#Commodity #hedgefunds received $1bn in investor money in April

Here’s an unfamiliar phrase: commodities are the best performing asset class.

Yes, it’s true. In the year 2016, total returns from the Bloomberg Commodity Index are over 11 per cent. Compare that to global bonds, at about 6 per cent, and global equities at just over 2 per cent. 

The index has pushed higher thanks to components such as oil, gold, soyabeans and zinc. As of Friday the benchmark had climbed 19.6 per cent from its January low to the cusp of a bull market. It’s been the strongest start to any year since the notorious commodities price spike of 2008. 

After years of disappointment, there is evidence that some investors are again seeking broad exposure. Commodity investments soaked up nearly $60bn in inflows in the year to April, according to RBC Capital Markets.

Investors have this year pumped $163m into the PowerShares DB Commodity Index Tracking exchange-traded fund, the biggest such fund holding a basket of commodities, after they withdrew more than $1bn last year, ETF.com data show. 

See the rest of the article online here: Commodities beating global bonds and stocks in 2016 - FT.com