daily and be
based on the number of units outstanding on the first business day of each
calendar year in which the fee is calculated or the number of units outstanding
at the end of the primary offering period, as appropriate. The Sponsor's
Supervisory Fee, the Bookkeeping and Administrative Fee and the Evaluator's Fee
are paid monthly and are based on the largest number of units of a trust
outstanding at any time during the primary offering period. After the primary
offering period, these fees shall accrue daily and be based on the number of
units outstanding on the first business day of each calendar year in which a fee
is calculated or the number of units outstanding at the end of the primary
offering period, as appropriate. The trustee benefits to the extent there are
funds for future distributions, payment of expenses and redemptions in the
Capital and Income Accounts since these Accounts are non-interest bearing and
the amounts earned by the trustee are retained by the trustee. Part of the
trustee's compensation for its services to a trust is expected to result from
the use of these funds. In addition, the Sponsor's Supervisory Fee, Bookkeeping
and Administrative Fee, Evaluator's Fee and the Trustee's Fee may be adjusted in
accordance with the cumulative percentage increase of the United States
Department of Labor's Consumer Price Index entitled "All Services Less Rent"
since the establishment of the trust. In addition, with respect to any fees
payable to the sponsor or an affiliate of the sponsor for providing bookkeeping
and other administrative services, supervisory services and evaluation services,
such individual fees may exceed the actual costs of providing such services for
a trust, but at no time will the total amount received for such services, in the
aggregate, rendered to all unit investment trusts of which Guggenheim Funds
Distributors, LLC is the sponsor in any calendar year exceed the actual cost to
the sponsor or its affiliates of supplying such services, in the aggregate, in
such year. In addition, the trustee may reimburse the sponsor out of its own
assets for services performed by employees of the sponsor in connection with the
operation of your trust.
The trust will also pay a fee to the sponsor for creating and developing
the trust, including determining the trust's objective, policies, composition
and size, selecting service providers and information services, and for
providing other similar administrative and ministerial functions. Your trust
pays this "creation and development fee" as a fixed dollar amount at the close
of the initial offering period. The sponsor does not use the fee to pay
distribution expenses or as compensation for sales efforts.
The following additional charges are or may be incurred by the trust: (i)
fees for the trustee's extraordinary services; (ii) expenses of the trustee
(including legal and auditing expenses, but not including any fees and expenses
charged by an agent for custody and safeguarding of securities) and of counsel,
if any; (iii) various governmental charges; (iv) expenses and costs of any
action taken by the trustee to protect the trust or the rights and interests of
the unitholders; (v) indemnification of the trustee for any loss, liability or
expense incurred by it in the administration of the trust not resulting from
gross negligence, bad faith or willful misconduct on its part; (vi)
indemnification of the sponsor for any loss, liability or expense incurred in
acting in that capacity without gross negligence, bad faith or willful
malfeasance or its reckless disregard for its obligations under the trust
agreement; (vii) any offering costs incurred after the end of the initial
offering period; and (viii) expenditures incurred in contacting unitholders
upon termination of the trust. The fees and expenses set forth herein are
payable out of a trust and, when owing to the trustee, are secured by a lien on
the trust. Since the securities are all stocks, and the income stream produced
by dividend payments, if any, is unpredictable, the sponsor cannot provide any
assurance that dividends will be sufficient to meet any or all expenses of a
trust. If the balances in the Income and Capital Accounts are insufficient to
provide for amounts payable by the trust, the trustee has the power to sell
securities to pay such amounts. These sales may result in capital gains or
losses to unitholders. It is expected that the income stream produced by
dividend payments may be insufficient to meet the expenses of a trust and,
accordingly, it is expected that securities will be sold to pay all of the fees
and expenses of the trust.
The trust shall also bear the expenses associated with updating the
trust's registration statement and maintaining registration or qualification of
the units and/or a trust under federal or state securities laws subsequent to
initial registration. Such expenses shall include legal fees, accounting fees,
typesetting fees, electronic filing expenses and regulatory filing fees. The
expenses associated with updating registration statements have been
historically paid by a unit investment trust's sponsor.
Portfolio Transactions and Brokerage Allocation
When a trust sells securities, the composition and diversity of the
securities in the trust may be altered. In order to obtain the best price for a
trust, it may be necessary for the supervisor to specify minimum amounts (such
as 100 shares) in which blocks of securities are to be sold. In effecting
purchases and sales of a trust's 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 the trust, the sponsor or
dealers participating in the offering of units.
Purchase, Redemption and Pricing of Units
Public Offering Price. Units of a trust are offered at the public offering
price (which is based on the aggregate underlying value of the securities in
the trust and includes the initial sales fee plus a pro rata share of any
accumulated amounts in the accounts of the trust). The initial sales fee is
equal to the difference between the maximum sales fee and the sum of the
remaining deferred sales fee and the creation and development fee ("C&D Fee").
