Alpha Architect ETF Trust

01/08/2025 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 01/08/2025 14:44

Summary Prospectus by Investment Company (Form 497K)

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MILITIA LONG/SHORT EQUITY ETF
Ticker Symbol: ORR
Listed on The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC
SUMMARY PROSPECTUS
January 8, 2025

www.militiaetf.com
Before you invest, you may want to review the Fund's Prospectus and Statement of Additional Information ("SAI"), which contain more information about the Fund and its risks. The current Prospectus and SAI, each dated January 8, 2025, are incorporated by reference into this Summary Prospectus. You can find the Fund's Prospectus, reports to shareholders, and other information about the Fund online at www.militiaetf.com. You can also get this information at no cost by calling 215-330-4476.
INVESTMENT OBJECTIVE
The Militia Long/Short Equity ETF (the "Fund") seeks capital appreciation.
FEES AND EXPENSES
This table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy, hold, and sell shares of the Fund ("Shares"). You may also pay brokerage commissions on the purchase and sale of Shares, which are not reflected in the table or example.
Annual Fund Operating Expenses (expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)
Management Fee
1.30 %
Distribution and/or Service (12b-1) Fees
None
Other Expenses1
Dividend Expense, Borrowing Costs and Brokerage Expenses on Short Sales2
17.18 %
All Other Expenses 0.00 %
Total Other Expenses2
17.18 %
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses
18.48 %
1 Other Expenses are estimated for the current fiscal year.
2 When a cash dividend is declared on a stock the Fund has sold short, the Fund is required to pay an amount equal to the dividend to the party from which the Fund has borrowed the stock, and to record the payment as an expense. Interest expenses result from the Fund's short sales. Any interest expense amount or dividends paid on securities sold short will vary based on the extent to which the Fund sells securities short.
EXAMPLE
The following 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 for the time periods indicated and then hold or sell all of your Shares at the end of those periods. The example also assumes that the Fund provides a return of 5% a year and that operating expenses remain the same. You may also pay brokerage commissions on the purchase and sale of Shares, which are not reflected in the example. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:
One Year: Three Years:
$1,723 $4,505
PORTFOLIO TURNOVER
The Fund may pay transaction costs, including 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 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. As of the date of this Prospectus, the Fund has not yet commenced operations and portfolio turnover data therefore is not available.
PRINCIPAL INVESTMENT STRATEGIES
The Fund is an actively managed exchange-traded fund ("ETF") that seeks to achieve its investment objective by investing in both long and short positions in equity securities or ETFs that Militia Investments, LLC, the sub-adviser to the Fund (the "Sub-Adviser"), believes offer the potential for capital appreciation. Under normal circumstances, the Fund invests at least 80% of its net assets (including borrowings for investment purposes) in equity securities or ETFs that provide exposure to equity


securities. The equity securities in which the Fund invests may be common stocks of small-, mid-, or large-capitalization companies and depositary receipts (e.g., American Depositary Receipts ("ADRs")) representing equity securities of non-U.S. companies of such market capitalizations. The Fund's investments in depositary receipts may include sponsored and/or unsponsored depositary receipts.
The Fund's long portfolio will consist of foreign (typically in developed markets) or domestic companies the Sub-Adviser believes present an opportunity for price appreciation. The Sub-Adviser selects individual equities primarily based on the net present value of anticipated future cash flows from the company. These cash flows could be the result of a variety of sources, such as future expected dividend payments, the expected use of free cash flow to buyback company stock, growth in a company's cash flow generating activities, or changes in the regulations applicable to a company that may support an increase in future dividends. The Sub-Adviser does not necessarily favor growth stocks over value stocks, and the Sub-Adviser may simultaneously choose to invest in companies that it considers materially undervalued and companies the Sub-Adviser expects to be primed for growth.
