Attached files

file filename
EX-32.2 - EX-32.2 - WESTPORT FUTURES FUND L.P.d326051dex322.htm
EX-32.1 - EX-32.1 - WESTPORT FUTURES FUND L.P.d326051dex321.htm
EX-31.2 - EX-31.2 - WESTPORT FUTURES FUND L.P.d326051dex312.htm
EX-31.1 - EX-31.1 - WESTPORT FUTURES FUND L.P.d326051dex311.htm
EX-10.4(A) - EX-10.4(A) - WESTPORT FUTURES FUND L.P.d326051dex104a.htm

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549

FORM 10-K

ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 or 15(d)

OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2016

OR ( ) TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d)

OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

For the transition period from              to             .

Commission File Number 000-24111

WESTPORT FUTURES FUND L.P.

 

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

 

New York    13-3939393

(State or other jurisdiction of

incorporation or organization)

  

(I.R.S. Employer

Identification No.)

c/o Ceres Managed Futures LLC

522 Fifth Avenue

New York, New York 10036

 

(Address and Zip Code of principal executive offices)

(855) 672-4468

 

(Registrant’s telephone number, including area code)

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act: None

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act: Redeemable Units of Limited Partnership Interest

(Title of Class)

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act.

Yes   ☐     No   ☒

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Act.

Yes       No   ☒

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days.

Yes   ☒     No   ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically and posted on its corporate Web site, if any, every Interactive Data File required to be submitted and posted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit and post such files).

Yes   ☒     No   ☐

Indicate by check mark if disclosure of delinquent filers pursuant to Item 405 of Regulation S-K (§229.405 of this chapter) is not contained herein, and will not be contained, to the best of registrant’s knowledge, in definitive proxy or information statements incorporated by reference in Part III of this Form 10-K or any amendment to this form 10-K.   ☒

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, or a smaller reporting company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer”, “accelerated filer” and “smaller reporting company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act. (Check one):

 

Large accelerated filer  ☐    Accelerated filer  ☐    Non-accelerated filer  ☒    Smaller reporting company  ☐
   (Do not check if a smaller reporting company)   

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.)

Yes   ☐     No   ☒

Limited Partnership Redeemable Units with an aggregate value of $16,457,342 were outstanding and held by non-affiliates as of the last business day of the registrant’s most recently completed second fiscal quarter.

As of February 28, 2017, 13,029.6177 Limited Partnership Redeemable Units were outstanding.

DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE

[None]


PART I

Item 1. Business.

(a) General development of business. Westport Futures Fund L.P., (the “Partnership”) is a limited partnership organized under the partnership laws of the State of New York on March 21, 1997, to engage, directly or indirectly, in the speculative trading of a diversified portfolio of commodity interests, including futures, options on futures, forwards, options on forward, spot and swap contracts, cash commodities and any other rights or interests pertaining thereto including interests in commodity pools. The sectors traded include currencies, energy, grains, indices, U.S. and non-U.S. interest rates, livestock, metals and softs. The Partnership commenced trading on August 1, 1997. The commodity interests that are indirectly traded by the Partnership, through its investment in Rabar Master Fund L.P. (the “Master”), are volatile and involve a high degree of market risk. The General Partner (as defined below) may also determine to invest up to all of the Partnership’s assets in United States (“U.S.”) Treasury bills and/or money market mutual funds, including money market mutual funds managed by Morgan Stanley or its affiliates.

A Registration Statement on Form S-1 relating to the public offering became effective on May 30, 1997 (the commencement of the offering period). Beginning May 30, 1997, 120,000 redeemable units of limited partnership interest (“Redeemable Units”) were publicly offered at $1,000 per Redeemable Unit for a period of ninety days, subject to increase for up to an additional sixty days at the sole discretion of the General Partner. Between May 30, 1997 and July 31, 1997, 40,035 Redeemable Units were sold at $1,000 per Redeemable Unit. Proceeds of the offering were held in an escrow account and were transferred, along with the General Partner’s contribution of $404,000 to the Partnership’s trading account on August 1, 1997 when the Partnership commenced trading. The public offering of Redeemable Units terminated on February 1, 1998. The Partnership privately and continuously offers Redeemable Units to qualified investors. There is no maximum number of Redeemable Units that may be sold by the Partnership.

Subscriptions of additional Redeemable Units and General Partner contributions and redemptions of Redeemable Units for the years ended December 31, 2016, 2015 and 2014 are reported in the Statements of Changes in Partners’ Capital under “Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data”.

Ceres Managed Futures LLC, a Delaware limited liability company, acts as the general partner (the “General Partner”) and commodity pool operator of the Partnership. As of January 1, 2017, the General Partner became a wholly-owned subsidiary of Morgan Stanley Domestic Holdings, Inc. (“MSD Holdings”). MSD Holdings is ultimately owned by Morgan Stanley. Morgan Stanley is a publicly held company whose shares are listed on the New York Stock Exchange. Morgan Stanley is engaged in various financial services and other businesses. Prior to January 1, 2017, the General Partner was a wholly-owned subsidiary of Morgan Stanley Smith Barney Holdings LLC. (“MSSB Holdings”). Prior to June 28, 2013, Morgan Stanley indirectly owned a majority equity interest in MSSB Holdings and Citigroup Inc. indirectly owned a minority equity interest in MSSB Holdings. All trading decisions for the Partnership are made by Rabar Market Research Inc. (“Rabar” or the “Advisor”).

During the years ended December 31, 2016, 2015 and 2014, the Partnership’s and the Master’s commodity broker was Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC (“MS&Co.”), a registered futures commission merchant. During prior periods included in this report, Citigroup Global Markets Inc. (“CGM”) also served as a commodity broker. The Partnership and the Master also deposit a portion of their cash in a non-trading account at JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A.

On December 1, 2012, the Partnership allocated substantially all of its capital to the Master, a limited partnership organized under the partnership laws of the State of Delaware. The Partnership purchased an interest in the Master with cash equal to $31,143,887. The Master permits accounts managed now and in the future by Rabar using the Diversified Program, a proprietary and systematic trading program, to invest together in one trading vehicle. The General Partner is also the general partner of the Master. Individual and pooled accounts currently managed by the Advisor, including the Partnership, are permitted to be limited partners of the Master. The General Partner and the Advisor believe that trading through this master-feeder structure promotes efficiency and economy in the trading process. Expenses to investors as a result of the investment in the Master are approximately the same as if the Partnership traded directly and redemption rights are not affected.

The financial statements of the Master, including the Condensed Schedules of Investments, are contained elsewhere in this report and should be read together with the Partnership’s financial statements.

 

1


For the period January 1, 2016 through December 31, 2016, the approximate average market sector distribution for the Partnership was as follows:

LOGO

As of December 31, 2016 and 2015, the Partnership owned approximately 100% of the Master. The Partnership intends to continue to invest substantially all of its assets in the Master. The performance of the Partnership is directly affected by the performance of the Master.

The Master’s trading of futures, forward, swap and option contracts, if applicable, on commodities is done primarily on U.S. and foreign commodity exchanges. During the years ended December 31, 2016, 2015 and 2014, the Master engaged in such trading through a commodity brokerage accounts maintained with MS&Co. During a prior period included in this report, the Master also engaged in such trading through commodity brokerage accounts maintained with CGM.

The Partnership will be liquidated upon the first to occur of the following: December 31, 2047; the net asset value per Redeemable Unit decreases to less than $400 per Redeemable Unit as of a close of any business day; or under certain circumstances as defined in the Limited Partnership Agreement of the Partnership (the “Limited Partnership Agreement”).

The General Partner and each limited partner of the Partnership (each a “Limited Partner”) share in the profits and losses of the Partnership in proportion to the amount of Partnership interest owned by each, except that no Limited Partner is liable for obligations of the Partnership in excess of its capital contribution and profit, if any, net of distributions or redemptions and losses, if any.

The General Partner administers the business and affairs of the Partnership. Effective October 1, 2014, the Partnership pays the General Partner a monthly fee (“General Partner fee”) in return for its services to the Partnership equal to 1/12 of 1% (1% per year) of adjusted month-end Net Assets of the Partnership. Month-end Net Assets, for the purpose of calculating the General Partner fees, are Net Assets, as defined in the Limited Partnership Agreement, prior to the reduction of the current month’s incentive fee accruals, the monthly management fee, the General Partner fee and any redemptions or distributions as of the end of such month. This fee may be increased or decreased at the discretion of the General Partner.

Effective December 1, 2012, the General Partner entered into a management agreement with the Rabar, a registered commodity trading advisor (the “Management Agreement”). The Advisor is not affiliated with the General Partner or MS&Co. and CGM and is not responsible for the organization or operation of the Partnership. Pursuant to the terms of the Management Agreement, the Partnership pays the Advisor a monthly management fee equal to 1/12 of 2% (2% per year) of month-end Net Assets allocated to the Advisor and an incentive fee payable quarterly equal to 20% of the New Trading Profits, as defined in the Management Agreement, earned by the Advisor for the Partnership. The Advisor will not be paid incentive fees until the Advisor recovers the net loss incurred and earns additional new trading profits for the Partnership. Month-end Net Assets, for the purpose of calculating management fees are Net Assets, as defined in the Limited Partnership Agreement, prior to the reduction of the current month’s incentive fee accrual, the monthly management fee, the General Partner fee and any redemptions or distributions as of the end of such month. The Management Agreement may be terminated upon 30 days’ notice by either party.

Prior to and during part of the third quarter of 2013, the Partnership was party to a customer agreement with CGM (the “CGM Customer Agreement”). During the third quarter of 2013, the Partnership entered into a customer agreement with MS&Co. (the “MS&Co. Customer Agreement”) and, during the fourth quarter of 2013, a Selling Agent Agreement with Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC, doing business as Morgan Stanley Wealth Management (“Morgan Stanley Wealth Management”), as amended (the “Selling Agreement”). The Partnership has terminated the CGM Customer Agreement.

 

2


Under the CGM Customer Agreement, the Partnership paid CGM a monthly brokerage fee equal to 11/24 of 1% (5.5% per year) of month-end Net Assets, in lieu of brokerage fees on a per trade basis. Effective February 1, 2011, the Partnership reduced the monthly brokerage fee paid to CGM to 1/12 of 5.25% (5.25% per year) of Month-end Net Assets. Month-end Net Assets, for the purpose of calculating brokerage fees, were Net Assets, as defined in the Limited Partnership Agreement, prior to the reduction of the current month’s brokerage fees, incentive fee accrual, the monthly management fee and other expenses and any redemptions or distributions as of the end of such month. The Partnership paid for exchange, service, clearing, user, give-up, floor brokerage and National Futures Association (“NFA”) fees (collectively the “CGM clearing fees”) directly and through its investment in the Master. CGM clearing fees were allocated to the Partnership based on its proportional share of the Master. During the term of the CGM Customer Agreement, all of the Partnership’s assets that were not held in the Master’s accounts at CGM were deposited in the Partnership’s account at CGM. The Partnership’s cash was deposited by CGM in segregated bank accounts to the extent required by Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”) regulations. CGM paid the Partnership interest on 80% of the average daily equity maintained in cash in the Partnership’s (or the Partnership’s allocable portion of the Master’s) brokerage account at a 30 day U.S. Treasury bill rate determined weekly by CGM based on the average non-competitive yield on 3-month U.S. Treasury bills maturing in 30 days from the date on which such weekly rate is determined.

Under the MS&Co. Customer Agreement and the foreign exchange brokerage account agreement (described in Note 4, “Trading Activities”), the Partnership will pay trading fees for the clearing and, where applicable, the execution of transactions, as well as exchange, clearing, user, give-up, floor brokerage and NFA fees (collectively the “MS&Co. clearing fees” and together with the CGM clearing fees, the “clearing fees”) through its investment in the Master. MS&Co. clearing fees are allocated to the Partnership based on its proportionate share of the Master. MS&Co. clearing fees will be paid for the life of the Partnership, although the rate at which such fees are paid may be changed. All of the Partnership’s assets available for trading in commodity interests are deposited in the Partnership’s account at MS&Co. The Partnership’s cash is deposited by MS&Co. in segregated bank accounts to the extent required by CFTC regulations. MS&Co. has agreed to pay the Partnership interest on 80% of the average daily equity maintained in cash in the Partnership’s (or the Partnership’s allocable portion of the Master’s) brokerage account at the rate equal to the monthly average of the 4-week U.S. Treasury bill discount rate. The MS&Co. Customer Agreement may generally be terminated upon notice by either party.

Under the Selling Agreement with Morgan Stanley Wealth Management, the Partnership pays Morgan Stanley Wealth Management a monthly ongoing selling agent fee. Prior to April 1, 2014, the monthly ongoing selling agent fee was paid at a rate equal to 5.25% per year of the month-end Net Assets of the Partnership. Effective April 1, 2014, the monthly ongoing selling agent fee was reduced to 3.0% per year of the month-end Net Assets of the Partnership. Effective October 1, 2014, the monthly ongoing selling agent fee was reduced to 2.0% per year of the month-end Net Assets. Morgan Stanley Wealth Management will pay a portion of its ongoing selling agent fees to other properly registered or exempted financial advisors who have sold Redeemable Units. Month-end Net Assets, for the purpose of calculating ongoing selling agent fees are Net Assets, as defined in the Limited Partnership Agreement, prior to the reduction of the current month’s ongoing selling agent fee, management fee, the General Partner fee, the incentive fee accrued, other expenses and any redemptions or distributions as of the end of such month.

Generally, a limited partner in the Master withdraws all or part of its capital contribution and undistributed profits, if any, from the Master as of the end of any month (the “Redemption Date”) after a request has been made to the General Partner at least three days in advance of the Redemption Date. Such withdrawals are classified as a liability when the limited partner in the Master elects to redeem and informs the Master. However, a limited partner in the Master may request a withdrawal as of the end of any day if such request is received by the General Partner at least three days in advance of the proposed withdrawal day.

In July 2015, the General Partner delegated certain administrative functions to SS&C Technologies, Inc., a Delaware corporation, currently doing business as SS&C GlobeOp (the “Administrator”). Pursuant to a master services agreement, the Administrator furnishes certain administrative, accounting, regulatory reporting, tax and other services as agreed from time to time. In addition, the Administrator maintains certain books and records of the Partnership. The cost of retaining the Administrator is allocated among the pools operated by the General Partner, including the Partnership.

(b) Financial information about segments. The Partnership’s business consists of only one segment, speculative trading of commodity interests. The Partnership does not engage in sales of goods or services. The Partnership’s net income (loss) from operations for the years ended December 31, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013 and 2012 is set forth under “Item 6. Selected Financial Data.” The Partnership’s capital as of December 31, 2016 was $12,619,249.

 

3


(c) Narrative Description of Business.

See Paragraphs (a) and (b) above.

 

  (i) through (xii) — Not applicable.

(xiii) — The Partnership has no employees.

(d) Financial Information About Geographic Areas. The Partnership does not engage in sales of goods or services or own any long-lived assets, and therefore this item is not applicable.

(e) Available Information. The Partnership does not have an Internet address. The Partnership will provide paper copies of its annual report on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K and any amendments to these reports free of charge upon request.

(f) Reports to Security Holders. Not applicable.

(g) Enforceability of Civil Liabilities Against Foreign Persons. Not applicable.

(h) Smaller Reporting Companies. Not applicable.

Item 1A. Risk Factors.

As a result of leverage, small changes in the price of the Partnership’s positions may result in major losses.

The trading of commodity interests is speculative, volatile and involves a high degree of leverage. A small change in the market price of a commodity interest contract can produce major losses for the Partnership, through its investment in the Master. Market prices can be influenced by, among other things, changing supply and demand relationships, governmental, agricultural, commercial and trade programs and policies, national and international political and economic events, weather and climate conditions, insects and plant disease, purchases and sales by foreign countries and changing interest rates.

An investor may lose all of its investment.

Due to the speculative nature of trading commodity interests, an investor could lose all of its investment in the Partnership.

The Partnership will pay substantial fees and expenses regardless of profitability.

Regardless of its trading performance, the Partnership will incur fees and expenses, including trading and transaction, ongoing selling agent, clearing and management fees.

An investor’s ability to redeem Redeemable Units is limited.

An investor’s ability to redeem Redeemable Units is limited, and no market exists for the Redeemable Units.

 

4


Conflicts of interest exist.

The Partnership is subject to numerous conflicts of interest including those that arise from the fact that:

 

  1.

The General Partner and the Partnership’s/the Master’s commodity broker are affiliates;

 

  2.

The Advisor, the Partnership’s/the Master’s commodity broker, the General Partner, and their respective principals and affiliates may trade in commodity interests for their own accounts;

 

  3.

An investor’s financial advisor will receive ongoing compensation for providing services to the investor’s account; and

 

  4.

The General Partner, on behalf of the Partnership, may purchase money market mutual fund shares from mutual funds affiliated and/or unaffiliated with the General Partner.

Investing in Redeemable Units might not provide the desired diversification of an investor’s overall portfolio.

One of the Partnership’s objectives is to add an element of diversification to a traditional stock and bond portfolio, but any benefit of portfolio diversification is dependent upon the Partnership achieving positive returns and such returns being independent of stock and bond market returns.

Past performance is no assurance of future results.

The Advisor’s trading strategies may not perform as they have performed in the past. The Advisor has from time to time incurred substantial losses in trading on behalf of clients.

An investor’s tax liability may exceed cash distributions.

Investors are taxed on their share of the Partnership’s income, even though the Partnership does not intend to make any distributions.

Regulatory changes could restrict the Partnership’s operations and increase its operational costs.

Regulatory changes could adversely affect the Partnership by restricting its markets or activities, limiting its trading and/or increasing the costs or taxes to which investors are subject. Pursuant to the mandate of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, signed into law on July 21, 2010, the CFTC and the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) have promulgated rules to regulate swaps dealers and to mandate additional reporting and disclosure requirements and continue to promulgate rules regarding capital and margin requirements, to require that certain swaps be traded on an exchange or swap execution facility to mandate additional reporting and disclosure requirements and to require that derivatives (such as those traded by the Partnership) be moved into central clearinghouses. The CFTC and the prudential regulators that oversee swap dealers have adopted rules regarding margin requirements for certain derivatives. In addition, the CFTC and such prudential regulators have proposed or adopted, respectively, rules regarding capital requirements for swap dealers. These rules may negatively impact the manner in which swap contracts are traded and/or settled, increase the costs of such trades, and limit trading by speculators (such as the Partnership) in futures and over-the-counter (“OTC”) markets.

 

5


Speculative position and trading limits may reduce profitability.

The CFTC and U.S. exchanges have established “speculative position limits” on the maximum net long or net short positions which any person or a group of persons may hold or control in particular futures, options on futures and swaps that perform significant price discovery functions. Most exchanges also limit the amount of fluctuation in commodity futures contract prices on a single trading day. The Advisor believes that established speculative position and trading limits will not materially adversely affect trading for the Partnership. The trading instructions of the Advisor, however, may have to be modified, and positions held by the Partnership may have to be liquidated in order to avoid exceeding these limits. Such modification or liquidation could adversely affect the operations and profitability of the Partnership by increasing transaction costs to liquidate positions and limiting potential profits on the liquidated on the position.

In December 2016, the CFTC re-proposed new rules regarding speculative position limits, replacing a prior proposal from November 2013. These rules, if adopted in substantially the same form, will impose position limits on certain futures and option contracts and physical commodity swaps that are “economically equivalent” to such contracts. If enacted, these rules could have an adverse effect on the Advisor’s trading for the Partnership.

The General Partner, the Partnership and its Service Providers and their Respective Operations Are Potentially Vulnerable to Cyber-Security Attacks or Incidents.

Like other business enterprises, the use of the internet and other electronic media and technology exposes the General Partner, the Partnership and its service providers, and their respective operations, to potential risks from cyber-security attacks or incidents (collectively, “cyber events”). Cyber events may include, for example, unauthorized access to systems, networks or devices, infection from computer viruses or other malicious software code, mishandling or misuse of information and attacks which shut down, disable, slow or otherwise disrupt operations, business processes or website access or functionality. In addition to intentional cyber events, unintentional cyber events can occur. Unintentional cyber events may include, for example, the inadvertent release of confidential information, the mishandling or misuse of information and/or technological limitations or hardware failures (in the markets or otherwise) that constrain the Partnership’s ability to gather, process and communicate information efficiently and securely, without interruption.

Any cyber event could adversely affect the Partnership’s business, financial condition or results of operations and cause the Partnership to incur financial loss and expense, as well as face exposure to regulatory penalties or legal claims, reputational damage and additional costs associated with corrective measures. A cyber-security breach could also jeopardize a limited partner’s personal, confidential, proprietary or other information processed and stored in, and transmitted through, the general partner’s or a service provider’s computer systems. A cyber event may cause the Partnership or its service providers to lose proprietary information, suffer data corruption, lose operational capacity (such as, for example, the loss of the ability to process transactions, calculate the Partnership’s net asset value, or allow investors to transact business) and/or fail to comply with applicable privacy and other laws. Among other potentially harmful effects, cyber events also may result in theft, unauthorized monitoring and failures in the physical infrastructure or operating systems that support the Partnership or its service providers.

The nature of malicious cyber-attacks is becoming increasingly sophisticated and neither the General Partner nor the Partnership can control the cyber systems and cyber-security systems of the advisor or other third-party service providers.

Item 2. Properties.

The Partnership does not own or lease any properties. The General Partner operates out of facilities provided by Morgan Stanley and/or one of its subsidiaries.

 

6


Item 3. Legal Proceedings.

This section describes the major pending legal proceedings, other than ordinary routine litigation incidental to the business, to which MS&Co. or its subsidiaries is a party or to which any of their property is subject. There are no material legal proceedings pending against the Partnership or the General Partner.

On June 1, 2011, Morgan Stanley & Co. Incorporated converted from a Delaware corporation to a Delaware limited liability company. As a result of that conversion, Morgan Stanley & Co. Incorporated is now named Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC (“MS&Co.”).

MS&Co. is a wholly-owned, indirect subsidiary of Morgan Stanley, a Delaware holding company. Morgan Stanley files periodic reports with the SEC as required by the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), which include current descriptions of material litigation and material proceedings and investigations, if any, by governmental and/or regulatory agencies or self-regulatory organizations concerning Morgan Stanley and its subsidiaries, including MS&Co. As a consolidated subsidiary of Morgan Stanley, MS&Co. does not file its own periodic reports with the SEC that contain descriptions of material litigation, proceedings and investigations. As a result, we refer you to the “Legal Proceedings” section of Morgan Stanley’s SEC 10-K filings for 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, and 2012. In addition, MS&Co. annually prepares an Audited Consolidated Statements of Financial Condition (“Audited Financial Statement”) that is publicly available on Morgan Stanley’s website at www.morganstanley.com. We refer you to the “Commitments, Guarantees and Contingencies—Contingencies—Legal” section in MS&Co.’s 2016 Audited Financial Statement.

In addition to the matters described in those filings, in the normal course of business, each of Morgan Stanley and MS&Co. has been named, from time to time, as a defendant in various legal actions, including arbitrations, class actions, and other litigation, arising in connection with its activities as a global diversified financial services institution. Certain of the legal actions include claims for substantial compensatory and/or punitive damages or claims for indeterminate amounts of damages. Each of Morgan Stanley and MS&Co. is also involved, from time to time, in investigations and proceedings by governmental and/or regulatory agencies or self-regulatory organizations, certain of which may result in adverse judgments, fines or penalties. The number of these investigations and proceedings has increased in recent years with regard to many financial services institutions, including Morgan Stanley and MS&Co.

MS&Co. is a Delaware limited liability company with its main business office located at 1585 Broadway, New York, New York 10036. Among other registrations and memberships, MS&Co. is registered as a futures commission merchant and is a member of the National Futures Association.

Regulatory and Governmental Matters

MS&Co. has received subpoenas and requests for information from certain federal and state regulatory and governmental entities, including among others various members of the RMBS Working Group of the Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force, such as the United States Department of Justice, Civil Division and several state Attorney General’s Offices, concerning the origination, financing, purchase, securitization and servicing of subprime and non-subprime residential mortgages and related matters such as residential mortgage backed securities (“RMBS”), collateralized debt obligations (“CDOs”), structured investment vehicles (“SIVs”) and credit default swaps backed by or referencing mortgage pass-through certificates. These matters, some of which are in advanced stages, include, but are not limited to, investigations related to MS&Co.’s due diligence on the loans that it purchased for securitization, MS&Co.’s communications with ratings agencies, MS&Co.’s disclosures to investors, and MS&Co.’s handling of servicing and foreclosure related issues.

