[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 169 (Thursday, August 30, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 44374-44375]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-18776]


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SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

[Investment Company Act Release No. 33214; File No. 812-14837]


Innovator ETFs Trust, et al.

August 24, 2018.
AGENCY:  Securities and Exchange Commission (``Commission'').

ACTION: Notice.

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    Notice of an application for an order under section 12(d)(1)(J) of 
the Investment Company Act of 1940 (the ``Act'') for an exemption from 
sections 12(d)(1)(A), (B), and (C) of the Act and under sections 6(c) 
and 17(b) of the Act for an exemption from section 17(a) of the Act. 
The requested order would permit certain registered open-end investment 
companies to acquire shares of certain registered open-end investment 
companies, registered closed-end investment companies, business 
development companies, as defined in section 2(a)(48) of the Act 
(``BDCs''), and registered unit investment trusts (collectively, 
``Underlying Funds'') that are within and outside the same group of 
investment companies as the acquiring investment companies, in excess 
of the limits in section 12(d)(1) of the Act.

APPLICANTS: Innovator ETFs Trust (the ``Trust''), a Delaware statutory 
trust that is registered under the Act as an open-end management 
investment company with multiple series, Innovator Capital Management, 
LLC (the ``Initial Adviser''), a limited liability company organized 
under the laws of the state of Delaware that is registered as an 
investment adviser under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, and 
Foreside Fund Services, LLC (the ``Distributor''), registered as a 
broker-dealer under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the ``1934 
Act'') and a member of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority.

FILING DATES: The application was filed on October 31, 2017, and 
amended on May 1, 2018.

HEARING OR NOTIFICATION OF HEARING: An order granting the requested 
relief will be issued unless the Commission orders a hearing. 
Interested persons may request a hearing by writing to the Commission's 
Secretary and serving applicants with a copy of the request, personally 
or by mail. Hearing requests should be received by the Commission by 
5:30 p.m. on September 18, 2018, and should be accompanied by proof of 
service on the applicants, in the form of an affidavit, or, for 
lawyers, a certificate of service. Pursuant to rule 0-5 under the Act, 
hearing requests should state the nature of the writer's interest, any 
facts bearing upon the desirability of a hearing on the matter, the 
reason for the request, and the issues contested. Persons who wish to 
be notified of a hearing may request notification by writing to the 
Commission's Secretary.

ADDRESSES: Secretary, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, 100 F 
Street NE, Washington, DC 20549-1090. Applicants: Innovator ETFs Trust 
and Innovator Capital Management, LLC, 120 North Hale Street, Suite 
200, Wheaton, IL 60187; Foreside Fund Services, LLC, Three Canal Plaza, 
Suite 100, Portland, ME 04101.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Christine Y. Greenlees, Senior 
Counsel, at (202) 551-6879, or Andrea Ottomanelli Magovern, Branch 
Chief, at (202) 551-6821 (Division of Investment Management, Chief 
Counsel's Office).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The following is a summary of the 
application. The complete application may be obtained via the 
Commission's website by searching for the file number, or for an 
applicant using the Company name box, at http://www.sec.gov/search/search.htm or by calling (202) 551-8090.

Summary of the Application

    1. Applicants request an order to permit (a) each Fund \1\ (each a 
``Fund of Funds'') to acquire shares of Underlying Funds \2\ in excess 
of the limits in sections 12(d)(1)(A) and (C) of the Act and (b) each 
Underlying Fund that is a registered open-end management

[[Page 44375]]

