On the MTN their value was at the end of second quarter 59

Appetite of institutional investors for the class of assets of raw materials has taken in the second quarter, a sacred blow in the wing. Capital flows placed on financial products-backed natural resources index totalled less than 4 billion between April and June. They came out lower than half the three first months of the year ($9.5 billion), said Barclays Capital. With the almost complete depletion of inputs in additional capital to this type of product, the month of June played a significant role in the relative underperformance of the second quarter.

Asset class prized primarily by institutional investors such as pension funds, the diversified index fund offers exposure most often "long only" (exclusively for the purchase) typical of traditional asset management of long term. Institutional investors have not conducted massive liquidations of positions on these investments, confirming their long term confidence.

Nevertheless, the violent fall of prices starting in the month of may, coupled with the re-emergence of a high price volatility, added a note of pessimism that has strengthened their aversion to the more risky investments and the most correlated to the evolution of the global industrial economy. "Although risky assets are stabilized since then, the signs of distress of the investors remain." "June has been one of the less significant month for the flow of investment in commodities", commenting on experts from Barclays Capital.

Thus, accomplices of the corrections of awards, at the end of the second quarter, commodity index funds mobilized 111 billion, so that at the end of the last quarter of 2009 and withdrawal of more than 4 having regard of the committed amounts to 31 March of this year.

This decline any modest sum was more than offset by investments in other financial product lines representing natural resources: the trackers before, but also the good medium-term trading - "medium term notes" (MTN), structured products often tailor-made to meet the specific needs of issuers.

Trackers and MTN in good shape

The trackers have been granted net flows of the order of $ 9 billion in the second quarter, against a net flow slightly negative the previous quarter. The beautiful part is returned to precious metals, which account for 77 of the total value of the trackers of contents first in circulation. The advance of the price of the precious gold in particular, made so that, on 30 June, the aggregate value of these spammy actions products rises 121.5 billion, an increase of more than 12 on the amount found three months earlier. On the MTN, their value was, at the end of second quarter, 59.5 billion dollars, or about 4 more than three months previously.

The rise of these more complex products responds to more specific needs that the simple desire to integrate into the portfolio a class of the traditional two alternative assets (stocks and bonds). It is the awareness gained by investors that the long "rally" of raw returned in a new phase, especially punctuated by a growing price volatility.

Operators arm themselves to cope with periods of lack of asserted direction. Finally, they acquire more detailed knowledge of the mechanisms of this class of assets so special. They assimilated that natural resources do not necessarily establish a negative correlation with the actions, idea yet well entrenched in the early years of the "rally". On the other hand, they recognize their usefulness as an instrument of investment whose correlation with major compartments of the portfolios is low or zero.