The long-term case for investing in commodities is compelling despite macro-economic woes, says JP Morgan Asset Management.

The asset management titan thinks investors should look beyond the sovereign debt crisis in Europe and other issues and recognise impressive performances by individual oil and gas stocks.

“The next ten years will see more of the same: emerging markets-led commodity demand growth as well as ongoing supply issues in the sector, but we believe the natural resources sector continues to offer one of the most exciting investment cases available,” says Neil Gregson, lead manager of the JPM Global Natural Resources Fund and JPM Natural Resources Fund.

In frontier markets, from companies such as Africa Petroleum and Ophir Energy, the firm has found stocks that have outperformed major oil firms and the rise in the price of oil this year.

JP Morgan also singles out the economically-sensitive metal copper which has experienced a volatile period because of fears around Chinese growth. “However, a recent gathering of miners at the CESCO conference in Santiago reinforced our view that major producers face supply-side challenges which will impact 2012 supply,” says Gregson. “These supply-side issues can’t be ignored and support the compelling case for an investment in the sector.

“The mining sector has been de-rated so severely, we believe it is hard to argue a better entry point into the sector,” says Gregson.