Skip to main content
MENU
Subscribe
  • Subscribe
  • Account
  • LOGIN
  • Topics
    • Alternatives
    • Consultants
    • Coronavirus
    • Courts
    • Defined Contribution
    • ESG
    • ETFs
    • Hedge Funds
    • Industry Voices
    • Investing
    • Money Management
    • Opinion
    • Partner Content
    • Pension Funds
    • Private Equity
    • Real Estate
    • Russia-Ukraine War
    • SECURE Act 2.0
    • Special Reports
    • White Papers
  • Rankings & Awards
    • 1,000 Largest Retirement Plans
    • Top-Performing Managers
    • Largest Money Managers
    • DC Money Managers
    • DC Record Keepers
    • Largest Hedge Fund Managers
    • World's Largest Retirement Funds
    • Best Places to Work in Money Management
    • Excellence & Innovation Awards
    • WPS Innovation Awards
    • Eddy Awards
  • ETFs
    • Latest ETF News
    • Fund Screener
    • Education Center
    • Equities
    • Fixed Income
    • Commodities
    • Actively Managed
    • Alternatives
    • ESG Rated
  • ESG
    • Latest ESG News
    • The Institutional Investor’s Guide to ESG Investing
    • ESG Sustainability - Gaining Momentum
    • Climate Change: The Inescapable Opportunity
    • Impact Investing
    • 2022 ESG Investing Conference
    • ESG Rated ETFs
  • Defined Contribution
    • Latest DC News
    • DC Money Manager Rankings
    • DC Record Keeper Rankings
    • Innovations in DC
    • Trends in DC: Focus on Retirement Income
    • 2022 Defined Contribution East Conference
    • 2022 DC Investment Lineup Conference
  • Searches & Hires
    • Latest Searches & Hires News
    • Searches & Hires Database
    • RFPs
  • Performance Data
    • P&I Research Center
    • Earnings Tracker
    • Endowment Returns Tracker
    • Corporate Pension Contribution Tracker
    • Pension Fund Returns Tracker
    • Pension Risk Transfer Database
    • Future of Investments Research Series
    • Charts & Infographics
    • Polls
  • Careers
  • Events
    • View All Conferences
    • View All Webinars
    • 2022 Retirement Income Conference
    • 2022 Managing Pension Risk & Liabilities
    • 2022 WorldPensionSummit
Breadcrumb
  1. Home
  2. Print
November 16, 1998 12:00 AM

ROGERS INDEX PUSHES GLOBAL COMMODITIES

Paul G. Barr
  • Tweet
  • Share
  • Share
  • Email
  • More
    Reprints Print

    Recent performance in the commodities markets hasn't sent investors running to buy pork bellies, but it hasn't deterred managers from pushing those markets either.

    Among those hawking commodities is a motley crew of investment professionals led by notable investor James B. Rogers.

    Through the Rogers Raw Materials Fund LP, Mr. Rogers and other members of the fund's general partner, Beeland Management Co. LLP, are advocating passive, long-only commodities as a diversifying alternative to the stock and bond markets.

    "I'm totally convinced everyone should have some representation of raw materials" in their investment portfolio, Mr. Rogers said. Commodities are a very large part of world commerce, and deserve representation in investments as such, he said.

    Mr. Rogers designed his own index, the Rogers International Commodities index, because he was dissatisfied with existing commodities indexes.

    The Goldman Sachs Commodities index, popular with institutions investing in commodities, changes its components too frequently and focuses too much on energy, he said.

    Equal-weighted indexes, meanwhile, gave too much weight to minor commodities, like orange juice, he said. (Orange juice comprises less than 1% of the Rogers index).

    In designing his index, Mr. Rogers emphasized a world view, and included contracts like rice, which aren't included in most other popular commodities index. He chose 35 contracts traded on 13 different exchanges in North America, Europe, Australia and Asia.

    He also avoided commodities that weren't actively traded, such as tallow, he said.

    Mr. Rogers said he chose to go with a passive strategy for the fund because of the demonstrated success of indexing in equity markets, and his disinterest in actively managing commodities.

    "I'm not going to presume I could outperform; (actually) I'm sure I could, (but) I'm not even going to try," Mr. Rogers said.

    Commodities have been performing poorly, with the Rogers index down 18.7% year-to-date through Nov. 3.

    But using back-tested data, the Rogers index has a 10.8% compound annualized return for the 14 years ended Dec. 31, 1997 with a standard deviation of 15.2%, according to Beeland numbers.

    And with commodities prices depressed, Mr. Rogers said now is one of the better times to get into the asset class, although he believes commodities should be a permanent part of a portfolio.

    Joining Mr. Rogers as either managers or owners of Beeland are: Ralph Wanger, chief investment officer for Wanger Asset Management LP, Chicago; Carlos Resendez, president of the Resendez Group and former executive director of the National Conference on Public Employee Retirement Systems; and Terry Savage, a syndicated financial columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times, according to offering documents.

