New PIMCO Fund Uses Credit Suisse Commodity Benchmark

The Credit Suisse Commodity Benchmark (CSCB) has been designated as the benchmark for a new U.S. mutual fund launched by PIMCO. 

The PIMCO CommoditiesPLUS Strategy Fund is a commodities index fund which combines positions tracking the Credit Suisse Commodity Benchmark Index with a portfolio of short-term bonds. The fund was launched on May 26, 2010 and currently has assets under management of over $700 million.     

According to a Credit Suisse press release, the key characteristics of the CSCB are: 

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  • currently made up of 30 commodities, resulting in diversification and a reflection of the overall global commodity complex;  
  • four-step weighting method based on production value and market liquidity that attempts to create balanced risk and reduced correlation between commodity components;  
  • rebalanced to target investment weights monthly to help maintain diversity and reduce volatility;  
  • references commodity futures contracts that fall within the near three months (where available), with a goal of spreading exposure across multiple delivery periods;  
  • 15-day roll period that aims to diversify exposure to calendar roll spreads across several weeks; and  
  • licensed to other swap providers. 

Additional information about the Credit Suisse Commodity Benchmark (CSCB) is available at https://www.cscbindex.com/cscbindex/en/.

 

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