Note 1 – SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES
Green California Tax-Free Income Fund, U.S. Government Securities Fund, The United States Treasury Trust, S&P 500 Index Fund, S&P MidCap Index Fund, S&P SmallCap Index Fund, Shelton Equity Income Fund, Nasdaq-100 Index Fund, and Shelton Sustainable Equity Fund (the “Funds”) are each a series of shares of beneficial interest of the Shelton Funds (the “Trust”). The Trust is registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, as a diversified open-end management investment company. Each Fund is an investment company and accordingly follows the investment company accounting and reporting guidance of the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) Accounting Standard Codification Topic 946 “Financial Services – Investment Companies”. The Trust is organized as a Delaware statutory trust and is authorized to issue an unlimited number of no par value shares in one or more series. The Trust, originally organized as two separate Massachusetts business trusts formed by Declarations of Trust dated September 11, 1985, as subsequently amended, was reorganized into a single Delaware statutory trust after the close of trading on December 29, 2006. The investment objectives of the Funds are as follows: Green California Tax-Free Income Fund seeks high current tax-free income for California residents. U.S. Government Securities Fund seeks liquidity, safety from credit risk and as high a level of income as is consistent with these objectives. The United States Treasury Trust seeks high current income exempt from state income taxes while maintaining a stable net asset value of $1.00 per share. S&P 500 Index Fund’s objective is to attempt to replicate the total return of the U.S. stock market as measured by the S&P 500 Composite Stock Price Index. S&P MidCap Index Fund attempts to replicate the performance of medium-sized U.S. companies as measured by the S&P MidCap 400 Index. S&P SmallCap Index Fund attempts to replicate the performance of small-sized U.S. companies as measured by the S&P SmallCap 600 Stock Index. The Shelton Equity Income Fund’s objective is to achieve a high level of income and capital appreciation (when consistent with high income) by investing primarily in income-producing U.S. equity securities. The Shelton Equity Income Fund changed its name from the Shelton Core Value Fund effective May 19, 2021. Shelton Sustainable Equity Fund seeks to achieve long-term capital appreciation by investing in stocks in the Green Economy, as defined in the Fund’s Prospectus. Nasdaq-100 Index Fund attempts to replicate the performance of the largest non-financial companies as measured by the Nasdaq-100 Index®.
The U.S. Government Securities Fund, S&P 500 Index Fund, S&P MidCap Index Fund, S&P SmallCap Index Fund, Shelton Equity Income Fund, and Nasdaq-100 Index Fund each offer Investor Shares and Class K Shares. The Shelton Sustainable Equity offers Investor Shares. Effective as of December 27, 2019, the United States Treasury Trust ceased offering Class K shares of the Fund. Effective March 7, 2022, Nasdaq-100 Index Fund also offers Institutional Shares. Shares of each Fund represent equal proportionate interest in the assets of that Fund only, and have identical voting, dividend, redemption, liquidation and other rights. Income, expenses (other than the expenses attributable to a specific class), and realized and unrealized gains or losses on investments of the Funds are allocated proportionately to each class of shares offered based on the daily net assets, except for Rule 12b-1 distribution fees and shareholder service fees, which are charged only to K Shares. The following is a summary of significant accounting policies followed by the Funds.
(a) Security Valuation – Equity securities listed on a national exchange are valued at the last reported sales price. Futures contracts are valued at the settle price, depending on the exchange the contract trades on, typically as of 4:15 p.m., Eastern Time. Municipal securities are valued by an independent pricing service at a price determined by a matrix pricing method. This technique generally considers such factors as yields or prices of bonds of comparable quality, type of issue, coupon, maturity, ratings and general market conditions. U.S. government securities for which market quotations are readily available are valued at the mean between the closing bid and asked prices provided by an independent pricing service. U.S. agency securities consisting of mortgage pass-through certificates are valued using dealer quotations provided by an independent pricing service. U.S. Treasury Bills are valued at amortized cost which approximates market value. Securities with remaining maturities of 60 days or less are valued on the amortized cost basis as reflecting fair value. The United States Treasury Trust securities are valued at amortized cost, in accordance with procedures adopted by the Funds’ valuation designee appointed by the Board of Trustees (the “Board”) and which the valuation designee has determined in good faith reflects the market-based net asset value per share. The Fund receives options pricing data from the Trust’s third party pricing service who use the last traded price to quote options positions.
