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ARK Early Stage Disruptors Portfolio Series 1

Trust Resources
White Paper

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Investment Objective

The ARK Early Stage Disruptors Portfolio Series 1 ("Trust") seeks to provide the potential for capital appreciation.

Principal Investment Strategy

Selection Criteria

Risks and Other Considerations

Portfolio Information

Deposit Information

Inception Date 8/3/2021
Non-Reoffered Date 11/3/2021
Mandatory Maturity Date 8/3/2023
Ticker Symbol CARKAX
Trust Structure RIC
Inception Unit Price $10.0000
Maturity Price (as of 8/3/23) $2.9273
Historical Annual Dividend Distribution* $0.0000

* The Historical Annual Dividend Distribution (HADD) is as of the day prior to trust deposit and subject to change. There is no guarantee the issuers of the securities included in the Trust will declare dividends or distributions in the future. The HADD of the securities included in the Trust is for illustrative purposes only and is not indicative of the Trust’s distribution rate. The HADD is the weighted average of the trailing twelve-month distributions paid by the securities included in the portfolio and is reduced to account for the effects of fees and expenses, which will be incurred when investing in the Trust. The HADD will vary due to certain factors that may include, but are not limited to, a change in the dividends paid by issuers, a change in Trust expenses or the sale or maturity of securities in the portfolio.


Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Investment returns and principal value will fluctuate with changes in market conditions. Investors' units, when redeemed, may be worth more or less than their original cost.

This information does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of any offer to buy: nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any state where the offer, solicitation, or sale is not permitted.


Principal Investment Strategy

Under normal circumstances, the Trust will invest at least 80% of the value of its assets in companies that the Sponsor believes are early stage disruptors. “Disruptors” are leading innovative companies that stimulate substantial growth or create new markets while also disrupting existing sectors. An innovative company is one that introduces a technologically enabled new product or service that the Sponsor believes may change an industry by creating simplicity and accessibility, while possibly driving down costs. An early stage disruptor is either: 1) a newer public company that the Sponsor believes is a disruptor company and has the potential for future long-term growth, or 2) a company that has introduced a technologically enabled product or service that is in the early stages of development and has the potential for future long-term growth.

The Trust will invest in securities that the Sponsor believes are early stage disruptors that are involved in at least one of the following five innovation platforms: DNA sequencing, robotics, energy storage, artificial intelligence and blockchain technology. Each innovation platform has associated transformative technologies and while the Trust may be exposed to some of the associated transformative technologies, the Trust may not have exposure to all of them. The associated transformative technologies for the innovation platforms are:

  • DNA sequencing – immunotherapy, gene editing and sequencing technology
  • Robotics – adaptive robotics, 3D printing and reusable rockets
  • Energy storage – autonomous mobility and battery systems
  • Artificial intelligence – Neural networks, mobile connected devices, cloud computing and internet of things
  • Blockchain technology – blockchain and frictionless value transfer

The Trust does not invest directly in cryptocurrencies or invest indirectly in cryptocurrencies through derivative instruments or other investment vehicles, such as exchange-traded funds or other funds, that seek to track the price movements of one or more cryptocurrencies. Therefore, the Trust is not expected to track the price movements of any cryptocurrencies. Additionally, the Trust will not invest in initial coin offerings.

The Sponsor has selected ARK Investment Management LLC (“ARK”) to serve as the Trust’s as portfolio consultant. ARK will recommend securities for the portfolio that it believes possess the potential to achieve the Trust’s investment objective and follow the Trust’s principal investment strategies.

The Trust will invest in U.S.-traded equities, which may include the common stocks of U.S. and non-U.S. companies or American Depositary Receipts (“ADRs”). The non-U.S. equities may include the securities of companies located in emerging markets. The Trust may invest in companies of any market capitalization but will be significantly invested in small- and mid-capitalization companies. As a result of this strategy, the Trust is concentrated in the health care sector.

Selection Criteria

The Sponsor, with the assistance of ARK, selects companies that it believes are early stage disruptors. When recommending securities, ARK identifies five innovation platforms that it believes are transforming multiple sectors through the convergence and adoption of technology and enabling long-term investment opportunities around disruptive innovation: DNA sequencing, robotics, energy storage, artificial intelligence and blockchain technology. To identify securities within these innovation platforms, ARK utilizes top-down and bottom-up investment analyses.

Top-Down Analysis:

ARK uses top-down research to define the investment universe of securities. ARK gathers and uses research from many sources to identify multi-year value-chain transformations, which are multi-year changes in a business model that encompasses the full range of activities needed to create a product or service. By anticipating and quantifying multi-year value-chain transformations, which may be caused by technologically enabled disruptive innovation, ARK believes that it can identify securities that may be able to capitalize on these opportunities, benefit from the innovation platforms and provide significant outperformance.

