CUT vs MOO

CUTDInvesco MSCI Global Timber ETF

MOOBVanEck Agribusiness ETF

In short

CUT The first timber ETF to list in the US, running since 2007. It owns the forest and the mill: timberland owners plus the companies that turn logs into lumber, paper and packaging, across developed and emerging markets.

MOO The farm trade without the futures market. MOO holds a global basket of about 60 stocks spanning seed, fertilizer, tractors, livestock and aquaculture, and it has been tracking that theme since 2007.

Stated mandate

CUT The Fund is passively managed and seeks to generally match, before fees and expenses, the performance of the MSCI ACWI IMI Timber Select Capped Index. Its mandate covers securities connected with forest ownership and management and the manufacture of timber-based products.

MOO The Fund seeks to closely track, before fees and expenses, the price and yield performance of the MVIS Global Agribusiness Index. It uses a passive indexing approach and generally replicates the Index with securities of agribusiness companies.

Why people hold it

• CUT Launched November 2007, ahead of every other US-listed timber fund, so it carries a full cycle of history including the housing bust.stockanalysis.com
• A genuine timber mandate: forest and timberland owners plus makers of finished wood products. Not a broad materials fund with a few lumber names bolted on.msci.com
• The index builds from MSCI's all-country investable market universe, so large, mid and small caps across developed and emerging markets qualify, not just US timber REITs.msci.com
• About 50 holdings, and the index is a capped version, which limits how big any single position can get.

• MOO Covers the whole chain, not just fertilizer: agricultural inputs, equipment, production, aquaculture, livestock and crop trading all sit in the same index.vaneck.com
• Global mandate, so European and emerging-market ag names are in scope alongside US farm giants.vaneck.com
• Owns companies, not commodity futures. A plain 1940 Act stock fund means no roll schedule and no partnership tax paperwork.
• The 0.56% expense ratio lands right at the median for global thematic funds, and it is one of the easier funds in that group to get in and out of.

Worth knowing

• CUT Costs 0.76% net of a waiver through August 31, 2027, and 0.99% without it. That sits above the category median; VEGI charges 0.39% and MOO 0.56%.
• Assets stay small and the shares trade thinly, so bid-ask spreads can cost more than the fee on a short holding period.
• Income lands once a year rather than quarterly, and most of the portfolio is priced in foreign currencies.

• MOO About 60 stocks in one theme. A handful of large seed, fertilizer and machinery names steer the fund, and farm capex cycles steer them.
• Broad global thematic index funds such as KLMT charge a fraction of 0.56%, though they buy the whole market rather than the food chain.
• Cash comes back once or twice a year, not monthly.

Full CUT profile⁠

Full MOO profile⁠