Precious metals and agriculture-based exchange-traded products remain in favour among investors, research from provider ETF Securities has found.
ETF Securities carried out a poll of 446 investment professionals at its investment conferences, which took place in Frankfurt, London, Paris, Milan and Zurich during January and February.
Polled attendees indicated that commodities remained a favoured asset class this year, with nearly 40 per cent of London-based investors believing that precious metals would be the best-performing sector.
Meanwhile, Italian and Swiss investors favoured agriculture with 47 per cent and 30 per cent of the votes respectively.
The poll also indicated that investors were using ETPs for a number of different strategies, with tactical approaches proving to be the preferred method.
Bernhard Wenger, head of European distribution at ETF Securities, said: “The majority of our investors are more bullish and have more confidence about the outlook for economic growth this year, reflecting the heightened appetite for developed equities.
“In light of continued volatility due to macroeconomic uncertainty, portfolio diversification remains firmly on investors’ agendas, and commodity allocations are a key part of that strategy.
“As investors’ needs evolve, ETF Securities continues to develop multi-asset investment solutions, enabling investors to intelligently diversify their portfolios.”
Key points
Overall, 48 per cent of investors predict that the price of gold will stabilise between $1,250 and $1400 (£839 to £939) in 2015.
Only 6 per cent of investors believe that the price of gold will fall below $1,000 (£671) in 2015.
ETF Securities’ oil ETPs received the largest inflows in Q1, totalling $1.05bn (£0.704bn) as investors took advantage of the low prices.
Overproduction: this will be the main factor affecting the oil price in 2015.
Adviser view
Matthew Bird, an investment adviser with Newport-based Seer Green, said: “Non-productive asset classes are more volatile and harder to predict, and with commodities you do not really get a dividend.
“I probably will not be putting my clients’ money in it because with commodities it is more betting than investing.”
