TIAA-CREF launches Global Natural Resources Fund

By Toni Weeks

San Diego, Dec. 13 - TIAA-CREF Financial Services said it has launched the Global Natural Resources Fund to provide investors with exposure to stocks in the natural resources sector.

According to a press release, the fund will primarily invest in equities of companies engaged in the ownership, development, exploration, production, distribution or processing of natural resources as well as in companies that supply the natural resources sector.

The fund will seek relatively balanced sector exposures, with its benchmark equally weighted among energy, agriculture and metals, but may deviate from equal weightings depending on investment opportunities. In general, the fund will offer a broader and more balanced exposure to the natural resources sector than a purely market capitalization-weighted or energy sector fund.

"We believe seven billion people around the world will drive powerful long-term demand in the natural resources sector," the fund's portfolio manager, Navaneel Ray, said in the release. "This demand, bolstered by income growth in developing countries and the scarcity of supply sources will help sustain pricing power for commodity producers.

"Historically, demand for energy, basic materials and agricultural products have tracked global GDP growth and changes in industrial production, making the sector a potential hedge against inflation," Ray added. "In addition, commodities and commodity-linked equities offer attractive diversification benefits and protection against U.S. dollar weakness when added to a U.S. dollar equity portfolio."

Charlotte, N.C.-based TIAA-CREF, a financial services organization, focuses on retirement services in the academic, research, medical and cultural fields.

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