Systems and methods for establishing and running an exchange traded fund that tracks the performance of a commodity

Systems and methods are provided for an exchange traded fund (ETF) that tracks the price of one or more commodities. The exchange traded fund may include a commodity pool with units representing ownership interests in the commodity pool. The commodity pool may sell these units to authorized participants, who can subsequently sell these units to or repurchase these units from investors via a stock market exchange. Likewise, the commodity pool can redeem these units from the authorized participants. The commodity pool may be subject to margin requirements. The commodity pool can satisfy this margin requirement by depositing U.S. Treasuries or other cash and near-cash equivalents. In addition, the commodity pool may be substantially non-leveraged such that the assets of the commodity pool do not exceed the assets of the commodity pool. A portion of the non-margined assets may be invested in U.S. Treasuries and other interest-bearing securities.