Securities for which market quotes are not readily available from the Trust’s third party pricing service are valued at fair value, determined in good faith and in accordance with procedures adopted by the valuation designee. The Board has delegated to the valuation designee’s pricing committee the responsibility for determining the fair value.
(b) Futures Contracts – Initial margin deposits required upon entering into futures contracts are satisfied by the segregation of cash or U.S. treasury bills, as collateral, for the account of the broker (a Fund’s agent in acquiring the futures position). During the period the futures contract is open, changes in the value of the contract are recognized as unrealized gains or losses by “marking to market” on a daily basis to reflect the market value of the contract at the end of each day’s trading. Variation margin payments are made or received depending upon whether unrealized gains or losses are incurred. When the contract is closed, a Fund records a realized gain or loss equal to the difference between the proceeds from (or cost of) the closing transaction and the Fund’s basis in the contract. The S&P 500 Index Fund, S&P MidCap Index Fund, S&P SmallCap Index Fund, Shelton Equity Income Fund, Shelton Sustainable Equity Fund and Nasdaq-100 Index Fund may purchase or sell stock index futures to maintain cash reserves while remaining fully invested, to facilitate trading, to reduce transaction costs, or to seek higher investment returns when a futures contract is priced more attractively than the underlying equity security or index. Risks include the possibility of an illiquid market and an imperfect correlation between the change in market value of the stocks held by a Fund and the prices of futures contracts.
(c) Options – The Shelton Equity Income Fund may write call options. When an option is written, the Fund receives a premium and becomes obligated to sell the underlying security at a fixed price, upon exercise of the option. Options can be traded through an exchange or through a privately negotiated arrangement with a dealer in an OTC transaction. Options traded through an exchange are generally cleared through a clearinghouse (such as the Options Clearing Corporation). The difference between the premium received or paid, and the market value of the option, is recorded as unrealized appreciation or depreciation. When an option is exercised, the proceeds of the security sold are adjusted by the amount of premium received. Upon the expiration of the option, a gain or loss is reported in the Statement of Operations. The risk in writing a call option is that the market price of the security increases and if the option is exercised, the Fund must either purchase the security at a higher price for delivery or give up the opportunity for profit.
(d) Federal Income Taxes – No provision is considered necessary for federal income taxes. The Funds intend to qualify for and elect the tax treatment applicable to regulated investment companies under the Internal Revenue Code and to distribute all of their taxable income to shareholders.
(e) Security Transactions, Investment Income and Distributions to Shareholders – Security transactions are recorded on the trade date. Interest income is recorded on the accrual basis. Dividend income is recorded on the ex-dividend date. Withholding taxes on foreign dividends have been provided for, in accordance with the Trust’s understanding of the applicable country’s tax rules and rates. Distributions to shareholders are recorded on the ex-dividend date for the Green California Tax-Free Income Fund, the U.S. Government Securities Fund, S&P 500 Index Fund, S&P MidCap Index Fund, S&P SmallCap Index Fund, Shelton Equity Income Fund, Shelton Sustainable Equity Fund and Nasdaq-100 Index Fund. Income distributions and capital gain distributions are determined in accordance with income tax regulations which may differ from accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America. These differences are primarily due to differing treatments for futures contracts, redemptions-in-kind and post-October capital losses. For The United States Treasury Trust, dividends from net investment income are declared daily and reinvested or paid in cash monthly. The U.S. Treasury Trust intends to maintain a continuous net asset value per share of $1.00. If net asset value per share using available market information deviates from $1.00 by $.005 or more, the Board of Trustees would consider what steps, if any, should be taken to restore net asset value per share to $1.00. Discounted and premiums on securities purchased are amortized or accreted using the effective interest method.
(f) Concentration – The Green California Tax-Free Income Fund invests in debt instruments of municipal issuers. The issuers’ abilities to meet their obligations may be affected by economic developments in the state of California.
