JPMorgan Trust IV

12/01/2021 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 12/01/2021 13:21

Prospectus by Investment Company (Form 497)

JPMorgan Trust IV
Prospectus
J.P. Morgan Specialty Funds
Class R6 Shares
March 1, 2021, as supplemented December 1, 2021
JPMorgan Macro Opportunities Fund
Class/Ticker: R6/JPMQX
JPMorgan Opportunistic Equity Long/Short Fund
Class/Ticker: R6/JOERX
The Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission have not approved or disapproved of these securities or determined if this prospectus is truthful or complete. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal offense.
Contents
Risk/Return Summaries:
JPMorgan Macro Opportunities Fund
1
JPMorgan Opportunistic Equity Long/Short Fund
7
More About the Funds
12
Additional Information About the Funds'
Investment Strategies
12
Investment Risks
15
Conflicts of Interest
25
Temporary Defensive Positions
26
Additional Fee Waiver and/or Expense
Reimbursement
26
Expenses of Underlying Funds
26
The Funds' Management and Administration
27
Investing with J.P. Morgan Funds
29
Choosing A Share Class
29
Financial Intermediary Compensation
31
Purchasing Fund Shares
31
Exchanging Fund Shares
33
Redeeming Fund Shares
34
Minimum Account Balance
36
Frequent Trading Policy
36
Valuation
37
Distributions and Taxes
38
Shareholder Statements and Reports
40
Availability of Proxy Voting Record
41
Portfolio Holdings Disclosure
41
Glossary of Common Investment Terminology
42
Financial Highlights
43
How to Reach Us
Back cover
JPMorgan Macro Opportunities Fund
Class/Ticker: R6/JPMQX
What is the goal of the Fund?
The Fund seeks to provide long-term capital appreciation.
Fees and Expenses of the Fund
The following tables describe the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy, hold and sell shares of the Fund.
"Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses" are expenses incurred indirectly by the Fund through its ownership of shares in other investment companies, including affiliated money market funds, other mutual funds, exchange-traded funds and business development companies. The impact of Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses is included in the total returns of the Fund. Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses are not direct costs of the Fund, are not used to calculate the Fund's net asset value per share and are not included in the calculation of the ratio of expenses to average net assets shown in the Financial Highlights section of the Fund's prospectus.
ANNUAL FUND OPERATING EXPENSES
(Expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value
of your investment)
Class R6
Management Fees
0.60%
Distribution (Rule 12b-1) Fees
NONE
Other Expenses
6.64
Service Fees
NONE
Remainder of Other Expenses
6.64
Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses
0.02
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses
7.26
Fee Waivers and/or Expense Reimbursements1
(6.56)
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses After Fee
Waivers and/or Expense Reimbursements1
0.70
1
The Fund's adviser and/or its affiliates have contractually agreed to waive fees and/or reimburse expenses to the extent Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses (excluding Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses other than certain money market fund fees as described below, dividend expenses related to short sales, interest expenses related to short sales, interest, taxes, expenses related to litigation and potential litigation, expenses related to trustee elections and extraordinary expenses) exceed 0.70% of the average daily net assets of Class R6 Shares. The Fund may invest in one or more money market funds advised by the adviser or its affiliates (affiliated money market funds). The Fund's adviser, shareholder servicing agent and/or administrator have contractually agreed to waive fees and/or reimburse expenses in an amount sufficient to offset the respective net fees each collects from the affiliated money market funds on the Fund's investment in such money market funds. These waivers are in effect through 2/28/22, at which time it will be determined whether such waivers will be renewed or revised. To the extent that the Fund engages in securities lending, affiliated money market fund fees and expenses resulting from the Fund's investment of cash received from securities lending borrowers are not included in Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses and therefore, the above waivers do not apply to such investments.
Example
This Example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the Fund with the cost of investing in other mutual funds. The Example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the Fund for the time periods indicated. The Example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year and that the Fund's operating expenses are equal to the total annual fund operating expenses after fee waivers and expense reimbursements shown in the fee table through 2/28/22 and total annual fund operating expenses thereafter. Your actual costs may be higher or lower.
WHETHER OR NOT YOU SELL YOUR SHARES, YOUR
COSTS WOULD BE:
1 Year
3 Years
CLASS R6 SHARES ($)
72
1,552
Portfolio Turnover
The Fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or "turns over" its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes when Fund shares are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in annual fund operating expenses, or in the Example, affect the Fund's performance. During the period from the Fund's inception until the Fund's most recent fiscal year end, the Fund's portfolio turnover rate was 49% of the average value of its portfolio.
What are the Fund's main investment strategies?
The Fund may invest in a wide range of investments and asset classes based on what J.P. Morgan Investment Management Inc. (the adviser) believes are mispricings of investment opportunities due to the market's reaction to macro-economic trends. Macro-economic trends are economy-wide factors such as the business cycle, government and central bank policy, and demographic shifts. The adviser seeks to assess the impact of these macro-economic trends on investments and asset classes to take advantage of what it believes are investment opportunities. For example, the adviser may position the Fund based on its forecast of the impacts of changes in economic policy or market sentiment that are not fully priced into the market. The Fund seeks to provide attractive risk-adjusted returns for investors in varying market environments.
The Fund utilizes a flexible approach to asset allocation and may use both long and short positions (which may be achieved through the use of derivatives) to vary exposure to different asset classes and markets based on the adviser's macro-economic views. Allocations may vary significantly over time and the Fund may limit its exposure to one or more asset classes, markets, sectors, countries or currencies from time to time. The Fund may invest in any region or country, including emerging markets, and may invest in securities denominated in any currency. The Fund is not subject to any maturity, market
March 1, 2021  |  1
JPMorgan Macro Opportunities Fund (continued)
capitalization, or credit quality restrictions. The Fund may invest, either directly or through the use of derivatives, in equity investments, fixed income investments, currencies, and cash and cash equivalents.
The adviser may make use of derivatives in implementing the Fund's investment strategy. Derivatives are instruments that have a value based on another instrument, exchange rate or index and the Fund's use of them may include, but are not limited to, futures, options and swaps. The Fund may use derivatives for both hedging and non-hedging (investment) purposes, although the Fund is not required to hedge any of its positions.
The Fund's equity investments may include common stock, depositary receipts and real estate investment trusts (REITs).
The Fund's fixed-income investments may include bank obligations, U.S. government securities, mortgage-backed and mortgage-related securities (which may include securities that are issued by non-governmental entities), domestic and foreign corporate bonds, high yield securities (junk bonds), debt obligations issued or guaranteed by a foreign sovereign government or its agencies, authorities or political subdivisions, inflation-indexed bonds and inflation-linked securities such as Treasury Inflation Protected Securities (TIPS).
The adviser may make a significant allocation to cash and cash equivalents in implementing the Fund's strategy as an active allocation, to de-risk the Fund's portfolio or to serve as collateral for the Fund's investments in derivative instruments. With respect to its cash investments, the Fund may invest in U.S. Treasury obligations, including Treasury bills, bonds and notes and other obligations issued or guaranteed by the U.S. Treasury, and other short-term investments, including commercial paper, time deposits and money market funds.
The Fund may invest in exchange-traded funds (ETFs), including J.P. Morgan ETFs, in order to gain exposure to particular asset classes, sectors or markets. The Fund may also invest in ETFs and other exchange-traded products that provide long or short exposure to indexes that measure market volatility. The Fund expects that, to the extent it invests in ETFs, it will generally invest in passive ETFs. A passive ETF is a registered investment company that generally seeks to track the performance of a particular market index or security. These indexes include not only broad-based market indexes but more specific indexes as well, including those relating to particular sectors, markets, regions or industries.
Investment Process: The Fund uses an investment process based on macroeconomic research to identify global investment themes and opportunities. The adviser's dedicated global macro investment team collaborates with its multi-asset strategists, economists and research analysts to arrive at a set of macro themes to provide an efficient framework for focusing research and the basis for positioning the Fund. Macro themes capture trends and changes in the global environment that might be cyclical or structural in nature. The adviser typically
develops between six and ten themes under which it positions the Fund's portfolio. The team implements these themes through focused investment strategies and can adjust portfolio exposures as the macro landscape and market environment evolve. As a part of this analysis, the adviser seeks to assess the risks presented by certain environmental, social and governance factors. While these particular risks are considered, securities of issuers presenting such risks may be purchased and retained by the Fund.
The Fund may unwind or reverse its long or short positions if the adviser's conviction changes or the adviser wants to reposition the Fund's overall portfolio.
The Fund's Main Investment Risks
The Fund is subject to management risk and may not achieve its objective if the adviser's expectations regarding particular instruments or markets are not met.
An investment in this Fund or any other fund may not provide a complete investment program. The suitability of an investment in the Fund should be considered based on the investment objective, strategies and risks described in this prospectus, considered in light of all of the other investments in your portfolio, as well as your risk tolerance, financial goals and time horizons. You may want to consult with a financial advisor to determine if this Fund is suitable for you.
The Fund is subject to the main risks noted below, any of which may adversely affect the Fund's performance and ability to meet its investment objective.
General Market Risk. Economies and financial markets throughout the world are becoming increasingly interconnected, which increases the likelihood that events or conditions in one country or region will adversely impact markets or issuers in other countries or regions. Securities in the Fund's portfolio may underperform in comparison to securities in general financial markets, a particular financial market or other asset classes due to a number of factors, including inflation (or expectations for inflation), deflation (or expectations for deflation), interest rates, global demand for particular products or resources, market instability, debt crises and downgrades, embargoes, tariffs, sanctions and other trade barriers, regulatory events, other governmental trade or market control programs and related geopolitical events. In addition, the value of the Fund's investments may be negatively affected by the occurrence of global events such as war, terrorism, environmental disasters, natural disasters or events, country instability, and infectious disease epidemics or pandemics.
For example, the outbreak of COVID-19, a novel coronavirus disease, has negatively affected economies, markets and individual companies throughout the world, including those in which the Fund invests. The effects of this pandemic to public health and business and market conditions, including exchange
2  |  J.P. Morgan Specialty Funds
trading suspensions and closures may continue to have a significant negative impact on the performance of the Fund's investments, increase the Fund's volatility, exacerbate pre-existing political, social and economic risks to the Fund, and negatively impact broad segments of businesses and populations. The Fund's operations may be interrupted as a result, which may contribute to the negative impact on investment performance. In addition, governments, their regulatory agencies, or self-regulatory organizations may take actions in response to the pandemic that affect the instruments in which the Fund invests, or the issuers of such instruments, in ways that could have a significant negative impact on the Fund's investment performance. The full impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, or other future epidemics or pandemics, is currently unknown.
Equity Market Risk. The price of equity securities may rise or fall because of changes in the broad market or changes in a company's financial condition, sometimes rapidly or unpredictably. These price movements may result from factors affecting individual companies, sectors or industries selected for the Fund's portfolio or the securities market as a whole, such as changes in economic or political conditions. When the value of the Fund's securities goes down, your investment in the Fund decreases in value.
Interest Rate and Credit Risk. The Fund's investments in bonds and other debt securities will change in value based on changes in interest rates. If rates increase, the value of these investments generally declines. Securities with greater interest rate sensitivity and longer maturities generally are subject to greater fluctuations in value. The Fund invests in variable and floating rate Loans and other variable and floating rate securities. Although these instruments are generally less sensitive to interest rate changes than other fixed rate instruments, the value of variable and floating rate Loans and other securities may decline if their interest rates do not rise as quickly, or as much, as general interest rates. The Fund's investments are also subject to credit risk. Credit risk is the risk that issuers and/or counterparties will fail to make payments when due or default completely. If an issuer's financial condition worsens, the credit quality of the issuer may deteriorate, leading to greater price volatility and potentially making it difficult for the Fund to sell such investments. The Fund may face a heightened level of interest rate risk due to certain changes in monetary policy. During periods when interest rates are low or there are negative interest rates, the Fund's yield (and total return) also may be low or the Fund may be unable to maintain positive returns.
Derivatives Risk. Derivatives, including futures contracts, options, forwards and swaps, may be riskier than other types of investments because they may be more sensitive to changes in economic or market conditions than other types of investments and could result in losses that significantly exceed the Fund's original investment. Many derivatives create leverage thereby causing the Fund to be more volatile than it would be if it had
not used derivatives. Certain derivatives also expose the Fund to counterparty risk (the risk that the derivative counterparty will not fulfill its contractual obligations), including the credit risk of the derivative counterparty. Certain derivatives are synthetic instruments that attempt to replicate performance of certain reference assets. With regard to such derivatives, the Fund does not have a claim on the reference assets and is subject to enhanced counterparty risk.
Foreign Securities, Emerging Markets and Currency Risk. The Fund may invest all of its assets in securities denominated in foreign currencies. Investments in foreign currencies, foreign issuers and foreign securities (including depositary receipts) are subject to additional risks, including political and economic risks, civil conflicts and war, greater volatility, expropriation and nationalization risks, sanctions or other measures by the United States or other governments, currency fluctuations, higher transaction costs, delayed settlement, possible foreign controls on investment and less stringent investor protection and disclosure standards of foreign markets. In certain markets where securities and other instruments are not traded "delivery versus payment," the Fund may not receive timely payment for securities or other instruments it has delivered or receive delivery of securities paid for and may be subject to increased risk that the counterparty will fail to make payments or delivery when due or default completely.
Events and evolving conditions in certain economies or markets may alter the risks associated with investments tied to countries or regions that historically were perceived as comparatively stable becoming riskier and more volatile. These risks are magnified in countries in "emerging markets." Emerging market countries typically have less- established market economies than developed countries and may face greater social, economic, regulatory and political uncertainties. In addition, emerging markets typically present greater illiquidity and price volatility concerns due to smaller or limited local capital markets and greater difficulty in determining market valuations of securities due to limited public information on issuers. Certain emerging market countries may be subject to less stringent requirements regarding accounting, auditing, financial reporting and record keeping and therefore, material information related to an investment may not be available or reliable. In addition, the Fund is limited in its ability to exercise its legal rights or enforce a counterparty's legal obligations in certain jurisdictions outside of the United States, in particular, in emerging markets countries. While the Fund may engage in various strategies to hedge against currency risk, it is not required to do so.
Geographic Focus Risk. The Fund may focus its investments in one or more regions or small groups of countries. As a result, the Fund's performance may be subject to greater volatility than a more geographically diversified fund.
Industry and Sector Focus Risk. At times, the Fund may increase the relative emphasis of its investments in a particular industry or sector. The prices of securities of issuers in a particular
March 1, 2021  |  3
JPMorgan Macro Opportunities Fund (continued)
industry or sector may be more susceptible to fluctuations due to changes in economic or business conditions, government regulations, availability of basic resources or supplies, or other events that affect that industry or sector more than securities of issuers in other industries and sectors. To the extent that the Fund increases the relative emphasis of its investments in a particular industry or sector, its shares' values may fluctuate in response to events affecting that industry or sector.
Large Cap Company Risk. Because the Fund invests in large cap company securities, it may underperform other funds during periods when the Fund's large cap securities are out of favor.
Smaller Company Risk. Investments in securities of smaller companies may be riskier, less liquid, more volatile and vulnerable to economic, market and industry changes than securities of larger, more established companies. The securities of smaller companies may trade less frequently and in smaller volumes than securities of larger companies. As a result, changes in the price of debt or equity issued by such companies may be more sudden or erratic than the prices of other equity securities, especially over the short term. These risks are higher for small cap companies.
High Yield Securities Risk. The Fund may invest in securities that are issued by companies that are highly leveraged, less creditworthy or financially distressed. These investments (known as junk bonds) are considered to be speculative and are subject to greater risk of loss, greater sensitivity to economic changes, valuation difficulties and potential illiquidity.
In recent years, there has been a broad trend of weaker or less restrictive covenant protections in the high yield market. Among other things, under such weaker or less restrictive covenants, borrowers might be able to exercise more flexibility with respect to certain activities than borrowers who are subject to stronger or more protective covenants. For example, borrowers might be able to incur more debt, including secured debt, return more capital to shareholders, remove or reduce assets that are designated as collateral securing high yield securities, increase the claims against assets that are permitted against collateral securing high yield securities or otherwise manage their business in ways that could impact creditors negatively. In addition, certain privately held borrowers might be permitted to file less frequent, less detailed or less timely financial reporting or other information, which could negatively impact the value of the high yield securities issued by such borrowers. Each of these factors might negatively impact the high yield instruments held by the Fund.
No active trading market may exist for some instruments and certain investments may be subject to restrictions on resale. The inability to dispose of the Fund's securities and other investments in a timely fashion could result in losses to the Fund. Because some instruments may have a more limited secondary market, liquidity and valuation risk may be more pronounced for the Fund. When instruments are prepaid, the Fund may have to reinvest in instruments with a lower yield or
fail to recover additional amounts (i.e., premiums) paid for these instruments, resulting in an unexpected capital loss and/ or a decrease in the amount of dividends and yield.
Risk Associated with the Fund Holding Cash, Money Market Instruments and Other Short-Term Investments. The Fund will, at times, hold assets in cash, money market instruments and other short-term investments, which may hurt the Fund's performance. These positions may also subject the Fund to additional risks and costs.
Exchange-Traded Fund (ETF) and Other Investment Company Risk. Shareholders bear both their proportionate share of the Fund's expenses and similar expenses of the underlying investment company or ETF when the Fund invests in shares of another investment company or ETF. The Fund is subject to the risks associated with the ETF's or investment company's investments. ETFs and companies that invest in commodities or currencies are subject to the risks associated with direct investments in commodities or currencies. The price and movement of an ETF or closed-end fund designed to track an index may not track the index and may result in a loss. In addition, closed-end funds that trade on an exchange often trade at a price below their net asset value (also known as a discount). Certain ETFs or closed-end funds traded on exchanges may be thinly traded and experience large spreads between the "ask" price quoted by a seller and the "bid" price offered by a buyer. In addition, the Adviser's authority to allocate investments among J.P. Morgan Funds and unaffiliated passive ETFs creates conflicts of interest. For example, investing in J.P. Morgan Funds could cause the Fund to incur higher fees and will cause the Adviser and/or its affiliates to receive greater compensation, increase assets under management or support particular investment strategies or J.P. Morgan Funds.
Mortgage-Related and Other Asset-Backed Securities Risk. Investments in mortgage-related and asset-backed securities including so-called "sub-prime" mortgages are subject to certain risks including prepayment and call risks. When mortgages and other obligations are prepaid and when securities are called, the Fund and/or an underlying fund may have to reinvest in securities with a lower yield or fail to recover additional amounts (i.e., premiums) paid for securities with higher interest rates, resulting in an unexpected capital loss and/or a decrease in the amount of dividends and yield. In periods of either rising or declining interest rates, the Fund and/or underlying fund may be subject to extension risk, and may receive principal later than expected. As a result, in periods of rising interest rates, the Fund and/or underlying fund may exhibit additional volatility. During periods of difficult or frozen credit markets, significant changes in interest rates, or deteriorating economic conditions, such securities may decline in value, face valuation difficulties, become more volatile and/or become illiquid. Additionally, asset-backed, mortgage-related and mortgage-backed securities are subject to risks associated with their structure and the nature of the assets underlying the securities and the servicing of those assets. Certain asset-backed,
4  |  J.P. Morgan Specialty Funds
mortgage-related and mortgage-backed securities may face valuation difficulties and may be less liquid than other types of asset-backed, mortgage-related and mortgage-backed securities, or debt securities.
Real Estate Securities Risk. The Fund's investments in real estate securities, including REITs, are subject to the same risks as direct investments in real estate and mortgages, and their value will depend on the value of the underlying real estate interests. These risks include default, prepayments, changes in value resulting from changes in interest rates and demand for real and rental property, and the management skill and credit-worthiness of REIT issuers. The Fund will indirectly bear its proportionate share of expenses, including management fees, paid by each REIT in which it invests in addition to the expenses of the Fund.
Government Securities Risk. The Fund invests in securities issued or guaranteed by the U.S. government or its agencies and instrumentalities (such as securities issued by the Government National Mortgage Association (Ginnie Mae), the Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae), or the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac)). U.S. government securities are subject to market risk, interest rate risk and credit risk. Securities, such as those issued or guaranteed by Ginnie Mae or the U.S. Treasury, that are backed by the full faith and credit of the United States are guaranteed only as to the timely payment of interest and principal when held to maturity and the market prices for such securities will fluctuate. Notwithstanding that these securities are backed by the full faith and credit of the United States, circumstances could arise that would prevent the payment of interest or principal. This would result in losses to the Fund. Securities issued or guaranteed by U.S. government related organizations, such as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, are not backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government and no assurance can be given that the U.S. government would provide financial support. Therefore, U.S. government-related organizations may not have the funds to meet their payment obligations in the future.
