Prior to April 1, 2017, interest income on 80% of the average daily equity maintained in cash in the Partnership’s (or the Partnership’s allocable portion of the Master’s) brokerage account during each month was earned at the monthly average of the4-week U.S. Treasury bill discount rate. Effective April 1, 2017, interest income is earned on 100% of the average daily equity maintained in cash in the Partnership’s (or the Partnership’s allocable portion of the Master’s, prior to the Partnership’s full redemption from the Master effective July 14, 2017) brokerage account at MS&Co. during each month at a rate equal to the monthly average of the4-week U.S. Treasury bill discount rate. For the avoidance of doubt, the Fund will not receive interest on amounts in the futures brokerage account that are committed to margin. During the reporting periods, any interest earned on the Partnership’s account in excess of the amounts described above, if any, will be retained by MS&Co. and/or shared with the General Partner. All interest earned on U.S. Treasury bills and money market mutual fund securities will be retained by the Partnership. Interest income earned directly or allocated from the Master for the three and twelve months ended December 31, 2018 increased by $21,512 and $115,424, respectively, as compared to the corresponding periods in 2017. The increase in interest income is primarily due to higher interest rates during the three and twelve months ended December 31, 2018 as compared to the corresponding periods in 2017. Interest earned by the Partnership will increase the net asset value of the Partnership. The amount of interest income earned by the Partnership depends on (1) the average daily equity maintained in cash in the Partnership’s and/or (prior to the Partnership’s full redemption from the Master effective July 14, 2017) the Master’s accounts, (2) the amount of Treasury bills and/or money market mutual fund securities held by the Partnership and/or (prior to July 14, 2017) the Master, and (3) interest rates over which the Partnership and MS&Co. have, and the Master had, no control.
Ongoing selling agent fees are calculated as a percentage of the Partnership’s adjusted net asset value of Class A Redeemable Units as of the end of each month and are affected by trading performance, subscriptions and redemptions. Accordingly, they must be analyzed in relation to the fluctuations in the monthly net asset values. Ongoing selling agent fees for the three and twelve months ended December 31, 2018 decreased by $31,357 and $143,045, respectively, as compared to the corresponding periods in 2017. The decrease in ongoing selling agent fees is due to an decrease in average net assets attributable to Class A Redeemable Units during the three and twelve months ended December 31, 2018, as compared to the corresponding periods in 2017.
Management fees are calculated as a percentage of the Partnership’s adjusted net assets per Class as of the end of each month and are affected by trading performance, subscriptions and redemptions. Accordingly, they must be analyzed in relation to the fluctuations in monthly net asset values. Management fees for the three and twelve months ended December 31, 2018 decreased by $23,902 and $108,887, respectively, as compared to the corresponding periods in 2017. The decrease in management fees is due to an decrease in average adjusted net assets per Class during the three and twelve months ended December 31, 2018 as compared to the corresponding periods in 2017.
Fees are paid to the General Partner for administering the business and affairs of the Partnership including, among other factors, (i) selecting, appointing and terminating the Partnership’s commodity trading advisor and (ii) monitoring the activities of the commodity trading advisor. These fees are calculated as a percentage of the Partnership’s adjusted net assets per Class as of the end of each month and are affected by trading performance, subscriptions and redemptions. Accordingly, they must be analyzed in relation to the fluctuations in monthly net asset values. General Partner fees for the three and twelve months ended December 31, 2018 decreased by $15,935 and $72,593, respectively, as compared to the corresponding periods in 2017. The decrease in General Partner fees is due to an decrease in average adjusted net assets per Class during the three and twelve months ended December 31, 2018 as compared to the corresponding periods in 2017.
Incentive fees are based on the new trading profits generated by the Advisor at the end of the quarter, as defined in the advisory agreement between the Partnership, the General Partner and the Advisor. There were no incentive fees earned for the three and twelve months ended December 31, 2018 and 2017. To the extent the Advisor incurs a loss for the Partnership, the Advisor will not be paid incentive fees until the Advisor recovers any net loss incurred by the Advisor and earns additional new trading profits for the Partnership.
The Partnership pays professional fees, which generally include fees such as legal and accounting expenses related to the offering, certain offering costs and filing, reporting and data processing fees. Professional fees for the years ended 2018 and 2017 were $279,058 and $255,641, respectively.
The Partnership, through its investment in the Master, experienced a net trading loss before fees and expenses for the year ended December 31, 2016 of $1,818,407. Losses were primarily attributable to the Master’s trading of commodity futures in currencies, energy, indices, U.S. interest rates, livestock, metals and softs and were partially offset by gains in grains andnon-U.S. interest rates.
23