World Perspectives

No Inflation Hedge

Former trader and now academic Ivo Sarjanovic has a new book entitled, “Commodities as an Asset Class.” He was inspired to write on the topic out of frustration that investment banks were encouraging clients to invest in commodities as a hedge against inflation. Sarjanovic knew from his many years of direct experience in commodities that the advice was overly broad, and dangerously wrong if it was a passive investment in an index fund.  Via his own statistical research, Sarjanovic argues agriculture may be the worst hedge since its productivity gains have been faster and the supply can be more quickly changed with one or two crop cycles. Petroleum has a better correlation with inflation than metals/minerals. Notably, he be...

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From WPI Consulting

Infrastructure investment due diligence

On behalf of a Canadian oilseed processer WPI's team provided market analysis, econometric modeling and financial due diligence in support of a $24 million-dollar investment in a Ukrainian crush plant. Consistent with WPI's findings, local production to supply the plant and the facility's output have expanded exponentially since the investment. WPI has conducted parallel work on behalf of U.S., South American and European clients, both private and public, in the agri-food space.

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