The Sub-Adviser may reduce or eliminate the Fund's long position in a company's securities for a number of reasons, including if its expectation of future cash flows changes adversely, if new factors are introduced that negatively affect anticipated volatility for a company, or if the Sub-Adviser determines that the company is overvalued or fully valued. The Sub-Adviser typically expects to own long positions for an extended period of time (i.e., more than one year), but may reduce or eliminate its position in a company at any time. While the Sub-Adviser does not seek exposure to particular countries or regions, the Fund is expected to have significant exposure to companies listed in Japan at its inception. The Fund may hold short positions in foreign currencies (e.g., Japanese yen), such as through currency forward contracts, to mitigate currency risk associated with foreign investments.
The Fund may, but is not required to, have long exposure greater than 100% of the Fund's net assets, and the Fund will cap its long exposure to typically less than 150% of its net assets, but may exceed this threshold from time to time.
For the Fund's short portfolio, the Sub-Adviser seeks U.S.-listed companies for which the net present value of their anticipated future cash flows is expected to decline or be negative and consequently, their stock price is expected to decline. When the Fund sells securities short, it sells a security that it does not own (but has borrowed) at its current market price in anticipation that the price of the security will decline. To complete, or close out, the short-sale transaction, the Fund buys the same security in the market at a later date at its then-market price and returns it to the lender.
The Sub-Adviser may consider a variety of factors in making such determination, such as identifying companies facing emerging headwinds or weakness in demand, or issuer- or industry-specific factors that may lead to bankruptcy. The Fund may hold short positions in a company for short or long periods of time. In particular, if a stock sold short by the Fund has significantly declined in price (e.g., the stock has lost more than 90% of its value) without indications of a potential rebound, the Sub-Adviser may cause the Fund to continue the short position for an extended period of time to improve the Fund's tax efficiency.
The Sub-Adviser may also seek to sell short U.S.-listed ETFs with strategies that the Sub-Adviser believes are likely to lead to price declines over time. For example, the Fund may sell short options-based ETFs whose exposure to an underlying stock or basket of stocks has significantly greater downturn exposure than upside potential. Such ETFs may use options to generate additional income with the trade off of capping the upside returns from the underlying asset(s) without capping drawdowns. When the Fund sells short ETFs whose strategy caps the maximum return of the fund for a particular period of time, the Fund's potential losses from selling such ETFs short is similarly capped.
The Fund is expected to have short exposure up to 100% of its net assets. The Fund intends to comply with the requirements of Rule 18f-4 of the Investment Company Act of 1940 as it relates to its short positions.
The Fund may invest long or short in leveraged, inverse, or inverse leveraged ETFs whose objective is to seek a positive or negative multiple of the return of its reference asset (which may be a single stock, an index of stocks or bonds, or another asset) typically for a single day (i.e., that reset exposure daily), and the Fund may hold investments in such inverse, leveraged, or inverse leveraged ETFs if the Sub-Adviser believes the design of such ETF is likely to lead to a decline in its price over time.
The Fund's investment strategy generally involves active trading which may result in a high annual portfolio turnover. The Fund will be considered to be non-diversified, which means that it may invest more of its assets in the securities of a single issuer or a smaller number of issuers than if it were a diversified fund.
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PRINCIPAL INVESTMENT RISKS
An investment in the Fund involves risk, including those described below. There is no assurance that the Fund will achieve its investment objective. An investor may lose money by investing in the Fund. An investment in the Fund is not a bank deposit and is not insured or guaranteed by the FDIC or any government agency. More complete risk descriptions are set forth below under the heading "Additional Information About the Fund's Principal Investment Risks."
Large-Capitalization Companies Risk. Large-capitalization companies may trail the returns of the overall stock market. Large-capitalization stocks tend to go through cycles of doing better - or worse - than the stock market in general. These periods have, in the past, lasted for as long as several years. Larger, more established companies may be slow to respond to challenges and may grow more slowly than smaller companies.
Mid-Capitalization Companies Risk. Investing in securities of mid-capitalization companies involves greater risk than customarily is associated with investing in larger, more established companies. These companies' securities may be more volatile and less liquid than those of more established companies. Often mid-capitalization companies and the industries in which they focus are still evolving and, as a result, they may be more sensitive to changing market conditions.
