U S GLOBAL INVESTORS INC

Part I of Annual Report on Form 10-K

Item 1. Business

This Annual Report on Form 10-K contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. In addition, U.S. Global Investors, Inc. and its subsidiaries (collectively, “U.S. Global” or the “Company”) may make other written and oral communications from time to time that contain such statements. Forward-looking statements include statements as to industry trends, future expectations of the Company, and other matters that do not relate strictly to historical facts and are based on certain assumptions by management. These statements are often identified by the use of words such as “may,” “will,” “expect,” “believe,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “could,” “should,” “estimate,” or “continue,” and similar expressions or variations. These statements are based on the beliefs and assumptions of Company management based on information currently available to management. Such forward-looking statements are subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from future results expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements include, among others, the risks described in Part I, Item 1A, Risk Factors, and elsewhere in this report and other documents filed or furnished by U.S. Global from time to time with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”). U.S. Global cautions readers to carefully consider such factors. Furthermore, such forward-looking statements speak only as of the date on which such statements are made. Except to the extent required by applicable law, U.S. Global undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of such statements.

U.S. Global, a Texas corporation organized in 1968, is a registered investment adviser under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, as amended (“Advisers Act”). The Company, with principal operations located in San Antonio, Texas, manages two business segments:

As part of its investment management business, the Company provides: (1) investment advisory services and (2) administrative services to the mutual funds advised by the Company. The fees from these services, as well as investment income, are the primary sources of the Company’s revenue.

Business Segments

Business segments are discussed below.

Investment Management Services

Investment Advisory Services. The Company furnishes an investment program for each of the clients it manages and determines, subject to overall supervision by the applicable board of trustees of the clients, the clients’ investments pursuant to an advisory agreement. Consistent with the investment restrictions, objectives and policies of the particular client, the portfolio team for each client determines what investments should be purchased, sold, and held, and makes changes in the portfolio deemed necessary or appropriate. In the advisory agreement, the Company is charged with seeking the best overall terms in executing portfolio transactions and selecting brokers or dealers.

As required by the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (“Investment Company Act”), the advisory agreement with USGIF is subject to annual renewal and is terminable upon a 60 days' notice. In September 2023, the Board of Trustees of USGIF approved the annual renewal of the advisory agreement. Management anticipates that the advisory agreement will be renewed.

In addition to providing advisory services to USGIF, the Company provides advisory services to three U.S.-based ETF clients: U.S. Global Jets ETF, U.S. Global GO GOLD and Precious Metal Miners ETF, and the U.S. Global Sea to Sky Cargo ETF. The advisory agreement for the U.S. based ETFs have been renewed through July 2025. The Company also serves as investment advisor to one European-based ETF, The Travel UCITS ETF. The advisory services agreement for The Travel UCITS ETF is not subject to renewal on an annual basis and is terminable upon 6-months' notice.

Net assets under management on June 30, 2024, and 2023, are detailed in the following table.

1. During fiscal 2024, the U.S. Global Jets UCITS ETF merged into The Travel UCITS ETF.

2. During fiscal 2024, the Emerging Europe and China Region funds were liquidated.

**Administrative Services.**The Company also manages, supervises and conducts certain other affairs of USGIF, subject to the control of the Funds’ Board of Trustees pursuant to an administrative services agreement. The administrative services agreement with USGIF is subject to renewal on an annual basis and is terminable upon 60 days' notice. In September 2023, the Board of Trustees of USGIF approved the annual renewal of the administrative services agreement. Management anticipates that the administrative services agreement will be renewed.

