BNO vs DBE

BNOCUnited States Brent Oil Fund LP

DBEBInvesco DB Energy Fund

In short

BNO Most US oil funds follow WTI. BNO follows Brent, the barrel the rest of the world prices off, through short-term Brent futures. Running since 2010, it is a plain wrapper on that specific price.

DBE Most energy ETFs buy the companies. DBE buys the barrels: a basket of energy futures tracking an Invesco commodity index, running since 2007.

Stated mandate

BNO BNO seeks to track daily percentage changes in Brent crude oil’s spot price through a specified short-term Brent crude oil futures contract, plus collateral interest and less expenses.

DBE The fund seeks to follow both increases and decreases in the DBIQ Optimum Yield Energy Index Excess Return.

Why people hold it

• BNO Brent, not WTI. It targets daily percentage changes in Brent crude through a specified short-term Brent futures contract, plus collateral interest, less expenses.
• Futures exposure with no oil-company stocks in the middle, so refinery margins and drilling budgets do not sit between you and the barrel price.
• Trading since 2010, a few hundred million dollars in size and actively traded: not a thin, brand-new wrapper on a niche benchmark.

• DBE Holds energy futures tracking the DBIQ Optimum Yield Energy Index Excess Return, so it follows fuel prices themselves rather than oil-company earnings, buybacks or balance sheets.invesco.com
• Live since 2007, which puts multiple full commodity cycles behind it. That kind of run time is uncommon among futures-based funds.
• At 0.79% it sits right at the median for its energy peer group, and the fund handles the futures contracts, rolls and collateral you would otherwise manage yourself.

Worth knowing

• BNO The 1.15% expense ratio is commodity-pool pricing. WTI-based peers OILK (0.69%) and DBO (0.81%) charge less, though they track a different barrel.
• A limited partnership commodity pool, so tax paperwork runs through partnership reporting rather than the 1099 most ETFs send. Peer OILK exists as the K-1 free route.
• The stated objective is daily, using one short-term contract that gets rolled forward. Over longer holds, results can separate from spot Brent as the futures curve shifts.

• DBE It is structured as a partnership, so tax time brings a Schedule K-1 instead of the usual 1099. Worth knowing before one shows up in the mail.invesco.com
• Futures plumbing costs more than owning stocks. Equity-based energy peers like XES (0.35%) and MLPX (0.45%) charge well under half of DBE's 0.79%.
• A single-commodity-complex bet that follows energy futures both up and down, with no company dividends underneath. Our overall read places it in the lower half of its energy cohort.

Full BNO profile⁠

Full DBE profile⁠