SYDNEY (Dow Jones)–Slow on the uptake, Australian investors are starting to warm to commodities in a sign the likes of metals, crops and energy are becoming a mainstream asset class.
Fund managers in the country report an uptick in interest in recent months from high-end retail investors and pension funds to gain direct exposure to commodity futures, until now the almost sole domain of large U.S. hedge funds.
Driving interest is the notion commodity prices are likely to stay stronger for longer and that natural resources offer a natural hedge against both the cost of living and risk in traditional asset classes such as equities.