    Mr. Wanger, a stock picker, said he was attracted to commodities by their diversification to equity markets, where he professionally and personally has a lot at stake. He declined to say how much he has invested in the fund, except to say it is more than the minimum $500,000.

    Richard L. Chambers, managing member of Beeland and principal of Hart Capital Management, Barrington, Ill., said the fund has raised about $6 million, with $1 million coming from a pension plan sponsor he declined to identify.

    Recommended for You
    Read the print edition of P&I
    Read the print edition of P&I
    How low is low? Projections say it's not low enough
    How low is low? Projections say it's not low enough
    FINRA honors Wharton's Olivia Mitchell with Ketchum Prize
    FINRA honors Wharton's Olivia Mitchell with Ketchum Prize
    ESG: Sustainability - Gaining Momentum
    Sponsored Content: ESG: Sustainability - Gaining Momentum

    Reader Poll

    July 6, 2022
    SEE MORE POLLS >
    Sponsored
    White Papers
    Nearing the finish line: Ideas on end-state investing for corporate DB plans
    The Meaning of "Portfolio Intelligence"
    Credit Indices: Closing the Fixed Income Evolutionary Gap
    Forever in Style: Benchmarking with the Morningstar® Broad Style Indexes℠
    Crossroads: Politics, Inflation, & Bonds
    Is there a mid-cap gap in your DC plan?
    View More
    Sponsored Content
    Partner Content
    The Industrialization of ESG Investment
    For institutional investors, ETFs can make meeting liquidity needs easier
    Gold: the most effective commodity investment
    2021 Investment Outlook | Investing Beyond the Pandemic: A Reset for Portfolios
    Ten ways retirement plan professionals add value to plan sponsors
    Gold: an efficient hedge
    View More
    E-MAIL NEWSLETTERS

    Sign up and get the best of News delivered straight to your email inbox, free of charge. Choose your news – we will deliver.

    Subscribe Today
    July 4, 2022 page one

    Get access to the news, research and analysis of events affecting the retirement and institutional money management businesses from a worldwide network of reporters and editors.

    Subscribe
    Connect With Us
    • RSS
    • Twitter
    • Facebook
    • LinkedIn

    Our Mission

    To consistently deliver news, research and analysis to the executives who manage the flow of funds in the institutional investment market.

    About Us

    Main Office
    685 Third Avenue
    Tenth Floor
    New York, NY 10017-4036

    Chicago Office
    130 E. Randolph St.
    Suite 3200
    Chicago, IL 60601

    Contact Us

    Careers at Crain

    About Pensions & Investments

     

    Advertising
    • Media Kit
    • P&I Content Solutions
    • P&I Careers | Post a Job
    • Reprints & Permissions
    Resources
    • Subscribe
    • Newsletters
    • FAQ
    • P&I Research Center
    • Site map
    • Staff Directory
    Legal
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Privacy Request
    Pensions & Investments
    Copyright © 1996-2022. Crain Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
    • Topics
      • Alternatives
      • Consultants
      • Coronavirus
      • Courts
      • Defined Contribution
      • ESG
      • ETFs
      • Hedge Funds
      • Industry Voices
      • Investing
      • Money Management
      • Opinion
      • Partner Content
      • Pension Funds
      • Private Equity
      • Real Estate
      • Russia-Ukraine War
      • SECURE Act 2.0
      • Special Reports
      • White Papers
    • Rankings & Awards
      • 1,000 Largest Retirement Plans
      • Top-Performing Managers
      • Largest Money Managers
      • DC Money Managers
      • DC Record Keepers
      • Largest Hedge Fund Managers
      • World's Largest Retirement Funds
      • Best Places to Work in Money Management
      • Excellence & Innovation Awards
      • WPS Innovation Awards
      • Eddy Awards
    • ETFs
      • Latest ETF News
      • Fund Screener
      • Education Center
      • Equities
      • Fixed Income
      • Commodities
      • Actively Managed
      • Alternatives
      • ESG Rated
    • ESG
      • Latest ESG News
      • The Institutional Investor’s Guide to ESG Investing
      • ESG Sustainability - Gaining Momentum
      • Climate Change: The Inescapable Opportunity
      • Impact Investing
      • 2022 ESG Investing Conference
      • ESG Rated ETFs
    • Defined Contribution
      • Latest DC News
      • DC Money Manager Rankings
      • DC Record Keeper Rankings
      • Innovations in DC
      • Trends in DC: Focus on Retirement Income
      • 2022 Defined Contribution East Conference
      • 2022 DC Investment Lineup Conference
    • Searches & Hires
      • Latest Searches & Hires News
      • Searches & Hires Database
      • RFPs
    • Performance Data
      • P&I Research Center
      • Earnings Tracker
      • Endowment Returns Tracker
      • Corporate Pension Contribution Tracker
      • Pension Fund Returns Tracker
      • Pension Risk Transfer Database
      • Future of Investments Research Series
      • Charts & Infographics
      • Polls
    • Careers
    • Events
      • View All Conferences
      • View All Webinars
      • 2022 Retirement Income Conference
      • 2022 Managing Pension Risk & Liabilities
      • 2022 WorldPensionSummit