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Fund Objective & Key Features

The United States Agriculture Index Fund® (USAG) is an exchange-traded security that is designed to track, in percentage terms, the price movements of the SummerHaven Dynamic Agriculture Index Total Return℠. USAG issues units that may be purchased and sold on the NYSE Arca.

USAG's Objective

The investment objective of USAG is for the daily changes in percentage terms of its units' net asset value ("NAV") to reflect the daily changes in percentage terms of the SummerHaven Dynamic Agriculture Index Total Return℠, less USAG's expenses.

USAG's Target

United States Agriculture Index Fund's target is a portfolio of agriculture futures contracts designed to be an investment benchmark for agriculture as an asset class. The Agriculture Index is composed of agriculture futures contracts on major exchanges in the U.S. and Canada. The Agriculture Index attempts to maximize backwardation and minimize contango while using contracts in the liquid portions of the futures curve.

USAG's Portfolio

The portfolio consists of listed agricultural futures contracts and other agriculture-related futures and may consist of forwards and swap contracts. These investments will be collateralized by cash, cash equivalents and US government obligations with remaining maturities of two years or less.

Below are the 14 Eligible Agriculture Futures Contracts (the "Benchmark Component Agriculture Futures Contracts") that may comprise the Agriculture Index on a monthly basis:

Soybeans Soybean Meal Cotton
Corn Canola Live Cattle
Soft Red Winter Wheat Sugar Feeder Cattle
Hard Red Winter Wheat Cocoa Lean Hogs
Soybean Oil Coffee  

 

For the month of April, the Benchmark Component Futures Contracts are:

Soybeans NOV13 Corn DEC13 Wheat JUL13
Cotton No.2 JUL13 Sugar #11 JUL13 Coffee JUL13
Soybean Oil JUL13 Live Cattle JUN13 Feeder Cattle AUG13
Cocoa DEC13 Lean Hogs AUG13 Wheat (KCB) JUL13
Canola JUL13 Soybean Meal OCT13  

 

USAG's Key Features

  • USAG provides a vehicle to take directional positions on agricultural commodity prices.
  • USAG offers the convenience of an exchange-traded security (NYSE Arca).
  • USAG permits commodity exposure without using a commodity futures account.
  • USAG provides "equity-like" order flexibility, including market, limit, stop, stop limit and Good-Til-Cancelled (GTC) orders.
  • USAG provides market price, NAV and portfolio holdings on a daily basis.

USAG's Creation & Redemption Process

Authorized Purchasers pay a $350 fee for each order to create or redeem one or more Creation Baskets or Redemption Baskets consisting of 50,000 units. Authorized Purchasers are not required to sell any specific number or dollar amount of units. The per unit price of units offered in Creation Baskets on any day after the effective date of the registration statement is the total NAV of USAG calculated as of the close of the core trading session on the NYSE Arca on that day divided by the number of issued and outstanding units.

USAG receives or pays the proceeds from units sold or redeemed within three business days after the trade date of the purchase or redemption. The amounts due from Authorized Purchasers are reflected in USAG's condensed statement of financial condition as receivable for units sold, and amounts payable to Authorized Purchasers upon redemption are reflected as payable for units redeemed.

U.S. Federal Income Tax Considerations

The following discussion summarizes the material U.S. federal income tax consequences of the purchase, ownership and disposition of units of a Fund, and the U.S. federal income tax treatment of the Fund, as of the date hereof. In general, this discussion is applicable to a Unitholder who holds its units as a capital asset. This summary does not purport to be a complete description of the income tax considerations applicable to an investment in units. For example, we have not described tax consequences that may be relevant to certain types of Unitholders subject to special treatment under United States federal income tax laws, including dealers or traders in securities, commodities or currencies, financial institutions, tax-exempt entities, insurance companies, persons holding units as a part of a position in a "straddle" or as part of a "hedging," "conversion" or other integrated transaction for federal income tax purposes, or holders of units whose "functional currency" is not the U.S. dollar. Furthermore, the discussion below is based upon the provisions of the Code, and regulations ("Treasury Regulations"), rulings and judicial decisions thereunder as of the date hereof, and such authorities may be repealed, revoked or modified (possibly with retroactive effect) so as to result in U.S. federal income tax consequences different from those discussed below.