On February 25, 2015, MS&Co. reached an agreement in principle with the United States Department of Justice, Civil Division and the United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of California, Civil Division (collectively, the “Civil Division”) to pay $2.6 billion to resolve certain claims that the Civil Division indicated it intended to bring against MS&Co. That settlement was finalized on February 10, 2016.

 

7


In October 2014, the Illinois Attorney General’s Office (“ILAG”) sent a letter to MS&Co. alleging that MS&Co. knowingly made misrepresentations related to RMBS purchased by certain pension funds affiliated with the State of Illinois and demanding that MS&Co. pay ILAG approximately $88 million. MS&Co. and ILAG reached an agreement to resolve the matter on February 10, 2016.

On January 13, 2015, the New York Attorney General’s Office (“NYAG”), which is also a member of the RMBS Working Group, indicated that it intended to file a lawsuit related to approximately 30 subprime securitizations sponsored by MS&Co. NYAG indicated that the lawsuit would allege that MS&Co. misrepresented or omitted material information related to the due diligence, underwriting and valuation of the loans in the securitizations and the properties securing them and indicated that its lawsuit would be brought under the Martin Act. MS&Co. and NYAG reached an agreement to resolve the matter on February 10, 2016.

On June 5, 2012, MS&Co. consented to and became the subject of an Order Instituting Proceedings Pursuant to Sections 6(c) and 6(d) of the Commodity Exchange Act, as amended, Making Findings and Imposing Remedial Sanctions by The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to resolve allegations related to the failure of a salesperson to comply with exchange rules that prohibit off-exchange futures transactions unless there is an Exchange for Related Position (“EFRP”). Specifically, the CFTC found that from April 2008 through October 2009, MS&Co. violated Section 4c(a) of the Commodity Exchange Act, as amended (the “CEA”) and CFTC Regulation 1.38 by executing, processing and reporting numerous off-exchange futures trades to the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (“CME”) and Chicago Board of Trade (“CBOT”) as EFRPs in violation of CME and CBOT rules because those trades lacked the corresponding and related cash, OTC swap, OTC option, or other OTC derivative position. In addition, the CFTC found that MS&Co. violated CFTC Regulation 166.3 by failing to supervise the handling of the trades at issue and failing to have adequate policies and procedures designed to detect and deter the violations of the CEA and CFTC Regulations. Without admitting or denying the underlying allegations and without adjudication of any issue of law or fact, MS&Co. accepted and consented to entry of findings and the imposition of a cease and desist order, a fine of $5,000,000, and undertakings related to public statements, cooperation and payment of the fine. MS&Co. entered into corresponding and related settlements with the CME and CBOT in which the CME found that MS&Co. violated CME Rules 432.Q and 538 and fined MS&Co. $750,000 and CBOT found that MS&Co. violated CBOT Rules 432.Q and 538 and fined MS&Co. $1,000,000.

On July 23, 2014, the SEC approved a settlement by MS&Co. and certain affiliates to resolve an investigation related to certain subprime RMBS transactions sponsored and underwritten by those entities in 2007. Pursuant to the settlement, MS&Co. and certain affiliates were charged with violating Sections 17(a)(2) and 17(a)(3) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”), agreed to pay disgorgement and penalties in an amount of $275 million and neither admitted nor denied the SEC’s findings.

On April 21, 2015, the Chicago Board Options Exchange, Incorporated (“CBOE”) and the CBOE Futures Exchange, LLC (“CFE”) filed statements of charges against MS&Co. in connection with trading by one of MS&Co.’s former traders of EEM options contracts that allegedly disrupted the final settlement price of the November 2012 VXEM futures. CBOE alleged that MS&Co. violated CBOE Rules 4.1, 4.2 and 4.7, Sections 9(a) and 10(b) of the Exchange Act, and Rule 10b-5 thereunder. CFE alleged that MS&Co. violated CFE Rules 608, 609 and 620. The matters were resolved on June 28, 2016 without any findings of fraud.

On June 18, 2015, MS&Co. entered into a settlement with the SEC and paid a fine of $500,000 as part of the MCDC Initiative to resolve allegations that MS&Co. failed to form a reasonable basis through adequate due diligence for believing the truthfulness of the assertions by issuers and/or obligors regarding their compliance with previous continuing disclosure undertakings pursuant to Rule 15c2-12 in connection with offerings in which MS&Co. acted as senior or sole underwriter.

 

8


On August 6, 2015, MS&Co. consented to and became the subject of an order by the CFTC to resolve allegations that MS&Co. violated CFTC Regulation 22.9(a) by failing to hold sufficient US Dollars in cleared swap segregated accounts in the United States to meet all US Dollar obligations to cleared swaps customers. Specifically, the CFTC found that while MS&Co. at all times held sufficient funds in segregation to cover its obligations to its customers, on certain days during 2013 and 2014, it held currencies, such as euros, instead of US dollars, to meet its US dollar obligations. In addition, the CFTC found that MS&Co. violated CFTC Regulation 166.3 by failing to have in place adequate procedures to ensure that it complied with CFTC Regulation 22.9(a). Without admitting or denying the findings or conclusions and without adjudication of any issue of law or fact, MS&Co. accepted and consented to the entry of findings, the imposition of a cease and desist order, a civil monetary penalty of $300,000, and undertakings related to public statements, cooperation, and payment of the monetary penalty.

On December 20, 2016, MS&Co. consented to and became the subject of an order by the SEC in connection with allegations that MS&Co. willfully violated Sections 15(c)(3) and 17(a)(1) of the Exchange Act and Rules 15c3-3(e), 17a-5(a), and 17a-5(d) thereunder, by inaccurately calculating its Reserve Account requirement under Rule 15c3-3 by including margin loans to an affiliate in its calculations, which resulted in making inaccurate records and submitting inaccurate reports to the SEC. Without admitting or denying the underlying allegations and without adjudication of any issue of law or fact, MS&Co. consented to a cease and desist order, a censure, and a civil monetary penalty of $7,500,000.

Civil Litigation

On July 15, 2010, China Development Industrial Bank (“CDIB”) filed a complaint against MS&Co., styled China Development Industrial Bank v. Morgan Stanley & Co. Incorporated et al., which is pending in the Supreme Court of the State of New York, New York County (“Supreme Court of NY”). The complaint relates to a $275 million credit default swap referencing the super senior portion of the STACK 2006-1 CDO. The complaint asserts claims for common law fraud, fraudulent inducement and fraudulent concealment and alleges that MS&Co. misrepresented the risks of the STACK 2006-1 CDO to CDIB, and that MS&Co. knew that the assets backing the CDO were of poor quality when it entered into the credit default swap with CDIB. The complaint seeks compensatory damages related to the approximately $228 million that CDIB alleges it has already lost under the credit default swap, rescission of CDIB’s obligation to pay an additional $12 million, punitive damages, equitable relief, fees and costs. On February 28, 2011, the court denied MS&Co.’s motion to dismiss the complaint. Based on currently available information, MS&Co. believes it could incur a loss of up to approximately $240 million plus pre- and post-judgment interest, fees and costs.

On October 15, 2010, the Federal Home Loan Bank of Chicago filed a complaint against MS&Co. and other defendants in the Circuit Court of the State of Illinois, styled Federal Home Loan Bank of Chicago v. Bank of America Funding Corporation et al. A corrected amended complaint was filed on April 8, 2011, which alleges that defendants made untrue statements and material omissions in the sale to plaintiff of a number of mortgage pass-through certificates backed by securitization trusts containing residential mortgage loans and asserts claims under Illinois law. The total amount of certificates allegedly sold to plaintiff by MS&Co. at issue in the action was approximately $203 million. The complaint seeks, among other things, to rescind the plaintiff’s purchase of such certificates. The defendants filed a motion to dismiss the corrected amended complaint on May 27, 2011, which was denied on September 19, 2012. On December 13, 2013, the court entered an order dismissing all claims related to one of the securitizations at issue. After that dismissal, the remaining amount of certificates allegedly issued by MS&Co. or sold to plaintiff by MS&Co. was approximately $78 million. At December 25, 2016, the current unpaid balance of the mortgage pass-through certificates at issue in this action was approximately $46 million, and the certificates had not yet incurred actual losses. Based on currently available information, MS&Co. believes it could incur a loss in this action up to the difference between the $46 million unpaid balance of these certificates (plus any losses incurred) and their fair market value at the time of a judgment against MS&Co., plus pre- and post-judgment interest, fees and costs. MS&Co. may be entitled to be indemnified for some of these losses and to an offset for interest received by the plaintiff prior to a judgment.

 

9


On April 20, 2011, the Federal Home Loan Bank of Boston filed a complaint against MS&Co. and other defendants in the Superior Court of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts styled Federal Home Loan Bank of Boston v. Ally Financial, Inc. F/K/A GMAC LLC et al. An amended complaint was filed on June 29, 2012 and alleges that defendants made untrue statements and material omissions in the sale to plaintiff of certain mortgage pass-through certificates backed by securitization trusts containing residential mortgage loans. The total amount of certificates allegedly issued by MS&Co. or sold to plaintiff by MS&Co. was approximately $385 million. The amended complaint raises claims under the Massachusetts Uniform Securities Act, the Massachusetts Consumer Protection Act and common law and seeks, among other things, to rescind the plaintiff’s purchase of such certificates. On May 26, 2011, defendants removed the case to the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts. The defendants’ motions to dismiss the amended complaint were granted in part and denied in part on September 30, 2013. On November 25, 2013, July 16, 2014, and May 19, 2015, respectively, the plaintiff voluntarily dismissed its claims against MS&Co. with respect to three of the securitizations at issue. After these voluntary dismissals, the remaining amount of certificates allegedly issued by MS&Co. or sold to plaintiff by MS&Co. was approximately $332 million. At December 25, 2016, the current unpaid balance of the mortgage pass-through certificates at issue in this action was approximately $51 million, and the certificates had not yet incurred actual losses. Based on currently available information, MS&Co. believes it could incur a loss in this action up to the difference between the $51 million unpaid balance of these certificates (plus any losses incurred) and their fair market value at the time of a judgment against MS&Co., or upon sale, plus pre- and post-judgment interest, fees and costs. MS&Co. may be entitled to be indemnified for some of these losses and to an offset for interest received by the plaintiff prior to a judgment.

On May 3, 2013, plaintiffs in Deutsche Zentral-Genossenschaftsbank AG et al. v. Morgan Stanley et al. filed a complaint against MS&Co., certain affiliates, and other defendants in the Supreme Court of NY. The complaint alleges that defendants made material misrepresentations and omissions in the sale to plaintiffs of certain mortgage pass-through certificates backed by securitization trusts containing residential mortgage loans. The total amount of certificates allegedly sponsored, underwritten and/or sold by MS&Co. to plaintiff currently at issue in this action was approximately $644 million. The complaint alleges causes of action against MS&Co. for common law fraud, fraudulent concealment, aiding and abetting fraud, negligent misrepresentation, and rescission and seeks, among other things, compensatory and punitive damages. On June 10, 2014, the court granted in part and denied in part MS&Co.’s motion to dismiss the complaint. MS&Co. perfected its appeal from that decision on June 12, 2015. At December 25, 2016, the current unpaid balance of the mortgage pass-through certificates at issue in this action was approximately $247 million, and the certificates had incurred actual losses of approximately $86 million. Based on currently available information, MS&Co. believes it could incur a loss in this action up to the difference between the $247 million unpaid balance of these certificates (plus any losses incurred) and their fair market value at the time of a judgment against MS&Co., or upon sale, plus pre- and post-judgment interest, fees and costs. MS&Co. may be entitled to be indemnified for some of these losses.

On May 17, 2013, plaintiff in IKB International S.A. in Liquidation, et al. v. Morgan Stanley, et al. filed a complaint against MS&Co. and certain affiliates in the Supreme Court of NY. The complaint alleges that defendants made material misrepresentations and omissions in the sale to plaintiff of certain mortgage pass-through certificates backed by securitization trusts containing residential mortgage loans. The total amount of certificates allegedly sponsored, underwritten and/or sold by MS&Co. to plaintiff was approximately $132 million. The complaint alleges causes of action against MS&Co. for common law fraud, fraudulent concealment, aiding and abetting fraud, and negligent misrepresentation, and seeks, among other things, compensatory and punitive damages. On October 29, 2014, the court granted in part and denied in part MS&Co.’s motion to dismiss. All claims regarding four certificates were dismissed. After these dismissals, the remaining amount of certificates allegedly issued by MS&Co. or sold to plaintiff by MS&Co. was approximately $116 million. On August 26, 2015, MS&Co. perfected its appeal from the court’s October 29, 2014 decision. On August 11, 2016, the Appellate Division, First Department affirmed the trial court’s decision denying in part MS&Co.’s motion to dismiss the complaint. At December 25, 2016, the current unpaid balance of the mortgage pass-through certificates at issue in this action was approximately $25 million, and the certificates had incurred actual losses of $58 million. Based on currently available information, MS&Co. believes it could incur a loss in this action up to the difference between the $25 million unpaid balance of these certificates (plus any losses incurred) and their fair market value at the time of a judgment against MS&Co., or upon sale, plus pre- and post-judgment interest, fees and costs. MS&Co. may be entitled to be indemnified for some of these losses and to an offset for interest received by the plaintiff prior to a judgment.

 

10


On April 1, 2016, the California Attorney General’s Office filed an action against MS&Co. in California state court styled California v. Morgan Stanley, et al., on behalf of California investors, including the California Public Employees’ Retirement System and the California Teachers’ Retirement System. The complaint alleges that MS&Co. made misrepresentations and omissions regarding residential mortgage-backed securities and notes issued by the Cheyne SIV, and asserts violations of the California False Claims Act and other state laws and seeks treble damages, civil penalties, disgorgement, and injunctive relief. On September 30, 2016, the court granted MS&Co.’s demurrer, with leave to replead. On October 21, 2016, the California Attorney General filed an amended complaint. On January 25, 2017, the court denied MS&Co.’s demurrer with respect to the amended complaint.

Settled Civil Litigation

On August 25, 2008, MS&Co. and two ratings agencies were named as defendants in a purported class action related to securities issued by a structured investment vehicle called Cheyne Finance PLC and Cheyne Finance LLC (together, the “Cheyne SIV”). The case was styled Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank, et al. v. Morgan Stanley & Co. Inc., et al. The complaint alleged, among other things, that the ratings assigned to the securities issued by the Cheyne SIV were false and misleading, including because the ratings did not accurately reflect the risks associated with the subprime RMBS held by the Cheyne SIV. The plaintiffs asserted allegations of aiding and abetting fraud and negligent misrepresentation relating to approximately $852 million of securities issued by the Cheyne SIV. On April 24, 2013, the parties reached an agreement to settle the case, and on April 26, 2013, the court dismissed the action with prejudice.

On December 23, 2009, the Federal Home Loan Bank of Seattle filed a complaint against MS&Co. and another defendant in the Superior Court of the State of Washington, styled Federal Home Loan Bank of Seattle v. Morgan Stanley & Co. Inc., et al. The amended complaint, filed on September 28, 2010, alleges that defendants made untrue statements and material omissions in the sale to plaintiff of certain mortgage pass-through certificates backed by securitization trusts containing residential mortgage loans. The total amount of certificates allegedly sold to plaintiff by MS&Co. was approximately $233 million. The complaint raises claims under the Washington State Securities Act and seeks, among other things, to rescind the plaintiff’s purchase of such certificates. On January 23, 2017, the parties reached an agreement to settle the litigation.

On March 15, 2010, the Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco filed a complaint against MS&Co. and other defendants in the Superior Court of the State of California styled Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco v. Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC, et al. An amended complaint filed on June 10, 2010 alleged that defendants made untrue statements and material omissions in connection with the sale to plaintiff of a number of mortgage pass-through certificates backed by securitization trusts containing residential mortgage loans. The amount of certificates allegedly sold to plaintiff by MS&Co. was approximately $704 million. The complaint raised claims under both the federal securities laws and California law and sought, among other things, to rescind the plaintiff’s purchase of such certificates. On January 26, 2015, as a result of a settlement with certain other defendants, the plaintiff requested and the court subsequently entered a dismissal with prejudice of certain of the plaintiff’s claims, including all remaining claims against MS&Co.

On March 15, 2010, the Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco filed a complaint against MS&Co. and other defendants in the Superior Court of the State of California styled Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco v. Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. et al. An amended complaint, filed on June 10, 2010, alleges that defendants made untrue statements and material omissions in connection with the sale to plaintiff of certain mortgage pass-through certificates backed by securitization trusts containing residential mortgage loans. The amount of certificates allegedly sold to plaintiff by MS&Co. was approximately $276 million. The complaint raises claims under both the federal securities laws and California law and seeks, among other things, to rescind the plaintiff’s purchase of such certificates. On December 21, 2016, the parties reached an agreement to settle the litigation.

 

11


On July 9, 2010 and February 11, 2011, Cambridge Place Investment Management Inc. filed two separate complaints against MS&Co. and/or its affiliates and other defendants in the Superior Court of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, both styled Cambridge Place Investment Management Inc. v. Morgan Stanley & Co., Inc., et al. The complaints asserted claims on behalf of certain clients of plaintiff’s affiliates and allege that defendants made untrue statements and material omissions in the sale of a number of mortgage pass-through certificates backed by securitization trusts containing residential mortgage loans. The total amount of certificates allegedly issued by MS&Co. and/or its affiliates or sold to plaintiff’s affiliates’ clients by MS&Co. and/or its affiliates in the two matters was approximately $263 million. On February 11, 2014, the parties entered into an agreement to settle the litigation. On February 20, 2014, the court dismissed the action.

On October 25, 2010, MS&Co., certain affiliates and Pinnacle Performance Limited, a special purpose vehicle (“SPV”), were named as defendants in a purported class action in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (“SDNY”), styled Ge Dandong, et al. v. Pinnacle Performance Ltd., et al. On January 31, 2014, the plaintiffs in the action, which related to securities issued by the SPV in Singapore, filed a second amended complaint, which asserted common law claims of fraud, aiding and abetting fraud, fraudulent inducement, aiding and abetting fraudulent inducement, and breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing. On July 17, 2014, the parties reached an agreement to settle the litigation, which received final court approval on July 2, 2015.

On July 5, 2011, Allstate Insurance Company and certain of its affiliated entities filed a complaint against MS&Co. in the Supreme Court of NY, styled Allstate Insurance Company, et al. v. Morgan Stanley, et al. An amended complaint was filed on September 9, 2011, and alleges that the defendants made untrue statements and material omissions in the sale to the plaintiffs of certain mortgage pass-through certificates backed by securitization trusts containing residential mortgage loans. The total amount of certificates allegedly issued and/or sold to the plaintiffs by MS&Co. was approximately $104 million. The complaint raised common law claims of fraud, fraudulent inducement, aiding and abetting fraud, and negligent misrepresentation and seeks, among other things, compensatory and/or recessionary damages associated with the plaintiffs’ purchases of such certificates. On January 16, 2015, the parties reached an agreement to settle the litigation.

On July 18, 2011, the Western and Southern Life Insurance Company and certain affiliated companies filed a complaint against MS&Co. and other defendants in the Court of Common Pleas in Ohio, styled Western and Southern Life Insurance Company, et al. v. Morgan Stanley Mortgage Capital Inc., et al. An amended complaint was filed on April 2, 2012 and alleges that defendants made untrue statements and material omissions in the sale to plaintiffs of certain mortgage pass-through certificates backed by securitization trusts containing residential mortgage loans. The amount of the certificates allegedly sold to plaintiffs by MS&Co. was approximately $153 million. On June 8, 2015, the parties reached an agreement to settle the litigation.

On September 2, 2011, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (“FHFA”), as conservator for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, filed 17 complaints against numerous financial services companies, including MS&Co. and certain affiliates. A complaint against MS&Co. and certain affiliates and other defendants was filed in the Supreme Court of NY, styled Federal Housing Finance Agency, as Conservator v. Morgan Stanley et al. The complaint alleges that defendants made untrue statements and material omissions in connection with the sale to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac of residential mortgage pass-through certificates with an original unpaid balance of approximately $11 billion. The complaint raised claims under federal and state securities laws and common law and seeks, among other things, rescission and compensatory and punitive damages. On February 7, 2014, the parties entered into an agreement to settle the litigation. On February 20, 2014, the court dismissed the action.

On April 25, 2012, Metropolitan Life Insurance Company and certain affiliates filed a complaint against MS&Co. and certain affiliates in the Supreme Court of NY, styled Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, et al. v. Morgan Stanley, et al. An amended complaint was filed on June 29, 2012, and alleges that the defendants made untrue statements and material omissions in the sale to the plaintiffs of certain mortgage pass-through certificates backed by securitization trusts containing residential mortgage loans. The total amount of certificates allegedly sponsored, underwritten, and/or sold by MS&Co. was approximately $758 million. The amended complaint raised common law claims of fraud, fraudulent inducement, and aiding and abetting fraud and seeks, among other things, rescission, compensatory, and/or rescissionary damages, as well as punitive damages, associated with the plaintiffs’ purchases of such certificates. On April 11, 2014, the parties entered into a settlement agreement.

 

12


On April 25, 2012, The Prudential Insurance Company of America and certain affiliates filed a complaint against MS&Co. and certain affiliates in the Superior Court of the State of New Jersey, styled The Prudential Insurance Company of America, et al. v. Morgan Stanley, et al. On October 16, 2012, plaintiffs filed an amended complaint. The amended complaint alleged that defendants made untrue statements and material omissions in connection with the sale to plaintiffs of certain mortgage pass-through certificates backed by securitization trusts containing residential mortgage loans. The total amount of certificates allegedly sponsored, underwritten and/or sold by MS&Co. was approximately $1.073 billion. The amended complaint raises claims under the New Jersey Uniform Securities Law, as well as common law claims of negligent misrepresentation, fraud, fraudulent inducement, equitable fraud, aiding and abetting fraud, and violations of the New Jersey RICO statute, and includes a claim for treble damages. On January 8, 2016, the parties reached an agreement to settle the litigation.

In re Morgan Stanley Mortgage Pass-Through Certificates Litigation, which had been pending in the SDNY, was a putative class action involving allegations that, among other things, the registration statements and offering documents related to the offerings of certain mortgage pass-through certificates in 2006 and 2007 contained false and misleading information concerning the pools of residential loans that backed these securitizations. On December 18, 2014, the parties’ agreement to settle the litigation received final court approval, and on December 19, 2014, the court entered an order dismissing the action.

On November 4, 2011, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (“FDIC”), as receiver for Franklin Bank S.S.B, filed two complaints against MS&Co. in the District Court of the State of Texas. Each was styled Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation as Receiver for Franklin Bank, S.S.B v. Morgan Stanley & Company LLC F/K/A Morgan Stanley & Co. Inc. and alleged that MS&Co. made untrue statements and material omissions in connection with the sale to plaintiff of mortgage pass-through certificates backed by securitization trusts containing residential mortgage loans. The amount of certificates allegedly underwritten and sold to plaintiff by MS&Co. in these cases was approximately $67 million and $35 million, respectively. On July 2, 2015, the parties reached an agreement to settle the litigation.

On February 14, 2013, Bank Hapoalim B.M. filed a complaint against MS&Co. and certain affiliates in the Supreme Court of NY, styled Bank Hapoalim B.M. v. Morgan Stanley et al. The complaint alleges that defendants made material misrepresentations and omissions in the sale to plaintiff of certain mortgage pass-through certificates backed by securitization trusts containing residential mortgage loans. The total amount of certificates allegedly sponsored, underwritten and/or sold by MS&Co. to plaintiff was approximately $141 million. On July 28, 2015, the parties reached an agreement to settle the litigation, and on August 12, 2015, the plaintiff filed a stipulation of discontinuance with prejudice.

