DBO vs UNG

DBOBInvesco DB Oil Fund

UNGDUnited States Natural Gas Fund LP

In short

DBO Oil exposure with a roll rule. DBO tracks a WTI crude futures index whose Optimum Yield design shops across contract months instead of camping in the front month, and it has run that way since 2007.

UNG The energy-futures aisle is mostly crude; UNG is the natural gas one. Live since 2007, it tracks the daily percentage move in Henry Hub gas through a short-dated futures benchmark, not the spot price quoted on TV.

Stated mandate

DBO The fund seeks to track positive or negative changes in the level of the DBIQ Optimum Yield Crude Oil Index Excess Return.

UNG UNG seeks to reflect the daily percentage change in the price of natural gas delivered at Henry Hub, Louisiana, through a specified short-term benchmark futures contract, plus collateral interest and less expenses.

Why people hold it

• DBO The index picks the contract month its rules score as most favorable rather than automatically buying the nearest one, a design built to soften the drag of an upward-sloping futures curve.invesco.com
• Charges 0.81% a year, meaningfully below the median for energy-futures funds in its group.
• Launched in 2007 and traded through multiple oil booms and busts, it sits in the upper half of a small, well-known peer group.

• UNG Henry Hub exposure from an ordinary brokerage account: no futures account, no contracts to roll yourself, just a ticker that follows the daily move in short-dated gas futures.
• Running since 2007 and very actively traded, it is one of the best-established ways to put on a natural gas view in fund form.
• The mandate is literal: the daily percentage change in one specified benchmark futures contract, plus collateral interest, less expenses. No stock picking, no discretion, no overlay.

Worth knowing

• DBO It's a commodity pool, so tax paperwork follows partnership rules rather than ordinary fund reporting. Peer OILK charges 0.69% and is built to skip that step.
• You own a futures index, not a barrel. Results track the DBIQ Optimum Yield Crude Oil Index Excess Return and can diverge from headline spot crude.
• One commodity, one curve. There are no operating businesses underneath to cushion a move in crude, and payouts come on an annual or semiannual schedule.

• UNG Futures, not spot. The benchmark contract has to be rolled forward, so results over months and years can drift well away from the headline Henry Hub price.
• Fees sit at the top of the group: 1.17% a year versus a 1.15% peer median, while crude-focused rivals OILK (0.69%) and DBO (0.81%) charge far less.
• It is a limited partnership commodity pool, so tax reporting works differently than a standard fund. Some peers, such as OILK, are built to skip that paperwork.

Full DBO profile⁠

Full UNG profile⁠