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SUMMARY PROSPECTUS

September 28, 2023

 

Argent Mid Cap ETF

Ticker Symbol: AMID

Listed on The Nasdaq Stock Market®

 

Before you invest, you may want to review the statutory prospectus (the “Prospectus”), which contains more information about the Argent Mid Cap ETF (the “Fund”) and its risks. You can find the Fund’s Prospectus, reports to shareholders, and other information about the Fund, including the Fund’s Statement of Additional Information, online at www.argentetfs.com. You can also get this information at no cost by calling 215-882-9983. The current Prospectus and Statement of Additional Information dated September 28, 2023 are incorporated by reference into this Summary Prospectus.

 

Argent Mid Cap ETF

 

Fund Summary

 

Investment Objective

 

Argent Mid Cap ETF (the “Fund”) seeks to outperform the Russell MidCap® Index over the long term.

 

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 Fee1   0.52%
Distribution and/or Service (12b-1) Fees   None 
Other Expenses   0.00%
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses   0.52%

 

1The Fund’s investment advisory agreement provides that the Fund’s investment adviser will pay substantially all expenses of the Fund, except for the fee payment under the Fund’s Investment Advisory Agreement, payments under the Fund’s Rule 12b-1 Distribution and Service Plan, brokerage expenses, acquired fund fees and expenses, taxes, interest (including borrowing costs), litigation expense and other non-routine or extraordinary expenses. Additionally, the Fund shall be responsible for its non-operating expenses and fees and expenses associated with the Fund’s securities lending program, if applicable.

 

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 redeem 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: Five Years: Ten Years:
$53 $167 $291 $653

 

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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. For the fiscal period ended May 31, 2023, the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate was 21%.

 

PRINCIPAL INVESTMENT STRATEGIES

 

The Fund is an actively managed exchange-traded fund (“ETF”) that seeks to achieve its investment objective by investing in the equity securities of mid-capitalization companies (i.e., companies with market capitalizations in the range of the Russell MidCap® Index that the Sub-Adviser (Argent Capital Management LLC) believes are undergoing positive internal and/or external change. Under normal circumstances, the Sub-Adviser expects the Fund will invest at least 80% of its net assets (plus any borrowings for investment purposes) in mid-capitalization companies. The Fund will generally hold 35 to 50 stocks of mid-capitalization companies that have daily trading volume of at least $20 million. While it is anticipated that the Fund will invest across a range of industries, certain sectors may be overweighted compared to others because the Sub-Adviser seeks best investment opportunities regardless of sector. The sectors in which the Fund may be overweighted will vary at different points in the economic cycle. 

 

The Sub-Adviser utilizes a multi-step process that is based in part on a bottom-up fundamental investment research process and a quantitative screening process which is described as the “Argent Alpha Model”. The qualitative research and analysis performed by the Sub-Adviser emphasizes identifying good businesses and seeks to identify overlooked and under-appreciated companies in the Fund’s investment universe while the quantitative process is designed to identify incremental changes in a company’s fundamentals and outperforming factors within the sectors in which a company operates. The Argent Alpha Model will analyze quantitative measures such as return on invested capital, cash flow return on investment, revenue and earnings results, as it seeks to identify incremental improvements at the company level. The Sub-Adviser believes that good businesses are those that exhibit above average profitability, generate above-average cash flow and have management teams that are good stewards of capital, amongst other factors.

 

The investment process initially consists of approximately 1,500 companies with market capitalizations in the range of the Russell MidCap® Index ($84 million to $67 billion). These companies are screened for market liquidity with only those companies with a daily trading volume of $20 million or more making it to the next step of the investment process (approximately 1,200 companies). Next, the Sub-Adviser segregates the remaining companies into traditional sectors for further analysis. Stocks are then screened by the Sub-Adviser’s proprietary quantitative tool, the Argent Alpha Model. The Argent Alpha model is a dynamic, 25 factor tool that ranks stocks from 1-10 via factors that are grouped into four main categories. The factors are categorized in groups for research reasons as those within each group tend to correlate with each other more than they correlate with the other groups. The four factor categories in the Argent Alpha Model are the following:

 

Value

Value factors measure whether a stock is rich or cheap compared to other stocks in its sector. An example of a value factor in the Argent Alpha Model is price to free cash flow. Value factors tend to work best during those periods characterized as “value” markets.

 

Growth

Growth factors measure how fast a stock’s sales, earnings and cash flows are growing relative to other stocks in their sector. An example of a growth factor in the Argent Alpha Model is the Sub-Advisor’s proprietary measure of unexpected cash flow from operations which identifies companies generating a higher cash flow from operations than in the past. Growth factors tend to work best during those periods characterized as “growth” markets.

 

Quality

Quality factors measure the quality of a company’s earnings, balance sheet and stewardship of capital. An example of a quality factor in the Argent Alpha Model is cash flow return on assets. Quality factors tend to work best during those periods characterized as “quality” markets.

