Investors are set to stock up on commodities in the next 12 months, according to a client survey conducted by Credit Suisse in the US.

The survey showed that the number of investors with no exposure to the asset class is expected to drop from 10 per cent to just 3 per cent over the next year. Moreover, 40 per cent expect to become overweight over the same period.

“Investors are under-allocated due to concerns about short-term direction and volatility," said Oscar Bleetstein, head of commodity investor sales for the Americas at Credit Suisse. “However, the survey confirmed our views that if and when confidence starts to return, investors are likely to increase exposure significantly and find managers or products that can accommodate this new environment.”

That analysis is slightly contradicted by the fact that over half of respondents think that commodity price volatility is set to increase. But the overall attitude is optimistic: two-thirds believe prices will stay the same or rise over the next 12 months, with roughly half of those expecting prices to be at least 10 per cent higher. Only a small proportion expected prices to fall by the same proportion, and one out of four admitted they had “no idea.”

Almost four out of five were bullish on crude oil, believing that the price has not yet peaked. Copper is the favorite metal, with 59 per cent of respondents regarding it as having the best 12-month prospects.

This ties in with predictions from ING Investment Management last week that Chinese demand for copper is going to increase in the near future. This year has also seen investors flocking to gold, pushing prices up to record levels. However, prices have been volatile as, for example, non-energy commodity prices fell by 4.7 per cent in May (source: World Bank).

Credit Suisse conducted the survey as part of its inaugural New York City Commodities Day last week, including almost 400 clients from institutional investors, retail distributors, mutual funds and hedge funds. The Swiss financial heavyweight expanded its commodities team last month with the appointments of Paul Hawkins as a managing director and global head of commodities, and Jan Stuart and Andy Shaw as members of its commodities research group within the fixed income research department.