The maximum sales fee is set forth in Part A of the prospectus. The deferred
sales fee and the C&D Fee will be collected as described in this prospectus.
Units purchased subsequent to the initial deferred sales fee payment will be
subject to the initial sales fee, the remaining deferred sales fee payments and
the C&D Fee. Units sold or redeemed prior to such time as the entire applicable
deferred sales fee has been collected will be assessed the remaining deferred
sales fee at the time of such sale or redemption. During the initial offering
period, a portion of the public offering price includes an amount of securities
to pay for all or a portion of the costs incurred in establishing a trust
("organization costs"). These organization costs include the cost of preparing
the registration statement, the trust indenture and other closing documents,
registering units with the Securities and Exchange Commission and states, the
initial audit of the trust portfolio, legal fees, fees paid to a portfolio
consultant for assisting the sponsor in selecting the trust's portfolio, and
the initial fees and expenses of the trustee. These costs will be deducted from
a trust as of the end of the initial offering period or after six months, at
the discretion of the sponsor. As indicated above, the initial public offering
price of the units was established by dividing the aggregate underlying value
of the securities by the number of units outstanding. Such price determination
as of the opening of business on the date a trust was created was made on the
basis of an evaluation of the securities in the trust prepared by the
evaluator. After the opening of business on this date, the evaluator will
appraise or cause to be appraised daily the value of the underlying securities
as of the close of the New York Stock Exchange on days the New York Stock
Exchange is open and will adjust the public offering price of the units
commensurate with such valuation. Such public offering price will be effective
for all orders properly received at or prior to the close of trading on the New
York Stock Exchange on each such day. Orders received by the trustee, sponsor
or any dealer for purchases, sales or redemptions after that time, or on a day
when the New York Stock Exchange is closed, will be held until the next
determination of price.
The value of the securities is determined on each business day by the
evaluator based on the closing sale prices on a national securities exchange or
the NASDAQ National Market System or by taking into account the same factors
referred to under "Computation of Redemption Price."
Public Distribution of Units. During the initial offering period, units of
a trust will be distributed to the public at the public offering price thereof.
Upon the completion of the initial offering, units which remain unsold or which
may be acquired in the secondary market may be offered at the public offering
price determined in the manner provided above.
The sponsor intends to qualify units of a trust for sale in a number of
states. Units will be sold through dealers who are members of FINRA and through
others. Broker-dealers and others will be allowed a concession or agency
commission in connection with the distribution of units during the initial
offering period as set forth in the prospectus.
The sponsor reserves the right to reject, in whole or in part, any order
for the purchase of units.
Sponsor Profits. The sponsor will receive gross sales fees equal to the
percentage of the public offering price of the units of a trust described in the
prospectus. In addition, the sponsor may realize a profit (or sustain a loss) as
of the date a trust is created resulting from the difference between the
purchase prices of the securities to the sponsor and the cost of such securities
to the trust. Thereafter, on subsequent deposits the sponsor may realize profits
or sustain losses from such deposits. The sponsor may realize additional profits
or losses during the initial offering period on unsold units as a result of
changes in the daily market value of the securities in the trust.
Market for Units. After the initial offering period, the sponsor may
maintain a market for units of a trust offered hereby and continuously offer to
purchase said units at prices, determined by the evaluator, based on the value
of the underlying securities. Unitholders who wish to dispose of their units
should inquire of their broker as to current market prices in order to
determine whether there is in existence any price in excess of the redemption
price and, if so, the amount thereof. Unitholders who sell or redeem units
prior to such time as the entire deferred sales fee on such units has been
collected will be assessed the amount of the remaining deferred sales fee at
the time of such sale or redemption. The offering price of any units resold by
the sponsor will be in accord with that described in the currently effective
prospectus describing such units. Any profit or loss resulting from the resale
of such units will belong to the sponsor. If the sponsor decides to maintain a
secondary market, it may suspend or discontinue purchases of units of the trust
if the supply of units exceeds demand, or for other business reasons.
Redemption. A unitholder who does not dispose of units in the secondary
market described above may cause units to be redeemed by the trustee by making
a written request to the trustee at its Unit Investment Trust Division office
in the city of New York. Unitholders must sign the request, and such transfer
instrument, exactly as their names appear on the records of the trustee. If the
amount of the redemption is $500 or less and the proceeds are payable to the
unitholder(s) of record at the address of record, no signature guarantee is
necessary for redemptions by individual account owners (including joint
owners). Additional documentation may be requested, and a signature guarantee
is always required, from corporations, executors, administrators, trustees,
guardians or associations. The signatures must be guaranteed by a participant
in the Securities Transfer Agents Medallion Program ("STAMP") or such other
signature guaranty program in addition to, or in substitution for, STAMP, as
may be accepted by the trustee.