 

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Stability

The stability factors exhibit low correlation to each other and low correlation to the factors in the other three groups. An example of a stability factor in the Argent Alpha Model is a ratio of a company’s balance sheet cash to its market cap.

 

Proprietary analysis is performed to identify outperforming factors from the Argent Alpha Model in each sector. The investment process is bottoms-up and focuses on individual stocks from the investment universe that meet our investment criteria. Sector allocation is an artifact of the bottoms-up process. Companies within each sector with positive exposure to the outperforming factors are eligible to move on to the next step in the investment process. Additional proprietary analysis is performed to identify those stocks that historically outperform when the Argent Alpha Model ranks them as a buy candidate. Approximately 120 companies make it through this portion of our selection process.

 

The remaining companies are then segregated into “current market” and “future market” segments, based upon internal analysis that determines whether or not a company is best positioned to outperform in the current market cycle or a future market cycle (the “Market Cycle Model”). The Sub-Adviser’s Market Cycle Model seeks to balance the Fund’s portfolio between securities that are believed to provide both current growth opportunities as well as future market conditions (i.e., value investment opportunities).

 

The final step in the investment process involves fundamental analysis to identify “Positive Change” that may not be captured by the quantitative screening process. Positive Change is defined by the Sub-Adviser as marked improvement of future prospects at the company or industry level in terms of operations, product mix, or other business dimensions, such as the hiring of a new management team or changes in business strategy. The Sub-Adviser’s change-based investing approach employs four aspects to screen investments for Positive Change. First, the Sub-Adviser will look for companies believed to be undergoing a positive fundamental change or a catalyst is identified at the industry or company level. The Sub-Adviser will then further evaluate whether such change is expected to accelerate growth in the company’s sales, margins or returns and it will consider the upside potential of the stock compared to the downside risk. Finally, the Sub-Adviser will reach out to other industry participants and/or industry experts to see if they are seeing the same opportunity for the company. The Sub-Adviser believes this last part of the process helps eliminate any disconnect it may have with others that closely track the company and/or sector in which it operates. When all four aspects of change are demonstrated, the Sub-Adviser believes the company has strong potential to generate superior returns over the long term and thus, will be buy candidates for the Fund.

 

Companies are generally purchased at approximately a 2% weight in the Fund and can grow to a cap of approximately 8%. All stocks in the portfolio are continually monitored, but overall model changes generally occur monthly. Model changes may occur more frequently when major events such as public health crises, geopolitical events such as war or terrorism, trade disputes, economic shocks, amongst others are believed by the Sub-Adviser to likely have an impact on the Fund’s portfolio. The Sub-Adviser’s sell discipline is guided by the same process used to originally screen the investment universe. The Sub-Adviser will generally sell an investment if fundamentals supporting the stock’s value deteriorate, the quantitative screening process indicates prospects for the investment have deteriorated or when a better investment opportunity becomes available. Sales can be process, event or valuation driven. The Sub-Adviser does not anticipate high portfolio turnover as it seeks to invest in these companies for the long term.

 

Principal 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 Risks”.

 

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Investment Risk. When you sell your Shares of the Fund, 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 or 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.

 

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.

 

Mid-Capitalization Companies Risk. Investing in securities of mid-capitalization companies involve 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.

 

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. Those special risks may arise due to 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.

 

American Depositary Receipts. The Fund’s investments may be include American Depositary Receipts (ADRs). ADRs are generally subject to the risks of investing directly in foreign securities and, in some cases, there may be less information available about the underlying issuers than would be the case with a direct investment in the foreign issuer. ADRs represent shares of foreign-based corporations. Investment in ADRs may be more or less liquid than the underlying shares in their primary trading market.

 

Management Risk. The Fund is actively-managed and may not meet its investment objective based on the Adviser’s or Sub-Adviser’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 Sub-Adviser, including the use of quantitative models or methods. It is possible the investment techniques and risk analyses employed on behalf of the Fund will not produce the desired results.

 

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Growth-Style Investing Risk. Stocks of companies the Sub-Adviser believes are fast-growing may trade at a higher multiple of current earnings than other stocks. If the Sub-Adviser’s assessment of a company’s prospects for earnings growth, or how other investors will value the company’s earnings growth, is incorrect, the price of the stock may fall or may never reach the value the Sub-Adviser has placed on it. Growth stock prices tend to fluctuate more dramatically than the overall stock market and growth stocks may fall out of favor with investors for extended periods of time.

 

Value-Style Investing Risk. Value stocks can perform differently from the market as a whole and from other types of stocks. Value stocks may be purchased based upon the Sub-Adviser’s belief that the stock may be out of favor. Value investing seeks to identify stocks that have depressed valuations, based upon a number of factors which are thought to be temporary in nature, and to sell them at superior profits should their prices rise in response to resolution of the issues which caused the valuation of the stock to be depressed. While certain value stocks may increase in value more quickly during periods of anticipated economic upturn, they may also lose value more quickly in periods of anticipated economic downturn. Furthermore, there is the risk that the factors which caused the depressed valuations are longer term or even permanent in nature, and that their valuations may fall or never rise. Finally, there is the increased risk in such situations that such companies may not have sufficient resources to continue as ongoing businesses, which would result in the stock of such companies potentially becoming worthless. The market may not agree with the Sub-Adviser’s assessment of a stock’s intrinsic value, and value stocks may fall out of favor with investors for extended periods of time.

