Agriculture

DBA's take on agriculture futures looks and behaves very little like our benchmark. It broadens its holdings to include livestock in its universe in exchange for under-weighting heavily produced commodities like corn and wheat, and chooses the contracts it holds based on the shape of the futures curve (in order to dampen contango effects). Investors will therefore get less sensitivity to short-term spot movements, as well as exposure to different risk factors. Still, it's an easy fund to trade, with high daily volumes and extremely low spreads for the segment. The fund is reasonably priced, though the fund's structure as a commodities pool means that holders will receive a K-1, which could be a headache.