The secret weapon? Commodities a useful addition to a multi-asset fund's armoury

Deep Dive into commodities

Commodities have fallen out of favour with multi-asset investors after a decade of poor returns but it may be time for another look.

Commodities provide powerful diversification and the coronavirus crisis could be setting the asset class up for stronger returns as years of under-investment in production capacity combine with an opening up of the stimulus floodgates. Commodities have not been far from the headlines in this most extraordinary of years. Oil made the wrong kind of history in April when West Texas Intermediate (WTI) moved briefly into negative territory as scarce storage capacity in Oklahoma meant drillers had to pay to have production taken off their hands. Capital Economics predicts global oil demand ...