Investing in Commodity ETFs

Why Invest in Commodities?

By definition, commodities are basic goods used as inputs in the economy. As such, basic goods can potentially be good investments. Some commodities, such as precious metals, are used as a store of value and a hedge against inflation.

Commodities are an asset class that is typically negatively correlated with other asset classes, such as stocks and bonds. This means that when stocks and bonds decrease in value, commodities will increase in value, and vice versa. As a result, they offer investors a good way to diversify their investment portfolio. Commodities also offer a hedge against inflation.

The problem for most ordinary investors is that historically, it was difficult to get direct exposure to commodities in a cost-effective and risk-tolerable manner.

The Solution: Commodity ETFs

Commodity ETFs enable investors to gain exposure to individual commodities or baskets of commodities in a simple, relatively low-risk and cost-effective manner. There are numerous ETFs that track different commodities, including base metals, precious metals, energy, and agricultural goods, with which investors can design their ideal commodity exposure.

A commodity ETF is usually focused on either a single commodity—holding it in physical storage—or is focused on investments in futures contracts. Other commodity ETFs look to track the performance of a commodity index that includes dozens of individual commodities through a combination of physical storage and derivatives positions.

Types of Commodity ETFs

There are four different types of commodity ETFs:

There are advantages and disadvantages to each of the different types, so the choice will depend on an individual investor’s investment goals, risk tolerance, and cost tolerance.

Equity Funds

Equity-based commodity ETFs hold stock in the companies that produce, transport, and store commodities. An equity-based commodity ETF can give investors exposure to multiple companies or specific sectors, but in a simpler, more inexpensive manner than buying the underlying companies themselves.

This can also be a cheaper and safer way to gain exposure to commodities, as the risks involved with both physical and futures commodity ETFs don’t apply. Also, because of passive investing and economies of scale, the expense ratios for the funds may be lower. The drawback is that investing in equity places an additional layer—the company structure itself—between the investor and the commodity they want to gain exposure to.

Exchange-Traded Notes (ETNs)

The second type of commodity ETF is an exchange-traded note (ETN), which is a debt instrument issued by a bank. It is senior, unsecured debt that has a maturity date and is backed by the issuer. ETNs seek to match the returns of an underlying asset and they do so by employing different strategies, including buying stocks, bonds, and options. The advantages of ETNs are that there is no tracking error between the ETN and the asset it is tracking and they receive better tax treatment because an investor only pays regular capital gains when it is sold. The main risk involved with ETNs is the credit quality of the issuing institution.

Physically Backed Funds

The third type, physically backed ETFs, actually hold physical commodities in their possession and are limited to precious metals at the moment. The advantage of a physical ETF is that it actually owns and has possession of the commodity. This removes both tracking and counterparty risk. Tracking risk occurs when the ETF you own doesn’t provide the same returns as the asset it is supposed to track. Counterparty risk is the risk that the seller does not actually deliver the commodity as promised.

The disadvantage of physically backed ETFs is that there are costs involved with delivering, holding, storing, and insuring physical commodities—costs that can add up. The avoidance of these costs is what often pushes investors to buy commodity futures instead. And note that physical precious metal ETFs are taxed as collectibles, which means capital gains are taxed at your marginal tax rate, depending on your tax bracket. Short-term gains are taxed at ordinary income rates.

Futures-Based Funds

The most popular type of commodity ETFs are futures-based. These ETFs build a portfolio of futures, forwards, and swap contracts on the underlying commodities. The advantage of a futures-based ETF is that the ETF is free of the costs of holding and storing the underlying commodity. But there are other risks that relate to the futures contracts themselves.

Most futures-based commodity ETFs pursue a “front-month” roll strategy where they hold “front-month” futures, which are the futures that are closest to expiring. The ETF needs to replace those futures before they expire with the second-month (the subsequent month) futures. The advantage of this strategy is that it closely tracks the current, or spot, price for the commodity. The disadvantage is the ETF is exposed to “rolling risk” as the expiring front-month contracts are “rolled” into the second-month contracts.