Sovereign Debt Risk. The Fund may invest in securities issued or guaranteed by foreign governmental entities (known as sovereign debt securities). These investments are subject to the risk of payment delays or defaults, due, for example, to cash flow problems, insufficient foreign currency reserves, political considerations, large debt positions relative to the country's economy or failure to implement economic reforms. There is no legal or bankruptcy process for collecting sovereign debt.
Inflation-Linked Securities Risk. Unlike conventional bonds, the principal or interest of inflation-linked securities such as TIPS is adjusted periodically to a specified rate of inflation (e.g., Consumer Price Index for all Urban Consumers (CPI-U)). There can be no assurance that the inflation index used will accurately measure the real rate of inflation. These securities may lose value in the event that the actual rate of inflation is different than the rate of the inflation index.
Short Positions Risk. The Fund will incur a loss as a result of a short position if the price of the asset sold short increases in value between the date of the short position sales and the date on which the fund purchases an offsetting position. The Fund's losses are potentially unlimited in a short position transaction. Short positions are speculative transactions and involve special risks, including greater reliance on the adviser's ability to accurately anticipate the future value of a security. Furthermore, taking short positions in securities results in a form of leverage which may cause the Fund to be more volatile.
Depositary Receipts Risk. The Fund's investments may take the form of depositary receipts, including unsponsored depositary receipts. Unsponsored depositary receipts may not provide as much information about the underlying issuer and may not carry the same voting privileges as sponsored depositary receipts. Unsponsored depositary receipts are issued by one or more depositaries in response to market demand, but without a formal agreement with the company that issues the underlying securities.
High Portfolio Turnover Risk. The Fund may engage in active and frequent trading leading to increased portfolio turnover, higher transaction costs, and the possibility of increased capital gains, including short-term capital gains that will generally be taxable to shareholders as ordinary income.
Transactions Risk. The Fund could experience a loss and its liquidity may be negatively impacted when selling securities to meet redemption requests. The risk of loss increases if the redemption requests are unusually large or frequent or occur in times of overall market turmoil or declining prices. Similarly, large purchases of Fund shares may adversely affect the Fund's performance to the extent that the Fund is delayed in investing new cash and is required to maintain a larger cash position than it ordinarily would.
Investments in the Fund are not deposits or obligations of, or guaranteed or endorsed by, any bank and are not insured or guaranteed by the FDIC, the Federal Reserve Board or any other government agency.
You could lose money investing in the Fund.
The Fund's Past Performance
The Fund commenced operations on April 15, 2020. Once the Fund has operated for at least one calendar year, a bar chart and performance table will be included in the prospectus to show the performance of the Fund. When such information is included, this section will provide some indication of the risks of investing in the Fund by showing changes in the Fund's performance history from year to year and showing how the Fund's average annual total returns compare with those of a broad measure of market performance. Although past performance of a Fund is no guarantee of how it will perform in the future, historical performance may give you some indication
March 1, 2021  |  5
JPMorgan Macro Opportunities Fund (continued)
of the risks of investing in the Fund. Updated performance information will be available by visiting www.jpmorganfunds.com or by calling 1-800-480-4111.
Management
J.P. Morgan Investment Management Inc. (the adviser)
Portfolio Manager
Managed the
Fund Since
Primary Title with
Investment Adviser
Shrenick Shah
2020
Managing Director
Benoit Lanctot
2020
Executive Director
Josh Berelowitz
2020
Executive Director
Virginia Martin Heriz
2021
Executive Director
Purchase and Sale of Fund Shares
For Class R6 Shares
To establish an account
$5,000,000 for Discretionary Accounts
$5,000,000 for Institutional Investors
$15,000,000 for Other Investors
To add to an account
No minimum levels
There is no investment minimum for other Class R6 eligible investors, as described in the "Investing with J.P. Morgan Funds - Choosing a Share Class - Eligibility" section.
In general, you may purchase or redeem shares on any business day:
Through your Financial Intermediary for the eligible retirement plan or college savings plan through which you invest in the Fund
By writing to J.P. Morgan Funds Services, P.O. Box 219143, Kansas City, MO 64121-9143
After you open an account, by calling J.P. Morgan Funds Services at 1-800-480-4111
Tax Information
The Fund intends to make distributions that may be taxed as ordinary income or capital gains, except when your investment is in an IRA, 401(k) plan or other tax-advantaged investment plan, in which case you may be subject to federal income tax upon withdrawal from the tax-advantaged investment plan.
Payments to Broker-Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries
If you purchase shares of the Fund through a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary (such as a bank), the Fund and its related companies may pay the financial intermediary for the sale of Fund shares and related services. These payments may create a conflict of interest by influencing the broker-dealer or financial intermediary and your salesperson to recommend the Fund over another investment. Ask your salesperson or visit your financial intermediary's website for more information.
6  |  J.P. Morgan Specialty Funds
JPMorgan Opportunistic Equity Long/Short Fund
Class/Ticker: R6/JOERX
What is the goal of the Fund?
The Fund seeks capital appreciation.
Fees and Expenses of the Fund
The following tables describe the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy, hold and sell shares of the Fund. "Acquired Fund (Underlying Fund) Fees and Expenses" are expenses incurred indirectly by the Fund through its ownership of shares in other investment companies, including affiliated money market funds, other mutual funds, exchange-traded funds and business development companies. The impact of Acquired Fund (Underlying Fund) Fees and Expenses is included in the total returns of the Fund. Acquired Fund (Underlying Fund) Fees and Expenses are not direct costs of the Fund, are not used to calculate the Fund's net asset value per share and are not included in the calculation of the ratio of expenses to average net assets shown in the Financial Highlights section of the Fund's prospectus.
ANNUAL FUND OPERATING EXPENSES
(Expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value
of your investment)
Class R6
Management Fees
1.20%
Distribution (Rule 12b-1) Fees
NONE
Other Expenses
0.62
Dividend and Interest Expense on Short Sales
0.47
Service Fees
NONE
Remainder of Other Expenses
0.15
Acquired Fund (Underlying Fund) Fees and
Expenses
0.07
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses
1.89
Fee Waivers and/or Expense Reimbursements1
-0.03
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses after Fee
Waivers and/or Expense Reimbursements1
1.86
1
The Fund's adviser and/or its affiliates have contractually agreed to waive fees and/or reimburse expenses to the extent Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses (excluding Acquired Fund (Underlying Fund) Fees and Expenses other than certain money market fund fees as described below, dividend and interest expenses related to short sales, interest, taxes, expenses related to litigation and potential litigation, expenses related to trustee elections, and extraordinary expenses) exceed 1.35% of the average daily net assets of Class R6 Shares. The Fund may invest in one or more money market funds advised by the adviser or its affiliates (affiliated money market funds). The Fund's adviser, shareholder servicing agent and/or administrator have contractually agreed to waive fees and/or reimburse expenses in an amount sufficient to offset the respective net fees each collects from the affiliated money market funds on the Fund's investment in such money market funds. These waivers are in effect through 2/28/22, at which time it will be determined whether such waivers will be renewed or revised. To the extent that the Fund engages in securities lending, affiliated money market fund fees and expenses resulting from the Fund's investment of cash received from securities lending borrowers are not included in Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses and therefore, the above waivers do not
apply to such investments.
Example
This Example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the Fund with the cost of investing in other mutual funds. The Example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the Fund for the time periods indicated. The Example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year and that the Fund's operating expenses are equal to the total annual fund operating expenses after fee waivers and expense reimbursements shown in the fee table through 2/28/22, and total annual fund operating expenses thereafter. Your actual costs may be higher or lower.
WHETHER OR NOT YOU SELL YOUR SHARES, YOUR COST
WOULD BE:
1 Year
3 Years
5 Years
10 Years
CLASS R6 SHARES ($)
189
591
1,018
2,209
Portfolio Turnover
The Fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or "turns over" its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes when Fund shares are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in annual fund operating expenses, or in the Example, affect the Fund's performance. During the Fund's most recent fiscal year, the Fund's portfolio turnover rate (including short sales) was 1,058% of the average value of its portfolio.
What are the Fund's main investment strategies?
Under normal circumstances, the Fund will invest at least 80% of its Assets in long and short positions in equity securities, selecting from a universe of equity securities with market capitalizations similar to those included in the Russell 1000 and/ or S&P 500 Index, at the time of purchase. As of October 31, 2020, the market capitalization of the companies in the Russell 1000 Index ranged from $816 million to $1,848 billion. As of October 31, 2020, the market capitalization of the companies in the S&P 500 Index ranged from $2.48 billion to $1,848 billion. "Assets" means net assets plus the amount of borrowings for investment purposes.
Part of the Fund's investment strategy is to attempt to achieve lower volatility than that of its primary benchmark, the S&P 500 Index. Volatility management starts during the stock selection research process before inclusion in the portfolio. The Fund's adviser will employ a number of strategies to manage the Fund's volatility, including altering the Fund's portfolio composition, adjusting the Fund's gross exposure or net exposure, holding significant cash balances, or investing in options (to attempt to limit losses from stock positions). In
March 1, 2021  |  7
JPMorgan Opportunistic Equity Long/Short Fund (continued)
implementing its strategy, the Fund primarily will buy or sell short common stocks, including real estate investment trusts (REITs) and depositary receipts.
As the set of investment opportunities is constantly evolving, the Fund's net exposure (the value of the Fund's aggregate long positions minus its short positions) will vary over time. While in most instances the net exposure will be positive (more long exposure than short exposure), it is possible that the investment opportunities result in a net short exposure. Net exposure will range from -30% to +80%. The Fund's gross equity market exposure is limited to 200%.
Short sales involve the sale of a security which the Fund does not own in hopes of purchasing the same security at a later date at a lower price. To make delivery to the buyer, the Fund must borrow the security, and the Fund is obligated to return the security to the lender, which is accomplished by a later purchase of the security by the Fund.
Derivatives, which are instruments that have a value based on another instrument, exchange rate or index, may be used as substitutes for securities in which the Fund can invest. To the extent the Fund uses derivatives, the Fund will primarily use equity index futures contracts and options, both long and short, to gain or reduce exposure to specific investments or the overall equity market. The Fund may also invest in exchange traded funds (ETFs) for these purposes.
The Fund is non-diversified.
Investment Process: J.P. Morgan Investment Management Inc., (JPMIM or the adviser) employs a process that combines research, valuation and stock selection to identify investments. Long and short positions are vetted through a disciplined research process and valuation framework which leverages the insights of the adviser's fundamental analyst platform that actively analyzes approximately 800 stocks. The adviser buys long positions in companies with strong management teams, strong competitive positions and earnings growth rates in excess of peers. Long purchases may also be companies that the adviser believes have improving investment factors, such as business drivers (revenues, profitability, capital intensity, and capital allocation), industry structure, regulatory environment and/or legal risk. Short sales generally are characterized by companies with deteriorating incremental changes in such investment factors. The adviser may also take short positions as part of its volatility management. The adviser may sell a long position or cover a short position due to a change in the company's fundamentals, a change in the original reason for purchase of an investment, or if the adviser no longer considers the security to be reasonably valued. Investments may also be sold or covered if the adviser identifies another investment that it believes offers a better opportunity. As part of its investment process, the adviser seeks to assess the impact of environmental, social and governance factors on the companies in which the Fund invests. The adviser's assessment is based on a proprietary analysis of key opportunities and risks across industries to seek to identify financially material issues on the
Fund's investments in securities and ascertain key issues that merit engagement with company management. These assessments may not be conclusive and securities of companies may be purchased and retained by the Fund for reasons other than material ESG factors.
The Fund's Main Investment Risks
The Fund is subject to management risk and may not achieve its objective if the adviser's expectations regarding particular instruments or markets are not met.
An investment in this Fund or any other fund may not provide a complete investment program. The suitability of an investment in the Fund should be considered based on the investment objective, strategies and risks described in this prospectus, considered in light of all of the other investments in your portfolio, as well as your risk tolerance, financial goals and time horizons. You may want to consult with a financial advisor to determine if this Fund is suitable for you.
The Fund is subject to the main risks noted below, any of which may adversely affect the Fund's performance and ability to meet its investment objective.
Equity Market Risk. The price of equity securities may rise or fall because of changes in the broad market or changes in a company's financial condition, sometimes rapidly or unpredictably. These price movements may result from factors affecting individual companies, sectors or industries selected for the Fund's portfolio or the securities market as a whole, such as changes in economic or political conditions. When the value of the Fund's securities goes down, your investment in the Fund decreases in value.
General Market Risk. Economies and financial markets throughout the world are becoming increasingly interconnected, which increases the likelihood that events or conditions in one country or region will adversely impact markets or issuers in other countries or regions. Securities in the Fund's portfolio may underperform in comparison to securities in general financial markets, a particular financial market or other asset classes due to a number of factors, including inflation (or expectations for inflation), deflation (or expectations for deflation), interest rates, global demand for particular products or resources, market instability, debt crises and downgrades, embargoes, tariffs, sanctions and other trade barriers, regulatory events, other governmental trade or market control programs and related geopolitical events. In addition, the value of the Fund's investments may be negatively affected by the occurrence of global events such as war, terrorism, environmental disasters, natural disasters or events, country instability, and infectious disease epidemics or pandemics.
For example, the outbreak of COVID-19, a novel coronavirus disease, has negatively affected economies, markets and individual companies throughout the world, including those in
8  |  J.P. Morgan Specialty Funds
which the Fund invests. The effects of this pandemic to public health and business and market conditions, including exchange trading suspensions and closures may continue to have a significant negative impact on the performance of the Fund's investments, increase the Fund's volatility, exacerbate pre-existing political, social and economic risks to the Fund, and negatively impact broad segments of businesses and populations. The Fund's operations may be interrupted as a result, which may contribute to the negative impact on investment performance. In addition, governments, their regulatory agencies, or self-regulatory organizations may take actions in response to the pandemic that affect the instruments in which the Fund invests, or the issuers of such instruments, in ways that could have a significant negative impact on the Fund's investment performance. The full impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, or other future epidemics or pandemics, is currently unknown.
Short Selling Risk. The Fund will incur a loss as a result of a short sale if the price of the security sold short increases in value between the date of the short sale and the date on which the Fund purchases the security to replace the borrowed security. In addition, a lender may request, or market conditions may dictate, that securities sold short be returned to the lender on short notice, and the Fund may have to buy the securities sold short at an unfavorable price. If this occurs, any anticipated gain to the Fund may be reduced or eliminated or the short sale may result in a loss. The Fund's losses are potentially unlimited in a short sale transaction. Short sales are speculative transactions and involve special risks, including greater reliance on the adviser's ability to accurately anticipate the future value of a security. Furthermore, taking short positions in securities results in a form of leverage which may cause the Fund to be more volatile.
Real Estate Securities Risk. The Fund's investments in real estate securities, including REITs, are subject to the same risks as direct investments in real estate and mortgages, and their value will depend on the value of the underlying real estate interests. These risks include default, prepayments, changes in value resulting from changes in interest rates and demand for real and rental property, and the management skill and credit-worthiness of REIT issuers. The Fund will indirectly bear its proportionate share of expenses, including management fees, paid by each REIT in which it invests in addition to the expenses of the Fund.
ETF and Other Investment Company Risk. The Fund may invest in shares of other investment companies, including ETFs. Shareholders will indirectly bear the expenses charged by the underlying ETFs. The price movement of an index-based ETF may not track the underlying index and may result in a loss. ETFs and closed-end investment companies may trade at a price below their net asset value (also known as a discount).
Derivatives Risk. Derivatives, including options and futures, may be riskier than other types of investments and may increase the volatility of the Fund. Derivatives may be sensitive to changes in
economic and market conditions and may create leverage, which could result in losses that significantly exceed the Fund's original investment. The Fund may be more volatile than if the Fund had not been leveraged because the leverage tends to exaggerate any effect on the value of the Fund's portfolio securities. Certain derivatives expose the Fund to counterparty risk, which is the risk that the derivative counterparty will not fulfill its contractual obligations (and includes credit risk associated with the counterparty). Certain derivatives are synthetic instruments that attempt to replicate the performance of certain reference assets. With regard to such derivatives, the Fund does not have a claim on the reference assets and is subject to enhanced counterparty risk. Derivatives may not perform as expected, so the Fund may not realize the intended benefits. When used for hedging, the change in value of a derivative may not correlate as expected with the security or other risk being hedged. In addition, given their complexity, derivatives expose the Fund to risks of mispricing or improper valuation.
Depositary Receipts Risk. The Fund's investments may take the form of depositary receipts, including unsponsored depositary receipts. Investments in foreign issuers and foreign securities (including depositary receipts) are subject to additional risks, including political and economic risks, civil conflicts and war, greater volatility, expropriation and nationalization risks, sanctions and other measures by the United States or other governments, currency fluctuations, possible foreign controls on investment, and less stringent investor protection and disclosure standards of foreign markets. Events and evolving conditions in certain economies or markets may alter the risks associated with investments tied to countries or regions that historically were perceived as comparatively stable becoming riskier and more volatile. Unsponsored depositary receipts may not provide as much information about the underlying issuer and may not carry the same voting privileges as sponsored depositary receipts. Unsponsored depositary receipts are issued by one or more depositaries in response to market demand, but without a formal agreement with the company that issues the underlying securities.
High Portfolio Turnover Risk. The Fund may engage in active and frequent trading leading to increased portfolio turnover, higher transaction costs, and the possibility of increased capital gains, including short-term capital gains that will generally be taxable to shareholders as ordinary income.
Non-Diversified Fund Risk. Since the Fund is non-diversified, it may invest a greater percentage of its assets in a particular issuer or group of issuers than a diversified fund would. This increased investment in fewer issuers may result in the Fund's shares being more sensitive to economic results among those issuing the securities.
Industry and Sector Focus Risk. At times the Fund may increase the relative emphasis of its investments in a particular industry or sector. The prices of securities of issuers in a particular industry or sector may be more susceptible to fluctuations due
March 1, 2021  |  9
JPMorgan Opportunistic Equity Long/Short Fund (continued)
to changes in economic or business conditions, government regulations, availability of basic resources or supplies, or other events that affect that industry or sector more than securities of issuers in other industries and sectors. To the extent that the Fund increases the relative emphasis of its investments in a particular industry or sector, its shares' values may fluctuate in response to events affecting that industry or sector.
Transactions Risk. The Fund could experience a loss and its liquidity may be negatively impacted when selling securities to meet redemption requests by shareholders. The risk of loss increases if the redemption requests are unusually large or frequent or occur in times of overall market turmoil or declining prices. Similarly, large purchases of Fund shares may adversely affect the Fund's performance to the extent that the Fund is delayed in investing new cash and is required to maintain a larger cash position than it ordinarily would.
Investments in the Fund are not deposits or obligations of, or guaranteed or endorsed by, any bank and are not insured or guaranteed by the FDIC, the Federal Reserve Board or any other government agency.
You could lose money investing in the Fund.
The Fund's Past Performance
This section provides some indication of the risks of investing in the Fund. The bar chart shows the performance of the Fund's Class R6 Shares for the past six calendar years. The table shows the average annual total returns for the past one year, five years and life of the Fund. The table compares the Fund's performance to the performance of the S&P 500 Index and the ICE BofAML 3-Month US Treasury Bill Index. Past performance (before and after taxes) is not necessarily an indication of how any class of the Fund will perform in the future. Updated performance information is available by visiting www.jpmorganfunds.com or by calling 1-800-480-4111.
YEAR-BY-YEAR RETURNS - CLASS R6 SHARES
Best Quarter
3rd quarter, 2020
15.39%
Worst Quarter
4th quarter, 2016
-3.92%
AVERAGE ANNUAL TOTAL RETURNS
(For periods ended December 31, 2020)
Past
Past
Life of Fund
since
1 Year
5 Years
08/29/2014
CLASS R6 SHARES
Return Before Taxes
27.62%
8.47%
9.19%
Return After Taxes on Distributions
25.80
7.47
8.30
Return After Taxes on Distributions
and Sale of Fund Shares
16.52
6.30
6.99
S&P 500 INDEX
(Reflects No Deduction for Fees,
Expenses, or Taxes)
18.40
15.22
12.67
ICE BOFAML 3-MONTH US
TREASURY BILL INDEX
(Reflects No Deduction for Fees,
Expenses, or Taxes)
0.67
1.20
0.95
After-tax returns are calculated using the historical highest individual federal marginal income tax rates and do not reflect the impact of state and local taxes. Actual after-tax returns depend on your tax situation and may differ from those shown. The after-tax returns shown are not relevant to investors who hold their shares through tax-deferred arrangements such as 401(k) plans or individual retirement accounts.
