Both commodities and inflation-linked products have gained interest in recent years as alternatives and complements to traditional asset classes. The growth in investors participation in these markets is a global phenomenon, clearly evident in the increasing volume and types of instruments traded in both the spot and derivatives markets. In Inflation Sensitive Assets: Instruments and Strategies Stefania Perrucci and Brice Benaben bring together different points of view and practical insights from active market participants including investment banks, asset management, pension funds and central banks. Designed for practitioners, the book includes important academic contributions, and will be of interest to portfolio managers, risk managers, plan sponsors and researchers alike. The real impacts of inflation and its most extreme form - hyperinflation - are known only too well: they erode value, unbalance economies and destroy wealth. In the wake of the financial crisis a huge monetary overhang threatens the major developed economies. The iron laws of economics have no respect for modern semantic niceties of quantitative, credit or monetary easing: these policies all portend of inflation that must work its way out of the system. As a result markets have focused attention on assets that protect the investor from loss of purchasing power. Inflation-sensitive assets - including commodities, equities, infrastructure and real estate investments, and inflation-linked securities - have in fact become a new asset class. Many institutional investors controlling trillions of dollars worth of assets are allocating an increasing weight to the sector as an alternative and complement to other traditional assets. In Inflation-Sensitive Assets: Instruments and Strategies, Stefania Perrucci and Brice Benaben blend insights and experiences from market participants including investment bankers, asset and pension fund managers and central bankers to guide the reader through this emerging sector. This book, for the first time, addresses the commodities and inflation markets together, providing a holistic treatment from an inflation perspective. Inflation-Sensitive Assets: Instruments and Strategies provides the reader with a deep understanding of the drivers of inflation, the assets which can be used to hedge it and how investors can formulate strategies when managing assets and liabilities in an inflation-sensitive environment. Designed for practitioners, the book includes important academic contributions, and will be of interest to portfolio managers, risk managers, plan sponsors and researchers alike.

About the Author

tefania Perrucci and Brice Benaben Stefania A. Perrucci, Ph.D. Stefania is the Founder and CEO of New Sky Capital, an independent investment and advisory firm with offices in Philadelphia and London. She has 15 years of investment experience, spanning both traditional and alternative asset classes. Before founding New Sky, she was a portfolio manager at Morgan Stanley, where she consistently ranked among the top-quartile performers. Her flagship fund was the recipient of a Lipper Funds Award in 2008 (based on top 3yr trailing performance). Before joining Morgan Stanley, she was a Risk Management Specialist at the IFC, part of the World Bank Group. Over the years, Stefania has established herself as a recognized thought-leader and independent-minded investor. In 2006, she was one of the few buy-side voices advocating a long insurance position (short ABX) to protect against the effects of an imminent collapse in house prices. She is the author of several proprietary models, with one patent awarded, and another pending. Stefania has published cutting-edge research on several market topics, and speaks regularly at industry conferences around the globe. She is the editor and author of Inflation Sensitive Assets (RiskBooks, 2012, with Brice Benaben), and of Mortgage and Real Estate Finance (RiskBooks, 2008). Stefania received a Ph.D. in Theoretical Physics from the University of Virginia, and a Laurea summa cum laude from the University of Modena, Italy. She has held academic positions at universities, both in the United States and Europe, where she was the recipient of more than a dozen awards, in recognition of outstanding academic and teaching achievement. Brice Benaben Brice is a Managing Director and Head of Inflation Research at New Sky Capital. He has 15 years of investment experience. Previously, he has held positions as Managing Director and Global Head of Property Derivatives and Inflation Trading at Deutsche Bank, Deputy Head of Inflation at Citibank, Head of Inflation Structuring at ABN AMRO, Head of Fixed Income and Portfolio Strategy at Credit Agricole Indosuez, and Portfolio Manger/Trader at the IFC (World Bank Group). Brice is editor and author of Inflation Sensitive Assets (RiskBooks, 2012, with Stefania Perrucci), editor and author of Inflation-Linked Products (RiskBooks 2005), co-editor and author of Inflation Risks and Products (RiskBooks 2008), and has co-authored the chapter Real Estate Indexes and Property Derivative Markets in Mortgage and Real Estate Finance (RiskBooks 2008). He is a graduate of the University of Oxford, where he studied applied mathematics.