Cybersecurity and Disaster Recovery Risks. Information and technology systems relied upon by the Fund, the Adviser, the Fund’s other service providers (including, but not limited to, the Fund Accountant, Custodian, Transfer Agent, Administrator, Distributor and index providers), market makers, Authorized Participants, financial intermediaries and/or the issuers of securities in which the Fund invests may be vulnerable to damage or interruption from computer viruses, network failures, computer and telecommunication failures, infiltration by unauthorized persons, security breaches, usage errors, power outages and catastrophic events such as fires, tornadoes, floods, hurricanes and earthquakes. Although the Adviser and the Fund’s other service providers have implemented measures to manage risks relating to these types of events, if these systems are compromised, become inoperable for extended periods of time or cease to function properly, significant investment may be required to fix or replace them. The failure of these systems and/or of disaster recovery plans could cause significant interruptions in the operations of the Fund, the Adviser, ALPS Advisors, Inc., the Fund’s sub-adviser (the “Sub-Adviser”), the Fund’s other service providers, market makers, Authorized Participants, financial intermediaries and/or issuers of securities in which the Fund invests and may result in a failure to maintain the security, confidentiality or privacy of sensitive data, impact the Fund’s ability to calculate its net asset value or impede trading. Depositary Receipt Risk. The Fund may invest in depositary receipts which involve similar risks to those associated with investments in foreign securities. Investments in depositary receipts may be less liquid than the underlying shares in their primary trading market and, if not included in the Underlying Junior Gold Miners Index, may negatively affect the Fund’s ability to replicate the performance of the Underlying Junior Gold Miners Index.
Fluctuation of Net Asset Value Risk. The NAV of the Fund’s shares will generally fluctuate with changes in the market value of the Fund’s holdings. The market prices of the shares will generally fluctuate in accordance with changes in NAV as well as the relative supply of and demand for shares on NYSE Arca, Inc. (the “NYSE Arca”). The Adviser cannot predict whether the shares will trade below, at or above their NAV. The Fund’s market price may deviate from the value of its underlying portfolio holdings, particularly in times of market stress, with the result that investors may pay significantly more or receive significantly less than the underlying value of the Fund shares bought or sold. this can be reflected as a spread between the bid and ask prices for the Fund quoted during the day or a premium or discount in the closing price from the Fund’s NAV.
Foreign Investment Risk. The Fund’s investments in non-U.S. issuers, although limited to ADRs, may involve unique risks compared to investing in securities of U.S. issuers. Adverse political, economic or social developments could undermine the value of the Fund’s investments or prevent the Fund from realizing the full value of its investments. Countries with emerging markets may present heightened risks of nationalization of businesses, restrictions on foreign ownership and prohibitions on the repatriation of assets. The economies of emerging markets countries also may be based on only a few industries, making them more vulnerable to changes in local or global trade conditions and more sensitive to debt burdens, inflation rates or adverse news and events.
Where all or a portion of the Fund’s underlying securities trade in a market that is closed when the market in which the Fund’s shares are listed and trading in that market is open, there may be changes between the last quote from its closed foreign market and the value of such security during the Fund’s domestic trading day. In addition, please note that this in turn could lead to differences between the market price of the Fund’s shares and the underlying value of those shares.
Investments in Australian issuers may subject the Fund to regulatory, political, currency, security, and economic risk specific to Australia. The Australian economy is heavily dependent on exports from the energy, agricultural and mining sectors. This makes the Australian economy susceptible to fluctuations in the commodity markets. Australia is also dependent on trading with key trading partners.
Investments in Canadian issuers may subject the Fund to economic risk specific to Canada. Among other things, the Canadian economy is heavily dependent on relationships with certain key trading partners, including the United States and China. The Canadian economy is sensitive to fluctuations in certain commodity markets.
Geographic Concentration Risk. To the extent the Underlying Junior Gold Miners Index and the Fund are significantly comprised of securities of issuers from a single country, the Fund would be more likely to be impacted by events or conditions affecting that country.
Index Management Risk. The Fund is not “actively” managed. Therefore, it would not necessarily sell a security because the security’s issuer was in financial trouble unless that security is removed from the Underlying Junior Gold Miners Index. Additionally, the Fund rebalances its portfolio in accordance with its Underlying Index, and, therefore, any changes to the Underlying Index’s rebalance schedule will result in corresponding changes to the Fund’s rebalance schedule.