MarketWatch

Worried about inflation? Buy these, says State Street

Investors worried about the risks of inflation to their retirement portfolios have poured money into funds that invest in inflation-protected Treasury bonds, known as TIPS, for obvious reasons. Commodities such as oil, copper and soybeans rather than TIPS are the best insurance against rising inflation, according to an analysis presented yesterday by State Street Global Advisors to a webinar hosted by Pensions & Investments, the pension industry journal. Natural resource stocks—meaning stocks in the companies that produce commodities, such as miners or oil companies—as well as real-estate investment trusts and infrastructure stocks also look like better insurance against inflation than TIPS, the analysis adds.