SUMMARY PROSPECTUS
April 2, 2024
The Advisors’ Inner Circle Fund III
STRATEGAS MACRO MOMENTUM ETF
Principal Listing Exchange: NYSE Arca, Inc.
Ticker Symbol: SAMM
Investment Adviser:
Strategas Asset Management, LLC
Investment Sub-Adviser:
Vident Investment Advisory, LLC
Before you invest, you may want to review the Fund’s complete prospectus, which contains more information about the Fund and its risks. You can find the Fund’s prospectus and other information about the Fund online at www.strategasetfs.com. You can also get this information at no cost by calling 855-457-3637, by sending an e-mail request to
[email protected], or by asking any financial intermediary that offers shares of the Fund. The Fund’s prospectus and statement of additional information, both dated April 2, 2024, as they may be amended from time to time, are incorporated by reference into this summary prospectus and may be obtained, free of charge, at the website, phone number or e-mail address noted above.
Investment Objective
The Strategas Macro Momentum ETF (the “Fund”) seeks long-term capital appreciation.
Fund Fees and Expenses
This table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy, hold and sell shares of the Fund. You may pay other fees, such as brokerage commissions and other fees to financial intermediaries, which are not reflected in the table and Example below.
Annual Fund Operating Expenses (expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)
Management Fee |
0.55% |
Other Expenses1 |
0.56% |
Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses (“AFFE”)2 |
0.01% |
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses |
1.12% |
Less Fee Reductions and/or Expense Reimbursements3 |
(0.46)% |
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses After Fee Reductions and/or Expense Reimbursements |
0.66% |
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Other Expenses are based on estimated amounts for the current fiscal year. |
2 |
AFFE are indirect fees and expenses that the Fund incurs from investing in shares of other investment companies, and are estimated for the current fiscal year. |
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Strategas Asset Management, LLC (the “Adviser” or “Strategas”) has contractually agreed to waive fees and/or to reimburse expenses to the extent necessary to keep Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses (excluding any interest, taxes, brokerage commissions and other costs and expenses relating to the securities that are purchased and sold by the Fund, dividend and interest expenses on securities sold short, AFFE, fees and expenses incurred in connection with tax reclaim recovery services, other expenditures which are capitalized in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, and non-routine expenses) (collectively, “excluded expenses”)) from exceeding 0.65% of the average daily net assets of the Fund until April 30, 2025 (the “contractual expense limit”). In addition, the Adviser may receive from the Fund the difference between the Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses (not including excluded expenses) and the contractual expense limit to recoup all or a portion of its prior fee waivers or expense reimbursements made during the rolling three-year period preceding the date of the recoupment if at any point Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses (not including excluded expenses) are below the contractual expense limit (i) at the time of the fee waiver and/or expense reimbursement and (ii) at the time of the recoupment. The agreement may be terminated: (i) by the Board of Trustees (the “Board”) of The Advisors’ Inner Circle Fund III (the “Trust”), for any reason at any time; or (ii) by the Adviser, upon ninety (90) days’ prior written notice to the Trust, effective as of the close of business on April 30, 2025. |
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Example
This Example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the Fund with the cost of investing in other funds.
The Example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the Fund for the time periods indicated and then redeem all of your shares at the end of those periods. The Example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year and that the Fund’s operating expenses (including capped expenses for the period described in the footnote to the fee table) remain the same. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:
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 total annual Fund operating expenses or in the Example, affect the Fund’s performance. Because the Fund has not commenced operations as of the date of this prospectus, it does not have portfolio turnover information to report.
Principal Investment Strategies
The Fund is an actively-managed exchange-traded fund (“ETF”) that principally invests in common stocks of U.S. companies, real estate investment trusts (“REITs”), master limited partnerships (“MLPs”), American Depositary Receipts (“ADRs”), shares of other investment companies, including ETFs, exchange-traded products (“ETPs”) and closed-end funds, and shares of business development companies (“BDCs”). The Fund seeks to achieve its objective by investing principally in a portfolio of approximately 20–50 such assets with a focus on buying and holding the assets for as long as their technical characteristics warrant while seeking to limit losses in periods of market decline by allocating additional Fund assets to defensive alternatives, such as treasury ETFs, gold ETPs or cash. Catalysts for a more defensive posture would include a deterioration to the technical attributes for the market as a whole, including such inputs as downside moving average crosses, changes to trend following and momentum tools, an expansion in individual securities trading to new lows (each as described
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below), and the emergence of a relative outperformance from traditionally defensive assets like treasuries or gold.
