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| FOL > SEC Filings for FOL > Form 10-Q on 14-Aug-2012 | All Recent SEC Filings |
14-Aug-2012
Quarterly Report
This information should be read in conjunction with the financial statements and
notes included in Item 1 of Part I of this Quarterly Report (the "Report"). The
discussion and analysis which follows may contain trend analysis and other
forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities
Exchange Act of 1934 (the "34 Act") which reflect our current views with respect
to future events and financial results. Words such as "anticipate," "expect,"
"intend," "plan," "believe," "seek," "outlook" and "estimate," as well as
similar words and phrases, signify forward-looking statements. FactorShares 2X:
S&P500 Bull/TBond Bear's forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future
results and conditions and important factors, risks and uncertainties may cause
our actual results to differ materially from those expressed in our
forward-looking statements.
You should not place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements. Except as expressly required by the Federal securities laws, Factor Capital Management, LLC (the "Managing Owner"), undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements or the risks, uncertainties or other factors described in this Report, as a result of new information, future events or changed circumstances or for any other reason after the date of this Report.
Overview/Introduction
The FactorShares 2X: S&P500 Bull/TBond Bear Fund (the "Fund") is designed for investors who believe the large-cap U.S. equity market segment will increase in value relative to the long-dated U.S. Treasury market segment, in one day or less. The objective of the Fund is to seek to track approximately +200% of the daily return of the S&P U.S. Equity Risk Premium Total Return Index (the "Index"). The Fund seeks to track the spread, or the difference in daily returns, between the U.S. equity and long-dated U.S. Treasury market segments primarily by establishing a leveraged long position in the E-mini Standard and Poor's 500 Stock Price IndexTM Futures (the "Equity Index Futures Contract" or the "Long Index Futures Contract"), and a leveraged short position in the U.S. Treasury Bond Futures (the "Treasury Index Futures Contract" or the "Short Index Futures Contract"). The Fund may also invest in Substitute Futures and/or Financial Instruments from time-to-time. The term "Substitute Futures" refers to futures contracts other than the Equity Index Futures Contract and the Treasury Index Futures Contract that underlie the Index that the Managing Owner expects will tend to exhibit trading prices or returns that generally correlate with the Equity Index Futures Contract and/or the Treasury Index Futures Contract, as applicable. The term "Financial Instruments" refers to forward agreements and swaps that the Managing Owner expects will tend to exhibit trading prices or returns that generally correlate with the Equity Index Futures Contract and/or the Treasury Index Futures Contract, as applicable. (Substitute Futures and/or Financial Instruments are more fully described later in the Report under the section "Substitute Futures and/or Financial Instruments.")
The Index is intended to reflect the daily spreads, or the differences in the relative return, positive or negative, between the value of the S&P 500® Futures Excess Return Index (the "Long Sub-Index") and the value of the S&P U.S. Treasury Bond Futures Excess Return Index (the "Short Sub-Index"). The Long Sub-Index reflects a passive exposure to the near-month Long Index Futures Contract. The Short Sub-Index reflects a passive exposure to the near-month Short Index Futures Contract. The Index is designed to reflect +100% of the spread, or the difference in daily return, positive or negative, between the Long Sub-Index and the Short Sub-Index, plus the return on a risk free component. The risk free component of the Index reflects the returns generated by holding a 3-month United States Treasury bill.
The Equity Index Futures Contract provides an exposure to a major benchmark index of large-cap U.S. equities known as the S&P 500® Index. The Equity Index Futures Contract is a futures contract that permits investors to invest in a substitute instrument in place of large-cap U.S. equities and thereby speculate on, or hedge exposure to, large-cap U.S. equities. The Equity Index Futures Contract serves as a proxy for large-cap U.S. equities because the performance of the Equity Index Futures Contract is dependent upon and reflects the changes in the S&P 500®, which is an index that reflects the performance of each of the underlying 500 large-cap U.S. equities. The Treasury Index Futures Contract provides an exposure to the long-dated U.S. Treasury market segment, particularly U.S. Treasury Bonds. The Treasury Index Futures Contract is a futures contract that permits investors to invest in a substitute instrument in place of the U.S. Treasury Bond and thereby speculate on, or hedge exposure to, the direction of interest rates. The Treasury Index Futures Contract serves as a proxy for U.S. Treasury Bonds because the performance of the Treasury Index Futures Contract is dependent upon and reflects the changes in the price of the underlying U.S. Treasury Bonds.