 

Quantitative Security Selection Risk. Data for some companies may be less available and/or less current than data for companies in other markets. The Sub-Adviser uses quantitative models, and its processes could be adversely affected if erroneous or outdated data is utilized. The securities selected using a quantitative model could perform differently from the financial markets as a whole as a result of the characteristics used in the analysis, the weight placed on each characteristic and changes in the characteristic’s historical trends. In addition, the investment models used in making investment decisions may not adequately consider certain factors, or may contain design flaws or faulty assumptions, any of which may result in a decline in the value of an investment in the Fund.

 

Sector Risk. If the Fund’s portfolio is overweighted in a certain sector, any negative development affecting that sector will have a greater impact on the Fund than on a fund that is not overweighted in that sector. To the extent the Fund is overweighted in the Information Technology sector, it will be affected by developments affecting that sector. Companies in this sector may be significantly affected by intense competition. In addition, technology products may be subject to rapid obsolescence.

 

Technology Sector Risk. The Fund may have exposure to companies operating in the technology sector. Technology companies, including information technology companies, may have limited product lines, financial resources and/or personnel. Technology companies typically face intense competition and potentially rapid product obsolescence. They are also heavily dependent on intellectual property rights and may be adversely affected by the loss or impairment of those rights.

 

Industrial Sector Risk. The Fund may have exposure to companies that operate in the industrial sector, which means the Fund will be more affected by the performance of the industrial sector than a fund that is more diversified. Industrial companies are affected by supply and demand both for their specific product or service and for industrial sector products in general. Government regulation, world events, exchange rates and economic conditions, technological developments and liabilities for environmental damage and general civil liabilities will likewise affect the performance of these companies.

 

Geopolitical/Natural Disaster Risks. The Fund’s investments are subject to geopolitical and natural disaster risks, such as war, terrorism, trade disputes, political or economic dysfunction within some nations, public health crises and related geopolitical events, as well as environmental disasters, epidemics and/or pandemics, which may add to instability in world economies and volatility in markets. The impact may be short-term or may last for extended periods.

 

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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 NYSE, Arca Inc. (the “Exchange”) or other securities exchanges. The existence of significant market volatility, disruptions to creations and redemptions, or potential lack of an active trading market for Fund Shares (including through a trading halt), among other factors, may result in the Shares trading significantly above (at a premium) or below (at a discount) to NAV. If you buy Fund Shares when their market price is at a premium or sell the Fund Shares when their market price is at a discount, you may pay more than, or receive less than, NAV, respectively.

 

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 the Fund’s Shares may begin to mirror the liquidity of its underlying portfolio holdings, which can be significantly less liquid than the Fund’s Shares, potentially causing the market price of the Fund’s Shares to deviate from its NAV. When buying or selling Shares of the Fund in the secondary market, you will likely incur brokerage commission or other charges. In addition, you may incur the cost of the “spread” also known as the bid-ask spread, which is the difference between what investors are willing to pay for Fund Shares (the “bid” price) and the price at which they are willing to sell Fund Shares (the “ask” price). The bid-ask spread varies over time based on, among other things, trading volume, market liquidity and market volatility. Because of the costs inherent in buying or selling Fund Shares, frequent trading may detract significantly from investment results and an investment in Fund Shares may not be advisable for investors who anticipate regularly making small investments due to the associated trading costs.

 

New Fund Risk. The Fund is a recently organized management investment company with limited operating history. As a result, prospective investors have a limited 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.

 

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. Performance information is available on the Fund’s website at www.argentetfs.com or by calling the Fund at (215) 882-9983.

 

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Investment Adviser & Investment Sub-Adviser

 

Investment Adviser: EA Advisers (“Adviser”)
Investment Sub-Adviser: Argent Capital Management LLC (“Sub-Adviser”)

 

Portfolio Managers

 

Kirk McDonald, CFA, Portfolio Manager and Senior Research Analyst of the Sub-Adviser, has been primarily responsible for the day-to-day management of the Fund since 2022.

 

Summary Information about Purchases, Sales, Taxes, and Financial Intermediary Compensation

 

Purchase And Sale Of Fund Shares

 

The Fund issues and redeems Shares on a continuous basis only in large blocks of Shares, typically 10,000 Shares, called “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 in an Individual Retirement Account (“IRA”) or other tax-advantaged account. However, subsequent withdrawals from such a tax-advantaged account may be subject to federal income tax. You should consult your tax advisor about your specific tax situation.

 

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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