Management
J.P. Morgan Investment Management Inc. (the adviser)
Portfolio Manager
Managed the
Fund Since
Primary Title with
Investment Adviser
Rick I. Singh
2014
Managing Director
10  |  J.P. Morgan Specialty Funds
Purchase and Sale of Fund Shares
Purchase minimums
For Class R6 Shares
To establish an account
$5,000,000 for Discretionary Accounts
$5,000,000 for Institutional Investors
$15,000,000 for Other Investors
To add to an account
No minimum levels
There is no investment minimum for other Class R6 eligible investors, as described in the "Investing with J.P. Morgan Funds - Choosing a Share Class - Eligibility" section.
In general, you may purchase or redeem shares on any business day:
Through your Financial Intermediary or the eligible retirement plan or college savings plan through which you invest in the Fund
By writing to J.P. Morgan Funds Services, P.O. Box 219143, Kansas City, MO 64121-9143
After you open an account, by calling J.P. Morgan Funds Services at 1-800-480-4111
Tax Information
The Fund intends to make distributions that may be taxed as ordinary income or capital gains, except when your investment is in a 401(k) plan or other tax-advantaged investment plan, in which case you may be subject to federal income tax upon withdrawal from the tax-advantaged investment plan.
Payments to Broker-Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries
If you purchase shares of the Fund through a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary (such as a bank), the Fund and its related companies may pay the financial intermediary for the sale of Fund shares and related services. These payments may create a conflict of interest by influencing the broker-dealer or financial intermediary and your salesperson to recommend the Fund over another investment. Ask your salesperson or visit your financial intermediary's website for more information.
March 1, 2021  |  11
More About the Funds
Additional Information About the Funds' Investment Strategies
Each of the Funds described in this prospectus is managed by J.P. Morgan Investment Management Inc. (JPMIM). The principal types of securities and the main strategies that each Fund currently anticipates using are summarized in its Risk/Return Summary. Except as otherwise indicated, the strategies described below are principal investment strategies of each Fund. Where applicable, the following identifies other strategies that are not anticipated to be main strategies of a Fund but that may become more important to a Fund's management in the future. The Funds may utilize these investments and strategies to a greater or lesser degree in the future.
The frequency with which each Fund buys and sells securities will vary from year to year, depending on market conditions.
Securities Lending. Each Fund may engage in securities lending to increase its income. Securities lending involves the lending of securities owned by a Fund to financial institutions such as certain broker-dealers in exchange for cash collateral. The Funds will invest cash collateral in one or more money market funds advised by the adviser or its affiliates. The adviser or its affiliates will receive additional compensation from the affiliated money market funds on the Funds' investment in such money market funds. During the term of the loan, the Fund is entitled to receive amounts equivalent to distributions paid on the loaned securities as well as the return on the cash collateral investments. Upon termination of the loan, the Fund is required to return the cash collateral to the borrower plus any agreed upon rebate. Cash collateral investments will be subject to market depreciation or appreciation, and a Fund will be responsible for any loss that might result from its investment of cash collateral. If the adviser determines to make securities loans, the value of the securities loaned may not exceed 33 1∕3% of the value of total assets of a Fund. Loan collateral (including any investment of that collateral) is not subject to the percentage limitations regarding a Fund's investments described elsewhere in this prospectus.
WHAT IS SECURITIES LENDING?
Securities lending involves the loan of securities to borrowers in exchange for cash collateral which a Fund may reinvest. During the
term of the loan, the Fund is entitled to receive amounts equivalent to distributions paid on the loaned securities as well as the
return on the cash collateral investments. Upon termination of the loan, the Fund is required to return the cash collateral to the
borrower plus an agreed upon rebate. Securities lending is not a principal strategy of any of the Funds.
Macro Opportunities Fund
The Fund may invest in a wide range of investments and asset classes based on what the adviser believes are mispricings of investment opportunities due to the market's reaction to macro-economic trends. Macro-economic trends are economy-wide factors such as the business cycle, government and central bank policy, and demographic shifts. The adviser seeks to assess the impact of these macro-economic trends on investments and asset classes to take advantage of what it believes are investment opportunities. For example, the adviser may position the Fund based on its forecast of the impacts of changes in economic policy or market sentiment that are not fully priced into the market. The Fund seeks to provide attractive risk-adjusted returns for investors in varying market environments.
The Fund utilizes a flexible approach to asset allocation and may use both long and short positions (which may be achieved through the use of derivatives) to vary exposure to different asset classes and markets based on the adviser's macro-economic views. Allocations may vary significantly over time and the Fund may limit its exposure to one or more asset classes, markets, sectors, countries or currencies from time to time. The Fund may invest in any region or country, including emerging markets, and may invest in securities denominated in any currency. Emerging markets currently include most countries in the world except Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, Israel, Japan, New Zealand, Singapore, the United Kingdom, the U.S., and most of the countries of western Europe. The Fund is not subject to any maturity, market capitalization, or credit quality restrictions. The Fund may invest, either directly or through the use of derivatives, in equity investments, fixed income investments, currencies, and cash and cash equivalents.
The adviser may make use of derivatives in implementing the Fund's investment strategy. Derivatives are instruments that have a value based on another instrument, exchange rate or index and the Fund's use of them may include, but are not limited to, futures, options and swaps. The Fund may use derivatives for both hedging and non-hedging (investment) purposes, although the Fund is not required to hedge any of its positions.
The Fund's equity investments may include common stock, depositary receipts and REITs.
The Fund's fixed-income investments may include bank obligations, U.S. government securities, mortgage-backed and mortgage-related securities (which may include securities that are issued by non-governmental entities), domestic and foreign corporate bonds, high yield securities (junk bonds), debt obligations issued or guaranteed by a foreign sovereign government or its agencies, authorities or political subdivisions, inflation-indexed bonds and inflation-linked securities such as TIPS.
12  |  J.P. Morgan Specialty Funds
The adviser may make a significant allocation to cash and cash equivalents in implementing the Fund's strategy as an active allocation, to de-risk the Fund's portfolio or to serve as collateral for the Fund's investments in derivative instruments. With respect to its cash investments, the Fund may invest in U.S. Treasury obligations, including Treasury bills, bonds and notes and other obligations issued or guaranteed by the U.S. Treasury, and other short-term investments, including commercial paper, time deposits and money market funds.
The Fund may invest in ETFs, including J.P. Morgan ETFs, in order to gain exposure to particular asset classes, sectors or markets. The Fund may also invest in ETFs and other exchange-traded products that provide long or short exposure to indexes that measure market volatility. ETFs, which are pooled investment vehicles whose ownership interests are purchased and sold on a securities exchange, may be passively or actively managed. Passively managed ETFs generally seek to track the performance of a particular market index, including broad-based market indexes, as well as indexes relating to particular sectors, markets, regions or industries. Actively managed ETFs do not seek to track the performance of a particular market index. Ordinarily, the Fund must limit its investments in a single non-affiliated ETF to 5% of its total assets and in all non-affiliated ETFs to 10% of its total assets. The Securities and Exchange Commission has issued exemptive orders to many ETFs that currently allow any fund investing in such ETFs to disregard these 5% and 10% limitations, subject to certain conditions. If the Fund invests in ETFs that have received such exemptive orders, it may invest any amount of its total assets in a single ETF or in multiple ETFs. ETFs that are not structured as investment companies as defined in the Investment Company Act of 1940 are not subject to these percentage limitations. The price movement of an index-based ETF may not track the underlying index and may result in a loss. In addition, ETFs may trade at a price above (premium) or below (discount) their net asset value, especially during periods of significant market volatility or stress, causing investors to pay significantly more or less than the value of the ETF's underlying portfolio. The Fund expects that, to the extent it invests in ETFs, it will generally invest in passively managed ETFs.
The Fund may, in the future, invest in commodity-linked derivative instruments, such as commodity-linked notes, swap agreements, commodity options, futures and options on futures that provide exposure to the investment returns of the commodities markets without investing directly in physical commodities. Commodities are assets that have tangible properties, such as oil, metals, and agricultural products.
The Fund may, in the future, establish a wholly-owned subsidiary (the Subsidiary) that Fund will use to gain exposure to commodity markets. The Fund expects that the Subsidiary will be organized under the laws of the Cayman Islands. The Subsidiary will also be advised by the adviser. The Subsidiary (unlike the Fund) will be allowed to invest without limitation in commodity related investments, including commodity-linked swap agreements and other commodity related investments, including derivative instruments linked to the value of a particular commodity, commodity index or commodity futures contract, or a subset of commodities or commodity futures contracts. The Subsidiary could hold instruments described elsewhere in this prospectus that are not commodity related and would otherwise be subject to the same fundamental, non-fundamental and certain other investment restrictions as the Fund.
The frequency with which the Fund buys and sells securities will vary from year to year, depending on market conditions.
Investment Process: The Fund uses an investment process based on macroeconomic research to identify global investment themes and opportunities. The adviser's dedicated global macro investment team collaborates with its multi-asset strategists, economists and research analysts to arrive at a set of macro themes to provide an efficient framework for focusing research and the basis for positioning the Fund. Macro themes capture trends and changes in the global environment that might be cyclical or structural in nature. The adviser typically develops between six and ten themes under which it positions the Fund's portfolio. The team implements these themes through focused investment strategies and can adjust portfolio exposures as the macro landscape and market environment evolve. As a part of this analysis, the adviser seeks to assess the risks presented by certain environmental, social and governance factors. While these particular risks are considered, securities of issuers presenting such risks may be purchased and retained by the Fund.
The Fund may unwind or reverse its long or short positions if the adviser's conviction changes or the adviser wants to reposition the Fund's overall portfolio.
Opportunistic Equity Long/Short Fund
Under normal circumstances, the Fund will invest at least 80% of its Assets in long and short positions in equity securities, selecting from a universe of equity securities with market characteristics and capitalizations similar to those included in the Russell 1000 and/or S&P 500 Index, at the time of purchase. As of October 31, 2020, the market capitalization of the companies in the Russell 1000 Index ranged from $816 million to $1,848 billion. As of October 31, 2020, the market capitalization of the companies in the S&P 500 Index ranged from $2.48 billion to $1,848 billion. "Assets" means net assets plus the amount of borrowings for investment purposes.
March 1, 2021  |  13
More About the Funds (continued)
Part of the Fund's investment strategy is to attempt to achieve lower volatility than that of its primary benchmark. Volatility management starts during the stock selection research process before inclusion in the portfolio. The Fund's adviser will employ a number of strategies to manage the Fund's volatility, including altering the Fund's portfolio composition, adjusting the Fund's gross exposure or net exposure, holding significant cash balances, or investing in options.
In implementing its strategy, the Fund primarily will buy or sell short common stocks, including real estate investment trusts (REITs) and depositary receipts.
As the set of investment opportunities is constantly evolving, the Fund's net exposure (the difference between the aggregate long and short positions) will vary over time. While in most instances the net exposure will be positive (more long exposure than short exposure), it is possible that the investment opportunities result in a net short exposure. Net exposure will range from -30% to +80%. The Fund's gross equity market exposure is limited to 200%.
Derivatives, which are instruments that have a value based on another instrument, exchange rate or index, may be used as substitutes for securities in which the Fund can invest. To the extent the Fund uses derivatives, the Fund will primarily use equity index futures contracts and options, both long and short, to gain or reduce exposure to specific investments or the overall equity market. The Fund may also invest in exchange traded funds (ETFs) for these purposes.
The Fund will invest primarily in equity securities as described above. These equity securities may include:
common stock
real estate investment trusts (REITs), which are pooled vehicles that invest primarily in income-producing real estate or loans related to real estate
other investment companies
exchange traded funds (ETFs)
affiliated money markets
Derivatives, including futures and options
ETFs, which are pooled investment vehicles whose ownership interests are purchased and sold on a securities exchange, may be passively or actively managed. Passively managed ETFs generally seek to track the performance of a particular market index, including broad-based market indexes, as well as indexes relating to particular sectors, markets, regions or industries. Actively managed ETFs do not seek to track the performance of a particular market index. Ordinarily, a Fund must limit its investments in a single non-affiliated ETF to 5% of its total assets and in all non-affiliated ETFs to 10% of its total assets. The Securities and Exchange Commission has issued exemptive orders to many ETFs that currently allow any fund investing in such ETFs to disregard these 5% and 10% limitations, subject to certain conditions. If a Fund invests in ETFs that have received such exemptive orders, it may invest any amount of its total assets in a single ETF or in multiple ETFs. ETFs that are not structured as investment companies as defined in the Investment Company Act of 1940 are not subject to these percentage limitations. The price movement of an index-based ETF may not track the underlying index and may result in a loss. In addition, ETFs may trade at a price above (premium) or below (discount) their net asset value, especially during periods of significant market volatility or stress, causing investors to pay significantly more or less than the value of the ETF's underlying portfolio.
The Fund may utilize these investment strategies to a greater or lesser degree.
The Fund will provide shareholders with at least 60 days' prior notice of any change in its 80% investment policy as described in the Fund's Risk/Return Summary.
The frequency with which the Fund buys and sells securities will vary from year to year, depending on market conditions.
The Fund is non-diversified.
Investment Process: J.P. Morgan Investment Management Inc. (JPMIM or the adviser) employs a process that combines research, valuation and stock selection to identify investments. Long and short positions are vetted through a disciplined research process and valuation framework which leverages the insights of the adviser's fundamental analyst platform that actively analyzes approximately 800 stocks. The adviser buys long positions in companies with strong management teams, strong competitive positions and earnings growth rates in excess of peers. Long purchases may also be companies that the adviser believes have improving investment factors, such as business drivers (revenues, profitability, capital intensity, and capital allocation), industry structure, regulatory environment and/or legal risk. Short sales generally are characterized by companies with deteriorating incremental changes in such investment factors. The adviser may also take short positions as part of its volatility management. The adviser may sell a long position or cover a short position due to a change in the company's fundamentals, a change in the original reason for purchase of an investment, or if the adviser no longer considers the security to be reasonably valued. Investments may also be sold or covered if the adviser identifies another investment that it believes offers a better opportunity. As part of its investment process, the adviser seeks to assess the impact of environmental, social and governance factors on companies in which the Fund invests. The adviser's assessment is based
14  |  J.P. Morgan Specialty Funds
on a proprietary analysis of key opportunities and risks across industries to seek to identify financially material issues on the Fund's investments in securities and ascertain key issues that merit engagement with company management. These assessments may not be conclusive and securities of companies may be purchased and retained by the Fund for reasons other than material ESG factors.
NON-FUNDAMENTAL INVESTMENT OBJECTIVES
An investment objective is fundamental if it cannot be changed without the consent of a majority of the outstanding shares of the
Fund. The investment objective for each Fund is non-fundamental and may be changed without the consent of a majority of the
outstanding shares of that Fund.
Please note that the Fund also may use strategies that are not described herein, but which are described in the Statement of Additional Information.
Investment Risks
There can be no assurance that the Funds will achieve their investment objectives.
The main risks associated with investing in each Fund are summarized in the "Risk/Return Summary" at the front of this prospectus. In addition to each Fund's main risks, each Fund may be subject to additional risks in connection with investments and strategies used by each Fund from time to time. The table below identifies main risks and some of the additional risks for each Fund.
An investment in a Fund or any other fund may not provide a complete investment program. The suitability of an investment in a Fund should be considered based on the investment objective, strategies and risks described in this prospectus, considered in light of all of the other investments in your portfolio, as well as your risk tolerance, financial goals and time horizons. You may want to consult with a financial advisor to determine if a Fund is suitable for you.
The Funds are subject to the risks noted below, any of which may adversely affect a Fund's net asset value (NAV), performance and ability to meet its investment objective. Each Fund may also be subject to additional risks that are not described herein but which are described in the Statement of Additional Information.
Macro Opportuni-
ties Fund
Opportunistic
Equity Long/Short
Fund
Asia Pacific Market Risk
CFTC Regulation Risk
Commodities Risk
Convertible Securities Risk
Credit Risk
Currency Risk
Cyber Security Risk
Depositary Receipt Risk
Derivatives Risk
Equity Market Risk
European Market Risk
Exchange-Traded Fund (ETF) and Other Investment Company Risk
Foreign Securities and Emerging Markets Risk
General Market Risk
Geographic Focus Risk
Government Securities Risk
High Portfolio Turnover Risk
High Yield Securities Risk
Main Risks
Additional Risks
March 1, 2021  |  15
More About the Funds (continued)
Macro Opportuni-
ties Fund
Opportunistic
Equity Long/Short
Fund
Industry and Sector Focus Risk
Inflation-Linked Securities Risk
Interest Rate Risk
Large Cap Company Risk
Latin America Market Risk
Mortgage-Related and Other Asset-Backed Securities Risk
Non-Diversified Fund Risk
Preferred Stock Risk
Prepayment and Call Risk
Real Estate Securities Risk
Risk Associated with the Fund Holding Cash, Money Market Instruments and Other
Short-Term Investments
Securities Lending Risk
Short Positions Risk
Smaller Company Risk
Sovereign Debt Risk
Subsidiary Risk
Swap Agreement Risk
Tax Risk
Transactions and Liquidity Risk
Volcker Rule Risk
Main Risks
Additional Risks
General Market Risk. Economies and financial markets throughout the world are becoming increasingly interconnected, which increases the likelihood that events or conditions in one country or region will adversely impact markets or issuers in other countries or regions. Securities in the Funds' portfolio may underperform in comparison to securities in general financial markets, a particular financial market or other asset classes, due to a number of factors, including inflation (or expectations for inflation), deflation (or expectations for deflation), interest rates, global demand for particular products or resources, market instability, debt crises and downgrades, embargoes, tariffs, sanctions and other trade barriers, regulatory events, other governmental trade or market control programs and related geopolitical events. In addition, the value of a Fund's investments may be negatively affected by the occurrence of global events such as war, terrorism, environmental disasters, natural disasters or events, country instability, and infectious disease epidemics or pandemics.
For example, the outbreak of COVID-19, a novel coronavirus disease, has negatively affected economies, markets and individual companies throughout the world, including those in which a Fund invests. The effects of this pandemic to public health and business and market conditions, including exchange trading suspensions and closures may continue to have a significant negative impact on the performance of a Fund's investments, increase a Fund's volatility, exacerbate pre-existing political, social and economic risks to a Fund, and negatively impact broad segments of businesses and populations. A Fund's operations may be interrupted as a result, which may contribute to the negative impact on investment performance. In addition, governments, their regulatory agencies, or self-regulatory organizations may take actions in response to the pandemic that affect the instruments in which a Fund invests, or the issuers of such instruments, in ways that could have a significant negative impact on a Fund's investment performance. The full impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, or other future epidemics or pandemics, is currently unknown.
Equity Market Risk. The price of equity securities may rise or fall because of changes in the broad market or changes in a company's financial condition, sometimes rapidly or unpredictably. These price movements may result from factors affecting individual companies, sectors or industries selected for a Fund's portfolio or the securities market as a whole, such as changes in economic or political conditions. Equity securities are subject to "stock market risk" meaning that stock prices in general (or in particular, the prices of the types of securities in which a Fund invests) may decline over short or extended periods of time. When the value of a Fund's securities goes down, your investment in the Fund decreases in value.
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Interest Rate Risk. The Fund's debt securities will increase or decrease in value based on changes in interest rates. If rates increase, the value of the Fund's investments generally declines. On the other hand, if rates fall, the value of investments generally increases. Securities with greater interest rate sensitivity and longer maturities tend to produce higher yields, but generally are subject to greater fluctuations in value. The Fund may invest in variable and floating rate securities. Although these instruments are generally less sensitive to interest rate changes than fixed rate instruments, the value of variable and floating rate securities may decline if their interest rates do not rise as quickly or as much as general interest rates. Many factors can cause interest rates to rise. Some examples include central bank monetary policy, rising inflation rates and general economic conditions. The Fund may face a heightened level of interest rate risk due to certain changes or uncertainty in monetary policy.
Certain countries have experienced negative interest rates on certain debt securities. Negative or very low interest rates could magnify the risks associated with changes in interest rates. In general, changing interest rates, including rates that fall below zero, could have unpredictable effects on markets and may expose debt and related markets to heightened volatility. During periods when interest rates are low or there are negative interest rates, a Fund's yield (and total return) also may be low or the Fund may be unable to maintain positive returns.
Debt market conditions are highly unpredictable and some parts of the market are subject to dislocations. In response to the outbreak of COVID-19, as with other serious economic disruptions, governmental authorities and regulators are enacting significant fiscal and monetary policy changes, including providing direct capital infusions into companies, creating new monetary programs and lowering interest rates considerably. These actions present heightened risks to debt instruments, and such risks could be even further heightened if these actions are unexpectedly or suddenly reversed or are ineffective in achieving their desired outcomes. In light of these actions and current conditions, interest rates and bond yields in the U.S. and many other countries are at or near historic lows, and in some cases, such rates and yields are negative. The current very low or negative interest rates subject the Funds to the risks described above. In addition, the current environment is exposing debt markets to significant volatility and reduced liquidity for Fund investments.
