The Fund is actively managed and seeks to achieve its investment objective by investing, under normal market conditions, primarily in the securities of domestic and foreign, including developed and emerging market, companies principally engaged in the real estate sector and real-estate related industries (collectively, “real estate companies”) that exhibit favorable multi-factor metrics, such as value, quality and momentum, according to a quantitative methodology developed by Cambria Investment Management, L.P., the Fund’s investment adviser (“Cambria”). For investment purposes, real estate companies are defined as (i) exchange-listed real estate investment trusts (“REITs”) and (ii) companies included in the real estate sector according to the Global Industry Classification Standards (GICS®), a widely recognized industry classification methodology developed by MSCI, Inc. and Standard & Poor’s Financial Services LLC. A REIT is a company that pools investor funds to invest primarily in income producing real estate or real estate related loans or interests. REITs are not taxed on income distributed to their shareholders if, among other things, they distribute substantially all of their taxable income (other than net capital gains) for each taxable year. Under normal market conditions, at least 80% of the value of the Fund’s net assets (plus borrowings for investment purposes) will be invested in the securities of real estate companies.

Cambria selects Fund securities by beginning with the broad global universe of real estate companies and using its quantitative methodology to screen for securities that pass certain market capitalization and liquidity requirements. Cambria then utilizes a proprietary algorithm to identify the securities of real estate companies that are attractive from a multi-factor perspective. Cambria’s algorithm identifies companies based on (i) value metrics, including, but not limited to, price-to-sales (P/S) ratio, price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio, funds from operations (FFO), dividend yield, and enterprise multiple (EV/EBITDA), (ii) quality metrics, such as accruals or debt/asset ratios, and (iii) momentum metrics, including trailing (preceding) 12-month total returns. For additional information about the algorithm and its multi-factor metrics, see the section titled “Additional Information about the Fund’s Investment Strategies and Risks.”

The Fund employs a “momentum” style of investing that emphasizes investing in securities that have had higher recent price performance compared to other securities.With respect to momentum metrics, momentum is defined as an upward (positive) or downward (negative) price movement of a security (or an asset class), generating positive or negative investment returns, over the course of a predefined observation period. Cambria uses traditional stock-price momentum metrics. As an example, 12-month momentum would be calculated by observing the company’s stock returns during the trailing 12-month period. A company’s 12-month total returns include any dividends realized during this observation period, which spans from a recent end date to a start date12 months prior.

Under normal market conditions, at least 40% of the Fund is expected to be composed of real estate companies issued and listed outside the United States that, in the aggregate, are tied economically to a number of countries throughout the world. As of August 1, 2024, the Fund had significant investment exposure to real estate companies issued and listed in the United States; however, the Fund’s geographic exposure may change from time to time.

The Fund concentrates (holds more than 25% of) its assets in real estate-related industries. Securities of “real estate-related industries” means securities classified in one of these two industry groups of the Real Estate sector, as determined by GICS: (1) Equity REITs and (2) Real Estate Management & Development.

Within each of the two broad global regions, United States and ex-United States, Cambria selects approximately the top 20% of real estate companies, based on the application of its algorithm, used in conjunction with its quantitative, multi-factor methodology. Cambria expects the Fund’s portfolio to be comprised of between 50 and 100 constituents of approximate equal weight. The Fund’s portfolio is rebalanced periodically, but no less frequently than annually, to meet Cambria’s internal target allocations, which are developed pursuant to Cambria’s quantitative strategy. The Fund may sell a security when Cambria believes that the security is overvalued or better investment opportunities are available, to invest in cash and cash equivalents, or to meet redemptions.