CCOM vs USG

CCOMFSimplify Chinese Commodities Strategy No K-1 ETF

USGBUSCF Gold Strategy Plus Income Fund

In short

CCOM Chinese commodity futures are a market most US investors never see. CCOM trades them systematically, long and short, inside a 1940 Act fund that sends a 1099 instead of a K-1.

USG Gold with a paycheck attached. USG holds claims on real gold bars plus collateralized futures, sells call options against that gold, and distributes quarterly, at one of the lowest fees in the commodity-futures crowd.

Stated mandate

CCOM The fund seeks long-term capital appreciation through systematic investment in commodity futures traded on major Chinese exchanges. Its strategy uses systematic long/short models.

USG The Fund seeks long-term results that generally correspond to gold-price performance while generating dividend income from selling gold call options and collateral interest. It obtains gold exposure through gold warrants, collateralized futures, and related derivatives.

Why people hold it

• CCOM Targets commodity futures on China's major exchanges, a pool of contracts priced by local supply and demand rather than the usual US benchmarks.
• The models go long and short, so the fund can position for falling contracts as well as rising ones instead of riding one direction.
• No Schedule K-1. It is built as a 1940 Act fund, so tax time brings a 1099 like any ordinary ETF.
• Simplify already runs the broad-basket version (HARD); CCOM is the China-only slice for investors who want that exposure separated out.

• USG At 0.45% a year it charges well under the 0.79% cohort median, and less than top-ranked commodity peers PDBC, SOYB and WEAT.
• Gold that throws off cash: the fund writes call options against its gold exposure and earns collateral interest, then pays shareholders quarterly.uscfinvestments.com
• Exposure comes via COMEX gold warrants (ownership claims on bars in licensed depositories) and fully collateralized futures, actively run through a Cayman subsidiary capped at 25% of assets.alpsinc.com
• USCF states the fund delivers its gold-plus-income strategy without a K-1, sparing the tax-form headache common to commodity products.uscfinvestments.comalpsinc.com

Worth knowing

• CCOM The fee is 0.99% a year, above the typical charge among commodity futures funds. That is the toll for a strategy reaching markets few US managers access.
• Launched in 2026 and lightly traded, so there is not much history to judge and spreads can run wider than in the big commodity ETFs.
• Not a plain commodity tracker. The short book means results can move apart from a straight long basket of commodities, in either direction.

• USG Covered calls swap upside for income. Above the strike plus premium collected, further gold gains go to the option buyer, while the fund keeps the downside if gold slides.alpsinc.com
• A small fund that trades thinly, so bid-ask spreads can run wider than on the household-name gold ETFs.
• Payouts can include return of capital, meaning part of a distribution may be capital coming back rather than income the fund earned.

Full CCOM profile⁠

Full USG profile⁠