Protection Potential of Commodity Hedge Funds

Abstract

In this article, the authors show that investing in a portfolio of commodity hedge funds yields higher returns and a better control of downside risk than investing in long-only commodity indices. They also show that, contrary to a widespread belief, long-only commodity indices do not necessarily provide an efficient inflation hedge during periods of high inflation and may induce a cost in low inflation periods. Commodity hedge funds do not provide a better hedge in periods of high inflation but they do not bear any cost in low inflation periods.