Credit Risk. There is a risk that the issuer and/or a counterparty to a security, contract, repurchase agreement or other investment will not make payments on securities, repurchase agreements or other investments held by the Fund. The risk of defaults across issuers and/or counterparties increases in adverse market and economic conditions, including the conditions resulting from COVID-19 pandemic. Such defaults could result in losses to the Fund. In addition, the credit quality of securities held by the Fund may be lowered if an issuer's or a counterparty's financial condition changes. Lower credit quality may lead to greater volatility in the price of a security and in shares of the Fund. Lower credit quality also may affect liquidity and make it difficult for the Fund to sell the security. The Fund may invest in securities that are rated in the lowest investment grade category. Such securities also are considered to have speculative characteristics similar to high yield securities, and issuers or counterparties of such securities are more vulnerable to changes in economic conditions than issuers or counterparties of higher grade securities. Prices of the Fund's investments may be adversely affected if any of the issuers or counterparties it is invested in are subject to an actual or perceived deterioration in their credit quality. Credit spreads may increase, which may reduce the market values of the Fund's securities. Credit spread risk is the risk that economic and market conditions or any actual or perceived credit deterioration may lead to an increase in the credit spreads (i.e., the difference in yield between two securities of similar maturity but different credit quality) and a decline in price of the issuer's securities.
Derivatives Risk. A Fund may use derivatives, including swaps, futures, and forward contracts, in connection with its investment strategies. Derivatives may be riskier than other types of investments because they may be more sensitive to changes in economic or market conditions than other types of investments and could result in losses that significantly exceed a Fund's original investment. Derivatives are subject to the risk that changes in the value of a derivative may not correlate perfectly with the underlying asset, rate or index. The use of derivatives may not be successful, resulting in losses to a Fund, and the cost of such strategies may reduce a Fund's returns. Certain derivatives also expose a Fund to counterparty risk (the risk that the derivative counterparty will not fulfill its contractual obligations), including credit risk of the derivative counterparty. Certain derivatives are synthetic instruments that attempt to replicate the performance of certain reference assets. With regard to such derivatives, a Fund does not have a claim on the reference assets and is subject to enhanced counterparty risk. In addition, a Fund may use derivatives for non-hedging purposes, which increases a Fund's potential for loss. Certain of a Fund's transactions in futures, swaps, foreign currency derivatives and other derivatives could also affect the amount, timing and character of distributions to shareholders which may result in a Fund realizing more short-term capital gain and ordinary income subject to tax at ordinary income tax rates than it would if it did not engage in such transactions, which may adversely impact a Fund's after-tax returns.
Investing in derivatives and engaging in short sales will result in a form of leverage, which may be significant. Leverage involves special risks. A Fund may be more volatile than if a Fund had not been leveraged because the leverage tends to exaggerate any effect on the value of a Fund's portfolio securities. A Fund cannot assure you that the use of leverage will result in a higher return on your
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investment, and using leverage could result in a net loss on your investment. Registered investment companies such as the Fund are limited in their ability to engage in derivative transactions and are required to identify and earmark assets to provide asset coverage for derivative transactions.
The possible lack of a liquid secondary market for derivatives and the resulting inability of a Fund to sell or otherwise close a derivatives position could expose the Fund to losses and could make derivatives more difficult for the Fund to value accurately.
WHAT IS A DERIVATIVE?
Derivatives are securities or contracts (for example, futures and options) that derive their value from the performance of underlying
assets or securities.
Swap Agreement Risk. In addition to the risks associated with derivatives in general, the Fund may also be subject to risks related to swap agreements, including total return swaps. Total return swaps are contracts in which one party agrees to make periodic payments based on the change in market value of the underlying assets, which may include a specified security, basket of securities or securities indices during the specified period, in return for periodic payments based on a fixed or variable interest rate or the total return from other underlying assets. Total return swaps may be used to obtain exposure to a security or market without owning or taking physical custody of such security or market and may be used to establish both long and short positions in order to gain the desired exposure. Because certain swap agreements are not cleared and exchange-traded, but are private contracts into which the Fund and a swap counterparty enter as principals, the Fund may experience a loss or delay in recovering assets if the counterparty defaults on its obligations. The Fund's returns are reduced or its losses increased by the costs associated with the swap, which may be significant. In addition, there is the risk that the swap may be terminated by the Fund or the counterparty in accordance with its terms or as a result of regulatory changes. If the swap were to terminate, the Fund may be unable to employ its investment strategy and may suffer losses. The Fund will segregate or earmark liquid assets at its custodian bank in an amount sufficient to cover its obligations under swap agreements.
Foreign Securities and Emerging Markets Risk. Investments in foreign securities (including depositary receipts), are subject to special risks in addition to those of U.S. investments. These risks include political and economic risks, civil conflicts and war, greater volatility, expropriation and nationalization risks, sanctions or other measures by the United States or other governments, currency fluctuations, higher transaction costs, delayed settlement, possible foreign controls on investment, and less stringent investor protection and disclosure standards of foreign markets. The securities markets of many foreign countries are relatively small, with a limited number of companies representing a small number of industries. If foreign securities are denominated and traded in a foreign currency, the value of the Fund's foreign holdings can be affected by currency exchange rates and exchange control regulations. In certain markets where securities and other instruments are not traded "delivery versus payment," the Fund may not receive timely payment for securities or other instruments it has delivered or receive delivery of securities paid for and may be subject to increased risk that the counterparty will fail to make payments or delivery when due or default completely.
Securities registration, custody, and settlement may in some instances be subject to delays and legal and administrative uncertainties. Foreign investment in the securities markets of certain foreign countries is restricted or controlled to varying degrees. These restrictions or controls may at times limit or preclude investment in certain securities and may increase the costs and expenses of the Fund. In addition, the repatriation of investment income, capital or the proceeds of sales of securities from certain of the countries is controlled under regulations, including in some cases the need for certain advance government notification or authority, and if a deterioration occurs in a country's balance of payments, the country could impose temporary restrictions on foreign capital remittances. The Fund also could be adversely affected by delays in, or a refusal to grant, any required governmental approval for repatriation, as well as by the application to it of other restrictions on investment.
Events and evolving conditions in certain economies or markets may alter the risks associated with investments tied to countries or regions that historically were perceived as comparatively stable becoming riskier and more volatile. The risks associated with foreign securities are magnified in countries in "emerging markets." These countries may have relatively unstable governments and less-established market economies than developed countries. Emerging markets may face greater social, economic, regulatory and political uncertainties. In addition, emerging markets typically present greater illiquidity and price volatility concerns due to smaller or limited capital markets and greater difficulty in determining market valuations of securities due to limited public information on issuers. The Fund may focus in a single country or small group of countries and be subject to greater volatility than a more geographically diversified fund. Certain emerging market countries may be subject to less stringent requirements regarding accounting, auditing, financial reporting and record keeping and therefore, material information related to an investment may not be available or reliable. In addition, the Fund is limited in its ability to exercise its legal rights or enforce a counterparty's legal obligations in certain jurisdictions outside of the United States, in particular, in emerging markets countries. In addition, due to jurisdictional limitations,
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U.S. regulators may be limited in their ability to enforce regulatory or legal obligations in emerging market countries. The Fund's investments in foreign and emerging market securities may also be subject to foreign withholding taxes and/or taxes, which would decrease the Fund's yield on those securities.
Currency Risk. Changes in foreign currency exchange rates will affect the value of the Fund's securities and the price of the Fund's Shares. Generally, when the value of the U.S. dollar rises in value relative to a foreign currency, an investment in that country loses value because that currency is worth less in U.S. dollars. Currency exchange rates may fluctuate significantly over short periods of time for a number of reasons, including changes in interest rates. Devaluation of a currency by a country's government or banking authority also will have a significant impact on the value of any investments denominated in that currency. Currency markets generally are not as regulated as securities markets, may be riskier than other types of investments and may increase the volatility of the Fund. The Fund may engage in various strategies to hedge against currency risk. These strategies may consist of use of forward currency contracts including non-deliverable forward contracts and foreign currency futures contracts. To the extent the Fund enters into such transactions in markets other than in the United States, the Fund may be subject to certain currency, settlement, liquidity, trading and other risks similar to those described in this prospectus with respect to the Fund's investments in foreign securities. There can be no assurance that the Fund's hedging activities will be effective, and the Fund will incur costs in connection with the hedging. Currency hedging may limit the Fund's return if the relative values of currencies change. Furthermore, the Fund may only engage in hedging activities from time to time and may not necessarily be engaging in hedging activities when movements in currency exchange rates occur.
Geographic Focus Risk. The Fund may focus its investments in one or more regions or small groups of countries. As a result, the Fund's performance may be subject to greater volatility than a more geographically diversified fund.
Asia Pacific Market Risk. The small size of securities markets and the low trading volume in some countries in the Asia Pacific Region may lead to a lack of liquidity. Also, some Asia Pacific economies and financial markets have been extremely volatile in recent years. Many of the countries in the region are developing, both politically and economically. They may have relatively unstable governments and economies based on only a few commodities or industries. The share prices of companies in the region tend to be volatile and there is a significant possibility of loss. Also, some companies in the region may have less established product markets or a small management group and they may be more vulnerable to political or economic conditions, like nationalization. In addition, some countries have restricted the flow of money in and out of the country. The imposition of tariffs or other trade barriers or a downturn in the economy of a significant trading partner could adversely impact Chinese companies.
Certain of the currencies in the Asia Pacific region recently experienced extreme volatility relative to the U.S. dollar. For example, Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines and South Korea have had currency crises and have sought help from the International Monetary Fund. Holding securities in currencies that are devalued (or in companies whose revenues are substantially in currencies that are devalued) will likely decrease the value of a Fund.
The trading volume on some Asia Pacific region stock exchanges is much lower than in the United States, and Asia Pacific region securities of some companies are less liquid and more volatile than similar U.S. securities. In addition, brokerage commissions on regional stock exchanges are fixed and are generally higher than the negotiated commissions in the United States. The imposition of tariffs or other trade barriers, or a downturn in the economy of a significant trading partner could adversely impact Asia Pacific companies. If a Fund concentrates in the Asia Pacific region, the Fund's performance may be more volatile than that of a fund that invests globally. If Asia Pacific securities fall out of favor, it may cause a Fund that concentrates in the Asia Pacific region to underperform funds that do not concentrate in the Asia Pacific region.
European Market Risk. The Fund's performance will be affected by political, social and economic conditions in Europe, such as growth of the economic output (the gross national product), the rate of inflation, the rate at which capital is reinvested into European economies, the success of governmental actions to reduce budget deficits, the resource self-sufficiency of European countries and interest and monetary exchange rates between European countries. European financial markets may experience volatility due to concerns about high government debt levels, credit rating downgrades, rising unemployment, the future of the euro as a common currency, possible restructuring of government debt and other government measures responding to those concerns, and fiscal and monetary controls imposed on member countries of the European Union. The risk of investing in Europe may be heightened due to the steps taken by the United Kingdom to exit the European Union. On January 31, 2020, the United Kingdom officially withdrew from the European Union and entered a transition period, which ended on December 31, 2020. On December 30, 2020, the European Union and the United Kingdom signed the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement ("TCA"), an agreement on the terms governing certain aspects of the European Union's and the United Kingdom's relationship following the end of the transition period. Notwithstanding the TCA, following the transition period, there is likely to be considerable uncertainty as to the United Kingdom's post-transition framework. The impact on the United Kingdom and European economies and the broader global economy could be significant, resulting in increased volatility and illiquidity, currency fluctuations, impacts on arrangements for trading and on other existing cross-border cooperation arrangements (whether economic, tax, fiscal, legal, regulatory or otherwise), and in potentially
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More About the Funds (continued)
lower growth for companies in the United Kingdom, Europe and globally, which could have an adverse effect on the value of the Fund's investments. In addition, if one or more other countries were to exit the European Union or abandon the use of the euro as a currency, the value of investments tied to those countries or the euro could decline significantly and unpredictably.
Latin America Market Risk. The economies of countries in Latin America are all considered emerging market economies. High interest, inflation (in some cases substantial and prolonged), and unemployment rates generally characterize each economy. Because commodities such as agricultural products, minerals, and metals represent a significant percentage of exports of many Latin American countries, the economies of those countries are particularly sensitive to fluctuations in commodity prices. Investments in the region may also be subject to currency risks, such as restrictions on the flow of money in and out of the country, extreme volatility relative to the U.S. dollar, and devaluation, all of which could decrease the value of the Fund. Governments of many Latin American countries exercise substantial influence over many aspects of the private sector, and any such exercise could have a significant effect on companies in which the Fund may invest. Other Latin American market risks include foreign exchange controls, difficulties in pricing securities, defaults on sovereign debt, difficulties in enforcing favorable legal judgments in local courts, political and social instability and the significant percentage of the market represented by a small number of issuers.
Industry and Sector Focus Risk. At times, certain Funds may increase the relative emphasis of its investments in a particular industry or sector. The prices of securities of issuers in a particular industry or sector may be more susceptible to fluctuations due to changes in economic or business conditions, government regulations, availability of basic resources or supplies, or other events that affect that industry or sector more than securities of issuers in other industries and sectors. To the extent that a Fund increases the relative emphasis of its investments in a particular industry or sector, the value of a Fund's Shares may fluctuate in response to events affecting that industry or sector.
Large Cap Company Risk. Because the Fund invests in large cap company securities, it may underperform other funds during periods when the Fund's large cap securities are out of favor.
Smaller Company Risk. Investments in smaller, newer companies may be riskier than investments in larger, more-established companies. The securities of smaller companies may trade less frequently and in smaller volumes than securities of larger companies. In addition, smaller companies may be more vulnerable to economic, market and industry changes. As a result, share price changes may be more sudden or erratic than the prices of large capitalization companies, especially over the short term. Because smaller companies may have limited product lines, markets or financial resources or may depend on a few key employees, they may be more susceptible to particular economic events or competitive factors than large capitalization companies. This may cause unexpected and frequent decreases in the value of the Fund's investments.
High Yield Securities Risk. The Fund may invest in high yield, high risk securities (also known as junk bonds) which are considered to be speculative. These investments may be issued by companies which are highly leveraged, less creditworthy or financially distressed. Non-investment grade debt securities can be more sensitive to short-term corporate, economic and market developments. During periods of economic uncertainty and change, the market price of the Fund's investments and the Fund's net asset value may be volatile. Furthermore, though these investments generally provide a higher yield than higher-rated debt securities, the high degree of risk involved in these investments can result in substantial or total losses. These securities may be subject to greater risk of loss, greater sensitivity to economic changes, valuation difficulties, and a potential lack of a secondary or public market for securities. The market price of these securities can change suddenly and unexpectedly. As a result, the Fund is intended for investors who are able and willing to assume a high degree of risk.
Risk Associated with the Fund Holding Cash, Money Market Instruments and Other Short-Term Investments. The Fund will, at times, hold assets in cash, money market instruments and other short-term investments, which may hurt the Fund's performance. These positions may also subject the Fund to additional risks and costs.
Exchange-Traded Fund (ETF) and Other Investment Company Risk. Shareholders bear both their proportionate share of a Fund's expenses and similar expenses of the underlying investment company or ETF when a Fund invests in shares of another investment company or ETF. A Fund is subject to the risks associated with the ETF's or investment company's investments. ETFs and companies that invest in commodities or currencies are subject to the risks associated with direct investments in commodities or currencies. The price and movement of an ETF or closed-end fund designed to track an index may not track the index and may result in a loss. In addition, closed-end funds that trade on an exchange often trade at a price below their net asset value (also known as a discount). Certain ETFs or closed-end funds traded on exchanges may be thinly traded and experience large spreads between the "ask" price quoted by a seller and the "bid" price offered by a buyer. In addition, the Adviser's authority to allocate investments among J.P. Morgan Funds and unaffiliated passive ETFs crates conflicts of interest. For example, investing in J.P. Morgan Funds could cause a Fund to incur higher fees and will cause the Adviser and/or its affiliates to receive greater compensation, increase assets under management or support particular investment strategies or J.P. Morgan Funds.
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In October 2020, the SEC adopted certain regulatory changes and took other actions related to the ability of an investment company to invest in another investment company, including the rescission of exemptive relief issued by the SEC permitting such investments in excess of statutory limits. These regulatory changes may adversely impact each Fund's investment strategies and operations.
Mortgage-Related and Other Asset-Backed Securities Risk. Asset-backed, mortgage-related and mortgage-backed securities differ from conventional debt securities and are subject to certain additional risks because principal is paid back over the life of the security rather than at maturity. The Fund may invest in both residential or commercial mortgage-related and asset-backed securities including so-called "sub-prime" mortgages that are subject to certain other risks including prepayment and call risks. The value of mortgage-backed and asset-backed securities will be influenced by the factors affecting the residential and commercial property market and the assets underlying such securities. As a result, during periods of declining asset value, difficult or frozen credit markets, swings in interest rates, or deteriorating economic conditions, mortgage-related and asset-backed securities may decline in value, face valuation difficulties, become more volatile and/or become illiquid. Additionally, during such periods and also under normal conditions, these securities are also subject to prepayment and call risk. Gains and losses associated with prepayments will increase or decrease the Fund's yield and the income available for distribution by the Fund. When mortgages and other obligations are prepaid and when securities are called, the Fund may have to reinvest in securities with a lower yield or fail to recover additional amounts (i.e., premiums) paid for securities with higher interest rates, resulting in an unexpected capital loss and/or a decrease in the amount of dividends and yield. In periods of either rising or declining interest rates, the Fund may be subject to extension risk, and may receive principal later than expected. In periods of rising interest rates, the Fund may exhibit additional volatility. Some of these securities may receive little or no collateral protection from the underlying assets and are thus subject to the risk of default described under "Credit Risk." The risk of such defaults is generally higher in the case of asset-backed, mortgage-backed and mortgage-related investments that include so-called "sub-prime" mortgages (which are loans made to borrowers with low credit ratings or other factors that increase the risk of default). The structure of some of these securities may be complex and there may be less available information than other types of debt securities. Additionally, asset-backed, mortgage-related and mortgage-backed securities are subject to risks associated with their structure and the nature of the assets underlying the securities and the servicing of those assets. Certain asset-backed, mortgage-related and mortgage-backed securities may face valuation difficulties and may be less liquid than other types of asset-backed, mortgage-related and mortgage-backed securities, or debt securities.
The mortgage loans underlying privately issued mortgage-related securities may not be subject to the same underwriting requirements for the underlying mortgages that are applicable to those mortgage-related securities that have government or government-sponsored entity guarantees. As a result, the mortgage loans underlying privately issued mortgage-related securities may have less favorable collateral, credit risk or other underwriting characteristics than government or government-sponsored mortgage-related securities and have wider variances in a number of terms including interest rate, term, size, purpose and borrower characteristics. In addition, certain mortgage-related securities which may include loans that originally qualified under standards established by government-sponsored entities (for example, certain REMICs that include Fannie Mae mortgages) are not considered as government securities for purposes of a Fund's investment strategies or policies. There is no government or government-sponsored guarantee for such privately issued investments.
The Fund may invest in collateralized mortgage obligations (CMOs). CMOs are debt obligations collateralized by mortgage loans or mortgage pass-through securities. CMOs are issued in multiple classes, and each class may have its own interest rate and/or final payment date. A class with an earlier final payment date may have certain preferences in receiving principal payments or earning interest. As a result, the value of some classes in which the Fund invests may be more volatile and may be subject to higher risk of nonpayment. The Fund may invest in interest-only (IO) and principal-only (PO) mortgage-related securities. The values of IO and PO mortgage-backed securities are more volatile than other types of mortgage-related securities. They are very sensitive not only to changes in interest rates, but also to the rate of prepayments. A rapid or unexpected increase in prepayments can significantly depress the price of interest-only securities, while a rapid or unexpected decrease could have the same effect on principal-only securities. In addition, because there may be a drop in trading volume, an inability to find a ready buyer or the imposition of legal restrictions on the resale of securities, these instruments may be illiquid.
Real Estate Securities Risk. The value of real estate securities in general, and REITs in particular, are subject to the same risks as direct investments in real estate and mortgages which include, but are not limited to, sensitivity to changes in real estate values and property taxes, interest rate risk, tax and regulatory risk, fluctuations in rent schedules and operating expenses, adverse changes in local, regional or general economic conditions, deterioration of the real estate market and the financial circumstances of tenants and sellers, unfavorable changes in zoning, building, environmental and other laws, the need for unanticipated renovations, unexpected increases in the cost of energy and environmental factors. In addition, the underlying mortgage loans may be subject to the risks of default or of prepayments that occur earlier or later than expected, and such loans may also include so-called "sub-prime" mortgages. The value of REITs will also rise and fall in response to the management skill and creditworthiness of the issuer. In particular, the value of these securities may decline when interest rates rise and will also be affected by the real estate market and by
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the management of the underlying properties. REITs may be more volatile and/or more illiquid than other types of equity securities. A Fund will indirectly bear its proportionate share of expenses, including management fees, paid by each REIT in which it invests in addition to the expenses of the Fund.
