First Trust Exchange-Traded Fund VII PROSPECTUS
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First Trust Exchange-Traded Fund VII PROSPECTUS First Trust Global Tactical Commodity Strategy Fund Ticker Symbol: FTGC Exchange: Nasdaq First Trust Global Tactical Commodity Strategy Fund (the “Fund”) lists and principally trades its shares on The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC ("Nasdaq" or the "Exchange"). Market prices may differ to some degree from the net asset value of the shares. Unlike mutual funds, the Fund issues and redeems shares at net asset value, only in large blocks of shares called "Creation Units." The Fund is a series of First Trust Exchange-Traded Fund VII (the “Trust”) and an actively managed exchange-traded fund organized as a separate series of a registered management investment company. Except when aggregated in Creation Units, the shares are not redeemable securities of the Fund. The Securities and Exchange Commission and Commodity Futures Trading Commission have not approved or disapproved of these securities or passed upon the adequacy or accuracy of this prospectus. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal offense. NOT FDIC INSURED MAY LOSE VALUE NO BANK GUARANTEE May 3, 2021 Table of Contents SummaryInformation............................................................................... 3 Additional Information on the Fund's Investment Objective and Strategies . ................................12 FundInvestments...................................................................................12 RisksofInvestingintheFund.........................................................................13 Fund Organization ..................................................................................22 ManagementoftheFund.............................................................................22 How to Buy and Sell Shares ...........................................................................24 Dividends, Distributions and Taxes.....................................................................25 Federal Tax Matters .................................................................................25 DistributionPlan....................................................................................29 NetAssetValue.....................................................................................29 FundServiceProviders...............................................................................30 Premium/Discount Information .......................................................................30 TotalReturnInformation.............................................................................30 Financial Highlights .................................................................................32 OtherInformation...................................................................................33 SUMMARY INFORMATION Investment Objective The First Trust Global Tactical Commodity Strategy Fund (the "Fund") seeks to provide total return by providing investors with commodity exposure while seeking a relatively stable risk profile. Fees and Expenses of the Fund The following table describes the fees and expenses you may pay if you buy, hold and sell shares of the Fund. Investors may pay other fees, such as brokerage commissions and other fees to financial intermediaries, which are not reflected in the table and example below. Shareholder Fees (fees paid directly from your investment) Maximum Sales Charge (Load) Imposed on Purchases (as a percentage of offering price) None Annual Fund Operating Expenses (expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment) Management Fees 0.95% Distribution and Service (12b-1) Fees 0.00% Other Expenses 0.00% Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses 0.95% Example The example below is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the Fund with the cost of investing in other funds. This example does not take into account customary brokerage commissions that you pay when purchasing or selling shares of the Fund in the secondary market. The example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the Fund for the time periods indicated. The example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year and that the Fund’s operating expenses remain at current levels. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be: 1 Year 3 Years 5 Years 10 Years $97 $303 $525 $1,166 Portfolio Turnover The Fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities, or through the Subsidiary, as defined below, when it buys and sells Commodities Instruments, as defined below (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes when Fund shares are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in annual fund operating expenses or in the example, affect the Fund’s performance. During the most recent fiscal year, the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate was 0% of the average value of its portfolio. Principal Investment Strategies The Fund is an actively managed exchange-traded fund (“ETF”) that seeks to achieve attractive risk adjusted returns by investing in commodity futures contracts and exchange-traded commodity linked instruments (collectively, “Commodities Instruments”) through a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Fund organized under the laws of the Cayman Islands (the “Subsidiary”). The Fund will not invest directly in Commodities Instruments. The Fund expects to gain exposure to these investments exclusively by investing in the Subsidiary. The Subsidiary is advised by First Trust Advisors L.P., the Fund’s investment advisor. The Fund’s investment in the Subsidiary is intended to provide the Fund with exposure to commodity markets within the limits of current federal income tax laws applicable to investment companies such as the Fund, which limit the ability of investment companies to invest directly in Commodities Instruments. The Subsidiary has the same investment objective as the Fund, but unlike the Fund, it may invest without limitation in Commodities Instruments. Except as otherwise noted, for purposes of this prospectus, references to the Fund’s investments include the Fund’s indirect investments through the Subsidiary. The Fund will invest up to 25% of its total assets in the Subsidiary. 3 The Subsidiary seeks to make investments generally in Commodities Instruments while managing volatility. Investment weightings of the underlying Commodities Instruments held by the Subsidiary are rebalanced in an attempt to stabilize risk levels. The dynamic weighting process is designed to result in a disciplined, systematic investment process, which is keyed off of the Fund’s investment advisor’s volatility forecasting process. The Subsidiary’s holdings in Commodities Instruments will consist, in part, of futures contracts, which are contractual agreements to buy or sell a particular commodity or financial instrument at a pre-determined price in the future. The Subsidiary may also invest in commodity-linked instruments, which include: (1) ETFs that provide exposure to commodities; and (2) pooled investment vehicles that invest primarily in commodities and commodity-related instruments. The Subsidiary may have both long and short positions in Commodities Instruments. However, for a given Commodity Instrument the Subsidiary will provide a net long exposure. Net long exposure means to hold or be exposed to a security or instrument with the expectation that its value will increase over time. As U.S. and London exchanges list additional contracts, as currently listed contracts on those exchanges gain sufficient liquidity or as other exchanges list sufficiently liquid contracts, the Fund’s investment advisor will include those contracts in the list of possible investments of the Subsidiary. The list of Commodities Instruments and commodities markets considered for investment can and will change over time. The remainder of the Fund’s assets will primarily be invested in: (1) short-term investment grade fixed income securities, including U.S. government and agency securities and sovereign debt obligations of non-U.S. countries and repurchase agreements; (2) money market instruments; (3) ETFs and other investment companies registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “1940 Act”); and (4) cash and other cash equivalents. The Fund uses such instruments as investments and to collateralize the Subsidiary’s Commodities Instruments exposure on a day-to-day basis. The Fund may also invest directly in ETFs and other investment companies, including closed-end funds, that provide exposure to Commodities Instruments, equity securities and fixed income securities to the extent permitted under the 1940 Act. The Fund may enter into repurchase agreements with counterparties that are deemed to present acceptable credit risks. A repurchase agreement is a transaction in which the Fund purchases securities or other obligations from a bank or securities dealer and simultaneously commits to resell them to a counterparty at an agreed-upon date or upon demand and at a price reflecting a market rate of interest unrelated to the coupon rate or maturity of the purchased obligations. Principal Risks You could lose money by investing in the Fund. An investment in the Fund is not a deposit of a bank and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other governmental agency. There can be no assurance that the Fund’s investment objective will be achieved. The order of the