On September 23, 2013, the plaintiff in National Credit Union Administration Board v. Morgan Stanley & Co. Inc., et al. filed a complaint against MS&Co. and certain affiliates in the SDNY. The complaint alleged that defendants made untrue statements of material fact or omitted to state material facts in the sale to the plaintiff of certain mortgage pass-through certificates issued by securitization trusts containing residential mortgage loans. The total amount of certificates allegedly sponsored, underwritten and/or sold by MS&Co. to plaintiffs in the matter was approximately $417 million. The complaint alleged violations of federal and various state securities laws and sought, among other things, rescissionary and compensatory damages. On November 23, 2015, the parties reached an agreement to settle the matter.

On September 16, 2014, the Virginia Attorney General’s Office filed a civil lawsuit, styled Commonwealth of Virginia ex rel. Integra REC LLC v. Barclays Capital Inc., et al., against MS&Co. and several other defendants in the Circuit Court of the City of Richmond related to RMBS. The lawsuit alleged that MS&Co. and the other defendants knowingly made misrepresentations and omissions related to the loans backing RMBS purchased by the Virginia Retirement System. The complaint asserts claims under the Virginia Fraud Against Taxpayers Act, as well as common law claims of actual and constructive fraud, and seeks, among other things, treble damages and civil penalties. On January 6, 2016, the parties reached an agreement to settle the litigation. An order dismissing the action with prejudice was entered on January 28, 2016.

Additional lawsuits containing claims similar to those described above may be filed in the future. In the course of its business, MS&Co., as a major futures commission merchant, is party to various civil actions, claims and routine regulatory investigations and proceedings that the General Partner believes do not have a material effect on the business of MS&Co. MS&Co. may establish reserves from time to time in connection with such action

Item 4. Mine Safety Disclosures. Not applicable.

 

13


PART II

Item 5. Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities.

 

  (a)

Market Information. The Partnership has issued no stock. There is no public market for the Redeemable Units.

 

  (b)

Holders. The number of holders of Redeemable Units as of February 28, 2017 was 381.

 

  (c)

Dividends. The Partnership did not declare any distributions in 2016 or 2015. The Partnership does not intend to declare distributions in the foreseeable future.

 

  (d)

Securities Authorized for Issuance Under Equity Compensation Plans. None.

 

  (e)

Performance Graph. Not applicable.

 

  (f)

Recent Sales of Unregistered Securities; Use of Proceeds from Registered Securities. For the twelve months ended December 31, 2016, there were no subscriptions of Redeemable Units. For the twelve months ended December 31, 2015, there were subscriptions of 1,907.1760 Redeemable Units totaling $2,123,330. For the twelve months ended December 31, 2014, there were subscriptions of 2,365.5570 Redeemable Units totaling $2,518,092.

The Redeemable Units were issued in reliance upon applicable exceptions from registration under section 4(a)(2) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”), and section 506 of Regulation D promulgated thereunder. The Redeemable Units were purchased by accredited investors as described in Regulation D. In determining the applicability of the exemption, the General Partner relied on the fact that Redeemable Units were purchased by accredited investors in a private offering.

Proceeds from the sale of additional Redeemable Units are used in the trading of commodity interests including futures contracts, forward and commodity option contracts, and any other rights or interests pertaining thereto including interests in commodity pools.

 

  (g)

Purchases of Equity Securities by the Issuer and Affiliated Purchasers.

The following chart sets forth the purchases of Redeemable Units by the Partnership.

 

Period   (a) Total Number
of Redeemable
Units Purchased *
    (b) Average
Price Paid per
Redeemable
Unit **
    (c) Total Number of
Redeemable Units
Purchased as Part of
Publicly Announced
Plans or Programs
    (d) Maximum Number (or
Approximate Dollar Value)
of Redeemable Units
that May Yet be Purchased
Under the Plans or Programs
 

October 1, 2016 - October 31, 2016

    85.6780     $ 883.45       N/A       N/A  

November 1, 2016 - November 30, 2016

    1,314.6900     $ 912.72       N/A       N/A  

December 1, 2016 - December 31, 2016

    130.2670     $ 919.87       N/A       N/A  
      1,530.6350     $ 911.69                  

 

*

Generally, Limited Partners are permitted to redeem their Redeemable Units as of the end of each month on three business days’ notice to the General Partner. Under certain circumstances, the General Partner can compel redemption, although to date, the General Partner has not exercised this right. Purchases of Redeemable Units by the Partnership reflected in the chart above were made in the ordinary course of the Partnership’s business in connection with effecting redemptions for Limited Partners.

 

**

Redemptions of Redeemable Units are effected as of the end of each month at the net asset value per Redeemable Unit as of that day. No fee will be charged for redemptions.

 

14


Item 6. Selected Financial Data.

Total trading results, total investment income, total expenses, net income (loss) and increase (decrease) in net asset value per Redeemable Unit, for the years ended December 31, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013 and 2012 and net asset value per Redeemable Unit and total assets as of December 31, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013 and 2012 were as follows:

 

     2016      2015      2014      2013      2012  

Total trading results

     $ 477,154          $ (2,777,630)         $ 6,025,629          $ 408,358          $ (11,437,864)   

Total investment income

     27,531          1,235          3,888          8,290          20,427    

Total expenses

     (1,161,497)         (1,628,102)         (2,052,819)         (2,574,522)         (3,536,397)   
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

Net income (loss)

     $ (656,812)         $ (4,404,497)         $ 3,976,698          $ (2,157,874)         $ (14,953,834)   
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

Increase (decrease) in net asset per Redeemable Unit

     $ (41.84)         $ (209.32)         $ 163.01          $ (77.42)         $ (430.78)   
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

Net asset value per Redeemable Unit

     $ 919.87          $ 961.71          $ 1,171.03          $ 1,008.02          $ 1,085.44    
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

Total assets

     $   12,926,515          $   19,292,079          $   26,480,194          $   26,107,154          $ 31,215,455    
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.

Overview

The Partnership, through its investment in the Master, aims to achieve substantial capital appreciation through speculative trading, directly and indirectly in U.S. and international markets for currencies, interest rates, stock indices, agricultural and energy products and precious and base metals. The Partnership, through its investment in the Master may employ futures, option on futures, forward, option on forward, spot and swap contracts and cash commodities and any other rights or interests pertaining thereto, in those markets.

The General Partner manages all business of the Partnership and the Master. The General Partner has delegated its responsibility for the investment of the Partnership’s assets to the Advisor. The General Partner engages a team of approximately 30 professionals whose primary emphasis is on attempting to maintain quality control among the advisors to the funds operated or managed by the General Partner. A full-time staff of due diligence professionals use proprietary technology and on-site evaluations to monitor new and existing futures money managers. The accounting and operations staff provide processing of subscriptions and redemptions and reporting to limited partners and regulatory authorities. The General Partner includes staff involved in marketing and sales support. In selecting the Advisor for the Partnership and the Master, the General Partner considered, among other things, past performance, trading style, volatility of markets traded and fee requirements. The General Partner may modify or terminate the allocation of assets to the Advisor at any time.

Responsibilities of the General Partner include:

 

    due diligence examinations of the Advisor;

 

    selection, appointment and termination of the Advisor;

 

    negotiation of the Management Agreement; and

 

    monitoring the activity of the Advisor.

In addition, the General Partner prepares, or assists the Administrator in preparing, the books and records and provides or assists the Administrator in providing, the administrative and compliance services that are required by law or regulation from time to time in connection with the operation of the Partnership/Master.

While the Partnership and the Master have the right to seek lower commission rates from other commodity brokers at any time, the General Partner believes that the customer agreements and other arrangements with the commodity broker are fair, reasonable, and competitive.

 

15


Rabar Market Research L.P.

Effective January, 1, 2013, Rabar became the Partnership’s sole trading advisor. Rabar will trade the Partnership’s assets in accordance with its Diversified Program. The objective of Rabar’s investment strategy is to generate capital appreciation over the long run by investing in, among other things, exchange traded futures contracts, options on futures contracts, foreign currency forward contracts (which constitute swaps) and, to a very limited extent, cash commodities. Rabar may also engage in exchange for physical transactions, more commonly referred to as “EFPs.” Rabar will trade commodity contracts on U.S. and foreign exchanges.

Rabar’s strategy employs a diversified, systematic, technical approach, incorporating trend-following and trend-anticipating strategies as the basis of trading decisions, and utilizes a blend of several separate and distinct quantitative models. Each of these elements is described more fully below.

The approach is “diversified” in that it can be invested in up to 109 markets, covering more than 20 exchanges in more than 30 different countries. The portfolio includes futures contracts on currencies, financial instruments, precious and base metals, stock indices, energies, meats, grains, and soft commodities as well as foreign currency forward contracts. The specific markets have been chosen for, among other reasons, their historical performance and customary liquidity.

The approach is “systematic” in that Rabar utilizes multiple quantitative investment models which generate signals directing Rabar to initiate or liquidate positions in each market at specific, predetermined price points. In the vast majority of circumstances, Rabar will follow the specific signals generated by the models. The approach does, however, incorporate a small discretionary element. In this regard Rabar may, from time to time, analyze certain key fundamental factors affecting supply and demand, such as a regional or global financial crisis, extreme weather conditions or major political events. As a result of the analysis Rabar may make adjustments to the size of positions or the timing of trades in the portfolio in an effort to control risk or to take advantage of potential profit opportunities.

The approach is “technical,” meaning that the signals generated by the models are based upon an analysis of objective technical factors rather than fundamental factors. Although the technical indicators analyzed are varied, they are all based primarily on daily, weekly and monthly price movement.

The approach combines “trend-following” with “trend-anticipating” systems. The trend-following systems seek to take advantage of directional price movement and will typically enter the markets once such movement has begun. The “trend-anticipating” systems also will profit from sustained directional moves; however, these systems can initiate before trends begin, entering the market where no trend is discernible from an examination of the price charts. Since the portfolio will maintain both long and short positions, it is not necessarily relevant whether a particular market is rising or falling. It is merely the case that Rabar’s best opportunity for profit will come from markets moving continuously in one direction while Rabar will have a difficult time profiting from, and may incur losses in, markets which are not exhibiting sustained directional movement.

The approach incorporates a “blend” of quantitative models. Specifically, the methodology employs several totally separate and distinct investment models in its overall approach, and several additional variations of those models, all of which are blended together in Rabar’s program.

Rabar employs a number of risk management techniques in the Diversified Program with a view toward reducing and controlling risk in the portfolio. For example, the Diversified Program’s portfolio is broadly diversified, thereby spreading the risk across multiple markets. The Diversified Program is also diversified across a wide range of holding periods. The Diversified Program’s portfolio is also diversified across multiple quantitative models limiting the risk exposure in the portfolio to any one such model. Rabar also employs liquidation prices determined at the beginning of each trading day for each position. These liquidation points can have the effect of limiting the exposure to each position, system, market and market sector, and in the portfolio as a whole. Rabar’s approach also incorporates statistical measures to help control risk. For example, Rabar uses filters which reduce or eliminate exposure in excessively volatile markets. The approach also incorporates methods to filter out positions with low statistical expectations. Rabar also employs a proprietary, volatility-based methodology for sizing positions to equalize risk in the portfolio across all trades. Similarly, Rabar’s methodologies attempt to equalize risk across all systems. It should be noted that there is no assurance that the above described risk management techniques will have the desired effects of controlling or even reducing risk in the Diversified Program’s portfolio, as investing in futures interests involve a high degree of risk. As to stop losses in particular, it is possible for a market to “gap open,” or in other words open through the predetermined liquidation price. In such event, the predetermined liquidation point will have a reduced, or possibly minimal, effect on risk. Also, the risk assumed and, consequently, the potential for profit experienced by a particular account at different times, and by different accounts at the same time, vary significantly according to market conditions, the size of a given account, the percentage gained or lost in that account, and the perceived risk aversion of that account’s owner.

 

16


The exact nature of Rabar’s strategy, risk management techniques, and research and development efforts in the Diversified Program is proprietary and confidential. The foregoing description is thus of necessity general and is not intended to be exhaustive. Some investment decisions involve the exercise of judgment by Rabar.

As a managed futures partnership, the Partnership’s and the Master’s performance is dependent upon the successful trading of the Advisor to achieve the Partnership’s and the Master’s objectives. It is the business of the General Partner to monitor the Advisor’s performance to ensure compliance with the Partnership’s and the Master’s trading policies and to determine if the Advisor’s performance is meeting the Partnership’s and the Master’s objectives.

(a) Liquidity.

The Partnership does not engage in the sales of goods or services. Its assets are (i) investment in the Master, and (ii) equity in its trading account, consisting of cash. The Master does not engage in sales of goods or services. The Master’s only assets are its equity in its trading account, consisting of cash, cash margin, net unrealized appreciation on open futures contracts, net unrealized appreciation on open forward contracts and U.S. Treasury bills at fair value. Because of the low margin deposits normally required in commodity futures trading, relatively small price movements may result in substantial losses to the Partnership, through its investment in the Master. While substantial losses could lead to a material decrease in liquidity, no such illiquidity occurred during the year ended December 31, 2016.

To minimize the risk relating to low margin deposits, the Partnership and the Master follow certain trading policies, including:

 

  (i)

The Master invests its assets only in commodity interests that the Advisor believes are traded in sufficient volume to permit ease of taking and liquidating positions. Sufficient volume, in this context, refers to a level of liquidity that the Advisor believes will permit it to enter and exit trades without noticeably moving the market.

 

  (ii)

The Advisor will not initiate additional positions in any commodity if these positions would result in aggregate positions requiring a margin of more than 66 2/3% of the Partnership’s net assets allocated to the Advisor.

 

  (iii)

The Master may occasionally accept delivery of a commodity. Unless such delivery is disposed of promptly by retendering the warehouse receipt representing the delivery to the appropriate clearinghouse, the physical commodity position is fully hedged.

 

  (iv)

The Master does not employ the trading technique commonly known as “pyramiding,” in which the speculator uses unrealized profits on existing positions as margin for the purchases or sale of additional positions in the same or related commodities.

 

  (v)

The Master does not utilize borrowings other than short-term borrowings if the Master takes delivery of any cash commodities.

 

  (vi)

The Advisor may, from time to time, employ trading strategies such as spreads or straddles on behalf of the Master. “Spreads” and “straddles” describe commodity futures trading strategies involving the simultaneous buying and selling of futures contracts on the same commodity but involving different delivery dates or markets.

 

  (vii)

The Master will not permit the churning of its commodity trading account. The term “churning” refers to the practice of entering and exiting trades with a frequency unwarranted by legitimate efforts to profit from the trades, indicating the desire to generate commission income.

From January 1, 2016, through December 31, 2016, the Partnership’s average margin to equity ratio (i.e., the percentage of assets on deposit required for margin) was approximately 9.8%. The foregoing margin to equity ratio takes into account cash held in the Partnership’s name, as well as the allocable value of the positions and cash held on behalf of the Partnership in the name of the Master.

 

17


In the normal course of business, the Partnership, through its investment in the Master, is party to financial instruments with off-balance sheet risk, including derivative financial instruments and derivative commodity instruments. These financial instruments may include forwards, futures, options and swaps, whose values are based upon an underlying asset, index, or reference rate, and generally represent future commitments to exchange currencies or cash balances, to purchase or sell other financial instruments at specific terms at specified future dates, or, in the case of derivative commodity instruments, to have a reasonable possibility to be settled in cash, through physical delivery or with another financial instrument. These instruments may be traded on an exchange, a swap execution facility or over-the-counter (“OTC”). Exchange-traded instruments include futures and certain standardized forward, swap and option contracts. Certain swap contracts may also be traded on a swap execution facility or OTC. OTC contracts are negotiated between contracting parties and also include certain forward and option contracts. Each of these instruments is subject to various risks similar to those related to the underlying financial instruments, including market and credit risk. In general, the risks associated with OTC contracts are greater than those associated with exchange-traded instruments because of the greater risk of default by the counterparty to an OTC contract. The General Partner estimates at any given time, approximately 0.0% to 21.0% of the Partnership’s/Master’s contracts are traded OTC.

The risk to the Limited Partners that have purchased Redeemable Units is limited to the amount of their share of the Partnership’s net assets and undistributed profits. This limited liability is a result of the organization of the Partnership as a limited partnership under New York law.

Market risk is the potential for changes in the value of the financial instruments traded by the Master due to market changes, including interest and foreign exchange rate movements and fluctuations in commodity or security prices. Market risk is directly impacted by the volatility and liquidity in the markets in which the related underlying assets are traded. The Master are exposed to a market risk equal to the value of futures and forward contracts purchased and unlimited liability on such contracts sold short.

The Master does not isolate that portion of the results of operations arising from the effect of changes in foreign exchange rates on investments from fluctuations from changes in market prices of investments held. Such fluctuations are included in total trading results in the Statements of Income and Expenses.

Credit risk is the possibility that a loss may occur due to the failure of a counterparty to perform according to the terms of a contract. The Partnership’s/Master’s risk of loss in the event of counterparty default is typically limited to the amounts recognized in the Statements of Financial Condition and is not represented by the contract or notional amounts of the instruments. The Partnership’s/Master’s risk of loss is reduced through the use of legally enforceable master netting agreements with counterparties that permit the Partnership/Master to offset unrealized gains and losses and other assets and liabilities with such counterparties upon the occurrence of certain events. The Partnership/Master had credit risk and concentration risk during the reporting period and prior periods, as MS&Co. and/or CGM or their affiliates were the sole counterparties or brokers with respect to the Partnership’s/Master’s assets. Credit risk with respect to exchange-traded instruments was reduced to the extent that, through MS&Co. and/or CGM or their affiliates, the Partnership’s/Master’s counterparty was an exchange or clearing organization. The Partnership/Master remain subject to such risks with respect to MS&Co.

The General Partner monitors and attempts to control the Partnership’s/Master’s risk exposure on a daily basis through financial, credit and risk management monitoring systems, and accordingly, believes that it has effective procedures for evaluating and limiting the credit and market risks to which the Partnership/Master may be subject. These monitoring systems generally allow the General Partner to statistically analyze actual trading results with risk adjusted performance indicators and correlation statistics. In addition, online monitoring systems provide account analysis of futures, forward and option contracts by sector, margin requirements, gain and loss transactions and collateral positions. (See also “Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data” for further information on financial instrument risk included in the notes to the financial statements.)

Other than the risks inherent in U.S. Treasury bills, money market mutual fund securities, commodity futures and swaps trading, the Partnership/Master knows of no trends, demands, commitments, events or uncertainties which will result in or which are reasonably likely to result in the Partnership’s/Master’s liquidity increasing or decreasing in any material way. The Limited Partnership Agreement provides that the Partnership shall cease trading operations and liquidate all open positions under certain circumstances including a decrease in net asset value per Redeemable Unit to less than $400 as of the close of business on any business day.

(b) Capital Resources.

(i) The Partnership has made no material commitments for capital expenditures.

 

18


(ii) The Partnership’s capital consists of the capital contributions of the partners as increased or decreased by gains or losses on trading and by expenses, interest income, redemptions of Redeemable Units and distributions of profits, if any. Gains or losses on trading cannot be predicted. Market movements in commodities are dependent upon fundamental and technical factors which the Advisor may or may not be able to identify, such as changing supply and demand relationships, weather, government agricultural, commercial and trade programs and policies, national and international political and economic events and changes in interest rates. Partnership expenses consist of, among other things, ongoing selling agent fees, clearing, General Partner and management fees and expenses allocated from the Master. The level of these expenses is dependent upon trading performance and the level of Net Assets maintained. In addition, the amount of interest income payable by the Partnership’s commodity broker is dependent upon (1) the average daily equity maintained in cash in the Partnership’s and/or the Master’s accounts, (2) the amount of U.S. Treasury bills and/or money market mutual fund securities held by the Partnership and/or the Master and (3) interest rates over which none of the Partnership, the Master or MS&Co. has control.

The Partnership continues to offer Redeemable Units at the net asset value per Redeemable Unit as of the end of each month. For the year ended December 31, 2016, there were no subscriptions of Redeemable Units. For the year ended December 31, 2015, there were subscriptions of 1,907.1760 Redeemable Units totaling $2,123,330. For the year ended December 31, 2014, there were subscriptions of 2,365.5570 Redeemable Units totaling $2,518,092.

No forecast can be made as to the level of redemptions in any given period. A limited partner may require the Partnership to redeem its Redeemable Units at their net asset value as of the end of a month on three business days’ notice to the General Partner. There is no fee charged to limited partners in connection with redemptions. Redemptions generally are funded out of the Partnership’s cash holdings and/or redemptions from the Master. For the year ended December 31, 2016, 5,061.4660 Redeemable Units were redeemed totaling $4,787,540 and 96.5270 General Partner Redeemable Units were redeemed totaling $89,999. For the year ended December 31, 2015, 5,288.5760 Redeemable Units were redeemed totaling $5,629,873. For the year ended December 31, 2014, 5,366.5700 Redeemable Units were redeemed totaling $5,885,259 and 58.8500 General Partner Redeemable Units were redeemed totaling $65,700.

Redeemable Units were sold to persons and entities who are accredited investors as that term is defined in rule 501(a) of Regulation D under the Securities Act. During prior periods included in this report, Redeemable Units were sold to the persons who were not accredited investors but who have either a net worth (exclusive of home, furnishings and automobile) either individually or jointly with the investor’s spouse of at least three times their investment in the Partnership (the minimum investment for which was $25,000) or gross income for the two previous years and projected gross income for the current fiscal year of not less than three times their investment in the Partnership for each year.

(c) Results of Operations.

For the year ended December 31, 2016, the net asset value per Redeemable Unit decreased 4.4% from $961.71 to $919.87. For the year ended December 31, 2015, the net asset value per Redeemable Unit decreased 17.9% from $1,171.03 to $961.71. For the year ended December 31, 2014, the net asset value per Redeemable Unit increased 16.2% from $1,008.02 to $1,171.03.

The Partnership experienced a net trading gain (before fees and expenses) in the year ended December 31, 2016 of $477,154. Gains were primarily attributable to the trading of commodity futures in grains, U.S. and non-U.S. interest rates and livestock and were partially offset by losses in currencies, energy, indices, metals and softs. The net trading gains or losses realized from the Partnership and the Master are disclosed under “Item 8 Financial Statements and Supplementary Data”.

 

19


The most significant losses were recorded within the energy sector during August from long positions in natural gas futures as prices retreated after U.S. government data showed U.S. stockpiles grew more than expected. Additional losses in this sector were incurred during October from long positions in crude oil and its related products as prices tumbled to a one-month low after OPEC and other major producers failed to reach an accord for the purpose of reducing the global crude surplus. Within the metals sector, losses were incurred during May and August from long positions in gold futures as prices declined as a strengthening U.S. dollar diminished investor demand for precious metals. Additional losses in the metals sector were incurred throughout the year from positions in platinum, aluminum, and nickel futures. Within the currency sector, losses were incurred during May from long positions in the New Zealand dollar, Australian dollar, and Canadian dollar versus the U.S. dollar as the relative value of the U.S. currency rallied after hawkish comments from the U.S. Federal Reserve increased speculation that interest rates could be increased. Within the global stock index sector, losses were incurred primarily during June from short positions in European equity index futures as prices rallied amid signs of optimism about the global economy, a rebound in commodity prices, and as data showed economic growth quickened more than analysts predicted during the first quarter. The Partnership’s trading losses for the year were offset by trading gains within the global interest rate sector, primarily during June, from long positions in European and U.S. fixed income futures as prices advanced following the U.K.’s vote in late June to leave the European Union increased demand for the relative “safety” of government debt. Additional gains were recorded in January and February from long positions in European and Japanese fixed income futures. Within the agricultural sector, gains were experienced during April and June from long positions in soybean futures as prices rose as flooding and adverse weather in South America threatened to curtail grain exports. Additional gains were experienced from long positions in sugar futures, primarily during June and September, as prices climbed higher. Further gains in the agricultural sector were experienced throughout the year from positions in hogs, rubber, and cattle futures.

The Partnership experienced a net trading loss (before fees and expenses) in the year ended December 31, 2015 of $2,777,630. Losses were primarily attributable to the trading of commodity futures in currencies, energy, grains, livestock, softs, indices and non-U.S. interest rates and were partially offset by gains in U.S. interest rates and metals.