In addition, certain of the companies in which a Fund intends to invest may have developed or commenced development on properties and may develop additional properties in the future. Real estate development involves significant risks in addition to those involved in the ownership and operation of established properties, including the risks that financing, if needed, may not be available on favorable terms for development projects, that construction may not be completed on schedule (resulting in increased debt service expense and construction costs), that estimates of the costs of construction may prove to be inaccurate and that properties may not be leased, rented or operated on profitable terms and therefore will fail to perform in accordance with expectations. As a result, the value of the Fund's investment may decrease in value.
Government Securities Risk. The Fund may invest in securities issued or guaranteed by the U.S. government or its agencies and instrumentalities (such as securities issued by the Government National Mortgage Association (Ginnie Mae), the Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae), or the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac)). U.S. government securities are subject to market risk, interest rate risk and credit risk. Securities, such as those issued or guaranteed by Ginnie Mae or the U.S. Treasury, that are backed by the full faith and credit of the United States are guaranteed only as to the timely payment of interest and principal when held to maturity and the market prices for such securities will fluctuate. Notwithstanding that these securities are backed by the full faith and credit of the United States, circumstances could arise that would prevent the payment of interest or principal. This would result in losses to the Funds. Securities issued or guaranteed by U.S. government related organizations, such as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, are not backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government and no assurance can be given that the U.S. government will provide financial support. Therefore, U.S. government related organizations may not have the funds to meet their payment obligations in the future. U.S. government securities include zero coupon securities, which tend to be subject to greater market risk than interest-paying securities of similar maturities.
Sovereign Debt Risk. The Fund may invest all or substantially all of its assets in sovereign debt securities. These securities are issued or guaranteed by foreign governmental entities. These investments are subject to the risk that a governmental entity may delay or refuse to pay interest or repay principal on its sovereign debt, due, for example, to cash flow problems, insufficient foreign currency reserves, political considerations, the relative size of the governmental entity's debt position in relation to the economy or other failure to put in place economic reforms required by the International Monetary Fund or other multilateral agencies. If a governmental entity defaults, it may ask for more time in which to pay or further loans. There is no legal process for collecting sovereign debts that a government does not pay nor are there bankruptcy proceedings through which all or part of the sovereign debt that a governmental entity has not repaid may be collected.
Inflation-Linked Securities Risk. Inflation-linked debt securities are subject to the effects of changes in market interest rates caused by factors other than inflation (such as real interest rates). In general, the price of an inflation-linked security tends to decrease when real interest rates increase and can increase when real interest rates decrease. Interest payments on inflation-linked securities are unpredictable and will fluctuate as the principal and interest are adjusted for inflation. Any increase in the principal amount of an inflation-linked debt security will be considered taxable ordinary income, even though the Fund will not receive the principal until maturity.
There can also be no assurance that the inflation index used will accurately measure the real rate of inflation in the prices of goods and services. The Fund's investments in inflation-linked securities may lose value in the event that the actual rate of inflation is different than the rate of inflation calculated by the index. In addition, inflation-linked securities are subject to the risk that the CPI or other relevant index may be discontinued, fundamentally altered in a manner materially adverse to the interests of an investor in the securities, altered by legislation or Executive Order in a materially adverse manner to the interests of an investor in the securities or substituted with an alternative index.
Short Positions Risk. A Fund's strategy may involve more risk than other funds that do not take short positions. A Fund's use of short positions in combination with long positions in the Fund's portfolio in an attempt to improve performance or to reduce overall portfolio risk may not be successful and may result in greater losses or lower positive returns than if the Fund held only long positions. It is possible that a Fund's long equity positions will decline in value at the same time that the value of its short equity positions increase, thereby increasing potential losses to the Fund. Market factors may prevent a Fund from closing out a short position at the most desirable time or at a favorable price. A Fund may enter into short sales of certain securities and would need to borrow the securities in order to make delivery to the buyer. A Fund may not always be able to borrow a security it wants to sell short. A Fund also may be unable to close out an established short position at an acceptable price, and may have to sell long positions at disadvantageous times to cover its short position. Because a Fund's potential loss on a short position arises from increases in the value of the asset sold short, the extent of such loss, like the price of the asset sold short, is theoretically unlimited. Furthermore, taking short positions in securities results in a form of leverage. Leverage involves special risks described under "Derivatives Risk."
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The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and financial industry regulatory authorities in other countries may impose prohibitions, restrictions or other regulatory requirements on short positions which could inhibit the ability of the adviser to take short positions on behalf of a Fund.
Depositary Receipt Risk. A Fund's investments may take the form of depositary receipts, including unsponsored depositary receipts. Unsponsored depositary receipts may not provide as much information about the underlying issuer and may not carry the same voting privileges as sponsored depositary receipts. Unsponsored depositary receipts are issued by one or more depositaries in response to market demand, but without a formal agreement with the company that issues the underlying securities.
High Portfolio Turnover Risk. A Fund will likely engage in active and frequent trading leading to increased portfolio turnover, higher transaction costs, and the possibility that the recognition of capital gains will be accelerated, including short-term capital gains that will generally be taxable to shareholders as ordinary income.
Transactions and Liquidity Risk. A Fund could experience a loss when selling securities to meet redemption requests, and its liquidity may be negatively impacted. The risk of loss increases if the redemption requests are large or frequent, occur in times of overall market turmoil or declining prices for the securities sold, or when the securities a Fund wishes to, or is required to, sell are illiquid. To the extent a large proportion of shares of a Fund are held by a small number of shareholders (or a single shareholder) including funds or accounts over which the adviser or its affiliates have investment discretion, the Fund is subject to the risk that these shareholders will purchase or redeem Fund shares in large amounts rapidly or unexpectedly, including as a result of an asset allocation decision made by the adviser or its affiliates. In addition to the other risks described in this section, these transactions could adversely affect the ability of a Fund to conduct its investment program. A Fund may be unable to sell illiquid securities at its desired time or price or the price at which the securities have been valued for purposes of the Fund's net asset value. Illiquidity can be caused by a drop in overall market trading volume, an inability to find a ready buyer, or legal restrictions on the securities' resale. Other market participants may be attempting to sell debt securities at the same time as a Fund, causing downward pricing pressure and contributing to illiquidity. The capacity for bond dealers to engage in trading or "make a market" in debt securities has not kept pace with the growth of bond markets. Liquidity and valuation risk may be magnified in a rising interest rate environment, when credit quality is deteriorating or in other circumstances where investor redemptions from fixed income mutual funds may be higher than normal. Certain securities that were liquid when purchased may later become illiquid, particularly in times of overall economic distress. Similarly, large purchases of Fund shares may adversely affect the Fund's performance to the extent that the Fund is delayed in investing new cash and is required to maintain a larger cash position than it ordinarily would. Large redemptions also could accelerate the realization of capital gains, increase a Fund's transaction costs and impact a Fund's performance.
Tax Risk. The Fund may gain exposure to the commodities markets through investments in commodity-linked derivative instruments, which may include commodity index-linked notes, swap agreements, commodity options, futures, and options on futures. The Fund may, in the future, gain exposure indirectly to commodity markets by investing in its Subsidiary, which invests primarily in commodity-linked derivative instruments. In order for the Fund to qualify as a regulated investment company under Subchapter M of Internal Revenue Code, as amended (the Code), the Fund must derive at least 90 percent of its gross income each taxable year from certain qualifying sources of income. The Fund's intention to qualify as a regulated investment company may limit its ability to make certain investments including, without limitation, investments in certain commodity-linked derivatives. The IRS has issued a revenue ruling which holds that income derived from certain commodity-linked swaps is not qualifying income under Subchapter M of the Code. The IRS has issued private letter rulings to other taxpayers in which the IRS concluded that income from certain commodity-linked notes is qualifying income (the "Notes Rulings") and that income derived from a wholly-owned subsidiary will also constitute qualifying income. The IRS recently issued a revenue procedure, which states that the IRS will not in the future issue private letter rulings that would require a determination of whether an asset (such as a commodity index-linked note) is a "security" under the Investment Company Act. In connection with issuing such revenue procedure, the IRS revoked the Note Rulings on a prospective basis. The IRS also recently issued final regulations that would generally treat the Fund's income inclusion with respect to a subsidiary as qualifying income either if (A) there is a distribution out of the earnings and profits of a subsidiary that are attributable to such income inclusion or (B) such inclusion is derived with respect to the Fund's business of investing in stock, securities or currencies. The tax treatment of commodity-linked notes, other commodity-linked derivatives and the Fund's investments in the Subsidiary may be adversely affected by future legislation, Treasury regulations and/or guidance issued by the IRS that could affect whether income from such investments is qualifying income under Subchapter M of the Code, or otherwise alter the character, timing and/or amount of the Fund's taxable income or any gains and distributions made by the Fund. The Fund's investment in the Subsidiary and its use of commodity-linked notes involve specific risks. See "Subsidiary Risk" for further information regarding the Subsidiary, including the risks associated with investing in the Subsidiary. See "Commodities Risk" and "Derivatives Risk" for further information regarding commodity-linked notes, including the risks associated with these instruments.
Prepayment and Call Risk. The issuers of mortgage-backed and asset-backed securities and other callable securities may be able to repay principal in advance, especially when interest rates fall. Changes in prepayment rates can affect the return on investment and yield of mortgage-backed and asset-backed securities. When mortgages and other obligations are prepaid and when securities are
March 1, 2021  |  23
More About the Funds (continued)
called, the Fund may have to reinvest in securities with a lower yield. The Fund also may fail to recover additional amounts (i.e., premiums) paid for securities with higher interest rates, resulting in an unexpected capital loss. Furthermore, some asset-backed securities may have additional risk because they may receive little or no collateral protection from the underlying assets, and are also subject to the risk of default described under "Credit Risk." The risk of such defaults is generally higher in the case of mortgage-backed investments that include so-called "sub-prime" mortgages.
Convertible Securities Risk. A convertible security generally entitles the holder to receive interest paid or accrued on debt securities or the dividend paid on preferred stock until the convertible security matures or is redeemed, converted or exchanged. Before conversion, convertible securities generally have characteristics similar to both debt and equity securities. The value of convertible securities tends to decline as interest rates rise and, because of the conversion feature, tends to vary with fluctuations in the market value of the underlying securities. Convertible securities ordinarily provide a stream of income with generally higher yields than those of common stock of the same or similar issuers. Convertible securities generally rank senior to common stock in a corporation's capital structure but are usually subordinated to comparable non-convertible securities. Convertible securities generally do not participate directly in any dividend increases or decreases of the underlying securities, although the market prices of convertible securities may be affected by any dividend changes or other changes in the underlying securities. Contingent convertible securities are subject to additional risk factors. A contingent convertible security is a hybrid debt security typically issued by a non-U.S. bank that may be convertible into equity or may be written down if a pre-specified trigger event such as a decline in capital ratio below a prescribed threshold occurs. If such a trigger event occurs, the Fund may lose the principal amount invested on a permanent or temporary basis or the contingent convertible security may be converted to equity. Coupon payments on contingent convertible securities may be discretionary and may be cancelled by the issuer. Holders of contingent convertible securities may suffer a loss of capital when comparable equity holders do not. The convertible securities the Fund invests in may be rated below investment grade, which could increase their risks.
Non-Diversified Fund Risk. Since the Fund is non-diversified, it may invest a greater percentage of its assets in a particular issuer or group of issuers than a diversified fund would. This increased investment in fewer issuers may result in the Fund's shares being more sensitive to economic results among those issuing the securities.
Preferred Stock Risk. The Fund may invest in preferred stock. Preferred stock generally has a preference as to dividends and liquidation over an issuer's common stock but ranks junior to debt securities in an issuer's capital structure. Unlike interest payments on debt securities, preferred stock dividends are payable only if declared by the issuer's board of directors. Preferred stock also may be subject to optional or mandatory redemption provisions.
Because preferred stocks generally pay dividends only after the issuing company makes required payments to holders of its bonds and other debt, the value of preferred stocks generally is more sensitive than bonds and other debt to actual or perceived changes in the company's financial condition or prospects.
CFTC Regulation Risk. The Fund is subject to regulation by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) as a "commodity pool" and the adviser is subject to regulation as a "commodity pool operator" with respect to the Fund. As a result, the Fund is subject to various CFTC requirements, including certain registration, disclosure and operational requirements. Compliance with these requirements may increase Fund expenses.
Commodities Risk. The Fund may, in the future, gain exposure to the commodities markets through investments in commodity-linked derivative instruments, which may include commodity index-linked notes, swap agreements, commodity options, futures and options on futures. The Fund's investment (directly or through the Subsidiary) in commodity related instruments, including commodity-linked derivative instruments, may subject the Fund to greater volatility than investments in traditional securities, particularly if the instruments involve leverage. The value of commodity-linked derivative instruments may be affected by changes in overall market movements, commodity index volatility, changes in interest rates, or factors affecting a particular industry or commodity, such as drought, floods, weather, livestock disease, embargoes, tariffs and international economic, political and regulatory developments. The energy sector can be significantly affected by changes in the prices and supplies of oil and other energy fuels, energy conservation, the success of exploration projects, and tax and other government regulations policies of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and relationships among OPEC members and between OPEC and oil importing nations. The metals sector can be affected by sharp price volatility over short periods caused by global economic, financial and political factors, resource availability, government regulation, economic cycles, changes in inflation or expectations about inflation in various countries, interest rates, currency fluctuations, metal sales by governments, central banks or international agencies, investment speculation and fluctuations in industrial and commercial supply and demand. Use of leveraged commodity-linked derivatives creates an opportunity for increased return but, at the same time, creates the possibility for greater loss (including the likelihood of greater volatility of the Fund's net asset value), and there can be no assurance that the Fund's use of leverage will be successful.
24  |  J.P. Morgan Specialty Funds
Subsidiary Risk. To the extent that the Fund will invest in the Subsidiary, the Fund will be indirectly exposed to the risks associated with the Subsidiary's investments. The derivatives and other investments held by the Subsidiary will be generally similar to those that are permitted to be held by the Fund and would be subject to the same risks that apply to similar investments if held directly by the Fund. These risks are described elsewhere in this prospectus. There can be no assurance that the investment objective of the Subsidiary will be achieved. The Subsidiary will not be registered under the 1940 Act and will not be subject to all the investor protections of the 1940 Act. As described in "Tax Risk" below, the Fund has not received a private letter ruling from the Internal Revenue Service (the IRS) with respect to income derived from an investment in the Subsidiary. The Fund will rely on the reasoning of private letter rulings from the IRS to other taxpayers with respect to an investment in the Subsidiary. Changes in the laws of the United States and/or the Cayman Islands could result in the inability of the Fund and/or the Subsidiary to operate as described in this prospectus and the Statement of Additional Information (SAI) and could adversely affect the Fund.
Securities Lending Risk. To generate additional income, a Fund may lend up to 33 1∕3 % of total assets pursuant to agreements requiring that the loan be continuously secured by collateral equal to at least 100% of the market value plus accrued interest on the securities lent. Securities lending involves counterparty risk, including the risk that the loaned securities may not be returned or returned in a timely manner and/or a loss of rights in the collateral if the borrower or the lending agent defaults or fails financially. The earnings on the collateral invested may not be sufficient to pay fees incurred in connection with the loan. Also, the principal value of the collateral invested may decline and may not be sufficient to pay back the borrower for the amount of the collateral posted. There are no limits on the number of borrowers a Fund may use and a Fund may lend securities to only one or a small group of borrowers. A Fund bears the risk of loss in connection with investments of the cash collateral received from the borrower, which do not trigger additional collateral requirements from the borrower. To the extent that the value or return of a Fund's investments of the cash collateral declines below the amount owed to a borrower, a Fund may incur losses that exceed the amount it earned on lending the security. In situations where the Adviser does not believe that it is prudent to sell the cash collateral investments in the market, a Fund may borrow money to repay the borrower the amount of cash collateral owed to the borrower upon return of the loaned securities. This will result in financial leverage, which may cause a Fund to be more volatile because financial leverage tends to exaggerate the effect of any increase or decrease in the value of a Fund's portfolio securities.
Cyber Security Risk. As the use of technology has become more prevalent in the course of business, the Funds have become more susceptible to operational and financial risks associated with cyber security, including: theft, loss, misuse, improper release, corruption and destruction of, or unauthorized access to, confidential or highly restricted data relating to a Fund and its shareholders; and compromises or failures to systems, networks, devices and applications relating to the operations of a Fund and its service providers. Cyber security risks may result in financial losses to a Fund and its shareholders; the inability of a Fund to transact business with its shareholders; delays or mistakes in the calculation of a Fund's NAV or other materials provided to shareholders; the inability to process transactions with shareholders or other parties; violations of privacy and other laws; regulatory fines, penalties and reputational damage; and compliance and remediation costs, legal fees and other expenses. A Fund's service providers (including, but not limited to, the adviser, any sub-advisers, administrator, transfer agent, and custodian or their agents), financial intermediaries, companies in which a Fund invests and parties with which a Fund engages in portfolio or other transactions also may be adversely impacted by cyber security risks in their own businesses, which could result in losses to a Fund or its shareholders. While measures have been developed which are designed to reduce the risks associated with cyber security, there is no guarantee that those measures will be effective, particularly since the Funds do not directly control the cyber security defenses or plans of their service providers, financial intermediaries and companies in which they invest or with which they do business.
Volcker Rule Risk. Pursuant to section 619 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act and certain rules promulgated thereunder known as the Volcker Rule, if the adviser and/or its affiliates own 25% or more of the outstanding ownership interests of a Fund after the permitted seeding period from the implementation of a Fund's investment strategy, a Fund could be subject to restrictions on trading that would adversely impact the Fund's ability to execute its investment strategy. Generally, the permitted seeding period is three years from the implementation of a Fund's investment strategy. As a result, the adviser and/or its affiliates may be required to reduce their ownership interests in a Fund at a time that is sooner than would otherwise be desirable, which may result in the Fund's liquidation or, if the Fund is able to continue operating, may result in losses, increased transaction costs and adverse tax consequences as a result of the sale of portfolio securities.
Conflicts of Interest
An investment in a Fund is subject to a number of actual or potential conflicts of interest. For example, the Adviser and/or its affiliates provide a variety of different services to a Fund, for which the Fund compensates them. As a result, the Adviser and/or its affiliates have an incentive to enter into arrangements with a Fund, and face conflicts of interest when balancing that incentive against the best interests of a Fund. The Adviser and/or its affiliates also face conflicts of interest in their service as investment adviser to other clients, and, from time to time, make investment decisions that differ from and/or negatively impact those made by the Adviser on behalf of a Fund. In addition, affiliates of the Adviser provide a broad range of services and products to their clients and are major
March 1, 2021  |  25
More About the Funds (continued)
participants in the global currency, equity, commodity, fixed-income and other markets in which a Fund invests or will invest. In certain circumstances, by providing services and products to their clients, these affiliates' activities will disadvantage or restrict the Funds and/or benefit these affiliates. The Adviser may also acquire material non-public information which would negatively affect the Adviser's ability to transact in securities for a Fund. JPMorgan and the Funds have adopted policies and procedures reasonably designed to appropriately prevent, limit or mitigate conflicts of interest. In addition, many of the activities that create these conflicts of interest are limited and/or prohibited by law, unless an exception is available. For more information about conflicts of interest, see the Potential Conflicts of Interest section in the Statement of Additional Information.
Temporary Defensive Positions
For liquidity and to respond to unusual market conditions, the Funds may invest all or most of their total assets in cash and cash equivalents for temporary defensive purposes. In addition, certain Funds may invest in cash and cash equivalents as a principal investment strategy. These investments may result in a lower yield than lower-quality or longer-term investments.
WHAT IS A CASH EQUIVALENT?
Cash equivalents are highly liquid, high-quality instruments with maturities of three months or less on the date they are purchased.
They include securities issued by the U.S. government, its agencies and instrumentalities, repurchase agreements, certificates of
deposit, bankers' acceptances, commercial paper, money market mutual funds and bank deposit accounts.
While the Fund is engaged in a temporary defensive position, it may not meet its investment objective. These investments may also be inconsistent with a the Fund's main investment strategies. Therefore, the Fund will pursue a temporary defensive position only when market conditions warrant.
