Note: This text is a translation from the original language, German.

The Commodity Capital AG is an investment specialist in the field of precious metals and commodities, primarily known for equity funds in the gold sector and future commodities such as lithium. Given the inherent volatility of these funds, there was a consideration to develop and offer a commodity fund for conservative investors.

For several months now, the Swiss fund boutique has displayed the slogan on its website: "My name is Bond - Commodity Bond." With the Structured Solutions Resource Income Fund the Swiss company is entering the world of bonds. In Germany, the first and so far only commodity bond fund has been available since September 2021.

For fund manager Tobias Tretter, it is essential that he doesn't just work from his desk but gets an on-site view of the companies he wishes to invest in, focusing on robust companies.

Read HIER the complete article.

Note: This text is a translation from the original language, German.

Inflation appears to have arrived and is here to stay. While many economists, central banks, and economic researchers saw things differently just half a year ago, consumers are now feeling it directly in their wallets – whether at the gas pump, in their gas bills, or when buying groceries. Sharp price increases have driven Germany's inflation rate to its highest level in nearly 50 years. In May, consumer prices were 7.9 percent higher than in the same month of the previous year, according to the Federal Statistical Office, causing money to melt away.

At the same time, a new fear is appearing on the horizon: stagflation! This is what experts call the combination of rising prices with a stagnant or even shrinking economic development. Because many investors have only known the extremely expansive monetary policies of central banks and falling interest rates in recent years, they have overlooked the risks. The balance sheets of the world's major central banks have never been so huge. The balance sheet of the US Federal Reserve (Fed) is currently around $9 trillion. This is about ten times the amount that was common before the 2008 financial crisis. As in the financial crisis, the Fed bought bonds massively during the COVID-19 pandemic. The expansion of the money supply inevitably leads to high inflation rates.

Edmetals and Commodities as Portfolio Supplements

To protect themselves against escalating currency devaluation, investors should seek alternatives for wealth protection. In their recent precious metals study "In Gold We Trust," the Liechtenstein asset management firm Incrementum states: "Stagflation is the blind spot of most broadly diversified portfolios. Precious metals and commodities can be an excellent addition in this environment." Normally, however, interest rate hikes are bad for the price of gold, as gold itself doesn't yield interest or returns.

The World Gold Council states: "Weak gold performance was mostly observed ahead of interest rate hike cycles and less so after the US Federal Reserve raised interest rates. Compared to US equities, gold performed significantly weaker both twelve and six months prior to an interest rate hike cycle, while six months after the start of an interest rate hike round and twelve months thereafter, gold outperformed US equities and the US dollar." In the current situation, gold could be a good hedge against stagflation, according to experts. In the end, it's a bet that central banks will fail on the tightrope they're walking: high inflation will persist despite interest rate hikes, and economic growth will falter.

Gold as Inflation Hedge

Gold has maintained its purchasing power over millennia. Need an example? 2500 years ago, a troy ounce of gold could buy 350 loaves of bread. And today? Approximately the same, which is why the crisis metal is often regarded as the world's hardest currency and the best inflation hedge.

The addition of precious metals to a portfolio makes sense, as is evident from the experiences after 2001 and 2007 when gold and silver surged while stock markets delivered significant interim losses to investors. The overall balance since 2000 clearly supports an allocation in the portfolio: gold has outperformed the broad equity market in the last 22 years, increasing by an average of 9 percent per year, while the MSCI World rose by 5.2 percent annually since the turn of the millennium.

Diverse Opportunities for Gold Investments

The economic disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic have boosted gold demand since spring 2020. In August 2020, the world market price for a troy ounce exceeded the $2,000 mark. Afterward, it declined slightly. This year, the record for gold in euros was reached in March, with a price of €1,880 per troy ounce. The current price is €1,738.

Among the top 10 gold funds is the Commodity Capital Global Mining Fund:

Die 10 besten Goldminenfonds der vergangenen drei Jahre - Seite 3 | DAS INVESTMENT

Note: This text is a translation from the original language, German.

