Fund Objective & Key Features
The United States Gasoline Fund, LP ("UGA") is a domestic exchange traded security designed to track in percentage terms the movements of gasoline prices.
UGA is a commodity pool organized as a Delaware limited partnership that issues units that may be purchased and sold on the NYSE Arca.
UGA's Objective
The investment objective of UGA is for the changes in percentage terms of the unit's net asset value to reflect the changes in percentage terms of the price of gasoline, as measured by the changes in the price of the futures contract on unleaded gasoline delivered to the New York harbor traded on the New York Mercantile Exchange that is the near month contract to expire, except when the near month contract is within two weeks of expiration, in which case it will be measured by the futures contract that is the next month contract to expire, less UGA's expenses.
UGA's Target
Gasoline is one of the most important physical commodities in the global economy. Gasoline futures are one of the most actively traded futures contracts and represent the primary US benchmark for gasoline prices.
UGA's Portfolio
The portfolio consists of listed gasoline futures contracts and other gasoline related futures, forwards and swap contracts. These investmentswill be collateralized by cash, cash equivalents and US government obligations with remaining maturities of two years or less.
UGA's Key Features
- United States Gasoline Fund, LP is an exchange traded security listed on NYSE Arca under the symbol UGA. The symbol for UGA's Indicative Intraday Fund ("IIF") Value is UGA.IV. The symbol for UGA's net asset value ("NAV") is UGA. The symbol for UGA's shares outstanding is UGA.SO.
- UGA's units will trade throughout the market day.
- Units will be created and redeemed by "authorized purchasers" ("AP").
- An AP purchases or redeems creation baskets or redemption baskets, respectively, from or to UGA.
- UGA does NOT seek to use leverage and targets a 1:1 relationship between assets and gasoline exposure.
- The management fee starts at 0.60% and drops to 0.50% for assets above $1 billion.
- United States Commodity Funds, LLC , UGA's manager and General Partner, seeks to minimize tracking error, NOT outperform the market.
- Transparent portfolio market price, NAV, and portfolio holdings.
- Annual tax reporting done by PricewaterhouseCoopers.
UGA's Creation & Redemption Process
- Creation/redemption basket size 100,000 units
- Order cut-off for APs is 12:00 pm EST
- UGA's NAV calculated as of 4:00 pm EST
- Settlement is T+3
- Transaction charge for each AP order is $1,000 (per order, not per basket)
- Creation payment is in cash and/or acceptable Treasuries
- Custodian is Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.
- Marketing Agent is ALPS Distributors, Inc.
U.S. Federal Income Tax Considerations
A summary of the material U.S. federal income tax consequences of the purchase, ownership and disposition of units in UGA, and the U.S. federal income tax treatment of UGA, is set forth in the Prospectus .
Each prospective investor is advised to consult its own tax advisor as to the U.S. federal income tax consequences of an investment in UGA to the investor and as to applicable state, local or foreign taxes.
Tax Status of UGA
UGA is organized and will be operated as a limited partnership in accordance with the provisions of the Amended and Restated Agreement of Limited Partnership, dated February 11, 2008, and applicable state law. Under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the "Code"), an entity classified as a partnership that is deemed to be a "publicly traded partnership" is generally taxable as a corporation for federal income tax purposes. The Code provides an exception to this general rule for a publicly traded partnership whose gross income for each taxable year of its existence consists of at least 90% "qualifying income" ("qualifying income exception"). For this purpose, section 7704 defines "qualifying income" as including, in pertinent part, interest (other than from a financial business), dividends and gains from the sale or disposition of capital assets held for the production of interest or dividends. In addition, in the case of a partnership a principal activity of which is the buying and selling of commodities (other than as inventory) or of futures, forwards and options with respect to commodities, "qualifying income" includes income and gains from such commodities and futures, forwards and options with respect to commodities. UGA and the General Partner have represented the following to Sutherland Asbill & Brennan LLP:
- at least 90% of UGA's gross income for each taxable year will constitute "qualifying income" within the meaning of Code section 7704 (as described above);
- UGA will be organized and operated in accordance with its governing agreements and applicable law; and
- UGA has not elected, and will not elect, to be classified as a corporation for U.S. federal income tax purposes.
Based in part on these representations, Sutherland Asbill & Brennan LLP is of the opinion that UGA will be classified as a partnership for federal income tax purposes and that it will not be taxable as a corporation for such purposes.
If UGA failed to satisfy the qualifying income exception in any year, other than a failure that is determined by the IRS to be inadvertent and that is cured within a reasonable time after discovery, UGA would be taxable as a corporation for federal income tax purposes and would pay federal income tax on its income at regular corporate rates. In that event, unitholders would not report their share of UGA's income or loss on their returns. In addition, distributions to unitholders would be treated as dividends to the extent of UGA's current and accumulated earnings and profits. To the extent a distribution exceeded UGA's earnings and profits, the distribution would be treated as a return of capital to the extent of a unitholder's basis in its units, and thereafter as gain from the sale of units. Accordingly, if UGA were to be taxable as a corporation, it would likely have a material adverse effect on the economic return from an investment in UGA and on the value of the units.
Under recently enacted legislation, interests in and income from "qualified publicly traded partnerships" satisfying certain gross income tests are treated as qualifying assets and income, respectively, for purposes of determining eligibility for regulated investment company ("RIC") status. A RIC may invest up to 25% of its assets in interests in a qualified publicly traded partnership. The determination of whether a publicly traded partnership such as UGA is a qualified publicly traded partnership is made on an annual basis. UGA expects to be a qualified publicly traded partnership in each of its taxable years. However, such qualification is not assured.
The foregoing is only a partial summary of the federal income tax consequences of an investment in UGA. The full summary can be found in the Prospectus .
| Fund Details | |
|---|---|
| UGA Data | as of 02/03/2012 |
| Ticker | UGA |
| IIV | UGA.IV |
| CUSIP | 91201T1025 |
| ISIN | US91201T1025 |
| Minimum Trade Size | 1unit |
| Marginable* | Yes |
| Options Traded | Yes |
| Administrator | Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. |
| Distributor | ALPS Distributors, Inc. |
| General Partner | United States Commodity Funds, LLC |
| Management Expense Ratio | 0.60% |
| Trading Increment | $0.01 |
*There are special risks associated with margin investing. Please ask your financial advisor for more information about these risks.





