Additional Fee Waiver and/or Expense Reimbursement
Service providers to the Funds may, from time to time, voluntarily waive all or a portion of any fees to which they are entitled and/or reimburse certain expenses as they may determine from time to time. The Funds' service providers may discontinue or modify these voluntary actions at any time without notice. Performance for the Funds will reflect the voluntary waiver of fees and/or the reimbursement of expenses, if any. Without these voluntary waivers and/or expense reimbursements, performance would have been less favorable.
Expenses of Underlying Funds
Macro Opportunities Fund
The Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses reflected in the Fund's "Annual Fund Operating Expenses" table are based on the estimated target allocation of that Fund's assets among the underlying funds including ETFs as of the date of this prospectus. The Fund invests in Class R6 Shares or the equivalent of the underlying funds to the extent that they are available. To the extent that an underlying fund does not offer Class R6 Shares, the Fund will invest in Class R5 Shares. To the extent that an underlying fund does not offer Class R5 Shares, the Fund may invest in Institutional Class Shares or Class L Shares, if applicable, or, to the extent that an underlying fund does not have Institutional Class or Class L Shares, the Fund may invest in Class I Shares of an underlying fund. Institutional Class, Class L and Class I Shares have higher expenses than Class R5 and Class R6 Shares, and Class R5 Shares have higher expenses than Class R6 Shares. To the extent that the Fund invests in shares of the underlying funds that do not offer Class R6 Shares, the Fund's total expenses will be higher. Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses will vary with changes in expenses of the underlying funds, as well as allocations of the Fund's assets, and may be higher or lower than those shown. Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses include dividend expenses related to short sales by the underlying funds.
26  |  J.P. Morgan Specialty Funds
The Funds' Management and Administration
The Opportunistic Equity Long/Short Fund and Research Market Neutral Fund are series of JPMorgan Trust I (JPMT I), a Delaware statutory trust. The Macro Opportunities Fund is a series of JPMorgan Trust IV (JPMT IV), a Delaware statutory trust (the "Trust"). JPMT I and JPMT IV are governed by the Board of Trustees which is responsible for overseeing all business activities of their respective Funds.
Each of the Funds operates in a multiple class structure. A multiple class fund is an open-end investment company that issues two or more classes of shares representing interests in the same investment portfolio.
Each class in a multiple class fund can set its own transaction minimums and may vary with respect to expenses for distribution, administration and shareholder services. This means that one class could offer access to a Fund on different terms than another class. Certain classes may be more appropriate for a particular investor.
Each Fund may issue other classes of shares that have different expense levels and performance and different requirements for who may invest. Call 1-800-480-4111 to obtain more information concerning all of the Funds' other share classes. A Financial Intermediary who receives compensation for selling Fund shares may receive a different amount of compensation for sales of different classes of shares.
The Funds' Investment Adviser
J.P. Morgan Investment Management Inc. (JPMIM) acts as investment adviser to the Funds and makes the day-to-day investment decisions for the Funds.
JPMIM is a wholly-owned subsidiary of JPMorgan Asset Management Holdings Inc., which is a wholly-owned subsidiary of JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPMorgan Chase), a bank holding company. JPMIM is located at 383 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10179.
During the most recent fiscal year ended 10/31/20, JPMIM was paid a management fee (net of waivers) of 0.00% for the Macro Opportunities Fund and 1.16% for the Opportunistic Equity Long/Short Fund as a percentage of average daily net assets, respectively.
A discussion of the basis the Board of Trustees of the Trusts used in approving the investment advisory agreement for the Funds is available in the annual report for the most recent fiscal period ended October 31.
The Portfolio Managers
Macro Opportunities Fund
The portfolio management team utilizes a team-based approach, and the Fund's portfolio management team is comprised of Shrenick Shah, Benoit Lanctot, Josh Berelowitz and Virginia Martin Heriz. The team is responsible for managing the Fund on a day to day basis. Shrenick Shah, Managing Director, is the head of the Macro Strategies team at J.P. Morgan Asset Management, based in London. An employee since September 2010, Mr. Shah previously worked in the equity divisions at Deutsche Bank and Credit Suisse. Benoit Lanctot, CFA, CAIA, Executive Director, is a portfolio manager in the Macro Strategies team, based in London. An employee since July 2011, Mr. Lanctot previously worked as a senior analyst in the Convertible Bond team within Multi-Asset Solutions, responsible for the implementation of the fundamental analysis framework with global coverage. Prior to that, Benoit worked in investment banking for the Diversified Industries Group of Scotia Capital Inc. based in Montreal, Canada. Josh Berelowitz, CFA, Executive Director, is a portfolio manager in the Macro Strategies team, based in London. An employee since September 2011, Mr. Berelowitz has been focused on the macro portfolios since inception of the strategy in November 2012. Virginia Martin Heriz, Executive Director, is a portfolio manager in the Macro Strategies team, based in London. An employee since November 2019, Ms. Martin Heriz previously was a portfolio manager at Aberdeen Standard Investments where she was responsible for tactical asset allocation portfolios and segregated multi asset mandates. Prior to that, she was an analyst covering global financials at Martin Currie Investment Management.
Opportunistic Equity Long/Short Fund
The portfolio manager for the Fund is Rick I. Singh, Managing Director of JPMIM. Mr. Singh, is a senior member of the U.S. Equity Core team and has worked as a portfolio manager for JPMIM since 2013. Prior to joining the firm, Mr. Singh was a partner/Managing Director at 3G Capital, Standard Pacific and Karsch Capital.
Steve Lee, Managing Director of JPMIM, is also a senior member of the U.S. Equity Core team. As part of the team's investment process Messrs. Singh and Lee meet, along with other portfolio managers and research analysts, to discuss the economic outlook, industry trends, and the merits and risks of investment ideas for the Fund. In Mr. Singh's absence, Mr. Lee will be responsible for day-to-day management of the fund. Mr. Lee has been a portfolio manager since 2013 and prior to that time he was a research analyst in
March 1, 2021  |  27
The Funds' Management and Administration (continued)
the U.S. Equity Research Group. Mr. Lee has been an employee of JPMIM since 2004.The Statement of Additional Information provides additional information about the portfolio managers' compensation, other accounts managed by the portfolio managers and the portfolio managers' ownership of securities in the Funds.
The Funds' Administrator
JPMIM (the Administrator) provides administration services and oversees each Fund's other service providers. The Administrator receives the following annual fee from each Fund for administration services: 0.075% of the first $10 billion of average daily net assets of the Fund, plus 0.050% of average daily net assets of the Fund between $10 billion and $20 billion, plus 0.025% of average daily net assets of the Fund between $20 billion and $25 billion, plus 0.010% of the average daily net assets of the Fund over $25 billion.
The Funds' Shareholder Servicing Agent
The Trusts, on behalf of the Funds, have entered into a shareholder servicing agreement with JPMorgan Distribution Services, Inc. (JPMDS) under which JPMDS has agreed to provide certain support services to the Funds' shareholders. For performing these services, JPMDS, as shareholder servicing agent, receives an annual fee of 0.25% of the average daily net assets of the Class A, Class C and Class I Shares of each Fund. JPMDS may enter into service agreements with Financial Intermediaries under which it will pay all or a portion of the annual fee to such Financial Intermediaries for performing shareholder and administrative services.
The Funds' Distributor
JPMDS (the Distributor) is the distributor for the Funds. The Distributor is an affiliate of JPMIM.
Additional Compensation to Financial Intermediaries
JPMIM, JPMDS and, from time to time, other affiliates of JPMorgan Chase may also, at their own expense and out of their own legitimate profits, provide additional cash payments to Financial Intermediaries whose customers invest in shares of the J.P. Morgan Funds. For this purpose, Financial Intermediaries include financial advisors, investment advisers, brokers, financial planners, banks, insurance companies, retirement or 401(k) plan administrators and others, including various affiliates of JPMorgan Chase, that have entered into agreements with JPMDS. These additional cash payments are payments over and above any sales charges (including Rule 12b-1 fees) and service fees (including sub-transfer agency and/or networking fees) that are paid to such Financial Intermediaries, as described elsewhere in this prospectus. These additional cash payments are generally made to Financial Intermediaries that provide shareholder, sub-transfer agency or administrative services or marketing support. Marketing support may include access to sales meetings, sales representatives and Financial Intermediary management representatives, inclusion of the J.P. Morgan Funds on a sales list, including a preferred or select sales list, or other sales programs and/or for training and educating a Financial Intermediary's employees. These additional cash payments also may be made as an expense reimbursement in cases where the Financial Intermediary provides shareholder services to J.P. Morgan Fund shareholders. JPMIM and JPMDS may also pay cash compensation in the form of finders' fees that vary depending on the J.P. Morgan Fund and the dollar amount of shares sold. Such additional compensation may provide such Financial Intermediaries with an incentive to favor sales of shares of the J.P. Morgan Funds over other investment options they make available to their customers. See the Statement of Additional Information for more information.
28  |  J.P. Morgan Specialty Funds
Investing with J.P. Morgan Funds
Choosing A Share Class
Each share class represents an investment in the same portfolio of securities, but each has different availability and eligibility criteria, expenses, dividends and distributions.
Please read this prospectus carefully, and then select the share class most appropriate for you and decide how much you want to invest. Each Fund may offer other classes of shares not included in this prospectus that have different expense levels, performance and eligibility requirements from the share classes offered in this prospectus. Call 1-800-480-4111 to obtain more information concerning these or other share classes. A Financial Intermediary may receive different compensation based on the share class sold.
Additional Information that Applies to All Accounts: If your identity or the identity of any other person(s) authorized to act on your behalf cannot be verified, or if potentially criminal activity is identified, the J.P. Morgan Funds and the Distributor reserve the right to reject opening an account for you, close your account, or take such other action they deem reasonable or required by law.
Class R shares are primarily used in Group Retirement Plans. The particular Group Retirement Plan will determine the share class available to its participants.
Shares of the Funds have not been registered for sale outside of the United States. This prospectus is not intended for distribution to prospective investors outside of the United States. The Funds generally do not market or sell shares to investors domiciled outside of the United States, even, with regard to individuals, if they are citizens or lawful permanent residents of the United States.
Class R6
Eligibility1
May be purchased by
•Group Retirement Plans,1
•Section 529 college savings plans,
•J.P. Morgan Funds of Funds (to the extent permitted by a
Fund's investment strategies),
•Mutual Funds, ETFs, and other registered investment
companies not affiliated with JPMIM,
•Investors through a fee-based advisory program of a financial
intermediary that has entered into a written agreement with
the Distributor to offer such shares through an omnibus
account held at the Fund,
•Certain discretionary accounts at JPMIM or JPMorgan Chase
Bank NA or their affiliates (the Investment Manager) as
defined below,
•Institutional Investors, as described below,
•Other Investors, as described below
Minimum Investment2
$ 5,000,000 - Discretionary Accounts.
$ 5,000,000 - Institutional Investors.
$ 15,000,000 - Other Investors.
You are required to maintain a minimum account balance equal
to the minimum initial investment in the Fund.
There is no minimum for other Class R6 eligible investors as
described in "Eligibility", above.
Minimum Subsequent Investments
No minimum
Distribution (12b-1) Fee
None
Service Fee
None
Redemption Fee
None
1
For more information about eligible Group Retirement Plans, see "Group Retirement Plans" below.
2
Please see "MINIMUM ACCOUNT BALANCE" for more information about minimum balance requirements.
March 1, 2021  |  29
Investing with J.P. Morgan Funds (continued)
Financial Intermediaries may include financial advisors, investment advisers, brokers, financial planners, banks, insurance companies, retirement or 401(k) plan administrators and others, including various affiliates of JPMorgan Chase, that have entered into agreements with JPMDS as Distributor and/or shareholder servicing agent.
Accounts may be opened either directly with the Funds' transfer agent or through Financial Intermediaries. If you have questions about eligibility, please call 1-800-480-4111.
Class R6 Shares are not subject to Rule 12b-1 fees.
Class R6 Shares have lower annual expense ratios than other share classes, as the Class R6 Shares have no ongoing service fees.
A Fund may issue other classes of shares that have different sales charges, expense levels and performance and different requirements for who may invest. Call 1-800-480-4111 to obtain more information concerning all of a Fund's other share classes. A Financial Intermediary who receives compensation for selling Fund shares may receive different amounts of compensation for sales of different classes of shares.
Group Retirement Plans
The only retirement plans that are eligible to purchase Class R6 Shares are employer-sponsored retirement, deferred compensation and employee benefit plans (including health savings accounts) and trusts used to fund those plans. To satisfy eligibility requirements, the plan must be a group plan (more than one participant), the shares cannot be held in a commission-based brokerage account and the shares must be held a) at a plan level or b) at the Fund level through an omnibus account of a retirement plan recordkeeper. Group Retirement Plans include group employer-sponsored 401(k) plans, 457 plans, employer-sponsored 403(b) plans, profit-sharing and money purchase pension plans, defined benefit plans, retiree health benefit plans, group annuity separate accounts offered to retirement plans, and non-qualified deferred compensation plans. Group Retirement Plans do not include traditional and Roth Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs), Coverdell Education Savings Accounts, SEPs, SARSEPs, SIMPLE IRAs, KEOGHs, individual 401(k) plans or individual 403(b) plans.
Discretionary Accounts
Class R6 Shares may also be purchased by an account for an investor:
1.
Whose investments in a Fund are made and directed on their behalf by investment representatives at JPMIM or JPMorgan Chase Bank NA or their affiliates (the Investment Manager) pursuant to a discretionary investment management agreement or trust agreement that provides for discretionary investment management services between the Investment Manager and the investor (a Discretionary Account), and
2.
Whose account's initial investment in a Fund is at least $5,000,000. An investor can combine purchases of Class R6 Shares with Class R6 Shares of other JPMorgan Funds in order to meet the applicable minimum investment.
Institutional Investors
Class R6 Shares may also be purchased by institutional investors whose initial investment in a Fund is at least $5,000,000. Institutional investors include, but are not limited to, corporations, qualified non-profit organizations, charitable trusts, foundations and endowments, governmental entities, municipalities, and hospitals investing for their own account. These accounts may not be held for the benefit of multiple underlying, unrelated investors. For these investors, accounts cannot be aggregated at the investor level to meet the initial minimum.
Other Investors
Class R6 Shares also may be purchased in other accounts whose initial investment in a Fund is at least $15,000,000. These accounts may not be held for the benefit of multiple underlying, unrelated investors. For these investors, accounts cannot be aggregated at the investor level to meet the initial minimum.
Certain Financial Intermediaries may not make Class R6 Shares available for purchase.
College Savings Plans
To be eligible to invest in R6 Shares, Section 529 college savings plans must hold their shares through plan level or omnibus accounts held on the books of a Fund.
30  |  J.P. Morgan Specialty Funds
Financial Intermediary Compensation
The following section describes the various fees that you will pay if you purchase shares of the Funds. In addition, it describes the types of compensation paid to Financial Intermediaries for the sale of Fund shares and related services.
Class R6 Shares are only available through a Financial Intermediary if the Financial Intermediary will not receive from the Fund assets or the Distributor's or an affiliate's resources any commission payments, service fees (including sub-transfer agent and networking fees), or distribution fees (including Rule 12b-1 fees) directly tied to assets invested in Class R6 Shares. This restriction does not apply to fees paid to a Financial Intermediary by an affiliate of the Distributor from its fees for retirement plan recordkeeping services.
To obtain information, see below, visit www.jpmorganfunds.com or call 1-800-480-4111.
Networking and Sub-Transfer Agency Fees
JPMDS, as shareholder servicing agent, has entered into agreements with Financial Intermediaries pursuant to which the Financial Intermediary is paid for services such as networking or sub-transfer agency (collectively, the "Sub-TA Agreements"). Sub-TA Agreement payments are generally based on either (1) a percentage of the average daily net assets of clients serviced by such Financial Intermediary up to a set maximum dollar amount per shareholder account serviced, or (2) a per account fee based on the number of accounts serviced by such Financial Intermediary. Sub-TA Agreement payments are in addition to, rather than in lieu of, Rule 12b-1 fees the Financial Intermediary may also be receiving pursuant to agreements with the Distributor for classes with Rule 12b-1 fees. Payments to Financial Intermediaries for sub-transfer agency services will be made by JPMDS, as shareholder servicing agent, from the service fee. From time to time, JPMIM or its affiliates may pay a portion of the sub-transfer agency fees at its or their own expense and out of its or their legitimate profits.
Purchasing Fund Shares
You may purchase shares directly from the J.P. Morgan Funds through the Distributor or through your Financial Intermediary.
Purchase and redemption orders will be accepted only on days that J.P. Morgan Funds are open for business. The Funds are open for business on each day the NYSE is open for trading. The NYSE is closed for trading on the following holidays: New Year's Day, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, Presidents' Day, Good Friday, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day. A purchase or redemption order received by the Funds prior to the close of regular trading on the NYSE (normally 4:00 p.m. ET) ("Fund Close"), on a day the Funds are open for business, will be effected at that day's NAV. The Funds will not treat an intraday unscheduled disruption or closure in NYSE trading as a closure of the NYSE and will calculate NAV as of 4:00 p.m. ET, if the particular disruption or closure directly affects only the NYSE. An order received after the Fund Close will generally be effected at the NAV determined on the next business day. However, orders received by Financial Intermediaries on a business day prior to the Fund Close and communicated to the Funds prior to such time as agreed upon by the Funds and the Financial Intermediary will be effected at the NAV determined on the business day the order was received by the Financial Intermediary.
A purchase order must be supported by all appropriate documentation and information in the proper form. The Funds may refuse to honor incomplete purchase orders.
Share ownership is electronically recorded; therefore, no certificate will be issued. A shareholder who purchases shares of a Fund that accrues dividends daily will not accrue a dividend on the day of the purchase.
If you purchase shares through your Financial Intermediary, contact your investment representative for its requirements and procedures. If a Financial Intermediary holds your shares, it is the responsibility of the Financial Intermediary to send your purchase order to the Fund. Your Financial Intermediary may have an earlier cut-off time for purchase orders.
If you purchase shares directly with the Funds, see the information below.
March 1, 2021  |  31
Investing with J.P. Morgan Funds (continued)
HOW TO PURCHASE DIRECTLY WITH THE J.P. MORGAN FUNDS
Opening a New Account
Purchasing into an Existing Account
By Phone or Online
1-800-480-4111
Shareholder Services representatives
are available Monday through Friday
from 8:00 am to 7:00 pm ET.
www.jpmorganfunds.com
Note: Certain account types are not
available for online account access.
Please call for additional information.
A new account may not be opened by
phone or online.
A new fund position can be added to an
existing account by phone or online if
you have bank information on file. The
minimum initial investment
requirement must be met.
You must already have bank
information on file. If we do not have
bank information on file, you must
submit written instructions. Please call
for instructions on how to add bank
information to your account.
By Mail
Regular mailing address:
J.P. Morgan Funds Services
P.O. Box 219143
Kansas City, MO 64121-9143
Overnight mailing address:
J.P. Morgan Funds Services
430 W 7th Street, Suite 219143
Kansas City, MO 64105-1407
Mail the completed and signed
application with a check to our Regular
or Overnight mailing address.
Refer to the Additional Information
Regarding Purchases section.
Please mail your check and include
your name, the Fund name, and your
fund account number.
All checks must be made payable to one of the following:
•J.P. Morgan Funds; or
•The specific Fund in which you are investing.
Please include your existing account number, if applicable.
All checks must be in U.S. dollars. The J.P. Morgan Funds do not accept credit cards,
cash, starter checks, money orders or credit card checks. The Funds and/or the
Distributor reserve the right to refuse "third-party" checks and checks drawn on non-
U.S. financial institutions even if payment may be effected through a U.S. financial
institution. Checks made payable to any individual or company and endorsed to J.P.
Morgan Funds or a Fund are considered third-party checks.
By Wire1
1-800-480-4111
Wire Instructions:
DST Asset Manager Solutions, Inc.
2000 Crown Colony Drive
Quincy, MA 02169
Attn: J.P. Morgan Funds Services
ABA: 021 000 021
DDA: 323 125 832
FBO: Fund Name
Fund: Fund #
Account: Your Account # and
Your Account Registration
Purchase by Wire: If you choose to pay
by wire, please call to notify the Fund
of your purchase. You must also initiate
the wire with your financial institution.
Purchase by Wire: If you choose to pay
by wire, please call to notify the Fund
of your purchase. You must also initiate
the wire with your financial institution.
1
The Funds currently do not charge for these services, but may impose a charge in the future. However, your bank may impose a charge for debiting your bank account.
Transactions by phone, fax or the Internet
You may access your account and conduct certain transactions using phone, fax or the J.P. Morgan Funds website. Phone conversations are recorded. The J.P. Morgan Funds and their agents use reasonable procedures to verify the identity of the shareholder. If these procedures are followed, the J.P. Morgan Funds and their agents are not liable for any losses, liability, cost or expenses (including attorney fees) that may occur from acting on unauthorized or fraudulent instructions. Therefore please take precautions to
32  |  J.P. Morgan Specialty Funds
protect your account information and immediately review account statements or other information provided to you. In addition, a confirmation is sent promptly after a transaction. Please review it carefully and contact J.P. Morgan Funds Services or your Financial Intermediary immediately about any transaction you believe to be unauthorized. You may revoke your right to make purchases over the phone or by mailing written instructions to us.
