CMDY vs KRBN

CMDYBiShares Bloomberg Roll Select Commodity Strategy ETF

KRBNFKraneShares Global Carbon Strategy ETF

In short

CMDY Commodities without the worst of the futures math. CMDY tracks the Roll Select version of the Bloomberg commodity index, where contract choice is written into the rules to ease rolling costs, and charges 0.29% to do it.

KRBN Most commodity funds hold oil, copper and corn. KRBN holds the right to pollute: futures on emission allowances from major cap-and-trade programs worldwide, bundled into one index-tracking fund.

Stated mandate

CMDY The fund seeks to track an index representing a broad range of commodity exposures, using enhanced roll selection on a total-return basis.

KRBN The Fund seeks to track the S&P Global Carbon Credit Index, which consists of futures contracts on emission allowances issued under various cap-and-trade regulatory regimes.

Why people hold it

• CMDY The name is the strategy. Enhanced roll selection is baked into the index it tracks, so which futures contract to hold is a rule, not an afterthought.
• 0.29% a year sits in the low-fee tier of broad commodity funds, next to BCI, CERY and BCD, and well under what the category typically charges.
• One ticker, a broad basket of roughly 60 futures positions, run on a total-return basis that counts collateral income alongside commodity price moves.
• Live since 2018 under the iShares roof, and one of the stronger implementations in its broad-basket commodity peer group.

• KRBN Buys carbon itself. The portfolio is futures on emission allowances issued under cap-and-trade regimes, a price shaped by regulators capping supply rather than by drilling or harvests.kraneshares.com
• Global by design. The S&P Global Carbon Credit Index spans multiple regulatory regimes, so no single government's rulebook sets the whole portfolio.
• Running since 2020, and rules-based: an index defines what it holds, in an ETF wrapper instead of a futures account with margin calls.

Worth knowing

• CMDY Moderately traded rather than a volume monster. Spreads can run wider than the mega-cap index funds, which shows up most on large or hurried orders.
• It is structured as a commodity pool, not a plain stock fund, so the tax paperwork and reporting work differently. Check the details before filing season.
• Distributions land annually or semiannually, not monthly, and the roll rule addresses futures mechanics only. Commodity prices still swing hard on their own.

• KRBN The 0.91% expense ratio sits well above the diversified commodity baskets it's grouped with, such as BCI and CMDY. Niche exposure, niche price.
• Thinly traded next to the big broad-commodity funds, so spreads can run wider and sizable orders deserve more care at the screen.
• One theme, set by policy. Allowance prices turn on regulatory decisions, so this can move on its own schedule while the rest of the commodity complex sits still.

Full CMDY profile⁠

Full KRBN profile⁠