Overview of the Sub-Indexes
Sub-Indexes and Index Futures Exchange1 Sub-Index Contract
Contracts (Contract Base Date2 Base Weight Months
Symbol) (%)3
Long Sub-Index:
S&P 500® Futures Excess Return Index CME
Long Index Futures Contract: (ES)4 9.9.1997 100
E-mini Standard and Poor's 500 Stock March
Price IndexTM Futures June
Short Sub-Index: September
S&P U.S. Treasury Bond Futures Excess CME December
Return Index (US)5 9.9.1997 100
Short Index Futures Contract:
U.S. Treasury Bond Futures
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1 Connotes the exchange on which the underlying Index Futures Contracts are
traded. Legend: "CME" means the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, Inc., or its
successor.
2 The earliest date on which the Index is calculated is referred to as the base
date, or Base Date. By definition, the Index is comprised of a specific
proportion, or Base Weight, of each underlying Sub-Index.
3 As of the Base Date, and upon daily rebalancing, the Long Sub-Index base
weight, or the Long Sub-Index Base Weight, is +100%. As of the Base Date and
upon daily rebalancing, the Short Sub-Index base weight, or the Short Sub-Index
Base Weight, is also +100%.
4 Monday - Friday: 17:00-15:15 (next day) & 15:30-16:30; Sunday: 17:00-15:15
(next day) (Central Time).
5 Monday - Friday 07:20-14:00 (Central Time).
The Index is rebalanced daily as of the Index Calculation Time in order to continue to reflect the spread, or the difference in the daily return, between two specific market segments. By rebalancing the Index on a daily basis as of the Index Calculation Time, the Index will then be comprised of equal notional amounts (i.e. +100% and -100%, respectively) of both of its Long Index Futures Contracts and Short Index Futures Contracts in accordance with its daily objectives. Daily rebalancing of the Index will lead to different results than would otherwise occur if the Index, and in turn, the Fund, were to be rebalanced less frequently or more frequently than daily.
As explained in greater detail below, the Fund seeks to track the Index on a leveraged and daily basis by creating a portfolio of Long Index Futures Contracts and Short Index Futures Contracts (which may include Substitute Futures and/or Financial Instruments). The Fund seeks to rebalance daily its holdings around the NAV Calculation Time which occurs upon the first to settle of its Long Index Futures Contracts or Short Index Futures Contracts. However, the Fund will only rebalance on business days when NYSE Arca and the futures exchanges on which both the Long Index Futures Contracts and the Short Index Futures Contracts are open.
The Index is inherently leveraged whenever its Index Base Weight (which reflects the sum of the Sub-Index Base Weights) exceeds an aggregate index base weight of 100%, which reflects the index base weight of an unleveraged index. As of the Base Date and upon daily rebalancing, each Index reflects a leverage ratio of 2:1, or the 2:1 Ratio. The 2:1 Ratio will increase or decrease throughout each trading day prior to daily rebalancing because the prices of the Index Futures Contract underlying each Sub-Index will vary intra-day.
The Managing Owner determines the type, quantity and combination of Index Futures Contracts, and, as applicable, Substitute Futures and Financial Instruments the Managing Owner believes may produce daily returns consistent with the Fund's daily and leveraged objective.
In order to pursue its investment objective, the Fund seeks to invest approximately +200% of the value of its Fund Equity (i.e., the estimated net asset value) in the front month Equity Index Futures Contract (or Substitute Futures and/or Financial Instruments). Simultaneously, the Fund seeks to invest approximately -200% of the value of its Fund Equity in the front month Treasury Index Futures Contract (or Substitute Futures and/or Financial Instruments). Around the NAV Calculation Time, and in order to continue to pursue its daily investment objective, the Fund seeks to rebalance daily its front month Equity Index Futures Contracts (or Substitute Futures and/or Financial Instruments) to equal approximately +200% of the value of its Fund Equity. Similarly, around the NAV Calculation Time, the Fund seeks to rebalance daily its front month Treasury Index Futures Contract (or Substitute Futures and/or Financial Instruments) to equal approximately -200% of the value of its Fund Equity.
Under the Amended and Restated Declaration of Trust and Trust Agreement (the "Trust Agreement"), Wilmington Trust Company, the Trustee of the Fund (the "Trustee") serves as the sole trustee of the Fund in the State of Delaware. The Trustee will accept service of legal process on the Fund in the State of Delaware and will make certain filings under the Delaware Statutory Trust Act. Under the Trust Agreement, the Managing Owner has the exclusive management and control of all aspects of the business of the Fund. The Trustee does not owe any other duties to the Fund, the Managing Owner or the Shareholders of the Fund. The Trustee has no duty or liability to supervise or monitor the performance of the Managing Owner, nor does the Trustee have any liability for the acts or omissions of the Managing Owner.
