Comprehensive Investment Analysis: BNO United States Brent Oil Fund
The BNO United States Brent Oil Fund, LP (BNO) is a unique U.S.-listed financial product, structured as a commodity pool and Limited Partnership (LP), designed to provide investors with exposure to the price movements of Brent crude oil. Since its inception on June 2, 2010, BNO has served as a direct and often highly volatile proxy for global oil prices, specifically targeting the near-month futures contract for Brent crude oil traded on the ICE Futures Exchange.
With Assets Under Management (AUM) typically fluctuating around $110 million, BNO is a focused investment vehicle. Its primary objective is to track the daily percentage changes of its benchmark Brent crude oil futures contract. A key characteristic is its high Gross Expense Ratio of 1.14%, which is significantly higher than most broad-based equity Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs). Furthermore, as a commodity tracking product, BNO has a 0.00% Dividend Yield, as it generates no traditional equity income distributions.
The fund’s investment strategy is entirely centered on Brent crude oil futures contracts. The portfolio composition typically consists of roughly 50% Brent crude oil futures contracts and 50% cash and cash equivalents, such as U.S. Treasury securities and high-quality money market instruments, which are held as collateral for the futures positions. This reliance on futures introduces the critical concept of roll yield risk—the potential for divergence between the fund's returns and the spot price of oil due to the continuous process of "rolling" expiring near-month contracts into later-month contracts, a process which can be particularly costly during periods of contango (where future prices are higher than current spot prices).
BNO’s historical performance is characterized by extreme volatility, reflecting the cyclical and geopolitical nature of the global oil market. While specific short-term returns vary dramatically, the fund has historically delivered significant drawdowns and large spikes, making it unsuitable for investors seeking stability.
Volatility and Risk Measures: The fund exhibits a 60-Month Standard Deviation of approximately 22.43, confirming its classification as a high-risk, high-volatility asset. When compared to the broader equity market, BNO maintains a 60-Month Beta of approximately 1.07 relative to the S&P 500 Index. This metric is a crucial finding, as it suggests that, over the long term, BNO's price movements tend to trend in the same direction as the U.S. stock market, albeit with greater magnitude. The high positive beta indicates that BNO is not an effective short-term diversifier against broad market equity risk.
Tracking Error: As a futures-based fund, BNO faces inherent challenges in precisely tracking the spot price of oil. The fund addresses this by aiming to keep the daily percentage change in its Net Asset Value (NAV) within a qualitative benchmark: plus/minus ten percent (10%) of the average daily change in the Benchmark Futures Contract price over any 30-day period.
Product Overview and StrategyPerformance and Volatility