The Sponsor has received the opinion of Reed Smith LLP, counsel to the Trust, that, subject to the conditions, limitations and assumptions stated in this discussion, the material U.S. federal income tax consequences to each Fund and to U.S. Unitholders and Non-U.S. Unitholders (as defined below) will be as described in the following paragraphs. In rendering its opinion, Reed Smith LLP has relied on the facts and assumptions described in the prospectus as well as certain factual representations made by the Trust and the Sponsor. This opinion is not binding on the Internal Revenue Service ("IRS"). No ruling has been requested from the IRS with respect to any matter affecting the Fund or prospective investors, and the IRS may disagree with the tax positions taken by the Trust. If the IRS were to challenge the Trust's tax positions in litigation, they might not be sustained by the courts.

Each prospective investor is advised to consult its own tax advisor as to the U.S. federal income tax consequences of an investment in USAG to the investor and as to applicable state, local or foreign taxes.

Tax Status of USAG

The Trust is organized and will be operated as a statutory trust in accordance with the provisions of the Trust Agreement and applicable Delaware law. Notwithstanding the Trust's status as a statutory trust and the Fund's status as a series of that trust, due to the nature of its activities, the Fund will be treated as a partnership rather than a trust for United States federal income tax purposes. In addition, the trading of units on the NYSE Arca will cause the Fund to be classified as a "publicly traded partnership" for federal income tax purposes. Under the Code, a publicly traded partnership is generally taxable as a corporation. In the case of an entity (such as the Fund) that is not registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940, however, an exception to this general rule applies if at least 90% of the entity's gross income is "qualifying income" for each taxable year of its existence. For this purpose, "qualifying income" is defined as including, in pertinent part, interest (other than from a financial business), dividends and gains from the sale or disposition of capital assets held for the production of interest or dividends. In addition, in the case of a partnership a principal activity of which is the buying and selling of commodities (other than as inventory) or of futures, forwards and options with respect to commodities, "qualifying income" includes income and gains from commodities and futures, forwards, options and swaps and other notional principal contracts with respect to commodities. In connection with the opinion provided by Reed Smith LLP, the Trust and the Sponsor have represented, among other things, the following to Reed Smith LLP:

  • At least 90% of the Fund's gross income for each taxable year will be derived from (i) income and gains from commodities (not held as inventory) or futures, forwards, options, OTC swap transactions, cleared swaps and other notional principal contracts with respect to commodities, and (ii) interest income;
  • The Fund is organized and will be operated in accordance with its governing documents and applicable law; and
  • The Fund has not elected, and the Fund will not elect, to be classified as a corporation for U.S. federal income tax purposes

Based in part on these representations, Reed Smith LLP is of the opinion that the Fund will be treated as a partnership that it is not taxable as a corporation for U.S. federal income tax purposes. The Fund's taxation as a partnership rather than a corporation will require the Sponsor to conduct the Fund's business activities in such a manner that it satisfies the qualifying income exception on a continuing basis. No assurance can be given that the Fund's operations for any given year will produce income that satisfies the requirements of the qualifying income exception. Reed Smith LLP will not review the Fund's ongoing compliance with these requirements and will have no obligation to advise the Trust, the Fund or the Fund's' Unitholders in the event of any subsequent change in the facts, representations or applicable law relied upon in reaching its opinion.