Redemption shall be made by the trustee no later than the third business
day following the day on which a tender for redemption is received (the
"Redemption Date") by payment of cash equivalent to the redemption price,
determined as set forth below under "Computation of Redemption Price," as of the
close of the New York Stock Exchange next following such tender, multiplied by
the number of units being redeemed. Any units redeemed shall be canceled and any
undivided fractional interest in the related trust extinguished. The price
received upon redemption might be more or less than the amount paid by the
unitholder depending on the value of the securities in the trust at the time of
redemption. Unitholders who sell or redeem units prior to such time as the
entire deferred sales fee on such units has been collected will be assessed the
amount of the remaining deferred sales fee at the time of such sale or
redemption. Certain broker-dealers may charge a transaction fee for processing
redemption requests.
Under regulations issued by the Internal Revenue Service, the trustee is
required to withhold a specified percentage of the principal amount of a unit
redemption if the trustee has not been furnished the redeeming unitholder's tax
identification number in the manner required by such regulations. Any amount so
withheld is transmitted to the Internal Revenue Service and may be recovered by
the unitholder only when filing a tax return. Under normal circumstances the
trustee obtains the unitholder's tax identification number from the selling
broker. However, any time a unitholder elects to tender units for redemption,
such unitholder should make sure that the trustee has been provided a certified
tax identification number in order to avoid this possible "back-up
withholding." In the event the trustee has not been previously provided such
number, one must be provided at the time redemption is requested. Any amounts
paid on redemption representing unpaid dividends shall be withdrawn from the
Income Account of a trust to the extent that funds are available for such
purpose. All other amounts paid on redemption shall be withdrawn from the
Capital Account for a trust.
Unitholders tendering units for redemption may request an in-kind
distribution (a "Distribution In Kind") from the trustee in lieu of cash
redemption. A unitholder may request a Distribution In Kind of an amount and
value of securities per unit equal to the redemption price per unit as
determined as of the evaluation time next following the tender, provided that
the tendering unitholder is (i) entitled to receive at least $25,000 of
proceeds as part of his or her distribution or if he paid at least $25,000 to
acquire the units being tendered; and (ii) the unitholder has elected to redeem
at least thirty business days prior to the termination of the trust. If the
unitholder meets these requirements, a Distribution In Kind will be made by the
trustee through the distribution of each of the securities of the trust in book
entry form to the account of the unitholder's bank or broker-dealer at
Depository Trust Company. The tendering unitholder shall be entitled to receive
whole shares of each of the securities comprising the portfolio of the trust
and cash from the Capital Account equal to the fractional shares to which the
tendering unitholder is entitled. The trustee shall make any adjustments
necessary to reflect differences between the redemption price of the units and
the value of the securities distributed in kind as of the date of tender. If
funds in the Capital Account are insufficient to cover the required cash
distribution to the tendering unitholder, the trustee may sell securities. The
in-kind redemption option may be terminated by the sponsor at any time. The
trustee is empowered to sell securities in order to make funds available for
the redemption of units. To the extent that securities are sold or redeemed in
kind, the size of a trust will be, and the diversity of a trust may be, reduced
but each remaining unit will continue to represent approximately the same
proportional interest in each security. 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 in the portfolio at the time of redemption.
Unitholders of a trust that holds closed-end funds or other investment
company securities who request a Distribution In Kind will be subject to any
12b-1 Fees or other service or distribution fees applicable to the underlying
securities.
The right of redemption may be suspended and payment postponed for more
than three business days following the day on which tender for redemption is
made (i) for any period during which the New York Stock Exchange is closed,
other than customary weekend and holiday closings, or during which (as
determined by the Securities and Exchange Commission) trading on the New York
Stock Exchange is restricted; (ii) for any period during which an emergency
exists as a result of which disposal by the trustee of securities is not
reasonably practicable or it is not reasonably practicable to fairly determine
the value of the underlying securities in accordance with the trust agreement;
or (iii) for such other period as the Securities and Exchange Commission may by
order permit. The trustee is not liable to any person in any way for any loss
or damage which may result from any such suspension or postponement.
