MONTHLY COMMENTARY

Evolve E-Gaming Index ETF HERO invests in equity securities of companies listed domestically and globally with business activities in the electronic gaming industry.

As at August 30, 2019

TICKER: HERO (Hedged)

MACROECONOMIC HIGHLIGHTS:

The competitive side of gaming known as e-sports is becoming increasingly popular, with prize money surpassing many internationally recognized professional sports. Online streaming platforms like and YouTube have been instrumental in launching e-sports into the stratosphere, with 454 million viewers worldwide.

The combination of the competitive elements of gaming, combined with its’ fan base has laid the groundwork for what has become one of the most popular activities watched and played around the world. The 2019 Global Games Market report forecasts that 2.5 billion gamers across the world will spend $152.1 billion on games in 2019.i

In August, the International, one of the biggest annual events in e-sports, was held at the Mercedes Benz Arena in Shanghai, China, offering a prize pool of $34.3 million, with the winning team earning $15.6 million. Eighteen teams - each comprising of five members - from around the world qualified for the tournament.

Incidentally, competitive gamers earn more prize money than professional sports such as golf, tennis and the Indy 500. For instance, 2019 Wimbledon prize money was $2.9 million, the Masters $2 million, and the Indy 500 $2.6 million. Comparatively, the winner of the 2019 World Cup made $3 Million, while winning team of The 2019 International made $15 million or an average of $3.1 million per team member. Even the runner up team raked in a collective $4,458,038, or roughly $892,000 per person.ii

The International is the annual championship for “ 2,” a popular free-to-play computer game with millions of players around the world. Valve, the company behind “,” began hosting The International near its Seattle headquarters in 2011, and adopted a crowd-funding model to help support the game’s active e-sports community. The first International offered a $1.6 million prize pool, which has ballooned since. Last year’s event awarded $25.5 million to the qualified teams.iii

The International followed the held in July at the Arthur Ashe Stadium in Queens, New York in July, with US$30 million in prize money. , the developer of Fortnite which hosted the event, claimed that more than 40 million people from 30 countries played during the 10 weeks of qualifying for the finals, highlighting the growing popularity of e-gaming and e-sports.iv

Evolve ETFs Brookfield Place, 161 Bay Street, Suite 2700, Toronto ON M5J 2S1 The world is evolving. 416.214.4884 | 1.844.370.4884 | www.evolveetfs.com Your investments should too. Evolve E-Gaming Index ETF

Besides Dota 2 and Fortnite, several other games have become pillars of the competitive gaming landscape, including League of Legends, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and Overwatch.

In gaming software development, Nvidia Inc.’s cloud gaming service, GeForce Now, has made a debut for Android smartphones. Often considered a competitor to Google’s Stadia and Microsoft’s xCloud, Nvidia announced that its streaming service, which was previously available as a Beta service to PC and Mac devices only, will now roll-out to several compatible Android smartphones including the top-of-the-line smartphones from LG and Samsung.

Nvidia also announced several updates of its streaming service platform, including the addition of RTX servers, which means that the games which would be streamed will be able to benefit from RTX hardware features, including raytracing.v

The ETF holds a diversified pool of gaming companies, with its largest exposure by weight to Activision Blizzard Inc., followed by Electronic Arts Inc.

SOURCE: i https://www.cnbc.com/2019/08/12/inside-the-fast-growing-esports-industry--fortnite-and-twitch.html ii https://www.engadget.com/2019/08/25/dota-2-the-international-2019-win-sets-records/?guccounter=1 iii https://www.businessinsider.com/the-international-9-dota-2-tournament-prize-pool-schedule-teams-2019-8#the-international- will-feature-commentary-in-multiple-languages-and-players-can-login-to-the-game-to-watch-a-direct-feed-of-each-match-in- their-language-of-choice-7 iv https://www.theverge.com/2019/7/29/8934329/fortnite-world-cup-finals-epic-games--ninja-tfue-bugha-marshmello v https://www.techjuice.pk/nvidias-cloud-gaming-service-is-now-coming-to-android-phones/

DISCLAIMER:

Commissions, management fees and expenses all may be associated with exchange traded mutual funds (ETFs). Please read the prospectus before investing. ETFs are not guaranteed, their values change frequently and past performance may not be repeated. There are risks involved with investing in ETFs. Please read the prospectus for a complete description of risks relevant to the ETF. Investors may incur customary brokerage commissions in buying or selling ETF units.

Evolve ETFs Brookfield Place, 161 Bay Street, Suite 2700, Toronto ON M5J 2S1 The world is evolving. 416.214.4884 | 1.844.370.4884 | www.evolveetfs.com Your investments should too.