Small-Capitalization Companies Risk. Investing in securities of small-capitalization companies involves greater risk than customarily is associated with investing in larger, more established companies. Small-capitalization companies often have less predictable earnings, more limited product lines, markets, distribution channels and financial resources, and the management of such companies may be dependent upon one or few people. Price movements of small-capitalization companies may be more volatile than mid-capitalization and large-capitalization companies.
Investment Risk. When you sell your Shares, they could be worth less than what you paid for them. The Fund could lose money due to short-term market movements and over longer periods during market downturns. Securities may decline in value due to factors affecting securities markets generally or particular asset classes or industries represented in the markets. The value of a security may decline due to general market conditions, economic trends or events that are not specifically related to the issuer of the security. Geopolitical and other risks, including war, terrorism, trade disputes, political or economic dysfunction within some nations, public health crises, and environmental disasters such as earthquakes, fire, and floods, may add to instability in world economies and volatility in markets generally. Changes in trade policies and international trade agreements could affect the economies of many countries in unpredictable ways. The value of a security may also decline due to factors that affect a particular industry or group of industries. During a general downturn in the securities markets, multiple asset classes may be negatively affected. Therefore, you may lose money by investing in the Fund.
Equity Investing Risk. An investment in the Fund involves risks similar to those of investing in any fund holding equity securities, such as market fluctuations, changes in interest rates and perceived trends in stock prices. The values of equity securities could decline generally or could underperform other investments. In addition, securities may decline in value due to factors affecting a specific issuer, market or securities markets generally.
Leverage Risk. Leverage risk refers to the potential for increased volatility and losses in a portfolio due to the use of short positions or other financial instruments that may magnify gains and losses beyond the initial investment. Leverage could possibly create increased volatility for the Fund.
Leveraged, Inverse, and Inverse-Leveraged ETF Risk. Leveraged, inverse, and inverse-leveraged ETFs expose the Fund to all of the risks that traditional ETFs present. Leveraged ETFs seek to provide investment results that match a multiple of the performance of an underlying index (e.g., two times the performance). Inverse ETFs seek to provide investment results that match a negative (i.e., the opposite) of the performance of an underlying index. Inverse-leveraged ETFs seek to provide investment results that match a negative multiple of the performance of an underlying index. All those types of ETFs rely to some degree, often extensively, on derivatives to achieve their objectives and, thus, the Fund is indirectly exposed to derivatives risk through its investments in these ETFs. Further, investments in leveraged, inverse, or inverse-leveraged ETFs are subject to the risk that the performance of the ETF will not correlate with the underlying index as intended. Leveraged, inverse, and inverse-leveraged ETFs often "reset" daily, meaning that they are designed to achieve their stated objectives on a daily basis. Due to the effect of compounding, their performance over longer periods of time can differ significantly from the performance (or inverse of the performance) of their underlying index or benchmark during the same period of time. This effect can be magnified in volatile markets. Consequently, these investment vehicles may be extremely volatile and can potentially expose the Fund to complete loss of its investment.
Short Sale Risk. Short selling is generally considered speculative, has the potential for unlimited loss, and may involve leverage, which can magnify the Fund's exposure to assets that decline in value and increase the volatility of the Fund's net asset value. If the price of a security that the Fund has sold short increases between the time of the short sale and when the position is closed out, the Fund will incur a loss equal to the increase in price from the time of the short sale plus any related
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interest payments, dividends, transaction or other costs. There can be no assurance that the Fund will be able to close out a short position at any particular time or at an acceptable price. Purchasing a security to cover a short position can itself cause the price of the security to rise, potentially exacerbating a loss or reducing a gain. In addition, the Fund is subject to the risk that the lender of a security will terminate the loan at a time when the Fund is unable to borrow the same instrument from another lender. A fund that uses short sales is subject to the risk that its prime broker will be unwilling or unable to perform its contractual obligations.