Computation of Redemption Price. The redemption price per unit (as well as
the secondary market public offering price) will generally be determined on the
basis of the last sale price of the securities in a trust. The redemption price
per unit is the pro rata share of each unit in a trust determined generally on
the basis of (i) the cash on hand in the trust or moneys in the process of
being collected; and (ii) the value of the securities in the trust less (a)
amounts representing taxes or other governmental charges payable out of the
trust, (b) any amount owing to the trustee for its advances and (c) the accrued
expenses or remaining deferred sales fees of the trust. During the initial
offering period, the redemption price and the secondary market repurchase price
will also include estimated organizational costs. The evaluator may determine
the value of the securities in the trust in the following manner: if the
securities are listed on a national or foreign securities exchange or the
NASDAQ National Market System, such evaluation shall generally be based on the
last available sale price on or immediately prior to the Evaluation Time on the
exchange or NASDAQ National Market System which is the principal market
therefor, which shall be deemed to be the New York Stock Exchange if the
securities are listed thereon (unless the evaluator deems such price
inappropriate as a basis for evaluation) or, if there is no such available sale
price on such exchange, at the last available bid prices (offer prices for
primary market purchases) of the securities. Securities not listed on the New
York Stock Exchange but principally traded on the NASDAQ National Market System
will be valued at the NASDAQ National Market System's official closing price.
If the securities are not so listed or, if so listed, the principal market
therefor is other than on such exchange or there is no such available sale
price on such exchange, such evaluation shall generally be based on the
following methods or any combination thereof whichever the evaluator deems
appropriate: (i) on the basis of the current bid price (offer prices for
primary market purchases) for comparable securities (unless the evaluator deems
such price inappropriate as a basis for evaluation); (ii) by determining the
valuation of the securities on the bid side (offer side for primary market
purchases) of the market by appraisal; or (iii) by any combination of the
above. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the evaluator or its designee, will
generally value foreign securities primarily traded on foreign exchanges at
their fair value which may be other than their market price. If the trust holds
securities denominated in a currency other than U.S. dollars, the evaluation of
such security is based upon U.S. dollars based on current bid side (offer side
for primary market purchases) exchange rates (unless the evaluator deems such
prices inappropriate as a basis for valuation).
Retirement Plans. A trust may be well suited for purchase by Individual
Retirement Accounts, Keogh Plans, pension funds and other qualified retirement
plans. Generally, capital gains and income received under each of the foregoing
plans are deferred from federal taxation. All distributions from such plans are
generally treated as ordinary income but may, in some cases, be eligible for
special income averaging or tax deferred rollover treatment. Investors
considering participation in any such plan should review specific tax laws
related thereto and should consult their attorneys or tax advisers with respect
to the establishment and maintenance of any such plan. Such plans are offered by
brokerage firms and other financial institutions. The trust will lower the
minimum investment requirement for IRA accounts to 1 unit. Fees and charges with
respect to such plans may vary.
Ownership of Units. Ownership of units will not be evidenced by
certificates. All evidence of ownership of units will be recorded in book entry
form at Depository Trust Company ("DTC") through an investor's brokers'
account. Units held through DTC will be registered in the nominee name of Cede
& Co. Individual purchases of beneficial ownership interest in the trust will
be made in book entry form through DTC. Ownership and transfer of units will be
evidenced and accomplished by book entries made by DTC and its participants.
DTC will record ownership and transfer of the units among DTC participants and
forward all notices and credit all payments received in respect of the units
held by the DTC participants. Beneficial owners of units will receive written
confirmation of their purchases and sale from the broker dealer or bank from
whom their purchase was made. Units are transferable by making a written
request properly accompanied by a written instrument or instruments of transfer
which should be sent registered or certified mail for the protection of the
unitholder. Record holders must sign such written request exactly as their
names appear on the records of the trust. The signatures must be guaranteed by
a participant in the STAMP or such other signature guaranty program in addition
to, or in substitution for, STAMP, as may be acceptable by the trustee.
Units may be purchased in denominations of one unit or any multiple
thereof, subject to the minimum investment requirement. Fractions of units, if
any, will be computed to three decimal places.
Taxes
This section summarizes some of the main U.S. federal income tax
consequences of owning units of the trust. This section is current as of the
date of this prospectus. Tax laws and interpretations change frequently, and
these summaries do not describe all of the tax consequences to all taxpayers.
For example, these summaries generally do not describe your situation if you are
a corporation, a non-U.S. person, a broker/dealer, or other investor with
special circumstances. In addition, this section does not describe your state,
local or foreign tax consequences.
This federal income tax summary is based in part on the advice and opinion
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, and has not reached a conclusion with respect to the federal income tax
treatment of the assets to be deposited in your trust. This may not be
sufficient for you to use for the purpose of avoiding penalties under federal
tax law.
As with any investment, you should seek advice based on your individual
circumstances from your own tax advisor.