The sponsor of the Index is Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC (the "Index Sponsor"). Standard & Poor's® and S&P®, are registered trademarks of Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC ("S&P") and have been licensed for use by the Managing Owner. The Fund is not sponsored, endorsed, sold or promoted by S&P or its affiliates, and S&P and its affiliates make no representation, warranty or condition regarding the advisability of buying, selling or holding Shares in the Fund.
The Index Sponsor obtains information for inclusion in, or for use in the calculation of, the Index from sources the Index Sponsor considers reliable. None of the Index Sponsor, the Managing Owner, the Fund or any of their respective affiliates accepts responsibility for or guarantees the accuracy and/or completeness of any of the Index or any data included in any of the Index.
Rolling
Each Sub-Index, which is comprised of a certain Index Futures Contract, includes provisions for the replacement (also referred to as "rolling") of its Index Futures Contract as it approaches its expiration date. "Rolling" is a procedure which involves closing out the Index Futures Contract that will soon expire and establishing a position in a new Index Futures Contract with a later expiration date pursuant to the rules of each Sub-Index. In turn, the Fund will seek to roll its Index Futures Contracts in a manner consistent with its Sub-Index's provisions for the replacement of an Index Futures Contract that is approaching maturity.
Effect of Leverage
The Fund achieves the right to a return on a capital base in excess of its equity capital by entering into derivatives (e.g., futures contracts, and if necessary, Financial Instruments) with an aggregate notional value, or "exposure," in excess of the Fund's net asset value. The capital base is comprised of "notional" dollars, not cash, but the effect is the same. The notional value of a futures contract that references a financial index, such as E-mini Standard & Poor's 500 Stock Price Index™, is the contract size (measured in fixed dollars) multiplied by the market price for future settlement of the financial index. So if the market price for December expiration of the E-mini Standard & Poor's 500 Stock Price Index™ Futures is $1,150, the notional value of the contract is $57,500 (e.g. $50 contract size x $1,150 market price). It is referred to as a "notional" value because it does not exist physically; it exists only hypothetically as the subject of an agreement between the parties to the contract.
The use of leverage increases the potential for both trading profits and losses, depending on the changes in market value of the Fund's Index Futures Contracts positions (or Substitute Futures and/or Financial Instruments). Holding futures positions with a notional amount in excess of the Fund's net asset value constitutes a form of leverage. Because the notional value of the Fund's Index Futures Contracts (or Substitute Futures and/or Financial Instruments), will rise or fall throughout each trading day and prior to rebalancing, the leverage ratio could be higher or lower than an approximately 4:1 leverage ratio between the notional value of the Fund's portfolio and Fund Capital immediately after rebalancing. As the ratio increases, your losses may increase correspondingly.
For example, in the absence of tracking error, an investment in the Fund (which has a Fund multiple of +200%) assumes an approximately 4:1 leverage ratio, upon rebalancing and excluding the return on United States Treasuries and other high credit quality short-term fixed income securities, since it will be reduced by an amount equal to -4% daily when both of the following occur on the same trading day:
· the Long Sub-Index decreases -1% and
· the Short Sub-Index increases +1%.
The Fund seeks a daily exposure equal to approximately +200% of the Index Return (as defined below). As a consequence, a potential risk of total loss exists if the Index Return changes approximately 50% or more over a single trading day or less, in a direction adverse to the Fund (i.e., meaning a decline of approximately -50% or more in the value of the Index Return of the Fund). The risk of total loss exists in a short period of time as a result of significant Index movements.
The value of the Shares relates directly to the value of its portfolio, less the liabilities (including estimated accrued but unpaid expenses) of the Fund.
For periods longer than a single trading day, the Fund does not attempt to and should not be expected to, provide returns that are equal to the Fund multiple (i.e. +200%), times the return of the Index, or Index Return. For periods longer than a single trading day, and before accounting for mathematical compounding, daily rebalancing, the differences between the NAV Calculation Time and the Index Calculation Time, leverage, volatility, fees, fund expenses and income of the Fund, it is unlikely that the Fund's multi-day returns will equal the Fund multiple times the Index Return of its corresponding Index.
For periods longer than a single trading day, investors should not attempt to calculate the anticipated or actual multi-day return of the Fund by simply multiplying the Fund multiple by the Index Return of the corresponding Index because such a result is an insufficient methodology and does not account for the mathematical effects arising from the interaction of leverage (in the amount of the Fund multiple), daily rebalancing, the differences between the NAV Calculation Time and the Index Calculation Time, fees, expenses, and interest income experienced by the Fund, or Fund Compounding. The Fund does not seek to achieve its stated investment objective over a period of time longer than a single trading day because merely multiplying the Fund multiple by the Index Return does not account for Fund Compounding, and therefore, by definition, prevents the Fund from tracking the product of the Fund multiple by the Index Return for a period longer than a single trading day.
