Investment Objective
The Shipping Trust seeks to provide a high level of income with a secondary objective of providing the potential for capital growth.
PRINCIPAL INVESTMENT STRATEGY
Under normal circumstances, the trust will invest at least 80% of the value of its assets in stocks of companies that derive their main source of revenue from the maritime shipping of crude oil, dry bulk and container cargo.
The sponsor has selected Delta Global Advisors, Inc. (“Delta Global”) to serve as the trust’s portfolio consultant. The portfolio consultant is responsible for assisting the sponsor with the selection of the trust’s portfolio and providing ongoing support related to the securities in the portfolio.
Information Regarding Shipping Companies
According to Delta Global, the global transportation of goods typically increases each year. As the world economy consumes finished goods made in Asia, Delta Global believes those same economies will require an increasing amount of raw materials, much of which must be imported. An increasing cost component of the finished goods produced in Asia is the transportation of raw materials and the shipping of finished goods to consumer markets. Delta Global believes that demand for goods in the global maritime routes will continue to fuel growth in the tanker, container, and dry bulk industries.
Shipping Capacity
According to Delta Global, in the oil tanker industry, the phasing out of single hull tankers is scheduled to be complete by 2010. Delta Global believes a strong supply of new ships coming to market is keeping tanker rates volatile. On the other hand, a shortage in bulk dry vessels that ship iron ore and other essential commodities is leading to significantly higher shipping rates in this industry. Meanwhile, Delta Global believes the container industry remains fairly well-balanced, with strong demand having recently absorbed new shipping supply.
Shipping Rates
Even in the context of generally increasing supply in the oil tankers, containers, and dry bulk shipper industries, Delta Global believes freight rates remain strong, reflecting surging shipping demand and continued economic growth around the globe.
Not unlike what helped drive the commodity boom in recent years, Delta Global believes some of today’s remaining shipping bottlenecks result from a lack of new investment in the 1990’s. Gathering, refining, storage and transport of commodities were contributing factors leading to all time highs in commodities prices; Delta Global believes the finished and raw good transport sector may be at a similar inflection point.
As with any similar investments, there can be no guarantee that the objective of the trust will be achieved. Additionally, there is no guarantee that the shipping industry or stocks of companies in the shipping industry will perform well or that the trust will replicate the future performance of the shipping industry as a whole.
See “Investment Risks” in Part A of the prospectus for a discussion of the risks of investing in the trust.
See “Investment Policies” in Part B of the prospectus for more information.