Calculation of Net Asset Value
The Fund calculates its net asset value on each trading day by taking the current market value of its total assets, subtracting any liabilities and dividing the amount by the total number of Units issued and outstanding. The Fund uses the NYMEX closing price on that day to determine the value of contracts held on the NYMEX.
Net Income (Loss) per Unit
Net income (loss) per Unit is the difference between the net asset value per Unit at the beginning of each period and at the end of each period. The weighted average number of Units outstanding was computed for purposes of disclosing net loss per weighted average Unit. The weighted average Units are equal to the number of Units outstanding at the end of the period, adjusted proportionately for Units redeemed based on the amount of time the Units were outstanding during such period. There were no Units held by the General Partner at September 30, 2007.
Offering Costs
Offering costs incurred in connection with the registration of additional Units after the initial registration of Units are borne by the Fund. These costs include registration fees paid to regulatory agencies and all legal, accounting, printing and other expenses associated therewith. These costs will be accounted for as a deferred charge and thereafter amortized to expense over twelve months on a straight line basis or a shorter period if warranted.
Cash Equivalents
Cash and cash equivalents include money market portfolios and overnight time deposits with original maturity dates of three months or less.
Use of Estimates
The preparation of condensed financial statements in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America requires the Fund’s management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amount of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the condensed financial statements, and the reported amounts of the revenue and expenses during the reporting period. Actual results could differ from those estimates and assumptions.
NOTE 3 - FEES PAID BY THE FUND AND RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS
General Partner Management Fee
Under the Limited Partnership Agreement, the General Partner is responsible for investing the assets of the Fund in accordance with the objectives and policies of the Fund. In addition, the General Partner has arranged for one or more third parties to provide administrative, custody, accounting, transfer agency and other necessary services to the Fund. For these services, the Fund is contractually obligated to pay the General Partner a fee, which is paid monthly and based on average daily net assets, that is equal to 0.60% per annum on average daily net assets of $1,000,000,000 or less and 0.50% per annum on average daily net assets that are greater than $1,000,000,000.
Prior to its inception, the Fund incurred offering and organizational costs in the amount of $670,764, all of which were funded by the General Partner. The Fund does not have any obligation or intention to reimburse such payments.
Ongoing Registration Fees
The Fund pays all costs and expenses associated with the ongoing registration of Units subsequent to the intial offering. These costs include registration or other fees paid to regulatory agencies in connection with the offer and sale of Units, and all legal, accounting, printing, and other expenses associated with such offer and sale. For the period from April 18, 2007 through September 30, 2007, the Fund did not incur ongoing registration fees as stated above.
Directors’ Fees
The Fund is responsible for paying the fees and expenses, including directors' and officers' liability insurance, of the independent directors of the General Partner who are also audit committee members. The Fund shares these fees with USOF based on the relative assets of each fund, computed on a daily basis. These fees for calendar year 2007 are estimated to be a total of $276,000 for both funds.
Licensing Fees
As discussed in Note 4, the Fund entered into a licensing agreement with the NYMEX on May 30, 2007. The agreement has an effective date of April 10, 2006. Pursuant to the agreement, the Fund and the affiliated funds managed by the General Partner pay a licensing fee that is equal to 0.04% for the first $1,000,000,000 of combined assets of the funds and 0.02% for combined assets above $1,000,000,000. For the period from April 18, 2007 through September 30, 2007, the Fund incurred $29,692 under this arrangement.
Investor Tax Reporting Cost
The fees and expenses associated with the Fund's tax accounting and reporting requirements, with the exception of certain initial implementation service fees and base service fees which will be borne by the General Partner, will be paid by the Fund. These costs are estimated to be $450,000 for the year ending December 31, 2007.
Other Expenses and Fees
In addition to the fees described above, the Fund pays all brokerage fees, taxes and other expenses in connection with the operation of the Fund, excluding costs and expenses paid by the General Partner as outlined in Note 4.