Foreign Investment Risk. Returns on investments in foreign securities could be more volatile than, or trail the returns on, investments in U.S. securities. Investments in or exposures to foreign securities are subject to special risks, including risks associated with foreign securities generally, such as differences in information available about issuers of securities and investor protection standards applicable in other jurisdictions; capital controls risks, including the risk of a foreign jurisdiction imposing restrictions on the ability to repatriate or transfer currency or other assets; currency risks; political, diplomatic and economic risks; regulatory risks; and foreign market and trading risks, including the costs of trading and risks of settlement in foreign jurisdictions.
Depositary Receipts Risk. Depositary receipts are generally subject to the same risks as the foreign securities that they evidence or into which they may be converted. In addition, the underlying issuers of certain depositary receipts, particularly unsponsored or unregistered depositary receipts, are under no obligation to distribute shareholder communications to the holders of such receipts, or to pass through to them any voting rights with respect to the deposited securities. Depositary receipts that are not sponsored by the issuer may be less liquid and there may be less readily available public information about the issuer. Sponsored depositary receipts are established jointly by a depositary and the underlying issuer, whereas unsponsored depositary receipts may be established by a depositary without participation by the underlying issuer. Holders of an unsponsored depositary receipt generally bear all the costs associated with establishing the unsponsored depositary receipt. In addition, the issuers of the securities underlying unsponsored depositary receipts are not obligated to disclose material information in the United States and, therefore, there may be less information available regarding those issuers and there may not be a correlation between that information and the market value of the depositary receipts.
Derivatives Risk. Derivatives, such as the forwards in which the Fund invests, can be volatile and involve various types and degrees of risks, depending upon the characteristics of a particular derivative. Derivatives may entail investment exposures that are greater than their cost would suggest, meaning that a small investment in a derivative could have a substantial impact on the performance of the Fund. The Fund could experience a loss if its derivatives do not perform as anticipated, the derivatives are not correlated with the performance of their underlying security or asset, or if the Fund is unable to purchase or liquidate a position because of an illiquid secondary market. The market for many derivatives is, or suddenly can become, illiquid. Changes in liquidity may result in significant, rapid, and unpredictable changes in the prices for derivatives.
Foreign Currency Forward Contracts. A foreign currency forward contract ("forward contract") involves an obligation to purchase or sell a specific currency at a future date, which may be any fixed number of days from the date of the contract agreed upon by the parties, at a price set at the time of the contract. These contracts are principally traded in the interbank market conducted directly between currency traders (usually large commercial banks) and their customers. A forward contract generally has no margin deposit requirement, and no commissions are charged at any stage for trades. These contracts typically are settled by physical delivery of the underlying currency or currencies in the amount of the full contract value.
Developed Markets Risk. Developed market countries generally tend to rely on the services sectors (e.g., the financial sector) as the primary source of economic growth and may be susceptible to the risks of individual service sectors. Many developed market countries have heavy indebtedness, which may lead downward pressure on the economies of these countries. As a result, it is possible that interest rates on debt of certain developed countries may rise to levels that make it difficult for such countries to service high debt levels without significant help from other countries or from a central bank. Developed market countries generally are dependent on the economies of certain key trading partners. Changes in any one economy may cause an adverse impact on several developed countries.
Geographic Focus Risk. The Fund may invest a significant portion of its assets in companies in a specific country and region, the Fund is subject to greater risks of adverse developments in that country, region and/or the surrounding regions than a fund that is more broadly diversified geographically. Political, social or economic disruptions in the country or region, even in countries in which the Fund is not invested, may adversely affect the value of investments held by the Fund.