Bottom-Up Analysis:

After identifying the investment universe, ARK scores the potential investments based on the following six key metrics by inputting the values into a proprietary scoring system to quantify the companies:

  1. Company, People and Culture – Assess a company’s goals and processes by examining characteristics such as, but not limited to, how the company uses its resources, the company’s product and profits, the quality of its employees and the company’s mission statement and values.
  2. Execution of Objectives – Assess whether a company meets or exceeds its objectives and compare its performance in relation to its peers.
  3. Moat or Barriers to Entry – Assess the degree in which a company has a reason that prevents competitors from compromising that company’s business model.
  4. Product and Service Leadership – Assess the degree that a product is disruptive and a leader in its category.
  5. Valuation: 5-Year Projected Return – Assess a company’s projected revenue Investment and share price over the next five years.
  6. Thesis Risk – Measure the probability that the evaluations of a company’s metrics are incorrect or that the assessed outcome may not occur.

From this analysis, ARK suggests a portfolio of securities that it believes consists of early stage disruptors that present the best risk-reward opportunities.

ARK Investment Management LLC

ARK Investment Management LLC is a federally registered investment adviser and privately held investment firm with $73 billion assets under management as of May 31, 2021. Specializing in thematic investing in disruptive innovation, the firm is rooted in over 40 years of experience in identifying and investing in innovations that should change the way the world works. Through its open research process, ARK identifies companies that it believes are leading and benefiting from cross-sector innovations such as robotics, energy storage, DNA sequencing, artificial intelligence, and blockchain technology.

The ARK Early Stage Disruptors Portfolio and the proprietary data related thereto (the “Strategy”) are the property of Ark investment Management LLC (“ARK”) and are used under license by Guggenheim Funds Distributor, LLC (“GFD”). No products, materials or investment vehicles, opportunities or otherwise howsoever offered or provided by GFD, including, but not limited to ARK Early Stage Disruptors Portfolio (together the “GFD Investments”) are sponsored, endorsed, sold, promoted or otherwise supported by ARK or any of its affiliates. Neither ARK nor any of its affiliates makes any representation, warranty or assurance, express or implied, to the users of the Trust (or other GFD Investment) or any third party regarding the Strategy, the Trust (or other GFD Investment), the advisability of investing in securities generally or in the Trust or the ability of the Trust (or other GFD Investment) to provide positive investment returns.

Risks and Other Considerations

As with all investments, you may lose some or all of your investment in the Trust. No assurance can be given that the Trust’s investment objective will be achieved. The Trust also might not perform as well as you expect. This can happen for reasons such as these:

  • Securities prices can be volatile. The value of your investment may fall over time. Market value fluctuates in response to various factors. These can include stock market movements, purchases or sales of securities by the Trust, government policies, litigation, and changes in interest rates, inflation, the financial condition of the securities’ issuer or even perceptions of the issuer. Changes in legal, political, regulatory, tax and economic conditions may cause fluctuations in markets and securities prices, which could negatively impact the value of the Trust. Additionally, event such war, terrorism, natural and environmental disasters and the spread of infectious illnesses or other public health emergencies may adversely affect the economy, various markets and issuers. Recently, the outbreak of a novel and highly contagious form of coronavirus (“COVID-19”) has adversely impacted global commercial activity and contributed to significant volatility in certain markets. Many governments and businesses have instituted quarantines and closures, which has resulted in significant disruption in manufacturing, supply chains, consumer demand and economic activity. The potential impacts are increasingly uncertain, difficult to assess and impossible to predict, and may result in significant losses. Any adverse event could materially and negatively impact the value and performance of Trust and the Trust’s ability to achieve its investment objectives. Units of the Trust are not deposits of any bank and are not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government agency.
  • Share prices or dividend rates on the securities in the Trust may decline during the life of the Trust. There is no guarantee that share prices of the securities in the Trust will not decline and that the issuers of the securities will declare dividends in the future and, if declared, whether they will remain at current levels or increase over time.
  • The Trust invests in early stage disruptors. Although the Trust’s investment strategy is designed to achieve the Trust’s investment objective, the strategy may not prove to be successful. The investment decisions may not produce the intended results and there is no guarantee that the investment objective will be achieved. Companies that may be capitalizing on disruptive innovation and developing technologies to displace older technologies or create new markets may not in fact do so. Companies that initially develop a novel technology may not be able to capitalize on the technology. Companies that develop disruptive technologies may face political or legal attacks from competitors, industry groups or local and national governments. These companies may also be exposed to risks applicable to sectors other than the disruptive innovation platform for which they are chosen, and the securities issued by these companies may underperform the securities of other companies that are primarily focused on a particular innovation platform. The Trust may invest in a company that does not currently derive any revenue from disruptive innovations or technologies, and there is no assurance that a company will derive any revenue from disruptive innovations or technologies in the future. A disruptive innovation or technology may constitute a small portion of a company’s overall business. As a result, the success of a disruptive innovation or technology may not affect the value of the equity securities issued by the company.
  • The Trust is concentrated in the health care sector. As a result, the factors that impact the health care sector will likely have a greater effect on this Trust than on a more broadly diversified Trust. General risks of companies in the health care sector include extensive competition, generic drug sales, the loss of patent protection, product liability litigation and increased government regulation.
  • The Trust is concentrated in companies involved with DNA sequencing. As a result, the factors that impact this field will likely have a greater effect on this Trust than on a more broadly diversified Trust. DNA sequencing companies typically engage in significant amounts of spending on research and development, and there is no guarantee that the products or services produced by these companies will be successful. In addition, the field of DNA sequencing science could face increasing regulatory scrutiny in the future and the process of obtaining regulatory approvals may be long and costly. DNA sequencing companies typically face intense competition and potentially rapid product obsolescence. These companies are also heavily dependent on intellectual property rights and may be adversely affected by loss or impairment of those rights.
  • The Trust is concentrated in companies involved with artificial intelligence. As a result, the factors that impact this field will likely have a greater effect on this Trust than on a more broadly diversified Trust. Artificial intelligence companies may have limited product lines, markets, financial resources or personnel and are subject to the risks of changes in business cycles, world economic growth, technological progress and government regulation. These companies face intense competition and potentially rapid product obsolescence. These companies are also heavily dependent on intellectual property rights, and challenges to or misappropriation of such rights could have a material adverse effect on such companies. Securities of artificial intelligence companies tend to be more volatile than securities of companies that rely less heavily on technology. Artificial intelligence companies typically engage in significant amounts of spending on research and development, and rapid changes to the field could have a material adverse effect on a company’s operating results.
  • The Trust invests in U.S.-listed foreign securities and American Depositary Receipts (“ADRs”). The Trust’s investment in U.S.-listed foreign securities and ADRs presents additional risk. ADRs are issued by a bank or Trust company to evidence ownership of underlying securities issued by foreign corporations. Securities of foreign issuers present risks beyond those of domestic securities. More specifically, foreign risk is the risk that foreign securities will be more volatile than U.S. securities due to such factors as adverse economic, currency, political, social or regulatory developments in a country, including government seizure of assets, excessive taxation, limitations on the use or transfer of assets, the lack of liquidity or regulatory controls with respect to certain industries or differing legal and/or accounting standards.
  • The Trust includes securities issued by small-capitalization and mid-capitalization companies. These securities customarily involve more investment risk than securities of large-capitalization companies. Small-capitalization and mid-capitalization companies may have limited product lines, markets or financial resources and may be more vulnerable to adverse general market or economic developments.
  • The Trust may be susceptible to potential risks through breaches in cybersecurity. A breach in cybersecurity refers to both intentional and unintentional events that may cause the Trust to lose proprietary information, suffer data corruption or lose operational capacity. Such events could cause the Sponsor of the Trust to incur regulatory penalties, reputational damage, additional compliance costs associated with corrective measures and/or financial loss. In addition, cybersecurity breaches of the Trust’s third-party service providers, or issuers in which the Trust invests, can also subject the Trust to many of the same risks associated with direct cybersecurity breaches.
  • The Trust is subject to risks arising from various operational factors and their service providers. Operational factors include, but not limited to, human error, processing and communication errors, errors of the Trust’s service providers, counterparties or other third-parties, failed or inadequate processes and technology or systems failures. Additionally, the Trust may be subject to the risk that a service provider may not be willing or able to perform their duties as required or contemplated by their agreements with the Trust. Although the Trust seeks to reduce these operational risks through controls and procedures, there is no way to completely protect against such risks.
  • Inflation may lead to a decrease in the value of assets or income from investments.
  • The Sponsor does not actively manage the portfolio. The Trust will generally hold, and may, when creating additional units, continue to buy, the same securities even though a security’s outlook, market value or yield may have changed.

See “Investment Risks” in Part A of the prospectus and “Risk Factors” in Part B of the prospectus for additional information.

Please see the Trust prospectus for more complete risk information.

Unit Investment Trusts are fixed, not actively managed and should be considered as part of a long-term strategy. Investors should consider their ability to invest in successive portfolios, if available, at the applicable sales charge. UITs are subject to annual fund operating expenses in addition to the sales charge. Investors should consult an attorney or tax advisor regarding tax consequences associated with an investment from one series to the next, if available, and with the purchase or sale of units. Guggenheim Funds Distributors, LLC does not offer tax advice.




Read a prospectus and summary prospectus (if available) carefully before investing. It contains the investment objective, risks charges, expenses and the other information, which should be considered carefully before investing. To obtain a prospectus and summary prospectus (if available) click here or call 800.820.0888.

Investing involves risk, including the possible loss of principal.

Guggenheim Investments represents the following affiliated investment management businesses of Guggenheim Partners, LLC: Guggenheim Partners Investment Management, LLC, Security Investors, LLC, Guggenheim Funds Distributors, LLC, Guggenheim Funds Investment Advisors, LLC, Guggenheim Corporate Funding, LLC, Guggenheim Partners Europe Limited, Guggenheim Partners Japan Limited, and GS GAMMA Advisors, LLC. Securities offered through Guggenheim Funds Distributors, LLC.

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