Commodity expert and fund manager Tobias Tretter provided insights into current developments in the commodity market. Which commodities are currently suffering the most from geopolitical events? Which commodities are benefiting from policy shifts? And most importantly, how can you profit from this?

If you didn't have time to attend the webinar or would like to listen again, you can do so HIER .
 

Note: This text is a translation from the original language, German.

The Fondsladen takes a closer look at the Structured Solutions Next Generation Resources Fund in its Fund Bulletin for the 2nd quarter of 2022. Commodities for future technologies continue to play a significant role in the stock market.

Read the complete article on page 5/6.

• Fonds Bulletin (6.21 MB)

Note: This text is a translation from the original language, German.

What the Grammy is to the music industry, the Refinitiv Lipper Fund Award is to the international fund and investment industry.

After receiving the Lipper Fund Award Germany, the Structured Solutions Next Generation Resources Fund has also impressed in Austria as the 'Best Fund over 3 Years, Equity Sector Materials.'

Note: This text is a translation from the original language, German.

Smart Investor in conversation with Tobias Tretter, Commodity Capital AG, about shortages in uranium and the gold price at the beginning of a new interest rate cycle.

Read the full article in the attachment.

• Interview Smart Investor: "Erhebliches Risiko eines starken Uranpreisanstiegs" (354.65 KB)

Note: This text is a translation from the original language, German.

For the second time, the Structured Solutions Next Generation Resources Fund has been honored with the 'Refinitiv Lipper Fund Award, Best Fund over 3 years, Equity Sector Materials.'

For over three decades, the Lipper Fund Awards have recognized funds and fund management companies for their risk-adjusted three, five, or ten-year performance. The Refinitiv Lipper Fund Awards result from an independent evaluation of fund performance.

The recognition of the Next Generation Lipper Fund Award underscores the excellent work of the fund management team and highlights the outstanding performance.

Ranking: The Top 10 Gold Mining Stock Funds

Note: This text is a translation from the original language, German.

When times are particularly turbulent and there is uncertainty about how the global economy will develop, many investors turn to gold. Gold mining stocks act as a turbocharger in this situation: they fluctuate more than the price of gold itself but also offer above-average return opportunities. We will show you the highest-yielding gold mining stock funds of the past five years.

Venezuela serves as an example of what happens when states continuously print money. Recently, the government of the South American Caribbean nation removed six zeros from its hyperinflationary currency. It's not surprising that a large portion of the population no longer uses the local Bolivar as a means of payment. Instead, people turn to alternatives like the US Dollar, Bitcoin, or gold.

Especially in the gold mining areas in the southeast of the country, hotel stays or haircuts are paid for with the precious metal. According to a Bloomberg report, a haircut costs 1/8 gram of gold, equivalent to about 6.50 euros.

Here in our country, the fan base for gold is also significant, as gold is a sought-after asset in economically uncertain times. With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the price of gold rose by nearly 25%, reaching its historical high of $2,067 per ounce (approximately 1,740 euros) on August 6, 2020.

2022: The Comeback of Gold Bulls?

Joe Foster © VanEck

However, 2021 was rather disappointing for gold investors, despite emerging inflation. While numerous fossil fuels such as oil, coal, and gas experienced significant price increases, precious metals faced challenges. The gold price moved sideways with fluctuations over the year, and mining companies often felt the pressure. Many stocks are being traded at a discount and are historically considered bargains.

This could be a contrarian entry point. Joe Foster, a gold expert at VanEck, points to history. "For those who believe that gold has missed the inflation train, there are several reasons to reconsider this view. Over the last 50 years, there have been only two other inflationary periods. The first in the 1970s and the second from 2003 to 2008. In each of these inflationary periods, gold performed worse than commodities in the first half but better in the second half. It seems that the markets (and gold) are only taken seriously when inflation proves to be insurmountable," he writes in his newsletter.

