The fund seeks its investment objective by investing substantially all of its investable assets in the underlying master fund. The underlying master fund seeks its objective by investing in the stocks comprising the Standard & Poor's ("S&P") 500® Index1. The weightings of stocks in the S&P 500® Index are based on each stock's relative total market capitalization; that is, its market price per share times the number of shares outstanding. The master fund invests approximately the same percentage of its assets in each stock as the stock represents in the S&P 500® Index. Under normal circumstances, the master fund invests at least 90% of its net assets (plus the amount of borrowings, if any, for investment purposes) in securities comprising the S&P 500® Index.
The master fund attempts to achieve, in both rising and falling markets, a correlation of at least 95% between the total return of its net assets before expenses and the total return of the S&P 500®Index. The master fund's ability to match the investment performance of the S&P 500® Index may be affected by, among other things, master fund expenses, the amount of cash and cash equivalents held by the master fund, the manner in which the total return of the S&P 500® Index is calculated, the size of the master fund's investment portfolio and the timing, frequency and size of cash flows into and out of the master fund.
In the future, the fund or the master fund may select another index if it is deemed to be more representative of the performance of publicly traded common stocks in the aggregate.
In seeking to replicate or match the performance of the S&P 500®Index, the master fund may use various investment techniques, such as buying and selling futures contracts and options and purchasing indexed securities. The master fund may also lend its portfolio securities. These techniques may increase the master fund's volatility and may involve a small investment of cash relative to the magnitude of the risk being taken.
The fund and the master fund may invest not more than 10% of its total assets, under normal market conditions, in cash and high-quality money market instruments. These investments are made to provide liquidity and when there is an unexpected or abnormal level of investments in or redemptions from the fund or the master fund.
Principal Risks:Risk is inherent in all investing. Many factors and risks affect the fund's performance, including those described below. The value of your investment in the fund, as well as the amount of return you receive on your investment, may fluctuate significantly day to day and over time. You may lose part or all of your investment in the fund or your investment may not perform as well as other similar investments. The fund, through its investment in the underlying master fund, is subject to the risks of the underlying master fund. The following is a summary description of principal risks (in alphabetical order after certain key risks) of investing in the fund(either directly or through its investment in
the underlying master fund). Each risk described below may not apply to the underlying master fund and the underlying master fund may be subject to additional or different risks than those described below. An investment in the fund is not a bank deposit and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government agency.You may lose money if you invest in this fund.
Market - The market prices of the fund's securities or other assets may go up or down, sometimes rapidly or unpredictably, due to factors such as economic events, inflation, changes in interest rates, governmental actions or interventions, actions taken by the U.S. Federal Reserve or foreign central banks, market disruptions caused by tariffs, trade disputes or other factors, political developments, armed conflicts, economic sanctions, cybersecurity events, investor sentiment, the global and domestic effects of widespread or local health, weather or climate events, and other factors that may or may not be related to the issuer of the security or other asset. If the market prices of the fund's securities and assets fall, the value of your investment in the fund could go down.
Economies and financial markets throughout the world are increasingly interconnected. Events or circumstances in one or more countries or regions could be highly disruptive to, and have profound impacts on, global economies or markets. As a result, whether or not the fund invests in securities of issuers located in or with significant exposure to the countries directly affected, the value and liquidity of the fund's investments may go down.
Passive Strategy/Index - The fund is managed with a passive investment strategy, attempting to track the performance of an unmanaged index of securities, regardless of the current or projected performance of the index or of the actual securities comprising the index. This differs from an actively-managed fund, which typically seeks to outperform a benchmark index. As a result, the fund's performance may be less favorable than that of a fund managed using an active investment strategy. The structure and composition of the index will affect the performance, volatility, and risk of the index and, consequently, the performance, volatility, and risk of the fund.
Index Fund - While the fund seeks to track the performance of the S&P 500® Index (i.e., achieve a high degree of correlation with the index), the fund's return may not match the return of the index. The fund incurs a number of operating expenses not applicable to the index, and incurs costs in buying and selling securities. In addition, the fund may not be fully invested at times, generally as a result of cash flows into or out of the fund or reserves of cash held by the fund to meet redemptions. The fund may attempt to replicate the index return by investing in fewer than all of the securities in the index, or in some securities not included in the index, potentially increasing the risk of divergence between the fund's return and that of the index.
Equity Securities - Equity securities generally have greater risk of loss than debt securities. Stock markets are volatile and the value of equity securities may go up or down, sometimes rapidly and unpredictably. The market price of an equity security may fluctuate based on overall market conditions, such as real or perceived adverse economic or political conditions or trends, tariffs and trade disruptions, inflation, substantial economic downturn or recession, changes in interest rates, or adverse investor sentiment.
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Standard & Poor's does not sponsor the fund, nor is it affiliated in any way with the fund or the fund's advisers. "Standard & Poor's®," "S&P®," "S&P 500®," and "Standard & Poor's 500®" are trademarks of Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC, a division of S&P Global. The fund is not sponsored, endorsed, sold or promoted by Standard & Poor's and Standard & Poor's makes no representation or warranty, express or implied, regarding the advisability of investing in the fund.