Japanese Investment Risk. Japan's economy may be subject to considerable degrees of economic, political and social instability, which could have a negative impact on Japanese securities. The Japanese economy is heavily dependent on international trade and consistent government policy supporting its export market. Changes in governmental regulations on trade, decreasing imports or exports, and/or an economic recession in Japan may cause the value of the Fund's
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investments to decline. Downturns in the economies of key trading partners such as the United States, China and/or countries in Southeast Asia, including economic, political or social instability in such countries, could also have a negative impact on the Japanese economy as a whole. Currency fluctuations may also adversely impact the Japanese economy, including its export market. In addition, Japan's labor market is adapting to an aging workforce, declining population, and demand for increased labor mobility. These demographic shifts and fundamental structural changes to the labor market may negatively impact Japan's economic competitiveness. Japan is also subject to the risk of natural disasters, such as earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, typhoons and tsunamis, which could significantly disrupt economic activity and negatively affect the Fund.
Currency Risk. Currency risk is the risk that changes in currency exchange rates will negatively affect securities denominated in, and/or receiving revenues in, foreign currencies. The liquidity and trading value of foreign currencies could be affected by global economic factors, such as inflation, interest rate levels, and trade balances among countries, as well as the actions of sovereign governments and central banks. Adverse changes in currency exchange rates (relative to the U.S. dollar) may erode or reverse any potential gains from the Fund's investments in securities denominated in a foreign currency or may widen existing losses.
Currency Hedging Risk. The Fund may hedge its currency risk using currency forwards. However, hedging strategies and/or these instruments may not always work as intended, and the Fund may be worse off than if it had not used a hedging strategy or instrument. Certain countries may also impose restrictions on the exchange or export of currency or adverse currency exchange rates and may be characterized by a lack of available currency hedging instruments.
Risk of Investing in Other ETFs. Because the Fund may invest in other ETFs, the Fund's investment performance is impacted by the investment performance of the selected underlying ETFs. An investment in the Fund is subject to the risks associated with the ETFs that then-currently comprise the Fund's portfolio. At times, certain of the segments of the market represented by the Fund's underlying ETFs may be out of favor and underperform other segments. The Fund will indirectly pay a proportional share of the expenses of the underlying ETFs in which it invests (including operating expenses and management fees), which are identified in the fee schedule above as "Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses."
ETF Risks.
•Authorized Participants, Market Makers and Liquidity Providers Concentration Risk. The Fund has a limited number of financial institutions that may act as Authorized Participants ("APs"). 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, Shares may trade at a material discount to NAV and possibly face delisting: (i) APs exit the business or otherwise become unable to process creation and/or redemption orders and no other APs 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.
•Premium-Discount Risk. The Shares may trade above or below their net asset value ("NAV"). The market prices of Shares will generally fluctuate in accordance with changes in NAV as well as the relative supply of, and demand for, Shares on The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC (the "Exchange") or other securities exchanges. The trading price of Shares may deviate significantly from NAV during periods of market volatility or limited trading activity in Shares. In addition, you may incur the cost of the "spread," that is, any difference between the bid price and the ask price of the Shares. In addition, because securities held by the Fund may trade on foreign exchanges that are closed when its primary listing exchange is open, the Fund is likely to experience premiums and discounts greater than those of domestic ETFs.
•Cost of Trading Risk. Investors buying or selling Shares in the secondary market will pay brokerage commissions or other charges imposed by brokers as determined by that broker. Brokerage commissions are often a fixed amount and may be a significant proportional cost for investors seeking to buy or sell relatively small amounts of Shares.
•Trading Risk. Although the Shares are listed on the Exchange, there can be no assurance that an active or liquid trading market for them will develop or be maintained. In addition, trading in Shares on the Exchange may be halted. In stressed market conditions, the liquidity of Shares may begin to mirror the liquidity of its underlying portfolio holdings, which can be less liquid than Shares, potentially causing the market price of Shares to deviate from its NAV. The spread varies over time for Shares of the Fund based on the Fund's trading volume and market liquidity and is generally lower if the Fund has high trading volume and market liquidity, and higher if the Fund has little trading volume and market liquidity (which is often the case for funds that are newly launched or small in size).
