CMDY vs SDMF

CMDYAiShares Bloomberg Roll Select Commodity Strategy ETF

SDMFBSimplify DBi CTA Managed Futures Index 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.

SDMF Managed futures without the hedge fund bill. SDMF tracks an index built to replicate what CTA trend funds are actually doing, using a short list of liquid futures markets, for 0.35% a year.

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.

SDMF The Fund seeks long-term capital appreciation.

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.

• SDMF Charges 0.35%, roughly half the typical fee among futures-strategy funds in its group. Cheap shelf space for a strategy that usually arrives with hedge fund pricing.
• Rules over hunches: it follows the DBi CTA Managed Futures Index and its advertised 10-factor replication approach, not a trader's discretion.simplify.us
• Its cohort is mostly long-only commodity baskets (BCI, CMDY). This one is a managed futures strategy, which can lean either direction across futures markets.
• Ordinary 1940 Act ETF plumbing: daily pricing, intraday trading, no lockup or subscription paperwork.

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.

• SDMF Launched in 2026, so there is no long record here and the risk picture rests on limited history.
• A small fund that has traded lightly since launch, so spreads can run wider than the big commodity index names in its category.
• The stated goal is long-term capital appreciation, and payouts come once or twice a year at most. Not built as an income stream.

Full CMDY profile⁠

Full SDMF profile⁠