Strategas Asset Management, LLC (the “Adviser”) uses a macro momentum approach in implementing its investment strategy. “Macro” is a “top-down” analysis approach in investing that focuses on the inputs that are generally out of a company’s control, such as the overall economy, government fiscal and monetary policy changes, cultural and socioeconomic developments or trends, and developments arising from global crises including pandemics, wars, or financial distress. “Momentum” is a security’s tendency to show upward or downward price trend in both its absolute and relative performance in the intermediate 3- to 12- month period.
Momentum tools such as absolute and relative rate of change, new highs/lows, moving average crosses, and technical studies like the Relative Strength Index (“RSI”) and the Moving Average Convergence/Divergence indicator (“MACD”) are used to identify securities in this regard. Absolute rate of change measures a security’s price performance over a set number of days. High rates of change reflect positive price momentum, while low rates of change reflect negative price momentum. A relative rate of change is a security’s price momentum relative to a benchmark index or a peer group. A new high or low is the highest or lowest closing price for a security over a set number of days. A moving average refers to the average price of a security over a specified time period. Upward sloping moving averages generally reflect an uptrend in the security’s price, while downward sloping moving averages generally reflect a downtrend in the security’s price. When the shorter-term average (e.g., 50 days) crosses above or below the longer-term moving average (e.g., 200 days), a positive or negative trend signal is noted. The RSI measures the speed and change of price movements of a security over a set time period. The MACD shows the relationship between two exponential moving averages of a security’s price and is used to help identify price trends, measure momentum, and identify entry points for buying or selling securities.
The Adviser employs a suite of proprietary macro, technical, and behavioral inputs to improve individual security selection and portfolio characteristics to provide a tactical and macro momentum driven approach. Trend following, an investment approach that makes decisions to buy, sell, or hold a security based on the underlying security’s price characteristics, and momentum inputs, including new highs/lows, moving average crosses, RSI, MACD, and proprietary momentum ranks, are all utilized in the security selection process.
The Fund may invest in securities of companies with any market capitalization, though certain liquidity parameters are required for a security
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to be considered. The Fund may, from time to time, invest a significant portion of its total assets in securities of companies in certain sectors. The Fund’s sector exposures will likely change over time, as macroeconomic, market, sector and company-specific conditions change.
The Adviser has engaged Vident Asset Management to serve as sub-adviser (“Sub-Adviser”) for the Fund. The Sub-Adviser is responsible for trading portfolio securities for the Fund, including selecting broker-dealers to execute purchase and sale transactions or in connection with any rebalancing or reconstitution of the portfolio, pre- and post-trade compliance, and monitoring of Fund trading activity, subject to the oversight of the Adviser and the Board of Trustees.
Principal Risks
As with all ETFs, there is no guarantee that the Fund will achieve its investment objective. You could lose money by investing in the Fund. A Fund share is not a bank deposit and it is not insured or guaranteed by the FDIC or any other government agency. The principal risk factors affecting shareholders’ investments in the Fund are set forth below.
Macro Momentum Investing Strategy Risk – The Adviser selects securities for the Fund’s portfolio pursuant to a macro momentum investment strategy. The value of the Fund may decline if, among other reasons, securities selected for inclusion in the Fund’s portfolio due to their security characteristics that the Adviser believes are most highly correlated to a macro momentum strategy do not perform as anticipated, the Adviser fails to identify or declines to include in the Fund’s portfolio profitable companies that would have been beneficial to a macro momentum portfolio, or other investment strategies generally outperform a macro momentum strategy of investing based on a variety of factors.
Equity Market Risk – The risk that stock prices will fall over short or extended periods of time, sometimes rapidly and unpredictably. The value of equity securities will fluctuate in response to factors affecting a particular company, as well as broader market and economic conditions. Broad movements in financial markets may adversely affect the price of the Fund’s investments, regardless of how well the companies in which the Fund invests perform. In addition, the impact of any epidemic, pandemic or natural disaster, or widespread fear that such events may occur, could negatively affect the global economy, as well as the economies of individual countries, the financial performance of individual companies and sectors, and the markets in general in significant and unforeseen ways. Any such impact could adversely affect the prices and liquidity of the securities and other instruments in which the Fund invests, which in turn could negatively
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impact the Fund’s performance and cause losses on your investment in the Fund. Moreover, in the event of a company’s bankruptcy, claims of certain creditors, including bondholders, will have priority over claims of common stockholders such as the Fund.
Active Management Risk – The success of the Fund’s strategy is dependent on the Adviser’s ability and its stock selection process to correctly identify the Fund’s investments. The portfolio securities selected by the Adviser may decline in value or not increase in value when the stock market in general is rising, in which case the Fund could experience losses regardless of the overall performance of the U.S. equity market.