The most significant losses were experienced in the agricultural sector during July and August from long positions in soybeans, corn, and wheat futures as prices declined amid concerns that China’s slowing economy would dampen demand for the commodities, even as favorable weather continued to bolster domestic supplies. Losses in this sector were also incurred during October from short positions in cattle futures. Within the global stock index sector, losses were incurred primarily during June, August, and December from long positions in U.S. and European equity index futures as prices declined amid continuing concerns that China’s slowdown will weigh on the global economy. Within the currency sector, losses were incurred primarily during April from short positions in the British pound and Japanese yen versus the U.S. dollar as the value of the U.S. dollar declined as fears over a hard landing in China and its impact on global growth outlook pushed back expectations for a U.S. Federal Reserve rate hike at the September FOMC meeting. During December, additional currency losses were incurred from short positions in the Japanese yen as its value rallied against the U.S. dollar after the Bank of Japan modified its program of quantitative easing. Within the energy markets, losses were incurred during February from short positions in crude oil and its related products, particularly heating oil, as prices rallied on signs of higher demand and lower supply, including more bullish forecasts from both the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (“OPEC”) and the U.S. government. Additional losses in this sector were recorded during July and August from long positions in crude oil and its related products. Within the global interest rate sector, losses were incurred during the second quarter from long positions in European fixed income futures, specifically German bunds, as prices declined as European leaders and the head of the International Monetary Fund agreed to step up the intensity of talks over Greece’s financial fate. Smaller fixed income losses were incurred during the fourth quarter from long positions in European and U.S. fixed income futures after prices reversed sharply lower as European Central Bank (“ECB”) president Mario Draghi disappointed markets early in December with an underwhelming ECB stimulus announcement. The Partnership’s trading losses during the year were partially offset by trading gains within the metals sector, primarily during January and July, from short futures positions in base metals as prices moved lower amid concern a slowdown in the Chinese economy would weaken demand. Additional gains in metals were recorded during November from positions in copper, platinum, and gold futures.

 

20


Interest income on 80% of the average daily equity maintained in cash in the Partnership’s (or the Partnership’s allocable portion of the Master’s) brokerage account during each month is earned at a rate equal to the monthly average of the 4-week U.S. Treasury bill discount rate. All interest earned on the Partnership’s and/or the Master’s account in excess of the amounts described above, if any, will be retained by MS&Co. and/or shared with the General Partner. All interest income earned on U.S. Treasury bills and money market mutual fund securities will be retained by the Partnership and/or the Master, as applicable. Interest income for the three and twelve months ended December 31, 2016 increased by $6,980 and $26,296, respectively, as compared to the corresponding periods in 2015. The increase in interest income is primarily due to higher U.S. Treasury bill rates during the three and twelve months ended December 31, 2016, as compared to the corresponding periods in 2015. Interest earned by the Partnership will increase the net asset value of the Partnership. The amount of interest income earned by the Partnership depends on (1) the average daily equity maintained in cash in the Partnership’s and/or the Master’s accounts, (2) the amount of U.S. Treasury bills and/or money market mutual fund securities purchased by the Partnership and/or the Master and (3) interest rates over which none of the Partnership, the Master or MS&Co. has control.

Ongoing selling agent 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 analyzed in relation to the fluctuations in the monthly net asset values. Ongoing selling agent fees for the three and twelve months ended December 31, 2016 decreased by $33,403 and $142,668, respectively, as compared to the corresponding periods in 2015. The decrease in ongoing selling agent fees is primarily due to lower average net assets during the three and twelve months ended December 31, 2016, as compared to the corresponding periods in 2015.

Management 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 analyzed in relation to the fluctuations in the monthly net asset values. Management fees for the three and twelve months ended December 31, 2016 decreased by $33,334 and $142,452, respectively, as compared to the corresponding periods in 2015. The decrease in management fees is due to lower average net assets during the three and twelve months ended December 31, 2016, as compared to the corresponding periods in 2015.

General Partner 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 advisor and (ii) monitoring the activities of the commodity trading advisor. 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 analyzed in relation to the fluctuations in the monthly net asset values. General Partner fees for the three and twelve months ended December 31, 2016 decreased by $16,667 and $71,226, respectively, as compared to the corresponding periods in 2015. The decrease in General Partner fees is due to lower average net assets during the three and twelve months ended December 31, 2016, as compared to the corresponding period in 2015.

Incentive fees are based on the new trading profits generated by the Advisor at the end of the quarter, as defined in the management agreement. There were no incentive fees earned for the three and twelve months ended December 31, 2016 and 2015. The Advisor will not be paid an incentive fee until the Advisor recovers the net loss incurred and earns additional new trading profits for the Partnership.

The Partnership pays other professional fees and expenses, which generally include legal, accounting expenses, certain offering costs, administrative, filing, reporting and data processing fees. Professional fees for the years ended December 31, 2016 and 2015 were $196,239 and $254,480, respectively.

The Partnership experienced a net trading gain (before fees and expenses) in the year ended December 31, 2014 of $6,025,629. Gains were primarily attributable to the trading of commodity futures in currencies, energy, grains, livestock, softs and U.S. and non U.S. interest rates and were partially offset by losses in indices and metals.

 

21


The most significant gains were recorded within the agricultural sector during February primarily from long positions in soybean futures as prices advanced after adverse weather conditions in the U.S. and Brazil lowered crop estimates. Additional gains were recorded from long positions in livestock futures as prices trended higher throughout the first half of the year. Smaller gains in the agricultural sector were recorded from trading in sugar and rubber futures. Within the global interest rate sector, gains were experienced during May from long positions in European fixed income futures as prices advanced as German unemployment unexpectedly increased and euro-area lending contracted, boosting demand for the relative “safety” of government debt. Additional gains were experienced during October, November, and December as prices advanced amid speculation the European Central Bank may turn to quantitative easing to stimulate the economy if the outlook in the region continued to worsen. Within the energy sector, gains were experienced primarily during September from short futures positions in crude oil and its related products as prices declined after an industry report showed crude stockpiles increased in the U.S. Additional gains were experienced during the fourth quarter from short positions in crude oil and its related products as prices moved lower following an increase in U.S. oil production to record levels and after OPEC decided not to reduce crude oil production amid a global supply glut. Within the currency sector, gains were experienced primarily during September from short positions in the Japanese yen versus the U.S. dollar. The value of the U.S. dollar advanced as the U.S. employment rate fell to its lowest level since 2008 and the economy added more jobs than forecast, bolstering the case for the U.S. Federal Reserve to raise interest rates in 2015. Additional gains in this sector were recorded from positions in the British pound, Russian ruble, and New Zealand dollar. A portion of the Partnership’s gains during the year was offset by trading losses within the global stock index sector, primarily during January, from long positions in Pacific Rim and European equity index futures as prices declined amid growing concern the global economic recovery is faltering. Additional losses were incurred during December from long positions in European equity index futures as the European Central Bank failed to take meaningful steps to restore economic growth, pushing equity prices lower. Within the metals sector, losses were incurred during January from short positions in gold futures as prices moved higher after geo-political turmoil and concern over the strength of the U.S. economy increased demand for the precious metal. Additional losses were incurred during August from long positions in copper futures as prices declined as weaker-than-expected industrial production led to a decrease in Chinese imports.

In the General Partner’s opinion, the Advisor continues to employ its trading methods in a consistent and disciplined manner and its results are consistent with the objectives of the Partnership and expectations for the Advisor’s programs. The General Partner continues to monitor the Advisor’s performance on a daily, weekly, monthly and annual basis to ensure that these objectives are met.

Commodity 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 and the Master depends on the existence of major price trends and the ability of the Advisor to correctly identify those price trends. Price trends are influenced by, among other things, changing supply and demand relationships, 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 Advisor is able to identify them, the Partnership and the Master expect to increase capital through operations.

In allocating substantially all of the assets of the Partnership to the Master, the General Partner considered, among other factors, the Advisor’s past performance, trading style, volatility of markets traded and fee requirements. The General Partner may modify or terminate the allocation of assets to the Advisor and allocate assets to additional advisors at any time.

(d) Off-balance Sheet Arrangements. None.

(e) Contractual Obligations. None.

(f) Operational Risk

The Partnership, through its investment in the Master, is directly 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.

 

22


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 and the Master are subject to increased risks with respect to its trading activities in emerging market instruments, where clearance, settlement, and 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 and the Master’s ability to gather, process, and communicate information efficiently and securely, without interruption, to customers, and in the markets where the Partnership and the Master participates. 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 computer systems, and adversely affect the Partnership’s business, financial condition or results of operations.

Legal/Documentation Risk — the risk of loss attributable to deficiencies in the documentation of transactions (such as trade confirmations) and customer relationships (such as master netting agreements) or errors that result in non-compliance with applicable legal and regulatory requirements.

Financial Control Risk — the risk of loss attributable to limitations in financial systems and controls. Strong financial systems and controls ensure that assets are safeguarded, that transactions are executed in accordance with the General Partner’s authorization, and that financial information utilized by the General Partner and communicated to external parties, including the Partnership’s Redeemable Unit holders and General Partner Redeemable Units, creditors, and regulators, is free of material errors.

(g) Critical Accounting Policies.

The preparation of financial statements in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“GAAP”) requires the General Partner to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosures of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of income and expenses during the reporting period. As a result, actual results could differ from these estimates. A summary of the Partnership’s significant accounting policies is described in Note 2 to the Partnership’s financial statements included in “Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data.”

The Partnership’s most significant accounting policy is the valuation of its investments in the Master. The fair value of the investment in the Master is determined based on the Partnership’s (1) net contribution and (2) its allocated share of the undistributed profit and losses, including realized gains (losses) and net change in unrealized gains (losses), of the Master.

Additionally, the Master’s investments in futures, option and forward contracts and U.S. Treasury bills, as applicable, are carried at fair value. The fair value of exchange-traded futures, option and forward contracts is determined by the various exchanges, and reflects the settlement price for each contract as of the close of business on the last business day of the reporting period. The fair value of foreign currency forward contracts is extrapolated on a forward basis from the spot prices quoted as of approximately 3:00 P.M. (E.T.) on the last business day of the reporting period from various exchanges. The fair value of non-exchange-traded foreign currency option contracts is calculated by applying an industry standard model application for options valuation of foreign currency options, using as inputs the spot prices, interest rates, and option implied volatilities quoted as of approximately 3:00 P.M. (E.T.) on the last business day of the reporting period. U.S. Treasury bills are valued at the last available bid price received from independent pricing services as of the close of the last business day of the reporting period.

 

23


Item 7A. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk.

Introduction

All or substantially all of the Partnership’s assets are subject to the risk of trading loss through its investment in the Master. The Partnership and the Master are speculative commodity pools. The market sensitive instruments held by the Partnership and the Master are acquired for speculative trading purposes, and all or substantially all of the Master’s assets are subject to the risk of trading loss. Unlike an operating company, the risk of market sensitive instruments is integral, not incidental, to the Partnership’s and the Master’s main line of business.

The Limited Partners will not be liable for losses exceeding the current net asset value of their investment.

Market movements result in frequent changes in the fair market value of the Partnership’s and the Master’s open contracts and, consequently, in their earnings and cash balances. The Partnership’s and the Master’s market risk is influenced by a wide variety of factors, including the level and volatility of interest rates, exchange rates, equity price levels, the market value of financial instruments and contracts, the diversification effects of the Partnership’s and the Master’s open contracts and the liquidity of the markets in which they trade.

The Master rapidly acquires and liquidates both long and short positions in a wide range of different markets. Consequently, it is not possible to predict how a particular future market scenario will affect performance and the Partnership’s and the Master’s past performance is not necessarily indicative of their future results.

“Value at Risk” is a measure of the maximum amount which the Partnership and/or the Master could reasonably be expected to lose in a given market sector. However, the inherent uncertainty of the Partnership’s and/or the Master’s speculative trading and the recurrence in the markets traded by the Partnership and/or the Master of market movements far exceeding expectations could result in actual trading or non-trading losses far beyond the indicated Value at Risk or the Partnership’s and/or the Master’s experience to date (i.e., “risk of ruin”). In light of the foregoing, as well as the risks and uncertainties intrinsic to all future projections, the inclusion of the quantification in this section should not be considered to constitute any assurance or representation that the Partnership’s and/or the Master’s losses in any market sector will be limited to Value at Risk or by the Partnership’s and/or the Master’s attempts to manage their market risk.

Materiality as used in this section, is based on an assessment of reasonably possible market movements and the potential losses caused by such movements, taking into account the leverage, optionality and multiplier features of the Partnership’s and/or the Master’s market sensitive instruments.

Quantifying the Partnership’s Trading Value at Risk

The following quantitative disclosures regarding the Partnership’s and the Master’s market risk exposures contain “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the safe harbor from civil liability provided for such statements by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (set forth in Section 27A of the Securities Act and Section 21E of the Exchange Act of 1934). All quantitative disclosures in this section are deemed to be forward-looking statements for purposes of the safe harbor except for statements of historical fact (such as the terms of particular contracts and the number of market risk sensitive instruments held during or at the end of the reporting period).

The Partnership and/or the Master’s risk exposure in the various market sectors traded by the Advisor is quantified below in terms of Value at Risk. Due to the Partnership’s and/or the Master’s mark-to-market accounting, any loss in the fair value of the Partnership’s and/or the Master’s open positions including investments of other funds, is directly reflected in the Partnership’s earnings (realized or unrealized and cash balances).

Exchange margin requirements have been used by the Partnership and the Master as the measure of its Value at Risk. Margin requirements are set by exchanges to equal or exceed the maximum losses reasonably expected to be incurred in the fair value of any given contract in 95%—99% of any one-day interval. The margin levels are established by dealers and exchanges using historical price studies as well as an assessment of current market volatility (including the implied volatility of the options on a given futures contract) and economic fundamentals to provide a probabilistic estimate of the maximum expected near-term one-day price fluctuation.

 

24


In the case of market sensitive instruments which are not exchange-traded the margin requirements for the equivalent futures positions have been used as Value at Risk. In those rare cases in which a futures-equivalent margin is not available, dealers’ margins have been used.

The fair value of the Partnership’s and/or the Master’s futures and forward contracts does not have any optionality component. However, the Advisor may trade commodity options. The Value at Risk associated with options is reflected in the following table as the margin requirement attributable to the instrument underlying each option. Where this instrument is a futures contract, the futures margin has been used, and where this instrument is a physical commodity, the futures-equivalent margin has been used. This calculation is conservative in that it assumes that the fair value of an option will decline by the same amount as the fair value of the underlying instrument, whereas, in fact, the fair values of the options traded by the Partnership and/or Master in almost all cases fluctuate to a lesser extent than those of the underlying instruments.

In quantifying the Partnership’s and/or the Master’s Value at Risk, 100% positive correlation in the different positions held in each market risk category has been assumed. Consequently, the margin requirements applicable to the open contracts have simply been added to determine each trading category’s aggregate Value at Risk. The diversification effects resulting from the fact that the Partnership’s and/or the Master’s positions are rarely, if ever, 100% positively correlated have not been reflected.

The Partnership’s and the Master’s Trading Value at Risk in Different Market Sectors

Value at Risk tables represent a probabilistic assessment of the risk of loss in market sensitive instruments. The following tables indicate the trading Value at Risk associated with the Master’s open positions by market category as of December 31, 2016 and 2015, and the highest, lowest and average value at any point during the years. All open position trading risk exposures of the Master have been included in calculating the figures set forth below.

As of December 31, 2016, the Master’s total capitalization was $12,819,502. The Partnership owned approximately 100% of the Master. The Master’s Value at Risk as of December 31, 2016 was as follows:

 

            December 31, 2016                      
                  Twelve Months Ended December 31, 2016  

Market Sector

   Value at Risk      % of Total
Capitalization
    High
Value at Risk
     Low
Value at Risk
     Average
Value at Risk *
 

Currencies

     $         289,641          2.26       $         503,024          $         77,168          $         293,902    

Energy

     324,940          2.53         324,940          -              85,221    

Grains

     204,803          1.60         214,358          4,400          96,134    

Indices

     586,443          4.57         754,807          72,009          335,172    

Interest Rates U.S.

     41,580          0.32         220,215          14,635          105,503    

Interest Rates Non-U.S.

     161,424          1.26         425,144          48,036          255,657    

Livestock

     31,828          0.25         79,035          6,426          44,061    

Metals

     223,993          1.75         650,094          85,667          277,921    

Softs

     119,240          0.93         208,890          39,930          94,168    
  

 

 

    

 

 

         

Total

     $ 1,983,892          15.47          
  

 

 

    

 

 

         

 

* Annual average of month-end Value at Risk.

 

25


As of December 31, 2015, the Master’s total capitalization was $19,180,544. The Partnership owned approximately 100% of the Master. The Master’s Value at Risk as of December 31, 2015 was as follows:

 

            December 31, 2015                      
                  Twelve Months Ended December 31, 2015  

Market Sector

   Value at Risk      % of Total
Capitalization
    High
Value at Risk
     Low
Value at Risk
     Average
Value at Risk *
 

Currencies

     $         317,041          1.65       $         929,435          $         178,351          $         491,411    

Energy

     7,425          0.04         330,550          5,280          58,453    

Grains

     28,160          0.15         313,905          8,745          109,545    

Indices

     253,585          1.32         920,945          48,103          462,347    

Interest Rates U.S.

     38,578          0.20         195,965          10,789          100,768    

Interest Rates non-U.S.

     199,927          1.04         643,373          80,303          359,436    

Livestock

     28,793          0.15         99,495          9,240          38,912    

Metals

     231,376          1.21         585,045          63,800          278,696    

Softs

     100,588          0.52         333,400          46,842          111,852    
  

 

 

    

 

 

         

Total

     $ 1,205,473          6.28          
  

 

 

    

 

 

         

 

* Annual average of month-end Value at Risk.

Material Limitations on Value at Risk as an Assessment of Market Risk

The face value of the market sector instruments held by the Master is typically many times the applicable margin requirement (margin requirements generally range between 1% and 15% of contract face value, although an exchange may increase margin requirements on short notice) as well as many times the capitalization of the Master. The magnitude of the Master’s open positions creates a “risk of ruin” not typically found in most other investment vehicles. Because of the size of its positions, certain market conditions — unusual, but historically recurring from time to time — could cause the Master to incur severe losses over a short period of time. The foregoing Value at Risk tables — as well as the past performance of the Partnership and the Master — give no indication of this “risk of ruin.”

Non-Trading Risk

The Master has non-trading market risk on their foreign cash balances not needed for margin. However, these balances (as well as any market risk they represent) are immaterial.

“Materiality,” as used in this section, is based on an assessment of reasonably possible market movements and the potential losses caused by such movements, taking into account the leverage, optionality and multiplier features of the Partnership’s market sensitive instruments.

Qualitative Disclosures Regarding Primary Trading Risk Exposures

The following qualitative disclosures regarding the Partnerships and the Master’s market risk exposures — except for (i) those disclosures that are statements of historical fact and (ii) the descriptions of how the Partnership/Master manages its primary market risk exposures — constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act and Section 21E of the Exchange Act. The Partnership’s/Master’s primary market risk exposures as well as the strategies used and to be used by the General Partner and the Advisor for managing such exposures are subject to numerous uncertainties, contingencies and risks, any one of which could cause the actual results of the Master’s risk controls to differ materially from the objectives of such strategies. Government interventions, defaults and expropriations, illiquid markets, the emergence of dominant fundamental factors, political upheavals, changes in historical price relationships, an influx of new market participants, increased regulation and many other factors could result in material losses as well as in material changes to the risk exposures and the management strategies of the Partnership/Master. There can be no assurance that the Partnership’s/Master’s current market exposure and/or risk management strategies will not change materially or that any such strategies will be effective in either the short- or long-term. Investors must be prepared to lose all or substantially all of their investment in the Partnership.

 

26


The following were the primary trading risk exposures of the Partnership at December 31, 2016 by market sector. It may be anticipated, however, that these market exposures will vary materially over time.

Currencies. The Partnership’s currency exposure is to exchange rate fluctuations, primarily fluctuations that disrupt the historical pricing relationships between different currencies and currency pairs. These fluctuations are influenced by interest rate changes as well as political and general economic conditions. The General Partner does not anticipate that the risk profile of the Partnership’s currency sector will change significantly in the future.

Equities. The Partnership’s primary equity exposure is to equity price risk in the G8 countries. The stock index futures traded by the Partnership are limited to futures on broadly based indices. As of December 31, 2016, the Partnership’s primary exposures were in the Dow Jones Euro STOXX 50, IBEX 35 (Spain), FTSE 100 (United Kingdom), Dow Industrials 30 (U.S.), CAC 40 (France), and S&P 500 (U.S.) stock indices. The Partnership is primarily exposed to the risk of adverse price trends or static markets in the major European, U.S., and Pacific Rim indices. (Static markets would not cause major market changes but would make it difficult for the Partnership to avoid being “whipsawed” into numerous small losses.)

Interest Rates. Interest rate movements directly affect the price of the futures positions held by the Partnership and indirectly the value of its stock index and currency positions. Interest rate movements in one country as well as relative interest rate movements between countries materially affect the Partnership’s profitability. The Partnership’s primary interest rate exposure is to interest rate fluctuations in the United States and the other G8 countries. However, the Partnership may also take futures positions on the government debt of smaller nations — e.g., Australia.

Energy. The Partnership’s primary energy market exposure is to oil and natural gas price movements, often resulting from political developments in the Middle East and weather conditions. Energy prices can be volatile and substantial profits and losses, which have been experienced in the past, are expected to continue to be experienced in these markets in the future.

Metals. The Partnership’s primary metal market exposure as of December 31, 2016 was to fluctuations in the price of copper, aluminum, and gold.

Grains. The Partnership’s trading risk exposure in the grains is primarily to agricultural price movements, which are often directly affected by severe or unexpected weather conditions. The soybean complex, corn and wheat accounted for the majority of the Partnership’s grain exposure as of December 31, 2016.

Softs. The Partnership’s trading risk exposure in the soft commodities is to agricultural-related price movements, which are often directly affected by severe or unexpected weather conditions. Sugar, cotton, cocoa and coffee accounted for the majority of the Partnership’s soft commodities exposure as of December 31, 2016.

Livestock. The Partnership’s primary risk exposure in livestock is to fluctuations in hog and cattle prices.

Qualitative Disclosures Regarding Non-Trading Risk Exposure

The following was the only non-trading risk exposure of the Master as of December 31, 2016.

Foreign Currency Balances. The Master may hold various foreign currency balances. The Advisor regularly converts foreign currency balances to U.S. dollars in an attempt to control the Master’s non- trading risk.

 

27


Qualitative Disclosures Regarding Means of Managing Risk Exposure

The General Partner monitors and attempts to control the Partnership’s, through its investment in the Master, risk exposure on a daily basis through financial, credit and risk management monitoring systems and, accordingly, believes that it has effective procedures for evaluating and limiting the credit and market risks to which the Master may be subject.

The General Partner monitors the Master’s performance and the concentration of open positions, and consults with the Advisor concerning the Master’s overall risk profile. If the General Partner felt it necessary to do so, the General Partner could require the Advisor to close out positions as well as enter positions traded on behalf of the Master. However, any such intervention would be a highly unusual event. The General Partner primarily relies on the Advisor’s own risk control policies while maintaining a general supervisory overview of the Master’s market risk exposures.

The Advisor applies its own risk management policies to its trading. The Advisor often follows diversification guidelines, margin limits and stop loss points to exit a position. The Advisor’s research of risk management often suggests ongoing modifications to its trading programs.

As part of the General Partner’s risk management, the General Partner periodically meets with the Advisor to discuss its risk management and to look for any material changes to the Advisor’s portfolio balance and trading techniques. The Advisor is required to notify the General Partner of any material changes to its programs.

 

28


Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data.

WESTPORT FUTURES FUND L.P.

The following financial statements and related items of the Partnership are filed under this Item 8: Oath or Affirmation, Management’s Report on Internal Control over Financial Reporting, Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm for the years ended December 31, 2016, 2015 and 2014; Statements of Financial Condition at December 31, 2016 and 2015; Statements of Income and Expenses for the years ended December 31, 2016, 2015 and 2014; Statements of Changes in Partners’ Capital for the years ended December 31, 2016, 2015 and 2014; and Notes to Financial Statements.

