Financial Instrument Risk

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2019

Investments, All Other Investments [Abstract]

Financial Instrument Risk

(6) Financial Instrument Risk

In the normal course of its business, the Master Fund may be party to financial instruments with off-balance sheet risk. The term “off-balance sheet risk” refers to an unrecorded potential liability that, even though it does not appear on the balance sheet, may result in a future obligation or loss. The financial instruments used by the Master Fund are Commodity Futures, whose values are based upon an underlying asset and generally represent future commitments which have a reasonable possibility to be settled in cash or through physical delivery. These instruments are traded on an exchange and are standardized contracts.

Market risk is the potential for changes in the value of the financial instruments traded by the Master Fund due to market changes, including fluctuations in commodity prices. In entering into these contracts, there exists a market risk that such contracts may be significantly influenced by conditions, resulting in such contracts being less valuable. If the markets should move against all of the futures interest positions at the same time, and the Managing Owner is unable to offset such positions, the Master Fund could experience substantial losses.

Credit risk is the possibility that a loss may occur due to the failure of an exchange clearinghouse to perform according to the terms of a contract. Credit risk with respect to exchange-traded instruments is reduced to the extent that an exchange or clearing organization acts as counterparty to the transactions. The Master Fund’s risk of loss in the event of counterparty default is typically limited to the amounts recognized in the Statement of Financial Condition and not represented by the contract or notional amounts of the instruments.

The Fund and the Master Fund have not utilized, nor do they expect to utilize in the future, special purpose entities to facilitate off-balance sheet financing arrangements and have no loan guarantee arrangements or off-balance sheet arrangements of any kind other than agreements entered into in the normal course of business.