Credit Suisse Says Base Metal ETPs Won’t Match Precious Success

Industrial metals probably won’t match the success of precious metals in physically-backed exchange-traded products, Credit Suisse Group AG said.

Credit Suisse has no plans to start an aluminum-backed ETP, said Kamal Naqvi, head of commodities sales in Europe, Middle East and Africa, for Credit Suisse in London.

“There is no need for this outlet for holding surplus metal as long as aluminum-financing interest remains high and there is no clear solution for solving the potential premium risk for the metal provider,” Naqvi said in London today.

“Base metals ETPs are unlikely to be as successful as precious metal products,’’ said Naqvi. “This is because base metals can go into backwardation and if they do then an investor receives a better return by owning the futures and rolling the contract, rather than the fixed cost of owning an ETP. Commodity ETPs work best when the underlying commodity is always in contango and where physical storage is easy and cheap.”

To contact the reporter on this story: Nicholas Larkin in London at nlarkin1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Claudia Carpenter at ccarpenter2@bloomberg.net