Large Capitalization Risk – The risk that larger, more established companies may be unable to respond quickly to new competitive challenges such as changes in technology and consumer tastes. Larger companies also may not be able to attain the high growth rates of successful smaller companies.
Small and Medium Capitalization Companies Risk – The risk that small and medium capitalization companies in which the Fund may invest may be more vulnerable to adverse business or economic events than larger, more established companies. In particular, small and medium capitalization companies may have limited product lines, markets and financial resources and may depend upon a relatively small management group. Therefore, small capitalization and medium capitalization stocks may be more volatile than those of larger companies. Small capitalization and medium capitalization stocks may be traded over-the-counter or listed on an exchange.
Sector Focus Risk – Because the Fund may, from time to time, be more heavily invested in particular sectors, the value of its shares may be especially sensitive to factors and economic risks that specifically affect those sectors. As a result, the Fund’s share price may fluctuate more widely than the value of shares of a mutual fund that invests in a broader range of sectors. The Fund’s sector exposures will likely change over time, as macroeconomic, market, sector and company-specific conditions change.
ETF Risks – The Fund is an ETF and, as a result of this structure, it is exposed to the following risks:
Trading Risk – Shares of the Fund may trade on NYSE Arca, Inc. (the “Exchange”) above or below their NAV. The NAV of shares of the Fund will fluctuate with changes in the market value of the Fund’s holdings. In addition, although the Fund’s shares are currently listed on the Exchange, there can be no assurance that an active trading market for shares will develop or be maintained. Trading in Fund shares may be
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halted due to market conditions or for reasons that, in the view of the Exchange, make trading in shares of the Fund inadvisable.
Limited Authorized Participants, Market Makers and Liquidity Providers Risk – Because the Fund is an ETF, only a limited number of institutional investors (known as “Authorized Participants”) are authorized to purchase and redeem shares directly from the Fund. In addition, there may be a limited number of market makers and/or liquidity providers in the marketplace. To the extent either of the following events occur, Fund shares may trade at a material discount to net asset value (“NAV”) and possibly face delisting: (i) Authorized Participants exit the business or otherwise become unable to process creation and/or redemption orders and no other Authorized Participants step forward to perform these services, or (ii) market makers and/or liquidity providers exit the business or significantly reduce their business activities and no other entities step forward to perform their functions.
Gold Risk – Price movements in gold may fluctuate quickly and dramatically, have a historically low correlation with the returns of the stock and bond markets, and may not correlate to price movements in other asset classes. Some factors that impact the price of gold include, but are not limited to, overall market movements, changes in interest rates, changes in the global supply and demand for gold, the quantity of gold imports and exports, factors that impact gold production, such as drought, floods and weather conditions, technological advances in the processing and mining of gold, an increase in the hedging of precious metals, such as gold, and changes in economic and/or political conditions, including regulatory developments.
U.S. Government Securities Risk – Although U.S. Government securities are considered to be among the safest investments, they are not guaranteed against price movements due to changing interest rates. Obligations issued by some U.S. Government agencies are backed by the U.S. Treasury, while others are backed solely by the ability of the agency to borrow from the U.S. Treasury or by the agency’s own resources. Therefore, such obligations are not backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. Government.
New Fund Risk – Because the Fund is new, investors in the Fund bear the risk that the Fund may not be successful in implementing its investment strategy, may not employ a successful investment strategy, or may fail to attract sufficient assets under management to realize economies of scale, any of which could result in the Fund being liquidated at any time without shareholder approval and at a time that may not be favorable for all shareholders. Such liquidation could have negative tax consequences for shareholders and will cause shareholders to incur expenses of liquidation.
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Shareholder Concentration Risk – A large percentage of the Fund’s shares are held by a small number of shareholders, including persons and entities related to the Adviser. A large redemption by one or more of these shareholders could materially increase the Fund’s transaction costs, which would negatively impact the Fund’s performance and could cause adverse tax consequences for the remaining shareholders of the Fund. Baird Financial Corporation, the parent company of the Adviser, intends to purchase approximately $5 million of shares of the Fund over the initial two to three months following the Fund’s commencement of operations.
Liquidity Risk – The risk that certain securities may be difficult or impossible to sell at the time and the price that the Fund would like. The Fund may have to lower the price of the security, sell other securities instead or forego an investment opportunity, any of which could have a negative effect on Fund management or performance.
Inflation Risk – Inflation risk is the risk that the value of assets or income from investments will be less in the future as inflation decreases the value of money. As inflation increases, the value of the Fund’s assets can decline. Measures of inflation have increased to levels not experienced in several decades. Uncertainty regarding the magnitude of interest rate increases, and the ability of the Federal Reserve to successfully control inflation, may negatively impact asset prices and increase market volatility.
