Under normal market conditions, the Fund invests at least 80% of its assets in the component securities of the FTSE Germany Capped Index and in depositary receipts representing such securities. The FTSE Germany Capped Index is a free float-adjusted market capitalization weighted index maintained and calculated by FTSE Russell with a capping methodology applied quarterly to issuer weights so that no single issuer of a component exceeds 25% of the FTSE Germany Capped Index weight, and all issuers with weights above 5% do not cumulatively exceed 50% of the FTSE Germany Capped Index’s weight. The FTSE Germany Capped Index is based on the FTSE Germany Index and is designed to measure the performance of German large- and mid-capitalization stocks. FTSE Russell determines eligible securities for the FTSE Germany Capped Index based on measures such as the company’s place of incorporation, listing country, investor protection regulations present in the country of incorporation, tax domicile, location of headquarters/factors of production and currency of denomination. As of May 31, 2024, the FTSE Germany Capped Index was comprised of 75 securities with capitalizations ranging from $3.01 billion to $210.30 billion.

The Fund, using a “passive” or indexing investment approach, seeks investment results that closely correspond, before fees and expenses, to the performance of the FTSE Germany Capped Index. The Fund may use either a replication strategy or representative sampling strategy. Under a replication strategy, the Fund will replicate the component securities of the FTSE Germany Capped Index as closely as possible (i.e., invest in all of the component securities in their respective weightings in the FTSE Germany Capped Index). However, under various circumstances, it may not be possible or practicable to replicate the FTSE Germany Capped Index. In these circumstances, the Fund may use a “representative sampling” strategy whereby the Fund would invest in what it believes to be a representative sample of the component securities of the FTSE Germany Capped Index, but may not track the FTSE Germany Capped Index with the same degree of accuracy as would an investment vehicle replicating the entire FTSE Germany Capped Index. Under the representative sampling technique, the investment manager will select securities that collectively have an investment profile similar to that of the FTSE Germany Capped Index, including securities that resemble those included in the FTSE Germany Capped Index in terms of risk factors, performance attributes and other characteristics, such as market capitalization and industry weightings.

The Fund may invest in equity futures (including equity index futures) and equity total return swaps to provide additional opportunities to add value and better track the performance of the Fund’s Underlying Index, such as to equitize cash and accrued income, simulate investments in the Underlying Index, facilitate trading or minimize transaction costs.

The Fund may enter into foreign currency forward contracts and/or currency futures contracts to provide the Fund with additional opportunities to add value and better track the performance of the Fund’s Underlying Index, such as by facilitating local securities settlements or protecting against currency exposure in connection with distributions to Fund shareholders.

The Fund is a "non-diversified" fund, which means it generally invests a greater proportion of its assets in the securities of one or more issuers and invests overall in a smaller number of issuers than a diversified fund.

The Fund will concentrate its investments (i.e., hold 25% or more of its net assets) in a particular industry or group of industries to approximately the same extent that the FTSE Germany Capped Index is concentrated.