Assets of the Trust. The trust is expected to hold one or more of the
following:
(i) shares of stock in corporations (the "Stocks") that are treated as
equity for federal income tax purposes;
(ii) equity interests (the "REIT Shares") in real estate investment trusts
("REITs") that constitute interests in entities treated as real estate
investment trusts for federal income tax purposes; and
(iii) shares (the "RIC Shares") in funds qualifying as regulated investment
companies ("RICs") that are treated as interests in regulated
investment companies for federal income tax purposes.
It is possible that your trust will also hold other assets, including
assets that are treated differently for federal income tax purposes from those
described above, in which case you will have federal income tax consequences
different from or in addition to those described in this section. All of the
assets held by the trust constitute the "Trust Assets." Neither our counsel nor
we have analyzed the proper federal income tax treatment of the Trust Assets
and thus neither our counsel nor we have reached a conclusion regarding the
federal income tax treatment of the Trust Assets.
Trust Status. If your trust is at all times operated in accordance with
the documents establishing the trust and certain requirements of federal income
tax law are met, the trust will not be taxed as a corporation for federal
income tax purposes. As a unit owner, you will be treated as the owner of a pro
rata portion of each of the Trust Assets, and as such you will be considered to
have received a pro rata share of income (e.g., dividends and capital gains, if
any) from each Trust Asset when such income would be considered to be received
by you if you directly owned the Trust Assets. This is true even if you elect
to have your distributions reinvested into additional units. In addition, the
income from Trust Assets that you must take into account for federal income tax
purposes is not reduced by amounts used to pay sales charges or trust expenses.
Income from a trust may also be subject to a 3.8% "Medicare tax". This tax
generally applies to your net investment income if your adjusted gross income
exceeds certain threshold amounts, which are $250,000 in the case of married
couples filing joint returns and $200,000 in the case of single individuals.
Your Tax Basis and Income or Loss Upon Disposition. If your trust disposes
of Trust Assets, you will generally recognize gain or loss. If you dispose of
your units or redeem your units for cash, you will also generally recognize
gain or loss. To determine the amount of this gain or loss, you must subtract
your tax basis in the related Trust Assets from your share of the total amount
received in the transaction. You can generally determine your initial tax basis
in each Trust Asset by apportioning the cost of your units, including sales
charges, among the Trust Assets ratably according to their values on the date
you acquire your units. In certain circumstances, however, you may have to
adjust your tax basis after you acquire your units (for example, in the case of
certain dividends that exceed a corporation's accumulated earnings and profits
or in the case of certain distributions with respect to REIT Shares that
represent a return of capital).
If you are an individual, the maximum marginal stated federal tax rate for
net capital gain is generally 20% for taxpayers in the 39.6% tax bracket, 15%
for taxpayers in the 25%, 28%, 33% and 35% tax brackets and 0% for taxpayers in
the 10% and 15% tax brackets. Capital gain received from assets held for more
than one year that is considered "unrecaptured section 1250 gain" (which may be
the case, for example, with some capital gains attributable to the REIT Shares)
is taxed at a maximum stated tax rate of 25%. In the case of capital gain
dividends, the determination of which portion of the capital gain dividend, if
any, is subject to the 25% tax rate, will be made based on rules prescribed by
the United States Treasury. Capital gains may also be subject to the "Medicare
tax" described above.
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. The tax rates for capital
gains realized from assets held for one year or less are generally the same as
for ordinary income. The Internal Revenue Code, however, treats certain capital
gains as ordinary income in special situations.
Dividends from Stocks. Certain dividends received with respect to the
Stocks may qualify to be taxed at the same rates that apply to net capital gain
(as discussed above), provided certain holding period requirements are
satisfied.
Dividends from RIC Shares and REIT Shares. Some dividends on the REIT
Shares or the RIC Shares may be reported by the REIT or RIC as "capital gain
dividends," generally taxable to you as long-term capital gains. Other
dividends on the REIT Shares or the RIC Shares will generally be taxable to you
as ordinary income. Certain ordinary income dividends from a RIC may qualify to
be taxed at the same rates that apply to net capital gain (as discussed above),
provided certain holding period requirements are satisfied and provided the
dividends are attributable to qualifying dividends received by the RIC itself.
Regulated investment companies are required to provide notice to their
shareholders of the amount of any distribution that may be taken into account
as a dividend that is eligible for the capital gains tax rates. In limited
circumstances, some of the ordinary income dividends from a REIT may also
qualify to be taxed at the same rates that apply to net capital gains. If you
hold a Unit for six months or less or if your Trust holds a RIC Share or REIT
Share for six months or less, any loss incurred by you related to the
disposition of such RIC Share or REIT Share will be treated as a long-term
capital loss to the extent of any long-term capital gain distributions received
(or deemed to have been received) with respect to such RIC Share or REIT Share.