NOTE 4 - CONTRACTS AND AGREEMENTS
The Fund is party to a marketing agent agreement, dated as of April 17, 2007, with ALPS Distributors Inc. (“ALPS”), a Colorado corporation, whereby ALPS provides certain marketing services for the Fund as outlined in the agreement. The fees of the marketing agent, which are borne by the General Partner, are equal to 0.06% on Fund assets up to $3 billion and 0.04% on Fund assets in excess of $3 billion.
The above fees do not include the following expenses, which are also borne by the General Partner: the cost of placing advertisements in various periodicals; web construction and development; and the printing and production of various marketing materials.
The Fund is also party to a custodian agreement, dated January 12, 2007, with Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. (“Brown Brothers”), whereby Brown Brothers holds investments on behalf of the Fund. The General Partner pays the fees of the custodian, which shall be determined by the parties from time to time. In addition, the Fund is party to an administrative agency agreement, dated March 5, 2007, with the General Partner and Brown Brothers, whereby Brown Brothers acts as the administrative agent, transfer agent and registrar for the Fund. The General Partner also pays the fees of Brown Brothers for its services under this agreement and such fees will be determined by the parties from time to time.
Currently, the General Partner pays Brown Brothers for its services, in the foregoing capacities, the greater of a minimum amount of $125,000 annually or an asset charge of (a) 0.06% for the first $500 million of USOF and USNG’s combined net assets, (b) 0.0465% for USOF and USNG’s combined net assets greater than $500 million but less than $1 billion, and (c) 0.035% for USOF and USNG’s combined net assets in excess of $1 billion. The General Partner also pays a $25,000 annual fee for transfer agency services and transaction fees ranging from $7.00 to $15.00 per transaction.
The Fund invests primarily in Futures Contracts traded on the NYMEX. On May 30, 2007, the Fund and the NYMEX entered into a licensing agreement whereby the Fund was granted a non-exclusive license to use certain of the NYMEX’s settlement prices and service marks. The agreement has an effective date of April 10, 2006. Under the licensing agreement, the Fund and the affiliated funds managed by the General Partner pay the NYMEX an asset-based fee for the license, the terms of which are described in Note 3.
The Fund expressly disclaims any association with the NYMEX or endorsement of the Fund by the NYMEX and acknowledges that “NYMEX” and “New York Mercantile Exchange” are registered trademarks of the NYMEX.
The Fund has entered into a brokerage agreement with UBS Securities LLC (the "Futures Commission Merchant"). The agreement requires the Futures Commission Merchant to provide services to the Fund in connection with the purchase and sale of Futures Contracts and Other Natural Gas-Related Interests that may be purchased and sold by or through the Futures Commission Merchant for the Fund’s account. The agreement provides that the Futures Commission Merchant charge the Fund commissions of approximately $7 per round-turn trade, plus applicable exchange and NFA fees for Futures Contracts and options on Futures Contracts.
NOTE 5 - FINANCIAL INSTRUMENTS, OFF-BALANCE SHEET RISKS AND CONTINGENCIES
The Fund engages in the speculative trading of Futures Contracts and options on Futures Contracts (collectively, “derivatives”). The Fund is exposed to both market risk, which is the risk arising from changes in the market value of the contracts, and credit risk, which is the risk of failure by another party to perform according to the terms of a contract.
All of the contracts currently traded by the Fund are exchange-traded. The risks associated with exchange-traded contracts are generally perceived to be less than those associated with over-the-counter transactions since, in over-the-counter transactions, the Fund must rely solely on the credit of its respective individual counterparties. However, in the future, if the Fund were to enter into non-exchange traded contracts, it would be subject to the credit risk associated with counterparty non-performance. The credit risk from counterparty non-performance associated with such instruments is the net unrealized gain, if any. The Fund also has credit risk, since the sole counterparty to all domestic futures contracts is the exchange clearing corporation. In addition, the Fund bears the risk of financial failure by the clearing broker.