Corporate Investments

Investment Activities. In addition to providing management and advisory services, the Company is actively engaged in investing for its own account. See segment information in the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements at Note 16, Financial Information by Business Segment, of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Additional Segment Information

See additional financial information about business segments in Part II, Item 8, Financial Statements and Supplementary Data at Note 16, Financial Information by Business Segment, of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Human Capital

As of June 30, 2024, U.S. Global and its wholly-owned subsidiaries employed 23 full-time employees and 3 part-time employees. Our compensation program is designed to attract, retain and reward qualified individuals who possess the skills and motivation necessary to support our business objectives and assist in the achievement of goals. Key to our compensation program are performance-based cash and fund share bonuses and incentives for achieving professional certifications. In addition to base salary and bonus compensation, we also offer employees benefits such as life, disability, and health (medical, dental and vision) insurance, paid time off, a 401(k) plan that includes a match, discretionary profit-sharing, and assistance with savings programs. We also offer long-term incentive awards which include stock options.

Competition

The mutual fund industry is highly competitive. According to the Investment Company Institute, at the end of 2023 there were approximately 8,600 domestically registered open-end investment companies and approximately 3,300 exchange-traded funds of varying sizes and investment policies, whose shares are being offered to the public in the U.S. In addition to competition from other mutual fund managers and investment advisers, the Company and the mutual fund industry are in competition with various investment alternatives offered by insurance companies, banks, securities broker-dealers, and other financial institutions. Many of these institutions are able to engage in more liberal advertising than mutual funds and ETFs and may offer accounts at competitive interest rates, which may be insured by federally chartered corporations such as the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.

A number of mutual fund groups are significantly larger than the funds managed by U.S. Global, offer a greater variety of investment objectives and have greater resources to promote the sale of investments therein. However, the Company believes it has the resources, products, and personnel to compete with these other mutual funds. In particular, the Company is known for its expertise in gold mining and exploration, natural resources, and airlines. Competition for sales of fund shares is influenced by various factors, including investment objectives and performance, advertising and sales promotional efforts, distribution channels, and the types and quality of services offered to fund shareholders.

Success in the investment advisory business is substantially dependent on each fund’s investment performance, the quality of services provided to shareholders, and the Company’s efforts to market the Funds and ETFs effectively. Operating revenues from management and administrative services fees are based on the assets of the funds under management. Costs of distribution and compliance continue to put pressure on profit margins for the mutual fund industry.

Despite the Company’s expertise in gold mining and exploration, natural resources, and airlines, the Company faces the same obstacles many advisers face, namely uncovering undervalued investment opportunities as the markets face further uncertainty and increased volatility. In addition, the growing number of alternative investments, especially in specialized areas, has created pressure on the profit margins and increased competition for available investment opportunities.

Supervision and Regulation

The Company and the clients the Company manages and administers operate under certain laws, including federal and state securities laws, governing their organization, registration, operation, legal, financial, and tax status. Among the potential penalties for violation of the laws and regulations applicable to the Company are fines, imprisonment, injunctions, revocation of registration, and certain additional administrative sanctions. Any determination that the Company or its management has violated applicable laws and regulations could have a material adverse effect on the business of the Company. Moreover, there is no assurance that changes to existing laws, regulations, or rulings promulgated by governmental entities having jurisdiction over the Company and its clients will not have a material adverse effect on the Company’s business. The Company has no control over regulatory rulemaking or the consequences it may have on the mutual fund and investment advisory industry.

Regulatory pronouncements and oversight have significantly increased the burden of compliance infrastructure with respect to the mutual fund industry and the capital markets. This momentum of regulations has contributed significantly to the costs of managing and administering mutual funds.

