Could Commodities hedge against inflation risk?

Abstract

This dissertation analyses the relation and the hedging ability of several asset classes against inflation. It will explain why and how inflation could erode the asset class returns, and why we should cover our investment by inflation risk. After that we investigate the relation between commodities and inflation, trying to understand if commodities could help investors to beat the inflation risk better than other asset classes, such as Treasury inflation-protected securities (TIPS) or Bond. In a third moment, we will inspect if under a perspective of Asset Liability management, the use of commodities inside an investment portfolio, during the period where inflation was lively, would have mitigated the inflation risk without reducing the portfolio return dramatically.