The purchase and sale of futures and options on Futures Contracts requires margin deposits with a futures commission merchant. Additional deposits may be necessary for any loss on contract value. The Commodity Exchange Act requires a futures commission merchant to segregate all customer transactions and assets from the futures commission merchant’s proprietary activities.
The Fund’s cash and other property, such as U.S. Treasury Bills, deposited with a futures commission merchant are considered commingled with all other customer funds subject to the futures commission merchant’s segregation requirements. In the event of a futures commission merchant’s insolvency, recovery may be limited to a pro rata share of segregated funds available. It is possible that the recovered amount could be less than the total amount of cash and other property deposited.
USNG invests its cash in money market funds that seek to maintain a stable net asset value. USNG is exposed to any risk of loss associated with an investment in these money market funds. As of September 30, 2007, USNG had deposits in domestic and foreign financial institutions in the amount of $267,221,027. This amount is subject to loss should these institutions cease operations.
For derivatives, risks arise from changes in the market value of the contracts. Theoretically, the Fund is exposed to market risk equal to the value of Futures Contracts purchased and unlimited liability on such contracts sold short. As both a buyer and a seller of options, the Fund pays or receives a premium at the outset and then bears the risk of unfavorable changes in the price of the contract underlying the option.
The Fund’s policy is to continuously monitor its exposure to market and counterparty risk through the use of a variety of financial, position and credit exposure reporting controls and procedures. In addition, the Fund has a policy requiring review of the credit standing of each broker or counterparty with which it conducts business.
The financial instruments held by the Fund are reported in its condensed statement of financial condition at market or fair value, or at carrying amounts that approximate fair value, because of their highly liquid nature and short-term maturity.
On March 17, 2006, USOF received a letter from Goldman, Sachs & Co. (“Goldman Sachs”) providing it with notice under 35 U.S.C. Section 154(d) of two pending United States patent applications, Publication Nos. 2004/0225593A1 and 2006/0036533A1. USOF is currently reviewing the Goldman Sachs published patent applications, and has engaged in discussions with Goldman Sachs regarding its pending applications and USOF’s own pending patent application. USNG and USOF are similarly structured and USNG is a commodity pool that is administered like USOF. USNG and USOF are unable to determine the outcome of this matter at this time, due in part to the fact that the Goldman Sachs patent applications are pending and have not been issued as U.S. Patents.
NOTE 6 - FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS
The following table presents per Unit performance data and other supplemental financial data for the three months ended September 30, 2007 and the period from April 18, 2007 (commencement of operations) to September 30, 2007 for the limited partners. This information has been derived from information presented in the condensed financial statements.
| | | | For the period from | |
| | For the three months ended | | April 18, 2007 to | |
| | September 30, 2007 | | September 30, 2007 | |
| | (Unaudited) | | (Unaudited) | |
Per Unit Operating Performance: | | | | | |
| | | | | |
Net asset value, beginning of period | | $ | 43.49 | | $ | 50.00 | |
Total loss | | | (5.19 | ) | | (11.62 | ) |
Total expenses | | | (0.09 | ) | | (0.17 | ) |
Net decrease in net asset value | | | (5.28 | ) | | (11.79 | ) |
Net asset value, end of period | | $ | 38.21 | | $ | 38.21 | |
| | | | | | | |
Total Return | | | (12.14 | )% | | (23.58 | )% |
| | | | | | | |
Ratios to Average Net Assets (annualized) | | | | | | | |
Total income | | | 13.42 | % | | 1.34 | % |
Expenses excluding management fees | | | (0.36 | )% | | (0.34 | )% |
Management fees | | | (0.60 | )% | | (0.60 | )% |
Net income | | | 12.46 | % | | 0.40 | % |
Total returns are calculated based on the change in value during the period. An individual limited partner's total return and ratio may vary from the above total returns and ratios based on the timing of contributions to and withdrawals from the Fund.
NOTE 7 - SUBSEQUENT EVENTS
On November 6, 2007, the Fund filed a Registration Statement on Form S-1 with the SEC to register an additional 50,000,000 Units.