Substitute Futures and Financial Instruments
In the event the Fund reaches position limits imposed by the CFTC or a futures exchange with respect to an Index Futures Contract, the Managing Owner, may in its commercially reasonable judgment, cause the Fund to invest in Substitute Futures or Financial Instruments referencing the particular Index Futures Contract, or Financial Instruments not referencing the particular Index Futures Contract, if such instruments tend to exhibit trading prices or returns that correlate with the Index or any Index Futures Contract and will further the investment objective of the Fund. The term "Substitute Futures" refers to futures contracts other than the specific Index Futures Contracts that underlie the applicable Index that the Managing Owner expects will tend to exhibit trading prices or returns that generally correlate with an Index Futures Contract. The term "Financial Instruments" refers to forward agreements and swaps that the Managing Owner expects will tend to exhibit trading prices or returns that generally correlate with an Index Futures Contract. To the extent practicable, the Fund will invest in swaps cleared through the facilities of a centralized clearing house. The Fund may also invest in Substitute Futures or Financial Instruments if the market for a specific Index Futures Contract experiences emergencies (such as a natural disaster, terrorist attack or an act of God) or disruptions (such as a trading halt or flash crash) that prevent the Fund from obtaining the appropriate amount of investment exposure to the affected Index Futures Contract. For the Three Months Ended June 30, 2012 and June 30, 2011 and the Six Months Ended June 30, 2012 and the Period from February 22, 2011 to June 30, 2011, the Fund had not invested in Financial Instruments (including forwards).
The following paragraphs describe the above-listed Financial Instruments in general terms.
Swap agreements are two-party contracts entered into primarily by institutional investors for a specified period ranging from a day to more than a year. In a standard swap transaction, the parties agree to exchange the returns on a particular predetermined investment, instrument or index as well as a fixed or floating rate of return (interest rate leg) in respect of a predetermined notional amount. The gross returns to be exchanged are calculated with respect to a notional amount and the benchmark returns to which the swap is linked. Swaps are usually entered into on a net basis, that is, the two payment streams are netted out in a cash settlement on the payment date or dates specified in the agreement with the parties receiving or paying, as the case may be, only the net amount of the two payments. In a typical swap agreement that may be entered into by the Fund, absent fees, transaction costs and interest, the Fund would be entitled to settlement payments in the event the benchmark increases and is required to make payments to the swap counterparty in the event the benchmark decreases.
A forward contract is a contractual obligation to purchase or sell a specified quantity of a financial index or currency at or before a specified date in the future at a specified price and, therefore, is economically similar to a futures contract. Unlike futures contracts, however, forward contracts are typically traded in the over-the-counter, or OTC, markets and are not standardized contracts. Forward contracts for a given financial index or currency are generally available for various amounts and maturities and are subject to individual negotiation between the parties involved. Moreover, there is generally no direct means of offsetting or closing out a forward contract by taking an offsetting position as one would a futures contract on a U.S. exchange. If a trader desires to close out a forward contract position, he generally will establish an opposite position in the contract but will settle and recognize the profit or loss on both positions simultaneously on the delivery date. Thus, unlike in the futures contract market where a trader who has offset positions will recognize profit or loss immediately, in the forward market a trader with a position that has been offset at a profit will generally not receive such profit until the delivery date, and likewise a trader with a position that has been offset at a loss will generally not have to pay money until the delivery date. In recent years, however, the terms of forward contracts have become more standardized, and in some instances such forward contracts now provide a right of offset or cash settlement as an alternative to making or taking delivery of the underlying commodity or currency. The forward markets are largely unregulated. Forward contracts are, in general, not cleared or guaranteed by a third party.
The forward markets provide what has typically been a highly liquid market for foreign exchange trading, and in certain cases the prices quoted for foreign exchange forward contracts may be more favorable than the prices for foreign exchange futures contracts traded on U.S. exchanges. Commercial banks participating in trading foreign exchange forward contracts often do not require margin deposits, but rely upon internal credit limitations and their judgments regarding the creditworthiness of their counterparties. In recent years, however, many OTC market participants in foreign exchange trading have begun to require that their counterparties post margin.
