DBE vs OILK

DBEBInvesco DB Energy Fund

OILKAProShares K-1 Free Crude Oil ETF

In short

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

OILK The only crude oil ETF that spares you a Schedule K-1. OILK sends a 1099 instead, and its index spreads WTI futures across three roll schedules rather than camping in the front month. All-in cost: 0.70%.

Stated mandate

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

OILK The Fund seeks to track, before fees and expenses, the Bloomberg Commodity Balanced WTI Crude Oil IndexSM.

Why people hold it

• 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.

• OILK At 0.70%, the cheapest of the headline oil-futures funds: USO charges 0.86%, USL 1.01%, DBO 0.81%, none of them waiver-assisted.
• A 1940 Act fund that holds its futures through a Cayman subsidiary capped at 25% of assets each quarter-end, so tax time brings a 1099, not a partnership K-1.proshares.comproshares.com 2
• Its index splits WTI exposure evenly across a monthly roll, a June annual roll and a December annual roll, resetting each March and September, diluting front-month roll costs.bbhub.io
• Trading since 2016 and one of the stronger implementations in a small energy-futures peer group.

Worth knowing

• 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.

• OILK Tracks a futures index, not spot WTI. ProShares says plainly it should be expected to perform very differently from the spot price of WTI crude.proshares.com
• One commodity, one curve: the portfolio is a few WTI futures positions plus cash-like collateral, so it moves with oil and nothing else.proshares.com
• Income, if any, is paid monthly and comes largely from collateral yield, so the amount moves around rather than acting like a fixed coupon.proshares.com

Full DBE profile⁠

Full OILK profile⁠