Depositary Receipts Risk – Investments in depositary receipts may be less liquid and more volatile than the underlying securities in their primary trading market. If a depositary receipt is denominated in a different currency than its underlying securities, the Fund will be subject to the currency risk of both the investment in the depositary receipt and the underlying security. Holders of depositary receipts may have limited or no rights to take action with respect to the underlying securities or to compel the issuer of the receipts to take action. The prices of depositary receipts may differ from the prices of securities upon which they are based.
Foreign Company Risk – Investing in foreign companies poses additional risks since political and economic events unique to a country or region will affect those markets and their issuers. These risks will not necessarily affect the U.S. economy or similar issuers located in the United States. Securities of foreign companies may not be registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) and foreign companies are generally not subject to the same level of regulatory controls imposed on U.S. issuers and, as a consequence, there is generally less publicly available information about foreign securities than is available about domestic securities. Income from foreign securities owned by the Fund may be reduced by a withholding tax at the source, which tax would reduce income received from the
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securities comprising the Fund’s portfolio. Foreign securities may also be more difficult to value than securities of U.S. issuers and foreign markets and securities may be less liquid. In addition, periodic U.S. Government restrictions on investments in issuers from certain foreign countries may require the Fund to sell such investments at inopportune times, which could result in losses to the Fund.
Foreign Currency Risk – As a result of the Fund’s investments in securities denominated in, and/or receiving revenues in, foreign currencies, the Fund will be subject to currency risk. Currency risk is the risk that foreign currencies will decline in value relative to the U.S. dollar, in which case the dollar value of an investment in the Fund would be adversely affected.
REITs Risk – REITs are pooled investment vehicles that own, and usually operate, income-producing real estate. REITs are susceptible to the risks associated with direct ownership of real estate, such as the following: declines in property values; increases in property taxes, operating expenses, interest rates or competition; overbuilding; zoning changes; and losses from casualty or condemnation. REITs typically incur fees that are separate from those of the Fund. Accordingly, the Fund’s investments in REITs will result in the layering of expenses such that shareholders will indirectly bear a proportionate share of the REITs’ operating expenses, in addition to paying Fund expenses. REIT operating expenses are not reflected in the fee table and example in this prospectus.
Master Limited Partnerships (MLPs) Risk — MLPs are limited partnerships in which the ownership units are publicly traded. MLPs often own several properties or businesses (or own interests) that are related to oil and gas industries or other natural resources, but they also may finance other projects. To the extent that an MLP’s interests are all in a particular industry, the MLP will be negatively impacted by economic events adversely impacting that industry. Additional risks of investing in a MLP also include those involved in investing in a partnership as opposed to a corporation, such as limited control of management, limited voting rights and tax risks. MLPs may be subject to state taxation in certain jurisdictions, which will have the effect of reducing the amount of income paid by the MLP to its investors.
Investments in Investment Company Risk – When the Fund invests in an investment company, including closed-end funds and ETFs, in addition to directly bearing the expenses associated with its own operations, it will bear a pro rata portion of the investment company’s expenses. Further, while the risks of owning shares of an investment company generally reflect the risks of owning the underlying investments of the investment company, the Fund may be subject to additional or different risks than if the Fund had invested
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directly in the underlying investments. For example, the lack of liquidity in an ETF could result in its share price being more volatile than that of the underlying portfolio securities. Certain closed-end investment companies issue a fixed number of shares that trade on a stock exchange at a premium or a discount to their net asset value (“NAV”). As a result, a closed-end fund’s share price fluctuates based on what another investor is willing to pay rather than on the market value of the securities in the fund.
Business Development Companies (“BDCs”) Risk – Investments in closed-end funds that are BDCs may be subject to a high degree of risk. BDCs typically invest in small and medium-sized companies that may not have access to public equity markets for capital raising. As a result, a BDC’s portfolio typically will include a substantial amount of securities purchased in private placements, and the portfolio may carry risks similar to those of a private equity or venture capital fund. Securities that are not publicly registered may be difficult to value and may be difficult to sell at a price representative of their intrinsic value.