 

29


To the Limited Partners of

Westport Futures Fund L.P.

To the best of the knowledge and belief of the undersigned, the information contained herein is accurate and complete.

 

LOGO

By:   Patrick T. Egan
 

President and Director

Ceres Managed Futures LLC

General Partner,

Westport Futures Fund L.P.

 

Ceres Managed Futures LLC

522 Fifth Avenue

New York, NY 10036

(855) 672-4468

 

30


Management’s Report on Internal Control Over Financial Reporting

The management of Westport Futures Fund L.P. (the “Partnership”), Ceres Managed Futures LLC, is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting as defined in Rules 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and for our assessment of internal control over financial reporting. The Partnership’s internal control over financial reporting is a process designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America. The Partnership’s internal control over financial reporting includes those policies and procedures that:

 

  (i)

pertain to the maintenance of records that, in reasonable detail, accurately and fairly reflect the transactions and dispositions of the assets of the Partnership;

 

  (ii)

provide reasonable assurance that transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of financial statements in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America, and that receipts and expenditures of the Partnership are being made only in accordance with authorizations of management and directors of the Partnership; and

 

  (iii)

provide reasonable assurance regarding prevention or timely detection and correction of unauthorized acquisition, use or disposition of the Partnership’s assets that could have a material effect on the financial statements.

Because of its inherent limitations, internal control over financial reporting may not prevent or detect misstatements. Also, projections of any evaluation of effectiveness to future periods are subject to the risk that controls may become inadequate because of changes in conditions, or that the degree of compliance with the policies or procedures may deteriorate.

The management of Westport Futures Fund L.P. has assessed the effectiveness of the Partnership’s internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2016. In making this assessment, management used the criteria set forth in the Internal Control-Integrated Framework (2013) issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission. Based on our assessment, management concluded that the Partnership maintained effective internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2016 based on the criteria referred to above.

 

LOGO

    

LOGO

Patrick T. Egan

     Steven Ross

President and Director

     Chief Financial Officer and Director

Ceres Managed Futures LLC

     Ceres Managed Futures LLC

General Partner,

     General Partner,

Westport Futures Fund L.P.

     Westport Futures Fund L.P.

 

31


REPORT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM

To the Partners of Westport Futures Fund L.P.:

We have audited the accompanying statements of financial condition of Westport Futures Fund L.P. (the “Partnership”) as of December 31, 2016 and 2015, and the related statements of income and expenses and changes in partners’ capital for each of the three years in the period ended December 31, 2016. These financial statements are the responsibility of the Partnership’s management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on these financial statements based on our audits.

We conducted our audits in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States). Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement. The Partnership is not required to have, nor were we engaged to perform, an audit of its internal control over financial reporting. Our audits included consideration of internal control over financial reporting as a basis for designing audit procedures that are appropriate in the circumstances, but not for the purpose of expressing an opinion on the effectiveness of the Partnership’s internal control over financial reporting. Accordingly, we express no such opinion. An audit also includes examining, on a test basis, evidence supporting the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements, assessing the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall financial statement presentation. We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinion.

In our opinion, such financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of Westport Futures Fund L.P. as of December 31, 2016 and 2015, and the results of its operations and changes in its partners’ capital for each of the three years in the period ended December 31, 2016, in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America.

/s/ Deloitte & Touche LLP

New York, New York

March 24, 2017

 

32


Westport Futures Fund L.P.

Statements of Financial Condition

December 31, 2016 and 2015

 

     December 31,
2016
     December 31,
2015
 

Assets:

     

Investment in the Master, at fair value (Note 1)

     $ 12,822,628          $ 19,181,327    

Cash at MS&Co. (Note 3c)

     103,670          110,752    

Cash at bank (Note 1)

     217          -        
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

Total assets

     $ 12,926,515          $ 19,292,079    
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

Liabilities and Partners’ Capital:

     

Liabilities:

     

Accrued expenses:

     

Ongoing selling agent fees (Note 3d)

     $ 21,544          $ 32,153    

Management fees (Note 3b)

     21,310          31,895    

General Partner fees (Note 3a)

     10,655          15,948    

Professional fees

     118,929          122,669    

Redemptions payable to General Partner (Note 6)

     14,999          -        

Redemptions payable to Limited Partners (Note 6)

     119,829          935,814    
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

Total liabilities

     307,266          1,138,479    
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

Partners’ Capital: (Note 1 and 6)

     

General Partner, 151.7109 and 248.2379 Redeemable Units outstanding at December 31, 2016 and 2015, respectively

     139,555          238,732    

Limited Partners, 13,566.7717 and 18,628.2377 Redeemable Units outstanding at December 31, 2016 and 2015, respectively

     12,479,694          17,914,868    
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

Total partners’ capital (net asset value)

     12,619,249          18,153,600    
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

Total liabilities and partners’ capital

     $   12,926,515          $   19,292,079    
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

Net asset value per Redeemable Unit

     $ 919.87          $ 961.71    
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

See accompanying notes to financial statements.

 

33


Westport Futures Fund L.P.

Statements of Income and Expenses

For the Years Ended December 31, 2016, 2015 and 2014

 

     2016      2015      2014  

Investment Income:

        

Interest income allocated from the Master (Note 3c)

     $ 27,531          $ 1,235          $ 3,888    
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

Expenses:

        

Expenses allocated from the Master

     155,327          207,345          300,988    

Ongoing selling agent fees (Note 3d)

     325,589          468,257          876,455    

Management fees (Note 3b)

     322,895          465,347          528,019    

General Partner fees (Note 3a)

     161,447          232,673          66,677    

Professional fees

     196,239          254,480          280,680    
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

Total expenses

     1,161,497          1,628,102          2,052,819    
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

Net investment loss

     (1,133,966)         (1,626,867)         (2,048,931)   
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

Trading Results:

        

Net gains (losses) on investment in the Master:

        

Net realized gains (losses) on closed contracts allocated from the Master

     310,089          (1,912,058)         6,291,570    

Net change in unrealized gains (losses) on open contracts allcoated from the Master

     167,065          (865,572)         (265,941)   
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

Total trading results

     477,154          (2,777,630)         6,025,629    
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

Net income (loss)

     $ (656,812)         $ (4,404,497)         $ 3,976,698    
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

Net income (loss) per Redeemable Unit * (Note 7)

     $ (41.84)         $ (209.32)         $ 163.01    
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

Weighted average Redeemable Units outstanding

     16,851.0404          21,294.5404          24,469.8346    
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

 

* Represents the change in net asset value per Redeemable Unit.

See accompanying notes to financial statements.

 

34


Westport Futures Fund L.P.

Statements of Changes in Partners’ Capital

For the Years Ended December 31, 2016, 2015 and 2014

 

     Limited
Partners
     General
Partner
     Total  

Partners’ Capital, December 31, 2013

     $ 25,211,258          $ 309,551          $ 25,520,809    

Net income (loss)

     3,929,855          46,843          3,976,698    

Subscriptions of 2,365.5570 Redeemable Units

     2,518,092          -              2,518,092    

Redemptions of 5,366.5700 Redeemable Units and 58.8500 General Partner Redeemable Units

     (5,885,259)         (65,700)         (5,950,959)   
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

Partners’ Capital, December 31, 2014

     25,773,946          290,694          26,064,640    

Net income (loss)

     (4,352,535)         (51,962)         (4,404,497)   

Subscriptions of 1,907.1760 Redeemable Units

     2,123,330          -              2,123,330    

Redemptions of 5,288.5760 Redeemable Units

     (5,629,873)         -              (5,629,873)   
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

Partners’ Capital, December 31, 2015

     17,914,868          238,732          18,153,600    

Net income (loss)

     (647,634)         (9,178)         (656,812)   

Redemptions of 5,061.4660 Redeemable Units and 96.5270 General Partner Redeemable Units

     (4,787,540)         (89,999)         (4,877,539)   
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

Partners’ Capital, December 31, 2016

     $   12,479,694          $     139,555          $   12,619,249    
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

Net asset value per Redeemable Unit:

2014:

     $ 1,171.03    
  

 

 

 

2015:

     $ 961.71    
  

 

 

 

2016:

     $ 919.87    
  

 

 

 

See accompanying notes to financial statements.

 

35


Westport Futures Fund L.P.

Notes to Financial Statements

 

1. Organization:

Westport Futures Fund L.P. (the “Partnership”) is a limited partnership organized under the partnership laws of the State of New York on March 21, 1997, to engage, directly and indirectly, in the speculative trading of a diversified portfolio of commodity interests, including futures, options on futures, forwards, options on forwards, spot and swap contracts, cash commodities and any other rights or interests pertaining thereto including interests in commodity pools. The sectors traded include currencies, energy, grains, indices, U.S. and non-U.S. interest rates, livestock, metals and softs. The Partnership commenced trading on August 1, 1997. The commodity interests that are indirectly traded by the Partnership, through its investment in Rabar Master Fund L.P. (the “Master”), are volatile and involve a high degree of market risk. The General Partner (defined below) may also determine to invest up to all of the Partnership’s assets in United States (“U.S.”) Treasury bills and/or money market mutual funds, including money market mutual funds managed by Morgan Stanley or its affiliates. The Partnership privately and continuously offers redeemable units of limited partnership interest (“Redeemable Units”) to qualified investors. There is no maximum number of Redeemable Units that may be sold by the Partnership.

Ceres Managed Futures LLC, a Delaware limited liability company, acts as the general partner (the “General Partner”) and commodity pool operator of the Partnership. As of December 31, 2016, the General Partner was a wholly-owned subsidiary of Morgan Stanley Smith Barney Holdings LLC (“MSSB Holdings”). MSSB Holdings was ultimately owned by Morgan Stanley. Morgan Stanley is a publicly held company whose shares are listed on the New York Stock Exchange. Morgan Stanley is engaged in various financial services and other businesses. All trading decisions for the Partnership are made by Rabar Market Research Inc. (“Rabar” or the “Advisor”).

During the periods covered in this report, the Partnership’s and the Master’s commodity broker was Morgan Stanley & Co, LLC (“MS&Co.”), a registered futures commission merchant. The Partnership and the Master also deposit a portion of their cash in a non-trading account at JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A.

On December 1, 2012, the Partnership allocated substantially all of its capital to the Master, a limited partnership organized under the partnership laws of the State of Delaware. The Partnership purchased an interest in the Master with cash equal to $31,143,887. The Master permits accounts managed now and in the future by Rabar using the Diversified Program, a proprietary and systematic trading program, to invest together in one trading vehicle. The General Partner is also the general partner of the Master. Individual and pooled accounts currently managed by the Advisor, including the Partnership, are permitted to be limited partners of the Master. The General Partner and the Advisor believe that trading through this master-feeder structure promotes efficiency and economy in the trading process. Expenses to investors as a result of the investment in the Master are approximately the same as if the Partnership traded directly and redemption rights are not affected.

Generally, a limited partner in the Master withdraws all or part of its capital contribution and undistributed profits, if any, from the Master as of the end of any month (the “Redemption Date”) after a request has been made to the General Partner at least three days in advance of the Redemption Date. Such withdrawals are classified as a liability when the limited partner in the Master elects to redeem and informs the Master. However, a limited partner in the Master may request a withdrawal as of the end of any day if such request is received by the General Partner at least three days in advance of the proposed withdrawal day.

 

36


Westport Futures Fund L.P.

Notes to Financial Statements

 

The financial statements of the Master, including the Condensed Schedules of Investments are contained elsewhere in this report and should be read together with the Partnership’s financial statements.

As of December 31, 2016 and 2015, the Partnership owned approximately 100% of the Master. The Partnership intends to continue to invest substantially all of its assets in the Master. The performance of the Partnership is directly affected by the performance of the Master.

The Partnership will be liquidated upon the first to occur of the following: December 31, 2047; the net asset value per Redeemable Unit decreases to less than $400 per Redeemable Unit as of the close of any business day; or under certain other circumstances as defined in the Limited Partnership Agreement of the Partnership (the “Limited Partnership Agreement”).

In July 2015, the General Partner delegated certain administrative functions to SS&C Technologies, Inc., a Delaware corporation, currently doing business as SS&C GlobeOp (the “Administrator”). Pursuant to a master services agreement, the Administrator furnishes certain administrative, accounting, regulatory reporting, tax and other services as agreed from time to time. In addition, the Administrator maintains certain books and records of the Partnership. The cost of retaining the Administrator is allocated among the pools operated by the General Partner, including the Partnership.

 

2.

Basis of Presentation and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies:

 

  a.

Use of Estimates. The preparation of financial statements and accompanying notes in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“GAAP”) requires the General Partner to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities, income and expenses, and related disclosures of contingent assets and liabilities in the financial statements and accompanying notes. As a result, actual results could differ from these estimates.

 

  b.

Profit Allocation. The General Partner and each limited partner of the Partnership share in the profits and losses of the Partnership in proportion to the amount of Partnership interest owned by each, except that no limited partner is liable for obligations of the Partnership in excess of its capital contributions and profits, if any, net of distributions or redemptions and losses, if any.

 

  c.

Statement of Cash Flows. The Partnership is not required to provide a Statement of Cash Flows.

 

  d.

Partnership’s Investment. The Partnership carries its investment in the Master based on the Partnership’s (1) net contribution to the Master and (2) its allocated share of the undistributed profits and losses, including realized gains or losses and net change in unrealized gains or losses, of the Master.

Master’s Investments. All commodity interests of the Master, including derivative financial instruments and derivative commodity instruments, are held for trading purposes. The commodity interests are recorded on trade date and open contracts are recorded at fair value (as described in Note 5, “Fair Value Measurements” in the attached Master’s financial statements) at the measurement date. Investments in commodity interests denominated in foreign currencies are translated into U.S. dollars at the exchange rates prevailing at the measurement date. Gains or losses are realized when contracts are liquidated and are determined using the first-in, first-out method. Unrealized gains or losses on open contracts are included as a component of equity in trading account in the Master’s Statements of Financial Condition. Net realized gains or losses and net change in unrealized gains or losses are included in the Master’s Statements of Income and Expenses.

 

37


Westport Futures Fund L.P.

Notes to Financial Statements

 

  e.

Fair Value of Financial Instruments. The carrying value of the assets and liabilities presented in the Statements of Financial Condition that qualify as financial instruments under the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) 825, “Financial Instruments,” approximates the fair value due to the short term nature of such balances.

 

  f.

Income Taxes. Income taxes have not been listed as each partner is individually liable for the taxes, if any, on its share of the Partnership’s income and expenses. The General Partner concluded that no provision for income tax is required in the Partnership’s financial statements. The Partnership files U.S. federal and various state and local tax returns. No income tax returns are currently under examination. The 2013 through 2016 tax years remain subject to examination by U.S. federal and most state tax authorities. The General Partner does not believe that there are any uncertain tax positions that require recognition of a tax liability.

 

  g.

Investment Company Status. Effective January 1, 2014, the Partnership adopted Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) 2013-08, “Financial Services—Investment Companies (Topic 946): Amendments to the Scope, Measurement and Disclosure Requirements” and based on the General Partner’s assessment, the Partnership has been deemed to be an investment company since inception. Accordingly, the Partnership follows the investment company accounting and reporting guidance of Topic 946 and reflects its investments at fair value with unrealized gains and losses resulting from changes in fair value reflected in the Statements of Income and Expenses.

 

  h.

Net Income (Loss) per Redeemable Unit. Net income (loss) per Redeemable Unit is calculated in accordance with ASC 946, “Financial Services – Investment Companies”. See Note 7, “Financial Highlights.”

 

  i.

Recent Accounting Pronouncement. In January 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-01, “Recognition and Measurement of Financial Assets and Financial Liabilities.” The amendments in this update address certain aspects of recognition, measurement, presentation, and disclosure of financial instruments for all entities that hold financial assets or owe financial liabilities. One of the amendments in this update eliminates the requirement for public business entities to disclose the methods and significant assumptions used to estimate the fair value that is required to be disclosed for financial instruments measured at amortized cost on the balance sheet or a description of changes in the methods and significant assumptions. Additionally, the update eliminates the requirement to disclose the fair value of financial instruments measured at amortized cost for entities that are not public business entities. Investment companies are specifically exempted from ASU 2016-01’s equity investment accounting provisions and will continue to follow the industry specific guidance for investment accounting under Topic 946. For public business entities, this update is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2017, and interim periods therein. For other entities, it is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2018, and interim periods within fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2019. The General Partner is currently evaluating the impact this guidance will have on the Partnership’s financial statements and related disclosures.

 

38


Westport Futures Fund L.P.

Notes to Financial Statements

 

3. Agreements:

 

  a. Limited Partnership Agreement:

The General Partner administers the business and affairs of the Partnership. The General Partner has agreed to make capital contributions so that its general partnership interest will be equal to the greater of (1) an amount that will entitle the General Partner to an interest of at least 1% in each material item of the Partnership income, gain, loss, deduction or credit and (2) the greater of (i) 1% of the partners’ contributions or (ii) $25,000. Effective October 1, 2014, the Partnership pays the General Partner a monthly fee in return for its services to the Partnership equal to 1/12 of 1% (1% per year) of adjusted month-end net assets.

 

  b.

Management Agreement:

The General Partner has entered into a management agreement with Rabar, a registered commodity trading advisor (the “Management Agreement”). The Advisor is not affiliated with the General Partner or MS&Co. and is not responsible for the organization or operation of the Partnership. The Partnership pays the Advisor a monthly management fee equal to 1/6 of 1% (2% per year) of month-end Net Assets allocated to the Advisor and an incentive fee payable quarterly equal to 20% of the New Trading Profits, as defined in the Management Agreement, earned by the Advisor for the Partnership. The Advisor will not be paid incentive fees until the Advisor recovers the net loss incurred and earns additional new trading profits for the Partnership. Month-end Net Assets, for the purpose of calculating management fees are Net Assets, as defined in the Limited Partnership Agreement, prior to the reduction of the current month’s incentive fee accrual, the monthly management fee, the General Partner fee and any redemptions or distributions as of the end of such month. The Management Agreement may be terminated upon 30 days’ notice by either party.

In allocating substantially all of the assets of the Partnership to the Master, the General Partner considers, among other things, the Advisor’s past performance, trading style, volatility of markets traded and fee requirements. The General Partner may modify or terminate the allocation of assets to the Advisor and may allocate assets to additional advisors at any time.

 

  c.

Customer Agreement:

The Partnership has entered into a customer agreement with MS&Co. (the “Partnership Customer Agreement”). Under the Partnership Customer Agreement and the foreign exchange brokerage account agreement (described in Note 4, “Trading Activities”), the Partnership will pay trading fees for the clearing and, where applicable, the execution of transactions, as well as exchange, clearing, user, give-up, floor brokerage and National Futures Association fees (collectively the “clearing fees”) through its investment in the Master. Clearing fees are allocated to the Partnership based on its proportionate share of the Master. Clearing fees will be paid for the life of the Partnership, although the rate at which such fees are paid may be changed. All of the Partnership’s assets available for trading in commodity interests are deposited in the Partnership’s account at MS&Co. The Partnership’s cash deposited with MS&Co. is held in segregated bank accounts to the extent required by Commodity Futures Trading Commission regulations. MS&Co. has agreed to pay the Partnership interest on 80% of the average daily equity maintained in cash in the Partnership’s (or the Partnership’s allocable portion of the Master’s) brokerage account at the rate equal to the monthly average of the 4-week U.S. Treasury bill discount rate. The Partnership Customer Agreement may generally be terminated upon notice by either party.

 

39


Westport Futures Fund L.P.

Notes to Financial Statements

 

  d. Selling Agent Agreement:

The Partnership has entered into a selling agent agreement with Morgan Stanley Wealth Management (the “Selling Agreement”). Under the Selling Agreement, the Partnership pays Morgan Stanley Wealth Management a monthly ongoing selling agent fee. Prior to April 1, 2014, the monthly ongoing selling agent fee was paid at a rate equal to 5.25% per year of the month-end Net Assets of the Partnership. Effective April 1, 2014, the monthly ongoing selling agent fee was reduced to 3.0% per year of the month-end Net Assets of the Partnership. Effective October 1, 2014, the monthly ongoing selling agent fee was reduced to 2.0% per year of the month-end Net Assets. Morgan Stanley Wealth Management will pay a portion of its ongoing selling agent fees to other properly registered or exempted financial advisors who have sold Redeemable Units. Month-end Net Assets, for the purpose of calculating ongoing selling agent fees are Net Assets, as defined in the Limited Partnership Agreement, prior to the reduction of the current month’s ongoing selling agent fee, management fee, the General Partner fee, the incentive fee accrued, other expenses and any redemptions or distributions as of the end of such month.

 

4.

Trading Activities:

The Partnership was formed for the purpose of trading contracts in a variety of commodity interests, including derivative financial instruments and derivative commodity interests. The Partnership invests substantially all of its assets through a “master/feeder” structure. The Partnership’s pro-rata share of the results of the Master’s trading activities is shown on the Statements of Income and Expenses.

The Master has entered into a futures brokerage account agreement with MS&Co. (the “Master Customer Agreement” and together with the Partnership Customer Agreement, the “Customer Agreements”).

The Customer Agreements give the Partnership and the Master the legal right to net unrealized gains and losses on open futures and forward contracts. The Partnership and the Master nets, for financial reporting purposes, the unrealized gains and losses on open futures and open forward contracts in the Statements of Financial Condition as the criteria under ASC 210-20, “Balance Sheet,” have been met.

Trading and transaction fees are based on the number of trades executed by the Advisor for the Master and the Partnership’s ownership of the Master. Professional fees and other expenses are borne by the Master and allocated to the Partnership, and also directly charged at the Partnership level. All other fees are charged at the Partnership level.

For disclosures regarding the Master’s trading activities, see Note 4, “Trading Activities,” in the attached Master’s financial statements.

 

5.

Fair Value Measurements:

See Notes 2 and 5 of the Master’s financial statements for the determination of the fair value of the Master’s investments and related disclosures, including the fair value hierarchy, pursuant to ASC 820, “Fair Value Measurement”.

 

40


Westport Futures Fund L.P.

Notes to Financial Statements

 

6. Subscriptions, Distributions and Redemptions:

Subscriptions are accepted monthly from investors who become limited partners on the first day of the month after their subscription is processed. Distributions are made on a pro-rata basis at the sole discretion of the General Partner. No distributions have been made to date. The General Partner does not intend to make any distributions of the Partnership’s profits. A limited partner may require the Partnership to redeem its Redeemable Units at their net asset value per Redeemable Unit as of the end of each month on three business days’ notice to the General Partner. There is no fee charged to limited partners in connection with redemptions.

 

7. Financial Highlights:

Financial highlights for the limited partner class as a whole for the years ended December 31, 2016, 2015 and 2014 were as follows:

 

     2016     2015     2014  

Per Redeemable Unit Performance (for a unit outstanding throughout the year):*

      

Net realized and unrealized gains (losses)

     $ 25.45         $ (133.14)        $ 246.78   

Net investment loss

     (67.29)        (76.18)        (83.77)   
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Increase (decrease) for the year

     (41.84)        (209.32)        163.01    

Net asset value per Redeemable Unit, beginning of year

     961.71           1,171.03         1,008.02    
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Net asset value per Redeemable Unit, end of year

     $   919.87         $ 961.71         $ 1,171.03    
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 
     2016     2015     2014  

Ratios to Average Limited Partners’ Capital:

      

Net investment loss **

     (7.1)   %      (7.1)   %       (7.9)   % 
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Operating expense

     7.3    %      7.1    %       8.0    % 

Incentive fees

     -        %      -        %       -        % 
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Total expenses

     7.3    %      7.1    %       8.0    % 
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Total return:

      

Total return before incentive fees

     (4.4)    %      (17.9)    %       16.2    % 

Incentive fees

     -        %      -        %       -        % 
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Total return after incentive fees

     (4.4)    %      (17.9)    %       16.2    % 
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

 

*

Net investment loss per Redeemable Unit is calculated by dividing the expenses net of interest income by the average number of Redeemable Units outstanding during the year. The net realized and unrealized gains (losses) per Redeemable Unit is a balancing amount necessary to reconcile the change in net asset value per Redeemable Unit with the other per unit information.

