Dow Jones Commodity Indexes has launched sub-indexes for platinum, lead and tin. The metals are not included in Dow Jones’ main benchmark commodity index because not enough is produced globally or traded on exchanges, the company said. The indexes have been licensed to ETF Securities Ltd., a London-based provider of exchange-traded commodities, Dow Jones said on 13 March.
About $155 billion was invested in long-only funds and products tracking commodity indexes at the end of 2007, of which $42 billion is invested in the benchmark Dow Jones-AIG Commodity Index of 19 futures. The other main commodity indexes are the Standard and Poors’ Goldman Sachs Commodity Index (S&P GSCI) and the Rogers International Commodity Index (RICI). The S&P GSCI also does not include tin, while the RICI has a 1% tin weighting. An estimated $30 billion has flowed into commodity indexes so far in 2008, as investors have diversified their portfolios away from equities.
Meanwhile ETF Securities has over $5 billion assets under management in a set of exchange-traded commodities (ETCs) available on the London Stock Exchange and other bourses. These securities mirror movements in metal prices and enable retail investors to gain exposure to commodities via ordinary brokerage accounts without trading futures or taking physical delivery.