The majority of futures-based commodity ETFs are incorporated as limited partnerships. For tax purposes, 60% of the gains are taxed as long-term capital gains and the remaining 40% are taxed at the investor’s ordinary tax rate. Another thing to consider is that the LP’s gains are marked to market at the end of the year, which may create a taxable event for an investor, even if they haven’t sold any of their shares in the ETF.

Unique Risks of Commodity Investment

Commodity markets are usually in one of two different states: contango or backwardation. When futures are in contango, prices for a particular future are higher in the future than they are now. When futures are in backwardation, prices for a commodity are higher now than they are in the future.

When a futures market is in contango, the rolling risk is “negative,” which means that a commodity ETF will be selling lower-priced futures that are expiring and buying higher-priced futures, which is known as “negative roll yield.” The cost of adding higher-priced futures reduces returns and acts as a drag on the ETF, preventing it from accurately tracking the spot price of the commodity.

There are commodity ETFs that pursue laddered strategies and optimized strategies that are designed to avoid the risks posed by a market that is in contango. A laddered strategy uses futures with multiple expiry dates, which means not all the futures contracts are replaced at once. An optimized strategy attempts to choose futures contracts that have the mildest contango and the steepest backwardation in an attempt to minimize costs and maximize yields. Both of these approaches may minimize costs but do so at the expense of actually tracking and potentially benefiting from short term moves in the price of the underlying commodity. As such, they may be more suitable for longer-term, more risk-averse investors.

When a futures market is in backwardation, the rolling risk is “positive,” which means a commodity ETF will be selling higher-priced futures that are expiring and buying lower-priced futures, creating what is known as “positive roll yield.”

Regardless of which condition the futures market is in, futures-based commodity ETFs incur higher expenses because of the need to constantly roll over futures contracts. As of May 2023, expense ratios for unleveraged futures-based commodity ETFs typically range from near 0% up to 3%. However, these fees vary from fund to fund and commodity to commodity. Be aware that leveraged commodity fund expense ratios typically start at 1.00% and can often range higher.

An additional risk that futures-based commodity ETFs face is that instead of simply tracking commodity prices, ETFs may influence futures prices themselves due to their need to buy or sell large numbers of futures contracts at predictable times, known as a “roll schedule.” This also places the ETFs at the mercy of traders who may bid prices up or down in anticipation of the ETF trade orders. Finally, ETFs may be limited in the size of the commodity positions that they can take on due to commodity trading regulations.

Examples of Commodity ETFs in the Market

Commodity ETFs track a wide range of underlying commodities, some of which include precious metals, oil, and natural gas. Further, other commodity ETFs instead track a diversified basket of commodities. Investors should always do their own research, but some of the best commodity ETFs are as follows: Precious metals like gold and silver are popular ETFs because the underlying commodity can’t go bad or spoil. The SPDR Gold Shares and iShares Silver Trust are two of the largest gold and silver ETFs. The SPDR Gold Shares ETF has an expense ratio of 0.40%, and the iShares Silver Trust has an expense ratio of 0.50%.

Another popular type of commodity ETF is oil and natural gas. However, since oil and gas can’t be stockpiled like precious metals, these ETFs invest in futures contracts instead of the commodity itself. The SPDR S&P Oil & Gas Exploration and Production ETF has a diversified portfolio of about 60 oil- and gas-producing companies and has an annual expense ratio of 0.35%.

Some investors like to increase diversification through diversified commodities ETFs. These ETFs, such as the iShares MSCI Agriculture Producers ETF, tracks the MSCI ACWI Select Agriculture Producers Investable Market Index.

The Bottom Line

Commodity ETFs can be a great way for investors to gain some commodity exposure in their portfolio. There are many different types of commodity ETFs that focus on different commodities, use different strategies, and have varying expense ratios. The selection of what ETF is right for you will depend on your investment goals and risk tolerance. Take heed, do your research, and know what you’re buying.

Commodity funds often create their own benchmark indexes that may include only agricultural products, natural resources, or metals. As such, there is often tracking error around broader commodity indexes like the Dow Jones Commodity Index. Even so, any commodity ETF should be passively invested in once the underlying index methodology is in place. Commodity ETFs have soared in popularity because they give investors exposure to commodities without requiring the investors to learn how to purchase futures or other derivative products.