 

** Interest income allocated from the Master less total expenses.

The above ratios and total return may vary for individual investors based on the timing of capital transactions during the year. Additionally, these ratios are calculated for the limited partner class using the limited partners’ share of income, expenses and average partners’ capital of the Partnership and includes the income and expenses allocated from the Master.

 

41


Westport Futures Fund L.P.

Notes to Financial Statements

 

8. Financial Instrument Risks:

In the normal course of business, the Partnership, through its investment in the Master, is party to financial instruments with off-balance-sheet risk, including derivative financial instruments and derivative commodity instruments. These financial instruments may include forwards, futures, options and swaps, whose values are based upon an underlying asset, index, or reference rate, and generally represent future commitments to exchange currencies or cash balances, to purchase or sell other financial instruments at specific terms at specified future dates, or, in the case of derivative commodity instruments, to have a reasonable possibility to be settled in cash, through physical delivery or with another financial instrument. These instruments may be traded on an exchange, a swap-execution facility or over-the-counter (“OTC”). Exchange-traded instruments include futures and certain standardized forward, swap and option contracts. Certain swap contracts may also be traded on a swap execution facility or OTC. OTC contracts are negotiated between contracting parties and also include certain forward and option contracts. Each of these instruments is subject to various risks similar to those related to the underlying financial instruments, including market and credit risk. In general, the risks associated with OTC contracts are greater than those associated with exchange-traded instruments because of the greater risk of default by the counterparty to an OTC contract.

The risk to the limited partners that have purchased Redeemable Units is limited to the amount of their share of the Partnership’s net assets and undistributed profits. This limited liability is a result of the organization of the Partnership as a limited partnership under New York law.

Market risk is the potential for changes in the value of the financial instruments traded by the Master due to market changes, including interest and foreign exchange rate movements and fluctuations in commodity or security prices. Market risk is directly impacted by the volatility and liquidity in the markets in which the related underlying assets are traded. The Master/Partnership are exposed to market risk equal to the value of the futures and forward contracts purchased and unlimited liability on such contracts sold short.

See Note 8, “Financial Instrument Risks”, of the attached Master’s financial statements for risks relating to financial instruments and derivatives that are traded by the Master.

Credit risk is the possibility that a loss may occur due to the failure of a counterparty to perform according to the terms of a contract. The Partnership’s/Master’s risk of loss in the event of a counterparty default is typically limited to the amounts recognized in the Statements of Financial Condition and is not represented by the contract or notional amounts of the instruments. The Partnership’s/Master’s risk of loss is reduced through the use of legally enforceable master netting agreements with counterparties that permit the Partnership/Master to offset unrealized gains and losses and other assets and liabilities with such counterparties upon the occurrence of certain events. The Partnership/Master has credit risk and concentration risk, as MS&Co. or an MS&Co. affiliate, is the sole counterparty or broker with respect to the Partnership’s/Master’s assets. Credit risk with respect to exchange-traded instruments is reduced to the extent that, through MS&Co. or an MS&Co. affiliate, the Partnership’s/Master’s counterparty is an exchange or clearing organization.

 

42


Westport Futures Fund L.P.

Notes to Financial Statements

 

The General Partner monitors and attempts to control the Partnership’s/Master’s risk exposure on a daily basis through financial, credit and risk management monitoring systems, and accordingly, believes that it has effective procedures for evaluating and limiting the credit and market risks to which the Partnership/Master may be subject. These monitoring systems generally allow the General Partner to statistically analyze actual trading results with risk-adjusted performance indicators and correlation statistics. In addition, online monitoring systems provide account analysis of futures, forward and option contracts by sector, margin requirements, gain and loss transactions and collateral positions.

The majority of these instruments mature within one year of the inception date. However, due to the nature of the Partnership’s/Master’s business, these instruments may not be held to maturity.

 

9.

Subsequent Events:

As of January 1, 2017, the General Partner became a wholly-owned subsidiary of Morgan Stanley Domestic Holdings, Inc. (“MSD Holdings”). Prior to January 1, 2017, the General Partner was a wholly-owned subsidiary of MSSB Holdings. MSD Holdings is ultimately owned by Morgan Stanley.

The General Partner has evaluated the subsequent events through the date the financial statements are issued and has determined that there were no additional subsequent events requiring adjustment to or disclosure in the financial statements.

 

43


Selected unaudited quarterly financial data for the Partnership for the years ended December 31, 2016 and 2015 are summarized below:

 

     For the period from
October 1, 2016 to
December 31, 2016
     For the period from
July 1, 2016 to
September 30, 2016
     For the period
from April 1, 2016
to June 30, 2016
     For the period from
January 1, 2016 to
March 31, 2016
 

Total trading results

     $ (4,891)         $ (434,743)         $ 514,242          $ 402,546    

Total investment income

     7,118          7,032          6,376          7,005    

Total expenses

     (244,509)         (294,435)         (306,599)         (315,954)   
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

Net income (loss)

     $ (242,282)         $ (722,146)         $ 214,019          $ 93,597    
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

Increase (decrease) in net asset per Redeemable Unit

     $ (15.05)         $ (43.60)         $ 12.96          $ 3.85    
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 
     For the period from
October 1, 2015 to
December 31, 2015
     For the period from
July 1, 2015 to
September 30, 2015
     For the period from
April 1, 2015 to
June 30, 2015
     For the period from
January 1, 2015 to
March 31, 2015
 

Total trading results

     $ (1,136,465)         $ (646,979)         $ (1,503,302)         $ 509,116    

Total investment income

     138          254          376          467    

Total expenses

     (340,624)         (394,986)         (415,285)         (477,207)   
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

Net income (loss)

     $         (1,476,951)         $         (1,041,711)         $         (1,918,211)         $         32,376    
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

Increase (decrease) in net asset per Redeemable Unit

     $ (73.66)         $ (49.22)         $ (87.86)         $ 1.42    
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

 

44


To the Limited Partners of

Rabar Master Fund L.P.

To the best of the knowledge and belief of the undersigned, the information contained herein is accurate and complete.

 

LOGO

 

By:  

Patrick T. Egan

President and Director

Ceres Managed Futures LLC

General Partner,

Rabar Master Fund L.P.

  Ceres Managed Futures LLC
 

522 Fifth Avenue

New York, NY 10036

(855) 672-4468

 

45


REPORT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM

To the Partners of Rabar Master Fund L.P.:

We have audited the accompanying statements of financial condition of Rabar Master Fund L.P. (the “Partnership”), including the condensed schedules of investments, as of December 31, 2016 and 2015, and the related statements of income and expenses and changes in partners’ capital for each of the three years in the period ended December 31, 2016. These financial statements are the responsibility of the Partnership’s management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on these financial statements based on our audits.

We conducted our audits in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States). Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement. The Partnership is not required to have, nor were we engaged to perform, an audit of its internal control over financial reporting. Our audits included consideration of internal control over financial reporting as a basis for designing audit procedures that are appropriate in the circumstances, but not for the purpose of expressing an opinion on the effectiveness of the Partnership’s internal control over financial reporting. Accordingly, we express no such opinion. An audit also includes examining, on a test basis, evidence supporting the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements, assessing the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall financial statement presentation. We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinion.

In our opinion, such financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of Rabar Master Fund L.P. as of December 31, 2016 and 2015, and the results of its operations and changes in its partners’ capital for each of the three years in the period ended December 31, 2016, in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America.

/s/ Deloitte & Touche LLP

New York, New York

March 24, 2017

 

46


Rabar Master Fund L.P.

Statements of Financial Condition

December 31, 2016 and 2015

 

       December 31,          December 31,    
     2016      2015  

Assets:

     

Equity in trading account:

     

Investment in U.S. Treasury bills, at fair value (amortized cost of $0 and $10,249,398 at December 31, 2016 and 2015, respectively)

     $ -              $ 10,248,341    

Cash at MS&Co. (Note 3c)

     10,578,857          7,722,577    

Cash margin (Note 3c)

     2,097,376          1,233,230    

Net unrealized appreciation on open futures contracts

     283,716          20,178    
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

Total equity in trading account

     12,959,949          19,224,326    

Cash at bank (Note 1)

     217          -        
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

Total assets

     $ 12,960,166          $ 19,224,326    
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

Liabilities and Partners’ Capital:

     

Liabilities:

     

Net unrealized depreciation on open forward contracts

     $ 116,774          $ 21,489    

Accrued expenses:

     

Professional fees

     23,890          22,293    
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

Total liabilities

     140,664          43,782    
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

Partners’ Capital:

     

General Partner

     -              -        

Limited Partners

     12,819,502          19,180,544    
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

Total partners’ capital (net asset value)

     12,819,502          19,180,544    
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

Total liabilities and partners’ capital

     $ 12,960,166          $ 19,224,326    
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

 

See accompanying notes to financial statements.

 

47


Rabar Master Fund L.P.

Condensed Schedule of Investments

December 31, 2016

 

       Notional ($)/Number               % of Partners’  
     of Contracts      Fair Value      Capital  

Futures Contracts Purchased

        

Currencies

     12          $ 15,468          0.12  

Energy

     77          98,103          0.77    

Grains

     136          (14,053)         (0.11)   

Indices

     146          101,018          0.78    

Interest Rates Non-U.S.

     187          20,765          0.16    

Livestock

     22          11,100          0.09    

Metals

     16          (15,575)         (0.12)   

Softs

     73          (337)         (0.00) 
     

 

 

    

 

 

 

Total futures contracts purchased

        216,489          1.69    
     

 

 

    

 

 

 

Futures Contracts Sold

        

Currencies

     34          27,304          0.21    

Interest Rates U.S.

     18          6,617          0.05    

Interest Rates Non-U.S.

     184          (4,831)         (0.04)   

Livestock

     1          (250)         (0.00) 

Metals

     12          (724)         (0.01)   

Softs

     19          39,111          0.31    
     

 

 

    

 

 

 

Total futures contracts sold

        67,227          0.52    
     

 

 

    

 

 

 

Net unrealized appreciation on open futures contracts

        $      283,716          2.21  
     

 

 

    

 

 

 

Unrealized Appreciation on Open Forward Contracts

        

Currencies

   $ 1,191,326          $ 10,297          0.08  

Metals

     4          10,102          0.08    
     

 

 

    

 

 

 

Total unrealized appreciation on open forward contracts

        20,399          0.16    
     

 

 

    

 

 

 

Unrealized Depreciation on Open Forward Contracts

        

Currencies

   $ 2,218,684          (26,628)         (0.21)   

Metals

     42          (110,545)         (0.86)   
     

 

 

    

 

 

 

Total unrealized depreciation on open forward contracts

        (137,173)         (1.07)   
     

 

 

    

 

 

 

Net unrealized depreciation on open forward contracts

        $ (116,774)         (0.91) 
     

 

 

    

 

 

 

 

* Due to rounding.

 

See accompanying notes to financial statements.

 

48


Rabar Master Fund L.P.

Condensed Schedule of Investments

December 31, 2015

 

       Notional ($)/Number                 % of Partners’    
     of Contracts        Fair Value          Capital  

Futures Contracts Purchased

        

Currencies

     43          $ 18,890          0.10  

Energy

     3          1,730          0.01    

Grains

     20          (6,256)         (0.03)   

Indices

     40          (13,822)         (0.07)   

Interest Rates U.S.

     3          (4,969)         (0.03)   

Interest Rates Non-U.S.

     190          16,623          0.09    

Livestock

     10          1,880          0.01    

Metals

     1          (2,960)         (0.02)   

Softs

     87          (17,087)         (0.09)   
     

 

 

    

 

 

 

Total futures contracts purchased

        (5,971)         (0.03)   
     

 

 

    

 

 

 

Futures Contracts Sold

        

Currencies

     35          48,572          0.25    

Indices

     9          3,592          0.02    

Interest Rates U.S.

     27          (2,625)         (0.02)   

Interest Rates Non-U.S.

     110          (530)         (0.00)  ** 

Livestock

     7          (12,145)         (0.06)   

Metals

     72          (10,366)         (0.05)   

Softs

     21          (349)         (0.00)  ** 
     

 

 

    

 

 

 

Total futures contracts sold

        26,149          0.14    
     

 

 

    

 

 

 

Net unrealized appreciation on open futures contracts

        $     20,178          0.11  
     

 

 

    

 

 

 

Unrealized Appreciation on Open Forward Contracts

        

Currencies

     $ 4,358,723          $ 69,575          0.36  

Metals

     3          3,906          0.02    
     

 

 

    

 

 

 

Total unrealized appreciation on open forward contracts

        73,481          0.38    
     

 

 

    

 

 

 

Unrealized Depreciation on Open Forward Contracts

        

Currencies

     $ 2,196,032          (45,651)         (0.24)   

Metals

     43          (49,319)         (0.26)   
     

 

 

    

 

 

 

Total unrealized depreciation on open forward contracts

        (94,970)         (0.50)   
     

 

 

    

 

 

 

Net unrealized depreciation on open forward contracts

        $ (21,489)         (0.12) 
     

 

 

    

 

 

 

U.S. Government Securities

        

 

                          % of Partners’    

 Face Amount  

    Maturity Date       

Description

       Fair Value          Capital  
       U.S. Treasury bills, 0.015% * (Amortized cost of      

  $ 10,250,000  

     3/03/2016         $10,249,398)      $ 10,248,341          53.43  
        

 

 

    

 

 

 

 

* Liquid non-cash held as collateral.
** Due to rounding.

 

See accompanying notes to financial statements.

 

49


Rabar Master Fund L.P.

Statements of Income and Expenses

For the Years Ended December 31, 2016, 2015 and 2014

 

     2016      2015      2014  

Investment Income:

        

Interest income

     $ 27,531          $ 1,235          $ 4,716    
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

Expenses:

        

Clearing fees (Note 3c)

     83,586          118,648          247,497    

Professional fees

     71,741          88,697          111,356    
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

Total expenses

     155,327          207,345          358,853    
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

Net investment loss

     (127,796)         (206,110)         (354,137)   
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

Trading Results:

        

Net gains (losses) on trading of commodity interests:

        

Net realized gains (losses) on closed contracts

     310,089          (1,912,058)         7,201,975    

Net change in unrealized gains (losses) on open contracts

     167,065          (865,572)         (175,865)   
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

Total trading results

     477,154          (2,777,630)         7,026,110    
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

Net income (loss)

     $     349,358         $ (2,983,740)         $     6,671,973    
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

 

See accompanying notes to financial statements.

 

50


Rabar Master Fund L.P.

Statements of Changes in Partners’ Capital

For the Years Ended December 31, 2016, 2015 and 2014

 

     Partners’  
     Capital  

Partners’ Capital, December 31, 2013

     $ 33,569,336    

Net income (loss)

     6,671,973    

Subscriptions

     2,518,092    

Redemptions

     (16,280,347)   

Distribution of interest income to feeder funds

     (4,716)   
  

 

 

 

Partners’ Capital, December 31, 2014

     26,474,338    

Net income (loss)

     (2,983,740)   

Subscriptions

     2,123,330    

Redemptions

     (6,431,199)   

Distribution of interest income to feeder funds

     (2,185)   
  

 

 

 

Partners’ Capital, December 31, 2015

     19,180,544    

Net income (loss)

     349,358    

Redemptions

     (6,686,285)   

Distribution of interest income to feeder funds

     (24,115)   
  

 

 

 

Partners’ Capital, December 31, 2016

     $ 12,819,502    
  

 

 

 

 

See accompanying notes to financial statements.

 

51


Rabar Master Fund L.P.

Notes to Financial Statements

 

1. Organization:

Rabar Master Fund L.P. (the “Master”) is a limited partnership organized under the partnership laws of the State of Delaware to engage in the speculative trading of a diversified portfolio of commodity interests, including futures, option on futures, forward, option on forward, spot and swap contracts, cash commodities and any other rights or interests pertaining thereto including interest in commodity pools. The sectors traded include currencies, energy, grains, indices, U.S and non-U.S. interest rates, livestock, metals and softs. The commodity interests that are traded by the Master are volatile and involve a high degree of market risk. The General Partner (defined below) may also determine to invest up to all of the Master’s assets in United States (“U.S.”) Treasury bills and/or money market mutual funds, including money market mutual funds managed by Morgan Stanley or its affiliates.

Ceres Managed Futures LLC, a Delaware limited liability company, acts as the general partner (the “General Partner”) and commodity pool operator of the Master. At December 31, 2016, the General Partner was a wholly-owned subsidiary of Morgan Stanley Smith Barney Holdings LLC (“MSSB Holdings”). MSSB Holdings was ultimately owned by Morgan Stanley. Morgan Stanley is a publicly held company whose shares are listed on the New York Stock Exchange. Morgan Stanley is engaged in various financial services and other businesses. All trading decisions for the Master are made by the Advisor (defined below).

On December 1, 2012 (commencement of trading operations), Westport Futures Fund L.P. (“Westport”) allocated substantially all of its capital to the Master with cash equal to $31,143,887. On January 1, 2013, Tidewater Futures Fund L.P. (“Tidewater”) allocated substantially all of its capital to the Master with cash equal to $10,145,418. On September 30, 2014, Tidewater redeemed its entire investment in the Master for cash equal to $4,148,305. The Master was formed to permit accounts managed now and in the future by Rabar Market Research, Inc. (the “Advisor”) using the Diversified Program, a proprietary and systematic trading program, to invest together in one trading vehicle.

During the periods covered by this report, the Master’s commodity broker was Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC (“MS&Co.”), a registered futures commission merchant. The Master also deposits a portion of its cash in a non-trading account at JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A.

At December 31, 2016, the Master operated under a “master/feeder” structure where its sole investor is Westport as of December 31, 2016 and 2015.

The Master will be liquidated under certain circumstances as defined in the limited partnership agreement of the Master (the “Limited Partnership Agreement”).

In July 2015, the General Partner delegated certain administrative functions to SS&C Technologies, Inc., a Delaware corporation, currently doing business as SS&C GlobeOp (the “Administrator”). Pursuant to a master services agreement, the Administrator furnishes certain administrative, accounting, regulatory reporting, tax and other services as agreed from time to time. In addition, the Administrator maintains certain books and records of the Master.

 

52


Rabar Master Fund L.P.

Notes to Financial Statements

 

2. Basis of Presentation and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies:

 

  a.

Use of Estimates. The preparation of financial statements and accompanying notes in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“GAAP”) requires the General Partner to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities, income and expenses, and related disclosures of contingent assets and liabilities in the financial statements and accompanying notes. As a result, actual results could differ from these estimates.

 

  b.

Statement of Cash Flows. The Master is not required to provide a Statement of Cash Flows.

 

  c.

Master’s Investments. All commodity interests of the Master, including derivative financial instruments and derivative commodity instruments, are held for trading purposes. The commodity interests are recorded on trade date and open contracts are recorded at fair value (as described in Note 5, “Fair Value Measurements”) at the measurement date. Investments in commodity interests denominated in foreign currencies are translated into U.S. dollars at the exchange rates prevailing at the measurement date. Gains or losses are realized when contracts are liquidated and are determined using the first-in, first-out method. Unrealized gains or losses on open contracts are included as a component of equity in trading account in the Statements of Financial Condition. Net realized gains or losses and net change in unrealized gains or losses are included in the Statements of Income and Expenses.

Master’s Cash. The Master’s cash includes cash denominated in foreign currencies of $59,053 (cost of $59,262) and $(50,189) (proceeds of $51,168) as of December 31, 2016 and 2015, respectively.

 

  d.

Income and Expenses Recognition. All of the income and expenses and realized and unrealized gains and losses on trading of commodity interests are determined on each valuation day and allocated to the Fund at the time of such determination.

 

  e.

Income Taxes. Income taxes have not been listed as each partner is individually liable for the taxes, if any, on its share of the Master’s income and expenses. The General Partner concluded that no provision for income tax is required in the Master’s financial statements. The Master files U.S. federal and various state and local tax returns. No income tax returns are currently under examination. The 2013 through 2016 tax years remain subject to examination by U.S. federal and most state tax authorities. The General Partner does not believe that there are any uncertain tax positions that require recognition of a tax liability.

 

  f.

Investment Company Status. Effective January 1, 2014, the Master adopted Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) 2013-08, “Financial Services—Investment Companies (Topic 946): Amendments to the Scope, Measurement and Disclosure Requirements” and based on the General Partner’s assessment, the Master has been deemed to be an investment company since inception. Accordingly, the Master follows the investment company accounting and reporting guidance of Topic 946 and reflects its investments at fair value with unrealized gains and losses resulting from changes in fair value reflected in the Statements of Income and Expenses.

 

  g.

Fair Value of Financial Instruments. The carrying value of the Master’s assets and liabilities presented in the Statements of Financial Condition that qualify as financial instruments under the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) 825, “Financial Instruments”, approximates the fair value due to the short term nature of such balances.

 

53


Rabar Master Fund L.P.

Notes to Financial Statements

 

  h.

Recent Accounting Pronouncement. In January 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-01, “Recognition and Measurement of Financial Assets and Financial Liabilities.” The amendments in this update address certain aspects of recognition, measurement, presentation, and disclosure of financial instruments or all entities that hold financial assets or owe financial liabilities. One of the amendments in this update eliminates the requirement for public business entities to disclose the methods and significant assumptions used to estimate the fair value that is required to be disclosed for financial instruments measured at amortized cost on the balance sheet or a description of changes in the methods and significant assumptions. Additionally, the update eliminates the requirement to disclose the fair value of financial instruments measured at amortized cost for entities that are not public business entities. Investment companies are specifically exempted from ASU 2016-01’s equity investment accounting provisions and will continue to follow the industry specific guidance for investment accounting under Topic 946. For public business entities, this update is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2017, and interim periods therein. For other entities, it is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2018, and interim periods within fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2019. The General Partner is currently evaluating the impact this guidance will have on the Master’s financial statements and related disclosures.

 

3. Agreements:

 

  a. Limited Partnership Agreement:

The General Partner administers the business and affairs of the Master, including selecting one or more advisors to make trading decisions for the Master.

 

  b.

Management Agreement:

The General Partner, on behalf of the Master, has entered into a management agreement (the “Management Agreement”) with the Advisor, a registered commodity trading advisor. The Advisor is not affiliated with the General Partner or MS&Co. and is not responsible for the organization or operation of the Master. The Management Agreement provides that the Advisor has sole discretion in determining the investment of the assets of the Master. All management fees in connection with the Management Agreement are borne by Westport. The Management Agreement may be terminated upon notice by either party.

 

  c.

Customer Agreement:

The Master has entered into a customer agreement with MS&Co. (the “Customer Agreement”) and a foreign exchange brokerage account agreement with MS&Co.

 

54


Rabar Master Fund L.P.

Notes to Financial Statements

 

Under the Customer Agreement and the foreign exchange brokerage account agreement, the Master pays MS&Co. trading fees for the clearing and, where applicable, the execution of transactions. Further, all trading, exchange, clearing, user, give-up, floor brokerage and National Futures Association fees (collectively, the “clearing fees”) are borne by the Master and allocated to Westport. All other fees are borne by Westport. All of the Master’s assets available for trading in commodity interests are deposited in the Master’s brokerage account at MS&Co. The Master’s cash deposited with MS&Co. is held in segregated bank accounts to the extent required by Commodity Futures Trading Commission regulations. At December 31, 2016 and 2015, the amount of cash held by the Master for margin requirements was $2,097,376 and $1,233,230, respectively. The Customer Agreement may generally be terminated upon notice by either party.

 

4. Trading Activities:

The Master was formed for the purpose of trading contracts in a variety of commodity interests, including derivative financial instruments and derivative commodity interests. The results of the Master’s trading activities are shown in the Statements of Income and Expenses.

The Customer Agreement gives the Master the legal right to net unrealized gains and losses on open futures and forward contracts. The Master nets, for financial reporting purposes, the unrealized gains and losses on open futures and open forward contracts in the Statements of Financial Condition as the criteria under ASC 210-20, “Balance Sheet,” have been met.

All of the commodity interests owned by the Master are held for trading purposes. The monthly average number of futures contracts traded during the years ended December 31, 2016 and 2015 were 871 and 1,193, respectively. The monthly average number of metals forward contracts traded during the years ended December 31, 2016 and 2015 were 76 and 98, respectively. The monthly average notional value of currency forward contracts traded during the years ended December 31, 2016 and 2015 were $7,953,516 and $14,238,241, respectively.

