New corn ETF second only to buying actual corn, says Teucrium's Gilbertie

Financial advisers and asset allocators looking for specific exposure to select commodities should keep an eye on the Teucrium Corn Fund Ticker:(CORN), the first single-commodity exchange-traded fund. The fund, launched last month by Teucrium Trading LLC after a year in registration, will be followed by five similar ETFs that the company has already registered offering exposure to beans, wheat, sugar, crude oil and natural gas. “It’s a new world, where the demand for commodities is growing, and there’s an intense desire for investment exposure,” said Sal Gilbertie, Teucrium president and chief investment officer. The corn ETF, like Teucrium’s other ETFs in registration, uses staggered futures contracts to track the current price of the commodity. “This is giving investors direct exposure to the price of corn that is second only to buying the actual corn and storing it in a silo in your yard,” Mr. Gilbertie said. By any measure, corn is the largest of all commodities and generally makes up between 4% and 8% of most commodities indexes. Investors seeking to gain exposure comparable to the corn ETF would have to open a futures trading account, something a lot of financial intermediaries are prohibited from doing. “With this fund you can be precise in adding or trimming exposure to the commodity,” Mr. Gilbertie said. Portfolio Manager Perspectives are regular interviews with some of the most respected and influential fund managers in the investment industry. For more information, please visit InvestmentNews.com/pmperspectives.