Management fees, except fees payable to Transtrend, are calculated as a percentage of the Partnership’s adjusted net asset value as of the end of each month and are affected by trading performance, subscriptions and redemptions. Accordingly, they must be compared in relation to the fluctuations in the monthly net asset values. Management fees payable to Transtrend are charged at the Transtrend Master level and are affected by trading performance, subscriptions and redemptions of Transtrend Master. Management fees for the three and twelve months ended December 31, 2022 increased by $186,655 and $394,253, respectively, as compared to the corresponding periods in 2021. The increase in management fees is due to higher average adjusted net assets during the three and twelve months ended December 31, 2022 as compared to the corresponding periods in 2021.
Fees are paid to the General Partner for administering the business and affairs of the Partnership including, among other things, (i) selecting, appointing and terminating the Partnership’s commodity trading advisors, (ii) allocating and reallocating the Partnership’s assets among the commodity trading advisors and (iii) monitoring the activities of the commodity trading advisors. These fees are calculated as a percentage of the Partnership’s adjusted net asset value as of the end of each month and are affected by trading performance, subscriptions and redemptions. Accordingly, they must be compared in relation to the fluctuations in the monthly net asset values. The General Partner fee for the three and twelve months ended December 31, 2022 increased by $72,729 and $324,434, respectively, as compared to the corresponding periods in 2021. The increase in the General Partner fee is due to higher average adjusted net assets during the three and twelve months ended December 31, 2022 as compared to the corresponding periods in 2021.
Incentive fees paid by the Partnership are based on the New Trading Profits, as defined in the respective Management Agreements among the Partnership, the General Partner and each Advisor, generated by each Advisor at the end of the quarter, calendar half year or annually, as applicable. Trading performance for the three and twelve months ended December 31, 2022 resulted in a reversal of incentive fees of $2,288,656 and incentive fees of $14,168,615, respectively. Trading performance for the three and twelve months ended December 31, 2021 resulted in incentive fees of $1,367,173 and $13,699,396, respectively. To the extent an Advisor incurs a loss for the Partnership, the Advisor will not be paid an incentive fee until such Advisor recovers any net loss incurred by the Advisor and earns additional new trading profits for the Partnership.
The Partnership pays professional fees, which generally include legal, accounting expenses, administrative, filing, reporting and data processing fees. Professional fees for the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021 were $926,706 and $1,005,392, respectively.
In the General Partner’s opinion, the Partnership’s Advisors continue to employ trading methods consistent with the objectives of the Partnership. The General Partner monitors the Advisors’ performance on a daily, weekly, monthly and annual basis to assure these objectives are met.
Commodity futures markets are highly volatile. Broad price fluctuations and rapid inflation increase the risks involved in commodity trading, but also increase the possibility of profit. The profitability of the Partnership/Funds depends on the existence of major price trends and the ability of the Advisors to correctly identify those price trends. Price trends are influenced by, among other things, changing supply and demand relationships, pandemics, epidemics, and other health crises, weather, governmental, agricultural, commercial and trade programs and policies, national and international political and economic events and changes in interest rates. To the extent that market trends exist and the Advisors are able to identify them, the Funds and the Partnership expect to increase capital through operations.
In allocating the assets of the Partnership among the Advisors, the General Partner considers, among other factors, each Advisor’s past performance, trading style, volatility of markets traded and fee requirements. The General Partner may modify or terminate the allocation of assets among the Advisors and may allocate assets to additional advisors at any time. Each Advisor’s percentage allocation and trading program is described in the “Overview” section of this Item 7.
(d) Off-balance Sheet Arrangements. None.
(e) Contractual Obligations. None.
(f) Operational Risk.
The Partnership, directly or indirectly through its investment in the Funds, is exposed to market risk and credit risk, which arise in the normal course of its business activities. Slightly less direct, but of critical importance, are risks pertaining to operational and back office support. This is particularly the case in a rapidly changing and increasingly global environment with increasing transaction volumes and an expansion in the number and complexity of products in the marketplace.
Such risks include:
Operational/Settlement Risk — the risk of financial and opportunity loss and legal liability attributable to operational problems, such as inaccurate pricing of transactions, untimely trade execution, clearance and/or settlement, or the inability to process large volumes of transactions. The Partnership/Funds are subject to increased risks with respect to their trading activities in emerging market instruments, where clearance, settlement, and/or custodial risks are often greater than in more established markets.
Technological Risk — the risk of loss attributable to technological limitations or hardware failure that constrain the Partnership’s/Funds’ ability to gather, process, and communicate information efficiently and securely, without interruption, to customers and in the markets where the Partnership/Funds participate. Additionally, the General Partner’s computer systems may be vulnerable to unauthorized access, mishandling or misuse, computer viruses or malware, cyber-attacks and other events that could have a security impact on such systems. If one or more of such events occur, this potentially could jeopardize a limited partner’s personal, confidential, proprietary or other information processed and stored in, and transmitted through, the General Partner’s
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