So, the gold bulls might just be catching their breath on the way up. Foster raised his gold price target to $3,400 per ounce a few months ago. The factors supporting higher gold prices continue to be valid, including negative real interest rates, mounting debt, and high investor demand. When inflation rates are above 5%, safe government bonds yield negative real returns even when interest rates rise. So, gold continues to play an essential role as a hedge against inflation.

Tobias Tretter © Commodity Capital AG

Tobias Tretter, who manages the Commodity Capital Global Mining Fund (ISIN: LU0459291166), shares this view. He considers gold's weak performance as one of the reasons why 2022 could be the year for gold and silver. Fundamentals support significantly higher prices, but investors currently seem to overlook these positive facts. In my experience, this only works for a limited time, and once the expectation of high inflation prevails this year, gold is likely to take off and positively surprise.

Investors have various options to invest in gold. The most charming one is undoubtedly the physical purchase of coins, bars, or jewelry, providing gold enthusiasts with tangible ownership that can be admired from time to time. Another option is gold certificates (ETCs), which are debt securities backed by physical holdings. Xetra-Gold is particularly popular in Germany.

Shiny Returns with Leverage

The riskiest option is to acquire gold that is still in the ground. On the other hand, investors can achieve shining returns by purchasing gold mining stocks. The potential for profit and loss of individual mines is enormous. It's important to note that these stocks come with built-in leverage. When the price of the precious metal rises, the earnings of the companies grow above average, leading to higher stock prices.

However, poor management decisions or external factors can significantly deteriorate a company's profit situation and send stock prices plummeting—society, politics, or geological factors can have the same effect. "Our success lies in selecting the right companies with top-class management teams, of which there are very few left. For projects with top-class management teams in politically stable regions like Canada, the USA, or Australia, we see the best opportunities and certainly the best risk-reward profile," describes fund manager Tretter.

Unlike owning coins or bars, mining stocks may also yield dividends. Gold producers can afford this due to the gold price, which has risen to over $1,800 per ounce (31.1 grams), offering companies ample profit margins.

Professionally managed funds reduce risk through broad diversification. We've searched for the best gold mining stock funds of the past five years and found returns of up to 193%. You can find out which fund leads the way in this period in our slideshow.

Please note: This is not investment advice or a purchase recommendation. Investing in the capital market carries risks. Past performance is not indicative of future results. Fund data as of January 26, 2022.

Note: This text is a translation from the original language German.

Last year once again revolved around the theme of COVID-19 and was characterized by high market volatility. In times of uncertainty in the general stock markets, commodities like gold or silver often thrive. However, 2021 taught us that uncertainty and shaky precious metal prices can go hand in hand. While precious metals, especially gold and silver, and the corresponding mining companies had a challenging year with losses, lithium stocks continued to gain strength. The scenario we've been predicting for years of an exponential increase in electric mobility that lithium production cannot keep up with is increasingly becoming a reality. This rally was further fueled by world leaders who, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, created relief funds, often tied to sustainability and frequently electric mobility.

Lithium increasingly presented itself as the major bottleneck for electric mobility in the past year. Let's get this out of the way: we do not expect any improvement in lithium production for at least another five years. Lithium prices skyrocketed exponentially last year, and there were acquisitions of what we consider the last two interesting projects left in Argentina, namely Neo Lithium and Millennial Lithium.

Furthermore, in 2021, the sector, for the first time in many years, did not face financing problems, and companies were able to secure funding and embark on new projects. However, the biggest problem and the main reason we believe that markets will have to prepare for a chronic deficit in the lithium sector in the coming years is the lack of qualified workers in sufficient numbers. Pilbara, an Australian lithium company, provided evidence of this in December when they announced they would miss their forecasts for the current fiscal year and reduce them for the next year due to a lack of qualified personnel. If there is already a shortage of qualified personnel in Australia, the world's largest lithium-producing country, we can imagine the prospects for well-trained personnel in the rest of the world. Considering that the last two brine projects in Argentina have been acquired this year, it is clear that there will be no massive new projects brought into production from either Australia or South America in the coming years.

