Fund’s performance. The Fund’s portfolio
turnover rate for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2025 was 0% of the average value of its portfolio. However, the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate is calculated
without regard to transactions involving certain short-term instruments or derivatives. If
such transactions were included in the calculation, the Fund would have a higher portfolio
turnover rate.
The Fund seeks to maintain substantial economic exposure to the
performance of the commodities markets. The Fund primarily gains exposure to the commodities
markets by investing in a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Fund organized as a company under the laws of the Cayman Islands, Cayman Commodity – CSF, Ltd. (the “CSF Subsidiary”). The CSF Subsidiary
is advised by the Investment Adviser, and has the same investment objective as the Fund. CoreCommodity Management, LLC (the “Sub-Adviser” or “CoreCommodity”) serves as sub-adviser to
both the Fund and the CSF Subsidiary.
The Fund seeks to provide exposure to the commodities markets by investing, through the CSF Subsidiary, in
commodity-linked investments including, without limitation, commodity swaps, commodity
futures contracts, exchange-listed commodity forward contracts, options on commodity futures, and commodity-linked notes. In pursuing its objective, the Fund attempts to provide long and/or short exposure to the returns of real
assets that trade in the commodity markets without direct investment in physical commodities. The Fund uses the Bloomberg Commodity Index Total Return (Gross, USD, Unhedged) (“BCOM”) as its
performance benchmark, but the Fund is actively managed and will not attempt to replicate the
index.
Investment in the Subsidiary. The Fund may invest up to 25% of its total assets in the CSF Subsidiary. The CSF Subsidiary primarily
obtains its commodity exposure by investing in commodity-linked derivative instruments (which
typically includes total return swaps). Commodity-linked swaps are derivative instruments whereby the cash flows agreed upon between counterparties are dependent upon the price of the underlying commodity or
commodity index (or a component of the underlying commodity index) over the life of the swap. The value of the swap will rise and fall in response to changes in the underlying commodity or commodity index (or
component of the underlying commodity index). Commodity-linked swaps expose the CSF
Subsidiary and the Fund economically to movements in commodity prices. Such instruments may
be leveraged so that small changes in the underlying commodity prices would result in disproportionate changes in the value of the instrument. Neither the Fund nor the CSF Subsidiary invests directly in physical
commodities. The CSF Subsidiary will also invest in other instruments, including fixed income securities, either as investments or to serve as margin or collateral for its swap positions.
The Sub-Adviser will take various factors into account when seeking commodity market exposure, such as, without limitation, the results of proprietary models developed by the
Sub-Adviser, relative price differentials for various commodity futures for current delivery as
compared to those for future delivery, and market conditions. Among other strategies, the
Fund employs commodity roll-timing strategies. “Rolling” futures exposure is the process by which the holder of a particular futures contract or other instrument providing futures exposure (e.g. swaps) will sell such
contract or instrument on or before the expiration date and simultaneously purchase a new contract or instrument with identical terms except for a later expiration date. This process allows a holder of the
instrument to extend its current position through the original instrument’s expiration without delivering the underlying asset. The Fund’s rolling may differ from that of the BCOM to the extent necessary to
enable the Fund to seek excess returns over
the BCOM. The Fund’s “roll-timing” strategies may include, for example, rolling the
Fund’s commodity exposure earlier or later versus the BCOM, or holding and rolling positions with longer or different expiration dates than the BCOM. The Fund also may underweight or overweight various commodities as
compared to the BCOM, and may utilize commodities that are not components of the
BCOM.
Fixed Income Investments. As a result of the Fund’s use of derivatives, the Fund may hold as collateral significant amounts of U.S. Treasury or short-term investments, including
money market funds. In managing the collateral portion of the Fund’s investment strategy, the Sub-Adviser generally seeks capital preservation. The average duration will vary. The Sub-Adviser uses derivatives,
including futures and swaps, to manage the duration of the Fund’s investment
portfolio.
Other. The Fund may also invest in forwards, futures, and swaps, which are used for both hedging and non-hedging purposes. The Fund may invest up to 35% of its net assets in
foreign securities.
The Investment Adviser measures the Fund’s performance against the BCOM (Gross, USD, Unhedged).
Principal Risks of the Fund |
Loss of money is a risk of investing in the Fund. The investment program of the Fund is speculative, entails substantial risks and
includes asset classes and investment techniques not employed by more traditional mutual funds. The Fund should not be relied upon as a
complete investment program. There can be no assurance that the investment objective of the Fund will be achieved. Moreover, there is no assurance that the investment processes of the Fund will be
successful, that the techniques utilized therein will be implemented successfully or that they are adequate for their intended uses, or that the discretionary element of the investment
processes of the Fund will be exercised in a manner that is
successful or that is not adverse to the Fund. An
investment in the Fund is not a bank deposit and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (“FDIC”) or any
government agency. Investors should carefully consider
these risks before investing. The Fund’s principal risks are presented below in alphabetical order, and not in the order of importance or potential
exposure.
Absence of
Regulation Risk. The Fund engages in over-the-counter (“OTC”) transactions, which trade in a dealer network, rather than on an exchange. In general,
there is less governmental regulation and supervision of transactions in the OTC markets than of transactions entered into on organized exchanges.
Commodity Sector Risk. Exposure to the commodities markets may subject the Fund to greater volatility than investments in more traditional securities. The value of
commodity-linked investments may be affected by changes in overall market movements, commodity index volatility, changes in interest rates, or factors affecting a particular industry or commodity, such as
drought, floods, weather, livestock disease, embargoes, tariffs and international economic,
business, political and regulatory developments. The prices of energy, industrial
metals, precious metals, agriculture and livestock sector commodities may fluctuate widely due to factors such as changes in value, supply and demand and governmental regulatory policies. The commodity-linked investments in which
the CSF Subsidiary enters into may involve counterparties in the financial services sector, and events affecting the financial services sector may cause the CSF Subsidiary's, and therefore the
Fund’s, share value to fluctuate.