Tax Risk – Income from certain ETPs that invest in commodities and other non-security based asset classes, as well as direct investments in such alternative asset classes such as gold, may not be qualifying income for purposes of the qualifying income test that must be met by the Fund in order to qualify as a regulated investment company (“RIC”) under Subchapter M of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”). The Fund will seek to restrict its income from direct investments in such alternative investments that do not generate qualifying income to a maximum of 10% of its gross income (when combined with its other investments that produce non-qualifying income) to comply with certain qualifying income tests necessary for the Fund to qualify as a RIC under the Code. However, there is no guarantee that the Fund will be successful in this regard. If the Fund fails to qualify as a RIC and to avail itself of certain relief provisions, it would be subject to tax at the regular corporate rate without any deduction for distributions to shareholders, and its distributions would generally be taxable as dividends. Please see the Fund’s Statement of Additional Information (the “SAI”) for a more detailed discussion, including the availability of certain relief provisions for certain failures by the Fund to qualify as a RIC. The tax treatment of certain commodity investments and other non-security based instruments may be affected by future regulatory or legislative changes that could affect the character, timing and/or amount of the Fund’s taxable income or gains and distributions. The Fund’s pursuit of its investment objective will potentially be limited by the Fund’s intention to qualify for treatment as a RIC. The Fund can make certain investments, the treatment of which is unclear under the Code and could adversely affect the Fund’s ability to qualify as a RIC.
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Valuation Risk – The risk that a security may be difficult to value. The Fund may value certain securities at a price higher than the price at which they can be sold.
Performance Information
The Fund is new, and therefore has no performance history. Once the Fund has completed a full calendar year of operations, a bar chart and table will be included that will provide some indication of the risks of investing in the Fund by showing the variability of the Fund’s returns and comparing the Fund’s performance to a broad measure of market performance. Of course, the Fund’s past performance (before and after taxes) does not necessarily indicate how the Fund will perform in the future.
Current performance information is available on the Fund’s website at www.strategasetfs.com or by calling toll-free to 855-457-3637.
Investment Adviser
Strategas Asset Management, LLC serves as the investment adviser to the Fund.
Investment Sub-Adviser
Vident Asset Management serves as the sub-adviser to the Fund.
Portfolio Managers
The Fund is jointly and primarily managed by a team of the following professionals:
Strategas Asset Management, LLC
Chris Verrone, Partner & Head of Technical & Macro Research at Strategas Securities, LLC, has served as a lead portfolio manager of the Fund since its inception in 2024.
Nicholas Bohnsack, President and Chief Executive Officer at Strategas Asset Management, LLC and President and Chief Operating Officer at Strategas Securities, LLC, has served as a lead portfolio manager of the Fund since its inception in 2024.
Todd Sohn, Managing Director of Technical & ETF Research at Strategas Securities, LLC, has served as a co-portfolio manager of the Fund since its inception in 2024.
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Gerald Hendricks, Director & Senior Portfolio Analyst at Strategas Asset Management, LLC, has served as a co-portfolio manager of the Fund since its inception in 2024.
Vident Asset Management
Rafael Zayas, CFA, Senior Vice President, Head of Portfolio Management and Trading of Vident Asset Management, has served as a portfolio manager of the Fund since its inception in 2024.
Austin Wen, CFA, Portfolio Manager of Vident Asset Management, has served as a portfolio manager of the Fund since its inception in 2024.
Purchase and Sale of Fund Shares
The Fund issues shares to (or redeems shares from) certain institutional investors known as “Authorized Participants” (typically market makers or other broker-dealers) only in large blocks of shares known as “Creation Units.” Creation Unit transactions are conducted in exchange for the deposit or delivery of a portfolio of in-kind securities designated by the Fund and/or cash.
Individual shares of the Fund may only be purchased and sold on the Exchange, other national securities exchanges, electronic crossing networks and other alternative trading systems through your broker-dealer at market prices. Because Fund shares trade at market prices rather than at NAV, Fund shares may trade at a price greater than NAV (premium) or less than NAV (discount). When buying or selling shares in the secondary market, you may incur costs attributable to the difference between the highest price a buyer is willing to pay to purchase shares of the Fund (bid) and the lowest price a seller is willing to accept for shares of the Fund (ask) (the “bid-ask spread”). When available, recent information regarding the Fund’s NAV, market price, premiums and discounts, and bid-ask spreads will be available at www.strategasetfs.com.
Tax Information
The Fund intends to make distributions that may be taxed as ordinary income, qualified dividend income or capital gains, unless you are investing through a tax-deferred arrangement, such as a 401(k) plan or individual retirement account (“IRA”), in which case your distribution will be taxed when withdrawn from the tax-deferred account.
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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 intermediary for the sale of Fund shares and related services. These payments may create a conflict of interest by influencing the broker-dealer or other intermediary and your salesperson to recommend the Fund over another investment. Ask your salesperson or visit your financial intermediary’s web site for more information.
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STR-SM-003-0100