Commodities conundrum

European regulators are split over whether commodity-linked structured products should be eligible under Ucits III, but the Committee of European Securities Regulators has plans to settle the matter once and for all. Shamillia Sivathambu asks what this will mean for the retail market. With additional reporting from Paul Lyon

Commodities are hot right now. That much is for sure. Rising oil prices continue to hit the headlines and it's no surprise that retail fund managers are keen to include the asset class in their global portfolios. What's more, the recent surge in commodity-linked structured products shows no sign of abating (see box). So far, European regulators have adopted varying approaches towards the approval of such products, which has been both help and hindrance to the growth of commodity-linked products