Inflation hedging in the long run: Practical perspectives from seven centuries of commodity prices

Document Type

Article

Source of Publication

Journal of Alternative Investments

Publication Date

6-1-2021

Abstract

One promise of commodity investments is that they offer a long run hedge against inflation. But do they? The authors undertake a comprehensive investigation of commodities’ inflation-hedging ability across 50 commodities for 80 countries and seven centuries of data. They confirm that commodities have offered protection against inflation throughout history, especially over long, multiyear periods. Nonetheless, hedging capacity has varied remarkably—both over time and across geographical regions. Following many centuries of agricultural commodity primacy, energy commodities have taken the lead only recently. They recommend that investors should continue to include commodities in their portfolios to protect against inflation. However, not all commodity types offer the same protection level, which differs over time and across countries and geographies.

ISSN

1520-3255

Volume

24

Last Page

16

Disciplines

Business

Keywords

Commodities, Financial crises, Financial market history, Global markets, Performance measurement

Scopus ID

85110302951

Indexed in Scopus

yes

Open Access

no

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