Cut your commodity risk with these ETFs

Article Excerpt

Commodities can help diversify portfolios, but are cyclical and come with high levels of price volatility. However, well-diversified ETFs that offer exposure to commodity producers can help investors overcome the problems associated with direct investments in physical commodities, or funds that track a single commodity. Below, we look at three ETFs providing exposure to commodity producers. For more information on the risks and returns of commodities, see the Supplement on page 90. SPDR S&P GLOBAL NATURAL RESOURCES ETF $56.65 (New York symbol GNR, TSINetwork ETF Rating: Conservative; Market cap: $3.6 billion) tracks the S&P Global Natural Resources Index. The Index is comprised of the largest publicly listed companies in three natural resource sectors, namely agriculture, energy, and metals. The main country allocations are to the U.S. (35% of assets), Canada (14%), the United Kingdom (14%), Australia (9%), Brazil (4%), Finland (4%), and France (4%). The portfolio is split roughly in equal proportions of one-third each to agriculture, energy, and metals. The ETF currently holds 92 stocks with…