The following tables summarize the gross and net amounts recognized relating to assets and liabilities of the Master’s derivatives and their offsetting subject to master netting agreements or similar arrangements as of December 31, 2016 and 2015, respectively.

 

            Gross Amounts      Amounts      Gross Amounts Not Offset in the         
            Offset in the      Presented in      Statements of Financial Condition         
            Statements of      the Statements             Cash Collateral         
     Gross Amounts      Financial      of Financial      Financial      Received/         

December 31, 2016

   Recognized      Condition      Condition      Instruments      Pledged *      Net Amount  

Assets

                 

Futures

     $ 387,769          $ (104,053)         $ 283,716          $  -              $  -              $ 283,716    

Forwards

     20,399          (20,399)         -              -              -              -        
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

Total assets

     $ 408,168          $ (124,452)         $ 283,716          $ -              $ -              $ 283,716    
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

Liabilities

                 

Futures

     $ (104,053)         $ 104,053          $ -              $ -              $ -              $ -        

Forwards

     (137,173)         20,399          (116,774)         -              -              (116,774)   
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

Total liabilities

     $ (241,226)         $ 124,452          $ (116,774)         $ -              $ -              $ (116,774)   
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

Net fair value

                    $ 166,942  
                 

 

 

 

 

55


Rabar Master Fund L.P.

Notes to Financial Statements

 

            Gross Amounts      Amounts      Gross Amounts Not Offset in the         
            Offset in the      Presented in      Statements of Financial Condition         
            Statements of      the Statements             Cash Collateral         
     Gross Amounts      Financial      of Financial      Financial      Received/         

December 31, 2015

   Recognized      Condition      Condition      Instruments      Pledged *      Net Amount  

Assets

                 

Futures

     $ 157,979          $ (137,801)         $ 20,178          $  -              $  -              $ 20,178    

Forwards

     73,481          (73,481)         -              -              -              -        
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

Total assets

     $ 231,460          $ (211,282)         $ 20,178          $ -              $ -              $ 20,178    
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

Liabilities

                 

Futures

     $ (137,801)         $ 137,801          $ -              $ -              $ -              $ -        

Forwards

     (94,970)         73,481          (21,489)         -              -              (21,489)   
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

Total liabilities

     $ (232,771)         $ 211,282          $ (21,489)         $ -              $ -              $ (21,489)   
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

Net fair value

                    $ (1,311) 
                 

 

 

 

 

*

In the event of default by the Master, MS&Co., the Master’s commodity futures broker and the sole counterparty to the Master’s off-exchange-traded contracts, as applicable, has the right to offset the Master’s obligation with the Master’s cash and/or U.S. Treasury bills held by MS&Co., thereby minimizing MS&Co.’s risk of loss. There is no collateral posted by MS&Co. and as such, in the event of default by MS&Co., the Master is exposed to the amount shown in the Statements of Financial Condition. In the case of exchange-traded contracts, the Master’s exposure to counterparty risk may be reduced since the exchange’s clearinghouse interposes its credit between buyer and seller and the clearinghouse’s guarantee fund may be available in the event of a default.

 

56


Rabar Master Fund L.P.

Notes to Financial Statements

The following tables indicate the gross fair values of derivative instruments of futures and forward contracts as separate assets and liabilities as of December 31, 2016 and 2015, respectively.

 

Assets      December 31, 2016    

Futures Contracts

  

Currencies

   $ 49,993    

Energy

     100,333    

Grains

     9,358    

Indices

     121,663    

Interest Rates U.S.

     10,016    

Interest Rates Non-U.S.

     30,238    

Livestock

     13,220    

Metals

     5,283    

Softs

     47,665    
  

 

 

 

Total unrealized appreciation on open futures contracts

     387,769    
  

 

 

 

Liabilities

  

Futures Contracts

  

Currencies

     (7,221)   

Energy

     (2,230)   

Grains

     (23,411)   

Indices

     (20,645)   

Interest Rates U.S.

     (3,399)   

Interest Rates Non-U.S.

     (14,304)   

Livestock

     (2,370)   

Metals

     (21,582)   

Softs

     (8,891)   
  

 

 

 

Total unrealized depreciation on open futures contracts

     (104,053)   
  

 

 

 

Net unrealized appreciation on open futures contracts

   $ 283,716  
  

 

 

 

Assets

  

Forward Contracts

  

Currencies

   $ 10,297    

Metals

     10,102    
  

 

 

 

Total unrealized appreciation on open forward contracts

     20,399    
  

 

 

 

Forward Contracts

  

Currencies

     (26,628)   

Metals

     (110,545)   
  

 

 

 

Total unrealized depreciation on open forward contracts

     (137,173)   
  

 

 

 

Net unrealized depreciation on open forward contracts

   $ (116,774)  ** 
  

 

 

 

 

*

This amount is in “Net unrealized appreciation on open futures contracts” in the Statements of Financial Condition.

 

**

This amount is in “Net unrealized depreciation on open forward contracts” in the Statements of Financial Condition.

 

57


Rabar Master Fund L.P.

Notes to Financial Statements

 

Assets      December 31, 2015    

Futures Contracts

  

Currencies

   $ 70,795    

Energy

     2,050    

Indices

     17,362    

Interest Rates U.S.

     906    

Interest Rates Non-U.S.

     42,819    

Livestock

     3,890    

Metals

     8,210    

Softs

     11,947    
  

 

 

 

Total unrealized appreciation on open futures contracts

     157,979    
  

 

 

 

Liabilities

  

Futures Contracts

  

Currencies

     (3,333)   

Energy

     (320)   

Grains

     (6,256)   

Indices

     (27,592)   

Interest Rates U.S.

     (8,500)   

Interest Rates Non-U.S.

     (26,726)   

Livestock

     (14,155)   

Metals

     (21,536)   

Softs

     (29,383)   
  

 

 

 

Total unrealized depreciation on open futures contracts

     (137,801)   
  

 

 

 

Net unrealized appreciation on open futures contracts

   $ 20,178  
  

 

 

 

Assets

  

Forward Contracts

  

Currencies

   $ 69,575    

Metals

     3,906    
  

 

 

 

Total unrealized appreciation on open forward contracts

     73,481    
  

 

 

 

Forward Contracts

  

Currencies

     (45,651)   

Metals

     (49,319)   
  

 

 

 

Total unrealized depreciation on open forward contracts

     (94,970)   
  

 

 

 

Net unrealized depreciation on open forward contracts

   $ (21,489)  ** 
  

 

 

 

 

* This amount is in “Net unrealized appreciation on open futures contracts” in the Statements of Financial Condition.

 

** This amount is in “Net unrealized depreciation on open forward contracts” in the Statements of Financial Condition.

 

58


Rabar Master Fund L.P.

Notes to Financial Statements

The following table indicates the trading gains and losses, by market sector, on derivative instruments for the years ended December 31, 2016, 2015 and 2014.

 

Sector

       2016             2015             2014      

Currencies

     $ (82,552)        $ (404,980)        $ 252,582    

Energy

     (241,644)        (312,799)                1,148,256    

Grains

     56,018         (713,488)        821,124    

Indices

     (100,823)        (798,334)        (516,315)   

Interest Rates U.S.

     609,431                         8,232         175,189    

Interest Rates Non-U.S.

     360,407         (112,986)        2,560,825    

Livestock

     162,212         (20,333)        1,741,134    

Metals

     (264,585)        53,559         (626,996)   

Softs

     (21,310)        (476,501)        1,470,311    
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Total

     $         477,154   ***      $ (2,777,630)  ***      $ 7,026,110   *** 
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

 

*** This amount is in “Total trading results” in the Statements of Income and Expenses.

 

5. Fair Value Measurements:

Master’s Fair Value Measurements. Fair value is defined as the price that would be received to sell an asset or paid to transfer a liability in an orderly transaction between market participants at the measurement date under current market conditions. The fair value hierarchy gives the highest priority to unadjusted quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities (Level 1) and the lowest priority to fair values derived from unobservable inputs (Level 3). The level in the fair value hierarchy within which the fair value measurement in its entirety falls shall be determined based on the lowest level input that is significant to the fair value measurement in its entirety.

The fair value of exchange-traded futures, option and forward contracts is determined by the various exchanges, and reflects the settlement price for each contract as of the close of business on the last business day of the reporting period. The fair value of foreign currency forward contracts is extrapolated on a forward basis from the spot prices quoted as of approximately 3:00 P.M. (E.T.) on the last business day of the reporting period from various exchanges. The fair value of non-exchange-traded foreign currency option contracts is calculated by applying an industry standard model application for options valuation of foreign currency options, using as input the spot prices, interest rates, and option implied volatilities quoted as of approximately 3:00 P.M. (E.T.) on the last business day of the reporting period. U.S. Treasury bills are valued at the last available bid price received from independent pricing services as of the close of the last business day of the reporting period.

The Master considers prices for exchange-traded commodity futures, forward, swap and option contracts to be based on unadjusted quoted prices in active markets for identical assets and liabilities (Level 1). The values of U.S. Treasury bills, non-exchange-traded forward, swap and certain option contracts for which market quotations are not readily available are priced by broker-quotes or pricing services that derive fair values for those assets and liabilities from observable inputs (Level 2). As of and for the years ended December 31, 2016 and 2015, the Master did not hold any derivative instruments that were priced at fair value using unobservable inputs through the application of the General Partner’s assumptions and internal valuation pricing models (Level 3). Transfers between levels are recognized at the end of the reporting period. For the years ended December 31, 2016 and 2015, there were no transfers of assets or liabilities between Level 1 and Level 2.

 

59


Rabar Master Fund L.P.

Notes to Financial Statements

 

December 31, 2016

            Total                         Level 1                         Level 2                         Level 3            

Assets

       

Futures

  $ 387,769       $ 387,769       $ -           $ -        

Forwards

    20,399         10,102         10,297         -        
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Total assets

  $ 408,168       $ 397,871       $ 10,297       $ -        
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Liabilities

       

Futures

  $ 104,053       $ 104,053       $ -           $ -        

Forwards

    137,173         110,545         26,628         -        
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Total liabilities

  $ 241,226       $ 214,598       $ 26,628       $ -        
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

December 31, 2015

  Total     Level 1     Level 2     Level 3  

Assets

       

Futures

  $ 157,979       $ 157,979       $ -           $ -        

Forwards

    73,481         3,906         69,575         -        

U.S. Treasury bills

    10,248,341         -             10,248,341         -        
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Total assets

  $ 10,479,801       $ 161,885       $ 10,317,916       $ -        
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Liabilities

       

Futures

  $ 137,801       $ 137,801       $ -           $ -        

Forwards

    94,970         49,319         45,651         -        
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Total liabilities

  $ 232,771       $ 187,120       $ 45,651       $ -        
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

 

6. Subscriptions, Distributions and Redemptions:

Subscriptions are accepted monthly from investors who become limited partners on the first day of the month after their subscriptions are processed. Distributions are made on a pro-rata basis at the sole discretion of the General Partner. No distributions have been made to date. The General Partner does not intend to make any distributions of the Master’s profits, except for distribution of interest income to a feeder fund, as applicable. Generally, a limited partner withdraws all or part of its capital contribution and undistributed profits, if any, from the Master as of the end of any month (the “Redemption Date”) after a request for redemption has been made to the General Partner at least three days in advance of the Redemption Date. Such withdrawals are classified as a liability when the limited partner elects to redeem and informs the Master. However, a limited partner may request a withdrawal as of the end of any day if such request is received by the General Partner at least three days in advance of the proposed withdrawal day.

 

60


Rabar Master Fund L.P.

Notes to Financial Statements

 

7. Financial Highlights:

Financial highlights for the limited partner class as a whole for the years ended December 31, 2016, 2015 and 2014 were as follows:

 

        2016             2015             2014      

Ratios to Average Limited Partners’ Capital:

     

Net investment loss *

    (0.8)       (0.9)       (1.1)  
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Operating expenses

    1.0        0.9        1.1   
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Total return

    1.8        (12.6)       23.4   
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

 

* Interest income less total expenses.

The above ratios and total return may vary for individual investors based on the timing of capital transactions during the year. Additionally, these ratios are calculated for the limited partner class using the limited partners’ share of income, expenses and average partners’ capital.

 

8. Financial Instrument Risks:

In the normal course of business, the Master is party to financial instruments with off-balance-sheet risk, including derivative financial instruments and derivative commodity instruments. These financial instruments may include forwards, futures, options and swaps, whose values are based upon an underlying asset, index, or reference rate, and generally represent future commitments to exchange currencies or cash balances, to purchase or sell other financial instruments at specific terms on specified future dates, or, in the case of derivative commodity instruments, to have a reasonable possibility to be settled in cash, through physical delivery or with another financial instrument. These instruments may be traded on an exchange, a swap execution facility or over-the-counter (“OTC”). Exchange-traded instruments include futures and certain standardized forward, swap and option contracts. Certain swap contracts may also be traded on a swap execution facility or OTC. OTC contracts are negotiated between contracting parties and also include certain forward and option contracts. Each of these instruments is subject to various risks similar to those related to the underlying financial instruments, including market and credit risk. In general, the risks associated with OTC contracts are greater than those associated with exchange-traded instruments because of the greater risk of default by the counterparty to an OTC contract. The General Partner estimates that at any given time, approximately 0.0% to 21.0% of the Master’s contracts are traded OTC.

Futures Contracts. The Master trades futures contracts. A futures contract is a firm commitment to buy or sell a specified quantity of investments, currency or a standardized amount of a deliverable grade commodity, at a specified price on a specified future date, unless the contract is closed before the delivery date or the delivery quantity is something where physical delivery cannot occur (such as the S&P 500 Index), whereby such contract is settled in cash. Payments (“variation margin”) may be made or received by the Master each business day, depending on the daily fluctuations in the value of the underlying contracts, and are recorded as unrealized gains or losses by the Master. When the contract is closed, the Master records a realized gain or loss equal to the difference between the value of the contract at the time it was opened and the value at the time it was closed. Transactions in futures contracts require participants to make both initial margin deposits of cash or other assets and variation margin, through the futures broker, directly with the exchange on which the contracts are traded. Net realized gains (losses) and net change in unrealized gains (losses) on futures contracts are included in the Statements of Income and Expenses.

 

61


Rabar Master Fund L.P.

Notes to Financial Statements

 

Forward Foreign Currency Contracts. Forward foreign currency contracts are those contracts where the Master agrees to receive or deliver a fixed quantity of foreign currency for an agreed-upon price on an agreed-upon future date. Forward foreign currency contracts are valued daily, and the Master’s net equity therein, representing unrealized gain or loss on the contracts as measured by the difference between the forward foreign exchange rates at the dates of entry into the contracts and the forward rates at the reporting date, is included in the Statements of Financial Condition. Net realized gains (losses) and net change in unrealized gains (losses) on foreign currency contracts are recognized in the period in which the contract is closed or the changes occur, respectively, and are included in the Statements of Income and Expenses.

The Master does not isolate the portion of the results of operations arising from the effect of changes in foreign exchange rates on investments due to fluctuations from changes in market prices of investments held. Such fluctuations are included in total trading results in the Statements of Income and Expenses.

London Metals Exchange Forward Contracts. Metal contracts traded on the London Metals Exchange (“LME”) represent a firm commitment to buy or sell a specified quantity of aluminum, copper, lead, nickel, tin or zinc. LME contracts traded by the Master are cash settled based on prompt dates published by the LME. Variation margin may be made or received by the Master each business day, depending on the daily fluctuations in the value of the underlying contracts, and are recorded as unrealized gains or losses by the Master. A contract is considered offset when all long positions have been matched with a like number of short positions settling on the same prompt date. When the contract is closed at the prompt date, the Master records a realized gain or loss equal to the difference between the value of the contract at the time it was opened and the value at the time it was closed. Transactions in LME contracts require participants to make both initial margin deposits of cash or other assets and variation margin deposits, through the broker, directly with the LME. Net realized gains (losses) and net change in unrealized gains (losses) on metal contracts are included in the Statements of Income and Expenses.

Market risk is the potential for changes in the value of the financial instruments traded by the Master due to market changes, including interest and foreign exchange rate movements and fluctuations in commodity or security prices. Market risk is directly impacted by the volatility and liquidity in the markets in which the related underlying assets are traded. The Master is exposed to market risk equal to the value of the futures and forward contracts purchased and unlimited liability on such contracts sold short.

Credit risk is the possibility that a loss may occur due to the failure of a counterparty to perform according to the terms of a contract. The Master’s risk of loss in the event of a counterparty default is typically limited to the amounts recognized in the Statements of Financial Condition and is not represented by the contract or notional amounts of the instruments. The Master’s risk of loss is reduced through the use of legally enforceable master netting agreements with counterparties that permit the Master to offset unrealized gains and losses and other assets and liabilities with such counterparties upon the occurrence of certain events. The Master has credit risk and concentration risk as MS&Co. or an MS&Co. affiliate is the sole counterparty or broker with respect to the Master’s assets. Credit risk with respect to exchange-traded instruments is reduced to the extent that, through MS&Co. or an MS&Co. affiliate, the Master’s counterparty is an exchange or clearing organization.

 

62


Rabar Master Fund L.P.

Notes to Financial Statements

 

The General Partner monitors and attempts to control the Master’s risk exposure on a daily basis through financial, credit and risk management monitoring systems, and accordingly, believes that it has effective procedures for evaluating and limiting the credit and market risks to which the Master may be subject. These monitoring systems generally allow the General Partner to statistically analyze actual trading results with risk-adjusted performance indicators and correlation statistics. In addition, online monitoring systems provide account analysis of futures, forward and option contracts by sector, margin requirements, gain and loss transactions and collateral positions.

The majority of these financial instruments mature within one year of the inception date. However, due to the nature of the Master’s business, these instruments may not be held to maturity.

 

9. Subsequent Events:

As of January 1, 2017, the General Partner became a wholly-owned subsidiary of Morgan Stanley Domestic Holdings, Inc. (“MSD Holdings”). Prior to January 1, 2017, the General Partner was a wholly-owned subsidiary of MSSB Holdings. MSD Holdings is ultimately owned by Morgan Stanley.

The General Partner has evaluated the subsequent events through the date the financial statements are issued and has determined that there were no additional subsequent events requiring adjustment to or disclosure in the financial statements.

 

63


Selected unaudited quarterly financial data for Rabar Master for the year ended December 31, 2016 and 2015 are summarized below:

 

     For the period from
October 1, 2016 to
December 31, 2016
     For the period from
July 1, 2016 to
September 30, 2016
     For the period from
April 1, 2016 to
June 30, 2016
     For the period from
January 1, 2016 to
March 31, 2016
 

Total trading results

     $ (4,891)         $ (434,743)         $ 514,242          $ 402,546    

Total investment income

     7,118          7,032          6,376          7,005    

Total expenses

     (33,874)         (42,971)         (42,888)         (35,594)   
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

Net income (loss)

     $ (31,647)         $ (470,682)         $ 477,730          $ 373,957    
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 
     For the period from
October 1, 2015 to
December 31, 2015
     For the period from
July 1, 2015 to
September 30, 2015
     For the period from
April 1, 2015 to
June 30, 2015
     For the period from
January 1, 2015 to
March 31, 2015
 

Total trading results

     $ (1,136,465)         $ (646,979)         $ (1,503,302)         $ 509,116    

Total investment income

     138          254          376          467    

Total expenses

     (34,954)         (53,622)         (56,091)         (62,678)   
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

Net income (loss)

     $ (1,171,281)         $ (700,347)         $ (1,559,017)         $ 446,905   
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

 

64


Item 9. Changes in and Disagreements with Accountants on Accounting and Financial Disclosure.

On December 1, 2016, the Board of Directors of the General Partner dismissed Deloitte & Touche LLP (“Deloitte”) as the registered public accounting firm for the Partnership, effective as of the close of business on the day the Partnership’s audited financial statements for the 2016 fiscal year end, including this Form 10-K, are filed.

The audit reports of Deloitte on the Partnership’s financial statements as of and for the two most recent fiscal years (ending December 31, 2016 and December 31, 2015) did not contain an adverse opinion or a disclaimer of opinion, nor were they qualified or modified as to uncertainty, audit scope or accounting principles.

During the Partnership’s three most recent fiscal years (ending December 31, 2016, December 31, 2015 and December 31, 2014), there were no disagreements between the Partnership and Deloitte on any matter of accounting principles or practices, financial statement disclosure or auditing scope or procedure, which disagreements, if not resolved to the satisfaction of Deloitte, would have caused it to make a reference to the subject matter thereof in its report on the financial statements of the Partnership for such periods. During the Partnership’s three most recent fiscal years (ending December 31, 2016, December 31, 2015 and December 31, 2014), there were no “reportable events” (as defined in Regulation S-K Item 304(a)(1)(v)).

On December 1, 2016, the Board of Directors of the General Partner, on behalf of the Partnership, approved the engagement of Ernst & Young LLP (“EY”) as the independent registered public accounting firm for the Partnership. During the Partnership’s fiscal years ending December 31, 2015 and December 31, 2014 and the interim period prior to engaging EY, neither the Partnership, the General Partner, nor anyone on their behalf consulted EY, on behalf of the Partnership, regarding the application of accounting principles to a specified transaction (either completed or proposed), the type of audit opinion that might be rendered on the Partnership’s financial statements, or any matter that was either the subject of a “disagreement,” as defined in Item 304(a)(1)(iv) of Regulation S-K and the instructions thereto, or a “reportable event,” as defined in Item 304(a)(1)(v) of Regulation S-K.

Item 9A. Controls and Procedures.

The Partnership’s disclosure controls and procedures are designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed by the Partnership on the reports that it files or submits under the Exchange Act is recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the time periods expected in the SEC’s rules and forms. Disclosure controls and procedures include controls and procedures designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed by the Partnership in the reports it files is accumulated and communicated to the General Partner, including the President and Chief Financial Officer (the “CFO”) of the General Partner, to allow for timely decisions regarding required disclosure and appropriate SEC filings.

The General Partner is responsible for ensuring that there is an adequate and effective process for establishing, maintaining and evaluating disclosure controls and procedures for the Partnership’s external disclosures.

The General Partner’s President and CFO have evaluated the effectiveness of the Partnership’s disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e) under the Exchange Act) as of December 31, 2016, and, based on that evaluation, the General Partner’s President and CFO have concluded that at that date the Partnership’s disclosure controls and procedures were effective.

The Partnership’s internal control over financial reporting is a process under the supervision of the General Partner’s President and CFO to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements in accordance with GAAP. These controls include policies and procedures that:

 

   

pertain to the maintenance of records that, in reasonable detail, accurately and fairly reflect the transactions and dispositions of the assets of the Partnership;

 

   

provide reasonable assurance that (i) transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of financial statements in accordance with GAAP, and (ii) the Partnership’s receipts are handled and expenditures are made only pursuant to authorizations of the General Partner; and

 

   

provide reasonable assurance regarding prevention or timely detection and correction of unauthorized acquisition, use or disposition of the Partnership’s assets that could have a material effect on the financial statements.

 

65


The report included in “Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data.” includes the General Partner’s report on internal control over financial reporting (“Management’s Report”).

There were no changes in the Partnership’s internal control over financial reporting during the fiscal quarter ended December 31, 2016, that materially affected, or are reasonably likely to materially affect, the Partnership’s internal control over financial reporting.

Item 9B. Other Information.

None.

 

66


PART III

Item 10. Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance.

The Partnership has no directors or executive officers and its affairs are managed by its General Partner. Investment decisions are made by the Advisor.

The directors and executive officers of the General Partner are Patrick T. Egan (President and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the General Partner), Steven Ross (Chief Financial Officer and Director), Maureen O’Toole (Director), M. Paul Martin (Director), Feta Zabeli (Director) and Matthew R. Graver (Director). Each director holds office until the earlier of his or her death, resignation or removal. Vacancies on the board of directors may be filled by either (i) the majority vote of the remaining directors or (ii) MSD Holdings, as the sole member of the General Partner. The officers of the General Partner are designated by the General Partner’s board of directors. Each officer will hold office until his or her successor is designated and qualified or until his or her death, resignation or removal.