If the Fund failed to satisfy the qualifying income exception in any year, other than a failure that is determined by the IRS to be inadvertent and that is cured within a reasonable time after discovery (in which case the Fund could be required to pay over amounts determined by the IRS), it would be taxable as a corporation for federal income tax purposes and would pay federal income tax on its income at regular corporate rates. In that event, Unitholders of such Fund would not report their share of its income or loss on their returns. In addition, any distributions to Unitholders would be treated as ordinary dividends to the extent of the Fund's current and accumulated earnings and profits. To the extent a distribution exceeded the Fund's earnings and profits, it would be treated as a return of capital up to the amount of a Unitholder's basis in its units and thereafter as gain from the sale of units. Accordingly, if the Fund were to be taxable as a corporation, it would likely have a material adverse effect on the economic return from an investment in the Fund and on the value of the units.

The remainder of this summary assumes that USAG is classified for federal income tax purposes as a partnership that it is not taxable as a corporation.

A more extensive discussion of the risks associated with investing directly or indirectly in USAG, appears in the Prospectus.

Fund Details
USAG Data as of 05/21/2013
Ticker USAG
IIV USAG.IV
CUSIP 911718203
ISIN US911718203
Minimum Trade Size 1 unit
Marginable1 Yes
Options Traded No
Administrator Brown Brothers Harriman & Co
Distributor ALPS Distributors, Inc.
Sponsor United States Commodity Funds LLC
Management Expense Ratio20.80%
Trading Increment $0.01

1 There are special risks associated with margin investing. Please ask your financial advisor for more information about these risks.

2 As of May 29, 2012, the management fee will be reduced from 0.95% to 0.80%. The Sponsor anticipates that the waiver will remain in place through May 1, 2014. The arrangement is voluntary, however, and may be terminated or modified prior to May 1, 2014, with the approval of the Sponsor's Board of Directors.

For a copy of the Prospectus contact: ALPS Distributors, Inc., 1290 Broadway, Suite 1100, Denver, Colorado 80203 or call 800.920.0259 or click here . Please read it carefully before investing.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission has not passed upon the merits of participating in these pools nor has the Commission passed on the adequacy or accuracy of this Prospectus.

Neither the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"), nor any State Securities Commission has approved or disapproved the securities offered in this Prospectus or determined if this Prospectus is truthful or complete. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal offense.

USAG® is not a mutual fund or any other type of Investment Company within the meaning of the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, and is not subject to regulation thereunder.

This investment is not suitable for all investors.

Commodity trading is highly speculative. Commodities and futures generally are volatile and are not suitable for all investors. USAG is speculative and involves a high degree of risk. These risks could result in large fluctuations in the price of USAG's units. An investor may lose all or substantially all of an investment in USAG. Funds that focus on a single sector generally experience greater volatility.

The Agriculture Index reflects an investment in a fully collateralized agriculture futures portfolio of commodities in the grains, softs and livestock sectors. A change in price of any of the commodities in these sectors will have a significant effect on the level of the Agriculture Index and the value of USAG's Units, which could have a material adverse effect on your investment.

The Agriculture Index does not correlate exactly with the spot price of agricultural commodities and this could cause the changes in the price of the Units to substantially vary from the changes in the spot price of agricultural commodities underlying the Benchmark Component Agriculture Futures Contracts. Therefore, you may not be able to effectively use USAG to hedge against agricultural commodity-related losses or as a way to indirectly invest in agricultural commodities. For further discussion of these and additional risks associated with an investment in USAG Units, click here.

Investors buy and sell units in the secondary market (i.e., not directly from USAG). Only "authorized purchasers" may trade directly with USAG, in minimum blocks of 50,000 units.

The United States Agriculture Index Fund is distributed by ALPS Distributors, Inc.

USAG United States Agriculture Index Fund® and Design mark are service marks of The United States Commodity Funds LLC. The United States Commodity Funds® is a registered trademark. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC is the owner of the SummerHaven Dynamic Agriculture Index Total Return℠ | All rights reserved.

© Copyright 2012-2013 | United States Agriculture Index Fund | All rights reserved.