U.S. Global is registered as an investment adviser with the SEC. As a registered investment adviser, it is subject to the requirements of the Advisers Act, and the SEC’s regulations thereunder, as well as to examination by the SEC’s staff. The Advisers Act imposes substantive regulation on virtually all aspects of the Company’s business and relationships with the Company’s clients. Applicable rules relate to, among other things, fiduciary duties to clients, transactions with clients, effective compliance programs, conflicts of interest, advertising, recordkeeping, reporting, and disclosure requirements. The Funds and the ETFs for which the Company acts as the investment adviser are registered with the SEC under the Investment Company Act. The Investment Company Act imposes additional obligations, including detailed operational requirements for both funds and their advisers. Moreover, an investment adviser’s contract with a registered fund may be terminated by the fund on not more than 60 days’ notice and is subject to annual renewal by the fund’s board after an initial two-year term. Both the Advisers Act and the Investment Company Act regulate the “assignment” of advisory contracts by the investment adviser. The SEC is authorized to institute proceedings and impose sanctions for violations of the Investment Advisers Act and the Investment Company Act, ranging from fines and censures to termination of an investment adviser’s registration. The failure of the Company, or the Funds and ETFs which the Company advises, to comply with the requirements of the SEC could have a material adverse effect on the Company. The Company is also subject to federal and state laws affecting corporate governance, including the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (“S-Ox Act”), as well as rules adopted by the SEC.

U.S. Global is required to keep and maintain certain reports and records, which must be made available to the SEC upon request.

U.S. Global manages clients’ portfolios on a discretionary basis, with the authority to enter into security transactions, select broker-dealers to execute trades, and negotiate brokerage commissions. The Company may receive soft dollar credits from certain broker-dealers that are used to pay for research and related services or products, which therefore has the effect of reducing certain operating expenses. These soft dollar arrangements are intended to be within the safe harbor provisions of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. If the ability to use soft dollar arrangements were reduced or eliminated as a result of statutory amendments, new regulations or a change in business practices, the Company’s operating expenses would increase.

Relationships with Clients

The business of the Company is to a significant degree dependent on its association and contractual relationships with USGIF and ETF clients. In the event the advisory or administrative agreements with USGIF or the advisory agreements with ETF clients are canceled or not renewed pursuant to the terms thereof, the Company would be substantially adversely affected. U.S. Global considers its relationships with its clients to be good, and management has no reason to believe that the management and service contracts will not be renewed in the future; however, there is no assurance that USGIF and/or the ETF clients will choose to continue their relationships with the Company.

Available Information

The Company’s Internet website address is www.usfunds.com. Information contained on the Company’s website is not part of this annual report on Form 10-K. The Company’s annual reports on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K, and amendments to those reports filed with (or furnished to) the SEC are available through a link on the Company’s Internet website, free of charge, as soon as reasonably practicable after such material is filed or furnished. (The link to the Company’s SEC filings can be found at www.usfunds.com by clicking “Investor Relations.”) The Company routinely posts important information on its website.

The Company also posts its Corporate Governance Guidelines, Code of Business Conduct, Code of Ethics for CEO and Principal Financial Officer, Board Diversity Matrix, and the charters of the audit and compensation committees of its Board of Directors on the Company’s website in the “Policies and Procedures” section of "About Us." The Company’s SEC filings and governance documents are available in print to any stockholder that makes a written request to: Investor Relations, U.S. Global Investors, Inc., 7900 Callaghan Road, San Antonio, Texas 78229.

The Company files reports electronically with the SEC via the SEC’s Electronic Data Gathering, Analysis and Retrieval system (“EDGAR”), which may be accessed through the Internet. The SEC maintains an Internet site that contains reports, proxy and information statements and other information regarding issuers that file electronically with the SEC, at http://www.sec.gov.

Investors and others should note that we announce material financial information to our investors using the website, SEC filings, press releases, public conference calls and webcasts. We also use social media to communicate with our customers and the public about our company. It is possible that the information we post on social media could be deemed to be material information. Therefore, we encourage investors, the media, and others interested in our company to review the information we post on social media channels listed below. This list may be updated from time to time.

https://www.facebook.com/USFunds

https://twitter.com/USFunds

https://twitter.com/USGlobalETFs

https://www.linkedin.com/company/u-s-global-investors

https://www.instagram.com/usglobal

https://pinterest.com/usfunds

https://www.youtube.com/c/usglobalinvestorssanantonio

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDkX1zvbWPyWc99esHOhwRQ

https://www.tiktok.com/@usfunds

Information contained on our website or on social media channels is not deemed part of this report.