Teucrium Trading, LLC (Teucrium), the first company to introduce a single agricultural commodity Exchange Traded Product (ETP) in the United States, has launched three additional single commodity ETPs for the agricultural space –The Teucrium Soybean Fund ; The Teucrium Sugar Fund ; and The Teucrium Wheat Fund.
The funds will trade on the New York Stock Exchange Arca and join the Teucrium Corn Fund CORN -0.73% , the nation’s first pure play agriculture fund, which was successfully launched in June 2010, and the Teucrium Natural Gas Fund NAGS -2.25% and the Teucrium WTI Crude Oil Fund CRUD -0.85% , both launched in February 2011.
“As the global economy and populations in emerging market countries like China, India and Brazil continue to expand faster than developed countries, the demand for and use of corn, soybeans, sugar and wheat is extraordinary, presenting the opportunity for a great investment opportunity,” says Sal Gilbertie (pictured), President of Teucrium Trading, LLC.
“Until now,” says Gilbertie, who has traded commodities for nearly his entire professional career, “there has not been an investment vehicle available to investors who want to invest directly or exclusively in soybeans, wheat or sugar without having to trade futures contracts, something better left to all but the most sophisticated and knowledgeable investors.”
By making single commodities available in an ETP structure, Gilbertie says: “Investors not only get exposure to commodities, an increasingly important asset class — without having to directly trade in futures — they get the opportunity to diversify their portfolios by investing in an unleveraged, liquid, and transparent security traded on the New York Stock Exchange.”
According to Gilbertie, the Teucrium funds were specifically designed with these features to appeal to Registered Investment Advisors, hedge funds, institutional and individual investors who want to invest in commodities through an easily understood and traded investment product backed by a specific pool of assets.
As opposed to many first generation products that hold only a single month futures contract, Gilbertie said the Teucrium Funds have a diversified futures structure and hold contracts in multiple months, significantly reducing the cost of carrying and rolling the futures, and resulting in the potential for better returns.
The funds will be managed by Gilbertie and Kelly Teevan, each of whom has spent most of their professional careers trading commodities.