investment company or series thereof, their principal underwriters, and 
any broker or dealer registered under the 1934 Act to sell shares of 
the Underlying Funds to the Fund of Funds in excess of the limits in 
section 12(d)(1)(B) of the Act.\3\ Applicants also request an order of 
exemption under sections 6(c) and 17(b) of the Act from the prohibition 
on certain affiliated transactions in section 17(a) of the Act to the 
extent necessary to permit the Underlying Funds to sell their shares 
to, and redeem their shares from, the Funds of Funds.\4\ Applicants 
state that such transactions will be consistent with the policies of 
each Fund of Funds and each Underlying Fund and with the general 
purposes of the Act and will be based on the net asset values of the 
Underlying Funds.
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    \1\ Applicants request that the order apply not only to the 
existing series of the Trust (the ``Initial Funds''), but that the 
order also extend to any future series of the Trust and any other 
existing or future registered open-end management investment 
companies and any series thereof that are part of the same ``group 
of investment companies,'' as defined in section 12(d)(1)(G)(ii) of 
the Act, as the Trust and are, or may in the future be, advised by 
the Initial Adviser or its successor or any other investment adviser 
controlling, controlled by, or under common control with the Initial 
Adviser or its successor (together with the Initial Funds, each 
series a ``Fund,'' and collectively, the ``Funds''). Applicants 
further request that the order also apply to any future principal 
underwriter and distributor for a Fund. For purposes of the 
requested order, ``successor'' is limited to an entity that results 
from a reorganization into another jurisdiction or a change in the 
type of business organization. For purposes of the request for 
relief, the term ``group of investment companies'' means any two or 
more registered investment companies, including closed-end 
investment companies, and BDCs, that hold themselves out to 
investors as related companies for purposes of investment and 
investor services.
    \2\ Certain of the Underlying Funds have obtained exemptions 
from the Commission necessary to permit their shares to be listed 
and traded on a national securities exchange at negotiated prices 
and, accordingly, to operate as an exchange-traded fund (``ETF'').
    \3\ Applicants are not requesting relief for a Fund of Funds to 
invest in BDCs and registered closed-end investment companies that 
are not listed and traded on a national securities exchange.
    \4\ A Fund of Funds generally would purchase and sell shares of 
an Underlying Fund that operates as an ETF or closed-end fund 
through secondary market transactions rather than through principal 
transactions with the Underlying Fund. Applicants nevertheless 
request relief from sections 17(a)(1) and (2) to permit each ETF or 
closed-end fund that is an affiliated person, or an affiliated 
person of an affiliated person, as defined in section 2(a)(3) of the 
Act, of a Fund of Funds, to sell shares to or redeem shares from the 
Fund of Funds. This includes, in the case of sales and redemptions 
of shares of ETFs, the in-kind transactions that accompany such 
sales and redemptions. Applicants are not seeking relief from 
section 17(a) for, and the requested relief will not apply to, 
transactions where an ETF, BDC or closed-end fund could be deemed an 
affiliated person, or an affiliated person of an affiliated person, 
of a Fund of Funds because an investment adviser to the ETF, BDC or 
closed-end fund or an entity controlling, controlled by or under 
common control with the investment adviser to the ETF, BDC or 
closed-end fund, is also an investment adviser to the Fund of Funds.
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    2. Applicants agree that any order granting the requested relief 
will be subject to the terms and conditions stated in the application. 
Such terms and conditions are designed to, among other things, help 
prevent any potential (i) undue influence over an Underlying Fund that 
is not in the same ``group of investment companies'' as the Fund of 
Funds through control or voting power, or in connection with certain 
services, transactions, and underwritings, (ii) excessive layering of 
fees, and (iii) overly complex fund structures, which are the concerns 
underlying the limits in sections 12(d)(1)(A), (B), and (C) of the Act.
    3. Section 12(d)(1)(J) of the Act provides that the Commission may 
exempt any person, security, or transaction, or any class or classes of 
persons, securities, or transactions, from any provision of section 
12(d)(1) if the exemption is consistent with the public interest and 
the protection of investors. Section 17(b) of the Act authorizes the 
Commission to grant an order permitting a transaction otherwise 
prohibited by section 17(a) if it finds that (a) the terms of the 
proposed transaction are fair and reasonable and do not involve 
overreaching on the part of any person concerned; (b) the proposed 
transaction is consistent with the policies of each registered 
investment company involved; and (c) the proposed transaction is 
consistent with the general purposes of the Act. Section 6(c) of the 
Act permits the Commission to exempt any persons or transactions from 
any provision of the Act if such exemption is necessary or appropriate 
in the public interest and consistent with the protection of investors 
and the purposes fairly intended by the policy and provisions of the 
Act.

    For the Commission, by the Division of Investment Management, 
pursuant to delegated authority.
Eduardo A. Aleman,
Assistant Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2018-18776 Filed 8-29-18; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8011-01-P