Investors Favour Copper In 2013

Sally Ling

14 February 2013

Research conducted by ETF Securities indicates that investment professionals across Europe plan to increase their allocation to commodities in 2013.

The survey covered 350 investment decision-makers in London, Milan, Frankfurt and Zurich. When asked what their allocation to commodities was in 2012 and how they see that changing this year, over 40 per cent of respondents said they plan to allocate between 8 per cent and 10 per cent of their portfolios to commodities in the year ahead.

Respondents in the UK, Italy and Germany were found to favour industrial metals, especially copper. ETF Securities says that the growing interest in the metal is supported by latest flows into its physically-backed copper exchange-traded commodities product, which saw net inflows of $28 million during the week of 14 January to 21 January 2013. This was the largest weekly inflow since it was listed on 10 December 2010.

The survey also found that 40 per cent of respondents currently use exchange-traded products as their primary method of gaining their commodity exposure, followed by 20 per cent using equities and the remainder via swaps and futures.