Performance Summary
This report covers the Three Months Ended June 30, 2012 and June 30, 2011 and the Six Months ended June 30, 2012 and the Period from February 22, 2011 to June 30, 2011. The Fund commenced investment operations on February 22, 2011 and Fund Shares commenced trading on the NYSE Arca, Inc. (the "NYSE Arca") on February 24, 2011 and trades under the symbol "FSE".
The Fund is designed to seek daily investment results, before fees and expenses, corresponding to approximately +200%, of the daily spread, or difference in the changes, positive or negative, of the Index. Performance of the Fund and the exchange traded Shares are detailed below in "Results of Operations".
The Index is designed to reflect the daily spread, or difference in the changes, positive or negative, between the value of its Long Sub-Index and the value of its Short Sub-Index. Each Long Sub-Index and Short Sub-Index is comprised of its Long Index Futures Contract and Short Index Futures Contract, respectively.
LONG OR SHORT FUTURES CONTRACTS INVESTED BY NAME OF SUB-INDEXES
THE FUND; NAME OF INDEX FUTURES CONTRACTS
(EXCHANGE*, CONTRACT SYMBOL)
Long Futures Contract: Long Sub-Index:
E-mini Standard & Poor's 500 Stock Price S&P 500® Futures Excess Return
Index™ Futures (CME, ES) Index
Short Futures Contract: Long Index Futures Contract:
U.S. Treasury Bond Futures (CME, US) E-mini Standard and Poor's 500
Stock Price IndexTM Futures
Short Sub-Index:
S&P U.S. Treasury Bond Futures
Excess Return Index
Short Index Futures Contract:
U.S. Treasury Bond Futures
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*Legend: "CME" means the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, Inc., or its successor.
The section "Summary of S&P U.S. Equity Risk Premium Total Return Index and Sub-Index Returns for the Three Months Ended June 30, 2012 and June 30, 2011 and the Six Months Ended June 30, 2012 and the Period from February 22, 2011 to June 30, 2011" below provides an overview of the changes in the closing levels of S&P U.S. Equity Risk Premium Total Return Index by disclosing the change in closing levels of the Index itself and each underlying Sub-Index plus 3-month United States Treasury Obligation returns. Please note that the Fund's objective is to track the Index and the Fund does not attempt to outperform or underperform the Index.
The following table highlights the results of the S&P U.S. Equity Risk Premium Total Return Index and its Sub-Indexes for the Three Months Ended June 30, 2012 and June 30, 2011 and the Six Months Ended June 30, 2012 and the Period from February 22, 2011 to June 30, 2011.
Summary of S&P U.S. Equity Risk Premium Total Return Index and
Sub-Index Returns
Six Months Period from
Three Months Three Months Ended February 22,
Ended June 30, Ended June 30, June 30, 2011 to June
2012 2011 2012 30, 2011
Index:
S&P U.S. Equity Risk (10.34)% (3.60)% 14.06% (3.62)%
Premium Total Return
Index
Long Sub-Index:
S&P 500® Futures Excess (2.84)% 0.02% 7.63% 0.87%
Return Index
Short Sub-Index:
S&P U.S. Treasury Bond 7.83% 3.44% 4.85% 4.20%
Futures Excess Return
Index
3-Month United States 0.019% 0.012% 0.026% 0.023%
Treasury Obligations
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Pursuant to the rules and regulations of the 34 Act, the above table discloses the change in levels of the Index and the Sub-Indexes for the periods covered by this Report. However, the Fund seeks investment results for a single day only, not for longer periods. This means that the return of the Fund for a period longer than a single trading day will be the result of each day's returns compounded over the period, which will very likely differ from approximately twice (either + 200% or - 200%) the return of the Index for that period. Due to a number of reasons as described throughout this Report, including, but not limited to, mathematical compounding, daily rebalancing, the differences between the NAV Calculation Time and the Index Calculation Time, leverage and volatility, the Fund will not track its Index for a period longer than a single trading day and may experience tracking error intra-day. In periods of higher market volatility, the volatility of an Index may be at least as important to the Fund's return over any period as the changes in the levels of the Index. The Fund is different from most exchange-traded funds in that the Fund seeks leveraged returns and only on a daily basis. The Fund also is riskier than similarly benchmarked exchange-traded funds that do not use leverage leverage. Accordingly, the Fund may not be suitable for all investors and should be used only by knowledgeable investors who understand the potential consequences of seeking daily leveraged investment results. Shareholders should actively monitor their investments. Additionally, the Fund's fees and expenses are paid first out of interest income from the Fund's holdings of U.S. Treasury bills on deposit with the Commodity Broker as margin or otherwise. As a result of the Fund's fees and expenses, unless the Fund's income from its futures trading exceed the . . .
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