Distributions of income or capital gains declared on the REIT Shares or the RIC
Shares in October, November or December will be deemed to have been paid to you
on December 31 of the year they are declared, even when paid by the REIT or the
RIC during the following January.
Dividends Received Deduction. A corporation that owns units will generally
not be entitled to the dividends received deduction with respect to many
dividends received by your trust, because the dividends received deduction is
generally not available for dividends from most foreign corporations or from
REITs or RICs. However, certain dividends on the RIC Shares that are
attributable to dividends received by the RIC from certain domestic
corporations may be reported by the RIC as being eligible for the dividends
received deduction.
In-Kind Distributions. Under certain circumstances as described in this
prospectus, you may request an in-kind distribution of Trust Assets when you
redeem your units at any time prior to 30 business days before your trust's
termination. However, this ability to request an in-kind distribution will
terminate at any time that the number of outstanding units has been reduced to
10% or less of the highest number of units issued by the trust. By electing to
receive an in-kind distribution, you will receive Trust Assets plus, possibly,
cash. You will not recognize gain or loss if you only receive whole Trust Assets
in exchange for the identical amount of your pro rata portion of the same Trust
Assets held by your trust. However, if you also receive cash in exchange for a
Trust Asset or a fractional portion of a Trust Asset, you will generally
recognize gain or loss based on the difference between the amount of cash you
receive and your tax basis in such Trust Asset or fractional portion.
Exchanges. If you elect to have your proceeds from your trust rolled over
into a future series of the trust, it is considered a sale for federal income
tax purposes and any gain on the sale will be treated as a capital gain, and any
loss will be treated as a capital loss. However, any loss you incur in
connection with the exchange of your units of your trust for units of the next
series will generally be disallowed with respect to this deemed sale and
subsequent deemed repurchase, to the extent the trust has substantially
identical Trust Assets under the wash sale provisions of the Internal Revenue
Code.
Limitations on the Deductibility of Trust Expenses. Generally, for federal
income tax purposes, you must take into account your full pro rata share of
your trust's income, even if some of that income is used to pay trust expenses.
You may deduct your pro rata share of each expense paid by your trust to the
same extent as if you directly paid the expense. You may be required to treat
some or all of the expenses of your trust as miscellaneous itemized deductions.
Individuals may only deduct certain miscellaneous itemized deductions to the
extent they exceed 2% of adjusted gross income. Some individuals may also be
subject to further limitations on the amount of their itemized deductions,
depending on their income.
Foreign Investors, Taxes and Investments. Distributions by your trust that
are treated as U.S. source income (e.g., dividends received on Stocks of
domestic corporations) will generally be subject to U.S. income taxation and
withholding in the case of units held by nonresident alien individuals, foreign
corporations or other non-U.S. persons, subject to any applicable treaty. 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), you may not be
subject to U.S. federal income taxes, including withholding taxes, on some or
all of the income from your trust or on any gain from the sale or redemption of
your units, provided that certain conditions are met. You should consult your
tax advisor with respect to the conditions you must meet in order to be exempt
for U.S. tax purposes. Distributions in respect of units may be subject to a
U.S. withholding tax of 30% in the case of distributions to (i) certain
non-U.S. financial institutions that have not entered into an agreement with
the U.S. Treasury to collect and disclose certain information and are not
resident in a jurisdiction that has entered into such an agreement with the
U.S. Treasury; and (ii) certain other non-U.S. entities that do not provide
certain certifications and information about the entity's U.S. owners.
Dispositions of units by such persons may be subject to such withholding after
December 31, 2018. You should also consult your tax advisor with respect to
other U.S. tax withholding and reporting requirements.
Some distributions by your trust may be subject to foreign withholding
taxes. Any income withheld will still be treated as income to you. Under the
grantor trust rules, you are considered to have paid directly your share of any
foreign taxes that are paid. Therefore, for U.S. tax purposes, you may be
entitled to a foreign tax credit or deduction for those foreign taxes.
Under certain circumstances, a RIC may elect to pass through to its
shareholders certain foreign taxes paid by the RIC. If the RIC makes this
election with respect to RIC Shares, you must include in your income for
federal income tax purposes your portion of such taxes and you may be entitled
to a credit or deduction for such taxes.
If any U.S. investor is treated as owning directly or indirectly 10% or
more of the combined voting power of the stock of a foreign corporation, and
all U.S. shareholders of that corporation collectively own more than 50% of the
vote or value of the stock of that corporation, the foreign corporation may be
treated as a controlled foreign corporation (a "CFC"). If you own 10% or more
of a CFC (through a trust and in combination with your other investments), or
possibly if a trust owns 10% or more of a CFC, you will be required to include
certain types of the CFC's income in your taxable income for federal income tax
purposes whether or not such income is distributed to a trust or to you.