Directors of the General Partner are responsible for overall corporate governance of the General Partner and meet periodically to consider strategic decisions regarding the General Partner’s activities. Under CFTC rules, each Director of the General Partner is deemed to be a principal of the General Partner and, as a result, is listed as such with NFA. Patrick T. Egan, Steven Ross, Maureen O’Toole and Feta Zabeli serve on the General Partner’s Investment Committee and are the trading principals responsible for allocation decisions (or supervising those responsible).

Patrick T. Egan, age 48, has been a Director of the General Partner since December 2010. Since December 2010, Mr. Egan has been a principal and registered as an associated person of the General Partner, and is an associate member of NFA. Since October 2014, Mr. Egan has served as President and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the General Partner. Since August 2013, Mr. Egan has been registered as a swap associated person of the General Partner. From September 2013 to May 2014, Mr. Egan served as a Vice President of Morgan Stanley Strategies LLC, formerly known as Morgan Stanley GWM Feeder Strategies LLC, which acts as a general partner to multiple alternative investment entities, and Morgan Stanley AI GP LLC, formerly known as Morgan Stanley HedgePremier GP LLC, which acts as a general partner and administrative agent to numerous hedge fund feeder funds. From September 2013 to May 2014, Mr. Egan was registered as an associated person and listed as a principal of each such entity. Since January 2013, each such entity has been registered as a commodity pool operator with the CFTC. Mr. Egan was responsible for overseeing the implementation of certain CFTC and NFA regulatory requirements applicable to such entities. From June 2009 to December 2014, Mr. Egan was employed by Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC, a financial services firm, where his responsibilities included serving as Executive Director and as Co-Chief Investment Officer for Morgan Stanley Managed Futures from June 2009 through June 2011 and as Chief Risk Officer for Morgan Stanley Managed Futures from June 2011 through October 2014. Since October 2014, Mr. Egan has been responsible for the day-to-day operations and management of Morgan Stanley Managed Futures. Since January 2015, Mr. Egan has been employed by the General Partner. From November 2010 to October 2014, Mr. Egan was registered as an associated person of Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC. From April 2007 through June 2009, Mr. Egan was employed by MS & Co., a financial services firm, where his responsibilities included serving as Head of Due Diligence and Manager Research for Morgan Stanley’s Managed Futures Department. From April 2007 through June 2009, Mr. Egan was registered as an associated person of MS & Co. From March 1993 through April 2007, Mr. Egan was employed by Morgan Stanley DW Inc., a financial services firm, where his initial responsibilities included serving as an analyst and manager within the Managed Futures Department (with primary responsibilities for product development, due diligence, investment analysis and risk management of the firm’s commodity pools) and later included serving as Head of Due Diligence and Manager Research for Morgan Stanley’s Managed Futures Department. From February 1998 through April 2007, Mr. Egan was registered as an associated person of Morgan Stanley DW Inc. From August 1991 through March 1993, Mr. Egan was employed by Dean Witter Intercapital, the asset management arm of Dean Witter Reynolds, Inc., where his responsibilities included serving as a mutual fund administration associate. Mr. Egan also served as a Director from November 2004 through October 2006, and from November 2006 through October 2008 of the Managed Funds Association’s Board of Directors, a position he was elected to by industry peers for two consecutive two-year terms. Mr. Egan earned his Bachelor of Business Administration degree with a concentration in Finance in May 1991 from the University of Notre Dame.

 

67


Steven Ross, age 45, has been Chief Financial Officer and a principal of the General Partner since July 2014 and a Director of the General Partner since February 2016. Mr. Ross has been employed by Morgan Stanley Investment Management, a financial services firm, since September 2005, where his responsibilities include serving as an Assistant Treasurer of Morgan Stanley with respect to certain investment vehicles publicly offered by Morgan Stanley. Mr. Ross is also an Executive Director of the Morgan Stanley Fund Administration Group where he is responsible for finance and accounting matters for certain private funds offered by Morgan Stanley. Before joining Morgan Stanley Investment Management, Mr. Ross was employed by JPMorgan Investor Services Co., a financial services firm, from December 1997 through September 2005, where his responsibilities included serving as a Vice President responsible for the accounting of certain funds sponsored by JPMorgan Chase & Co. and other large fund families serviced by JPMorgan Investor Services Co. From April 1997 to December 1997, Mr. Ross was employed by Investors Bank & Trust, a financial services firm, where his responsibilities included performing mutual fund accounting for financial services firms. Mr. Ross began his career at Putnam Investments LLC, a financial services firm, where he was responsible for providing broker services for certain funds sponsored by Putnam Investments LLC from August 1996 to April 1997. Mr. Ross received a B.S. in Accounting from Rhode Island College in May 1995.

Maureen O’Toole, age 59, has been a Director, listed as a principal and registered as an associated person of the General Partner since May 2016. She has also been the Head of Managed Futures at Morgan Stanley Investment Management, a financial services firm, since May 2016 where she is responsible for developing and managing the managed futures business strategy. She joined Morgan Stanley Investment Management in June 2012 as Managing Director in charge of the intermediary alternative investment sales team. In this capacity she was responsible for the management of a team responsible for business development in managed futures, hedge funds and private investments. She has been registered as an associated person of Morgan Stanley Investment Management since June 2012. From April 2010 until June 2012, Ms. O’Toole was a managing director at K2 Advisors, L.L.C., a hedge fund investment advisory firm, where she was responsible for development of the firm’s investment funds. Between March 1993 and April 2010, Ms. O’Toole was employed by a variety of divisions within what became Citigroup Global Markets Inc., a financial services firm. Between August 2009 and April 2010, she worked in product development within Citi Private Bank, where she assisted in sourcing new investment platforms for its alternatives business. Between January 2002 and August 2009, Ms. O’Toole was Managing Director and Head of Sales and Client Service within Citigroup Alternative Investments. In this role she managed the high net worth sales team for Citigroup Alternative Investments through the Global Wealth Management channel, overseeing education and marketing. Prior to that, between November 1996 and January 2002, Ms. O’Toole was Director of Sales and Marketing within the managed futures department of Smith Barney. Prior to being named Director of Sales and Marketing, Ms. O’Toole was involved in the international development of the managed futures business within the managed futures department from March 1993 until November 1996. In this role, Ms. O’Toole oversaw due diligence and portfolio construction for the managed futures department. Ms. O’Toole served as a Director of Citigroup Managed Futures LLC (the predecessor entity to the General Partner) from August 2001 until October 2006, was listed as a principal of such entity from August 1998 until October 2006 and was registered as an associated person of such entity from January 2004 until October 2006. She was also registered as an associated person of Citigroup Global Markets Inc. from April 1993 until June 2010. Prior to Citigroup Global Markets Inc., Ms. O’Toole was employed at Rodman & Renshaw Inc., an investment bank, as head of managed futures manager research and portfolio construction between March 1989 and March 1993 and was registered as an associated person from June 1991 until March 1993. She was registered as an associated person of Rosenthal Collins Futures Management, Inc., a commodity pool operator and wholly owned subsidiary of Rodman & Renshaw, from January 1992 until March 1993. She began her investment career at Drexel Burnham Lambert Inc., an investment bank, in January 1982 where she worked as a research analyst, performing modeling on financial futures hedging and trading strategies until February 1989 and was registered as an associated person from December 1988 until February 1989. Ms. O’Toole obtained her Bachelor of Arts in Speech Pathology and Audiology from California State University Chico, in June 1979, and her Masters in Management from Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University, in June 1989.

 

68


M. Paul Martin, age 58, has been a Director of the General Partner since October 2014. Mr. Martin has also served as Managing Director – Global Operations of Morgan Stanley Investment Management, a financial services firm, since June 2006, where his responsibilities include managing all elements of in-sourced and out-sourced global operations, and serving as a senior member of Morgan Stanley Investment Management’s Management, Risk Management, & New Products Committees. Mr. Martin has been listed as a principal of the General Partner since October 2014. Mr. Martin previously served as the Managing Director and Chief Operating Officer of Morgan Stanley Fund Services, a financial services firm, where his responsibilities included launching the Hedge Fund Administration business and being responsible for operations, fund accounting and administration, technology and compliance, from May 2004 through May 2006. Previously, Mr. Martin served as Managing Director – Institutional Investment Operations of Morgan Stanley Investment Management from January 1995 until April 2004, where his responsibilities included trading room support, portfolio administration, service provider management, and derivatives processing and control. From April 1994 through January 1995, Mr. Martin served as Senior Vice President and Head of Custody Operations for Fidelity Investments, a financial services firm. From October 1989 through April 1994, Mr. Martin served as Executive Director and Head of Global Operations for Morgan Stanley Trust Company, a financial services firm. Mr. Martin also served as Vice President – Information Technology for MS & Co., a financial services firm, from June 1984 through October 1989, where his responsibilities included acting as Senior Developer and Programming Manager – Prime Brokerage and Securities Clearance Systems, and as Part-time Manager – IT Training Program. From February 1984 through May 1984, Mr. Martin served as a Senior Analyst in the Financial Control Group of Shearson Lehman Brothers, Inc., a financial services firm. From October 1980 through January 1984, Mr. Martin served as a Senior Consultant – Management Information Consulting Division at Arthur Andersen & Co., an accounting firm, where his responsibilities included programming and programming supervisory roles at large governmental agencies. Mr. Martin received a B.S. in Business Administration - Finance from Georgetown University in May 1980 and an M.B.A. in Finance from New York University in June 1993.

Feta Zabeli, age 57, has been a Director of the General Partner since October 2014. Mr. Zabeli has also served as a director on the Board of Directors of Morgan Stanley Investment Management, a financial services firm, since January 2015 and has been listed as a principal since February 2015. Since May 2016, Mr. Zabeli is the Chief Risk Officer for Morgan Stanley Investment Management, responsible for all investment and operational risk management globally. From January 2012 to May 2016, Mr. Zabeli was Global Head of Risk for Morgan Stanley Investment Management’s Traditional Asset Management business where he was responsible for investment risk of all equity, fixed income, money market, multi-asset class and alternatives portfolios. He was also responsible for counterparty and quantitative model risk for the traditional asset management business. He joined Morgan Stanley in January 2012. Mr. Zabeli has been listed as a principal of the General Partner since October 2014. Mr. Zabeli was on garden leave in December 2011. From February 2006 to November 2011, Mr. Zabeli was Senior Vice President, and most recently Global Co-Head of Risk, for AllianceBernstein L.P., a global investment firm, with various risk management assignments in Hong Kong, Tokyo, London and New York. From August 2006 to April 2009, Mr. Zabeli was based in Hong Kong for AllianceBernstein as the Director of Risk Management for Asia Pacific. From April 2009 to July 2011, he was based in Tokyo for AllianceBernstein as both Director of Risk Management for Asia Pacific and Head of Risk Management for Japan. From July 2011 to November 2011, he was based in London for AllianceBernstein as Global Head of Operational & Credit/Counterparty Risk. In these roles at AllianceBernstein he was responsible for the full range of risk management functions including investment, operational and credit/counterparty risk. Prior to his Risk Management roles at Morgan Stanley and AllianceBernstein, Mr. Zabeli held positions as a managing director at Citigroup Asset Management, the asset management division of Citigroup, an international financial services company, from April 1998 to January 2006, where he worked as a quantitative research analyst and portfolio manager, and director at BARRA Inc., a global provider of risk analytic tools to investment institutions, from September 1993 to March 1998, where he developed risk models and applications. Mr. Zabeli received a B.S. in Aerospace Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in May 1982, an M.S. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Southern California in May 1988 and an M.B.A. from the University of California at Los Angeles in August 1992.

 

69


Matthew R. Graver, age 49, has been a Director of the General Partner and listed as a principal since November 2016. Since January 2008, Mr. Graver has served as Managing Director of Morgan Stanley Investment Management, a financial services firm, and Chief Operating Officer for Morgan Stanley AIP Fund of Hedge Funds, a business unit offering managed portfolios of hedge funds. Since November 2015, Mr. Graver has been listed as a principal and director of Morgan Stanley AIP Cayman GP Ltd., a commodity pool operator. From January 2005 to January 2008, Mr. Graver served as Executive Director of Morgan Stanley Investment Management and from August 2003 to January 2005, Mr. Graver served as Vice President of Morgan Stanley Investment Management. From August 2003 to January 2008, Mr. Graver’s primary responsibilities included serving as Head of Operational Due Diligence for Morgan Stanley AIP Fund of Hedge Funds in which role he oversaw due diligence into operational factors of alternative investment entities. From July 1997 to July 2003, Mr. Graver was employed by PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, an international auditing and professional services firm, where he served as a senior audit manager and was responsible for managing independent audits of financial services firms. From June 1993 to June 1997, Mr. Graver was employed by PNC Bank, a bank offering consumer and corporate services, where he served as a mutual fund accounting manager and was responsible for managing an accounting team that performed daily accounting functions and valuation calculations for a group of mutual funds. From July 1989 through June 1993, Mr. Graver was employed by Coopers & Lybrand LLP, a predecessor accounting firm to PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, where he was a senior audit associate and was responsible for performing audits of financial services firms. Mr. Graver earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting in May 1989 from Pennsylvania State University and Masters of Business Administration from Villanova University in May 2002.

The Partnership has not adopted a code of ethics that applies to officers because it has no officers. In addition, the Partnership has not adopted any procedures by which investors may recommend nominees to the Partnership’s board of directors and has not established an audit committee because it has no board of directors.

Item 11. Executive Compensation.

The Partnership has no directors or executive officers. As a limited partnership, the business of the Partnership is managed by the General Partner, which is responsible for the administration of the business affairs of the Partnership. The Partnership pays the General Partner a General Partner fee equal to an annual rate of 1.0% (paid monthly) of the Partnership’s net assets.

 

70


Item 12. Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management and Related Stockholder Matters.

(a) Security ownership of certain beneficial owners. As of February 28, 2017, the Partnership knows of one person who beneficially owns more than 5% of the Redeemable Units outstanding.

 

  Title of Class  

 

Name and Address of Beneficial Ownership

    Amount and Nature of Beneficial  
Ownership
  Percent
  of Class  

Redeemable Units

 

Ming Deh Developmental Society

c/o Johnny Mohr & Selina Mohr

13457 Brooks Drive

Baldwin Park CA 91706

  1,522.505   11.6%

(b) Security ownership of management. Under the terms of the Limited Partnership Agreement, the Partnership’s affairs are managed by the General Partner.

The following table indicates securities owned by the General Partner as of December 31, 2016:

 

(1) Title of

Class

 

(2) Name of

Beneficial

Owner

 

(3) Amount and
Nature of

Beneficial

Ownership

 

(4) Percent of

Class

Redeemable Units

  General Partner   151.7109   1.1%

(c) Changes in control. None.

Item 13. Certain Relationships and Related Transactions, and Director Independence.

(a) Transactions with related persons. None.

(b) Review, approval or ratification of transactions with related persons. Not applicable.

(c) Promoters and certain control persons. MS&Co., CGM, Morgan Stanley Wealth Management and the General Partner would be considered promoters for purposes of Item 404 (c) of Regulation S-K. The nature and the amounts of compensation each promoter received or will receive, if any, from the Partnership are set forth under “Item 1. Business,” “Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data” and “Item 11. Executive Compensation.”

 

71


Item 14. Principal Accountant Fees and Services.

(1) Audit Fees. The aggregate fees billed for each of the last two fiscal years for professional services rendered by Deloitte for the years ended December 31, 2016 and 2015 for the audit of the Partnership’s annual financial statements, review of financial statements included in the Partnership’s Forms 10-Q and 10-K and other services normally provided in connection with regulatory filings or engagements were:

2016  $116,000

2015  $119,200

(2) Audit-Related Fees. None

(3) Tax Fees. The Partnership did not pay Deloitte any amounts in 2016 and 2015 for professional services in connection with tax compliance, tax advice and tax planning.

(4) All Other Fees. None.

(5) Not Applicable.

(6) Not Applicable.

 

72


PART IV

Item 15. Exhibits and Financial Statement Schedules.

(a) (1) Financial Statements:

Statements of Financial Condition at December 31, 2016 and 2015.

Statements of Income and Expenses for the years ended December 31, 2016, 2015 and 2014.

Statements of Changes in Partners’ Capital for the years ended December 31, 2016, 2015 and 2014.

Notes to Financial Statements.

(2) Exhibits:

 

3.1

Second Amended and Restated Limited Partnership Agreement, dated December 1, 2012 (filed as Exhibit 3.2 to the Current Report on Form 8-K filed on December 6, 2012 and incorporated herein by reference).

 

  (a)

Amendment No. 1 to the Second Amended and Restated Limited Partnership Agreement, dated August 8, 2014 (filed as Exhibit 3.1(b) to the Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q filed on August 13, 2014 and incorporated herein by reference).

 

  (b)

Amendment No. 2 to the Second Amended and Restated Limited Partnership Agreement, dated January 1, 2016 (filed as Exhibit 3.1 to the Current Report on Form 8-K filed on January 6, 2016 and incorporated herein by reference).

 

3.2

Certificate of Limited Partnership of the Partnership as filed in the office of the Secretary of State of the State of New York, dated March 21, 1997 (filed as Exhibit 3.2 to the Registration Statement on Form S-1 filed on April 10, 1997 and incorporated herein by reference).

 

  (a)

Certificate of Amendment of the Certificate of Limited Partnership as filed in the office of the Secretary of State of the State of New York, dated October 1, 1999 (filed as Exhibit 3.2(a) to the Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q filed on November 16, 2009 and incorporated herein by reference).

 

  (b)

Certificate of Change of the Certificate of Limited Partnership as filed in the office of the Secretary of State of the State of New York, effective January 31, 2000 (filed as Exhibit 3.2(b) to the Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q filed on November 16, 2009 and incorporated herein by reference).

 

  (c)

Certificate of Amendment of the Certificate of Limited Partnership as filed in the office of the Secretary of State of the State of New York, dated May 21, 2003 (filed as Exhibit 3.2(c) to the Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q filed on November 16, 2009 and incorporated herein by reference).

 

  (d)

Certificate of Amendment of the Certificate of Limited Partnership as filed in the office of the Secretary of State of the State of New York, dated September 21, 2005 (filed as Exhibit 3.2(d) to the Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q filed on November 16, 2009 and incorporated herein by reference).

 

  (e)

Certificate of Amendment of the Certificate of Limited Partnership as filed in the office of the Secretary of State of the State of New York, dated September 19, 2008 (filed as Exhibit 3.2(e) to the Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q filed on November 16, 2009 and incorporated herein by reference).

 

  (f)

Certificate of Amendment of the Certificate of Limited Partnership as filed in the office of the Secretary of State of the State of New York, dated September 28, 2009 (filed as Exhibit 99.1 to the Current Report on Form 8-K filed on September 30, 2009 and incorporated herein by reference).

 

  (g)

Certificate of Amendment of the Certificate of Limited Partnership as filed in the office of the Secretary of State of the State of New York, dated June 29, 2010 (filed as Exhibit 3.2(g) to the Current Report on Form 8-K filed on July 2, 2010 and incorporated herein by reference).

 

73


  (h)

Certificate of Amendment of the Certificate of Limited Partnership as filed in the office of the Secretary of State of the State of New York, dated September 2, 2011 (filed as Exhibit 3.1 to the Current Report on Form 8-K filed on September 7, 2011 and incorporated herein by reference).

 

  (i)

Certificate of Amendment of the Certificate of Limited Partnership as filed in the office of the Secretary of State of the State of New York, dated November 30, 2012, (filed as Exhibit 3.1 to the Current Report on Form 8-K filed on December 6, 2012 and incorporated herein by reference).

 

  (j)

Certificate of Amendment of the Certificate of Limited Partnership as filed in the office of the Secretary of the State of New York, dated August 7, 2013, (filed as Exhibit 3.2(i) to the Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q filed on August 14, 2013 and incorporated herein by reference).

 

10.1

Amended and Restated Commodity Futures Customer Agreement between the Partnership and MS&Co., effective August 2, 2013 (filed as Exhibit 10.10 to the Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q filed on November 14, 2013 and incorporated herein by reference).

 

  (a)

U.S. Treasury Securities Purchase Authorization Agreement between the Partnership and MS&Co., effective June 1, 2015 (filed as Exhibit 10.1 to the Current Report on Form 8-K filed on November 4, 2015 and incorporated herein by reference).

 

10.2

Form of Subscription Agreement (filed as Exhibit 10.4 to the Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q filed on November 16, 2009 and incorporated herein by reference).

 

10.3

Escrow Agreement among the General Partner, Morgan Stanley Wealth Management LLC and The Bank of New York (filed as Exhibit 10.7(a) to the Annual Report on Form 10-K, filed on March 27, 2013 and incorporated herein by reference).

 

  (a)

Amendment No. 5 to the Escrow Agreement among the General Partner, Morgan Stanley Wealth Management LLC and The Bank of New York (filed as Exhibit 10.7(b) to the Annual Report on Form 10-K, filed on March 27, 2013 and incorporated herein by reference).

 

10.4

Management Agreement among the General Partner, the Partnership and Rabar Market Research Inc. dated as of December 1, 2012 (filed as Exhibit 10.1 to the Current Report on Form 8-K filed on December 6, 2012 and incorporated herein by reference).

 

  (a)

Letter from the General Partner extending Management Agreement with Rabar Market Research Inc. through June 30, 2017, dated June 1, 2016 (filed herewith).

 

10.5

Amended and Restated Alternative Investment Selling Agent Agreement between the Partnership, the General Partner, and Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC (doing business as Morgan Stanley Wealth Management), dated March 3, 2016 (filed as Exhibit 10.1 to the Current Report on Form 8-K filed on March 8, 2016 and incorporated herein by reference).

 

10.6

Amended and Restated Master Services Agreement, among Ceres Managed Futures LLC and SS&C Technologies, Inc., effective March 31, 2015 (filed as Exhibit 10.1 to the Current Report on Form 8-K filed on August 6, 2015 and incorporated herein by reference).

 

74


The exhibits required to be filed by Item 601 of regulation S-K are incorporated herein by reference.

Exhibit 31.1 – Rule 13a-14(a)/15d-14(a) Certification (Certification of President and Director) (filed herewith).

Exhibit 31.2 – Rule 13a-14(a)/15d-14(a) Certification (Certification of Chief Financial Officer and Director) (filed herewith).

Exhibit 32.1 – Section 1350 Certification (Certification of President and Director) (filed herewith).

Exhibit 32.2 – Section 1350 Certification (Certification of Chief Financial Officer and Director) (filed herewith).

101.INS      XBRL Instance Document

101.SCH     XBRL Taxonomy Extension Schema Document

101.CAL     XBRL Taxonomy Extension Calculation Linkbase Document

101.LAB     XBRL Taxonomy Extension Label Linkbase Document

101.PRE     XBRL Taxonomy Extension Presentation Linkbase Document

101.DEF     XBRL Taxonomy Extension Definition Linkbase Document

 

75


SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements of Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.

 

WESTPORT FUTURES FUND L.P.
By:   Ceres Managed Futures LLC
   (General Partner)

 

By:   /s/ Patrick T. Egan
  Patrick T. Egan
  President and Director

Date: March 28, 2017

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, this report has been signed below by the following persons on behalf of the Registrant and in the capacities and on the date indicated.

 

 /s/ Patrick T. Egan

   

 /s/ Feta Zabeli

    

 /s/ Maureen O’Toole

Patrick T. Egan     Feta Zabeli      Maureen O’Toole
President and Director     Director      Director
Ceres Managed Futures LLC     Ceres Managed Futures LLC      Ceres Managed Futures LLC
Date: March 28, 2017     Date: March 28, 2017      Date: March 28, 2017

 /s/ Steven Ross

   

 /s/ M. Paul Martin

    

 /s/ Matthew R. Graver

Steven Ross     M. Paul Martin      Matthew R. Graver
Chief Financial Officer and Director     Director      Director
(Principal Accounting Officer)     Ceres Managed Futures LLC      Ceres Managed Futures LLC
Ceres Managed Futures LLC     Date: March 28, 2017      Date: March 28, 2017
Date: March 28, 2017         

Supplemental Information to be Furnished With Reports Filed Pursuant to Section 15(d) of the Exchange Act by Registrants Which Have Not Registered Securities Pursuant to Section 12 of the Exchange Act.

Annual Report to limited partners.

No proxy material has been sent to limited partners.

 

76