You may not always reach J.P. Morgan Funds Services by phone or online. This may be true at times of unusual market changes and shareholder activity. You can mail us your instructions or contact your Financial Intermediary. We may modify or cancel the ability to purchase or redeem shares online or by phone without notice.
Additional Information Regarding Purchases
Federal law requires all financial institutions to obtain, verify and record information that identifies each person who opens an account. When you open an account, we will ask for your name, residential or business street address, date of birth (for an individual), and other information that will allow us to identify you, including your social security number, tax identification number or other identifying number. The J.P. Morgan Funds cannot waive these requirements. A Fund is required by law to reject your Account Application if the required identifying information is not provided.
We will attempt to collect any missing information required on the Account Application by contacting either you or your Financial Intermediary. If we cannot obtain this information within the established time frame, your Account Application will be rejected. Amounts received prior to receipt of the required information will be held uninvested and will be returned to you without interest if your Account Application is rejected. If the required information is obtained, your investment will be accepted and you will pay the NAV per share next calculated after all of the required information is received, plus any applicable sales charge.
Once we have received all of the required information, federal law requires us to verify your identity. After an account is opened, we may restrict your ability to purchase additional shares until your identity is verified. If we are unable to verify your identity within a reasonable time, the Funds and/or the Distributor reserves the right to close your account at the current day's NAV per share. If your account is closed for this reason, your shares will be redeemed at the NAV per share next calculated after the account is closed, less any applicable CDSC or fees. In addition, you will not be entitled to recoup any sales charges paid to a Fund in connection with your purchase of Fund shares.
Purchases by wire may be canceled if J.P. Morgan Funds Services does not receive payment by 4:00 p.m. ET on the settlement date. You will be responsible for any expenses and/or losses to the Funds.
Exchanging Fund Shares
An exchange is selling shares of one J.P. Morgan Fund and taking the proceeds to simultaneously purchase shares of another J.P. Morgan Fund. Before making an exchange request, you should read the prospectus of the J.P. Morgan Fund whose shares you would like to purchase by exchange. You can obtain a prospectus for any J.P. Morgan Fund by contacting your Financial Intermediary, by visiting www.jpmorganfunds.com, or by calling 1-800-480-4111.
EXCHANGE PRIVILEGES
Class R6 Shares of the Fund may be exchanged for:
•Class R6 Shares of another J.P. Morgan Fund,
•Another share class of the same Fund if you are eligible to purchase that class.
The following rules and procedures apply to exchanges:
All exchanges are subject to meeting any investment minimum or eligibility requirements of the new Fund and class.
The J.P. Morgan Funds will provide 60 days' written notice of any termination of or material change to your exchange privilege.
All exchanges are based upon the net asset value that is next calculated after the Fund receives your order, provided the exchange out of one Fund must occur before the exchange into the other Fund.
In order for an exchange to take place on the date that the order is submitted, the order must be received prior to the close of both the Fund that you wish to exchange into and the Fund that you wish to exchange out of, otherwise, the exchange will occur on the following business day on which both Funds are open.
A shareholder that exchanges into shares of a Fund that accrues dividends daily, including a money market fund, will not accrue a dividend on the day of the exchange. A shareholder that exchanges out of shares of a Fund that accrues a daily dividend will accrue a dividend on the day of the exchange.
The exchange privilege is not intended as a way for you to speculate on short-term movements in the market. Therefore, to prevent disruptions in the management of J.P. Morgan Funds, certain J.P. Morgan Funds limit excessive exchange activity as
March 1, 2021  |  33
Investing with J.P. Morgan Funds (continued)
described in the "Frequent Trading Policy" section. Your exchange privilege will be limited or revoked if the exchange activity is considered excessive. In addition, any J.P. Morgan Fund may reject any exchange request for any reason, including if it is not in the best interests of the Fund and/or its shareholders to accept the exchange.
Following an exchange, the fees and expenses of the new share class may be higher than those of the class you previously held. You should carefully review the prospectus for the new share class, including information on the fees, expenses and exchange features of the new share class, or contact your Financial Intermediary for more information.
Tax Consequences on Exchanges
Generally, an exchange between J.P. Morgan Funds is considered a sale and generally results in a capital gain or loss for federal income tax purposes. An exchange between classes of shares of the same Fund is generally not taxable for federal income tax purposes. You should talk to your tax advisor before making an exchange.
Redeeming Fund Shares
If you sell shares through your Financial Intermediary, contact your investment representative for its requirements and procedures. If a Financial Intermediary holds your shares, it is the responsibility of the Financial Intermediary to send your redemption order to the Fund. Your Financial Intermediary may have an earlier cut-off time for redemption orders.
If you sell shares directly with a Fund, see the information below.
Your redemption proceeds may be mailed to you at your address of record1 or wired to a pre-existing bank account on file.
HOW TO REDEEM
By Phone or Online
Note: Certain account
types are not available
for online account access.
Please call for additional
information.
Call us at 1-800-480-4111
Shareholder Services representatives are available Monday through Friday from 8:00 am to 7:00 pm ET.
www.jpmorganfunds.com
By Mail
Regular mailing address:
J.P. Morgan Funds Services
P.O. Box 219143
Kansas City, MO 64121-9143
Overnight mailing address:
J.P. Morgan Funds Services
430 W 7th Street, Suite 219143
Kansas City, MO 64105-1407
1
You cannot request a redemption by check to be sent to an address updated within 15 days.
You may redeem some or all of your shares on any day that the Funds are open for business. You will not be permitted to enter a redemption order for shares purchased directly through J.P. Morgan Funds Services by check or through an ACH transaction for five business days following the acceptance of a purchase order unless you provide satisfactory proof that your purchase check or ACH transaction has cleared (sometimes referred to as uncollected shares).
If a Fund or Financial Intermediary receives your redemption order before the close of the NYSE (normally 4 p.m. ET or before 4:00 p.m. ET, if the NYSE closes before 4:00 p.m. ET), you will receive the NAV per share calculated after your redemption order is received in good order (meaning that it includes the information required by, and complies with security requirements implemented by, the Fund's transfer agent or the Fund), minus the amount of any applicable CDSC or fees. Your Financial Intermediary may have an earlier cut-off time for redemption orders and may charge a fee to process redemption of shares. A shareholder that redeems out of shares of a Fund that accrues a daily dividend will accrue a dividend on the day of the redemption.
All redemption requests must be supported by valid identity authentication, the appropriate documentation (if applicable) and any necessary information in good order. Additional information may be required depending on the situation.
34  |  J.P. Morgan Specialty Funds
For accounts held directly with the Funds, the length of time that the Funds typically expect to pay redemption proceeds depends on whether payment is made by ACH, wire or check. The Funds typically expect to make payments of redemption proceeds by wire on the next business day following receipt of the redemption order by the Funds. For payment by check, the Funds typically expect to mail the check on the next business day following receipt of the redemption order by the Funds.
For accounts held through Financial Intermediaries, the length of time that the Funds typically expect to pay redemption proceeds depends on the method of payment and the agreement between the Financial Intermediary and the Funds. For redemption proceeds that are paid directly to you by the Fund, the Fund typically expects to make payments by wire or by mailing a check on the next business day following the Fund's receipt of a redemption order from the Financial Intermediary. For payments that are made to your Financial Intermediary for transmittal to you, the Funds expect to pay redemption proceeds to the Financial Intermediary within 1 to 3 business days following the Fund's receipt of the redemption order from the Financial Intermediary.
Payment of redemption proceeds may take longer than the time a Fund typically expects and may take up to seven days as permitted by the Investment Company Act of 1940.
Transactions by phone, fax or the Internet
You may access your account and conduct certain transactions using phone, fax or the J.P. Morgan Funds website. Phone conversations are recorded. The J.P. Morgan Funds and their agents use reasonable procedures to verify the identity of the shareholder. If these procedures are followed, the J.P. Morgan Funds and their agents are not liable for any losses, liability, cost or expenses (including attorney fees) that may occur from acting on unauthorized or fraudulent instructions. Therefore please take precautions to protect your account information and immediately review account statements or other information provided to you. In addition, a confirmation is sent promptly after a transaction. Please review it carefully and contact J.P. Morgan Funds Services or your Financial Intermediary immediately about any transaction you believe to be unauthorized. You may revoke your right to make redemptions over the phone or by mailing written instructions to us.
You may not always reach J.P. Morgan Funds Services by phone or online. This may be true at times of unusual market changes and shareholder activity. You can mail us your instructions or contact your Financial Intermediary. We may modify or cancel the ability to purchase or redeem shares online or by phone without notice.
Additional Information Regarding Redemptions
Medallion signature guarantees may be required if:
You want to redeem shares with a value of $50,000 or more and you want to receive your proceeds in the form of a check; or
You want your payment sent to an address, bank account or payee other than the one currently designated on your Fund account.
The Fund may refuse to honor incomplete redemption orders.
The Fund may suspend your ability to redeem when:
1.
Trading on the NYSE is restricted;
2.
The NYSE is closed (other than weekend and holiday closings);
3.
Federal securities laws permit;
4.
The SEC has permitted a suspension; or
5.
An emergency exists, as determined by the SEC.
You generally will recognize a gain or loss on a redemption for federal income tax purposes. You should talk to your tax advisor before making a redemption.
Generally, all redemptions will be for cash. The J.P. Morgan Funds typically expect to satisfy redemption requests by selling portfolio assets or by using holdings of cash or cash equivalents. On a less regular basis, the Funds may also satisfy redemption requests by borrowing from another Fund, by drawing on a line of credit from a bank, or using other short-term borrowings from its custodian. These methods may be used during both normal and stressed market conditions. In addition to paying redemption proceeds in cash, if you redeem shares worth $250,000 or more, the J.P. Morgan Funds reserve the right to pay part or all of your redemption proceeds in readily marketable securities instead of cash. If payment is made in securities, the Fund will value the securities selected in the same manner in which it computes its NAV. This process minimizes the effect of large redemptions on the Fund and its remaining shareholders. If you receive a redemption in-kind, securities received by you may be subject to market risk and you could incur
March 1, 2021  |  35
Investing with J.P. Morgan Funds (continued)
taxable gains and brokerage or other charges in converting the securities to cash. While the J.P. Morgan Funds do not routinely use redemptions in-kind, the Funds reserve the right to use redemptions in-kind to manage the impact of large redemptions on the Funds. Redemption in-kind proceeds will typically be made by delivering a pro-rata amount of a Fund's holdings that are readily marketable securities to the redeeming shareholder within seven days after the Fund's receipt of the redemption order.
The Funds and their service providers may temporarily hold redemption proceeds from accounts maintained directly with the Funds if there is a reasonable belief that financial exploitation of a Specified Adult has occurred, is occurring, has been attempted, or will be attempted. For purposes of this paragraph, the term "Specified Adult" refers to an individual who is (A) a natural person age 65 and older; or (B) a natural person age 18 and older who the member reasonably believes has a mental or physical impairment that renders the individual unable to protect his or her own interests.
Minimum Account Balance
If your account value falls below the required minimum balance, that Fund and/or the Distributor reserve the right to redeem all of the remaining shares in your account and close your account. Before this action is taken, you will be given 60 days advance written notice in order to provide you with time to increase your account balance to the required minimum, by purchasing sufficient shares, in accordance with the terms of this prospectus.
Closings, Reorganizations and Liquidations
To the extent authorized by law, each Fund reserves the right to discontinue offering shares at any time, to merge or reorganize itself or a share class, or to cease operations and liquidate at any time.
Frequent Trading Policy
J.P. Morgan Funds do not authorize market timing and, except for the Funds identified below, use reasonable methods to identify market timers and to prevent such activity. However, there can be no assurance that these methods will prevent market timing or other trading that may be deemed abusive. Market timing is an investment strategy using frequent purchases, redemptions and/or exchanges in an attempt to profit from short-term market movements. Market timing may result in dilution of the value of Fund shares held by long-term shareholders, disrupt portfolio management and increase Fund expenses for all shareholders. Although market timing may affect any Fund, these risks may be higher for Funds that invest significantly in non-U.S. securities or thinly traded securities (e.g., certain small cap securities), such as international, global or emerging market funds or small cap funds. For example, when a Fund invests in securities trading principally in non-U.S. markets that close prior to the close of the NYSE, market timers may seek to take advantage of the difference between the prices of these securities at the close of their non-U.S. markets and the value of such securities when the Fund calculates its net asset value.
J.P. Morgan Funds or the Distributor will prohibit any purchase order (including exchanges) with respect to one investor, a related group of investors or their agent(s) where they detect a pattern of either purchases and sales of one of the J.P. Morgan Funds, or exchanges between or among J.P. Morgan Funds, that indicates market timing or trading that they determine is abusive.
Although J.P. Morgan Funds use a variety of methods to detect and deter market timing, there is no assurance that the Funds' own operational systems and procedures will identify and eliminate all market timing strategies. For example, certain accounts, which are known as omnibus accounts, include multiple investors and such accounts typically provide the Funds with a net purchase or redemption order on any given day where purchasers of Fund shares and redeemers of Fund shares are netted against one another and the identity of individual purchasers and redeemers are not known by the Funds. While the Funds seek to monitor for market timing activities in omnibus accounts, the netting effect limits the Funds' ability to locate and eliminate individual market timers. As a result, the Funds are often dependent upon Financial Intermediaries who utilize their own policies and procedures to identify market timers. These policies and procedures may be different than those utilized by the Funds.
The Boards of J.P. Morgan Funds have adopted various policies and procedures to identify market timers, including reviewing "round trips" in and out of J.P. Morgan Funds by investors. A "round trip" includes a purchase or exchange into a Fund followed or preceded by a redemption or exchange out of the same Fund. If the Distributor detects that you have completed two round trips within 60 days in the same Fund, the Distributor will reject your purchase and exchange orders for a period of at least 90 days. For subsequent violations, the Distributor may, in its sole discretion, reject your purchase and exchange orders temporarily or permanently. In identifying market timers, the Distributor may also consider activity of accounts that it believes to be under common ownership or control.
J.P. Morgan Funds have attempted to put safeguards in place to assure that Financial Intermediaries have implemented procedures designed to deter market timing and abusive trading. Despite these safeguards, there is no assurance that the Funds will be able to effectively identify and eliminate market timing and abusive trading in the Funds particularly with respect to omnibus accounts.
36  |  J.P. Morgan Specialty Funds
J.P. Morgan Funds will seek to apply the Funds' market timing policies and restrictions as uniformly as practicable to accounts with the Funds, except with respect to the following:
1.
Trades that occur through omnibus accounts at Financial Intermediaries as described above;
2.
Purchases, redemptions and exchanges made on a systematic basis;
3.
Automatic reinvestments of dividends and distributions;
4.
Purchases, redemptions or exchanges that are part of a rebalancing program, such as a wrap, advisory or bona fide asset allocation program, which includes investment models developed and maintained by a financial intermediary;
5.
Redemptions of shares to pay fund or account fees;
6.
Transactions initiated by the trustee or adviser to a donor-advised charitable gift fund;
7.
Transactions in Section 529 college savings plans;
8.
Transactions in Fund of Fund Products; and
9.
Transactions within a Retirement account such as:
Shares redeemed to return an excess contribution;
Transactions initiated by sponsors of group employee benefit plans or other related accounts;
Retirement plan contributions, loans, distributions, and hardship withdrawals;
IRA re-characterizations and conversions; and
IRA purchases of shares by asset transfer or direct rollover.
In addition to rejecting purchases in connection with suspected market timing activities, the Distributor can reject a purchase (including purchases for the Funds listed below) for any reason, including purchases that it does not think are in the best interests of a Fund and/or its shareholders or if it determines the trading to be abusive. Your Financial Intermediary may also have additional procedures for identifying market timers and rejecting or otherwise restricting purchases and/or exchanges.
Certain J.P. Morgan Funds are intended for short-term investment horizons and do not monitor for market timers or prohibit such short-term trading activity. Those Funds are the JPMorgan Short Duration Bond Fund, JPMorgan Short Duration Core Plus Fund, JPMorgan Short-Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund, JPMorgan Limited Duration Bond Fund, JPMorgan Managed Income Fund, JPMorgan Ultra-Short Municipal Fund and the J.P. Morgan Money Market Funds. Although these Funds are managed in a manner that is consistent with their investment objectives, frequent trading by shareholders may disrupt their management and increase their expenses.
Valuation
Shares are purchased at NAV per share, plus a sales charge, if any. This is also known as the offering price. Shares are also redeemed at NAV, minus any applicable CDSC. The NAV of each class within a Fund varies, primarily because each class has different class-specific expenses such as distribution and service fees.
The NAV per share of a class of a Fund is equal to the value of all the assets attributable to that class, minus the liabilities attributable to that class, divided by the number of outstanding shares of that class. The following is a summary of the procedures generally used to value J.P. Morgan Funds' investments.
Securities for which market quotations are readily available are generally valued at their current market value. Other securities and assets, including securities for which market quotations are not readily available; market quotations are determined not to be reliable; or, their value has been materially affected by events occurring after the close of trading on the exchange or market on which the security is principally traded but before a Fund's NAV is calculated, may be valued at fair value in accordance with policies and procedures adopted by the J.P. Morgan Funds' Board of Trustees. Fair value represents a good faith determination of the value of a security or other asset based upon specifically applied procedures. Fair valuation may require subjective determinations. There can be no assurance that the fair value of an asset is the price at which the asset could have been sold during the period in which the particular fair value was used in determining a Fund's NAV.
Equity securities listed on a North American, Central American, South American or Caribbean securities exchange are generally valued at the last sale price on the exchange on which the security is principally traded. Other foreign equity securities are fair valued using quotations from an independent pricing service, as applicable. The value of securities listed on the NASDAQ Stock Market, Inc. is generally the NASDAQ official closing price.
March 1, 2021  |  37
Investing with J.P. Morgan Funds (continued)
Fixed income securities are valued using prices supplied by an approved independent third party or affiliated pricing services or broker/dealers. Those prices are determined using a variety of inputs and factors as more fully described in the Statement of Additional Information.
Assets and liabilities initially expressed in foreign currencies are converted into U.S. dollars at the prevailing market rates from an approved independent pricing service as of 4:00 p.m. ET.
Shares of ETFs are generally valued at the last sale price on the exchange on which the ETF is principally traded. Shares of open-end investment companies are valued at their respective NAVs.
Options traded on U.S. securities exchanges are valued at the composite mean price, using the National Best Bid and Offer quotes.
Options traded on foreign exchanges are valued at the settled price, or if no settled price is available, at the last sale price available prior to the calculation of a Fund's NAV and will be fair valued by applying fair value factors provided by independent pricing services, as applicable, for any options involving equity reference obligations listed on exchanges other than North American, Central American, South American or Caribbean securities exchanges.
Exchange traded futures are valued at the last sale price available prior to the calculation of a Fund's NAV. Any futures involving equity reference obligations listed on exchanges other than North American, Central American, South American or Caribbean securities exchanges will be fair valued by applying fair value factors provided by independent pricing services, as applicable.
Non-listed over-the-counter options and futures are valued utilizing market quotations provided by approved pricing services.
Swaps and structured notes are priced generally by an approved independent third party or affiliated pricing service or at an evaluated price provided by a counterparty or broker/dealer.
Any derivatives involving equity reference obligations listed on exchanges other than North American, Central American, South American or Caribbean securities exchanges will be fair valued by applying fair value factors provided by independent pricing services, as applicable.
NAV is calculated each business day as of the close of the NYSE, which is typically 4:00 p.m. ET. On occasion, the NYSE will close before 4:00 p.m. ET. When that happens, NAV will be calculated as of the time the NYSE closes. The Funds will not treat an intraday unscheduled disruption or closure in NYSE trading as a closure of the NYSE and will calculate NAV as of 4:00 p.m. ET, if the particular disruption or closure directly affects only the NYSE. The price at which a purchase is effected is based on the next calculation of NAV after the order is received in proper form in accordance with this prospectus. To the extent a Fund invests in securities that are primarily listed on foreign exchanges or other markets that trade on weekends or other days when a Fund does not price its shares, the value of a Fund's shares may change on days when you will not be able to purchase or redeem your shares.
Distributions and Taxes
Each Fund has elected to be treated and intends to qualify each taxable year as a regulated investment company. A regulated investment company is not subject to tax at the corporate level on income and gains from investments that are distributed to shareholders. Each Fund's failure to qualify as a regulated investment company would result in corporate-level taxation and, consequently, a reduction in income available for distribution to shareholders.
