The Fund uses a “passive management” (or indexing) approach to track the performance, before fees and expenses, of the Index. The Shariah World Index is designed to measure the performance of companies located in developed and emerging markets outside of the United States that pass rules-based screens for adherence to Shariah investment guidelines, with a cap applied to ensure diversification among companies in the Index. To the extent the Index includes securities in emerging market securities, the Fund may be invested in equity securities of issuers located in emerging markets countries. The Fund considers emerging markets countries to be those countries included in the Dow Jones Emerging Markets Index.

The Shariah World Index is a blended index, composed of 50% S&P Developed Ex-U.S. LargeMidCap Shariah Index (USD) and 50% S&P Emerging LargeMidCap Shariah Index (USD). S&P engages a third-party consultant to screen potential constituents for non-compliant business activities (companies that offer products and services that are not compliant with Shariah law such as gambling, alcohol, or tobacco) and to eliminate companies that employ leverage in contravention of Shariah law.

The Index is rebalanced monthly, if necessary, and is weighted based on a modified float adjusted market capitalization of each constituent. The Index is comprised of the top 250 constituents of each underlying index, with the constituents of each underlying index representing 50% of the adjusted market capitalization of the Index, with the excess distributed proportionately to uncapped constituents. As of November 9, 2023, the Index was composed of 500 constituents, representing investments in 40 countries excluding the United States.

The Fund’s Investment Strategy

The Fund attempts to invest all, or substantially all, of its assets in the component securities that make up the Index. Under normal circumstances, at least 80% of the Fund’s total assets will be invested in the component securities of the Index. The Fund’s investment adviser expects that, over time, the correlation between the Fund’s performance and that of the Index, before fees and expenses, will be 95% or better.

The Fund will generally use a “replication” strategy to achieve its investment objective, meaning it generally will invest in all of the component securities of the Index. However, the Fund may use a “representative sampling” strategy, meaning it may invest in a sample of the securities in the Index whose risk, return, and other characteristics closely resemble the risk, return, and other characteristics of the Index as a whole, when the Fund’s investment adviser believes it is in the best interests of the Fund (e.g., when replicating the Index involves practical difficulties or substantial costs, an Index constituent becomes temporarily illiquid, unavailable, or less liquid, or as a result of legal restrictions or limitations that apply to the Fund but not to the Index).

The Fund generally may invest up to 20% of its total assets in Shariah-compliant securities or other Shariah-compliant investments not included in the Index, but which the Fund’s investment adviser believes will help the Fund track the Index. For example, the Fund may invest in Shariah-compliant securities that are not components of the Index to reflect various corporate actions and other changes to the Index (such as reconstitutions, additions, and deletions) or securities such as mutual funds or exchange-traded funds that invest in Shariah-compliant investments. Each investment made by the Fund that is not included in the Index will be screened for compliance with Shariah principles before investment.

To the extent the Index is concentrated in the securities of a particular industry or group of related industries (i.e., more than 25% of its total assets is represented by such securities), the Fund will concentrate its investments to approximately the same extent as the Index.