Commodities are raw materials used for creating products from petroleum to household items. They include agricultural products such as wheat and cattle, energy products such as oil and gasoline, and precious metals like gold, silver and aluminum. Commodity investments are supported by supply considerations, demand demographics and economic development trends.

Osama Shaker, managing director and head of financial markets at HSBC Saudi Arabia, said: “We believe that in a global economy where complexity reigns, the commodity market remains the core of the world’s economic activities. Moreover it offers a portfolio diversification, which is vital to maintain a well-diversified investment portfolio. It also offers inflation hedging, whereby raw material prices tend to reflect inflation. And investing in commodities offer event risk hedging, where commodities are less likely to be affected by a single geopolitical event.”