Each Fund can earn income and realize capital gain. Each Fund deducts any expenses and then pays out the earnings, if any, to shareholders as distributions.
Each Fund generally distributes net investment income, if any, at least annually. Each Fund will distribute net realized capital gains, if any, at least annually. For each taxable year, each Fund will distribute substantially all of its net investment income and net realized capital gains.
You have the following options for your distributions. You may:
Reinvest all distributions in additional Fund shares;
Take distributions of net investment income in cash and reinvest distributions of net capital gain in additional shares;
Take distributions of net capital gain in cash and reinvest distributions of net investment income; or
Take all distributions in cash.
If you do not select an option when you open your account, we will reinvest all distributions. If your distributions are reinvested, they will be in the form of shares of the same class without a sales charge. If you take your distributions in cash, you can choose to have a check mailed to your address of record or you can have them deposited into a pre-assigned bank account. The taxation of the dividends will not be affected whether you have them deposited into a bank account or sent by check.
38  |  J.P. Morgan Specialty Funds
Distributions by a Fund to retirement plans and other entities that qualify for tax-exempt or tax-deferred treatment under federal income tax laws will generally not be taxable. Special tax rules apply to investments through such plans. The tax considerations described in this section do not apply to such tax-exempt or tax-deferred entities or accounts. You should consult your tax advisor to determine the suitability of a Fund as an investment and the tax treatment of distributions.
Distributions of net investment income generally are taxable as ordinary income. Dividends of net investment income paid to a non- corporate U.S. shareholder that are properly reported as qualified dividend income generally will be taxable to such shareholder at preferential rates. The maximum individual federal income tax rate applicable to "qualified dividend income" is either 15% or 20%, depending on whether the individual's income exceeds certain threshold amounts. The amount of dividend income that may be so reported by a Fund generally will be limited to the aggregate of the eligible dividends received by each Fund. In addition, a Fund must meet certain holding period and other requirements with respect to the shares on which that Fund received the eligible dividends, and the non-corporate U.S. shareholder must meet certain holding period and other requirements with respect to that Fund. The amount of a Fund's distributions that would otherwise qualify for this favorable tax treatment may be reduced as a result of a Fund's securities lending activities or high portfolio turnover rate. Dividends of net investment income that are not reported as qualified dividend income and dividends of net short-term capital gain will be taxable to a U.S. shareholder as ordinary income.
Distributions of net capital gain (that is, the excess of the net gains from the sale of investments that a Fund owned for more than one year over the net losses from investments that the Fund owned for one year or less) that are properly reported by a Fund as capital gain dividends will be taxable as long-term capital gain, regardless of how long you have held your shares in the Fund. The maximum individual federal income tax rate applicable to long-term capital gains is generally either 15% or 20%, depending on whether the individual's income exceeds certain threshold amounts. Distributions of net short-term capital gain (that is, the excess of any net short-term capital gain over net long-term capital loss), if any, will be taxable to U.S. shareholders as ordinary income. Capital gain of a corporate shareholder is taxed at the same rate as ordinary income.
An additional 3.8% Medicare tax is imposed on certain net investment income (including ordinary dividends and capital gain distributions received from a Fund and net gains from redemptions or other taxable dispositions of Fund shares) of U.S. individuals, estates and trusts to the extent that such person's "modified adjusted gross income" (in the case of an individual) or "adjusted gross income" (in the case of an estate or trust) exceeds certain threshold amounts.
If you buy shares of a Fund just before a distribution, you will be subject to tax on the entire amount of the taxable distribution you receive. Distributions are taxable to you even if they are paid from income or gains earned by a Fund before your investment (and thus were included in the price you paid for your Fund shares). Any gain resulting from the sale or exchange of Fund shares generally will be taxable as long-term or short-term gain, depending upon how long you have held your shares.
Each Fund is generally subject to foreign withholding or other foreign taxes, which in some cases can be significant on any income or gain from investments in foreign stocks or securities. In that case, each Fund's total return on those securities would be decreased. Any foreign tax withheld on payments made "in lieu of" dividends or interest with respect to loaned securities will not qualify for the pass-through of foreign tax credits to shareholders. Although in some cases a Fund (or an underlying fund as applicable) may be able to apply for a refund or a portion of such taxes, the ability successfully obtained such a refund may be uncertain.
Each Fund may generally deduct these taxes in computing its taxable income. Rather than deducting these foreign taxes, a Fund that invests more than 50% of its assets in the stock or securities of foreign corporations or foreign governments at the end of its taxable year may make an election to treat a proportionate amount of eligible foreign taxes as constituting a taxable distribution to each shareholder, which would, subject to certain limitations, generally allow the shareholder to either (i) credit that proportionate amount of taxes against U.S. Federal income tax liability as a foreign tax credit or (ii) take that amount as an itemized deduction. Although in some cases a Fund may be able to apply for a refund of a portion of such taxes, the ability to successfully obtain such a refund may be uncertain.
Each Fund's investments in certain debt obligations, derivative instruments and so-called "passive foreign investment companies" may require such Fund to accrue and distribute income not yet received. In order to generate sufficient cash to make the requisite distributions, a Fund may be required to liquidate other investments in its portfolio that it otherwise would have continued to hold, including when it is not advantageous to do so.
Each Fund's transactions in futures contracts, short sales, swaps and other derivatives will be subject to special tax rules, the effect of which may be to accelerate income to that Fund, defer losses to that Fund, cause adjustments in the holding periods of that Fund's securities, and convert short-term capital losses into long-term capital losses. These rules could therefore affect the amount, timing and character of distributions to shareholders. Each Fund's use of these types of transactions may result in that Fund realizing more short-term capital gain and ordinary income subject to tax at ordinary income tax rates than it would if it did not engage in such transactions.
An increase in the principal amount of an inflation-linked security will be original issue discount which is taxable as ordinary income
March 1, 2021  |  39
Investing with J.P. Morgan Funds (continued)
and is required to be distributed, even though a Fund will not receive the principal, including any increases thereto, until maturity.
Please see the Statement of Additional Information for additional discussion of the tax consequences of the above-described and other investments to the Fund and its shareholders.
The dates on which net investment income and capital gain dividends, if any, will be distributed are available online at www.jpmorganfunds.com.
Early in each calendar year, each Fund will send you a notice showing the amount of distributions you received during the preceding calendar year and the tax status of those distributions.
The Funds are not intended for foreign shareholders. Any foreign shareholders would generally be subject to U.S. tax-withholding on distributions by the Funds, as discussed in the Statement of Additional Information.
Any investor for whom a Fund does not have a valid Taxpayer Identification Number may be subject to backup withholding.
The above is a general summary of tax implications of investing in the Funds. Because each investor's tax consequences are unique, please consult your tax advisor to see how investing in a Fund and, for individuals and S corporations, selection of a particular cost method of accounting will affect your own tax situation.
IMPORTANT TAX REPORTING CONSIDERATIONS
Your Financial Intermediary or the Fund (if you hold your shares in the Fund direct account) will report gains and losses realized on redemptions of shares for shareholders who are individuals and S corporations purchased after January 1, 2012 to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). This information will also be reported to you on Form 1099-B and the IRS each year. In calculating the gain or loss on redemptions of shares, the average cost method will be used to determine the cost basis of Fund shares purchased after January 1, 2012 unless you instruct the Fund in writing at J.P. Morgan Funds Services, P.O. Box 219143, Kansas City, MO 64121-9143 that you want to use another available method for cost basis reporting (for example, First In, First Out (FIFO), Last In, First Out (LIFO), Specific Lot Identification (SLID) or High Cost, First Out (HIFO)). If you designate SLID as your cost basis method, you will also need to designate a secondary cost basis method (Secondary Method). If a Secondary Method is not provided, the Fund will designate FIFO as the Secondary Method and will use the Secondary Method with respect to systematic redemptions.
Not all cost basis methods are available. Please contact the Fund at J.P. Morgan Funds Services, P.O. Box 219143, Kansas City, MO 64121-9143 for more information on the available methods for cost basis reporting. To determine which available cost basis method is best for you, you should consult with your tax advisor. Please note that you will be responsible for calculating and reporting gains and losses on redemptions of shares purchased prior to January 1, 2012 to the IRS as such information will not be reported by the Fund and may not be maintained by your Financial Intermediary.
Your Financial Intermediary or the Fund (if you hold your shares in the Fund direct account) is also required to report gains and losses to the IRS in connection with redemptions of shares by S corporations. If a shareholder is a corporation and has not instructed the Fund that it is a C corporation in its account application or by written instruction to J.P. Morgan Funds Services, P.O. Box 219143, Kansas City, MO 64121-9143, the Fund will treat the shareholder as an S corporation and file a Form 1099-B.
Shareholder Statements and Reports
The J.P. Morgan Funds or your Financial Intermediary will send you transaction confirmation statements and quarterly account statements. Please review these statements carefully. The Funds will correct errors if notified within one year of the date printed on the transaction confirmation or account statement, except that, with respect to unfulfilled Letters of Intent, the Fund may process corrections up to 15 months after the date printed on the transaction confirmation or account statement. Your Financial Intermediary may have a different cut-off time. J.P. Morgan Funds will charge a fee for requests for statements that are older than two years. Please retain all of your statements, as they could be needed for tax purposes.
To reduce expenses and conserve natural resources, the J.P. Morgan Funds will deliver a single copy of prospectuses and financial reports to individual investors who share a residential address, provided they have the same last name or the J.P. Morgan Funds reasonably believe they are members of the same family. If you would like to receive separate mailings, please call 1-800-480-4111 and the Fund will begin individual delivery within 30 days. If you would like to receive these documents by e-mail, please visit www.jpmorganfunds.com and sign up for electronic delivery.
If you hold your Fund shares directly, you may access your account statements at www.jpmorganfunds.com.
After each fiscal half year you will receive a financial report from the Funds. In addition, the Funds will periodically send you proxy statements and other reports.
40  |  J.P. Morgan Specialty Funds
If you have any questions or need additional information, please write to J.P. Morgan Funds Services at P.O. Box 219143, Kansas City, MO 64121-9143, call 1-800-480-4111 or visit www.jpmorganfunds.com.
Availability of Proxy Voting Record
The Trustees for each Fund have delegated the authority to vote proxies for securities owned by the Funds to the Funds' adviser. A copy of each Fund's voting record for the most recent 12-month period ended June 30 is available on the SEC's website at www.sec.gov or on J.P. Morgan Funds' website at www.jpmorganfunds.com no later than August 31 of each year. Each Fund's proxy voting record will include, among other things, a brief description of the matter voted on for each portfolio security, and will state how each vote was cast, for example, for or against the proposal.
Portfolio Holdings Disclosure
After the end of each month, each Fund will make available upon request the uncertified, complete schedule of its portfolio holdings as of the last day of that month.
Not later than 60 days after the end of each fiscal quarter, each Fund will make available upon request a complete schedule of its portfolio holdings as of the last day of that quarter.
In addition to providing hard copies upon request, the Funds will post these quarterly schedules on J.P. Morgan Funds' website at www.jpmorganfunds.com and on the SEC's website at www.sec.gov.
In addition, from time to time, each Fund may post portfolio holdings on J.P. Morgan Funds' website on a more frequent basis.
Each of the Funds may disclose the Fund's ten largest portfolio holdings and the percentage that each represents of the Fund's portfolio as of the most recent month end online at www.jpmorganfunds.com, after month end.
Shareholders may request portfolio holdings schedules at no charge by calling 1-800-480-4111. A description of each Fund's policies and procedures with respect to the disclosure of a Fund's portfolio holdings is available in the Statement of Additional Information.
March 1, 2021  |  41
Glossary of Common Investment Terminology
For the purpose of the "INVESTING WITH J.P. MORGAN FUNDS" section, references to "account" and "Fund" are not interchangeable. Fund refers to an individual mutual fund position. An account may be invested in a single Fund or multiple Funds.
Breakpoints - Differences in sales charges that are assessed based on the amount of purchases. The larger the investment, the lower the sales charge.
Capital Gains Distribution - Payment to mutual fund shareholders of gains realized on securities that a Fund has sold at a profit, minus any realized losses.
Dividend Distribution - Payment to mutual fund shareholders of income from interest or dividends generated by a Fund's investments.
Financial Intermediaries - Include financial advisors, investment advisers, brokers, financial planners, banks, insurance companies, retirement or 401(k) plan administrators and others, including various affiliates of JPMorgan Chase, that have entered into agreements with the Distributor and/or shareholder servicing agent. Shares purchased this way will typically be held for you by the Financial Intermediary.
Group Retirement Plans - Refers to employer-sponsored retirement, deferred compensation and employee benefit plans (including health savings accounts) and trusts used to fund those plans. To satisfy eligibility requirements, the plan must be a group plan (more than one participant), the shares cannot be held in a commission-based brokerage account and
Shares must be held at a plan level or
Shares must be held at the Fund level through an omnibus account of a retirement plan recordkeeper.
Group Retirement Plans include group employer-sponsored 401(k) plans, 457 plans, employer-sponsored 403(b) plans, profit-sharing and money purchase pension plans, defined benefit plans, retiree health benefit plans, group annuity separate accounts offered to retirement plans and non-qualified deferred compensation plans. Group Retirement Plans do not include traditional IRAs, Roth IRAs, Coverdell Education Savings Accounts, SEPs, SARSEPs, SIMPLE IRAs, KEOGHs, individual 401(k) or individual 403(b) plans.
Institutional Investors - Include fee-based "wrap" account sponsors (provided they have an agreement covering the arrangement with the Distributor), corporations, qualified nonprofit organizations, charitable trusts, foundations and endowments, state, county, city or any instrumentality, department, authority or agency thereof, and banks, trust companies or other depository institutions investing for their own account or on behalf of their clients.
Medallion Signature Guarantee - A special stamp used to verify the authenticity of certain documents. It is a guarantee by a financial institution that the signature is genuine and the financial institution accepts liability for any forgery. Medallion signature guarantees protect shareholders by preventing unauthorized transfer of assets that could result in monetary losses to the investor due to fraud. Medallion guarantee stamps can be obtained at many bank branches or brokerage firms.
Required Minimum Distribution (RMD) - Refers to the annual amounts that must be withdrawn from pre-tax retirement accounts (such as Traditional, SEP, and SIMPLE IRAs) in or after the year the shareholder reaches the qualified age based on applicable IRS regulations.
Uncollected Shares - Shares purchased directly through J.P. Morgan Funds Services by check or through an ACH transaction are not available for redemption for up to five business days following the acceptance of a purchase order unless you provide satisfactory proof that your purchase check or ACH transaction has cleared.
Wire - Refers to the method used for payment or redemptions. While J.P. Morgan Funds does not charge to send a wire, your bank may charge a fee for these services.
42  |  J.P. Morgan Specialty Funds
Financial Highlights
The financial highlights tables are intended to help you understand each Fund's financial performance for each share class for the past five fiscal years or period of a Fund's operations as applicable. Certain information reflects financial results for a single Fund share. The total returns in the tables represent the rate that an investor would have earned (or lost) on an investment in a Fund (assuming reinvestment of all dividends and distributions). This information for each period presented has been audited by PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, whose reports, along with each Fund's financial statements, are included in the respective Fund's annual report, which is available upon request.
To the extent a Fund invests in other Funds, the Total Annual Operating Expenses included in the Fee Table will not correlate to the ratio of expenses to average net assets in the financial highlights below.
Per share operating performance
Investment operations
Net asset
value,
beginning
of period
Net
investment
income
(loss) (b)
Net realized
and unrealized
gains
(losses) on
investments
Total from
investment
operations
Net asset
value,
end of
period
JPMorgan Macro Opportunities Fund
Class R6
September 30, 2020 (g) through October 31, 2020
$15.35
$0.01
$0.05
$0.06
$15.41
(a)
Annualized for periods less than one year, unless otherwise noted.
(b)
Calculated based upon average shares outstanding.
(c)
Not annualized for periods less than one year.
(d)
Includes adjustments in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America and as such, the net asset values for financial reporting purposes and the returns based upon those net asset values may differ from the net asset values and returns for shareholder transactions.
(e)
Certain non-recurring expenses incurred by the Fund were not annualized for the period indicated.
(f)
Includes earnings credits and interest expense, if applicable, each of which is less than 0.005% unless otherwise noted.
(g)
Commencement of offering of class of shares.
March 1, 2021  |  43
Financial Highlights (continued)
Ratios/Supplemental data
Ratios to average net assets (a)
Total return
(c)(d)
Net assets,
end of
period
(000's)
Net
expenses (e)(f)
Net
investment
income
(loss) (e)
Expenses
without waivers,
reimbursements and
earnings credits (e)
Portfolio
turnover
rate (c)
0.39%
$20
0.77%
0.84%
7.24%
49%
44  |  J.P. Morgan Specialty Funds
Per share operating performance
Investment operations
Distributions
Net asset
value,
beginning
of period
Net
investment
income
(loss) (a)
Net realized
and unrealized
gains
(losses) on
investments
Total from
investment
operations
Net
investment
income
Net
realized
gain
Total
distributions
JPMorgan Opportunistic Equity
Long/Short Fund
Class R6
Year Ended October 31, 2020
$17.83
$(0.21)
$3.59
$3.38
$(0.08)
$-
$(0.08)
Year Ended October 31, 2019
18.63
0.17
(0.64)
(0.47)
-
(0.33)
(0.33)
Year Ended October 31, 2018
18.44
(0.12)
0.54
0.42
-
(0.23)
(0.23)
Year Ended October 31, 2017
17.31
(0.10)
2.49
2.39
-
(1.26)
(1.26)
Year Ended October 31, 2016
17.48
(0.08)
0.07
(0.01)
-
(0.16)
(0.16)
(a)
Calculated based upon average shares outstanding.
(b)
Includes adjustments in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America and as such, the net asset values for financial reporting purposes and the returns based upon those net asset values may differ from the net asset values and returns for shareholder transactions.
(c)
Includes earnings credits and interest expense, if applicable, each of which is less than 0.005% unless otherwise noted.
(d)
The net expenses and expenses without waivers, reimbursements and earnings credits (excluding dividend expense and interest expense for securities sold short) for Class R6 are 1.31% and 1.35% for the year ended October 31, 2020, 1.29% and 1.39% for the year ended October 31, 2019, 1.32% and 1.38% for the year ended October 31, 2018, 1.31% and 1.47% for the year ended October 31, 2017 and 1.29% and 1.60% for the year ended October 31, 2016, respectively.
March 1, 2021  |  45
Financial Highlights (continued)
Ratios/Supplemental data
Ratios to average net assets
Net asset
value,
end of
period
Total return
(b)
Net assets,
end of
period
(000's)
Net expenses
(including
dividend and
interest
expense for
securities sold
short) (c)(d)
Net
investment
income
(loss)
Expenses
without waivers,
reimbursements and
earnings credits
(including dividend
and interest expense
for securities sold
short) (d)
Portfolio
turnover rate
(excluding securities
sold short)
Portfolio
turnover rate
(including securities
sold short)
$21.13
19.01%
$233,958
1.78%
(1.09)%
1.82%
511%
1058%
17.83
(2.59)
164,419
1.75
0.91
1.85
636
1,232
18.63
2.32
56,436
2.05
(0.66)
2.11
548
995
18.44
14.13
6,350
1.90
(0.56)
2.06
493
795
17.31
(0.06)
8,432
1.75
(0.45)
2.06
463
749
46  |  J.P. Morgan Specialty Funds
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How to Reach Us
MORE INFORMATION
For investors who want more information on this Fund the following documents are available free upon request:
ANNUAL AND SEMI-ANNUAL REPORTS
Our annual and semi-annual reports contain more information about the Fund's investments and performance. The annual report also includes details about the market conditions and investment strategies that had a significant effect on the Fund's performance during the last fiscal year.
STATEMENT OF ADDITIONAL INFORMATION (SAI)
The SAI contains more detailed information about the Fund and its policies. It is incorporated by reference into this prospectus. This means, by law, it is considered to be part of this prospectus.
You can get a free copy of these documents and other information, or ask us any questions, by calling us at 1-800-480-4111 or writing to:
J.P. Morgan Funds Services
P.O. Box 219143
Kansas City, MO 64121-9143
If you buy your shares through a Financial Intermediary, you should contact that Financial Intermediary directly for this information. You can also find information online at www.jpmorganfunds.com.
Reports, a copy of the SAI, and other information about the Fund are also available on the EDGAR Database on the Commission's Internet site at http://www.sec.gov, and copies of this information may be obtained, after paying a duplicating fee, by electronic request at the following E-mail address: [email protected].
Investment Company Act File No. for the Fund is 811-23117.
©JPMorgan Chase & Co. 2021. All rights reserved. March 2021.
PR-SPECR6-321-2