The Fund will, under normal circumstances, invest at least 80% of its total assets in securities of the Index. The Index is designed to track the performance of companies that derive at least 50% of their revenue and/or assets from (i) mining, exploration, development, or production of nickel (“Nickel Mining Companies”); (ii) investments in nickel that represent all or a significant portion of their assets, and/or (iii) supplying nickel (together with Nickel Mining Companies, “Nickel Companies”). The Index generally consists of from 20 to 35 constituents. Under normal circumstances, the Fund will invest at least 80% of its net assets, plus the amount of borrowings for investment purposes, in Nickel Mining Companies. This investment policy may be changed without shareholder approval, upon 60 days’ notice to shareholders.

The universe of eligible index components includes exchange-listed equity securities of companies that have or expect to have a significant portion of their business operations related to nickel. Such companies are identified through the use of a proprietary selection methodology that may include a review of industry publications, sell side research, and fundamental research, as well as meetings with management. Companies in this eligible universe are included in the Index subject to the following restrictions:

In seeking to track the performance of the Index, the Fund may invest in publicly traded closed-ended trusts in the Index.

The Index consists of securities of both U.S. and foreign issuers, including securities of issuers located in emerging market and frontier market countries (as defined by reference to the MSCI Country Classification Standards). A significant portion of the Index consists of securities of Australian, Canadian, Indonesia, and Filipino issuers.

The Index is reconstituted and rebalanced on a semi-annual basis in June and December. Deletions from the Index may be made at any time due to changes in business, mergers, acquisitions, bankruptcies, suspensions, de-listings and spin-offs. The Index is unmanaged and cannot be invested in directly.

The Fund employs a “passive management” investment strategy in seeking to achieve its investment objective. The Fund’s adviser, Sprott Asset Management USA, Inc. (the “Adviser”) and sub-adviser, ALPS Advisors, Inc. (the “Sub-Adviser”), generally will use a replication methodology, meaning they will invest in all of the securities comprising the Index in proportion to the weightings in the Index. However, the Adviser and Sub-Adviser may utilize a sampling methodology under various circumstances, including when it may not be possible or practicable to purchase all of the securities in the Index. The Adviser expects that over time, if the Fund has sufficient assets, the correlation between the Fund’s performance, before fees and expenses, and that of the Index will be 95% or better. A figure of 100% would indicate perfect correlation.

The Fund is non-diversified and may invest a greater percentage of its assets in a particular issuer than a diversified fund. The Fund may invest up to 20% of its assets in investments that are not included in the Index, but that the Adviser and Sub-Adviser believe will help the Fund track the Index.

The Fund will concentrate its investments (i.e., invest more than 25% of its total assets) in a particular industry or group of industries to approximately the same extent that the Index concentrates in an industry or group of industries. As of December 31, 2023, the Index was concentrated in the Metals & Mining Industry. In addition, in replicating the Index, the Fund may from time to time invest a significant portion of its assets in the securities of companies in one or more sectors. As of December 31, 2023, a significant portion of the Index consisted of companies in the materials sector.

The index provider is Nasdaq Inc. (“Nasdaq”), which is not affiliated with the Fund, the Adviser or Sub-Adviser. Nasdaq and Adviser co-developed the methodology for determining the securities to be included in the Index and Nasdaq is responsible for the ongoing maintenance of the Index. The Adviser will provide certain services in connection with the Index including contributing inputs in connection with the eligibility and process to determine the initial selection and ongoing composition of the Index constituents.

The Fund may engage in securities lending.