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Sector Risk. To the extent the Fund invests more heavily in particular sectors of the economy, its performance will be especially sensitive to developments that significantly affect those sectors. The Fund may invest a significant portion of its assets in the following sectors and, therefore, the performance of the Fund could be negatively impacted by events affecting each of these sectors.
Management Risk. The Fund is actively-managed and may not meet its investment objective based on the Adviser's, Sub-Adviser's, or portfolio manager's success or failure to implement investment strategies for the Fund. The success of the Fund's investment program depends largely on the investment techniques and risk analyses applied by the Adviser, Sub-Adviser, and the portfolio manager and the skill of the Adviser, Sub-Adviser, and/or portfolio manager in evaluating, selecting, and monitoring the Fund's assets. The Fund could experience losses (realized and unrealized) if the judgment of the Adviser, Sub-Adviser, or portfolio manager about markets or sectors or the attractiveness of particular investments made for the Fund's portfolio prove to be incorrect. It is possible the investment techniques and risk analyses employed on behalf of the Fund will not produce the desired results.
High Portfolio Turnover Risk. The Fund's investment strategy may from time-to-time result in higher turnover rates. This may increase the Fund's brokerage commission costs, which could negatively impact the performance of the Fund. Rapid portfolio turnover also exposes shareholders to a higher current realization of short-term capital gains, distributions of which would generally be taxed to you as ordinary income and thus cause you to pay higher taxes.
New Sub-Adviser Risk. Although the Sub-Adviser and the Fund's portfolio manager has experience managing investments in the past, the Sub-Adviser has no experience managing investments for an ETF, which may limit the Sub-Adviser's effectiveness.
New Fund Risk. The Fund is a recently organized investment company with no operating history. As a result, prospective investors have no track record or history on which to base their investment decision. There can be no assurance that the Fund will grow to or maintain an economically viable size.
Non-Diversification Risk. Because the Fund is non-diversified, it may be more sensitive to economic, business, political or other changes affecting individual issuers or investments than a diversified fund, which may result in greater fluctuation in the value of the Shares and greater risk of loss.
PERFORMANCE
Performance information is not provided below because the Fund has not yet been in operation for one full calendar year. When provided, the information will provide some indication of the risks of investing in the Fund by showing how the Fund's average annual returns compare with a broad measure of market performance. Past performance does not necessarily indicate how the Fund will perform in the future. Updated performance information will be available at www.militiaetf.com.
INVESTMENT ADVISER
Investment Adviser: Empowered Funds, LLC dba EA Advisers (the "Adviser")
Investment Sub-Adviser:
Militia Investments, LLC (the "Sub-Adviser")
PORTFOLIO MANAGER
David Orr, Chief Investment Officer of the Sub-Adviser, serves as the portfolio manager and is primarily responsible for the day-to-day management of the Fund.
PURCHASE AND SALE OF SHARES
The Fund issues and redeems Shares on a continuous basis only in large blocks of Shares known as "Creation Units," and only APs (typically, broker-dealers) may purchase or redeem Creation Units. Creation Units generally are issued and redeemed 'in-kind' for securities and partially in cash. Individual Shares may only be purchased and sold in secondary market transactions through brokers. Once created, individual Shares generally trade in the secondary market at market prices that change throughout the day. Market prices of Shares may be greater or less than their NAV. Except when aggregated in Creation Units, the Fund's shares are not redeemable securities.
TAX INFORMATION
The Fund's distributions generally are taxable to you as ordinary income, capital gain, or some combination of both, unless your investment is made through an Individual Retirement Account ("IRA") or other tax-advantaged account. However, subsequent withdrawals from such a tax-advantaged account may be subject to U.S. federal income tax. You should consult your own tax advisor about your specific tax situation.
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PURCHASES THROUGH BROKER-DEALERS AND OTHER FINANCIAL INTERMEDIARIES
If you purchase Shares through a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary, the Fund and its related companies may pay the intermediary for the sale of 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 Shares over another investment. Ask your salesperson or visit your financial intermediary's website for more information.
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