Allegations
(1) decreased demand for oil due to the coronavirus pandemic and increased oil supply and diminished oil prices caused by the Russia/Saudi oil price war had caused extraordinary market volatility; (2) a massive influx of investor capital into the Fund, totaling hundreds of millions of dollars, in a matter of days had increased Fund inefficiencies, heightened illiquidity in the West Texas Intermediate (“WTI”) futures contract markets in which the Fund invested, and caused the Fund to approach positional and regulatory limits (adverse trends exacerbated by the Offering itself); (3) there was a sharp divergence between spot and future prices in the WTI oil markets, leading to a super contango market dynamic as oil storage space in Cushing, Oklahoma dwindled and was insufficient to account for the excess supply expected to be delivered pursuant to the WTI May 2020 futures contract. As a result, UCO could not continue to pursue the passive investment strategy represented in the Registration Statement, causing its results to significantly deviate from its purported benchmark.