While there are new extraction methods on the technical side that require less personnel, they are promising in the laboratory but still far from being used in commercial production. Therefore, the only hope for global efforts to advance electric mobility as quickly as possible is the United States and Canada, but they still lack the capacity to potentially convert mined lithium concentrate into battery-grade lithium hydroxide or lithium carbonate. Hence, there will continue to be a chronic lithium deficit in the coming years, and we expect further increases in lithium prices. We anticipate increasing volatility in mining stocks and more acquisitions. In the last six months alone, new players like Zijin Mining, Uranium One, and Rio Tinto ventured into the lithium sector, and we believe this is just the beginning of a massive wave of acquisitions.

In conclusion, we see 2022 as another year where supply will not be able to keep up with exponentially growing demand. Thus, we expect another very positive year for lithium stocks, with the anticipation of increased volatility.

The precious metals sector remained below expectations last year despite rising inflation concerns and a strong negative real interest rate. It is only thanks to good stock selection that the Commodity Capital Global Mining Fund was able to end the year with a small profit. One of the main reasons for the weak performance of precious metals is undoubtedly that few investors saw the need to hedge themselves and their portfolios last year. Yes, inflation is rising, but as long as the stock markets continue to perform positively, everything seems fine. In addition, Bitcoin now offers an alternative, particularly among the younger generation, which is preferred over gold and has diverted capital that would otherwise have flowed into gold. I won't go into the Bitcoin versus gold discussion any further, as we believe it is far too early to view Bitcoin as an alternative to gold, and the massive volatility in Bitcoin is contrary to what gold investors seek: a safe haven not subject to those 10% daily jumps. Regardless of the further development of Bitcoin, we see its influence on the price of gold in 2022 as significantly less. On the other hand, ongoing strong inflation, which we do not see as temporary but as permanent, will provide strong impetus to the gold price in 2022. Similar to lithium in recent years, we currently see that investors are completely ignoring the fundamentals, and we see 2022 as a year in which the gold price should perform significantly better than predicted by all analysts and banks. Research from banks and analysts is often one of the best contraindicators for annual forecasts. In our view, the Fed's tapering will also be limited, and it remains to be seen whether the predicted three interest rate hikes next year will occur or not. One thing is for sure: the times of 5.6 or 7% interest rates are definitely over for the next 10 years, and it is doubtful whether the USA and the rest of the world can afford even interest rates of 2.5 or 3%. Interest rates will, in our view, remain below 1% in 2022, and real interest rates will remain significantly negative. The conditions for a massive increase in the price of gold have been established, and the mining companies have never had better fundamentals than they do today. Mines are making a margin of $800 to $900 at a gold price of $1,800 per ounce, and they will be able to expand their dividends or share buyback programs next year. The only sword of Damocles hanging over the sector is the continued lack of new discoveries. If Kinross is willing to pay CAD 1.8 billion for a company that does not even have a resource estimate, this already says a lot about the current state of the market. There are almost no significant large projects in politically stable regions anymore, and it will only take a small spark to cause the entire precious metals sector to surge significantly in the coming year.

We look back on a very successful year in 2021 and do not see the prospects for 2022 as worse. The lithium sector will become more volatile, but we still see enormous potential on an annual basis. In 2022, it could be the year for the precious metals markets if markets perform weaker than expected overall, interest rate hikes fall short of expectations, and inflation does not disappear

Note: This text is a translation from the original langugae German.

Gold is now pawing its hooves like a strong horse that has been hitched up, ready to take off. Far-sighted metal investors are already patiently counting on the macroeconomic equivalent of a starting pistol announcing that gold is out of the blocks. And there are others who have less confidence.

Read the full article from GoldSeiten.de in the attachment.

• Gold: Hufescharren vor dem Kurssprung (226.12 KB)