A foreign corporation will generally be treated as a passive foreign
investment company (a "PFIC") if 75% or more of its income is passive income or
if 50% or more of its assets are held to produce passive income. If a trust
purchases shares in a PFIC, you may be subject to U.S. federal income tax on a
portion of certain distributions or on gains from the disposition of such
shares at rates that were applicable in prior years and any gain may be
recharacterized as ordinary income that is not eligible for the lower net
capital gains tax rate. Additional charges in the nature of interest may also
be imposed on you. Certain elections may be available with respect to PFICs
that would limit these consequences. However, these elections would require you
to include certain income of the PFIC in your taxable income even if not
distributed to a trust or to you, or require you to annually recognize as
ordinary income any increase in the value of the shares of the PFIC, thus
requiring you to recognize income for federal income tax purposes in excess of
your actual distributions from PFICs and proceeds from dispositions of PFIC
stock during a particular year. Dividends paid by PFICs are not eligible to be
taxed at the net capital gains tax rate.
New York Tax Status. Under the existing income tax laws of the State and
City of New York, your trust will not be taxed as a corporation subject to the
New York state franchise tax or the New York City general corporation tax. You
should consult your tax advisor regarding potential foreign, state or local
taxation with respect to your units.
Experts
Legal Matters. Chapman and Cutler LLP, 111 West Monroe Street, Chicago,
Illinois 60603, acts as counsel for the trust and has passed upon the legality
of the units.
Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm. The statement of financial
condition, including the Trust Portfolio, appearing herein, has been audited by
Grant Thornton LLP, an independent registered public accounting firm, as set
forth in their report thereon appearing elsewhere herein, and is included in
reliance on such report given on the authority of such firm as experts in
accounting and auditing.
GUGGENHEIM DEFINED PORTFOLIOS
GUGGENHEIM PORTFOLIO PROSPECTUS-PART B
OCTOBER 19, 2016
Where to Learn More
You can contact us for free information about this and other investments.
Visit us on the Internet
http://www.guggenheiminvestments.com
Call Guggenheim Funds
(800) 345-7999
Pricing Line (888) 248-4954
Call the Bank of New York Mellon
(800) 701-8178 (investors)
(800) 647-3383 (brokers)
Additional Information
This prospectus does not contain all information filed with the Securities
and Exchange Commission. To obtain a copy of this information (a duplication fee
may be required):
E mail: publicinfo@sec.gov
Write: Public Reference Room
Washington, D.C. 20549-0102
Visit: http://www.sec.gov (EDGAR Database)
Call: 1-202-942-8090 (only for information on the operation of the Public
Reference Room)
When units of the trust are no longer available, we may use this
prospectus as a preliminary prospectus for a future trust. In this case you
should note that:
The information in this prospectus is not complete with respect to future
trusts and may be changed. No one may sell units of a future trust 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.
Contents
Investment Summary
--------------------------------------------------------
A concise 2 Overview
description 2 Investment Objective
of essential 2 Principal Investment Strategy
information 3 Security Selection
about the 5 Exchange-Traded Funds
portfolio 5 Future Trusts
6 Essential Information
6 Portfolio Diversification
6 Principal Risks
9 Who Should Invest
10 Fees and Expenses
10 Example
12 Trust Portfolio
Understanding Your Investment
--------------------------------------------------------
Detailed 14 How to Buy Units
information 18 How to Sell Your Units
to help you 20 Distributions
understand 21 Investment Risks
your 27 How the Trust Works
investment 29 General Information
29 Expenses
31 Report of Independent Registered Public
Accounting Firm
32 Statement of Financial Condition
For the Table of Contents of Part B, see Part B of the prospectus.
Where to Learn More
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
You can contact us for Visit us on the Internet
free information about http://www.guggenheiminvestments.com
these investments. Call Guggenheim Funds (800) 345-7999
Pricing Line (888) 248-4954
Call The Bank of New York Mellon
(800) 701-8178 (investors)
(800) 647-3383 (brokers)
Additional Information
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This prospectus does not contain all information filed with the Securities and
Exchange Commission. To obtain or copy this information (a duplication fee may
be required):
E-mail: publicinfo@sec.gov
--------------------------------------------------
Write: Public Reference Room, Washington, D.C. 20549-0102
Visit: http://www.sec.gov (EDGAR Database)
Call: 1-202-942-8090 (only for information on
the operation of the Public Reference Room)
Refer to:
Guggenheim Defined Portfolios, Series 1524
Securities Act file number: 333-213480
Investment Company Act file number: 811-03763
When units of the trust are no longer available, we may use this prospectus as
a preliminary prospectus for a future trust. In this case you should note that:
The information in this prospectus is not complete with respect to future
trusts and may be changed. No one may sell units of a future trust 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.
GUGGENHEIM LOGO
PROSPECTUS
Guggenheim Balanced Income Builder Portfolio, Series 17
LOGO UNIT INVESTMENT TRUSTS
Guggenheim Defined Portfolios Series 1524
DATED OCTOBER 19, 2016
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.
CONTENTS OF REGISTRATION STATEMENT
A. Bonding Arrangements of Depositor:
The Depositor has obtained the following Securities Dealer Blanket Bond for
its officers, directors and employees:
INSURER/POLICY NO. AMOUNT
National Union Fire Insurance
Company of Pittsburgh, $4,000,000
Pennsylvania
5692790
B. This amendment to the Registration Statement comprises the following
papers and documents:
The facing sheet
The Prospectus
The signatures
Consents of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm
and Counsel as indicated
Exhibits as listed on the List of Exhibits
SIGNATURES
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, the Registrant,
Guggenheim Defined Portfolios, Series 1524 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 Lisle and State of Illinois on the 19th day of
October, 2016.
GUGGENHEIM DEFINED PORTFOLIOS, SERIES 1524
(Registrant)
By GUGGENHEIM FUNDS DISTRIBUTORS, LLC
(Depositor)
By /s/ Amy Lee
--------------
Amy Lee,
Vice President and Secretary
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, this Amendment
to the Registration Statement has been signed below by the following persons in
the capacities and on the date indicated:
SIGNATURE* TITLE DATE
)
) By: /s/ Amy Lee
) ------------------
) Amy Lee
) Attorney-in-Fact*
DONALD C. CACCIAPAGLIA* Chief Executive Officer and )
President of Guggenheim Funds ) October 19, 2016
Distributors, LLC )
)
DOMINICK COGLIANDRO* Chief Operating Officer of ) October 19, 2016
Guggenheim Funds Distributors, )
LLC )
)
JULIE JACQUES* Treasurer of Guggenheim Funds ) October 19, 2016
Distributors, LLC )
)
JULIE JACQUES* Principal Financial Officer of ) October 19, 2016
Guggenheim Funds Distributors, )
LLC )
FARHAN SHARAFF Chief Investment Officer of
Guggenheim Funds Distributors,
LLC
/s/ Amy Lee Vice President and Secretary of October 19, 2016
----------- Guggenheim Funds Distributors,
AMY LEE LLC
-----------------
* Executed copies of the related powers of attorney were filed as Exhibit 6.0
to the Registration Statement of Guggenheim Defined Portfolios, Series 1501
on August 3, 2016.
CONSENT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM
The consent of Grant Thornton LLP to the use of its report and to the
reference to such firm in the Prospectus included in the Registration Statement
is filed by this amendment as Exhibit 4.1 to the Registration Statement.
CONSENT OF CHAPMAN AND CUTLER LLP
The consent of Chapman and Cutler LLP to the use of its name in the
Prospectus included in the Registration Statement is contained in its opinions
filed by this amendment as Exhibits 3.1 and 3.2 to the Registration Statement.
CONSENT OF DORSEY & WHITNEY LLP
The consent of Dorsey & Whitney LLP to the use of its name in the
Prospectus included in the Registration Statement is contained in its opinion
filed by this amendment as Exhibit 3.3 to the Registration Statement.
LIST OF EXHIBITS
1.1 Reference Trust Agreement.
1.1.1 Standard Terms and Conditions of Trust (Reference is made to Exhibit
1.1.1 to Amendment No. 2 to the Registration Statement on Form S-6 for
Claymore Securities Defined Portfolios, Series 116 (File No.
333-72828) filed on December 18, 2001).
2.1 Code of Ethics (Reference is made to Exhibit 2.1 to the Registration
Statement on Form S-6 for Claymore Securities Defined Portfolios,
Series 213 (File No. 333-122184) filed on February 9, 2005).
3.1 Opinion of counsel as to legality of securities being registered
including a consent to the use of its name in the Registration
Statement.
3.2 Opinion of counsel as to New York and Federal income tax status of
securities being registered including a consent to the use of its name
in the Registration Statement.
3.3 Opinion of counsel as to the Trustee and the Trust(s), including a
consent to the use of its name in the Registration Statement.
4.1 Consent of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm.
6.0 Powers of Attorney authorizing Amy Lee to execute the Registration
Statement. (Reference is made to Exhibit 6.0 to the Registration
Statement on Form S-6 for Guggenheim Defined Portfolios, Series 1501
(File No. 333-212881) filed on August 3, 2016).